Spring Break Reading Reflection

Hi blog followers,

So, I have continued to read my "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" book. The following I have read between March 23,2012 (regular reading class) and March 30,2012 (week of spring break).

I have had lots of time to read this week because I went to New York, so I got time on the plane and in airports to read. 

Chapter 1 questions, comments and predictions

Tibby's story 

Background info: Tibby is staying home and working at Wallman’s (a local department store).

I wonder why Tibby is the only one out of the four best friends that is staying home for the summer

Lena's story 

Background info: is spending the summer with her grandparents in Santorini, Greece along with her sister, Effie

I think Lena could have said that Tibby and Carmen have different builds in a politer way because it came off as an insult. I believe she didn't mean for it to be an insult

All four stories tied together

How is it possible that one pair of jeans can fit all four girls perfectly?

Do the girls really think it's a good idea to break into Gilda's (the place where the mothers all met while pregnant with the girls)? 

Chapter 2 questions, comments and predictions

Bridget’s story 

Background info: Going to a soccer camp in Baja California, Mexico

I predict that Bridget will get in trouble for sleeping on the beach while at soccer camp

Carmen’s story

Background info: Going to South Carolina to spend the summer with her father

Why has Carmen never been to her dad’s place before?

I predict that her plans with her dad will change

Chapter 3 questions, comments and predictions

Definitions

What is a “caldera”?

Tibby’s story

Why does she quit her job and become a film maker if she hates her job so much

Chapter 4 questions, comments and predictions

Lena’s story

Will we ever find out how old Effie (Lena’s sister) is?

I predict that Kostos (a guy Lena meets) will play a large part in Lena’s story

Carmen’s story

Is her dad hiding something from Carman?

I think it’s weird that Carmen’s dad doesn’t know the answers to simple questions about Carmen

I predict that her dad has someone special in his life

Carmen’s dad is getting married but Carmen has never met this women?

Chapter 5 questions, comments and predictions

 Lena’s story

Will we ever find out how old Kostos is?

 Chapter 6 questions, comments and predictions

Tibby’s story

Where in the book does it say that she lost her staff discount?

Why did the girl Tibby found faint?

Chapter 7 questions, comments and predictions

 Lena’s story

I wish there was a part in the back of the book to tell me what all the greek words that appear in Lena’s story mean

Is Lena’s grandmother trying to get Lena and Kostos to fall in love?

Chapter 8 questions, comments and predictions

Tibby’s story

Who is Nicky?

Why does Tibby have to do everything for her mother and siblings?

Chapter 9 questions, comments and predictions

Carmen’s story

Why has it taken five days for Carmen’s dad to do something with Carmen?

Tibby’s story

Why does Tibby want to avoid her crush?

As you can see, I have many questions, comments and predictions. I'm enjoying this book and can't wait until the next time I get a chance to sit down and read. 


♥ Michelle

Reading Reflection #4

Hi blog followers,

So, I just realized that I never posted my reading reflection #4 from last week.

As you properly know, I finished reading “The Help”. I decided to start reading a book called “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” by Ann Brashares. This book (from what I have read on the back of the book) is about a pair of jeans that seem to bring four best friends together over one summer.

 Book: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Author: Ann Brashares

Pages Read: 1-10 (prologue)

I want to first start off with a quote at the beginning of this book…

“Not all who wander are lost”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

One question I have right on the first page is “why is the speaker talking about eating dogs”???

Two questions I have are “Who is speaking right now at the beginning of the book and is this person a big part of the story?”

I also want to know if this person bought the pants? because it says “when I got home, I put the pants in the back of my closet”. If this person did, why did the author decide to put that this person doesn’t like second hand clothes.

I agree with this person that second hand clothes are gross but I guess that some people have no choice then to wear second hand clothes.

Why is the speaker talking about past summers if they are not important in the story? (at least I don’t think they are important to the story so far).

I think it is interesting that all four best friends were born within seventeen days of each other. This probably is why they sound so close.

What happened to Bridget’s mother?

I predict that the pants are going to bring the best friends closer then ever.

I like that the author decided to tell the reader about the past to set up the story but I don’t like that the author waited until the end of the prologue to tell us who is talking.

♥ Michelle

image from http://pauabooks.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_book_info&products_id=120

Cute Picture

I got this picture in an email and thought it was so cute. I love how the kitten looks serious about saying “If I could, I would marry food…” then in the second shot, he looks like he is laughing. He is so cute with his facial expression, it reminds me of when my cats yawned when they were little, they made a similar expression. The third picture, he is back to being serious, it's the same picture as the first picture. 

