Well yep. Here it is Sunday, almost 10 at night and I'm doing my eighth blog post. Man I am a master of procrastination. So, my comparison!
Barbara loved the organic lifestyle. And I loved my project. It felt like such a part of me, like I had put so much of myself into it. And I know that's how she felt about what she did. That she put all this hard work to achieve a beautiful result, and that's how I feel. I worked very hard but now I know it was all worth it. We both had this plan, and we made it happen! Though her's was definitely a lot larger and much more physically challenging than mine was, I still feel it had the same emotions behind it. Especially love. We both loved what we were doing.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Last Guitar Post, awwwwe yeahh!
I did it! I finally did it! Yes, it always feels good to finish a project, especially if you are finishing late. The author of "Animal Vegetable Miracle" must have felt awesome if i feel this good. I'm so glad that this project helped me to actually attempt at playing guitar. I don't know if i have said it before, and if i have, i'll say it again, I have been wanting to pick guitar up for a long time. I have always loved the sound of guitars, it's even better if the sound is made by someone who knows how to play. I feel that guitar has impacted my life how living on things she grew in her own backyard affected her. She was dedicated to the lifestyle she had chosen. After i finally was sure i was changing my project to learning to play guitar, i did the same thing. I have been playing my finger tips off, just as she had worked hers. Reading that book was an inspiration to me that with enough faith, you can do anything. In the end of the book she said that she didn't want to stop living off of fruits and vegetables, with goodies being an exception. I think that i know exactly what she meant and why she meant it. Dedicating time out of my day to learn and practice how to play guitar has changed my regular schedule. I'm seriously wanting to continue this project. I wish that i would have been able to decide this in the beginning instead of having to go through the whole confusion with my mom's back problems that set me off a couple of weeks. I'm very happy that i ended up making the right decision in the end. Though i had my troubles and needed some getting used to, so did the lady in the book, and look how successful she turned out :) Blog #8, thanks for this project
Last Blog, First Day!
The first day of school, a day I have been dreading, yet I feel so relieved. This is my very last blog, I don't have to stress about this any longer. As much as this was supposed to be fun, and a new experience, it was still more stressful all around. Today was the first day back to choir, its weird but I felt a sort of happiness being with everybody again. Chamber choir has been like a family and it was so fun to see everybody again, and to see how well we blended with the new members. We gave three new freshmen and several older new members so everybody who is in their second, third, or fourth year was concerned about how good we were going to sound. Today class was short so we only had time for one warms up. From what I heard we sounded pretty good together. I am very excited to actually start singing. I haven't had voice lessons in a while, so I feel little out of practice.
I am hopefully having voice lessons this Friday at four, that is the usual time, I will have to rush from school to get there. I have not scheduled my time for piano lessons during the school year, I am going to try and get that done tomorrow. I want to stick with piano, I was doubtful on whether I wanted to or not, but my voice teacher told me if I have a background in piano and voice then I will have a good chance for a Michigan State scholarship! So I am pretty excited. Today was a very usual first day of school, the regular bustle of new freshmen looking for their class, the frustration at attempting to make it through the halls and still be on time for class. The whole time I was thinking how fast high school was going to go for the freshmen because it seems like just yesterday I was a freshmen. Now I am a junior, worrying about college and passing my AP classes. The whole time at school I was thinking about Anna Nalick's "Just Breath" Lyrics. She says "Life's like an hour glass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button." This feels like a great way to end my last blog, music fits every situation in life, no matter what it is, or what you are going through, there is a song for it and it is there to comfort you. Have a good school year to everybody!
I am hopefully having voice lessons this Friday at four, that is the usual time, I will have to rush from school to get there. I have not scheduled my time for piano lessons during the school year, I am going to try and get that done tomorrow. I want to stick with piano, I was doubtful on whether I wanted to or not, but my voice teacher told me if I have a background in piano and voice then I will have a good chance for a Michigan State scholarship! So I am pretty excited. Today was a very usual first day of school, the regular bustle of new freshmen looking for their class, the frustration at attempting to make it through the halls and still be on time for class. The whole time I was thinking how fast high school was going to go for the freshmen because it seems like just yesterday I was a freshmen. Now I am a junior, worrying about college and passing my AP classes. The whole time at school I was thinking about Anna Nalick's "Just Breath" Lyrics. She says "Life's like an hour glass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button." This feels like a great way to end my last blog, music fits every situation in life, no matter what it is, or what you are going through, there is a song for it and it is there to comfort you. Have a good school year to everybody!
So we started school today, and my day was pretty good! I have to make this a quick post, because my internet is still down, and im posting from my girlfriends computer, lol. But yesterday i did a firing and finished a set of three pieces, and finished glazing them this morning. I havent been able to do all the blogs and my project as much as I like because i was working 6 days a week, most days 8+ hours. And since most of the ceramic things take a long time, (firings take all day to do both), I never really had time. But anyway... I have to go and I'll see you all in class! By the way, great joke Mr. Wilson!!!
Guitar: Love hate relationship :)
I woke up at 6:30 this morning to do a workout, after i got ready for school (really early, i know) and went straight to the guitar after. It was an automatic action, which i found weird after i realized i was playing the guitar. I was nervous for school this morning and didn't get much sleep last night, and i think that the guitar calmed me down. I know that i have mentioned how relaxing playing the guitar is, I just thought i should give an example that shows how i know what i'm talking about. I said in my last post that i would practice more chords, but i didn't this morning. I reviewed my regular string notes and the chords that I have been practicing instead. I'm trying to perfect six chords so i will practice the other chords later and then blog about it. Hopefully, by that time my fingers will not hurt as much as they do now. I exceeded my guitar playing limit this morning and now my fingers are all tingly and painful;even typing this hurts. If i thought my fingers hurt before, i just proved myself wrong. When playing an instrument you really do have to take breaks when trying to play all day. In order to take breaks, you must make time to play first. This might seem obvious but alot of people start playing their instruments and don't complete a full practice (30min-1hour) because they did not plan it out. Playing a guitar takes time to get used to, even if you have played for a long time; you must take time out of your day and put it aside specially for practice. I did that this morning. Since I know that i have to go to school today, i woke up really early and created time for guitar. People are always complaining about how they don't have enough time; you really have all the time in the world, usually we just don't use it correctly.
schools starting.
I am not exactly sure how many blogs I have so I thought that I would just add an extra one. This blog will more than likely be very short even though I had to go edit all of mine because they were three hundred characters instead of three hundred words. I thought this project was really worth my while and I did learn a few things through it. As I have previously stated I have learned self reliance and perseverance. This project had its hardships but I worked through them all. The worst part about this project I thought was the in fact chart…I am probably still missing a few things. It is mostly done though. This project also made me realize that I will actually have to work to get a good grade in this class. This worries me because language arts is not exactly my favorite or best subject. I had everything except the blogs done almost a week ahead of time. So I got to relax for a little bit of my summer and spend a few days up north with some family. I hope every one had just as great a time as I did doing this project and I hope everyone had a good summer. I am actually kind of excited to see everyone at school.
Monday, September 6, 2010
ouchhh
Three posts today, two tomorrow, this might work out! Probably not though, knowing my luck ;) I have been practicing all day though. I did not think it was possible for calluses to go away, but the ones on my fingertips that i had before did. I can say that because my fingers are in so much pain from playing all day. I memorized the chords that i wanted to before, D7, G7, C, and G. I practiced with different songs thousands of times. "Amazing Grace" is going to be in my family's head for the next couple of days. That song is the only one, besides Yankee Doodle, that I could find that used all the chords that i know. The hardest chord for me is C because your first finger has to be on the first fret, second string. Unfortunately, I have small hands, like I have mentioned before, and since my other fingers have to be in separate frets for that chord, my first finger tends to slide on to the first string giving the chord a springy sound that is unappealing. I also taught myself Am because i wanted to practice a song with that chord in it. The song ended up being too difficult to start off with the Am chord though, so I'm still practicing. Switching my fingers with the chords is getting easier now. What I'm going to do tonight and tomorrow is learn different chords, probably F, D and A, and review the string notes because i have forgotten all but the first two strings. I cannot wait to see my progress throughout my time playing guitar, even past this project, because it is one thing that you know you can always learn something new for. I must say that I do not regret playing all this guitar in one day though. I think that i have come to love playing it. You can't really get bored playing the guitar because the possibilities to what you can create; i find it very amusing.
This is the post where I need to connect my summer project to Barbara Kinsolvers so here it goes.
Avm and my project have a few things in common and many differences. For example my project wasn't about growing food, but about taking pictures. We also have things in common though and one of those is that Kinsolver did something that she wanted, she followed her dream buy reducing her carbon footprint, and by supporting locally grown farming instead of big chain farmers from all around. She followed her dream and were very happy with the results, the same thing applies to me. I like taking pictures and it is something I am passionate about. I might not have helped the world in any drastic way like she did, but I did something that is important to me, just like Mrs. Kingsolver. This has been a really fun project and I am happy that I continued with it and made it all the way through. I think that my project will be even more satysfying when I look back at the scrapbook in 10 years and remember all the goofy pictures I took, and all the goofy things I did.
Have a nice night everyone and see ya all tomorrow~!
Avm and my project have a few things in common and many differences. For example my project wasn't about growing food, but about taking pictures. We also have things in common though and one of those is that Kinsolver did something that she wanted, she followed her dream buy reducing her carbon footprint, and by supporting locally grown farming instead of big chain farmers from all around. She followed her dream and were very happy with the results, the same thing applies to me. I like taking pictures and it is something I am passionate about. I might not have helped the world in any drastic way like she did, but I did something that is important to me, just like Mrs. Kingsolver. This has been a really fun project and I am happy that I continued with it and made it all the way through. I think that my project will be even more satysfying when I look back at the scrapbook in 10 years and remember all the goofy pictures I took, and all the goofy things I did.
Have a nice night everyone and see ya all tomorrow~!
8 DOWN, 0 LEFT!!!
Here goes blog number eight! The blogs have been such a good experience and fun to read about especially when other’s projects are so similar to mine! The only problem I ran into was staying on task! It was so hard to concentrate on my weekly blogs with all the summer ruckus going on around me. I am proud to announce that all my summer homework is 95% done! Both books read, all tweets tweeted, essay completed (just needs revising), almost the whole charts completed besides a couple of blocks and also all of my blogs will be done after this! It’s quite exciting if you think about it. So last weeks game did not go as planned. We lost and I don’t even feel like mentioning the score it was so bad. But that’s the past now, we’re not looking back and have no attention on doing it. Today we had our first practice after two days off and it was a great practice, everybody working hard and perfect football weather. After practice I went to the weight room to test my bench. I set up the weights to my weight and was able to lift it!!! I was so happy that I was actually able to lift my weight and finishing a part of my project with the outcome that I wanted. I’ve been thinking a lot about how my project connects to Kingsolver’s food resolution and have came to a couple conclusions. First of all, our two resolutions were ones of something that we loved to do. Gardening for her and football for me. Doing something that we loved to do just made it that much easier for us. Our resolutions would not be a challenge if it was something we were too accustomed to. Yeah there definitely were times that I had to force myself to get up in the morning to go to practice and I’m guessing Kingsolver had many days where she wanted to just pick up a Twinkie or a Gatorade instead of going out to plant seeds all day. But it’s the thrill of these things that keep us both dedicated. When I’m out playing football, everything around me gets me pumped from everyone in pads, the hitting, even the atmosphere of anything football is what keeps me going. For Kingsolver, she’s been gardening since she was a girl and it’s a passion that she could never let down. Of course only eating homemade and local foods would be an impossible feet for an average American, but it takes someone like Barbara Kingsolver to make the impossible possible.
