One of my favorite memories is when all my family and I went skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado. We arrived in Denver a couple hours before dusk, so we went to Hertz and rented a SUV. From Denver we headed toward Breckenridge only stopping at a grocery store to get supplies. After dark we arrived to our lodge and started unpacking quickly. We then walked around exploring the town and you could feel the difference in air pressure. Lights lit up the slope and you could see the snow that was glistening, perfect for skiing.
The next morning we all took lessons for half the day to get used to the mountain because before this trip we had never skied on a mountain before. Lunchtime snuck up on us quick and then we had to decide whether we should do lessons the rest of the day or not. In the end we decide against more lessons so we could ski down any slope we wanted to. That night my dad arrived in Breckenridge from and meeting for work and we all were excited to see him.
The next couple days were spent skiing whatever we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it. A lot of the time I, myself was up on the blacks diamonds which were fairly difficult. In comparison of Breckenridge to Iowa, our double black diamonds are just as hard as those blue slopes in Breckenridge.
Our second to last day was spent half skiing, but also after lunchtime we went on foot and toured the city. We rested ourselves a lot that night for the long drive and flight for the day to come. Finally on the next day it was time to leave, we drove back to Denver and caught our flight back to Iowa. Hurray! I was glad to be back where it was a little warmer. We had a ton of fun on our skiing vacation Breckenridge, Colorado.
Word Count: 326
Monday, May 28, 2012
Bi-lingual Literature
Recently in Spanish class we read the House on Mango Street in Spanish. I remember reading this story before and now that I read it again in Spanish, I figured I do a little write-up about it for a blog.
In House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros creates this character that is said to be ‘special’ by the three sisters in “The Three Sisters.” Her strength that is portrayed through out the book, is that she is a dreamer.Her name is Esperanza. It’s not a very good name, as she recalls it in the story “My Name.” In Spanish it means sadness, it means waiting; it means a muddy color, or the number nine. She wants to change her name into something that is more like her. She received the name from her great-grandmother, who was born in the Chinese year of the horse. She was a wild woman, more like Esperanza. Ended her life a sad one, looking out the window wishing she could be free.But she knows that she can to better. She doesn’t want to be ashamed like she is now of her house on Mango Street and have to tell people that she lives there. In “Mango Says Goodbye Sometime” she believes that she is there by mistake. Sometimes there are little stories Esperanza makes up in her head. One that she describes in the last story proceeds, “I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong.” She later concludes that she is “to strong for her (Mango Street) to keep her there forever.” This statement seems to me that she thinks she is too good for Mango Street. That she is going to move on and take her books and paper, and write books. Her strength is sort of like her already knowing what she is going to do with her life, get out.The stories that are told about the people of Mango Street have helped Esperanza become what she is by the end of the book. Also to confirm her strength, that she most certainly does not want to stay on Mango Street, but to proceed with her dream. The last couple of sentences describe this: “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”
Word Count: 395
In House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros creates this character that is said to be ‘special’ by the three sisters in “The Three Sisters.” Her strength that is portrayed through out the book, is that she is a dreamer.Her name is Esperanza. It’s not a very good name, as she recalls it in the story “My Name.” In Spanish it means sadness, it means waiting; it means a muddy color, or the number nine. She wants to change her name into something that is more like her. She received the name from her great-grandmother, who was born in the Chinese year of the horse. She was a wild woman, more like Esperanza. Ended her life a sad one, looking out the window wishing she could be free.But she knows that she can to better. She doesn’t want to be ashamed like she is now of her house on Mango Street and have to tell people that she lives there. In “Mango Says Goodbye Sometime” she believes that she is there by mistake. Sometimes there are little stories Esperanza makes up in her head. One that she describes in the last story proceeds, “I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong.” She later concludes that she is “to strong for her (Mango Street) to keep her there forever.” This statement seems to me that she thinks she is too good for Mango Street. That she is going to move on and take her books and paper, and write books. Her strength is sort of like her already knowing what she is going to do with her life, get out.The stories that are told about the people of Mango Street have helped Esperanza become what she is by the end of the book. Also to confirm her strength, that she most certainly does not want to stay on Mango Street, but to proceed with her dream. The last couple of sentences describe this: “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”
Word Count: 395
Blogging
Blogging about blogging is an interesting topic. Personally, blogging is not exactly fun, but for many it is a great way for people to get their thoughts said. In this post I will talk about blogging and things that I have noticed about blogging.
