This is Weird

        Bassam was talking about how people were ripping on Oakland and saying how bad it is. I don't think it's that bad. Reports tell how bad Oakland's crime rate is, but everyone just carries on with their daily lives. No one is hiding at home just because they are scared of getting shot. Our education system is horrible, but we have some companies headquartered in Oakland. This tells you how large and important this city is. The big idea isn't about Oakland though. I was reading along and I ran across this quote:

I bought my PlayStation 3 for only 50 dollars and it was in perfect condition i also buy things like iPhone's and other electronics. the reason that they have all that stuff is because they still from people and sell it then they still it again and sell it again. i am not aloud to go down there even though it is only 10 blocks away from my house, because my dad told me not to blend in with the crowd because he does not want me to steal things like they do.

Although I agree that Oakland is not that bad, Bassam does a really bad job of proving it. There are many things wrong with this quote. First off, why would anyone go down to a bunch of thiefs and buy something from them. They might betray you and mug you. Then they can take all your money. I think Bassam is taking a huge risk by buying merchandise from strangers.
         Secondly, why would you buy stuff that you know is stolen. The stolen items are evidence to whatever case the police are working on. If they manage to track the item to you, you could be arrested because the evidence is in your hands. It wouldn't matter who actually stole it.
         Lastly, why would you post online that you bought stolen items on the streets. You just made it public and now the police can track you to your address using your ip address. Overall, it is not a good idea to tell people that you do this stuff.

Unwind final discussion

        I finished this book long ago because I read ahead. This tells you how interesting this book is. Yeah can you believe it? I'm actually sucked into a book. I guess this novel is an exception to my opinion of all books are boring.
        Starting off on a reference, both the tithe at Happy Jack and Arianna have pigment injections that change their eye color. The author is trying to hint that Arianna might also be an Unwind by using the reference. The Admiral states that he is living on a twenty five percent alive heart. I don't know how that is possible.Wouldn't he die of cardiac arrest. During the unwinding process, the Unwinds aren't put under. I question the necessity of this practice because in other surgeries, the patients are given anesthetics.
        At the scene where the clappers are ready to detonate, neither one of them wants to explode first. I question why they would want to stall their deaths. They seemed very committed to cause chaos, but they decided to wait. Maybe it's the fact that when it's time to act clappers realized what they are doing is insane. Somewhere in the book, it says clappers are fed lies.
        At Happy Jack harvest camp, I don't know why the Unwinds won't revolt. They outnumber the guards and all the latter can do is fire tranq bullets. Even if the guards had real guns, they still should revolt. Better to die than to be unwound and there is a chance you could survive gunshots. They can't unwind an injured person.
        A big question in this book regards whether unwinding is the same as dying. The only possible way to find out is to unwind someone and then put them back together. If they are still alive by then, then the answer is no. If it is the opposite, then the unwind is dead.
        Although this is a creepy book, I am impressed by the quality of the work. It is one of the best books I have ever read. I give it a 10/10 and would recommend this to any teen or adult.

The Oakland Raiders Season So Far

        The Raiders are surprising this season at 6-6 and 2nd in the AFC West behind the Chiefs. I am very optimistic about the results because I found out about this fact from Camal's blog:

So, this year has been a breakout year for the Oakland Raiders. Their current record is at 4-4 (four wins and four losses) and its been a LOOOONG time since I have seen them with four wins this early in the season. Considering there are sixteen games in one NFL season, the Oakland Raiders are one win away from tying the most wins that they have had in the last seven seasons after they went to the Superbowl in 2002.

Although the record is outdated, the Raiders are currently still at .500. This is how the season went. Season opener started out at Tennessee and Oakland loses there. Not a big deal since it's only the first game, but I thought the team was going to have another losing season. Oakland next played St. Louis at home and beat them by a two point margin. At Arizona, Oakland loses by one point after Janikowski misses a 31 yard field goal. I was pretty frustrated at the result and that one game could be the difference between making the playoffs or getting second place in the division. The next week they play Houston and lose again. The team gains some momentum by upsetting the Chargers. Up next was the winless San Francicso 49ers and I thought Oakland was going to win, but it was the opposite. The next two weeks the Raiders crushed Denver and Seattle. It looked like the silver and black were back.The game vs the Chiefs was the center of attention. It was a fight for first. Oakland won in OT by a field goal. The Raiders started sliding again after losing to Pittsburgh and Miami, the latter of which should've been won. Last week, the Raiders faced the Chargers in a rematch. Oakland not only upset them. The Raiders crushed them by 15 points. As of now, Oakland is two games behind the Chiefs.

Unwind second paper clip

        I found three typos in this book and presented them to the discussion. Although there were only three, that's still a lot for a book. Those errors left me wondering who edited the book. There was another topic that originated from a quote. On page 172, Connor offers his opinion:

Just because the law says it, that doesn't make it true.

At first, I thought this was not the case because I was only thinking about U.S. laws, but I decided to look at history. Not all laws are the truth. Examples of these are laws made by corrupt rulers and monarchs. The reason those laws are false is because only one person makes laws. The rulers need a congress to verify that the law is legitimate.
        Lev is on the run with CyFi and the latter reveals that he had stolen shiny objects like such as a diamond bracelet. When CyFi tells Lev to get rid of the stolen merchandise, he secretly takes one piece of jewelry. My question is why would Lev only take one when he can take it all, sell them, and then buy necessities needed for survival? I know stealing is unethical, but Lev is desperate. He ends up with 1500 dollars from selling that one piece of jewelry. Although that is still a substantial amount, it won't last that long.
        The original purpose of unwinding was to offer dying people a chance to live via organ transplant. It seems this idea has been corrupted by money. They charge people for getting new organs. What about the people who can't afford organs or can only afford defective ones? They might as well get organs from dead people. Emby, a boy who breathes from his mouth, only gets one lung because his parents can only afford one. The lung also has asthma. This seemingly good program has gone bad.
        I can tell that the relationship between Risa and Connor is about to change. In the warehouse, Risa sees Connor drawing a picture of Arianna, a girl he knew back home. She gets jealous and criticizes the drawing.

wade phillips being fired

        With all the troubles the Dallas Cowboys have been having this season, someone's got to be blamed for their woes. This someone is Wade Phillips, the Cowboys head coach. He was fired in midseason after collecting one win through eight games. That's a 1-7 record. I disagree somewhat with what Colin says here:

They had the chance to be in the superbowl in their own home stadium but they messed it up. I think they could have done this earlier and kept their chance at getting to the playoffs. I think that having an offensive coordinator as a head coach will benefit them because their offense is not very good and they will get more work if the head coach is an oc. I think the dallas coybows are going through the season like the 49ers.