Post #9....Over-achiever? ehh, possibly..lol
So, I already posted eight times, but I need to compare my project to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in the best way I can describe it.
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle their family is planting their own garden and growing all of their own foods. This will help the environment, their health, and all around will make a difference in the lives of her family and will change her own life. Although my project was on a much smaller scale, I did something similar in a way. I found that by exercising daily, I bettered my own life, and health. I even helped a few others do the same along the way.
Also AVM shows us that something that was once just a thought, can be made real. It took more time for her to get things into motion than it did for me, but we did it. Both of us took a thought, an idea, something we wanted done and made it happen.
I feel kind of bad comparing my small project to something so great, but they are similar in ways.
I would also like to point out that my family has a garden in our backyard and it's massive and we have bought less of many things this summer because of it. Is that kind of a contribution to her project?
Well, anyway, here are my final thoughts on this project. I am so happy I chose to do what I did. I feel better about myself, and I know I am healthier. In the end I have accomplished my goal. I could have gone further of course, but I am happy to have made the progress I did.
Look forward to seeing everyone in the morning and I'm excited to see what grade I get on my In Fact essay, I'm proud of it. :]
Adios, Gisele
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle their family is planting their own garden and growing all of their own foods. This will help the environment, their health, and all around will make a difference in the lives of her family and will change her own life. Although my project was on a much smaller scale, I did something similar in a way. I found that by exercising daily, I bettered my own life, and health. I even helped a few others do the same along the way.
Also AVM shows us that something that was once just a thought, can be made real. It took more time for her to get things into motion than it did for me, but we did it. Both of us took a thought, an idea, something we wanted done and made it happen.
I feel kind of bad comparing my small project to something so great, but they are similar in ways.
I would also like to point out that my family has a garden in our backyard and it's massive and we have bought less of many things this summer because of it. Is that kind of a contribution to her project?
Well, anyway, here are my final thoughts on this project. I am so happy I chose to do what I did. I feel better about myself, and I know I am healthier. In the end I have accomplished my goal. I could have gone further of course, but I am happy to have made the progress I did.
Look forward to seeing everyone in the morning and I'm excited to see what grade I get on my In Fact essay, I'm proud of it. :]
Adios, Gisele
LAST POST!!!(:
Okay, so I know I posted a blog post just a few hours ago but I have this last one left to write. So, overall I am so thankful I got to do this project. It wasn't your traditional summer reading. Like having to read a few books, and write like seven essays and do a packet. No, it actually gave us a chance to get out and do something that we normally wouldn't do, and also things we maybe would have never done. At the beginning of the summer I was very apprehensive about the whole thing. I wanted to so many things, and some things I knew would not work out. Along the way, I am glad that it worked out the way it did, I am glad that I decided to have the car wash. I am glad I got out and did something people would not expect out of me. I helped for the cause of breast cancer, met some really cool people, and also saw that I could do it. I saw that with a few months of planning I could put together something organized. Now that I did a car wash, and it was successful maybe I could do something in the future that would be even more extravagant. Eventually, I would like to put together a walk for breast cancer for teenagers or something along those lines. Us as teenagers don't get to partake in so many of those opportunities or just don't see how much we, or other people benefit from it. In conclusion to my summer project, I learned a lot and I am so thankful. Thanks for reading guys! (: See you tomorrow!
Ashley Shuell's 8tth blog post PART 2
Well, I just finished “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”, so this is part 2 of my 8th blog post, here I will compare my Project to the book. Usually, my summers consist of sitting around and being lazy, well not this summer, I worked on my project and my essays. My comparison is to the basic plot line, the family, only eating things they grew to stay healthier, they had to sacrifice many things like the yummy junk food and ice cream, the things they enjoyed eating but made them unhealthy. I had to stay home many times during summer to work on this project when I could have been out with my friends, but I knew in the end that it would pay off and so did the Family. They had to sacrifice a lot of money to eat this way and a lot of time out of their days to tend to the garden or to the coop, I had to spend some money but it wasn’t as much as they nearly spent. Barbara’s family had to undergo many sacrifices but they succeed in the end, this takes a lot of self motivation and determination! It’s really hard for a person to change their diet, you must resist the temptations! They had a goal in mind and it was set, I to had a goal, I think our goals were similar, it had to do with making our special person/people happy. I wanted to make my boyfriend know that I care about him and Barbara had to care for her family so that in the future they could be healthy. Barbara and I share the same love. Unlike mine, hers will be spreadin’ through America to tell everyone how important it is to eat healthy. Well that’s about it
See everyone tomorrow!
See everyone tomorrow!
Last week!
So last week was the week that I worked on my scrap book. It was also the week I read 3 books but only 1 relating to class. I was suppose to get half my scrap book done last week alone. I did not accomplish this goal I got about 7 pages done. It was more time consuming then I thought it would be. If I was to go back and change the outline for my project I probably would have did a week of taking pictures and then a week of scrapbooking them. But what is done is done, and I did not reach my goal for how much scrapbooking I wanted done. I did over exceed my goal for the pictures I took though. So mission accomplished for photos and mission failed for scrapbooking (I thought the opposite of bold would be italics). I still took photos this week so that was a bonus. I found out my puppy is a photo whore. She posed for me for like an hour, and my other dog did not like me giving the puppy attention so he tried to eat my camera. Good times. I just took one more picture of me before I go to bed, as it is the last night before school so Night everyone peace!
Ps, I named my camera squiglete ~ and the wrist strap sircle o!
Ps, I named my camera squiglete ~ and the wrist strap sircle o!
2 weeks ago
Ok so two weeks ago I went to Orchestra Camp, and I brought my laptop and two memory cards to camp right? Thinking i would have plenty of room on my 2 memory cards I probably wouldn't need to upload the photos to my laptop. I fail at that because by the second day I had to load them on to it. I took almost a thousand pictures my 5 days there. I took pictures of 12 girls sitting on an arm chair, 11 girls in a shower, and 10 girls on a bed. (We are lucky the bed and the chair came out all right). I took two videos of us trying to shove spencer through a candy door *cough* *cough* I won an award for being the paparazzi because I took pictures of everyone. My camera battery lasts forever usually but I had to charge it twice while I was there, and both times it was charging I would reach for it in my pocket. I scared the girls in my room by taking pictures in the dark with the flash. I used it every way I could. The camera hated me by the end and I am pretty sure everyone else did too.
POST EIGHT!
Now that I am finally done with my scrapbook and have read both books, completed the chart analysis and started my compare/contrast paper for the essays, this is all I have left to do. This is my final blog; the blog that I compare my project to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. My comparison is really simple. In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, the woman sets off an what seems to be an impossible journey (at least in today's view), and takes her husband and two girls to two complete different places and they plan to change almost everything about the "traditional" eating habits. They plan to eat only food that they grew themselves, or locally grown food. Everything else that wasn't in that category was simply thrown out of their lives. What she and her family did are similar what I chose to do this summer, but in completely different ways. What they love doing is eating healthy, home harvested food and to avoid anything that wasn't. What I love to do is document my activities, especially the ones important to me. This is the reason I chose to do a scrapbook. What simpler way could I document my summer festivities in an organized fashion better than a scrapbook? No other options came to mind. My goal is completed, and I'm happy that I chose to do this, not only because it gave me time to enjoy my summer, but now in a few weeks when I forget what I did over the summer, I can go back and remember.
HURTING FINGERS
I mentioned in an earlier post that old family friends came over today bringing a new guest who taught me a few things about chords. She was not only a helpful advice giver, but a true inspiration. I don't know her full life story, but she had a rough life. In the past, she taught herself guitar and played whenever she needed. I use the verb "needed" because playing music, like other hobbies, relaxes you and separates you from the regular world. If you read or write poetry, it is like that; it makes you feel better. So whenever she needed, she would play. Now she gets better and better everyday and she is quite well. Her dedication to playing guitar with so many other distractions in the way shows me that i can teach myself and become as good as she is. Watching her teach my mom's friend, Shawny, taught me many things even though she wasn't directing her teaching to me. One of the things that I observed was that encouragement is necessary in learning to play the guitar. Trying to learn something new can get frustrating at times, especially if no one is there to help you. Whenever Shawny would doubt herself and start giving up, Tracy would tell her that she could finish the song and then try it over again. The relief on Shawny's face after those encouraging words was evident and then she took Tracy's advice. I have my family who supports my guitar playing although it might sound horrible now it'll get better with practice. Tracy's advice to learn chords two at a time has actually worked. The first chords i learned were C and G7. Altering them back and forth helped my movement flow quicker and faster. I tried to play yankee doodle with those chords too and i noticed the difference in the flow from before i practiced the movement and after; the difference was huge. So that is very very helpful advice. Now i'm working on G and D7 :)
# 8 WHOO!
So this is my 8th and final blog YES! I’m so happy this is over with.
The novel Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is a story about a woman who makes tremendous changes that affect her and her whole family’s lives. She, along with her husband and kids, move across the country from hot steamy deserts to lush fields of green vegetation. Her newfound project was based on beliefs she held about
Kingsolver’s project and mine share a countless number of differences and only few similarities. Her project took many years before it could begin, and mine only a few weeks. Her idea was not only for the well being of herself, but for her family and the country, mine however was only a goal to benefit my interests. She could help start a change in the country that would lead to healthier and happier Americans; the only one I could actually help is no one with my goal. I could bring music to people’s ears and money into my wallet. I could go on and on about the differences between our projects but in the end we do share some common themes.
The number of aspects between our ideas are more different than alike but I have found that they can be compared a great deal. For one, both Kingsolver and I are both looking out for the interests of somebody. We both care about what we are doing and enjoy it as well. We both had a strong idea that could grow into something big with the right amount of motivation and we both took the time to prepare for it. Though different in some traits, our ideas are similar in more of a moral type of way.
There you go, my final entry about mine and Kingsolver’s projects, hope you enjoyed. J
Guess who's done?