Weather change

Hi blog followers,

I can't beleive how hot it is outside today. Right now ( March 19th,2012 at 1:50pm) according to http://www.winnipegweather.com/, here are the weather states for Winnipeg:

 Temperature: 22.2°C
Humidex: 27
Wind: S 45 gust 63 km/h
Humidity: 68 %
Dewpoint: 16.0°C
Pressure: 99.6 kPa
Tendency: rising
Air Quality Health Index: 2
Visibility: 24 km

I don't know what Tendeny or Air Quality Health Index mean what I do know that it feels super hot outside even though the temperature is only 22.2°C (it feels like 27°C).

That is a big change from what it was last week.

Also, according to http://www.winnipegweather.com/ :

Normals

  Max: 1°C
Min: -10°C

That is a big diffrence between the normal high and today's  temperature (21°C diffrence).

I'm not complaining if the weather wants to stay like this.

But, I guess it's Winnipeg, the weather can't be prodicted.

Writing Reflection #4

“Moment” story

For my “Moment” story I wrote about the day when my cat, Princess, passed away. I finished my rough copy. But, I could probably go back and add more details to it before saying I’m completely finished. Right now, my “Moment” story is just telling what happened. It doesn’t really go into great detail because I didn’t want push myself to the point that I get upset about remembering her. I know I have to if I want to be a great writer, even if it means getting upset. My spelling is probably horrible because I can’t spell very well. So, that is one thing I can improve on.       

Solitary confinement

I liked when we got to go sit anywhere on the second level of the school and work on our “Moment” story. I found it helpful because it gave me a chance to focus on my story and not have loud people distracting me.

Blog

I’m enjoying blogging in this class. Like I’ve said before, it gives me a chance to be creative without wasting paper. Blogs help to save the planet. I would like to learn about linking stuff from other websites to my blog. I also want to learn how to upload videos I take.  The videos don’t seem to want to upload when I try at home.

Spring is finally here

I ahve decided to blog about the biggest thing I should stop doing.

I thought hard about this and I think the biggest thing would probably have to be stop being a people pleasure.

I love to make people happy, which sometimes is a bad thing because I put the needs of people before my own. I can't say "no" when people ask me for things. 

 

greatest academic accomplishment

My greatest academic accomplishment would have to being on the honor roll every year since grade six. Before middle school, my average was never high enough to be on the honor roll while all my friends where. I thought I was dumb but now to find out that I'm dyslexic, I beleive being able to have high enough marks to be on the honor roll for 7 years straight and having dyslexia, that is my greatest academic accomplishment.

♥ Michelle

"ABC's" of celeb names

Anne Hathaway

Britney Spears

Chace Crawford

Dakota Fanning

Eva Mendes

Fergie

Gene Simmons

Hilary Swank

Ice T

Jesse McCartney

Kelly Clarkson

Lindsay Lohan

Madonna

Natasha Bedingfield

Olivia Newton-John

Paris Hilton

Queen Latifah

Renee Zellweger

Sara Evans

Taylor Swift

Uma Thurman

Valerie Bertinelli

Will Smith

Xander Berkeley (found this name on www.movieeye.com)

Yvonne Suhor (found this name on www.movieeye.com)

Zac Efron

Squash

Welcome back blog followers,

So, I have decided to introduce, you to my other cat. Her name is Squash. Yep I have a cat with a name of a vegetable.

Here, let me explain how she got her name. Well first off, I should tell you that Squash really is not my cat. She is my mom cat.

My mom had a cat named Pumpkin a couple of years ago and sadly, Pumpkin had to be put down in December 2010 because she was getting too old and fragile. My mom decided in 2010 that it was time to get a new kitten for our home. My uncle told my mom that one of his friends (different friend then in the post about Izzy) had a cat that was pregnant. My mom found out that the kittens would be calico, just like Pumpkin was.

I remember going in March 2010 to see these kittens when they were just new born. The kittens were just 2 weeks old.   

Anyway, we went with one uncle to see the kittens and to pick one out. When we got there, the kittens were all asleep together with their mom. The kittens looked like little mice because they were so small and did not have much fur. We stayed and played with the kittens for about an hour and picked out this kitten that looked just like her mom. One of the kittens ended up falling asleep on my leg.

We were told that the kittens would not be allowed away from their mom until April. So, we went home with no kitten but we took many photos of them.