Colin says that they had a chance to be in the super bowl. I believe they had a minimal chance of making the super bowl. They have to contend with the Giants and Eagles in their own divisions. Neither are pushovers. In the NFC, the Saints and Packers are at large and one of them is 2010 super bowl champion so there's a lot of competition. I have never considered the Cowboys to be the best team in the NFC.
        I agree that having an oc as head coach helps the offense, but the problem is finding a replacement. Even if they manage to do that, the offense still has to adjust to the new oc's coaching style. They have to reestablish rhythm. The defense isn't exactly stellar either and appointing an oc as head coach doesn't help that problem.
        The Dallas Cowboys are indeed going through a season like the 49ers. They were thought to be good teams, but they disappointed their fans. Before the season, analysts said that the Cowboys were supposed to be contenders and not cellar dwellers. There have been rumors that the team have not been trying hard in games and losses crushed their morale. The injury to Tony Romo also hurt the team. As of today, the Cowboys are 3-7 and two wins are under Jason Garrett.

unwind discussion

        The discussion went well for our group in terms of participation because everyone participated. The first topic was why would Connor save Lev if Lev wanted to be unwound. He views it as a holy mission and his parts will help people around the world. Lev shows his determination to be sacrificed by biting Connor's arm who is trying to save him. The book later explains that Connor is guilty about all the deaths he's caused with the freeway incident, so he wants to do something good. This explanation does not satisfy because Connor is on the run. He is supposed to be on survival mode. If I was him, I would leave him be.
        On that same incident above, Pastor Dan tells Lev to run when the latter almost reaches the car. Why didn't Pastor Dan tell him the truth about being a tithe rather than wait until the last minute. If Dan had told Lev the truth before, Lev could plan his escape earlier.    
        Speaking of Lev, he seems to love being a tithe which is essentially the same as an unwind. This is because their society has made unwinding sound okay. They keep telling people that being unwound does not mean you die. I believe dying is better than being used as parts. They also make brochures for harvest camp, where unwinding takes place. They make the place sound like a vacation resort.
        There was also a mention of two quotes,"You can't change human nature without changing the laws" and "You can't change laws without changing human nature". Not much of a debate came up over this. We all agreed that the former was correct because the law is above all individuals.
        An interesting fact that came up, but was irrelevant to the plot was that the trucker's arm was actually that of an unwind's. It still performed tricks that the trucker couldn't before he got that arm and he says it's the muscle memory. This is creepy in that an arm can still remember tricks even after the original owner is terminated. Those were the main topics of the discussion.

Kite Runner Book Review

        The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a realistic fiction that talks about a boy named Amir who moves to America to escape the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. He then returns to Afghanistan to retrieve his half-brother's son, Sohrab. Along the way, he encounters obstacles in his former homeland.
        The purpose in this novel is clear. Khaled Hosseini's purpose is to explain Amir's journey to retrieve Sohrab and be good again. This is evidenced when he writes, "One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. ... It  was my past of unatoned sins. ... There is a way to be good again." Here, he reveals that Amir has sinned in the past and the only way to be good again is to return to Afghanistan for some unfinished business. It is later revealed that the unfinished business is finding Sohrab. There is a side purpose as well. As you may know, the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 1970s to the 1980s. When that happened, chaos arose and order crumbled. Afghan society is destroyed and civilians die. Although the details are meant to describe the scene to the reader, the purpose of the descriptions is to inform about the hardships of war. The purposes were well achieved. The second half of the story was all about Amir returning to Afghanistan and his quest to find Sohrab. Upon his return, Amir sees poor people and dilapidated structures that act as evidence of the atrocities of war. Another side purpose of the story is to encourage people to solve problems as soon as possible instead of biding your time. Amir watches Hassan get raped, but doesn’t tell Hassan he saw what had happened. Furthermore, Amir keeps this secret to himself and does not try to comfort Hassan. Instead, he actually tries to get rid of Hassan by asking Baba to consider getting new servants. What he should have done was tell Baba what had happened because he is a powerful man and knows Assef’s parents. This lesson can even be applied to problems in everyday life.
Although I think this book isn't as boring as the other ones, it still has some flaws. Because Amir is from Afghanistan, he speaks a foreign language. In the following quote, the word "naan" is foreign.

"He coated my naan with marmalade, placed it on a plate."

In addition, the author does not explain what a naan is. Sure maybe you can use context clues, but the reader would only know it's some type of food covered with marmalade. I suggest the author translate the words into English. Khaled Hosseini mentions Amir's mother, but never develops any major details around her. She was not relevant to the plot because she had passed away after giving birth to Amir, yet Hosseini described her through a beggar in Kabul. Hosseini should just mention that Amir's mother died at childbirth and stop at that or go more in depth with this character. Anything in between leaves the reader guessing what kind of personality this character is. The beginning was a little boring to me. It took a while for me to get into this book. This is normal because the author has to introduce the characters and the setting, but is a weakness nevertheless. Finally, the ending contained loose ends. It ended with Amir and Sohrab flying kites which is fitting because the title is the Kite Runner, but mysteries still remain. The reader never knows the fate of numerous characters.Hosseini never reveals why Amir framed Hassan by planting the money and watch. I believe Amir framed Hassan because he wanted him to leave. Recall that Amir asked Baba for new servants earlier in the book. He didn’t succeed then, so Amir tries to get Hassan kicked out by framing him. No one knows how Soraya got a humanitarian visa for Sohrab and of course, little is revealed about Amir's mother.
A person I would like to discuss us Baba, Amir's father. Baba is unusual in that he despises his son in the first part of the novel, but more about that later. Not much is known about Baba's past. He played with Rahim Khan as a child and the pair were troublesome. He slept with a Hazara and had a child, Hassan. He marries another woman and has another child, Amir. In the process, his wife dies. Later in his life, he moves to America with America because of the Soviet occupation. Baba never returns to Afghanistan and dies in America. Despite all the troubles, he is a successful man. He is a businessman who owns many businesses. That's how Baba becomes rich. His wealth is proven by his lavish spendings on Amir's birthday party and the ownership of a Ford Mustang. Baba also succeeds when he marries a woman of royal descent. Previously, skeptics have claimed that Baba could never marry. Baba even wins in trivial contests. He claims to have won a kite tournament and holds the record for most kites cut in a match. Baba's personality is positive. He is friendly which is proven when he buys everone in an American bar a drink. Baba is generous. He uses his own money to build an orphanage. Baba is glad to help. At his funeral, people tell Amir how they were helped like this person:

"'... helped me build the house in Taimani...'"

There are other people who state how Baba helped them, but you get the point. His relationship with Amir isn't as friendly. In Afghanistan, Baba is ashamed to have Amir as his son because he can't stand up for himself. They never relly bonded in the earlier parts of the novel. In America, things are different. The two get along better. When Amir graduates, Baba is proud and buys Amir a Ford.
        I can see why the Kite Runner has received numerous good reviews. The plot is interesting and the book has a clear main purpose. There are some unusual characters like Baba and Assef that spice up the story. Although I have stated the book has flaws, they are too trivial to interfere with the storyline. I would recommend this book to any teen or adult.

kite runner section 3

        The book has ended and  although I am not a fan of books, I have discovered that this is not such a bad novel. It was boring at first and I thought the book was bulky, but then the author picked it up in the middle and end. Although a lot has changed since the beginning, I still find comparisons in the third section of the book.
        Assef returns in this section and once again becomes Amir's enemy. This is shown when Assef puts on brass knuckles and decides to fight him for Sohrab. Amir's dependence on Hassan is replaced by his dependence on Sohrab, Hassan's son. When he was a child, Hassan defended Amir from Assef. In the fight, Sohrab defeats Assef with a slingshot. After the fight, Amir gets a cut on his lip that resembles Hassan's harelip. Not everything is the same though. The story began in the Afghan city of Kabul. The novel ends in America.
        The ending has loose strings. The author never tells when Sohrab starts speaking after he arrives in America. The fate of Assef is never known as well as that of Rahim Khan's. I decided to try to answer the questions myself. I don't have an answer for the first question, but I think that Assef survives the fight, but is blinded in one eye. Rahim Khan dies as a hermit.
        I did not get the hospital part where Amir wakes up and fades out after brief moments of consciousness. He starts talking about the hospital staff and what their names were. What does it have to do with the story or plot? What is the importance of this and what would it symbolize? I believe those moments aren't relevant to the story. They do explain that Amir is not crazy after taking the beating because his brain is able to remember the names of the staff at the hospital.
        Now that the book is over, I would rate it an eight out of ten. Not spectacular, but worth your time. Eight is a high score because reading is not my favorite hobby.

billy's choice for an ipaaadddddd

        Billy posted a blog about the features of the ipad. It's basically a tablet computer developed by Apple. He seems to praise it as he does in the following quote:

An iPad is portable and a lot bigger than the Ipod touch or the Iphone, but it does mostly the same task like them. A iPad's starting price is 499 US dollars, a lot more compared to the Ipod touch, but also a lot better in many ways.The iPad has a multitouch surface, allowing you to touch the surface with two fingers and both fingers will work finely. The battery is said to last up to 10 hours of video...

I don't think the ipad is that portable as I heard it is big. It doesn't fit in your pocket. The ipod and iphone are more portable as they are smaller in size. The multitouch feature isn't that exciting and I could use one finger and it works fine. There is no need to use two fingers. The battery is surprising and impressive as it can last up to 10 hrs of video. I believe the ipod does not have that much in its battery. This comes in handy when you travel or go outdoors where you can't charge the phone.
        Billy explains the ibook feature and I'm not enthusiastic about that becomes I don't love books. So my reaction to this is ehh. The videos feature is a little more exciting, but not mind blowing. There is youtube on it, but the ipod also has it. The bigger screen is an upside as you can see the video better. This is great for watching movies. I agree with Billy that the ipad is like a computer because it can surf the web as well as send email and play games.
        Overall, I'm not as enthusiastic as Billy is about the ipad. It's not going to change the whole market of phones like the ipod did. I think it's just another touchscreen device that people will forget about in a year. I personally think that the ipod is better because it is lighter and does what the ipad does.

Update on the 2010 NFL season

        It's half way through the season and this one has been an interesting one. There a bunch of story lines like why the Cowboys and Vikings are struggling as well as the slow start by the NFC west favorites, the 49ers. Are the New Orleans Saints going through a Super Bowl hangover? Earlier in the year, I posted my predictions on my blog. Looking back, I think some of them are not too optimistic. In the afc east, I predicted the Jets to win and they are currently tied for first with the New England Patriots. In the afc north, the Steelers are indeed winning, but are trailed closely by the Ravens. In the Afc south, the colts are in first and tied with the titans. In the afc west, the surprising chiefs are leading the way, but Oakland is right on its heels.
        To the nfc east, the giants are leading the division by one game. The packers are indeed leading the nfc north as I predicted and they lead by half a game. In the nfc south, I thought the saints would easily have their way, but the falcons lead the way. In the weakest division, the nfc west, the rams and seahawks are tied for first at 4-4. Because the top teams are at .500, the 49ers are still in this one.
        Currently the two worst teams are the bills and cowboys, 0-8 and 1-7 respectively. Bills are the only winless team and just keep finding ways to lose. This includes losing in overtime. Next week, they have a decent chance to win as they battle the lions who are 2-6. The cowboys as I mentioned above have been a big flop. They were expected by many experts to be a good team. Instead, they are at the bottom of their division and are on the verge of not qualifying for the playoffs.
        If I could change my predictions today, I would take the chargers and replace them with oakland in the afc west. Other than that, nothing would change. The saints will get better after they get over their hangover and the 49ers are likely to come back as they are only 2 games behind.