Second blog in about 10 minutes, stupid actions of a procrastinator. So the title might have lied, I'm not entirely done. But I'm pretty much there. I've just about finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and unlike a lot of what I've read this summer, I actually liked it. I can't exactly put my finger on a main concept of how my project and Kingsolver's are related, but there are many just baby details of it. The whole concept of self reliance is very empowering. And I really liked how she pointed out a lot of the government and industry interferences that just messed with the farmers heads and sent them spiraling down. I think that's giant. I myself love to criticize the government for so much that's going wrong, especially now with our economy heading in the definite wrong direction and so many failed plans to help it. Now I'm not saying it's to blame for everything that's ever gone haywire, especially with the subject I tried to expose this summer. There's a few pages on homeless veterans, which was particularly upsetting. The fact that someone who has given so much to fight for us and doesn't even have a house or food disgusts me. In AVM, with the approval of the gov't there's an uprising industry of mass produced and cheap food that leads to farmers losing business and some even lost everything because of it. To be honest, that was about all I could find. There were many values portrayed through out the novel that definitely got to me, making me want to better myself as well. She even inspired me to want to start eating better (though well see where that goes hah.) I'm actually really upset that school starts tomorrow, I mean I'm all for learning and everything I'm just not a fan of getting up at 530 every morning. It feels like this summers gone by way to fast and that's a little depressing but what can you do. I'll always have my memories, well until I'm old and crazy and I guess that will have to get me through a school year. But anyways I'm really happy I got to do this project and read about everyone else's ( which by the way were very good, everyone's!) and i will see you all tomorrow:))))))
Seven seven sevennnnnnn
Hey Guys,
All because I suck at life, I have to do two blog posts in one day! Not so much fun. Hey, but it least it's better late than never. So I tried to call Susan G. Komen today to see if they received the money, but its a holiday so they weren't open ): I am anxious to see if they got it, and I can't wait to see how they react to it. I know a lot of people do stuff for them like that all the time, I would just love to see the gratitude. I look back at the car wash, before I had it and back then I saw it more of just something I had to do. But, when I look back on when the car wash was actually happening, it was not just something I had to do for a summer language arts project it was way more than that. The looks on some of the people's faces, showed it all. I had a conversation with one lady who seemed very thankful that teenagers could organize something like this. Sure, we had some people who stopped by that really just needed there car wash, and didn't really support the cure. Well, at least there money still went to the cause. There was another lady who was in the back seat of a car we were washing, and after we were done, she thanked us and said "I am a breast cancer survivor." At that moment that is when it sunk in that I could actually make a difference. Overall, it was a great experience and I would not change it for the world.
Thanks(:
All because I suck at life, I have to do two blog posts in one day! Not so much fun. Hey, but it least it's better late than never. So I tried to call Susan G. Komen today to see if they received the money, but its a holiday so they weren't open ): I am anxious to see if they got it, and I can't wait to see how they react to it. I know a lot of people do stuff for them like that all the time, I would just love to see the gratitude. I look back at the car wash, before I had it and back then I saw it more of just something I had to do. But, when I look back on when the car wash was actually happening, it was not just something I had to do for a summer language arts project it was way more than that. The looks on some of the people's faces, showed it all. I had a conversation with one lady who seemed very thankful that teenagers could organize something like this. Sure, we had some people who stopped by that really just needed there car wash, and didn't really support the cure. Well, at least there money still went to the cause. There was another lady who was in the back seat of a car we were washing, and after we were done, she thanked us and said "I am a breast cancer survivor." At that moment that is when it sunk in that I could actually make a difference. Overall, it was a great experience and I would not change it for the world.
Thanks(:
7777777777777
Wow well number 7. Good news as opposed to the last you've heard of my language arts adventures hah. My charts, after hours of locking myself in my room to avoid various distractions, are complete. I found myself looking endlessly for reasons to leave, just to get out for 2 minutes. I haven't started the essay (shame on me, i know i know) but I'm thinking I want to do it on Tell Me Again Who Are You? and Sleepy Head. They weren't exactly the most interesting of stories but I noticed as I was filling out the chart that there were many similarities and differences without digging very deep into them.
All the materials I needed for my project have been gathered and assembled, though I am missing one poem but that can easily be changed. Overall it has turned out a lot different than what I expected. It's not necessarily a bad thing but I am just a tad disappointed because it didn't make the huge statement I was hoping for but never the less I am proud of my work. Some of the poems were less than my best work but I still put a lot of effort into this project, a lot of my heart too. There's one picture that's in it that just makes me want to cry every single time I look at it. Ah I don't even want to think about it! Even though I never made it down to the Soup Kitchen and the project is coming to a close, I'm going to make it a priority to get down there one of these days and help out. I think even the slightest effort can make a difference, just like recycling! The way I look at those types of things is what if that was me, and someone could have made a simply gesture that meant the world to me but made little difference to them and they decided not to. The next blog should be up soon, soooo yay!
All the materials I needed for my project have been gathered and assembled, though I am missing one poem but that can easily be changed. Overall it has turned out a lot different than what I expected. It's not necessarily a bad thing but I am just a tad disappointed because it didn't make the huge statement I was hoping for but never the less I am proud of my work. Some of the poems were less than my best work but I still put a lot of effort into this project, a lot of my heart too. There's one picture that's in it that just makes me want to cry every single time I look at it. Ah I don't even want to think about it! Even though I never made it down to the Soup Kitchen and the project is coming to a close, I'm going to make it a priority to get down there one of these days and help out. I think even the slightest effort can make a difference, just like recycling! The way I look at those types of things is what if that was me, and someone could have made a simply gesture that meant the world to me but made little difference to them and they decided not to. The next blog should be up soon, soooo yay!
Mini post! :D
I just wanted to say to everyone that I loved reading about each and every one of your projects. You guys accomplished some amazing things during these past few months!
Um, thats all. ^-^ See you tomorrow, everyone!
~Elyse Komarzec~
7th Post- Plans For the Future
I think it is important for me to try and continue my project into the future, indefinitely. Being healthy and in shape is always important. I've come up with a plan that might help me get to where I want to.
Exercising-
I recently got a puppy so going out in the yard and running around with him is a great way to get moving and to tire him out ;) I really don't mind going for a jog while I'm doing it. Getting myself do it is the hard part. Also, I can go to the Kettering gym after school and work on the machines. Going for a swim after is good exercise and an awesome way to cool down. I also enjoy the "Get Up and Dance" channel in my On Demand menu for Comcast. It's fun, amusing and a good workout. So, I have lots of ideas I just need to put them in motion.
Dieting- I think if I continue what I've got going right now I'll still be making progress. Changing what I eat more would be another step forward. Making better meal choices when I go out to eat would be a big help. Also, cutting down on sugary drinks. I've stopped drinking soda already a few times before sports tryouts and there is a notable difference in how energetic I was. In my diet, I am doing alright but I can take a few steps forward to make it better.
Just Do It!- My biggest challenge to keep my get in shape project going will be my mental attitude. It is important to make myself get out and get moving. I have to keep reminding myself that it will pay off in the end, and then maybe I can follow through. I know if I put my mind to it, I can do anything.
Exercising-
I recently got a puppy so going out in the yard and running around with him is a great way to get moving and to tire him out ;) I really don't mind going for a jog while I'm doing it. Getting myself do it is the hard part. Also, I can go to the Kettering gym after school and work on the machines. Going for a swim after is good exercise and an awesome way to cool down. I also enjoy the "Get Up and Dance" channel in my On Demand menu for Comcast. It's fun, amusing and a good workout. So, I have lots of ideas I just need to put them in motion.
Dieting- I think if I continue what I've got going right now I'll still be making progress. Changing what I eat more would be another step forward. Making better meal choices when I go out to eat would be a big help. Also, cutting down on sugary drinks. I've stopped drinking soda already a few times before sports tryouts and there is a notable difference in how energetic I was. In my diet, I am doing alright but I can take a few steps forward to make it better.
Just Do It!- My biggest challenge to keep my get in shape project going will be my mental attitude. It is important to make myself get out and get moving. I have to keep reminding myself that it will pay off in the end, and then maybe I can follow through. I know if I put my mind to it, I can do anything.
Summer Weightlifting Project- Post #8
Well, here we are. We have waited all year for summer, and it's already flown right past us. It's now the day before the first day of school, and I have successfully completed my AP LA Summer project, and let me tell you, it feels good! With the exception with a few glitches, my project went great, and I feel like I really accomplished something.
Barbara Kingsolver. I'm sure many of us has heard that famous name before reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. When I think of Barbara Kingsolver, I think of The Poisonwood Bible, simply because this is one of more famed works. When most people think of the renown Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle may be overlooked because this particular subject matter is probably pretty scary for most Americans to think about. Growing most of your food, and if you must buy food, being required to purchase it from a local market? Yikes!
Well for most English classes where I read a book and I don't like it too much, I would make something up and make myself sound interested. Seeing that this is now a college class, and we as students are intellectually maturing, I feel that only 50% of an AP class is completing a larger course load. I believe that the other 50% of an AP class isn't just learning about random facts that many of us may not remember, but instead developing our own ideas and establishing which type of writer we are. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, but I'll leave that for you to decide. In any event, I can honestly say that I didn't relate to this book at all, and I did not enjoy reading it. However, upon finishing Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I was able to find so many values that I honestly do feel that can assist anyone in life. Values such as determination, dedication, and the ideas of putting something in mind to action really stuck with me. While reading this entire book, I couldn't understand why Kingsolver would put together such a book that really didn't captivate a reader with tastes like myself; however, after completing the book I came to a much different conclusion: Maybe Barbara Kingsolver wasn't trying to write about random vegetables. Instead, maybe she was conveying the message that American families from all four corners of the country may undergo the same adventure her family did, while possibly preserving the planet. If America could change its lifestyle, who knows what good could blossom from this.
So little Jimmy may ask, "Blake, what does weightlifting have to do with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?" Well, I would tell little Jimmy that the putting something in mind to action is exactly what Kingsolver did in her book. Barbara and her family had an idea in mind, and completed it. Although there were set backs along the way, her family charged through this and successfully finished an idea. I believe that all good things come from an idea, and if that idea isn't executed, nothing good will come. Looks like Kingsolver thinks the same! In addition, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle also includes values such as dedication and determination which are cornerstones for the sport of weightlifting. Me and Barb must think alike on this one too, because both most certainly require these aspects! Me and Kingsolver alike both were on special diets, and we both also pledged to abstain from certain things. Becoming stronger and stronger definitely coincides with Kingsolver's plotted idea in her book because over time, Kingsolver was able to better and better live with eating locally grown foods. Although she was weaker in the beginning, she became stronger, like I did. I could go on for pages and pages explaining how Barbara Kingsolver's book related with my summer project. Actually, maybe not pages and pages, but I could definitely elaborate further. Overall, the ideas of progression, determination, dedication, and putting an idea to action are most certainly present in my project and Kingsolver's book. I plotted my weight progression on charts for weeks, I made over 200 posts on a weightlifting website in addition to my 8 twitter and blogspot posts in order to gain knowledge for my project, and Kingsolver did similar research before undergoing her project. Weightlifting seems like an odd match for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but if you open you mind and think about the similarities, they are nearly exact.
I hope you all had an amazing summer, and good luck this year.
Best of luck,
-Blake
Mission Complete.
Having finished the project, I can say I feel a sense of accomplishment and relief. Obviously nothing that can compare to the magnitude of Barbara Kingsolver's emotions resulting from surviving and enjoying a year of eating locally, but I believe that it's the same feeling on a miniature scale. The feeling, I think, stems from overcoming obstacles and challenges that come with tackling any project. For Kingsolver, this included giving up foreign-grown favorites and hoping she had enough food to feed her family through the harvest-less months of January, February, and March. For myself, this was a battle against procrastination and forcing myself to reach out to fellow pet owners for interviews and photo shoots. My own nature was also something I needed to get over, as I typically demand perfection from my own drawings. This was obviously impossible with subjects I had not drawn before, and was something that frustrated me for quite a while.