My uncle phoned us a couple weeks later and told us that the kittens were allowed to go home. We drove out to his friend’s place that weekend. When we got there, my mom found the kitten she had picked out weeks before. But, then she noticed that one of the other kittens, who looked like the mom cat, had a bushy tail and liked that kitten better. So, we took the bushy tail kitten.

My mom was trying to pick a name that was like Pumpkin. She decided on the name Squash because it was in the org family as Pumpkin.

Squash has been a fun addition to our household. When we first brought Squash home, Izzy didn’t like having another cat in the house since she had been the only cat in the house for about a year.

At first, Squash was cute and well behaved. She would try to play with Izzy but Izzy was not having any of it. She did the same thing Pumpkin did to Izzy when she was a baby. Izzy didn’t like having this little ball of energy jumping on her and jumping off of the couch.

As Squash as gotten older, she has become naughtier. She loves to go up on the kitchen counters and go into food. We can’t leave anything uncovered if we don’t want a little fuzzy face in it.

For some reason, Squash thinks she needs to go in to our closets and play in them. Every day when I come home from school, all the doors in our house are open and have toys in the closets.

I’m making Squash sound like she is all bad, but in reality, Squash is fun to have around. I love playing with her long bushy tail (yep, she still has that tail).

Izzy is starting to get us to having this ball of energy around. They sleep together on my bed which is so cute.

Squash is going to turn 2 years old in a couple of weeks and hopefully she settles down.

Squash as a baby

♥ Michelle  

    

iPhone about me

I have decided to take a template of a iPhone and put pictures that describe me, my hobbies and some shows I like.

The first image is of a show because I love shoes

The second image is of a music note because I love to listen to music and because I love to sing

The third image represents my love for acting

The four represents my love for dance. I have been dancing since I was 3 years old

I put a mage of a cat because I have three cats at home and I love cats

The sixth image represents my future as a teacher

I put the "Teen Mom" logo because I love that show

The eighth image represents my love for my friends

I put a image of Jesse McCartney because he is cute

I love to write stories, so I included a image for a pencil and a notebook

I love to watch Jersey Shore, so I included the logo for the show

I love to volunteer in my spare time

I love the Twilight series

Shopping is one of my hobbies

I love makeup



                  

Reading Reflection #3

So, this is my third reading reflection about "The Help". I have finished reading this book. I thought it was boring in some parts and exciting in others.  It was boring because I believe the author dragged parts too long over many chapters. I learned many things about what life was like in the early 1960’s. I know that poor black people were used as maids for rich white people but I didn’t know that they pretty much raised the white children while their parents did what ever they wanted.  I think it was gross that one of the mothers let her daughter in dirty diapers until the maid came back the next morning. I think it was brave of Skeeter to brake the divide between the white and the black. Skeeter wanted the black to have a voice and she got those voices heard eventually. The white rich folk built “out houses” for the help so that they didn’t share the same bathroom with the maids. I think this is wrong because the black people didn’t have “a disease” like the white said. When Skeeter sent her resume to that writer and got a reply back saying that she needs more work before going any further, I think that person could have gave Skeeter some tips on how to do this instead of just putting her. I was glad that Skeeter got a job with the local paper. It was gross when Minney gave Hilly her “special pie” but to be honest, Hilly had it coming.

I give this book a 2/5 for starts. 

"6 Word Memoir" #4

My fourth "6 Word Memoir" is "Beauty will come from inside you". I decided on this one because girls need to realize that we are beautiful even if we have no make up on.  I got this image of Taylor Swift from http://starcasm.net. She did this photo shoot in 2008 where she went the entire shoot without make up.

"6 Word Memoir" #3

My third "6 Word Memoir" is "Without drama, high school is boring". This is a true statement when it comes to my friends. It seems that my friends and I can’t go a lunch hour without drama. This picture is of our school. I got this picture from my graphic Arts teacher.

 

"6 word memoir" #2

My second "6 word memoir" is "Dyslexia, my biggest obstacle in life"

I got this image from http://blog.cognifit.com

I decided to do this "6 word memoir" because I have Dyslexia. I honestly believe that having Dyslexia is my only obstacle in life. Just a few months ago, I learned that I was dyslexic. 

