Alyssa

//Please add more details and write longer responses//

6/18/2012 Journal Entry: I'm mildly excited about this whole camp thing, but I'm anxious like crazy about it, too. I don't //really// know what I'm anxious about, but I don't like being anxious about whatever it is. I burned myself last night. By last night, I mean the night before last night. I was making cupcakes for my dad for father's day. I made cupcakes AND a cake. It was ridiculous, having to make both. The cupcakes were double fudge with mini-reeses and choclate frosting. The cake wasn't nearly as interesting, a plain yellow cake with cream cheese frosting. I like the view of the city from up here, even if it isn't much of one. But, I can see McDonalds from here and it reminds me of the movie, "The Fifth Element." I don't even know why.

6/18/2012 Name Game: Jonah's (Joe-nah) first name means "Dove" in Hebrew. He thinks his name is quote-unquote 'Aight.' If he had a choice he would change his first name because nobody can spell it. //Please write longer responses. The more you write, the better your skill gets.//

6/18/2012 Reflection on Brain Function: I found it strange how they figured all this out, with the brain being so complex and all. I'll admit, my mind kept wandering because I didn't know what some things meant. The whole thing was very technical but the comparison(s) she made were easier to follow. It's funny how our brain works, so complex and yet simple. People are just so curious about it, and keep on dissecting information to try and figure it out. I think we can do it, but it'll take a long time. //Too brief//

6/18/2012 About Your Neighborhood: My neighborhood is an okay one. But we have people tagging and doing graffiti. (Not even the pretty/awesome kind) Also, a street near my house has been under construction since late last summer. In another backyard diagonal from my own there's a dog that is tick and flea riddenand it can escape from the backyard. Usually it'll come down our street and do it's 'business' in our front yard. In the backyard straight across from mine there's a man who has a gate that goes into the alley between backyards. (Creeper peeper!) In that family there is not many problems. I'm mainly a problem to myself, sometimes I get anxious and it's horrible. Besides that, everything's okay in my 'hood', and it's relatively nice.

6/18/2012 //Mexican Whiteboy// Reflection Pages 1-50: __On page 5 it talks about how Danny's__ dad left and I wondered why he would leave. And also, there was OTNC (please look it up) (an acronym I didn't know. Page 9: It talks about a derby and I assumed a horse derby, but by using clues, you can sort of determine that it's a baseball game and I assume it's speaking of repititive games. It's still kind of confusing for people who don't know much about baseball. Page 23:I thought Uno was pretty dumb and stubborn. Action and no talk. Danny didn't deserve any of that and Uno was being so stupid. Also, he shouldn't of been pushing Sofia around. Page 40: I think Danny should have pressed charges. Page 45: By reading that Danny's dad didn't like white men hitting on his wife, I thought that was okay. But I don't think he should have went and started a fight because that stuff happens. Also, I agree with Danny when he's asking in his head if she's really sorry. __Please write using a variety of sentences and not by indicating page numbers__ 6/19/2012 Journal Entry: YOU! Yes, you there. You have //NO// clue how much I want to go skating. Ice skating, rollerblading, it //doesn't matter!// I can do both and I really want to go. BUT! There is always a conflict in the story of our heroin (not the drug) and it is that she does not have a person to go skating with. Unless, of course, I go with my cousin, who is 8, and I don't know if I want to go THAT badly. Maybe I can go to the zoo. //*CHOO CHOO!*// Ride the train when I get on down there. Do they have a train? If they don't, I'll make a human train and it WILL be awesomely amazing. Perhaps I can go play basketball, or talk my dad into teaching me volleyball in the 90s to 100s heat. Then, to cool down, go to the pool or something. All of it sounds nice but it's probably not going to happen. DREAMS CRUSHED!!! __Interesting__

6/19/2012 If I Was Moving to a Different Country (Namely Japan in my case): //Please do not use bullet unless you are brainstorming. Try to write using sentences//
 * Excited! Time to learn Japanese!
 * Nervous! I have to learn //Japanese?//
 * Excited! I wonder what type of things are there?
 * Upset! I'm MOVING from my FRIENDS!
 * Upset! I probably won't see my friends for a long time.
 * Happy! Once I understand Japanese, maybe I can understand anime and manga better.
 * Happy! If I know Japanese and English what kind of job can I get?