The better parts of the experience also connect to Kingsolver's work. While she was trying to better her carbon footprint and become healthier over all, I was attempting to learn more about animals and better my drawing ability. Though the total time put into each project varies, we both successfully completed our objectives. Completing a task that you've set for yourself is a good boost for your self-esteem. I'm sure Kingsolver noticed this as well, evidenced by the uplifting tone with which her book ended as her turkeys finally produced a second generation without needing her intervention. In the end, our projects may not be connected by a central theme, but the emotions and experiences run parallel to the same events on different timelines. The parts are all the same, even if they're colored just a bit differently, and they all fall into place to create the same picture of success.
ah, procrastination bites
So this is my FOURTH blog. crap. I have been searching for this guitar book of mine for about a week so that is my explanation. If you want to play guitar, play it everyday because after just a week of not playing, i forgot most everything i know. Plus, guitars get wayyy out of tune so quickly. My guitar is especially hard for me to play because it's a huge acoustic guitar and i have small hands :/ After going on a massive cleaning hunt for my book for a couple of days I finally rediscovered my beautiful guitar book! It was under a bunch of clothes and partially inside my closet, who would of thought? Well i have four posts, not including this one of course, to do in one day. I have officially changed this project name into "Learning how to play guitar that would have been over an 8 week course in one day" oh yeah. I can do this. This morning, old family friends came over because it's labor day and I was panicking because i was supposed to entertain my guests instead of learning guitar. When they got to my house i see my mom's friend, Shawny, come out of her car with a blue electric acoustic guitar. How could it get better than that? It did when she told me that she had just been learning too and that she brought this girl who's living with her who happens to play guitar very well. Score! She tuned my guitar with her awesome guitar tuner and made my guitar sound pretty again :) Then, Shawny taught me how to play these cords for a praise and worship song. I didn't do very well since she had to move my fingers to the cords because i haven't learned them yet, but i'm practicing. She told me how nice the guitar was and that it was a good one for learning how to play. The guitar is an Ibanez acoustic for anyone who wants to know. The girl that Shawny brought, Tracy, gave me very good advice about learning chords that i found would be helpful to whoever's reading this because it helps me; when trying to learn chords, it's best to practice two until you master them, then practice switching your fingers from chord to chord to get used to them. If you do that you'll be able to learn songs better.
#7: Coming into the Home Stretch
Finally, I've finished the "project" part of the project. Next comes the essay, but first, a few words on the last bit of my project.
I started this project with a horse, and I'm going to end it the same way. Here are the drawings I've just completed of Stormy, the Anglo-Arabian:
As stated in the post on k9soapbox, I really like how my very first sketch turned out. From there, it seemed to go downhill, until the final drawing. I'm very satisfied with how his legs ended up looking, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something wrong with his neck. Is it too short, or too wide? Could it be too long? Does his head need to be further up? Should it be lowered? I really don't know, even after redrawing it many times. Hopefully the shading keeps it from looking too awkward, because I really do like the way Stormy looks, and I wanted to capture at least a little of that.
I've learned a few things from this project, mainly that prowess in any skill comes only with practice. Having drawn wolves all my life, I've gotten pretty good at it. That doesn't make me good at drawing animals in general, however, as I haven't practiced with many other species. The second thing would be simply that in order to be motivated to do something, you either have to really love it, or be coming up to a deadline. Or maybe that's just me. Doing the same thing over and over also gets tedious very quickly, and I noticed that my interview and research quality suffered because of this.
All that's left to do now is to write the essay comparing Kingsolver's project with my own. After that, I'll be glad to be free, mostly, from summer homework. I can't wait for school to start, though, because I'm excited to see my friends and meet new people, but I definitely won't mind if we don't get homework for a while. :P
Finally Finished. (AM)
So, I just finished putting my scrapbook together and i am so proud of it. I wouldn't even let my mom touch it until i had a chance to run through it one more time.
Now i have to finish up everything else... this is my last blog and thats one less thing i have to worry about.
Tomorrow is going to be so overwhelming, but i am so excited to start school. I just wish i had another week of summer to enjoy, everything has to end at some point though, right?
My scrapbook has a total of (oddly perfect) one hundred pictures.
I am in a total of thirty two of those one hundred pictures.
That means that sixty eight photos, sixty eight percent of the pictures in my scrapbook are of everyone else who effected my summer.
I would like to say a giant thank you to every one who helped me make this project what it is.
I know that sixty eight percent doesn't seem like a lot considering its only a very high D, but it means a lot to me.
I couldn't have done it all by myself.
No one would want to see a hundred pictures of just me.
That would be a little weird if you did.
Now, I dont know if all of you will get the chance to read through my scrapbook, but I sort of wish you could.
A lot of my scrapbook is inside jokes, or personal stuff, but I'm just so proud to say that I put the entire thing together.
I was the person who used a full four ounce jar of rubber cement.
I am the girl who cut every single stupid paragraph out to glue onto the pages.
So, I guess you could say I'm a little protective of it.
I'm also really excited that this is my last blog.
And that is why my writing is all colorful.
Ok, now I have to get to the part that actually matters:
So now that I have completely finished my project, and I have had time to think it over, I have to say that I only found a few similarities between the project of the Kingsolver family, and mine. One of the major ones being that both of our journeys were very--colorful. Both of our journeys had their exciting moments, mine being when I know I'm about to get amazing shots, hers being the days she got new seeds to plant, or new animals to raise. But they could also be very depressing. The Kingsolvers' depressing moments were when she told us about where our food comes from, how far its traveled before it reached us, and what its doing to Americans. Although my depression was caused by something much more easily fixed: dead batteries. Both of us had many humorous details also, like Barbara's recipe for mayonnaise that she got from her high school French class. And also like my crazy friends who pose every time there is a camera present. Even though the Kingsolvers' journey was on a much larger scale than mine was, considering I didn't travel across the country to learn how to appreciate the things that I have, they are similar in those ways. The Kingsolvers' project is more geared towards the people who do the grocery shopping in their household, which is usually adults, where as mine is more for people around my age, who are trying to find out where they fit in the world and who they can trust. Barbara Kingsolver may not be able to get everyone to become one of her "locavores" (local food only eaters) but I hope to make everyone realize that they need to appreciate what they have around them, and in their lives, because what will happen when you don't have all that?
Now i have to finish up everything else... this is my last blog and thats one less thing i have to worry about.
Tomorrow is going to be so overwhelming, but i am so excited to start school. I just wish i had another week of summer to enjoy, everything has to end at some point though, right?
My scrapbook has a total of (oddly perfect) one hundred pictures.
I am in a total of thirty two of those one hundred pictures.
That means that sixty eight photos, sixty eight percent of the pictures in my scrapbook are of everyone else who effected my summer.
I would like to say a giant thank you to every one who helped me make this project what it is.
I know that sixty eight percent doesn't seem like a lot considering its only a very high D, but it means a lot to me.
I couldn't have done it all by myself.
No one would want to see a hundred pictures of just me.
That would be a little weird if you did.
Now, I dont know if all of you will get the chance to read through my scrapbook, but I sort of wish you could.
A lot of my scrapbook is inside jokes, or personal stuff, but I'm just so proud to say that I put the entire thing together.
I was the person who used a full four ounce jar of rubber cement.
I am the girl who cut every single stupid paragraph out to glue onto the pages.
So, I guess you could say I'm a little protective of it.
I'm also really excited that this is my last blog.
And that is why my writing is all colorful.
Ok, now I have to get to the part that actually matters:
So now that I have completely finished my project, and I have had time to think it over, I have to say that I only found a few similarities between the project of the Kingsolver family, and mine. One of the major ones being that both of our journeys were very--colorful. Both of our journeys had their exciting moments, mine being when I know I'm about to get amazing shots, hers being the days she got new seeds to plant, or new animals to raise. But they could also be very depressing. The Kingsolvers' depressing moments were when she told us about where our food comes from, how far its traveled before it reached us, and what its doing to Americans. Although my depression was caused by something much more easily fixed: dead batteries. Both of us had many humorous details also, like Barbara's recipe for mayonnaise that she got from her high school French class. And also like my crazy friends who pose every time there is a camera present. Even though the Kingsolvers' journey was on a much larger scale than mine was, considering I didn't travel across the country to learn how to appreciate the things that I have, they are similar in those ways. The Kingsolvers' project is more geared towards the people who do the grocery shopping in their household, which is usually adults, where as mine is more for people around my age, who are trying to find out where they fit in the world and who they can trust. Barbara Kingsolver may not be able to get everyone to become one of her "locavores" (local food only eaters) but I hope to make everyone realize that they need to appreciate what they have around them, and in their lives, because what will happen when you don't have all that?
8th blog. sionara! (i dont know spanish)
As we all know school starts tomorrow. With that in mind, this summer project is almost over, and I'm very happy. Okay, here it goes for my last blog!
In the novel Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingsolver makes a decision that changed her lifestyle in a drastic way. When it was decided that her and her family would only eat fresh produce grown by themselves for a year, things obviously were altered when it came to their daily routine.
In contrast, my summer project did not drastically change my lifestyle. Considering that I only did this project for two short months, my daily régime could not have been changed too much. I only recorded what I did every day, so I just went on like I do on a normal day, just with a camera in hand. I’ll admit I did not enjoy the constant stares as I would walk around in public occasionally talking to a pink polka-dotted Fuji-film. I had to realize that it didn’t matter. I had to stop wondering about what other people were thinking about the crazy girl talking to the camera. It was for a school project and I couldn’t let something like that get in my way.
Kingsolver just had to come to grasp that even though the government has a food pyramid and wants everyone to lead healthy lifestyles, that can’t always be the case. The foods they expect us to buy in grocery stores are not always what it seems and it’s just better to actually know what you’re eating.
On the other hand, bot Kingsolver and I kind of had an epic journey in a sense. Her “mission” was obviously something far more demanding to accomplish, but it still shows that if you put your mind to something, you can do it. Believe it or not, I have actually wanted to document my daily life on video for quite some time. Like I’ve mentioned before though, only this project actually gave me the motivation to execute it.
Kingsolver basically was doing something she was quite passionate about. My life is obviously quite important to me, so those things connect somewhat.
It seems like I’m babbling, but I’m just trying to my best to wedge out something of Kingsolver’s that relates to this summer task. In all honesty, other than some of the things mentioned, we really don’t connect too much. Both of our developments were time consuming, but Kingsolver’s required more attention. Nothing more I can say.
I think I actually really enjoyed blogging this summer. I don’t have much left to do. Thanks and good luck to everyone as they finish up. :)
In the novel Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingsolver makes a decision that changed her lifestyle in a drastic way. When it was decided that her and her family would only eat fresh produce grown by themselves for a year, things obviously were altered when it came to their daily routine.
In contrast, my summer project did not drastically change my lifestyle. Considering that I only did this project for two short months, my daily régime could not have been changed too much. I only recorded what I did every day, so I just went on like I do on a normal day, just with a camera in hand. I’ll admit I did not enjoy the constant stares as I would walk around in public occasionally talking to a pink polka-dotted Fuji-film. I had to realize that it didn’t matter. I had to stop wondering about what other people were thinking about the crazy girl talking to the camera. It was for a school project and I couldn’t let something like that get in my way.
Kingsolver just had to come to grasp that even though the government has a food pyramid and wants everyone to lead healthy lifestyles, that can’t always be the case. The foods they expect us to buy in grocery stores are not always what it seems and it’s just better to actually know what you’re eating.
On the other hand, bot Kingsolver and I kind of had an epic journey in a sense. Her “mission” was obviously something far more demanding to accomplish, but it still shows that if you put your mind to something, you can do it. Believe it or not, I have actually wanted to document my daily life on video for quite some time. Like I’ve mentioned before though, only this project actually gave me the motivation to execute it.
Kingsolver basically was doing something she was quite passionate about. My life is obviously quite important to me, so those things connect somewhat.
It seems like I’m babbling, but I’m just trying to my best to wedge out something of Kingsolver’s that relates to this summer task. In all honesty, other than some of the things mentioned, we really don’t connect too much. Both of our developments were time consuming, but Kingsolver’s required more attention. Nothing more I can say.
