Quick Write: Finals

Well... it's finals week. The last chance to push your grade up those extra percentages. To me, finals week -- at least in the first semester -- isn't about taking impossible finals, it's about getting everything turned in so your grade stays an A. I only had one final this semester, and it wasn't that hard. Next semester is when things get tough. My year will culminate in several very difficult finals in addition to the SAT and two difficult AP tests. It will be very rough. But after all the dust has cleared, I will have a good week or so to just relax and enjoy school and have fun in the last days of it. Then, summer. Then, it repeats again...

Quick Write: Disatvantages to Blog Quick Writes

Well looking back at the quarter -- I sort of regret the number of quick writes I did on my blog. Ironically, the first blog quick write I did was comparing and contrasting typing with handwriting. The reason I chose do to quick writes on my blog in the first place was because I can type faster than I can write and can, thus, get my thoughts down faster. I'm more efficient typing and can get a quick-write done much faster online. Also, I can listen to music easily when I'm on my blog -- I'll just plug my headphones in and listen to iTunes. Also, I received less points for journal pages by doing quick writes on my computer. If I did everything in my journal, I would have a considerably greater amount of points. If we continue to do fast writes in the new semester, I will attempt to do more quick writes in my journal.

What I Learned

It’s been a long time since the quarter started, and a lot has happened in that time. I’ve learned plenty of stuff this quarter, and it is almost time to learn plenty more. But what have I learned? Well, between all the stories I heard, the poems I read, and all the writing I did, the answer is, “a lot.”
A lot of what I learned comes not in the form of traditional information, but rather storytelling, and the morals of those stories that Mr. Good told. They were very interesting and I often learned more from them than I did in any of my other classes. From the funny stories like the time Mr. Good accidentally set a shed on fire to some of the more serious stories, they were always interesting, funny, informative, and expertly told.
Another major thing I did was get a little more exposure to poetry. Although I don’t care much for poetry and never read it before, the poetry out loud assignment helped me gain a better understanding of it and raised my interest level… a little bit. I read tons of poems trying to find the one that I would eventually read. Once I picked my poem, I had to analyze it to find the best way to read it. Analyzing it and saying it out loud, I think, really helped me improve my public speaking sills.
Obviously, I also did quite a bit of writing. I started by learning how to build a blog. Then I used it to write a variety of assignments online that helped my writing skills. The fast writes also gave me a chance to put my thoughts down on paper, stimulating creativity and improving writing skills again.
A lot has been learned this quarter, another step into adulthood. With this knowledge under my belt, who knows what will come next? Now it’s time to go on to semester two.

Now What?

It’s been another quarter. Now, I’m almost halfway done with my junior year. It’s quite scary and exciting at the same time to think that in just one-and a half-more years, I’ll be in college. A lot has happened over this quarter in and, obviously, out of creative writing. What’s next for this class?
As much as I’ll miss Mr. Good, I’m excited to begin a new semester with Mr. D and think he will be a great replacement. It should be a fun rest of the year. It sounds like I’ll be dealing with a fair amount of music in the new year, as Mr. D has already told me about several artists I haven’t heard of before. I’m sure plenty of neat assignments and events will be assigned with the new year as well. And I’m sure I’ll start writing about summer activities as well.
I hope in the new semester that I will get to listen to and write about music fairly frequently because when it comes to writing that’s what I really like writing about. I don’t JUST want to get stuck on music, however. I also like writing short stories, fictional normally. In eighth grade, I wrote this VERY long short story, and wouldn’t be opposed to doing something like that again.
Either way, I think the new semester should be fun and exciting. I think I’m ready to move on into the next chapter.

Rite a Riff: Ode to Snow

Although a majority of my fast writes are done on my blog, I do have a few that are in my journal that were either written before I had my blog or were a little too personal for a public blog. There WAS a poem that I had written titled Ode to Snow that isn't horrible, however. And since it's rare that I even attempt to write poems, I thought it would be a good piece to post online.

Ode to Snow

The way the sun shines
On freshly fallen snow.
It shines,
And lights up the ground.

The way the snowflakes fall
On the frozen ground.
It falls,
All over.

Sliding all over the place,
On the way to school.
In a vehicle--
Without studded tires.

Gliding gracefully on the snow,
On skis.
The snow is illuminated--
By the sun.

Quick Write: Radiohead

I think a quick-write about one of my favorite bands is waay overdue. And what better band to write about than Radiohead? They are the most diverse and exciting band out there by far. In the early nineties, they had a major hit titled Creep. During this time, they released two albums. There are way more good songs on those two albums that aren't as popular. Then, they released OK computer in 1998, which was amazing and much more progressive. Their major hits off that album were miles ahead of every song in sophistication and craftsmanship. They, in 2000, they changed their style entirely and made Kid A and Amnesiac, two albums almost completely electronic. Although they had changed entirely, their fans, me included, still liked them. Their new songs were exciting and different. And the songs that WER'NT electronic were amazing, like Knives Out which is one of my favorite songs. Then they found a good middle between them and released Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. They are more rock-oriented, but show a variety of styles and ideas which make them amazing (Hail to the Thief is my favorite album).
One really cool thing about them is that they are multi-instrumentalists and often switch around instruments to fit the song whether that be someone play piano, someone play extra drums, or three people playing guitar. Because of this, they are a really cool live band and I really hope someday I can see them live.
Another reason I like them is because they are one of the very few bands that hasn't changed members at all since the band's creation. That's a very impressive feat and shows how well they work together in a group. I would recommend them to anyone and hope everyone has a chance to embrace this awesome band.

