Finally It's My Turn!

You should be happy to hear that this time my title is completely relevant to my post. Although, Ms. Feick, the blogs you have chosen for us to take a peek at are righteous, sick, phat, dope... - by the way, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't find those words are part of my vocabulary; nice try though! - I didn't find anything that really jumped out at me and stuck with me. So this assignment was sweet and I really enjoyed it :)
So -
without further ado, here's the site I chose!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

Make sure to take some time and really search through this website. This blog showcases photographs that have shows up in the news, and the most recent posts are epic photographs that showed up in the news in just 2010. It's amazing to see all of this past year's events from all over the world captured in photographs. Some of them are just so cool and artistic, while others are plain epic. They range from average things you might see everyday, to extraordinary happenings that only occur once. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Some will scare the bejebers out of you, while others will inspire you to strive for excellence, and to have a yearning to make this world a better place.
Overall, THIS BLOG WAS SO COOL. How some people think up these things and are able to collect them and display them in an attractive and appealing way is beyond me. I just can't get over this blog, definitely something to take a look at. You won't be sorry :)

Here's a photograph from the blog that made me laugh:

This is a picture of a man dressed as Santa Claus, holding a flare as he wakeboards
on a small lake in Hamburg, Germany. (REUTERS/Christian Charisius)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

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Farewell, Movember... Don't Even Think About Coming Back

So the title of this blog post really doesn't apply to this post at all, I just couldn't think of anything else :)

Anyway, today we were asked to take a look at the two websites below 

lettersofnote.com             
huffingtonpost.com       
  
and then comment on them.

Well... where to start. I have mixed feelings about The Huffington Post. Some people may like this sort of thing but to me it was much too dry. It didn't capture my attention at all and none of the topics interested me in the slightest. It just isn't my type of blog!

Now Letters of Note, that was an interesting one :) It was so cool to read all the letters and the stories behind them! Many of them were from famous people or at least people who were well-known for things that they did. People such as Abraham Lincoln, Ezra Pound, Gene Roddenberry (if you're wondering who all these people are, go to the website and look for yourself, although I sure hope everyone knows who Abraham Lincoln is at least...). Reading the letters from all these people was so interesting, especially since most of the letters had stories behind them that made the letters seem much more fascinating.

So check out the sites for yourself!

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Our writing prompt for last class was to make up a name with the initials G.L.S., pick an age between 3 and 10, and then make up a bunch of characteristics for this character. I chose Gretchen Liane Smith for my name. She's 8 years old, and as you'll soon find out, very adventurous and rebellious. So here goes :)

Even though my dad yelled at me not to do it again, I couldn't help jumping off the roof of our shed into the huge pile of fluffy snow below. I mean, this was enough to break my fall, wasn't it? Dad didnt know what he was talking about when he said I would end up hurting myself. Parents are so boring... they never know how to have fun. So with this mind-set, I once again scurried up the trellis to the roof of the shed and picked my way to the edge where I peered down on the Gretchen-imprinted snow bank below. I flinched as my dad's gruff voice once again barked at me to "get down from there" or he'd ground me until I'm 80. My confidence in my mission to prove to my old man that really, this escapade was completely safe and maybe he wants to try it? grew by the second and without glancing at my tomato-faced father again, I launched myself into the waiting snow bank, where I promptly fell onto my still-healing arm that I had broken not 3 months earlier. With a wail, dad came running and rushed me to the hospital. Guess he was right after all, I guess...

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Shhh!

Today, people all over are being silent. And no, they're not just doing this for kicks. They're doing it for a cause.

"On November 19th 2010, the twenty-first anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, tens of thousands of Vow of Silence participants around the world will go silent for 24 hours, in solidarity with children who are being silenced by poverty and exploitation." (http://iamsilent.com/new/)

People are standing up for this cause and they're doing it in a completely different way. A silent way. Support these people by donating to this amazing cause!

 

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A Whole New World

To start with, I'd like everyone to take a good look at the picture above. Can anyone guess where this might be?

........

..

..............