Response to the kite runner-clip 2

        I believe that a lot has changed between section one and section two. This is due to the flash forward on page 125. However, this manipulation of time has raised many questions for me. It also introduces some changes in the setting of the story.
        The first question I have is how did Amir and Baba get to America from Pakistan in the first place? The two countries are half a world away. The only feasible way they could've left for America was by boat. They probably traveled across the Pacific to the Bay Area. Another question is how exactly did they get their American passports? Did they come to America as illegal immigrants? How did they get someone to help them find a place to live and a job if they are illegals? My ultimate question is why would Khaled Hosseini put a flash forward if it raises so many questions? I would assume he would elaborate on that time period later on in the book.
        Some radical changes are introduced in the second section. First off, the time period has changed from the 1970s to the 1980s due to the flash forward. Another big change is the setting of the story. It now takes place in America, but then reverts back to Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Amir wrote short stories. When he travels to America, he is poised to write novels.He is more independent of his father than before. He can drive and he goes to school. He has a job and later on, a wife. In the part where Baba explodes on the store owner, Amir apologizes for him. In fact, it seems like Baba is dependent on Amir.
        With the death of many characters like Baba, Ali, and Hassan, it seems like a whole new story than the first section. When Amir returnsto Afghanistan, he goes alone and finds that Rahim Khan is the only pre-Soviet occupation era friend alive there and he too is almost dying. Afghanistan is also in ruins due to about a decade of war. There is a clear difference between Kabul in the beginning and the same city about ten years later. I believe the city is an analogy of how Amir's life has been.

Dynamics of a football team

        The football team is diverse with each person doing a different task. Everyone is not doing the same thing. First, let's start with the managers and coaches. The general manager is the one who deals with business matters. He/she decides the hiring of coaches and negotiates deals with players as well as deciding which people can stay on the team. He/she is the boss. There is the head coach. The head coach is responsible for calling plays and making decisions on the field. The offensive coordinator is in charge of determining what to do on offense while the defensive coordinator does the opposite. There are also other minor coaches such as the quarterbacks coach. It's self-explanatory along with tight end, running backs, and wide receivers coach.
        Let's turn to the players on the field. The quarterback is the guy who throws to ball to his/her receivers. That person calls the plays when the huddle. The wide receivers go deep to receive the football when it is thrown to them. The tight end has both blocking and receiving duties. The running back runs the ball instead of receiving. The snapper snaps the ball to the quarterback. A long snapper snaps the ball when the team is punting. The offensive line includes the snapper and is tasked with protecting the QB. The punter is the person who punts the ball when the offense turns it over. The kicker kicks field goals and point after touchdown. The holder holds the ball while the kicker kicks. The kick returner and punt returner runs the ball downfield after the ball is kicked off or punted.
        The defensive line attacks and attempts to get to the quarterback by breaching the offensive line. The defensive end covers the area on the edge of the defensive line. A linebacker performs multiple roles including stopping the run and covering receivers. The cornerbacks cover the wide receivers. Safeties play deep and help cornerbacks cover wide receivers and occasionally to stop running plays. If you think a football team is a bunch of people doing the same job, you are wrong because they all have their jobs.

facebook is distracting

        Facebook is an addicting website and I have to admit it's distracting when I do my homework. There are a ton of stuff to do on that site. You can make friends, take quizzes, like random pages and chat which is mentioned in the upcoming quote from Bassam's blog:

Then when I'm on the Internet I all of a sudden log on to facebook and I see all my friends are on line so I talk to them and most of them are trying to get away from there homework. So I talk to them and one thing leads to the other and next thing you know I am gossiping about every one and I look at the time and I have been on the Internet for at least two hours then in the end I am two hours behind and try to make up all the work in a hour. 

As you can see above, chat seems to be the main culprit. Who wouldn't get sucked into that? After spending hours on homework, anyone can get lonely. Facebook is the solution to that and soon, the victim will be doing other stuff other than chatting.
        Chatting leads to other activities. For example when someone logs on, they see a wall full of people who have commented. This drives curiosity and the next thing you know, you're checking out what your friend or friends' friends said. Sometimes there are links to quizzes and you feel like taking that quiz just to say how you rank or what you are. See how a simple chat leads to so much time wasting. This is called the snowball effect.
        I combat this addiction by closing the Facebook tab like I am doing as I type this. And now I have logged back on. You could also do your homework while chatting on facebook. This task requires the ability to multitask. If you're homework involves typing, you could minimize both the typing program and browser so they share the screen. This way, you could type while seeing what your friends are saying. If you don't have Facebook, I would recommend it if you could make up for the time you are distracted.
       

reflection on the kite runner

        This historical fiction titled The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, revolves around a boy who in his childhood, struggles to survive in Afghanistan. He and his father are forced to move when the Russians occupy Kabul, the hometown of the main character, Amir. To me, history plays a role in the purpose of this novel.
        Khaled Hosseini's purpose is to explain how the Russians changed Amir's life when they occupied Afghanistan. The author hints at this by flash forwarding to 1981 which is when he and his father leave Afghanistan and embark on a journey to Peshawar in Pakistan. After the flashforward, the father seems to have lost much of his wealth. It says in the book that they left some belongings at their old house. No one could be trusted during this period of time. If they had packed everything, the servants would know they are leaving and might tell the Russians. The two also brought whatever they could carry. Since they are crowded in a truck and there is not much storage area, Baba had to leave behind much of his fortune. This affects Amir in that he can't live a lavish life anymore. He can't rely on his father's wealth and must find a job.
        A more obvious change in Amir's life is the fact that he has to live somewhere else. The question is where, but one thing is certain, he can't return to Afghanistan. There are the Russians who create havoc and murder anyone who has been heard to complain about their policies. That's why no one can be trusted in terms of keeping secrets and why Amir can't return to his homeland.
        I would say that the author did a good job getting the purpose across to the reader. The reason being is because the changes are so radical. Baba changes from a rich man to a poor one with a need to start over in a new place. Afghanistan assumes a similar analogy. It was once an independent country, but in the 1980s, the Russians occupy it. Once a quiet life has turned into a journey for Amir.

reflective essay

        My blog topics so far have been responses to other people and to books, random topics, and that essay thirteen at the beginning of the year. The responses were about the Revolutionary War in America, college ready, a mad face, urban art, and essay thirteen. The random topics have been about leg cramps, writing essays, and sports. In hopes of improving next semester, I will explore my struggles with writer's block.

