Art Show 2009

Yesterday at the art show, I saw many marvelous pieces of art. The one piece of art that I really liked was by Amanda S in Photo 3. I really liked the bright colors and the crazy layout she chose. I liked the hippie vibe it gave off. The quote she chose was:
Today you are you
That is truer than true
There is no one alive
Who is youer than you.

I thought the quote was cute and really tied in to the art work.

Predictions

I think that by the end of the book that Kate will be still sick and that Anna will give in and help her sister. I think this because of the way Anna describes the past. Like with the past family holidays and how some of them were normal I think that Anna wants to help her sister but doesn't want her mom telling her she has to do it. If I was in Anna' s position I wouldn't want to help my sister if I was always forced to help her. I would want to make that decision on my own time; Kate however doesn't have time which is why I think the mother in the end will lose both of them because she is losing the one to cancer and pushing the other one away.

Commencement Speaker for the Class of 2009!

Over the years at Wissahickon we had many laughs and many crys. We stuck with each other through the thick and thin. As we depart from Wissahickon, I hope we take a little bit of each other with us. I hope we treasure all that our peers and teachers at Wiss has given us. When we leave here today Wissahickon is a memory, a memory of the times freshman year we ll thought we would never make it to Senior year, even graduation. Now it is time for us to fly and take what we learned over the past four years and apply to our lives. We need to truly ask ourselves what impact do we want to make on the world and how can we make it happen. I wish you all the best and next year and the years to come. Live each day like it will be your last and have fun because we are in the real world now. Good Luck Class of 09!

Independent Reading post number 2

Prompt 3:
Write about something that happened in this section that moved you and explain why. Why was the scene or event so powerful?



There is really no specific thing that moved me. The events that helped move me were when Anna finally stood up for herself because she didn't want to be expected to be her sisters donor anymore. I was moved with how she presented her case to the attorney and how she has the guts to stand up to her mom. It almost seems as if she is developing into a new Anna and I am excited to see if the case follows through and what happens to the family.

Antonement for Amir's sins

Amir needs to make amends with Hassan, his father, and Ali. He needs to make amends with Hassan because Hassan has made many sacrifices for Amir. Hassan stuck up for Amir when Assef and his friends were going to beat him up with his brass knuckles. Hassan took out his sling shot and stuck up for them. Hassan also was raped while fetching the blue kite for Amir. Amir saw his friend being raped and hid like a coward and then still did not tell anyone about it. Then feeling guilty about it for a while he tried framing Amir by planting some birthday cash and his birthday watch underneath Hassan's mattress and then telling his father. Amir, at this point has lost his best and most loyal friend and needs to do something to fix the relationship wih his father, Ali, and Hassan.

How to make things right...

What is atonement? Atonement is satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

I think atonement for past sins and mistakes are possible depending on the people involved in the situation. It would have to be sincere and not half-hearted though. All people involved would have to help each other find atonement. I do however think you can find atonement in certain situations easier than others. With Amir and Hassan's situation I think that it would be a lot harder to find atonement with one another because Amir let it go for so long. With my mistake it was easier to find atonement because one I live with them and two I have a kind heart and sometimes speak before I think things through. My parents forgave me because I was there blood and I was younger, not that being younger excuses it but me and my parents found atonement with each other. I think atonement should be sought in every mistake and situation because then you don't have to live with the "what if?" feeling. I am realizing now that I am getting older that atonement is easier to find in many situations.

Mistakes...

The biggest mistake I think I have ever made was telling my parents I hated them in my times of anger. I regretted those three words I said. It made me feel like a bad daughter, especially after all they have done for me. I know it hurt them a lot but they always seemed to brush it off because I was younger and thats how I dealt with my anger. I was able to make up for what I had said as I grew up, but sometimes I feel that I didn't get to really make it up to my dad before he died almost 5 years ago; that is the worst part. Now everyday I make sure my mom, brother and step-dad know that I love them and that I would do anything for them because you truly never know which day will be your last or what goodbye will be the final one.

My Sisters Keeper

In my independent reading boo, My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult. My book is about sisters, one of which has cancer. Her parents needed to find a match to give bone marrow to her so they had another baby just to save their other daughter. As the baby grows up she endures treatments that are just as painful that her sister receives and now she is suing her parent. I definatly think the youngest daughter will go through with suing her parents or eventually be taken away from her parents.

The Romance Overseas...