I think I actually really enjoyed blogging this summer. I don’t have much left to do. Thanks and good luck to everyone as they finish up. :)
Post Six!! Nearly Done!!
Yesterday, I found out that the summer work isn't due until Wednesday. This is a great thing, since it means I have time to have some fun today as well, rather than trying to cram two essays into one day. Needless to say, I am quite happy about this. I will, however, end this project today; I don't feel like dragging it out any longer whatsoever.
With all that being said, I've learned that I'm not actually a very good artist. I mean wolves, sure, I can draw those, but when it comes to other things, not so much. In this case, "other things" refers to fluffy cats and Golden Retrievers. And drawing in other styles, actually. Here are the links:
There's Murphy. I can't draw cats very well. I can't draw in a cartoony style very well. I need to work on those two. The hardest part was the face, I think. He just looked odd in every drawing to me. His eyes were especially difficult, since I can't figure out how to make him look in the right direction. I tried to draw him looking down and he looks like he's looking at you. Critique: "needs work".
There's Buddy. Drawing the Golden Retriever's droopy mouth is a lot harder than I originally thought, and I couldn't get his expression right. He's a really sweet dog, but I just couldn't get that in there, which is a pretty big disappointment.
With these two being done, my biggest challenge is yet to come. I have drawn horses before, but none with any valor. Drawing only the most generic steed, I'd never focused on one breed. Dropping the rhymes, I pretty much need to draw Rachael's horse, Stormy, and write up the essay concerning Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Drawing Stormy should be interesting, since I haven't drawn a horse since eighth grade. Hopefully I can do him justice.
Proof! Love, Hannah Long
Taylor Robitaille helping me with directions for the kids.
The white van belongs to Kim Smallwood. Chole is washign the car, Nina is walking to get more soap and some helpful adults.
Kordel and Deccan helping to wash :) I really hope this counts as proof. I didn't take pictures but a few adults that I could contact did.
trutl; Post Seven: Nothing.
What a wonderful summer this has been. The best I've ever had, without a doubt. My friends and my boyfriend made it. Maybe it's bad to be so dependent on people, but I guess that's just how I am.
I am blissful. I feel like I'm living the way I always dreamed about when I was younger. Ahaha, that sounds sad. I just always wanted to be this happy, and now I finally am. I can't explain it. It's beyond nice.
I am in love. I am surrounded by people who love me. Nothing bad gets me down for long anymore. I finally have the ability to get up, brush myself off, keep smiling and start moving again. It's wonderful. I feel superhuman...
This is a dumb blog post. I guess it has to do with my project a bit... I don't know. I can't think of much else to write about. Ahaha, and I still have another post to do today. Gahhh. I am such a procrastinator.
Enjoy your last day kids. Hope you don't spend it writing like I'm going to.
I am blissful. I feel like I'm living the way I always dreamed about when I was younger. Ahaha, that sounds sad. I just always wanted to be this happy, and now I finally am. I can't explain it. It's beyond nice.
I am in love. I am surrounded by people who love me. Nothing bad gets me down for long anymore. I finally have the ability to get up, brush myself off, keep smiling and start moving again. It's wonderful. I feel superhuman...
This is a dumb blog post. I guess it has to do with my project a bit... I don't know. I can't think of much else to write about. Ahaha, and I still have another post to do today. Gahhh. I am such a procrastinator.
Enjoy your last day kids. Hope you don't spend it writing like I'm going to.
School tomorrow!! I'm really starting to prioritise everything I need to get done! Today I woke up early and practiced piano, but I realized that it is a holiday weekend and I don't have lessons today! So I put some headphones in and went for a walk :) Now there is only so much more I can blog about because eight blogs is a lot to talk about your life story, well when it comes to music at least. I am really excited for this year in choir, I know that every year brings new things, so I am hoping for a lot of new experiences. Number one, I want to try to get a good roll in the musical, I am not sure what we are doing this year, but I am excited. I was in the musical last year as a nun, it was fun but I felt like going to all of those practices for such a small part was a waist. I want to put myself out there and be noticed, I don't want to stand on the side lines anymore. The next thing that I have planned for this year is to sing for more games. I mentioned how I sang for a lot of the games in middle school, I loved doing that so I was kind of disappointed last year that I only sang for one hockey game. So this year will be different, I don't want to stand back and watch everybody else accomplish amazing things, I want to be that person that somebody else looks up to and decides they want to move up.
Singing isn't just about performing for me, I want to perform and, don't get me wrong, I love the compliments from the audience. Singing is so much more, I love to do it, I always have. when I get up to sing the thrill that over comes the anxiety is what I search for. Mrs. Harness, our choir director has inspired me so much, she told me that if you come down from singing thinking that you could have done better then you might as well have not gone up at all. Performing is about having fun and just doing your best, not to have any regrets. I have gone up and sang many times and come down thinking great I sucked I could have done better, its a natural thing to criticise yourself, its been said that you are your worst critic. But ever since Mrs. Harness told me that I have realized that coming down and regretting how I did wont change the fact that I sucked. So now when I perform I get up and sing the best that I can. If I think that I suck then I never regret it, I just vowed to do better next time. Last year, at the pops concert, it was the very last concert of the year and I had a small solo part in this ridiculous girls ensemble that all the chamber choir girls had to sing. I was so nervous, I hadn't practiced it a lot and there was so many people listening to me that I thought were way better at singing then I am. So I got up to sing, my solo part came and I started off pitch I couldn't hear the back ground music, it was basically a mess. I was almost in tears the rest of the night, but afterwards people kept telling me I did good and I realized I sang the best I could have and nobody could hate me for that. The next day we listened to the concert on a recording, everybody lied to me, I really blew it, but oh well, I couldn't change what I had already sang. So my life went on, like it always has. Singing is my real passion I will never regret how I do it.
Well, I have one more blog and then I am done, wish me luck with everything else!
Singing isn't just about performing for me, I want to perform and, don't get me wrong, I love the compliments from the audience. Singing is so much more, I love to do it, I always have. when I get up to sing the thrill that over comes the anxiety is what I search for. Mrs. Harness, our choir director has inspired me so much, she told me that if you come down from singing thinking that you could have done better then you might as well have not gone up at all. Performing is about having fun and just doing your best, not to have any regrets. I have gone up and sang many times and come down thinking great I sucked I could have done better, its a natural thing to criticise yourself, its been said that you are your worst critic. But ever since Mrs. Harness told me that I have realized that coming down and regretting how I did wont change the fact that I sucked. So now when I perform I get up and sing the best that I can. If I think that I suck then I never regret it, I just vowed to do better next time. Last year, at the pops concert, it was the very last concert of the year and I had a small solo part in this ridiculous girls ensemble that all the chamber choir girls had to sing. I was so nervous, I hadn't practiced it a lot and there was so many people listening to me that I thought were way better at singing then I am. So I got up to sing, my solo part came and I started off pitch I couldn't hear the back ground music, it was basically a mess. I was almost in tears the rest of the night, but afterwards people kept telling me I did good and I realized I sang the best I could have and nobody could hate me for that. The next day we listened to the concert on a recording, everybody lied to me, I really blew it, but oh well, I couldn't change what I had already sang. So my life went on, like it always has. Singing is my real passion I will never regret how I do it.
Well, I have one more blog and then I am done, wish me luck with everything else!
...and They All Lived Happily Ever After
Today is the last day of summer break formerly known as Labor Day and let me tell you I have labored. This summer consisted of every aspect in my life demanding my time and it can be divided up only so much before there is none left. So on the last day of summer break I have finally completed every last to do on the AP list as well as many other to dos on other lists. Accomplishment is a great feeling. I also wanted to add, for those of you who don't know, that I won first place in a photography contest I entered. I only mention this because my project included photography. :)
...
I spent many hours inside Barbara Kingsolver's mind the past two weeks. Her project was inspiring and almost made me want to take up the same project she did just because of her incredible passion towards food. She took her family and herself out on a tree branch that she had no idea the strength of just so she could witness the view. Kingsolver was unaware of whether this journey would be a wonderful success or a failure. There was no way of knowing the difficulty or number of hardships that they might run into, but they walked out on faith, a dream, and a chance to prove something.
As I brainstormed about my own ideas for an AP project, I knew it had to be something that I was passionate about - something that I loved doing. Which was what I did. I chose to write a children's book and take pictures that would serves as the illustrations. I've always loved to write and have begun many stories. I needed to switch it up a bit though in order to make it a project that was something new and different than anything I'd done before. I figured it needed to be a short enough story that I would be able to complete (I have a habit of beginning novels that never get finished because I can't get the idea out fast enough...), but long enough to last eight weeks when planned out. The result was a children's story. It also allowed me to dabble in writing for a different audience. I had to incorporate photography somehow because that was what I had initially wanted to incorporate into a project and with my photography placed as the pictures in the story it was the perfect way.
I had no idea if I would have time to complete this project in the midst of my busy schedule and life, but I knew I had to try. It was also difficult because the idea for the story didn't come out of thin air like all of my ideas do. I had to literally sit down and think about something and when nothing came I fell back on a story idea that I had already created. I just minimized the context of it to fit younger readers.
Writer's block was just one of the many road blocks I endured in the creation of my story. I had to think about it when I was doing other things and hoped that when my mind was absent something would trigger a bridge that would get me from where I was to where I hoped to be. I think that's actually how I came up with the concept of cloud hopping and what cleared my path.
I had hoped all along that my project could touch the life of the reader in some small way and if it did then it would all be worth it. I think that through Kingsolver's project she wanted others to believe in change once they saw what her family could accomplish. It wasn't just for them, but they wanted to be seen as an example.
In many ways, Kingsolver's plan to move from Tucson and begin a life of farming is the basic construction of any project. The whole reason a project is developed is to reach a particular goal. Not always do you know how things are going to turn out, but you take a leap and hope that something good happens because of it. In the end, you could reap the results of your hard work and be touched by it or how it touches others' lives. When you hear the chirp of newborn turkeys or feel the binding of the book with your name on the front your heart will skip a beat because of the passion that allowed you to succeed.
...
I spent many hours inside Barbara Kingsolver's mind the past two weeks. Her project was inspiring and almost made me want to take up the same project she did just because of her incredible passion towards food. She took her family and herself out on a tree branch that she had no idea the strength of just so she could witness the view. Kingsolver was unaware of whether this journey would be a wonderful success or a failure. There was no way of knowing the difficulty or number of hardships that they might run into, but they walked out on faith, a dream, and a chance to prove something.
As I brainstormed about my own ideas for an AP project, I knew it had to be something that I was passionate about - something that I loved doing. Which was what I did. I chose to write a children's book and take pictures that would serves as the illustrations. I've always loved to write and have begun many stories. I needed to switch it up a bit though in order to make it a project that was something new and different than anything I'd done before. I figured it needed to be a short enough story that I would be able to complete (I have a habit of beginning novels that never get finished because I can't get the idea out fast enough...), but long enough to last eight weeks when planned out. The result was a children's story. It also allowed me to dabble in writing for a different audience. I had to incorporate photography somehow because that was what I had initially wanted to incorporate into a project and with my photography placed as the pictures in the story it was the perfect way.
I had no idea if I would have time to complete this project in the midst of my busy schedule and life, but I knew I had to try. It was also difficult because the idea for the story didn't come out of thin air like all of my ideas do. I had to literally sit down and think about something and when nothing came I fell back on a story idea that I had already created. I just minimized the context of it to fit younger readers.