        My writing has not improved much. I can't whip out an essay in ten minutes like most of my classmates do. This is perfectly normal for me because writing has never been a strong point for me and my writing grade proves that(I have a B-). I can see that I need to elaborate more on some ideas. If I don't elaborate, I fall short of the minimum requirement which I expressed I hate in one of my blog posts. An example of this disaster is when I did a post about leg cramps. 

The title is very long because I want to be very clear what I will talk about in the post. If I just ask what the pain in the leg is, I would just say cramp and that would be the end of it. If I just mention how we treat it, the audience would not know what i am talking about. It's kind of a long sentence clause and I mentioned how long it is so I could have something to talk about. A cramp is a very simple topic and there is not much to talk about.

I went off topic just to meet the 350 word requirement which is the last thing I want to do, but I had no choice. I hope to solve this problem by expressing more opinions rather than facts next semester. This is because I can write more when it comes to opinions. Facts are boring because I just state them and that's the end of  that. Not much to them. Another way I didn't improve is I get stuck a lot in the midst of typing a blog post. I think for half an hour or somewhere around that just to come up with one idea. In extreme cases, I think for an hour and it sucks. 

        Of all the topics I have written about, I liked the one about America's struggle for independence. I knew a lot about that topic, so writer's block wasn't a problem there. It was written in chronological order from when Britain invaded New York to Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown. My inspiration came from school and Wikipedia. I learned about the war through school history textbooks and randomly searching battles in the war on Wikipedia. My least favorite blog post was essay number thirteen. It was written as a response to an article I read over the summer and was purely opinion, but it wasn't an interesting topic to blog about. The one that surprises me the most is the NFL prediction post. I thought I was going to receive a lot of criticism and disagreements, but it worked out fine. I wrote this like any other person would. Look at each division and determine which team is the best. This is what the format looked like for this post:

To the nfc east, the giants take this one. Eli Manning (quarterback) brought his team to the Super Bowl within the last five years. The criteria to win the nfc north is huge, but I take the packers. They're building a great team around Aaron Rodgers. The afc south isn't such a hard choice. I choose the saints. They were champions last year. The nfc west is possibly the weakest division in football. The 49ers will be the team to beat. Mike Singletary will lead them to the playoffs.

My inspiration came from my love and knowledge for football. I watch the games on the weekends.

        I have learned that writing isn't just picking up a pencil. There is thinking involved and you can't just dive into an essay and finish it. Plannings, like prewrites, help you come up with more ideas. This makes writing much smoother. As I noted above in the second paragraph, I get stuck because I can't come up with ideas and I just state facts. I get unstuck by talking about random stuff, but that will change next semester. Instead I will use more of my opinions to get unstuck like this quote:

I believe that Luis is right about college being fun. He is correct about being able to choose classes and what time to take them. Being able to choose classes is brilliant because personally, I don't like writing essays and I will explain about that in my next blog post. Having the power to choose what time to go to class is a big plus. If you are not a morning person, you can pick classes in the afternoon or at night and vice versa. Also, the option to do that enables you to attend class around your schedule.

I think you can notice what all these sentences have in common. They are all my opinions and I easily elaborate on the topic. No facts can be seen in this quote.

        My first writing goal for the next quarter is to write about sports more. I seem to be interested in athletics and it's a wide ranging subject, so I will never run out of things to write about and I tend to not get stuck on these topics. My secondary topics would be about the world and news. I wouldn't be talking politics. All I would be discussing are disasters, milestones, etc., just things you see on the news. I would work on not procrastinating because I'm a slow thinker and I don't type that fast, so I need more time. In addition to that, there will be more posts required each week so I will start posting on Wednesdays. My other goals are pretty straight forward. Learn how to get unstuck and how to post a blog faster. Discuss more opinions than facts. Be more informal so I can connect to the audience who are ninth graders like I am. It would just be weird if I spoke to them in an adult or business like tone.

Of Mice and Men response essay

 Of Mice and Men response Devin Liu

        In John Steinbeck's realistic fiction novella Of Mice and Men, Lennie is the guy that starts all the conflicts. The central conflict is the battle between Lennie and George. Lennie and George travel the country in search of a job, but the former keeps messing up. The sub-conflict adds to the problem. Lennie's insanity agitates everyone and drags George down and it causes Lennie to do something that George will not forget. In the end, both conflicts add up and lead to Lennie's doom, which solves the conflict.

        In the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was 25% in the U.S., which is where the story takes place. If there is a high unemployment rate, then many people will compete for jobs, thus it will be hard to get jobs. George successfully gets work several times, but Lennie interrupts this by losing George his jobs as it says in this quote:

I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose ever' job I get. (11)

Lennie is interfering with George's ability to survive, which means getting a job. Lennie's mouth gets people angry and his actions scare people causing people to see him as a retarded monster. Of course, George is also seen as an outcast because of the company he keeps. Losing his jobs forces George to become a nomad and roam the country for a job. Moving about causes serious challenges such as finding food and shelter. They also have to deal with cold and heat. In a way, Lennie is endangering George and himself.

        Lennie also has a habit of holding onto things when frightened. This gives George stress even though it's only a habit. This quote says it all:

Well he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants

to touch ever'thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to

feel this red dress an' the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie

all mixed up, and he hold on 'cause that' the only thing he can think

to do. (41)

George is forced to pry Lennie off the girl and she tells the police. The police and the men search for the two main characters. They threaten to lynch them and the two are forced to hide in a ditch. At the time of the incident, George was looking for a job and of course Lennie loses it again. They are on the move for the search for a job. Lennie has really big hands and when he clutches onto something, it will break. There are many examples. Lennie tries to pet a mouse, but is bites him. He gets angry and crushes the mouse. Curly beats him up and Lennie crushes Curly's hand when he gets frightened. Later on in the story, he tries to pet a rabbit and didn’t know he could crush it like the mouse earlier in the story. The big one was when he hung onto Curly’s wife and snapped her neck. George is forced to cover up for Lennie until Curly points out that Lennie did it.