Deep in the valley of the Indus river, a young US army soldier is running from the Taliban. As he runs he thinks about his girlfriend back home and then he trips and hits his head. Knocked un-conscience he is taken to a very eery and dark place. He is tortured there and is scared for his life. He thinks back to his high school years and wonders how his life would possibly end if he went to Law school instead off into the Army to serve his country. His hands and feet were bound. He endured harsh circumstance's, which during those times he prayed he prayed that God would save him from this suffering. He then closes his eyes and thinks about his girlfriend with her brown hair and blue eyes; he misses her dearly. Not only does he hold his head up for his country but for his girl because the last time they saw each other they got into a fight. The Army made him Army strong but she was his true weakness at heart.

After months of negotiation he is finally freed from the Taliban and is permitted to go back home to see his girl. As he steps off the plane she runs towards him with tears streaming down her face and then says,"Baby I thought I lost you forever when you left, I'm so sorry for everything. Will you forgive me?" He looks her in the eyes, and replies, "You know I can't stay mad at you forever."

They then live in peace and harmony with each other from then on. The End.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I'm not sure what the quote really means but I think it means that when the good guys sit back and don't to anything to stop evil, then that helps evil-it feeds evil what it wants. This is kind of how Amir and Hassan from The Kite Runner act when faced by Assef. The first time they where faced with Assef and his goons Hassan pulled out his slingshot and that scared them away. Then The second time Hassan was confronted was without Amir by his side and he stayed loyal to Amir by not giving away the kite, but he then payed the price while Amir cowardly watched from afar.

Decisions.... Think About It.

My current decisions I am faced with are all about college and money. These decisions I am faced with will determine the next four years of my life and I know that one stray away from the path I already built will affect my life. A decision I made in the beginning of this school year was where should I go to college and what do I want to study. I chose four schools: Valparaiso, Texas Lutheran, Eastern and Augsburg. I knew that Valparaiso was my first choice, so then I had to make another decision on how far away do I want to be from my family, is Valparaiso too far or not far enough for my liking? Accepted was the next step in my decision process because i got accepted into all of my schools but in reverse order from where I decided I wanted to be. Now that the year is coming to a close and I am enrolled in Valparaiso University I have to decided how I will pay for college and travel expenses. I recently made the decision to apply for a credit card strictly for school. People make decisions on there financial needs and there wants and thats what I am doing constantly. My decisions this year have not only affected me but my family and friends. They are all very supportive in my decisions to go away and now that the year is coming to an end the decisions are getting harder on what to bring, what to buy, what will I truly need to be successful out at school.

The Delicious Disaster

Ingredients:

1 cup of Landlocked Country
2 Tbsp of Trade
1/4 cup of Oil
1 oz of Migration
3 cups of Brutal Civil War
1 cup of Empires a pinch of King Amanullah
1 cup of Diplomatic Relations
5 cups of Taliban
2/3 cup of September 11th Attack
1/2 cup of Poverty
4 cups of Poor Infrastructure





First you take your 1/4 cup of Oil and mix it with the 1 cup of Diplomatic Relations. Then throw in your 1 cup of Landlocked Country.
Then throw in the 4 cups of Poor Infrastructure. Mix well. Then take the 1/2 cup of Poverty and mix the 1 cup of Empires with a pinch of King Amanullah.
Put that in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

While that bakes you take your 2 Tbsp of Trade and mix that with your 1 oz of Migration.
Then mix your 5 cups of Taliban with your 3 cups of Brutal Civil War. Then add your 2/3 cup of September 11th Attack and shake well. Be careful it doesn't burst.

Then once you have let the cake cool spread the brutal icing on the cake and Voila!

You have just made the Delicious Disaster. Enjoy!

Spring Break 2009

For my spring break I worked and watched a lot of movies. Monday and Wednesday I babysat triplets. Then the rest of the week I worked at my real job (HomeGoods). I also attended church every night from Thursday until Sunday. I also stapled ALL the church service bulletins. I was very pleased because on Easter Sunday we played hand bells and the Wednesday before we could not get 2 out of the 3 songs, then a miracle happened on Easter morning and we nailed it. It was such a relief because Holy Week was so stressful and busy up to that point.

Prompt 13

Some of Rudy Medina's choices of friends, words, and attitude have put him on this rollercoaster. When I was first introduced to Rudy he was a boy who only wanted to please his father but never quite met that expectation. Then his so called friends always are getting him into trouble and him and his father develop a sort of love, hate relationship towards one another. A recent problem he was faced with was finding out his father was cheating on his mother. This upset him and he figured he would flip on his dad. Instead, after awhile he gave up and went to steal cigarettes and wine from a store with his buddy. The advice I would give him is don't let other peoples bad choices turn you into a bad person who makes even worse choices but doing drugs and alcohol. Go talk calmly to your father and tell him how you feel with the situation, let him in on some of the things you are going through and you might not have to go through them alone.