Blogging for our AP Lang class seems like one big procrastination session for everyone. If you look at our blogs about a week before they are due, you will probably notice that we haven't posted for at least a month. This is because blogging is something that takes time. You have to stop whatever you are doing and sit down to take the time to write a blog post. Because of this time commitment, and relative boring-ness of writing, is why I believe AP Lang students have put off this task for so long.
If you look at our blogs on the day before blogs are due, you will most likely see "Joe Schmo posted 10 minutes ago" This is because everyone in the class that have procrastinated their blogs are now scrambling to get them done. Ill admit I am a part of this scramble. I noticed this a few minutes ago when I logged onto blogger and saw that all the people that I was linked to on my blogs had post within hours ago.
Something about blogging that I have found very frustrating is the highlighting tool. If you scroll through my blog you will see that I am a victim of this highlighting holocaust. For some reason, some of my blog posts have become highlighted in white. The problem is because once something is highlighted, you cannot un-highlight it. There is no option to un-highlight your text, something that has frustrated me for the entire year.
If anyone knows how to fix this problem, PLEASE comment on this post and let me know how to un-highlight my posts!
Word Count: 316
Blogging for our AP Lang class seems like one big procrastination session for everyone. If you look at our blogs about a week before they are due, you will probably notice that we haven't posted for at least a month. This is because blogging is something that takes time. You have to stop whatever you are doing and sit down to take the time to write a blog post. Because of this time commitment, and relative boring-ness of writing, is why I believe AP Lang students have put off this task for so long.
If you look at our blogs on the day before blogs are due, you will most likely see "Joe Schmo posted 10 minutes ago" This is because everyone in the class that have procrastinated their blogs are now scrambling to get them done. Ill admit I am a part of this scramble. I noticed this a few minutes ago when I logged onto blogger and saw that all the people that I was linked to on my blogs had post within hours ago.
Something about blogging that I have found very frustrating is the highlighting tool. If you scroll through my blog you will see that I am a victim of this highlighting holocaust. For some reason, some of my blog posts have become highlighted in white. The problem is because once something is highlighted, you cannot un-highlight it. There is no option to un-highlight your text, something that has frustrated me for the entire year.
If anyone knows how to fix this problem, PLEASE comment on this post and let me know how to un-highlight my posts!
Word Count: 316
Cuban Missile Crisis Part 2
The reason why the Soviets were in Cuba was because Castro wanted some defense to prevent another invasion, reminiscent of The Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro began receiving military aid from the Soviet Union. This came after Cuba became openly communist in 1960. At that time Cuba took millions of dollars of United States property located in Cuba. The United States subsequently ended diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Kennedy used the original Eisenhower administration plan to “dispatch Cuban exiles living in Nicaragua.” CIA officials poorly trained their soldiers and anti-Castro Cubans. On April 17, 1961 1400 troops got smashed by Castro. The CIA had poor planning on their part because the planes sent for backup arrived an hour late. The pilots forgot to set their clocks to Cuban time. This led to the loss of Bay of Pigs for the United States allowing Castro to gain more control over Cuba.
John F. Kennedy attempted to make the United States a safer place. He added 300,000 troops and 40,000 in Europe to try to protect the United States. Still, Kennedy agreed with Castro not to invade. Even though the Soviets felt threatened by the United States missiles in Turkey, the Soviet Union demanded the removal of the missiles. The United States then got the Soviet Union to remove their missiles only after Castro protested. As a result, in 1963 the Soviet Union and the United States, along with nearly one-hundred other nations “signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to end the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.” Americans now felt like they didn’t have to worry.