Writer's block was just one of the many road blocks I endured in the creation of my story. I had to think about it when I was doing other things and hoped that when my mind was absent something would trigger a bridge that would get me from where I was to where I hoped to be. I think that's actually how I came up with the concept of cloud hopping and what cleared my path.
I had hoped all along that my project could touch the life of the reader in some small way and if it did then it would all be worth it. I think that through Kingsolver's project she wanted others to believe in change once they saw what her family could accomplish. It wasn't just for them, but they wanted to be seen as an example.
In many ways, Kingsolver's plan to move from Tucson and begin a life of farming is the basic construction of any project. The whole reason a project is developed is to reach a particular goal. Not always do you know how things are going to turn out, but you take a leap and hope that something good happens because of it. In the end, you could reap the results of your hard work and be touched by it or how it touches others' lives. When you hear the chirp of newborn turkeys or feel the binding of the book with your name on the front your heart will skip a beat because of the passion that allowed you to succeed.
Fifth Post. Puppypower...
I'm pretty certain that I got my tag from ScrappyDoo, of the Scooby-Doo cartoon. His catchphrase was "Yadadadat dat da! Puppy power!" and it's something that kinda got stuck in my head since childhood. Scrappy doesn't really have much to do with anything, other than the fact that he is a mutt, presumably part Great Dane like his uncle, Scooby. Which is unfortunate for the little guy, seeing as Great Danes have an average life span of only about eight or nine years. I've been doing way too much dog research for this project. The research, along with making sure that every single blog post is three hundred words long, is probably the most tedious part of the project for me. I tend to try and get the point across as simply as possible, so rambling like this is atypical of my writing style.
In any case, I've finally gotten the last interview done, and not with a day to spare. No, really. It's one in the morning, on Monday, September the sixth. Procrastination is my friend, or so he's told me. Moving on, here's the link:
This time, I interviewed a family friend whose dogs I had been petsitting this weekend. It was nice, because this interview went the fastest. The pictures were taken within ten minutes, and I didn't have any trouble with the font of the post over on k9soapbox changing sizes on me. (In all of the previous interviews, parts of the post suddenly changed themselves to size 20 font. It was a pain to edit it each time, but I wanted them to look nice.) Finally, all of the interviews are online. Feel free to comment on them, if you're so bored you're staring at the class blog on the final day before school. I mean, in a few hours it'll be the dawn of the final day; in only a few hours, only twenty-four hours will remain. How will you spend them?
Hopefully not finishing up essays like me.
6th Post- Overview
I wanted to post a blog reviewing my project overall. Though I know it's kind of obvious that I haven't succeeded I'd like to review for at least, my own purposes. I figured that the second to last day of summer vacation would be a good time to do this.
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Exercise
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As far as exercise goes, I had my ups and downs. I had a few weeks where I was running everyday and going to the gym. During those weeks, while I was exercising sometimes I really didn't want to keep going. After exercising I found that I was in a good mood and felt pretty good. Other weeks, I would run maybe once, or not at all. During those weeks, I was usually just sitting at home with nothing to do. Now that I look back at that, I think going for a run would have been a nice way to get out of the house. I guess there's no going back and changing that now but for future reference that might be something to consider. In the exercise portion of my project, I could have done a lot better.
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Diet
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I didn't do terribly on the diet portion of my project. I made a lot of better choices when it came to snacks and also ate quite a bit less than usual. I found myself asking myself, am I actually hungry or am I just looking for something to do? It is a very helpful question to ask yourself when you are trying to cut down eating. I could have cut down more, but I think I took a good step in making my diet more healthy.
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Overall
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My project as a whole was unsuccessful but I did learn a few lessons. I learned what exercises make me work hard, that I actually enjoy. I learned it's a lot easier to make healthy snack choices. I also learned that my will power isn't as strong as I thought. Making myself do things is pretty hard, but if I push myself I think I can reach my goal. I am a very determined person and I never give up. If I build my will power and combine it with what I already have I think I can really get myself to do good things. My project made me really start thinking about being healthy more and it's moved up on my list of things I want to improve in myself. So all in all, my project didn't turn out like I planned but I did learn some valuable lessons.
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Exercise
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As far as exercise goes, I had my ups and downs. I had a few weeks where I was running everyday and going to the gym. During those weeks, while I was exercising sometimes I really didn't want to keep going. After exercising I found that I was in a good mood and felt pretty good. Other weeks, I would run maybe once, or not at all. During those weeks, I was usually just sitting at home with nothing to do. Now that I look back at that, I think going for a run would have been a nice way to get out of the house. I guess there's no going back and changing that now but for future reference that might be something to consider. In the exercise portion of my project, I could have done a lot better.
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Diet
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I didn't do terribly on the diet portion of my project. I made a lot of better choices when it came to snacks and also ate quite a bit less than usual. I found myself asking myself, am I actually hungry or am I just looking for something to do? It is a very helpful question to ask yourself when you are trying to cut down eating. I could have cut down more, but I think I took a good step in making my diet more healthy.
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Overall
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My project as a whole was unsuccessful but I did learn a few lessons. I learned what exercises make me work hard, that I actually enjoy. I learned it's a lot easier to make healthy snack choices. I also learned that my will power isn't as strong as I thought. Making myself do things is pretty hard, but if I push myself I think I can reach my goal. I am a very determined person and I never give up. If I build my will power and combine it with what I already have I think I can really get myself to do good things. My project made me really start thinking about being healthy more and it's moved up on my list of things I want to improve in myself. So all in all, my project didn't turn out like I planned but I did learn some valuable lessons.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
post 7 :) almost
Ok so I know we weren’t supposed to do like all the blogs in like the last week before school, but I was behind and it was only like 3 blogs so I think I’m okay this is my 7th blog and tomorrow I’m going to do the last one about the compare/ contrast.
I’m so excited that this project has come to a close and I’m sure everyone else is too. This project almost reminds me of a project most pierce kids did in the 6th grade when we made our own political type groups that supported what we believed in. It didn’t change the world and it didn’t even really go anywhere past the classroom but it was a nice thought and it made students think about things like creativity, awareness about certain subjects and ideas to help change things that needed to be fixed, and that’s like basically this project.
My goal is not even close to being reached and I’m pretty sure that’s not going to change in the next day. I wanted to earn money by playing my instrument in public places outside but that didn’t happen. I got my instrument I talked to some business owners to get the ok to play and I even practiced new songs to play, but I just couldn’t do it. Maybe it was because I was too nervous, I didn’t have time, or I wasn’t motivated at the time but things just didn’t work out. I had everything prepared but it the end all that just wasn’t enough.
Like I said in my last blog, maybe sometime in the future I’ll get the pure confidence I need to perform alone for many people, but until then, this was a fun way to see how far I would get. I enjoyed it.
8th and final blog this summer!
My last blog this summer!! (: It really wasn’t that bad after all, just trying to keep up with things is a little tough especially since there were so many distractions around me all of the time. Well I just finished my essay, now all I have to do is read two more short stories, fill in my chart, tweet one more time and then I’ll be done. It’s still somewhat a lot of work :/ but I’m going determined to get it done by tonight so I have tomorrow to do whatever.
So I started thinking about how my project connects with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I found a few different things that can tie the two together.
In the book Kingsolver is doing something that she loves dearly. She wouldn’t ever give it up even if she absolutely had to. Farming is her passion and it makes her extremely happy. That’s exactly how dance and softball are for me. I couldn’t ever give up doing what I do. I love every part of it too much. Every time Kingsolver would buy new seeds to plant or new chickens or animals she would get so excited because that’s what she looks forward too. That’s her hobby, working on the farm and all the responsibilities that come with it. Again I am the exact same way. Every time I learn a new dance or leap or improve on my fielding and batting I get really excited. I love it with all my heart, and that’s how Kingsolver was with her farm.
She also had been farming since she was a little. I started playing softball and dancing when i was four. It’s been in my life for a long time, as well as farming has been in hers for a long time.
I’ve surprisingly actually enjoyed blogging.. haha. But now I’m all done with it! Yayy!
So I started thinking about how my project connects with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I found a few different things that can tie the two together.
In the book Kingsolver is doing something that she loves dearly. She wouldn’t ever give it up even if she absolutely had to. Farming is her passion and it makes her extremely happy. That’s exactly how dance and softball are for me. I couldn’t ever give up doing what I do. I love every part of it too much. Every time Kingsolver would buy new seeds to plant or new chickens or animals she would get so excited because that’s what she looks forward too. That’s her hobby, working on the farm and all the responsibilities that come with it. Again I am the exact same way. Every time I learn a new dance or leap or improve on my fielding and batting I get really excited. I love it with all my heart, and that’s how Kingsolver was with her farm.
She also had been farming since she was a little. I started playing softball and dancing when i was four. It’s been in my life for a long time, as well as farming has been in hers for a long time.
I’ve surprisingly actually enjoyed blogging.. haha. But now I’m all done with it! Yayy!
post six yeah i know i know
Hey guys,
so I have totally not had a computer in forever, but at least I am writing now. So like I said in my last post the car wash was very successful. I sent the money in a few days ago, hoping that they get it soon. The car wash was a blast though and if I could do it again I so would! Hopefully I still can help with fundraisers and stuff for the cure, just because I want to. Thank gosh for this project or I may have never actually helped. I always wanted too, but never had the ambition to really do it. I am in the process of making a slideshow of all the pictures, or at least getting them printed out so I can show you guys. I might also send some in to Susan G. Komen because they were interested in how it went. When I stop and think a lot of people donated money, and didn't even care how there car was washed. Not only women stopped for the car wash, older men stopped by and seemed as if they knew a lot of women with breast cancer. Now that the summer is almost over, I realize how much one thing can make a difference. I thought $200 dollars wouldn't do a bit of good. Truthfully, they are getting money from all over the world to help though. Bake Sales, to Car washes from selling t-shirts, and simply getting support. Breast Cancer effects us, our loved one, and people that we don't even know. I learned you don't have to donate tons of money to help, but the littlest bit makes a difference. One more dollar going toward finding the cure. I will have two more blog posts coming tonight at tomorrow. I know! LAST MINUTEEEEEEE.Well bye guys thanks for reading!
so I have totally not had a computer in forever, but at least I am writing now. So like I said in my last post the car wash was very successful. I sent the money in a few days ago, hoping that they get it soon. The car wash was a blast though and if I could do it again I so would! Hopefully I still can help with fundraisers and stuff for the cure, just because I want to. Thank gosh for this project or I may have never actually helped. I always wanted too, but never had the ambition to really do it. I am in the process of making a slideshow of all the pictures, or at least getting them printed out so I can show you guys. I might also send some in to Susan G. Komen because they were interested in how it went. When I stop and think a lot of people donated money, and didn't even care how there car was washed. Not only women stopped for the car wash, older men stopped by and seemed as if they knew a lot of women with breast cancer. Now that the summer is almost over, I realize how much one thing can make a difference. I thought $200 dollars wouldn't do a bit of good. Truthfully, they are getting money from all over the world to help though. Bake Sales, to Car washes from selling t-shirts, and simply getting support. Breast Cancer effects us, our loved one, and people that we don't even know. I learned you don't have to donate tons of money to help, but the littlest bit makes a difference. One more dollar going toward finding the cure. I will have two more blog posts coming tonight at tomorrow. I know! LAST MINUTEEEEEEE.Well bye guys thanks for reading!