Prompt 11

This books language and style is very effective because some parts of the book are in Spanish, however most are in English. It gives the book character and helps the reader understand the Spanish culture and all the characters feelings. The tiny bit of spanish added enjoyment to the book for me, partially because I understood what they were saying.

Prompt 14

A quote I found to be rather interesting is when Rudy says "Day or night he could be anywhere he choosed while I stood cooped up like my fathers chicken." I think this is an interesting quote because in the begining of the book when he turned 14 his father gave him the chicken killing knife to go out back and catch and kill a chicken by slitting its throat, but Rudy couldn't bring himself to do it. He felt sorry for the chicken and now that he is referring back to himself as a chicken I wonder if he is feeling sorry for himself, like he felt sorry for the chicken.

Prompt 15

This picture is symbolic in a way because Rudy deals with a lot of peer pressure to not be the stool pigeon anymore. He starts smoking and drinking. He even carried around Boxer's zip gun for her in school. I honestly think peer pressure is stupid and people should be able to freely express or better yet be themselves without anyone else putting in their two cents.

Prompt 10

Some connections I made while reading this chapter was how much Che and Rudy are alike. They both have asthma and are both Latin American. They both have a sort of innocence to them and yet all of a suddent they change. They both become very popular by their actions even though some of the choices they each made aren't the best. The only real big difference between them is age and potential for destruction. By that I mean although Che was loved, he was also known for witnessing hundreds of murders and Rudy he was quite popular after he became a smart allic and won some points with his friends, yet he was known for being rude and disrespectful.

Prompt 4

The thing that suprised me most is how Rudy is now acting toward his older sister Lena. Lena used to be the one to take care of Rudy when he was sick and protect him from a lot of things including his fathers harsh words and beatings. Now as I get deeper into the story I can see that Rudy is protecting his sister. Mostly because his father tells him its his job, but I think Rudy enjoys doing it or else he wouldn't have went out looking for her that night her father was looking for her.

Prompt 3

The way Rudy is quickly changing from innocent boy who wants to do nothing but please his father to this boy who has an attitude, smokes, hangs with the wrong crowd and such sticks out the most. Rudy is acting way different now then he did in the beginning of the book. In the beginning of the book I thought it was going to be a big success story, hence the title (Famous All Over Town), however it's not. The pace the main character is changing is keeping me interested because it's hard to figure out his next move. This chapter really is keeping me on my toes.

Prompt 1

I don't really like how they start the book off because it was kind of slow and hard to get into. The thing I like the most about the book is how when the characters are having a dialouge there is a mixture of English and Spanish and it helps you understand the character and the character's feelings better. I also like the drama in the book, it's entertaining yet informative.

Prompt 6

I think that Rudy (the main character) will figure out that he is smarter than his so called friends. I think he will be able to achieve his dreams and be well known for rising up from his economic status. I truely believe he will realize his gang is going nowhere fast and that they will drag him down with him. Eventually I believe Rudy will become a straight 'A' student.

Thesis Statement - Theme 6

Compassion Turns Sour

Ernesto had good intentions but Che let those good intentions turn sour. Ernesto, a young medical student was very compassionate; he witnessed widespread poverty, oppression and disenfranchisement throughout Latin America. He then turned into a different man and became Che after witnessing these many injustices. Che saw the injustices differently and wanted to fix them, his way of fixing the problem was he installed and supported repressive regimes around the world.

Prompt 9

1. Why was the beginning of the book a bad time in his life?

2. Why was he "famous" all over town?

3. Why is he pondering the next step in his life?

4. Why was he so unsure of his tomorrows?

5. What makes his father so mad over the way he killed the chicken?

6. Why does he have a soft spot for the way the chicken was killed.

7. Why was he considered a man at 14?

8. What did he do prior to his 14th birthday to make him become a man at 14?

9. Where is this story heading?

Do Now 3/11/09

Che and Alberto met many interesting groups of people along their way. The one group who interested them the most in Peru was the Indians. Describe a time when you were going somewhere and met an interesting person who left an impression on you that you remember. It can be a good impression or bad impression.


I chose this topic because I love traveling and listening to other peoples stories and over the past few years I met a lot of people who had an impact on my life.

A Chilean Memoir

Hospitable, reason that makes Chile enjoyable!

It's CHILE time!

