RICE ROCKS!

Go to www.freerice.org and play for 10 minutes. Post here the level you reached.

I LOVE THIS WEBSITE. I'M ADDICTED!

To get back to our blog, just hit the back button on your browser.

WORKING S*CKS

How do you feel about having to work during high school? Do your grades suffer? Do you feel like you have to do it in order to survive?

Start a discussion.

How was your break?

What did you do over break? Anything interesting?

Hmmmm

First, go to wikipedia.org (THIS IS THE ONLY TIME YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GO TO THIS SITE) and search the following novels for a quick revie of what novel you would enjoy reading.

Kite Runner
The Things They Carried
Handmaid's Tale
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Flies

What do you think we should do for the next quarter?

Option One:
Read a novel together. I only have class sets so all reading would be done in class. (Some of you may be excited about this, but keep in mind how boring that would be.)

Option Two:
The class would be broken up into Literature Circles and grouped by novel. You would be reading what you want and would be responsible for conducting your own group discussions.

Tell me which novel you would like to read AND which option you would like to do. BE SPECIFIC AND THOROUGH IN YOUR ANSWER.

Roses are Red--by Saltine

Make up your own "Roses are Red" poem.

Roses are red
Some diamonds are blue
Blogging is great
And it's good for you

I've Lost My Senses!!

If you could get rid of one of your five senses, which one would you get rid of?

Sight? Taste? Touch? Smell? Hearing?

I have no idea which one I would give up. I think I would get give up Taste. I love food waaay too much so I think that would be the healthiest option. Hmmm, or maybe Smell. (Have you ever gotten a whiff of something so absolutely terrible that your only reaction is to gag?)

Throwin' It Out There

I like the idea of having "Guest Post-ers" post on our Blog. (You will notice one already; Kull has posted his thoughts on "Video Game Mania" earlier in the week.)

I want you to consider what you will write about (because all of you will eventually write one). There is no choice in the matter.

Respond if you have questions, comments, concerns.

THE MIDTERM IS OVER!!!

Now that the Midterm is over, what are your thoughts?

Please be thorough. I do change assignments year to year from the comments students give! (That does not mean you can say, "Make it longer and harder so they have to suffer!") =)

By the way, have a great break. While you are sleeping in, I will be grading essays after essays after essays after...

ENGLISH IS LIKE A(N)...

...SWEATER VEST because it keeps a person warm and is oh-so-trendy.

Video Game Mania by Kull

We all play video games no matter how old we are, and at some point we have been a video game player. Whether you play X-box 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, or PC, it's an addiction that is sometimes hard to overcome.

But video games are a distraction. Kids would rather play Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 then do their homework. Even some adults will forget about work to go online and tear up. Video games are a fun activity for when there is nothing to do. But if you have piles of homework or paperwork it is not something that you should be doing. Video game designers make video games to be addicting. Just like the tobacco companies. People are trying to break their addictions to cigarettes. Now it is being replaced with video games-- only it's now with the younger generation.

Should we try to break this addiction and get rid of video games or somehow limit the amount of time spent on them?

Kull

Top 5

Here are my lists of Top 5:
MOVIES
1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Beetlejuice
3. Labyrinth
4. Boondock Saints
5. Shrek

BANDS
1. Beatles of course!!
2. Our Lady Peace
3. Modest Mouse/The White Stripes
4. LCD Soundsystem
5. Feist

FOODS
1. Pizza
2. Mashed potatos and meatloaf
3. Piragi
4. Ambrosia
5. Orange Jello

NOVELS
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Anything by Shakespeare or Hemingway
3. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
4. Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
5. Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien

COLORS
1. Black
2. Sage Green
3. Cappaccino
4. Caribbean water blue
5. black

WORST MOVIES**
1. The Notebook
2. Encino Man
3. Gramma's Boy
4. Anchor Man
5. Eragon
**Here is no less than 12 hours of my life I will NEVER get back.

Respond/comment against my Top 5, make your own list, you know, whatever. Just comment.

I am trying to come up with a list of what I say the most...

Movie Madness

Recently I have seen a slew of movies. Before P.S. I Love You came out, my friend got some free tickets to see the film before it was released to the public. (Sneak Previews are great because if the movie is terrible, the show was free anyway.) She sobbed through the entire movie while I was trying not to drown in the ocean of sappy clichés. (For those of you that are going to go see it, watch out for the flashback scene where they first meet. It's hysterical and yet poorly edited.)

I saw Sweeney Todd and being a huge Tim Burton fan, this movie was great. It is a musical (and yes, Johnny Depp does sing--quite well, actually) so do not get up and walk out because it was not what you thought it was. I really enjoyed it.

I do not know why I was dragged to see the sequel to National Treasure, but I was. The only redeeming factor in the entire movie is Nicholas Cage's quirky (and ever-so-adorable) sidekick, Reilly.

Your post should be a bit on the longer side. What movies have you seen lately that you would recommend? What movie(s) are your favorite? What movies have you seen and hated?

Interesting Thought

When is it okay to give up? Is it ever okay? Talk to me.

I expect some rather good discussion here.

ATTENTION: JAKE THE SNAKE, BAERBEAR, SALTINE, SPELL CHECK MASTER, DOUBLE T and GOD

I suggest you get a "move on" and start reading your novels. I am a bit nervous for you all, as the project is worth 20% of your grade and is due the 16th of January.

I WILL BE CALLING HOME IF THEY ARE NOT TURNED IN!!!!!!!!!!

How's Your Novel Going?

Give the name of your book.

Talk a little bit about what is going on in the novel.

Would you recommend it?

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This old writer is dying. She is a recluse and refuses to tell reporters anything truthful about her life. (So far she has a running total of no less than 19 birth stories--all conflicting.) She employs the owner (another observer rather than participator in life) of a book store to stay with her in her house in the English countryside where she begins the tale of her life.

I would absolutely recommend it. It is riveting. I know I am not doing it justice with this little blurb here, but in all honesty, I hate going to sleep because I want to read it all night!

If You Were a Food, What Would You Be?

I would be ambrosia--a gift from the gods. (Kidding, kidding.)

If you were a food, what food would you be?

"Where, Oh Where, Can He Be?"

Honestly, if a bum from off the streets of Munich asked me to marry him and live there, I would. If a poor haberdasher asked me to move to Pittsburgh and help him sell his goods, I would. (Now that I think about it, those are two very opposite places.)

My dream home in Munich or Pittsburgh would be fully solar-funtional, it would be 100% natural (electricity? overrated), I would have my own garden complete with organic vegetables (as my neighbors would provide the free-range cattle and poultry), and I would not own a vehicle.

Where would you live? Describe your dream home and what it would consist of.

Discussion For-ummmm...

A few classes ago someone mentioned the idea of having "Discussion Days," where we put topics into an "Ask It Basket," pull out an idea and talk about it. The topics could range from someone having problems with friends to something more broad like the upcoming presidential campaign to a controversial topic such as capital punishment.

First, answer me this: Would you be interested in discussion? (Mind you, we would have to be respectful, understanding and supportive of others' opinions. You may not agree with his or her stance, but there will be no disrespect.)

Second, riddle me this: What kinds of topics would you like to discuss?

Happy New Year 2008!!!

Happy New Year, Seniors!

I guess I fall into the category of "I make resolutions and then never follow through with them." I will be gung-ho about starting off the new year in a great way and then January 2nd rolls around and I am asking, "What's the special at Burger King?" (Not really, but you get the point.)

Do you have any resolutions for the New Year? Do you follow through with them? And why is it, that it is so easy to "fall off the wagon"?