My Final Thoughts.

This year absolutely sucked.

People say that your senior year of high-school is supposed to be one of the best years of your life.. I call bullcrap. My senior year has been one of the worst years in my entire life.

So much has happened and so much has gone wrong this year and I just want to forget it as soon as possible.

First of all, I have had to take care of my mom. She's used to be paralyzed from the waist down and has had over 30 back surgeries to get to where she is today. She still has a lot of pain and has to go to the doctor and get procedures done that I have to drive her to and from because she's not allowed to drive after those. I don't mind doing this though, but on top of all the other crap, it wears me down.

Secondly, I have gotten sick way more often than I ever have in my entire life.

Thirdly, my dad hasn't spoken to me in over six months. I don't know what I did or why he isn't talking or writing me back, but, whatever.

Fourthly, my mom's husband is the devil reincarnated.

Fifthly, three people in my family have died since December. First to go was my grandfather. He did of old age in December and I was extremely sad to see him go. Then my cousin's baby (basically my niece) died. I adored her/ fell in love with that baby from the moment I saw her. Then next to go was my grandma. She was one of my favorite people in the world. I remember all the things she would do for me when I was little and all the things she did for me up until the day she died. I will never forget any of them.

It also hasn't helped anything that I have insomnia.

I can't wait to get out of high school and never look back.

Promt: 10 Reasons why I won't share a room with my best friend.

1. She's annoying after awhile. I like my room to be quiet and I don't like to be bothered while I am in my room. So, if I shared a room with my best friend, she would drive me crazy.

2. She doesn't clean. If we were to, I don't know, take turns cleaning the room everyday or something, she wouldn't do what she was supposed to and I would end up having to do it all.

3. She's the messiest person I have ever met in my life. 'Nuff said.

4. I like my personal space and for my things not to be touched/moved without me knowing about it. She would do it on purpose too, because she knows that it bugs me. Shoot, she's done it before, I have a book-shelf in my room and all of my books are organized by author, and she will just grab two and put them back in the wrong spots even though she knows they don't go there.

5. She leaves trash everywhere.

6. I do not want a smelly room.

7. I like being able to see my floor. Her room has no floor. It's a foot of clothes you have to walk on. ALL over the room.

8. She doesn't listen. To anything anyone says.

9. We have completely different taste in music. Her music makes me want to shoot the radio.

10. She gets mad easily. If I were to ask her to clean up her crap or something and then she didn't forever and I asked again in a not-as-nice way she would get soooo mad.

Transcendentalism Project.

This is my transcendentalist video. I took some of the pictures at the beach, some at park near my house, some just randomly on the side of the road, through my car's window, at a lake, and even some in Palmetto.

The pictures of me when I was little were taken in my back-yard in Kansas.

That's about it.

Transcendentalist Quote.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I chose this quote because people shouldn't have regrets about things. They shouldn't let things in their past bug them. People should move on and continue being themselves.

This quote means for people to not have regrets. They should not let their past mistakes (or the mistakes they made that day) get them down. Tomorrow is a new day, so try and make it better than the day before.

I believe that people should try and do this because if people are always thinking of all the things that they regret doing, they won't move on and make things better for themselves. People should always try and be better then they were the day before so that they will always be doing good and they won't regret what they've done before.

What should we do for comments??

Hmm... I think we could get more comments if we ourselves posted comments on even more peoples blogs. That way more people would know about our class and whatever it is that we're blogging about.
It could also probably help out if we blogged about some really cool stuff rather than stuff that is not really fun to rea about. (Well, it's only actually interesting if you're reading Rebecca's or Cassie's blog.)

Okay, I lied. I have no idea how to get people to comment our blogs.

My Dreamboard

Ok, so, that's my dreamboard.
I chose the key to success and the road to success picture because I want to be successful in whatever I choose to do throughout the rest of my life.

The suitcase, the sunset beach, and a couple of the other pictures are there because I want to travel. I want to see a bunch of places and experiance them first hand rather than looking at a bunch of pictures other people have taken.

I chose the picture of the skydiver with the parachute on because someday i'd like to have the mega guts it takes to sky-dive and then actually do it.

I chose the music thingy because I like music and will always like it...

The pictures of the cities are there because I would like to live in a city when I grow up and move away. I want to live in Chicago actually.