This image depicts how a dyslexic may see words and letters. Letters and words may look all over the place and make it hard to read. Personally. I don't really have this problem only if I'm reading a book with lots of words. I have found a font online called "Dyslexie" that is suppose to help dyslexics read easier. I haven't tried this font out yet by hopefully soon I will be able to try it out. I may not be able to spell or read as fast as everyone around me, but with practise, I will someday be able to. 

"6 word memoir" #1

This is my first "6 word memoir".

My "6 word memoir" I chose to do is "Safe in the Arms of Love".

This is a name of a song by Martina McBride so I don't own this memoir. I also got the picture from http://www.squidoo.com.

 I was listening to this song one day while trying to think up "6 word memoir".

I chose this picture because it shows a couple who look like they are in love and it shows the girl holding on tight to her guy.

 

Kony 2012 Criticism

According to CBS news, here are their top concerns about the Kony 2012 campaign…

One issue CBS news has is that Kony 2012 is making the situation in Uganda an “easy, good-guys-vs.-bad-guys narrative, when the reality is far more complex”. They believe that the video is making the situation less important and forcing on capturing Kony.

The founders have no comment about this topic.

Another issue CBS news has is that the video and the cause “does not include the people of northern Uganda themselves”. CBS thinks that we should be helping the people in Uganda also since we are there to find Kony. I believe we are helping the people there by finding Kony and preventing future abductions.

Again, the founders have no comment about this topic.

CBS news also has a problem with the fact that we are sending a message “that only rich, white North Americans can do something about the problem”. I believe that if the people of Uganda would tell us that they don’t want our help, we would back off but until such day comes, I believe that it is ok to help them.

Again, the founders have no comment about this topic.

Of course CBS has a problem with how the organization,  “Invisible Children”, are getting their money and how that money is being spent. According to http://animalnewyork.com, last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production”. I can’t find anywhere it says how they get their money.

The founders do have a comment to this concern. According to http://invisible.tumblr.com/, you can go to “www.invisiblechildren.com/financials for the past 5 years of financial statements for everyone to see”. “Below is a screen-shot from pages 35 and 36 of the 2011 Invisible Children annual report that detail our total expenses for Fiscal Year 2011. An expense statement by class is the way nonprofits present their expenses to the public because it’s the clearest way to show the purpose of different organizational expenses vs. a line item expense statement such as the one on page 6 of our Audited Financial Report”.

Picture from http://invisible.tumblr.com

 One concern I have about Invisible Children is how do we know if our money and our efforts will be enough to capture Kony. In the film, it says this campaign ends at the end of the year; well what if by then Kony hasn’t been arrested? Will everyone just give up and forget about this?

I believe that the picture of the film makers holding the guns may come back to haunt them because they say that they want peace and don’t want children to hold guns but then they go and pose with guns? If they want to keep up their image, they shouldn’t have done this.

The following is taken from http://invisible.tumblr.com/ and is regarding the picture of the founders holding guns. Jason Russell (the guy in the video) addressed this concern.

 “Let me start by saying that that photo was a bad idea. We were young and we got caught up in the moment. It was never meant to reflect on the organization. The photo of Bobby, Laren and I with the guns was taken in an LRA camp in DRC during the 2008 Juba Peace Talks. We were there to see Joseph Kony come to the table to sign the Final Peace Agreement. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was surrounding our camp for protection since Sudan was mediating the peace talks. We wanted to talk to them and film them and get their perspective. And because Bobby, Laren and I are friends and had been doing this for 5 years, we thought it would be funny to bring back to our friends and family a joke photo.  You know, “Haha - they have bazookas in their hands but they’re actually fighting for peace.”  The ironic thing about this photo is that I HATE guns. I always have. Back in 2008 I wanted this war to end, like we all did, peacefully, through peace talks. But Kony was not interested in that; he kept killing. And we still don’t want war. We don’t want him killed and we don’t want bombs dropped. We want him alive and captured and brought to justice”. 

I would love to do what ever I can to support Kony 2012. I beleive we need to get the word out to people about this so people will also support Kony 2012.

Kony 2012

The Video:

I think the video got the point across about capturing Kony. The children that are being forced to kill and are being forced into the sex trade need to be saved and for the future children that Kony will take. Some adults say that kids these days don't care about what is happening in the world. This is not true, in my option, teens are the ones who seem to care the most about this cause. I talked to my dad about Kony last night and he told me that he has never heard about Kony and he told me straight out that he has better things to do to worry about what is happening in other countries. He told me that it sounds like a scam to get people to give them money. I believe this a good cause and I will not listen to my dad’s negativity.  

Now What?