Due to a failed invasion and good negotiations, all nuclear powers are able to live in harmony with the creation of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Before the Test Ban Treaty was established, nobody really knew what was going to happen next. Looking up in the sky and expecting a bomb to appear seemed probable. The United States once vigilant could now take a deep breath and stop worrying about a nuclear attack. Nuclear testing of atomic bombs was intolerable above ground. Luckily, there were no casualties from the Cuban missile crisis and it resulted in a learning moment for the entire world.
Word Count: 371
John F. Kennedy attempted to make the United States a safer place. He added 300,000 troops and 40,000 in Europe to try to protect the United States. Still, Kennedy agreed with Castro not to invade. Even though the Soviets felt threatened by the United States missiles in Turkey, the Soviet Union demanded the removal of the missiles. The United States then got the Soviet Union to remove their missiles only after Castro protested. As a result, in 1963 the Soviet Union and the United States, along with nearly one-hundred other nations “signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to end the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.” Americans now felt like they didn’t have to worry.
Due to a failed invasion and good negotiations, all nuclear powers are able to live in harmony with the creation of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Before the Test Ban Treaty was established, nobody really knew what was going to happen next. Looking up in the sky and expecting a bomb to appear seemed probable. The United States once vigilant could now take a deep breath and stop worrying about a nuclear attack. Nuclear testing of atomic bombs was intolerable above ground. Luckily, there were no casualties from the Cuban missile crisis and it resulted in a learning moment for the entire world.
Word Count: 371
Cuban Missile Crisis Part 1
Here is an essay I just wrote about the Cuban Missile Crisis for AP United States History. I posted it because I wanted you guys to see an example of my current writing.
Imagine in twenty minutes, a town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, once filled with fun loving friends and family could be wiped out by a nuclear attack. This impending threat caused uneasy feelings leading the United States into a sense of panic during the Cuban Missile Crises. In a matter of seconds any city in the United States could be obliterated. Soviet missile bases were only fifty miles off the coast of Florida in Cuba. After the United States Bay of Pigs invasion on Cuba failed miserably, Fidel Castro wanted some protection in case of another attack. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important event, changing the way Americans looked at the sky. Since nuclear energy was discovered, President Kennedy explored many different avenues to avoid a nuclear war. Even with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Soviets setting up “Nukes” in Cuba, these events led to a more secure and safer America.
There are many people to blame for the Cuban Missile Crisis including, Castro, President Kennedy, and the CIA. It started with the CIA’s failure with the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Cuban Missile Crisis never would have happened if nuclear power was not invented. Nuclear energy was also known as atomic energy which was created by changes in the nucleus of atoms. Around the 1900’s, scientists first noticed most of the mass of every atom came from the nucleus. Many people at this time found this hard to believe. Still, scientists went on to demonstrate the nuclei were held together by an extremely strong force. This created a large amount of energy. The “next step was to make nuclei let go of that energy.” The first time this nuclear energy was tested was in Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. In World War II was the initial time people used this new fearful force in combat.
Kennedy and his group of advisers wanted to avoid a nuclear war that would lead to thousands of casualties. They then decided to either set up a naval blockade or invasion. Kennedy announced he was “setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed.” To avoid casualties he decided on going with the blockade. Since a blockade was a national law of war, Kennedy referred to the blockade as a quarantine zone. “Kennedy warned if Khrushchev fired missiles from Cuba, the result would be a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” Both the United States and Cuba wanted to avoid conflict. The Soviets knocking on the United States door with nuclear weapons was hard to believe.
Word Count: 466
Imagine in twenty minutes, a town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, once filled with fun loving friends and family could be wiped out by a nuclear attack. This impending threat caused uneasy feelings leading the United States into a sense of panic during the Cuban Missile Crises. In a matter of seconds any city in the United States could be obliterated. Soviet missile bases were only fifty miles off the coast of Florida in Cuba. After the United States Bay of Pigs invasion on Cuba failed miserably, Fidel Castro wanted some protection in case of another attack. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important event, changing the way Americans looked at the sky. Since nuclear energy was discovered, President Kennedy explored many different avenues to avoid a nuclear war. Even with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Soviets setting up “Nukes” in Cuba, these events led to a more secure and safer America.