The 8th blog, it has been nice.
So for the last couple weeks I've been thinking of how my project ties in with the Animal, Vegatable, Miracle book and I've come to realise there are many connections. The main similarity I found was we both decided to go back to basics; the roots. The difference is I went back to my roots with my family in a journey of self discovery and Kingsolver went back to the roots in the ground on a different sort of journey. I felt disconnected from my own kin, the history that created me and made possible the life I know. She also felt disconnected from a processes she thought should be something close to home.
Along the way of both our projects we had struggles, didn't stick to our personal goals as close as we sometimes wished, but in the end were happy with the result and changed for the better. One initial difference between us was she had a set goal and guidelines to go with it that I never created for my own project. The outcomes don't have such a large difference that it's worrisome but it tought me a good lesson that next time I should be better organized and realise things are going to come up at work and in my own personal life.
On a seperate note, I've been trying to figure out the best way of getting all the pictures I took from my computer to Mr. Wilson without killing my printer and a bunch of trees along the way. First I tried putting them in a document and then transferring them to word so I could try saving them in a CD but my computer dicided that was a dumb idea. Then I thought I would put it on one of those little memery clips, but I don't have one and have no idea how to use them if I did have one. So now I do believe the best way to do this is via email. I could just send an attachment, but I'm going to wait until tuesday and get some professional help (aka Mr. Wilson) to see what would be easiest in the long run.
Along the way of both our projects we had struggles, didn't stick to our personal goals as close as we sometimes wished, but in the end were happy with the result and changed for the better. One initial difference between us was she had a set goal and guidelines to go with it that I never created for my own project. The outcomes don't have such a large difference that it's worrisome but it tought me a good lesson that next time I should be better organized and realise things are going to come up at work and in my own personal life.
On a seperate note, I've been trying to figure out the best way of getting all the pictures I took from my computer to Mr. Wilson without killing my printer and a bunch of trees along the way. First I tried putting them in a document and then transferring them to word so I could try saving them in a CD but my computer dicided that was a dumb idea. Then I thought I would put it on one of those little memery clips, but I don't have one and have no idea how to use them if I did have one. So now I do believe the best way to do this is via email. I could just send an attachment, but I'm going to wait until tuesday and get some professional help (aka Mr. Wilson) to see what would be easiest in the long run.
8th Post- Essay. YAY(:
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, the author takes upon herself and her family a self-created project. She decides to spend a year in the food life. Barbara and her family, Steven, Camille, and Lily, vow to buy only local food or those that they have grown themselves and live without whats not in season for one year. For my AP Language Arts class, I had to choose a project that would interest me. I choose to challenge myself to get in shape. Kingsolver's project and mine are alike and different in many ways.
The first thing I thought of when it came to comparing and contrasting my project with Kingsolver's was the aspect of success or...not. Kingsolver managed to stay true to her project (except for the cranberries at Thanksgiving, but who can live without Cranberries for the holidays?). As for my project, well, it didn't quite turn out at all like I had hoped. Barbara's project is also quite different in terms of the time frame. Hers was a lot longer, compared to my two months. In addition, I would say Kingsolver's project was more difficult than mine, and yet, I'm the one who did not succeed. I find this kind of, well, disappointing and disappointing yourself is always the worst. I could have, and should have worked harder toward my goal.
As far as similarities go, I would say the biggest one between my getting in shape and Kingsolver's year in the food life would be that both of our projects were intended to better ourselves. Both projects help us better our health. Also, they both are things that are important to us. Kingsolver's project is important to her because she has a passion for food and supporting local farmers is near and dear to her heart. My project is important to me because being healthy and in shape can make my life better. Kingsolver and I share that our projects deal with things very important to us. Though, they are important to us in different ways.
I know that Mr. Wilson had said that it wasn't about what we do in our project; it's how well we can communicate it. I think it is obvious that I didn't get to where I had wanted in my project, but I also think it's clear that I now understand that saying you are going to do a project and actually doing it are two totally different things. I want to continue my project on my own because my health is important to me. I can imagine that Kingsolver will also continue to by and grow a lot of her food because she has a love for food and local farming. I hope that I can find some of Barbara's "stick to your guns" attitude to get exercising, get and health and stick with it. Then, maybe, I can transform the difference in our results to a shared victory.
The first thing I thought of when it came to comparing and contrasting my project with Kingsolver's was the aspect of success or...not. Kingsolver managed to stay true to her project (except for the cranberries at Thanksgiving, but who can live without Cranberries for the holidays?). As for my project, well, it didn't quite turn out at all like I had hoped. Barbara's project is also quite different in terms of the time frame. Hers was a lot longer, compared to my two months. In addition, I would say Kingsolver's project was more difficult than mine, and yet, I'm the one who did not succeed. I find this kind of, well, disappointing and disappointing yourself is always the worst. I could have, and should have worked harder toward my goal.
As far as similarities go, I would say the biggest one between my getting in shape and Kingsolver's year in the food life would be that both of our projects were intended to better ourselves. Both projects help us better our health. Also, they both are things that are important to us. Kingsolver's project is important to her because she has a passion for food and supporting local farmers is near and dear to her heart. My project is important to me because being healthy and in shape can make my life better. Kingsolver and I share that our projects deal with things very important to us. Though, they are important to us in different ways.
I know that Mr. Wilson had said that it wasn't about what we do in our project; it's how well we can communicate it. I think it is obvious that I didn't get to where I had wanted in my project, but I also think it's clear that I now understand that saying you are going to do a project and actually doing it are two totally different things. I want to continue my project on my own because my health is important to me. I can imagine that Kingsolver will also continue to by and grow a lot of her food because she has a love for food and local farming. I hope that I can find some of Barbara's "stick to your guns" attitude to get exercising, get and health and stick with it. Then, maybe, I can transform the difference in our results to a shared victory.
Summer Weightlifting Project- Post #7
Hey everyone!
Well, another week has gone by. I've decided to put 2 posts this week, and 2 more next week in order to conclude my summer project. By doing this, I feel that my posts just have more quality, and have more legitimate things to say. All in all, I won't feel like I'm forcing myself to write something. This will give me some time to look at my lifting records and charts, my diet, and weight changes, to see where I'm at.
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Body Stats (Beginning/Current)
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Height: 5'8/5'8 (0 inch increase)
Weight: 130/141 lbs (1 pound increase)
Body Fat Percentage: 6.4%/6.67% (No increase)
Lean Body Mass: 121.7/128 lbs ( No increase)
Well it's my seventh blog post, and my project has been pretty much completed. For these last few days I'll just be filling in my weightlifting logs and progress charts. My gains rate is started to become harder, and the speed is slowing down. I managed to gain a pound, and my bf% still really hasn't budged. These stats are pretty self-explanatory, as they aren't going to change drastically in a week.
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Lifting Stats (Beginning/Current)
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Barbell Bench Press: 110/147.5 (2.5 pound increase)
Barbell Parallel Squat 135/230 (0 pound increase)
Barbell Deadlift 90/230 (0 pound increase)
This week I focused on getting my bench press as high as I could before finishing off my summer project. All of my lifts really skyrocketed with all of this work, and I'm really happy with how much by bench press has risen. Increasing my bench press is really starting to get tough, and now I feel that the only real way to increase it is with time and a good diet. 147.5 is what I was able to max out with this week, and this is the weight I will be recording for my summer's end bench press weight. My Squats and Deadlifts didn't increase, simply because I didn't train with those lifts much this week. I'll be getting back into those lifts next week for sure! All in all, my bench press was a highlight this summer, and I'm certainly glad I decided to choose this project!
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Diet
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My diet has hovered at around 3200 calories per day all summer, and I've continued to intake about 100 oz of water per day as well. Protein numbers of course have been very high, but it's the end of summer, so why not eat a litttlee bit of junk food? After a summer of work and healthy choices, I think some good sweet foods in moderation are most certainly acceptable! :)
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Overall
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Throughout the project, I've gained very much knowledge on the entire topic of weightlifting. I will most certainly continue to weight lift regularly after this project, mostly because I can feel the benefit in my athletics. I've learned what to eat, how to train, how much rest to allow yourself for recovery, amino acid sequences, how to read an amino acid profile, as well as various training splits in order to achieve the best results. Although I never plan on using most of this information (because I think bodybuilder's look disgusting), it's helpful to know for basic weightlifting goals.
Eighth and Last Blog- Hurray!!!
Oh my gosh... This is the last blog. I thought the day would never come. I am so, so, so excited!!! I'm almost finished with all of my work and that's putting me in a great mood. So, for this last blog, we have to compare our project to the project in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Here goes!
My project was learning how to play the guitar. Why did I choose this project? For many reasons. First of all, I thought it would have a life-long, valuable impact on me. The first day of summer I was fantasizing playing the guitar around a campfire on a warm summer night with the stars twinkling overhead for many years to come. Secondly, the guitar is popular among Americans, which means that playing the guitar in front of an audience is that much better. It seems more enjoyable to be playing an instrument that is familiar among the people, versus one that is unfamiliar, simply because the people will take more pleasure in listening to it. Thirdly, it was just my personal preference to learn to play this particular instrument. I love the sound of it; I love hearing songs accompanied by a guitar.
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver also chooses to take on a project that she hoped to be lifechanging, similar to my hopes. She decides to embark on an year-long expedition involving the eating of only locally-grown produce. I admire her determination; and how she followed all the way through with some minor exceptions (the cranberries on Thanksgiving.) Both Kingsolver and I learned many important and signficant lessons along the way. First, nothing ever comes easy. It was not a project that I danced my way through smiling and laughing. It involved labor and frusteration. It was difficult for me to play chords without a buzzing or muted noise. It was difficult for Kingsolver to plant all of those vegetables and to take unconditonal care of them. Although I must say, her labor was ten times more difficult than mine!
In the end, though, Kingsolver and I both discovered how worth it the project was. We learned many lessons along the way. We experienced new things. We branched out from inside our comfortable bubble. I feel as though we are both changed citizens. Our outlook on the world is just a little different from how it was before. Ifeel as though we accomplished something great, and not because of the end result, but the steps we took to get there.
My project was learning how to play the guitar. Why did I choose this project? For many reasons. First of all, I thought it would have a life-long, valuable impact on me. The first day of summer I was fantasizing playing the guitar around a campfire on a warm summer night with the stars twinkling overhead for many years to come. Secondly, the guitar is popular among Americans, which means that playing the guitar in front of an audience is that much better. It seems more enjoyable to be playing an instrument that is familiar among the people, versus one that is unfamiliar, simply because the people will take more pleasure in listening to it. Thirdly, it was just my personal preference to learn to play this particular instrument. I love the sound of it; I love hearing songs accompanied by a guitar.
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver also chooses to take on a project that she hoped to be lifechanging, similar to my hopes. She decides to embark on an year-long expedition involving the eating of only locally-grown produce. I admire her determination; and how she followed all the way through with some minor exceptions (the cranberries on Thanksgiving.) Both Kingsolver and I learned many important and signficant lessons along the way. First, nothing ever comes easy. It was not a project that I danced my way through smiling and laughing. It involved labor and frusteration. It was difficult for me to play chords without a buzzing or muted noise. It was difficult for Kingsolver to plant all of those vegetables and to take unconditonal care of them. Although I must say, her labor was ten times more difficult than mine!