I think we should get the entire school to raise money for the organization who is working to find Kony. I could make posters in graphics to put up around the school. This cause has reached beyond the boundaries of our school because on Facebook, everyone is talking about Kony. While I was eating breakfast this morning, Breakfast Television was talking about the video we watched in class yesterday. Our prime minister, Steven Harper, needs to be aware that the citizens of his country are invested in this. We should write letters and mail them to him.  We should make a video on Kony and show it at our next student assembly.

Izzy

Hi blog followers,

So, a couple days ago, I posted an entire about my cat, Princess. Princess is not the only cat I have. I also have a cat named, Izzy. 

Izzy was born on February 14th, 2006. She is my Valentine’s Day baby. 

Izzy is a grey cat that loves to be around people she knows. Izzy doesn’t really like new people. She is kind of a scary cat.

I got Izzy in April 2006 from one of my uncle's friends place in the city of Winnipeg. I remember the day I went to get her. 

I had wanted to get another cat after Princess went to live at my dad's. My uncle told me that one of his friend's cat was about to give birth and wanted to know if I wanted him to tell his friend that I would take one. I said that I would go see the kittens when they were born and that I would decide when I got there. 

I remember the day I went to get Izzy. It was a rainy April day and my uncle told me that the kittens where old enough to go home with people. We rove over to the house and when I walked in, I saw a lot of grey cats and kittens (mix of ages). I went over to see the mother cat and her babies. She had 4 newborn kittens all snuggled up together sleeping. I picked up one of the kittens and the mother cat didn't like me holding her baby. She meowed at me and I put the baby back. I petted the mother cat to let her know I didn't mean any harm to her babies. I picked up another kitten once the mother cat felt comfortable with me. I was told that the mother cat had 3 other litters of kids before and that my uncle's friend didn't know whom the father of this latest litter was. The father could possibly be the mother cats' son but we don't really know.  

I noticed this one kitten just rubbing up on me and trying to get my attention. I picked that kitten up and played with her. She ran off into the kitten to eat and I followed her. I let her eat and then brought her back to her mother. I decided that I wanted to take a kitten and decided on the kitten that was rubbing up on me. This kitten became my Izzy. 

A week or so before I got Izzy, I had written a list of names I wanted to name her. I read a kitten-training book that said to pick a name that has no more then 2 syllables so that the kitten will learn to come when you call. I loved the name Isabella and I decided to name my new kitten Izzy. 

When we left, we went to my grandma's place (she lives 10 minutes away from the house). I put Izzy down and showed her where the litter box and food was. We had set this stuff up before going to see the kittens. 

Izzy ran into my grandma's living room and went under this blue chair that she had. I didn’t realize this and I thought I had lost her. I finally found her but she didn't want to come out. Finally she got hungry and came out. 

We stayed there for about an hour and then want home. It was about a 30-minute ride home and I had Izzy in a little carrying cage so that Izzy won't go under the seats in the car. Izzy cried the entire time on the way home. 

When we got home, I brought Izzy into my bedroom where I had set up a dish for food and water and a litter box. I opened the door to the cage for her to come out but she didn't want to come out. I went to have supper while I had the door closed (my mom had an older cat named Pumpkin that we didn’t want Izzy meeting yet). I came back after eating and saw Izzy curled up on my rug. I played with Izzy until I had to go to bed. My mom told me to keep her in the cage to sleep but Izzy was crying so much that I couldn't sleep, so I took her out and allowed her to sleep with me. In the morning, Izzy was still in the place I put her. I had to go to school that morning and we left Izzy in my bedroom. 

Izzy goes by either Izzy or Bella. 

I think Izzy felt comfortable with me because she would stay right by me when I would bring her out of my room. Izzy never whacked anything or did stuff she wasn't allowed to do. 

6 years later, Izzy is still my sweet baby. Izzy has developed a habit of scratching the carpet in the living room. 

When I got Izzy, I was told that she liked younger. So, I sometimes give her some of mine if I am eating some. 

My mom has told me that when I am gone for the weekend to my dad's, Izzy will cry and try to look for me. I think this is cute. 

After Princess died, I started to worry that Izzy would die also. My mom told me that Izzy is here for a long time. 

Izzy is a still goose. Izzy likes to go on her back and fling herself around. She also loves to play with string. (See picture below)

I have had some great memories with Izzy over the past 6 years and I hope that she lives for a long time. 

   

♥ Michelle 

Izzy as a baby

Izzy now playing with string