It's GREECE! Sorry, I just couldn't hold it in any longer :) I think this place is breathtaking. Who wouldn't want to spend a weekend here?! I mean, look at it! It's exactly what I think the beach in heaven would look like. All I can think about right now is running across the soft, warm sand and diving into the clear, sparkling water.

Imagine living here:

The village of Oios (Oia) on the island of Santorini, Greece.

Imagine waking up every single morning to this gorgeous view. I feel like I wouldn't ever be able to spend a day feeling unhappy while in a place like this.

The sun is bright and hot. The sand is soft and soothing. The water is refreshing and crystal clear. Words can't even describe how lucky I would feel to spend even a weekend in this fantastic place. God really went to town on this part of his creation, putting so much effort into getting the perfect shade of blue for the water and the exact colours for the rolling hills and lush greenery. It's as if He wanted everyone who is looking down on this spectacular view to feel as if they have the entire world at their fingertips. Like anything is possible.

I am making it my goal, right here and now, to visit this island in Greece before I kick the bucket. To dive into the ocean and stare up at the blue, blue sky - the same sky I see from my spot at this computer in Canada. But at the same time, a different sky. Because under this particular piece of sky, I feel like anything is possible for me.

*****

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears...

So there's this little thing that people do... sticking their disgusting, old chewed up gum anywhere just so they can get rid of it. Or, who knows, maybe they just do it for fun. They may think it's harmless but I can assure you...

IT'S NOT!

I mean, we're in high school, people, I'm pretty sure you know what a garbage can looks like! It is completely unnecessary for you to stick your chewed-up gum on
the bottom of desks or
in bathroom stalls or
on the railings of staircases...
I could go on, but the list would get way too long. This habit is just wrong - why?
1) You've been told since day one that this is not the correct place for your nasty leftovers, that's what the garbage is for.
2) Touching somebody else's ABC ("already been chewed" hehe) gum? NOT A NICE FEELING, let me tell you.
3) It's just plain gross. Need I say more?

If I had a dime for every piece of already chewed gum that I found stuck somewhere at school, I would be rich. I could probably feed a whole third world country. Or if we`re staying on the topic of chewing gum, I could buy enough packs of gum to supply a whole third world country. Somehow I believe that they would be less obnoxious when disposing of their used gum - hopefully nobody takes offense to that ;)

ANYWAY, hopefully I`ve gotten my point across... I feel like I`ve been pretty honest with everyone :)

Oh, one more thing... Did you ever watch that Christmas movie Elf, the one with Will Ferrell in it? Well, right before Buddy goes to New York City to look for his father, Santa gives him some very important advice... He says:

"If you see gum on the ground, don`t eat it - it`s not free candy!"

Wiser words have never been spoken :)

Happy chewing!

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The Good Ol' Days...



I'm once again 4 years old. I'm sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal watching Arthur on TVO Kids. I'm still in my pajamas with sleep in my eyes but I'm ready to face the day in my naive and innocent 4 year-old way. There is no set schedule, no specific plans and the biggest trial that I could possibly face in my day is spilling red fruit punch all over my white dress. I'm excited for today - mommy's taking me to the St. Jacobs Farmer's market with Rebecca, my sister. I love this place; the smell of fresh air and baked goods, the crowds of people all enjoying the beautiful fall day, the animals that you can look at... It's the perfect place in my mind. We go to visit my mother's cousin at her coffee shop in the market. She always has a yummy treat to give us and we look forward to seeing her everytime we go to the market. Next we make a beeline for the bakery part of the market, begging Mom for the gingerbread cookies we get everytime we're there. Of course, she gives in and we're both happy campers, as selfish as that sounds :) But I'm four and Rebecca's two, and our happiness is allowed to revolve around cookies and trips to the market. Life is all about innocence at this age and I'm going to enjoy it while I can, because it's not going to stay that way. Of course I don't know that yet though because my life is about enjoying the little things in life, such as a gingerbread cookie with tons of frosting! Now back home for a bowl of KD and an afternoon filled with toys and games and more TVO Kids. At bedtime Mommy tucks both Becca and I in and reads us our favourite books. This is the life :)