Quick Write: What Would I Teach?

If I were a teacher, what I would want to teach is rather a no-brainer for me. I would be a music teacher. I really enjoy playing music and already play a variety of instruments, so the position would be a good fit for me. Being a band teacher, I'm assuming, would be a pretty fun and rewarding job. You spend the day making (hopefully) good music, and don't have to worry about grading papers or anything afterwards.
Of all the band classes, jazz band would be the most fun to teach in my opinion. It's a really laid back class. Everyone usually has a great groove going on in a song and as a result you don't need a conductor. You only really need to critique and listen to them.
Of course teaching a concert band class wouldn't be the worst thing either. It is pretty challenging and difficult to be a conductor. But there's also drawbacks to that. You are much more stressed in a class like that because you are often the only thing keeping the band from messing up and having to stop the song. I also know from experience that it is often very difficult to have everyone stop talking and get ready in a big band, which I have seen drive conductors crazy.
Still, it would be a good job and it would probably be a job that I wouldn't fear going to every day.

Blog Review: The Musings of a High School English Student

The first thing that sticks out in my opinion is the picture behind the title of the blog. It's original and adds a cool personal element to the blog. This blog is chock-full of poems and other writing assignments, all of which are quality pieces of literature. Although the rest of the blog's design is fairly generic, this might be my favorite blog due to the sheer number of posts on it.

Blog Review: A World of Pure Imagination

This blog is fairly generic and barren. The only posts it has are the Remember assignment back from November, and a picture of jelly beans. The background picture is also a stock picture. In my opinion, this blog needs more love.

Blog Review: Loko

This is one of the more active blogs that I have seen. There's plenty of pictures, stories, and poems. For content, I'd give this blog an A. As for the rest of the blog, I don't think it's that bad. I don't personally like the checker picture background style, but the tree is still nice.

Quick Write: Last Home Set of Hockey Games

Well, our last set of home hockey games for JDHS are this weekend and I encourage anyone who reads this blog to go if they can. Saturday is senior night, which is always fun. We are playing West Valley, a team from up in Anchorage. They're a pretty good team and it should be some good competition. Hopefully we'll win but either way it should be a great game to watch.

Evaluate Blog: Pfaff's Perfect blog!

Phwew, last blog review of the night. This is my favorite blog so far, in my opinion. I like it because it really stands out. It doesn't have an amazing background picture, but the blog owner changed the font, which really makes the blog stand out. Also, I liked how in the blog review post the blogger was able to make the blog title the link to the blog. I don't know how to do that. And, in the title, it includes multiple exclamation marks which also helps the blog stand out.

Blog Review: Trekker

My favorite thing about this blog is the title. It's original and I'm fairly surprised that it wasn't taken yet. Nevertheless, the rest of the blog is not bad. Not completely polished, but there's an original background picture, which is cool. I like that the most recent post is a picture showing someone (presumably the blog writer) doing an awesome trick in the air.

Blog Review: Yes.... Yes it is

The thing that stands out to me the most is the background picture, which is very cool-looking and has a good resolution. It leads me to believe that the owner of the blog enjoys being outside and doing stuff. The blog is relatively barren, with only three posts, but those posts represent a significant point total and the blog seems fairly active. Not a poorly done blog by any means.

Quick Write: Rap Music

For the longest time I absolutely despised rap. I never listened to it and hated having to listen to it on the radio. The first time that I realized that maybe something else was going on is when I saw an interview with Krist Novoselic, the old bass player for Nirvana, called "What's in my Bag?" which consisted of him telling the camera what he was buying at this record store in LA. One of his choices that really surprised me was Little Wayne's Tha Carter III. He said that his nephew had gotten him into the genre and that he really liked it, calling it original and creative. That's when I stopped and considered that maybe there was something else going on there that I hadn't embraced yet. My criteria for music was that there had to be real instruments. Soon after, I started listening to Radiohead and before I knew it, I was really getting into some of their electronic songs like Idioteque and Myxomatosis. I also got into Foster the People which, although there ARE guitars, features lots of electronic effects. Then, I went to Seattle over winter break and spent time with my cousin, who is really into rap music. With lots of exposure, I started listening to any song he was playing to see if I liked it. I actually DID find some songs that actually stood out to me. Although I still like rock music much more than rap music, I will never demonize it again like I had in the past.

Quick Write: Get on a Plane Tomorrow...

If I were to go on a plane tomorrow that would take me wherever I wanted to go, I think I would go to Australia. Australia is a place that has always fascinated me as fat back as middle school. It would also satisfy my desire to travel across an ocean into another continent.

There are many reasons I would want to go to Australia. I think the thing I would most want to do there is go snorkeling. Australia is world-famous for its reefs-namely the great barrier reef. I think snorkeling would be a very cool activity to try.

Another thing that would be very cool would be to see the very different animals Australia has. It would be very cool to see Kangaroos, Koala Bears, of Platypuses, among other animals.

Just as cool as Australia's beaches and reefs it its interior. There are plenty of cool things to see/do in its desert regions. It would be fun to possibly go off-roading out there or take a jeep tour.

Overall, it would be a very cool experience and a very neat trip to take.