6/19/2012 Picturebooks (Reflection[Kind of]): With the picturebook, it was kind of strange to look at the pictures first, and then read the story. It was definitely like judging a book by it's cover, just tweaked. Most of the things I put were wrong, and strangely I found that amusing, like 'That's what you get for judging!' But the story did go with the pictures, it just depended on your point of view. Some (most?) people said the same thing that went with the picture. I have a different perspective so sometimes I'd say things that didn't exactly go with the picture, and if they were farther off I just kept that to myself. But I found the whole thing interesting, and I'm glad our teacher made us do that, it's a change in a way of looking at things, I suppose you could say.

//This activity was supposed to help you infer. Inference is a higher order thinking skill that is much needed in writing//

6/19/2012 Tolerating Intolerance Reflection: I found this piece extremely intriguing, and I think out of our whole time, this one will end up being my favorite. This man is a white-seperatist and is bringing his beliefs, views, practically everything personal, in the workspace of college. And his teacher doesn't know whether or not to stop him. I would have let him do it, as she did, but I would not be as timid in the beginning about it as she was. I would have told him what I thought of it before he presented it, and I would have let him present it. I definitely believe that what she did was right. I strongly believe that. How else was he supposed to learn the views of others, of different races? He says he was trying to protect his 'culture' but can you not maintain your culture, while still being in a multi-cultural enviorment? It seems as if he/they is/are trying to protect the white race, not the white culture. It's peculiar to see that this was going on. Before this, I'd never even heard of a white-seperatist and now that I have, it opens so many questions. Was this man raised that way, or did he just realize 'My race/culture needs to be fought for and protected!'? Is he a homophobic as well? How does this exactly happen? This topic just overlaps with so many others, the topic of homosexuality, rights of any being, racism, etc. And I realize that I might be skipping around, but when things come so fast can you just stop from speaking your mind? It's sad to see that people are so closed minded now these days. Some people aren't open to new anything. This is the 21st century, and things are changing. Society, media, government. I can't help but think that to a certain point, these things influenced this man that was so closed minded. If his instructor had not let him present his paper about what he believed then he would never have been able to change, and realized the things he said were offensive and hurtful to many different races, including that race's cultures. To a degree, this man learned that he needed to change. //Nicely done//

6/19/2012 My Favorite Person Miss Gallant, I ceretainly hope you don't mind being my favorite person. Miss Gallant, or Miss G, as I like to call her, is one of my top 2 favorite English teachers. She's absolutely amazing, and a total kid at heart. She is super funny, and I'm honored that I got to meet the smartest person in the world. Miss Gallant helped me when I was utterly confused about anything and she guided me to open up about sharing my poetry. That's why I especially love her. I had never openly read my poetry for a classroom before. Not in a classroom of 21. I brought my book to class that I usually wrote my poems in and let her read it. And what did my crazy teacher ask me to do? She asked me to //READ it in front of my classmates!!!// I was embarrassed and scared out of my mind. What if I messed up? What if they laughed at me? I wouldn't be able to handle it, and for sure I would bust out of there crying if the latter happened. But what did I do? I couldn't read. I let her read it the first time, but then I decided I wanted to try. My throat felt like it was closing up on me, and I was going to die a slow and humiliating death. I struggled a bit through the first poem I read, but when I finished, my face flushed. My classmates clapped. They clapped! It was like a tiny burst of sunny joy in my heart. Thanks to Miss Gallant. And then I realized that when I read my poetry, people listened(most of the time). It made me feel powerful, happy, and confident. It was wild when all of that happened because of one person just asking me to read. She also made me realize that I could write more than just poetry. I could write short horror stories if I really put my mind to it, and non-fictional controversial topics that I was really passionate about. Of course, she helped me figure out that I'm not so good with topics I don't find interesting, or sometimes I just didn't like that they were non-fiction. She's not cool just because she encouraged me to write. When I needed help with my personal problems, she would help me and we'd talk it out. It was nice having a person to talk and listen to. Not that I didn't have anyone else to share with, but as I said, talking to Miss Gallant was eye-opening. Miss Gallant made classes interesting with the games and conversations that we had. Everybody loved her, but I'll let you in on a little secret. I was her favorite student. SHH! Don't tell because people will get jealous. I could ramble forever about Miss Gallant, but I just want to let you know that Miss Gallant is amazing.