        Lennie’s insanity endangers him as well. This sub-conflict leads to the main conflict and George demonstrates how stupid Lennie is in this quote:

I turns to Lennie and says,'Jump in.'And he jumps. Couldn't swim

a stroke. (40)

George tells Lennie to jump into a river. Lennie has to be saved by George. Remember that incident where Lennie grabs onto a woman’s dress. That costed George’s job and if they worked at Weed, Lennie would not have met Curly’s wife and killed her. Another way to think of it is if Lennie wasn’t insane and could live on his own, then he wouldn’t have to follow George. This story would have never taken place if he stayed where he came from. He could live safe and sound and own his farm of rabbits and mice.

        Of course the above scenario didn’t happen and the men look for Lennie after they find Curly’s wife’s dead body. Lennie is later seen hiding in the brush and George tricks him into lowering his guard. He grabs a pistol and shoots him at the back of the head. This death can be seen as positive and negative. The death relieves some of the stress George will have to face. Curly will find peace and have his revenge for his wife’s death. The negative aspect is of course that Lennie dies. This ending couldn’t have happened without Lennie’s craziness and his conflict with George.

response to leon liang's post about america

        Before the quote, Leon was talking about how England came to the New World and established a colony known as the thirteen colonies. The colonists however did not escape the grasp of the English government at first and the laws still applied to the colonies. The parliament passed unfair laws such as the townshend act and the proclamation of 1763. The colonists then decided to fight a war and they won. Thus the united states was born. I will explain in detail about the American Revolutionary War which was a civil war. Here's the quote:

After the war, the colonist was free from the control of the British. They create their own laws that were righteous. That was how the United State of American began. This was all Thanks to the most important leader, George Washington.

The war started with the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British were ordered to seize ammunition supplies and stop the rebellion. The minutemen however had other ideas and defeated the British and forced a retreat back to England. After that, King George sent a whole fleet to invade the colonies. They were headed toward New York City and ended up taking the city. The British had overwhelming firepower and Washington was forced to retreat.
        It wasn't all bad in the North. At the Battle of Saratoga, the Americans routed the British and forced a whole army to surrender because they were cut off. The Battle of Bunker Hill was a victory for the British, but caused heavy casualties for them. The war was going much better in the South. Although the British took Charleston, the British had trouble winning wars inland due to southern terrain. There are many forests and swamps that hinder the British. Their bright red uniforms didn't blend in with the landscape and were easy targets.
        Washington's army camped out at Valley Forge and were whipped into shape. They reemerged in the spring and heard that Cornwallis's army was camped out at Yorktown. the circumstance was right. The French agreed to trap the British by destroying the British navy. Washington and the French army decided to trap the British on land. Bombardments began on Yorktown and Cornwallis called for reinforcements. The reinforcements were too late because the British surrenderd at Yorktown. That marked the end of major events in the war.

what is that numbness in your leg after you wake up from your sleep and how do you treat it and why this is such a long title and why i am stating how long this title is

        Have you ever had that numbness when you wake up from your sleep and you feel a sharp pain in your leg when you use or move it? It's not like it occurs everyday for me, but it does happen. What I'm talking about is a simple cramp. There is a controversy over what causes these nighttime cramps, but people say it's potassium deficiency or the blood supply to the leg is cut off. Usually what I do is just give it a kick and get it over with. However, it does sting when I do that. On the bright side, it's a quick solution.
        Another solution is to walk it off which I do not like to do because it is dark. It also wakes you up a little because you are moving around. Another matter is that walking around is painful for the cramp, too. It's as if you were to export goods by walking. I don't even know if you could walk on a painful leg.
        You could hit your leg to wake it up. I don't know if that works. I have never tried it before. Maybe the pain will counteract the cramp. You could stretch, but it forces you to sit up and also wakes you up a bit. Most people would be too drowsy to sit up anyways.
        You could ignore the numbness and not move. However, you would have to deal with it the next morning and there is no guarantee that the pain will be gone by then.
        The title is very long because I want to be very clear what I will talk about in the post. If I just ask what the pain in the leg is, I would just say cramp and that would be the end of it. If I just mention how we treat it, the audience would not know what i am talking about. It's kind of a long sentence clause and I mentioned how long it is so I could have something to talk about. A cramp is a very simple topic and there is not much to talk about.

why writing an essay is so difficult

        Writing is one of the things we civil humans do. I don't think it's all that great. Every time I have to write an essay, I wish someone like a liberal donor would come and just hand me an essay that is already done. There are a couple of major reasons why I don't like writing essays.
        I despise the minimum requirement. I don't mind the minimum word requirement, but the page minimum is killing me. Every time I write, I see if my essay fills up a page and most of the time that's not the case. It's kind of annoying because I usually don't have anything left to write about. To stretch the essay, I have to grind and add words and details to the ideas I already have.
        I always finish my essays last because I feel like procrastinating on those devils. I did that back in middle school. If you read the study guide essays I did over the summer, you will find them not very impressive. Another thing is that my hand writing is sort of messy. The page becomes gray because the words are smudged. Letters are stuck together and everything looks out of place.
        Introduction is a main problem for me. I don't know how to start. I spend two minutes just thinking about the first sentence. My intros are usually very boring because i'm not creative. I also don't want to start out cheesy. It gives me chills. Conclusions are not my type either. How do I end my essays still remain a mystery to me. Again, I want to avoid being cheesy. I hear that in college there will be ten page essays, but you won't see me in those classes.
        My old teachers tell me that I write too little and I think it is true. My line paper would have thirty-three lines and I only fill twenty-five lines. The last lines of each paragraph only contain a few words and I have to admit that I am doing pretty well on writing this blog post. I think I will go sleep now.

words i have left to use

export
civil
clause
liberal
p.s. not a blog post

repsonse to Luis's post about college ready

        Viewer's discretion is advised

        Luis explains before this quote that college ready can mean a lot. For him, it means being responsible and tolerant of others. Tolerance makes the time at college peaceful and parents aren't around, so you have to be responsible. Independence is valued in college because you'll have to live near college. This is all what Luis said. Here's the link to his quote:

For example, maybe in high school you hated Biology. In college you can easily change your mind. In college you get to learn more depending on what class you’re in. Some great things about college are that you only have classes some days and you get to choose what classes and what time. Another great thing about college is that you only have to apply for about 2 semesters which is half a year compared to high school and middle school which are about three fourths of a year.