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http://www.postsecret.com/

This is actually the coolest website I've seen in a long time! I loved reading all of them, some of them made me want to cry... The situations that some people have to deal with made MY issues look stupid. Some of them made me laugh too - some guy cheered for a football team he didn't even like to impress a girl.. The things some guys will do for a girl :) And then a lot of the postcards I could relate to.. The site made me want to make my own card, so it's above :) It's the truth too! I think it's one of my biggest fears... Losing someone I love. My sister recently went to Haiti for a missions trip and I'm not going to lie, everytime the phone rang, the first thing I would think of was "did something happen to Rebecca!?". Even though I don't show it to them a lot of the time, my family is the most important thing in my life. I'm going through a time when I'm really struggling with who I am and who I want to be and where I want to go in life. They're constantly there for me, even though I can be difficult to deal with most of the time... They're pretty great :) I haven't really figured out what I would do without them, and I'm thinking it's going to stay that way.

Anyways, this was a sweet site! I really want the book now, I enjoyed it that much. I was a little disappointed there weren't more up on the website though?! I actually searched everywhere for more. And I'm considering making one everytime I have a secret... it could be a form of therapy, possibly? You never know, there are stranger things in this world! Maybe I'll post a few more of them!

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"Debate rages over cellphones in Ontario classrooms"

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/schoolsandresources/article/861864--debate-rages-over-cellphones-in-ontario-classrooms

       First, all I'm hearing in my classes at school and from the principal is "cellphones are supposed to be off and away!". So why is Dalton McGuinty suddenly talking about changing this strongly-enforced rule to cellphones now being used in classrooms? This I do not understand... I mean, it's not even just that cellphones are being allowed in the classroom, now they're being used as part of lessons! I've always thought that the super strict rule schools have against cellphone use in classrooms was a  bit unnecessary. I mean, one of my teachers actually lets us have our phones out on our desks. He trusts us enough to know that we'll respect him while he's talking, and that -- most of us -- have enough self-control to not be constantly texting during class. So really, I do feel that the strict cellphone rule is a bit over-the-top. BUT I'm confused as to why McGuinty is so FOR cellphones being used in the classroom now... After all the fuss they've caused in the past, I think it's ridiculous.

       I do not feel that this article was biased in any way. The author showed both sides clearly and their opinion did not show through at all, although it's clear that the author feels strongly about the issue, even though we can't tell which side their vouching for. I also think it was fair. This is an important issue to many people, on both sides of the spectrum, and it was important to bring it up so that people can discuss it!

All-in-all, it should be up to the teacher to decide whether their class is mature and responsible to be able to handle the self-control to be allowed to have their phones out during class.

*****

About the Author..

Hmm.. where to start! Well, I'm 18 years old and in my 5th year. The reason I took a 5th year is because I wanted to pick up some extra university courses that would look good on a university application. So I ended up taking 7 classes.. Crazy, I know. Who takes 7 courses in their 5th year!? Anyways, I don't know exactly what I want to do with my life yet.. but I have a couple of ideas. Either teaching or social work. And if it's teaching I'm hoping to major in English for it. So obviously Writer's Craft would look good on a university application if I'm planning on majoring in English :) But I guess that's not the only reason I took it.. it actually did look interesting when I read the course summary at the beginning of the year while trying to choose a course to replace the phys. ed. class that I signed up for - I'm still not sure why I signed up for it, by the way. But now that I've started it I'm actually pretty excited about the rest of the year. I'm not the most creative writer out there but I still like writing occasionally. And this blogging thing is kinda cool!

There aren't really any particular writers that are my favourites or anything, but I do really like the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I've read it at least 5 times and it's still not boring! Another one of my favourites is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The way she tells about her life is so fascinating, it was difficult to put the book down. So as you can probably tell I love reading. I basically take a book wherever I go so that if I have time I can read. I've always been like that, I can get so lost in a book.

But I think that's all about me for now. Thanks for reading!

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