I put the picture of all the smiling people in there because I want to be happy while doing whatever it is that I do for the rest of my life. I don't care if none of these other things happen, just being happy throughout the rest of my life is good enough for me.

The family picture is there because I would like to get married someday and maybe (big maybe right there) have kids.

What I wrote...

This is what I wrote about while we were outside in Mrs. Ladd's class.
It's not exactly exciting, but here goes..

- The smell of the fresh cut grass reminds me of when I little. We lived in the absolute middle of nowhere in Kansas, and everytime my mom would cut the grass I would beg and plead for her to let me ride too. It got to where she could never mow the grass without me tagging along so she got a trailer/wagon type thing for me to ride in while she mowed.
- The sky is beautiful and the sound of the bird chirping and whistling just adds to peaceful-ness of being outside.
- A lot of airplanes have flown by today. It's weird because I never knew that any flew by at all because you can't hear them in class.
- The airplanes also make me remember one time when my brother and I were in the park one time when we were 3 and 4 and we saw a plane go by so we started running around pretending to be planes for the rest of the day.
- I miss the innocence and ignorance of childhood. The way we didn't care and didn't know that anything ever went wrong. When everything was good.
- I like seeing how (almost) everyone is out here quiet and focused. I can tell that all of us have matured a lot since freshman year because if you had put us in the same situation then, i'm sure we'd have all just been talking and cutting up instead.
- There's a crunchy looking leaf laying on the ground near me... I've always liked stepping on crunchy leaves. It gives me a strange sense of satisfaction. =]
- When Madison and Dillon finally stopped talking, it got too quiet. I don't like absolute silence. It makes me get stuck in my own brain and I don't like it. I prefer being distracted...

That wasn't all of what I wrote, but I took out all the extremely boring stuff.

Speak Trailer

This is my groups video for the book Speak.

My group was with Corey, Taylor, and Mitchell.

Blogging Challenge #4

Blogging Challenge

I believe that people should try to help the environment even more because it's very important for our future, our kids future, and our grandkids future. We all should be recycling, not litter, don't waste water, and conserve as much energy as possible.

Many people don't really care about recycling because they don't think it matters anyway. It really does though, it helps all kinds of things, like helping there not be so much plastic in landfills and stuff like that.

Littering is also really bad. It's bad for the environment and it makes our roads look bad. We should be proud of where we live and have enough respect to not throw things out our car windows or drop things on the ground when we could easily wait and throw things in the nearest trash-can.

We should try not to be wasting water as much as we do now too. We should not waste as much water as we do because it's something that we should try to conserve. Not everyone in the world has clean drinking water like we do, so we shouldn't be wasting it as much as we do. I mean, do we really have to water our lawn everyday? or even more than once a day??

We should also be conserving energy because it would be much better for the environment. If people could conserve as much energy as possible, it would really help out.

Any little bit that people can do helps a lot. Whether it be using those new grocery bags that you don't throw away or going completely green. Every little bit counts.

My Philosophy of Life

In our art class we did a project on our philosophy of life. It includes two pictures and a quote that describes our philosophy. We put our projects on an accordion style thing and made it so that if you look one way you see one picture and if you look the other way you see another picture.

This is mine.

On the below picture, you see a big pretty field and it's really nice and I like it a lot. It may not be that big of a deal, but I like it a lot.

This picture (the below one) is just a picture of me. You probably can't see it very well because it got messed up a little, but hey, it's me.

All pictures taken by myself.

Blogging Challenge #3

Where I live...

I live in the U.S.A in the Sunshine State, a.k.a Florida, where there are beaches and palm trees galore. Florida has a lot of pretty cool places like Disney World, Busch Gardens, Sea World, and lots and lots of other places. It's a really good place for people if they would like to go on a vacation to get away from the cold or anything for that matter. It's the home of Tropicana Orange Juice and some of the best colleges in the country. The beaches are really nice with the clearest blue water.

The part of Florida that I live in is Bradenton. It's basically a really booooorrrinng part of florida surrounded by fun places (like Sarasota, Tampa, etc.). I think it's pretty okay here though.

Actually, Florida is basically one big tourist attraction slash old folks home.