In Chile, Alberto and Che faced a lot of problems with La Poderosa II. Between working on the bike and them scrounging around from place to place trying to find food at the homes of which they stopped at. Che said that Chilean hospitality was one reason traveling in Chile was so enjoyable. Che felt incapable of many things at some points in his journey in Chile. I think that all the people Che met in Chile had a great influence on his socialist views. I feel the reason he wanted to help other people better their lives is because he was helped out by complete strangers on his life journey. I think he learned a lot about others in Chile, but more importantly I think he found himself while he was in Chile.

God Bless America!

Free, powerful, beautiful.
God Bless America!

Ideology...& Me!

Personally I believe in many different things, like human rights. I am an advocate for the LGBTQ all over, but especially in my church and synod. I truly can't stand it when people are made fun of, for what the look like or who they are. I feel that everyone is beautiful if you look deep enough. I feel everybody deserves happiness, but I don't think that many people achieve the happiness they deserve. I will go great lengths to make anyone feel welcome anywhere I go. No matter where your from or any of your preferences, because I know what it's like to be judged. I have many more ideals but if I were to list them all you would get really bored and stop reading this. So this is all for now and if you want to know more just ask!

Pakistan && Che Guevara

Some similarities between them is the refuse help. They both want to be independent. They are both being very secretive. Some differences are that the Pakistani's don't like us even though we are trying to help them and Che was loved for "helping" strangers.

Che's Mission Statement

"It is a SO-CIA-LIST revolution. Everyone is a fierce soldier in the revolution. Our designated enemy is Imperialism." That would be his mission statement if he had one. He would use that to guide everything he did.

Bishop Mark S. Hanson

Bishop Hanson is the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In August 2001, he was elected by the Churchwide Assembly to be the presiding bishop of the ELCA. Before being elected as the presiding bishop, he served as the bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod (3H) and he was elected to serve a second term that same year. Bishop Hanson was born in Minneapolis on December 2, 1946. He graduated from Augsburg College with a Bachlor's degree in Sociology. He then went to the Union Theological Seminary in NYC and recived a Master of Divinity degree. He was elected in 2003 as the president of the Lutheran World Federation, a position he holds concurrently with his position as presiding bishop of the ELCA. Bishop Hanson has the opportunity to speak with Lutherans throughout the world about the social, economic, and political injustices that we, the people of God, are called to confront. He is the author of, Faithful Yet Changing, the Church in Challenging Times and Faithful and Courageous, Christians in Unsettling Times, which are both published by Augsburg Fortress, Publishers. Him and his wife, Agrimson have six children. He is better known as grandpop to two grandkids.

The Real Ernesto Che Guevara...

I would cover his early life and who he became. I would ask why and how he got to be the person he is. I would focus on the end of his life and legacy, so people would understand who is and what he had done. I would try to give both sides equally; the good and the bad about Che.

Can anyone say road trip?!

I have taken a road trip to Canada a few times as a child. Road trips back then were fun but I always got antsy. I never really liked sitting in the car for more than two hours. A plus about the road trips I have been on were the were I always enjoyed looking forward to going places. While in Canada we saw Niagara Falls. I think Canada is a great place to visit. It is a very pretty country. The one place I would really love to visit is Europe, especially England so I can visit friends and family while I am there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1zhlBv_qcc

Book Preview activity

Do Now February 3, 2009


I usually judge books by how many pages and artwork on the cover. The book that caught my attention recently was Daddy’s Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark. On the cover of this book is a gold locket on a leaf with droplets of blood. It is about a girl named Ellie whose testimony puts Rob Westerfield in jail. The words on the cover about the book reached out to me. However, it wasn’t the covers artwork or how many pages that caught my eye. The title reached out and grabbed me (because I am was definitely a daddy’s girl and still am even though my dad died and my mom got remarried).

Glen Beck: Che Guevara- 40 Years Later

I have to agree with Glen Beck especially when he asks "How did Che become so romantic?" and then follows up by saying how Che is idolized and how we don't really know what we are wearing and who he is. Che became a counterculture symbol worldwide. Humberto Fontova, author of Exposing the Real Che Guevara: and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him, states, "WESTERN MEDIA that bought into Castro’s legend of the man who he deliberately sent to his death. The legend only started after Che Guevara was safely sleeping with the fishes " I feel that that is true we idolize the ones who we know nothing about and then come to find Che was a killer. He was the chief executioner and chief jailer.


Beck gets his point across by making jokes about what he is talking about. I think he does this to get peoples attention and to get his point across.

Cinquaine

EMOTIONS
Sadness, Happiness
Crying, Weeping, Smiling
The emotions never lie.
Feelings

Welcome

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Peace & Love,
Jessie