I believe that Luis is right about college being fun. He is correct about being able to choose classes and what time to take them. Being able to choose classes is brilliant because personally, I don't like writing essays and I will explain about that in my next blog post. Having the power to choose what time to go to class is a big plus. If you are not a morning person, you can pick classes in the afternoon or at night and vice versa. Also, the option to do that enables you to attend class around your schedule.
        I would like to elaborate on Luis's thoughts about independence. Being in college means you get to live away from parents. Wouldn't that be nice because they can only nag you over the phone and I'm not using myself as an example. You can stay up as late as you desire. This means more partying and less sleeping. This sounds a lot like a corporate retreat.
        Applying for two semesters also means that the year will be shorter and that is a plus too. No more 180 days school year. This also means more free time. How you want to spend it is up to you. Think of it as an extra long summer break.

response to The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino

        In The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino, all the dinosaurs except Q are extinct. Dinosaurs ruled the Earth fifty million years ago. Then out of nowhere, the dinosaurs die out. Q is an exception and he notices that a new species is growing up on Earth. Based on the story, I can see that Q is paranoid and dumb.

 "Then the situation changed-I don't have to tell you all the details-and all sorts of trouble began, defeats, errors, doubts, treachery, pestilences. A new population was growing up on the Earth, hostile to us. Thay attacked us on all sides; there was no dealing with them."(97)

Q is paranoid. He thinks that creatures tinier than him are attacking his species. Based on the story's descriptions, the new species seem to be weaker and shorter than Q. It would take a great number of these small creatures that Q describes to be able to subdue him. Even if they attack, they would need to be tall enough to get to his head to kill him. There are no mentions of weapons or humans, so they do not have the technology or aid to hunt a dinosaur.
        Q believes they are invincible, but they aren't according to this quote that follows.

"It was as if the New Ones wanted at the same time to defend themselves, to flee........."(105)

This tells they fear attacks and are perfectly vincible. At the end of the first quote, he says that there was no way to deal with them. This is certainly wrong as many factors can kill life forms. Disease and famine are two common causes. Natural disasters such as asteroid collisions can wipe out whole species. Q obviously hasn't observed what actually killed his kind.
        The dinosaurs were not killed by the small creatures if Earth. A recent article concluded that the only reasonable cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is an asteroid striking the planet. Q should have known something was wrong when there was a massive earthquake and when the planet cools because the sun is blocked out. He lists defeats, errors, etc. as the causes of extinction. These are all wrong and that is why I believe Q is a dumb creature.

predictions for the upcoming NFL season

        In this post, I will give you my predictions for the division champions, wild card, playoffs, and the worst teams. In the AFC East, the circumstances are difficult, but I pick the Jets to win this one.They have arguably the best defense in the NFL. That doesn't mean they have no offense at all as they can score a decent amount of points. For the afc north, I pick the steelers to win. They have a quarterback that led them to the Super Bowl two years ago. Afc south is a tough one, but I go with the colts. Peyton Manning is just too good. For the afc west, I'm hoping Oakland will win, but I believe the chargers will take the division like the past few years. Oakland, however, would pose the biggest threat to the chargers.
        To the nfc east, the giants take this one. Eli Manning (quarterback) brought his team to the Super Bowl within the last five years. The criteria to win the nfc north is huge, but I take the packers. They're building a great team around Aaron Rodgers. The afc south isn't such a hard choice. I choose the saints. They were champions last year. The nfc west is possibly the weakest division in football. The 49ers will be the team to beat. Mike Singletary will lead them to the playoffs.
        Wild cards would be the texans and the vikings. Texans are a surprise team and vikings will barely get into the playoffs.
        Winning the afc championship would be the colts. It would be a close one between the colts and the jets. Colts have great offense while jets have superb defense.
        Winning the nfc championship would be the packers. They would also be a surprise team.
        Super Bowl champion are the colts. They lost the Super Bowl game last year, but they will come back and win this year.
        The worst teams would be the browns and the rams. Browns just can't find a decent quarterback. Rams have a quarterback, but their offense and defense aren't all that good. Those are my predictions for the 2010 NFL season.

response to tony's post about obama's mad face

Here's a quote from tony's blog:

In this picture President Obama is angry. Notice how his eyebrows are lowered and brought in together making a reflection of the letter C. His eyelids are tensed, therefore making him look like he is squinting. His lips are pressed together creating those two curves that look like parenthesis ( ). As you can see he is very pissed off at something. This is what true anger looks like. Hope that clears everything up.

        Tony's statement is indeed true. Obama is quite angry in the picture. If you click on the link in the quote, you will see the picture. There are many aspects to feature. First off, his eyes signal an evil eye glare. He is staring intensely at something, maybe another person. It may be mistaken for some people that he is only squinting to see an object in the distance because he has no glasses on. This will be proved wrong as we examine more clues.
        His mouth displays an L shape. It is a straight line, hence his face displays seriousness. If he was happy, he would smile and the mouth would display more of a curve. Sadness would cause the mouth to bend into a C curve opposite of a smile. Here's a man with a smiley face.
        The eyebrows are very close to his eyes. That means he is straining them. In popular culture, \ / would represent angry eyebrows. If he got angrier, his and any angry people's eyebrows would definitely slant into the angle I described above with slashes.
        His suit makes him look serious. It tells he is all business. He looks very professional and his red tie is dark and gives a non-playful feeling. If he was happy, then he might wear some pajamas with a yellow tie or something like that. It looks like he is at an important event displaying more evidence of why he is serious and mad. I see a microphone near him which means he is speaking at some public event. If he goofed around a lot, then the audience would think he is crazy and didn't prepare for the speech.