Picture Taken From Google Images

Blogging Challenge Three

"I Am" Poem

Directions: Complete this "I am" poem. You may select any character from the book Speak to do this poem about. Be sure to write from his or her point of view and think about the things he or she would feel. You may use some short one word answers, but do not make each line only a few words. You should try to provide support from the novel to really develop this poem so that it reveals information and insight about the character you select.

My poem is from Melinda's point of view.

I am lost and vulnerable

I wonder why he chose me

I hear "Ssh it's just me.."

I see a phone to call for help

I want people to notice that something is wrong with me

I am lost and vulnerable

I pretend to be okay

I feel worried and scared

I touch the old dingy armchair covered with dust

I worry that someone will find my sanctuary

I cry because he raped me

I am lost and vulnerable

I understand why everyone thinks that I am a weirdo

I say nothing

I dream of summer parties and long lost friends

I try to get better - be better

I hope he will not come for me again

I am lost and vulnerable

Why I am so shy.

I'm shy. I know, and I hate it, but I can't help it.

I know people always wonder why I don't talk during class discussions and why I don't usually talk to anyone unless they talk to me first, I don't even have a real reason for it, I seriously just can't help it. When I go to talk in front of a class or just talk from my seat, I get extremely nervous (I have no idea why though because I couldn't give a crap about what people think.) and when I go to open my mouth and talk, I either can't talk, or I stutter really bad.

I would absolutely love to be able to join in with class discussions and express my opinions and beliefs about things, cause believe me, I have plenty, but I seriously just can't talk. I open my mouth and no words come out so I'm stuck listening to everyone else's.

I have really tried to talk during discussions and everything, it's not like I willingly choose to be as quiet as I am all the time. I know that sounds weird, but when the class is having these really good discussions, there is a silent war going on in my head and the shyness in me always wins. Like for example, in Mrs. Ladd's class, when we started discussing Life of Pi and the class was talking about religion and their beliefs and everything and I agreed with basically everything Madison was saying and I really wanted to add my beliefs to his and back him up kind of, but when I tried to open my mouth and talk, I couldn't.

It drives me crazy. It's not like I don't like everybody, I respect most people very much, I would love to be friends with everybody and be able to talk to them, but I can't help it. So, sorry.

Why people would want to read my blog...

People would (and should) want to read my blog because it is interesting, sometimes insightful, and partially entertaining. My blog shows what I have been learning throughout the school year in my Art/English class as well as some posts relating to what we're learning. My blog goes from funny to serious and back again. From a descriptive wordle and a blog about things that bug me, to my favorite teachers and my goals for this year. Who wouldn't want to read about that?

From the very beginning, we've been putting a little of ourselves into each of our blogs and I think i've done a good job doing that. From my many attempts at being insightful, my semi-smartness, and my varied attempts at being funny, you can tell that i've been having a good time blogging. That's why people should read my blog.

Blogging Challenge

What I Learned While Reading Life of Pi

I've learned all kinds of things from this book. I've learned about tigers and hyenas, different religions, how to try and survive while stuck in the middle of the ocean, and lots of other things.

I didn't know that hyenas were so mean, they're extremely mean and after reading all about them in Life of Pi I don't want to ever go anywhere near them. They're obnoxious big ole dogs.

I've always thought tigers were awesome, big cuddly cats, and are extremely beautiful, but the book showed me the real version of them rather than my fairy tale version. Tigers are big ferocious animals who can tear you to shreds in a matter of seconds and they're extremely predatorial.

I like how the book shows how Pi has three different religions and teaches a little about each of them. It's cool how Pi merged all the religions he believed in.

I learned a lot from Life of Pi, but I can't really write it down because my mind doesn't want to think about anything right now.

Video

I thought that the texting while driving video was more effective. I thought it was pretty dramatic, but it left an impact.

I personally like the seatbelt video better because it's simple and straight to the point. I like it because it's something everyone usually skips doing while they're in their cars. It makes you think about everything you would lose if you were to die because you weren't wearing your seatbelt.

Both videos are very good and I think both are pretty informational and should make people think before they text and drive or don't wear a seatbelt.

Collaboration Post.

Prompt: Write about five things you would do to entertain yourself if you did not see a soul for seven days.

Being alone for so long can get a bit boring, but if you were to make me be alone for that long, I would most certainly find some ways to entertain myself. Depending on the house you're in, you would have different things to choose from to do. If you were in your own house, you would be comfortable and know what your options are, but if you were to be in a house full of entertaining things like games systems or movies there would be a lot of things to explore.