There are many people to blame for the Cuban Missile Crisis including, Castro, President Kennedy, and the CIA. It started with the CIA’s failure with the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Cuban Missile Crisis never would have happened if nuclear power was not invented. Nuclear energy was also known as atomic energy which was created by changes in the nucleus of atoms. Around the 1900’s, scientists first noticed most of the mass of every atom came from the nucleus. Many people at this time found this hard to believe. Still, scientists went on to demonstrate the nuclei were held together by an extremely strong force. This created a large amount of energy. The “next step was to make nuclei let go of that energy.” The first time this nuclear energy was tested was in Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. In World War II was the initial time people used this new fearful force in combat.
Kennedy and his group of advisers wanted to avoid a nuclear war that would lead to thousands of casualties. They then decided to either set up a naval blockade or invasion. Kennedy announced he was “setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed.” To avoid casualties he decided on going with the blockade. Since a blockade was a national law of war, Kennedy referred to the blockade as a quarantine zone. “Kennedy warned if Khrushchev fired missiles from Cuba, the result would be a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” Both the United States and Cuba wanted to avoid conflict. The Soviets knocking on the United States door with nuclear weapons was hard to believe.
Word Count: 466
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Angels and Demons Annotated Bibliography
Brown, Dan. Angels & Demons. New York: Atria, 2003. Print. (569)
Angels and Demons is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Both my mom and sister had read it a long time ago when it first came out, but it was a little too advanced for me at the time. I decided to read Angels and Demons for two main reasons, the first because I needed 500 more pages to complete my reading requirement, the second because I absolutely loved The Da Vinci Code, and I figured if I enjoyed that, I would enjoy Angels and Demons. After reading The Da Vinci Code, I rented the movie and as with every other scenario, the book was way better than the movie. For Angels and Demons, my mom has already bought the movie and I plan to watch it sometime late this week, but I assume it can’t be as good as the book.
Angels and Demons fit right into the type of books I like. I like books that are intense and dramatic, books that keep you up late wanting to read more and more. This book did just that. I found myself up until two in the morning the last couple night reading the book. It is just that good. Traditionally I enjoy the mystery genre and this book fulfilled that quite well. I love the deep, complex thought that goes on in professor Langdon’s head while is thinking something through. I find him thinking at a level that I would never even consider in day to day life.
As with The Da Vinci Code, I feel as though this book is on a much higher level of thinking than other books I have read. This is part of why I love these books. I take special love into the deep religious history that goes into the making of these books. Dan Brown has gained my respect as a hugely accomplished, New York Times Bestseller. I look forward to reading more books written by Dan Brown in the future as the one I have read thus far are simply amazing.
Word Count: 355
"Here's to the Crazy Ones"
Steve Jobs was the revolutionary of PC and Post-PC devices. This one man brought us into the chapter of the Digital age, the Personal Computer chapter, and also began taking us on to the next chapter, the Post-PC chapter. Jobs is often referred to as the “Father of the Digital Revolution,” an apt title considering his invaluable contributions to the field.
Without his driving determination, modern displays and desktop mice would have been delayed for years. Without him, we would have never had the Macintosh. Without him, there would be no Pixar, meaning no Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, Up, WALL-E, all of which were staples of our childhood. Without him, there would be no iMac, there would be no iPod, there would be no iPhone, there would be no iPad, and there would be no Apple.
Steve Jobs was a visionary, someone who makes the unimaginable a reality. Through his foresight, he set the foundation for what today has become the largest publicly traded company in the world. Despite Jobs’ adverse childhood, he was able to find his creative and productive self, and put it to work for the evolution of an industry.
Jobs devoted his life to the advancement of the digital age. No other person in the world can rival the accomplishments made by Jobs. He was a pioneer of an industry, an Age, a culture, and a way of life. Jobs was definitely crazy, and “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” [Think Different]
Word Count: 264
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