In the end, though, Kingsolver and I both discovered how worth it the project was. We learned many lessons along the way. We experienced new things. We branched out from inside our comfortable bubble. I feel as though we are both changed citizens. Our outlook on the world is just a little different from how it was before. Ifeel as though we accomplished something great, and not because of the end result, but the steps we took to get there.
Almost There!
Two days left! I am almost there! I cant believe school is here already. Well, I haven't actually practiced, at all, since my last blog so I guess at the moment I am blogging about my lack of practice. I go through different phases where practicing my pieces just isn't as fun as practicing what I want. The past few days I have sat down and played the piano, and I have sang but...not the music that my teachers have assigned. I like to sit down at the piano and play old pieces that I already have memorized and can basically play with my eyes closed because it is fun. when I don't have to concentrate and read notes it is relaxing to just let my fingers do all the work. The same thing goes for singing, yes I sing in the shower, who doesn't? But nobody jams out to Italian opera when they are showering, its not my idea of fun. So I have sang and played, just not the music I need to be doing. Listening to music is also another form of practice.
Yesterday I went to Arts Beats ans Eats, I heard a lot of different types of performances, there were people doing Gospel songs, rapping, screaming, there was even an Asian girl dancing while she sang her music...all in a foreign language. So it was definitely really cool to hear all of that, but there was one guy that caught my ear the most. He was a classical guitarist named Russell Donnellon, the way he played was almost as if he was describing emotion itself. He did nothing else, no singing or drums or wind instruments, he sat there in the middle of the crowd and played his heart out on a Spanish guitar. It wasn't how good he was that got to me, though he was very, very good, it was how he played. He wasn't playing because he knew people would like his music, he was playing because it was is life, his true passion. To watch him play brought tears to my eyes, just to see the complete appreciation for the music was indescribable. I have never seen anybody love music so much. So that is why I say listening is a form of practice, you practice to appreciate what you can do and the music you play. Also whenever I get a new piece I always look it up on YouTube just to get an ear for what I am playing. It really does help a lot.
well, I have two blogs left and two days left! so wish me luck! I hope everybody finishes off there summer good!
Yesterday I went to Arts Beats ans Eats, I heard a lot of different types of performances, there were people doing Gospel songs, rapping, screaming, there was even an Asian girl dancing while she sang her music...all in a foreign language. So it was definitely really cool to hear all of that, but there was one guy that caught my ear the most. He was a classical guitarist named Russell Donnellon, the way he played was almost as if he was describing emotion itself. He did nothing else, no singing or drums or wind instruments, he sat there in the middle of the crowd and played his heart out on a Spanish guitar. It wasn't how good he was that got to me, though he was very, very good, it was how he played. He wasn't playing because he knew people would like his music, he was playing because it was is life, his true passion. To watch him play brought tears to my eyes, just to see the complete appreciation for the music was indescribable. I have never seen anybody love music so much. So that is why I say listening is a form of practice, you practice to appreciate what you can do and the music you play. Also whenever I get a new piece I always look it up on YouTube just to get an ear for what I am playing. It really does help a lot.
well, I have two blogs left and two days left! so wish me luck! I hope everybody finishes off there summer good!
Off Task
Hey guys,
check out my flickrrr :)
I'm just trying to get exposure.
putting it where ever I can seems to help,
the hippo picture was published for the Detroit Zoo.
Eighth post.... this may well be the best day of my life!!!
Hey.... again haha. So I'm not sure if I'm allowed to write two blogs in a row, but here it goes. I was so excited to finish this last blog that I am still up writing. I am so close to being done that I have that feeling that you get when you are around someone you like. That is how excited I am. This may well be the best day of my young life, up to this date. Anyway, since this is my eighth post, I will be comparing AVM with my project; Bettering Myself as a Hostess.
There isn't really a simple way to connect my project to Barbara Kingsolver's project to eat all local grown foods. I suppose you could say that we are both bettering ourselves, but in different ways. I'm bettering my hostess ways and she is bettering her and her family's lifestyle. She has a far bigger concept, but both are interesting and quite similar in their own way.
I suppose you could connect my project to hers in another way. We both "study" people to learn more about our concept. I studied people to be a better hostess. I watched how they balanced thing, how they prepared things and more. She went around the country learning new thing about food making by other people, which is studying people in a way. Kingsolver's project and my project are surprisingly similar. We are both bettering ourselves in a way.
Well, that's it for me on my blogs!! Whoo!!
There isn't really a simple way to connect my project to Barbara Kingsolver's project to eat all local grown foods. I suppose you could say that we are both bettering ourselves, but in different ways. I'm bettering my hostess ways and she is bettering her and her family's lifestyle. She has a far bigger concept, but both are interesting and quite similar in their own way.
I suppose you could connect my project to hers in another way. We both "study" people to learn more about our concept. I studied people to be a better hostess. I watched how they balanced thing, how they prepared things and more. She went around the country learning new thing about food making by other people, which is studying people in a way. Kingsolver's project and my project are surprisingly similar. We are both bettering ourselves in a way.
Well, that's it for me on my blogs!! Whoo!!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Puppypower Number FOUR!
Alright everyone, it's down to the wire. Four posts to go in two more days. Can you feel the pressure?
There we go. I've gotten the first set of drawings done, and I think they look alright if I may say so. The hardest part about drawing Jitter was getting everything into proportion, as I don't have much experience with drawing eyes. Or specific breeds of dogs, for that matter. Typically, I'll draw a generic Spitz type dog or a lupine animal similar to a timber wolf, and won't bother drawing the eyes since the rest of it came out just how I wanted it to. In any case, the first drawing was by far the most disproportionate, and I think it got better from there on out. Fur is also difficult at times. The pictures are a bit blurry in full view, due to my camera not liking my drawings, but they should still give you an idea of the progress I made between the few drawings that are there. Any pixelation would be the work of my photo-editing program. The only editing in these, though, would be a change in brightness, contrast, and color balance. I put them into a monochrome because I felt the details would be easier to see in black and white, and that's how it was originally drawn.
The next drawing will be of Elyse's cat, Murphy. I've found that I am not very good at drawing cats whatsoever. We'll see how this goes. It does feel a little bit like cheating to draw them in revers order like this, but it's a lot easier to work up to the hardest drawing, rather than to start there and go back to what I'm used to. The drawings of Murphy and Stormy will be up tomorrow, hopefully followed shortly by the final interview and the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle essay. Ciao for now.
Seventh Post!!!
YAY! Almost finished, this is my second to last post; the last one being about the guitar. I hear that the eight post is an essay on Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I finished awhile back, so hopefully that one won't be hard!
Anyways, I posted my sixth post earlier today and I was attempting to learn the beginning part of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. The part before he starts singing. Yes, yes, I know, it sounds like it should be really simple and easy to learn. But, trust me, it's not! I've been working on it for about an hour now and it's pretty hard. On the last post I ran through what to do, and I think I posted about six steps or somewhere around there. I went back to the original video that I've been watching (the tutorial on the song) and I've been continuously pausing, rewinding, and replaying! I've sort of got it down; but... not really. I'll have to keep working on that. I have a few more steps that I learned, just adding another finger and moving up two frets, but the quickness factor is the problem for me. By that, I mean how fast I move my fingers up and down the guitar neck. The notes come pretty fast; it's not a slow song as I'm sure you know. I just have an issue with transferring my hand up and down the guitar neck. As they say, though, practice makes perfect! I'll have to keep trying. Another obstacle is the guitar making a buzzing noise, or sometimes it sounds a little muted instead of ringing out a clear and crisp chord. The advice on the videos are to make sure each finger is not touching the string above or below the one that it is pressing. I'm still working on that.
Also, I got bored with "I'm Yours". I'm still going to work on it, but I thought I'd take a break from that song and attempt to learn a different one! Short attention span? Maybe. Haha. I found a really awesome video though. It's a tutorial of a simplified version of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" on the guitar!!! I'm currently in progress with that. Who DOESN'T love that song? Come on now. :)
Anyways, I posted my sixth post earlier today and I was attempting to learn the beginning part of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. The part before he starts singing. Yes, yes, I know, it sounds like it should be really simple and easy to learn. But, trust me, it's not! I've been working on it for about an hour now and it's pretty hard. On the last post I ran through what to do, and I think I posted about six steps or somewhere around there. I went back to the original video that I've been watching (the tutorial on the song) and I've been continuously pausing, rewinding, and replaying! I've sort of got it down; but... not really. I'll have to keep working on that. I have a few more steps that I learned, just adding another finger and moving up two frets, but the quickness factor is the problem for me. By that, I mean how fast I move my fingers up and down the guitar neck. The notes come pretty fast; it's not a slow song as I'm sure you know. I just have an issue with transferring my hand up and down the guitar neck. As they say, though, practice makes perfect! I'll have to keep trying. Another obstacle is the guitar making a buzzing noise, or sometimes it sounds a little muted instead of ringing out a clear and crisp chord. The advice on the videos are to make sure each finger is not touching the string above or below the one that it is pressing. I'm still working on that.
Also, I got bored with "I'm Yours". I'm still going to work on it, but I thought I'd take a break from that song and attempt to learn a different one! Short attention span? Maybe. Haha. I found a really awesome video though. It's a tutorial of a simplified version of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" on the guitar!!! I'm currently in progress with that. Who DOESN'T love that song? Come on now. :)
Summer gone... Blog #8
From the beginning of the summer I knew exactly what I wanted my project to be about. I wanted to do something for others, and get get into working with horses again. I knew OATS was the perfect place and using it for my summer project was just the boost that i needed to get going :). Worrying about what to do my project on was never an issue for me. The issue was how I was going to start the project and what would happen.
My project ties into Kingsolver's book because we both took on a project/idea that we were passionate about. Did we know how things would turn out? no. But we went out and accomplished what we wanted. As Kingsolver got adapted to her new lifestyle she kept getting knew ideas and trying new things. Like Kingsolver my original project led me back to the joy of riding horses. The endings of our projects were also similar. She wanted a more healthy way to live, so she decided to take charge and cut out processed food. In the end it made her and her family stronger, and inspired other people. It is the end of summer and I feel stronger as well. Helping others definately makes people stronger and better.
Working at OATS this summer has been a blessing. Spending time with the smily children can make a persons day. I hope I brought smiles to kids. Even if it was only one child that I helped make a difference in is great. I wanted to give them joy, and in the end they brought it to me as well. These kids taught me to keep hope, and never give up one anyone. I am so glad that this project is not ending with the summer, because I will keep volunteering at OATS as long as I can :)
My project ties into Kingsolver's book because we both took on a project/idea that we were passionate about. Did we know how things would turn out? no. But we went out and accomplished what we wanted. As Kingsolver got adapted to her new lifestyle she kept getting knew ideas and trying new things. Like Kingsolver my original project led me back to the joy of riding horses. The endings of our projects were also similar. She wanted a more healthy way to live, so she decided to take charge and cut out processed food. In the end it made her and her family stronger, and inspired other people. It is the end of summer and I feel stronger as well. Helping others definately makes people stronger and better.
Working at OATS this summer has been a blessing. Spending time with the smily children can make a persons day. I hope I brought smiles to kids. Even if it was only one child that I helped make a difference in is great. I wanted to give them joy, and in the end they brought it to me as well. These kids taught me to keep hope, and never give up one anyone. I am so glad that this project is not ending with the summer, because I will keep volunteering at OATS as long as I can :)
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