So lets start with the entertaining house. I would make sure that if I were alone for seven days I would have all I wanted to keep me from getting bored. Number one on my list, gaming systems. I'm a gamer, so I play video games a lot. Number two, a movie room. Who doesn't like movie right? I'd make sure I have a big screen tv and a suround sound system for a better sounding movie. Number three, a bowling ally. I would have such a great time making a fool of myself since I don't know how to bowl. I can see it now, I'm getting ready to throw the ball, and BAM! I fall forward and face plant. Number four, an arcade room. I would have classic games to modern ones. I could go for hours playing Pac-Man and Dig-Dug. They are some of my favorite classic games. And finally number five, I would have a room with mechanical parts to build myself a robot. There are umlimited possilities, but the first thing I would do with it would be to have a light saber duel, although, I'm not sure how that would work out.

If I were alone for seven days in my own house, I would definitely find stuff for me to do or else, I would probably die of boredum. First of all, I would find a good book that I haven't gotten a chance to read yet and enjoy it. I would try to read it slowly because it would take more of my time up. Then, I would do some of the stuff that I've been procrastinating about, like hanging up some pictures, doing the laundry, and finishing up any homework that I've left undone. For the third thing, I would go find some of those puzzles that are hidden somewhere in my house and try putting them together. Those would probably take me quite some time because I suck at puzzles. Then, I would go and play some of my video games and watch some movies, because that would keep me occupied and get my mind off being so alone. The fifth and final thing I would do, would be cleaning the entire house top to botttom with music blaring in the background. That would take a LONG time and would most certainly keep me busy and since there would be music, I'd have some fun while doing it.

Obviously this was written by two different people so please bare with us if this sounds odd.

The end.

Written by Danny and Jessica.

My Advice for Teachers

- Make whatever you teach more fun. Everyone likes things when they're more fun and interesting. If your teaching and having fun while you're doing it, I'm almost positive that the kids you're teaching will react in the same way.

- Don't give lectures. Unless you want to bore everyone to death and make us feel like you're talking AT us rather than TO us, don't give lectures. Lectures are never fun, but if there i no other way to teach us then try to get the students to participate with you while you're teaching.

- Treat us with respect. We're people to and we like our views on things to be heard. If we think of something important enough to say while you're teaching, let us say our piece about it and move on. Nobody likes it when the teacher won't let anyone express their own thoughts and opinions on the matter at hand. Usually when a teacher respects the students, the students respect the teacher back.

- If there is any debate on the topic being taught let all the students debate (not argue) about it and let them hear each others point of view. It makes people more comfortable knowing that some people in the room share their views.

- Share things about yourself. The students like to hear about your life too (just not ALL the time) because it makes them feel more comfortable to be around you. It makes the teacher seem more normal to them and not like some strange adult telling them what to do.

Valentine's Day Limericks

There once was a woman

who fell in love with a roman

he was so smitten

he gave her a mitten

and she said dang man!

I met a guy named Steve

We went out on Valentines Day eve

He told me good-bye

and told me to get some shut-eye

For the next day he had to leave

There was a man who helped kidnap

a woman by hitting her in the knee-cap

He did not want to be alone on Valentines Day

but he was happy and gay and did not delay

letting her go on her way with a map and boot-straps.

There was a guy with a rose

who liked writing prose

He wrote about a lady

and called her an old bitty

and he got hit on the nose.

Today is the day

people go and say

I love you dear

and want to hold you near

for it's Valentines Day.

Life Changing Experience.

I don't know if this counts, but here goes...

My brother was heavily involved in drug throughout his teenage years. It got him all messed up in school, he lost a ton of weight, had a bad attitude, hung out with the wrong people, and generally was doing terrible. As I watched him go though all these things it has influenced me not to do any drugs.

A lot of my family members are alcoholics who's livers are going through hell and other health problems. I see them gradually growing worse and drinking more while their kids look on worried and scared because they just won't stop.

Because of this, I would never want to put anyone through what my family and I have gone through by doing drugs or drinking so now I loathe even the thought of doing drugs/drinking and I never want to do it.

I don't mind if other people do it, it's your decision and I won't judge you for it. That's just my personal belief. A lot of people I know and some of the people I respect drink and stuff and it doesn't bug me, just don't expect me to join you because it's just not anything I would want to do.