10 words i kinda know

export
aspect
circumstance
corporate
criteria
civil
hence
clause

discretion
liberal

What's the hardest thing to do in sports?

        I'm basically going to write about what the title says. The candidates are scoring a goal in soccer, hitting a baseball, and catching a long pass while being covered in the game of football. I'm not going to include specific situations in sports like blocking a penalty kick because there would be an infinite amount of these difficult situations. I believe that catching a long pass is the easiest of the three, but I'm not saying it's easy. First of all, the pass has to be sufficiently accurate. The receiver then has to be able to catch it. If they have butter fingers, they might drop it. The football is a weird elongated shape and not a sphere. Lastly, they would have to avoid the guy guarding him.
        Scoring a soccer goal is second on my list. There are typically more defenders than strikers when the strikers have the ball and are threatening to score. That's because the offense and midfielders of the threatened team gets pulled back to help stop the attack. Players can't use their hands and must use feet coordination to be able to mount a successful strike. Communication and passing the ball is key because it's hard for one person to avoid all the defenders and drive into the goal. The striker then has to get pass the goalie and because the goalkeeper is well-rested and doesn't have to move around as much, he/she will be ready to block the ball.
        Hitting a baseball successfully is something you need eyes and luck on. The ball is very small, so there is a decent chance you will swing and miss. Major league pitchers also throw very hard typically reaching into the 90 mph range. That gives you a split-second to react. You have to make sure you get the pitch you hit well. Additionally, the sweet part of the bat is small compared to the whole bat. You could pop up or ground out if the ball makes contact with the wrong part of the bat. That's why even today's superstars only hit a .300 range average. That's less than half.

Response to Luis's blog about graffiti

Here's a quote from Luis's blog:

Some people might say that urban art or “graffiti” is bad for the community and for people. I do not think that urban art is bad for any reason. Urban art is not necessarily destruction of property, I think of it as more of coloring or decorating the city. Most of the property being painted is not even being used. I agree that urban art should not be done on important places such as religious places, cemeteries, and so on. In urban art, there are some rules.

        Luis is right about this controlled version of graffiti in that it is not violent and abusive as long as the people who are drawing follow the rules. Graffiti on unused property is legit because no one is using it so why waste it. If the graffiti harms valuable property then it becomes illegal because it would fit into the category of vandalism. Vandalism is not considered urban art because it does not decorate the city. Clearly, there is a difference between urban art and graffiti.
        The rules separating urban art and graffiti are important. That’s what makes them two totally separate things. It is explained not in this quote, but later in the essay that the writer can not draw on cars, religious places, houses, memorials, murals and of course schools. All of these are property belonging to organizations, the government, and regular civilians. They would not like it if they received a nasty surprise in the form of ink and color.
        I would just like to add to the rules that obscene pictures should not be allowed if you are an urban artist. It isn’t really decorating the city if there are nasty drawings on the walls. People and tourists visiting would think the city is full of bad people. Kids would be influenced as they grow up because they would see these everyday. Adding this rule will ensure strictness and still maintain fun for artists. I see Luis’s view on the subject and agree this stereotype does exist.

Devin Liu and Cristian Cortez       
        We should allow illegal immigration. It benefits the American economy more than it harms it. Also, Illegal immigrants are not always Mexican, some are from all around the world, seeking for a better life. Illegal immigrants do not pose a threat to the American government. They help support it by paying taxes and thus, keeping the economy healthy. They also take jobs that the American people don’t want. Another issue is the strict tests that immigrants have to take. If these tests where a little easier, then more and more of the problem of illegal immigrants will start to fade away. What we should do, as a country, would be to pardon all the illegal immigrants and let them live here. What is the matter if the next door neighbors are illegal? Now, in order to solve the immigrant problem, we should question why they are coming to America in the first place. Many want to find a better place to live and more opportunities. Our southern neighbor, Mexico, is a poor nation and many illegal aliens pour out of that country. If America were to collapse, wouldn’t we seek exile?

response to other people's essay

Unlike most people doing this same assignment, I have the shame to say that it was I who started the alliance.  After a while a started to have regrets about what I was doing, I wanted to start to be nicer, but the people who I dragged into the situation made me believe that the cool thing to do was to continue to gang up on the person.

-sam's blog

        I respect you for being such a noble person. It is especially difficult for you to change because you were the one who started the alliance. You followed the constitution in a good and bad way. I'll start with the bad way first. The constitution states that students must include, not exclude. You did include your friends to form an alliance, but by doing so you excluded the outsiders. It goes both ways. An alliance doesn't have to be formed to hurt peers. It can be created as a friendly group. I think that statement would clarify the include part of the constitution.
        Another part of the constitution states that peers must respect others. You're alliance picked on outsiders and that would violate the constitution. However, you changed your attitude and started to respect people who aren't part of your gang. There are probably still members of your alliance who bully people, but it doesn't matter to you because you already made your decision.
        You experienced the other side of the bullying story and it shows in your conclusion. You know the reason why you bullied people when you were younger. You're right and it's not cool at all to bully. Hanging out and getting along in activities like soccer are cool people. It's a coincidence that I'm talking about soccer and attending soccer Friday this week. Overall it was a nice story.

Essay 13

By Devin Liu

        One of the never ending issues is bullying. There is cyber and school bullying. I think the latter is more severe because it’s face to face. The more serious one usually involves ganging up because then bullies would have a lot of support and feel confident.
        People have several options to deal with that. One can be to tell the teacher which might not be so popular. They might be called a snitch. Confronting the bully is stupid because the victim is normally outnumbered. Staying silent would be best and that would give the bully an opportunity to pick another target.
People bully others to take out their anger on others. They use their peers as outlets. They can’t get mad at adults or higher authorities, so they intimidate younger people. Bullies expect no resistance at all from them.
        Bullies want to be cool, so they use jokes and pranks to appeal to others for support. They make themselves look strong by defeating younger peers. They also want to earn respect by displaying power. Fear will be instilled and no one will stand up.
        Bullying is something all students must contend with unless you’re popular or a bully yourself. I wish that the future is bully less and that school will be much more fun.