Prepositional Phrases.

In the middle of Missouri, about halfway between Branson and Springfield, is the quiet town of Crane. Over hills, down the old Main Street, and through the one stop light in town, lies my dad's quaint little house. If you go through the hall, down the stairs to the basement, and take a sharp left there is my favorite place. Sitting there among the rows and rows of old records and books, music floating throughout the air and before the fireplace, nothing could be better.

Teachers.

Some of my most memorable teachers that created somewhat of a "spark" in me are my second grade teacher Mrs. Boone, my fifth grade teacher Mrs. Deas, my eighth grade art teacher Mrs. Bromley as well as some others.

Mrs. Boone was my second grade teacher at my elementary school in Alabama. She was always one of my favorites and I liked her a lot. She was one of the first teachers who noticed that I had a higher than normal reading level (I had a twelfth grade reading level) and always encouraged me to read more difficult books which I gladly did. I also remember that that was when I started liking math. I LOVED math back in elementary/middle school and that's when it started. She always used to brag about me to other teachers and it always made me feel good about myself.

Mrs. Deas was my fifth grade teacher was also always supporting my reading and math too. She would always let me go to the library even though I had gone the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so on. (Yeah, I went everyday.) Eventually I became one of the top readers in the whole school. (Only ten points behind first place.) Since I was really good at math as well she convinced me to join the math team (that she ran) and we went and had competitions and stuff. So, that made me like math even more.

My art teacher Mrs. Bromley was the most eccentric, creative, and awesome-est teacher I have ever had. She always made sure that the kids loved whatever it was we were doing and made us understand artists better and would always come up with the coolest projects. I liked her a lot. I had her for two years in a row and would have loved to have her for another. She was awesome.

Looking back on all this I am realizing how much of a little dork I was am.

I don't think I'd change it though.

My Nicknames.

I've had plenty of nicknames over the years especially the generic ones that come with my name being Jessica like Jess, Jesse, and other variations. Those all just came from my name (as you can tell) and all of my friends have called me that at one time or another.

One of the not-so-ordinary nicknames that I now have is Jessimandiffer. I know, it's extremely long and weird, but I got it because when I first met one of my friends (whose really bad at remembering names) they couldn't remember my name so they kept calling me Amanda, Jennifer, and occasionally my actual name. So the rest of my friends told him just to call me Jessimandiffer then he's always be just a little bit right. So, that's why I have that one.

Another nickname (that isn't that much of a nickname) is JesEcA, it's weird. I don't even know how that one really came about, but they just spelled my name like that ALL the time and since I didn't really mind, they just kept on doing it.

I have a zillion of other nicknames but I would rather not write about them because that could go on forever and ever and ever and ever. I don't ever usually mind it when people call me something different (unless it's mean or something bad) so usually when someone gives me a new nickname I am pretty much indifferent about it.

Being a Braggart.

What am I good at?? hmmm... gotta think...

I'm pretty good a math. I think it's pretty easy and I don't really have that much trouble doing it. It's one of my best subjects and always has been. Because I'm good at math I am pretty good at accounting too which I think will be my career when I get older.

Oh, I'm pretty good at memorizing stuff right before I have to take a test on it too. Like, in french last year, I never studied but right before the tests I would look over everything real quick and get A's on the tests.

I'm good at reading. I love reading. I actually stayed up extremely late last night because I was so into one of Stephen King's books called "Salem's Lot" (So far, it's really good.). I am pretty good at answering the questions to do with reading too. For example, I've always scored really high on the reading part of standardized tests like the SAT and the FCAT.

I am good at keeping my head on straight and I don't let other stuff influence my opinions about things. I form my own opinions based on my own beliefs.

I'm pretty good at giving advice. Although if you ask me for it, be prepared for a pretty straight-forward answer because if you come to me to hear my opinion/advice then I will give you a completely honest answer.

I'm also pretty good at breathing. I like to think that I'm pretty much an expert at it really. I mean, I have been doing it all my life.

I'm good at listening and being respectful towards people. I think that your respect is one of the most important things you can give someone. I like to be respected and I'm sure other people do too.

Speaking of computers, I am pretty good at using them and doing all kinds of stuff on them. I'm not a genius at it but, I'm pretty good with them.