6/20/12 Journal Entry: Today I don't know what to write about. I could ramble on about things for a long time, but I don't feel like that's appropriate. But, alas, things must be done. When I get home I get to make sushi and sushimi for my father, since it's an important day for him. Tonight's supposed to be be a real treat, being that we get to have a Japanese/ Korean dinner. I spent two years in Korea as a kid and it's hard to find a good Korean resteraunt here in San Antonio. It's pretty annoying actually, not being able to find a legitimate one. Anyways, we're making it all at home and I can't wait to see how it turns out. If it's a failure, I'll eat something that's the closest thing to legitimate which, for me, is spicy ramen noodle.

Music is a beautiful way of expressing yourself, or making you want to express yourself. Music can inspire you to dance, sing, write, and do creative things. Music can even relate to a moment or event in your life. It can change your moods by causing you to feel different emotions. There's different kinds of music to evoke a variety of feelings.
 * Classification Essay - Music**

Country in the dictionary is defined as: //A form of popular music originating in the rural southern US. It is traditionally a mixture of ballads and dance tunes played characteristically on fiddle, guitar, steel guitar, drums, and keyboard// Some popular, well-known artists of country are Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, and Carrie Underwood. Country has a variety of sub-genres, such a truck-driving country, or country pop. A few popular songs of country are about having a good time, sad love songs, or something different.

Rock is popular music that was evolved around the middle and late 1960s. It was more serious than previous music. Rock was created by musical experimentation and was know for it's 'drug-related or anti-establishment lyrics'. A few known artists of rock are Elvis Presley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Def Leppard. Rock can be directed at any group age, although you normally see teenagers listening to it.

Punk Rock in the dictionary is defined as: //Rock music with deliberately offensive lyrics expressing anger and social alienation// Punk rock is a sub-genre of rock. And there are many sub-genres of punk rock itself. Earlier punk rock groups were The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash, who are from London. Punk rock often has lyrics against the government. The majority of the time, punk rock is very up-beat music. Pop is marketed towards teenagers and is described as 'a bland watered-down version of rock'n'roll with more rhythm and harmony'. It also is mainly about love songs. Pop music is generally upbeat and exciting. You can easily dance or sing with pop music. Britney Spears, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson are considered as pop music artists.

Dubstep in the dictionary is defined as: //Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals".// Dubstep sounds very futuristic. Examples of dubstep artists are Nero, Sub Focus, and Freestylers. Dubstep originated in South London, England, and swept across the seas. Dubstep has now become popular in the US, and it is more mainstream.

Music comes in different sounds and different words. It is beautiful. If we didn't have a variety of genres and sub-genres then life would change. Life would be colorless, and not as happy or exciting, because music can put you in a mood. Music is amazing and we are all lucky to be able to listen to it.

Movie Questions Kayanna - In the airport, did the officers search him because he was distracted or because he was of a different race? Why was Khan's brother against the marriage even though they were raised by an accepting mother? Aristeo - What you think Khan really wants to tell the president of the USA? Why do you think the other muslims did not pray with Rizvan on the bus? Aubrey - Why do they presume that Khan is a terriorist? Why did Khan give $500 to a different religion(christian only event)? Augusta - Why does he have such a hard time talking to people? Why are people so amazed by the way Khan prays? Ivy - Why does he want to fly all the way to DC to tell the president that he was not a terrorist? Why was Mandira mad at her sister-in-law? Julianna - How does autism affect someone's ability to communicate? Why was Khan willing to go through so much pain/struggle to tell the president that he was a not a terroist? Why was Mandira so mad at Khan after the killing and why does she leave him? Josh - What is he playing with in the airport? Will khan be with his wife Mandira again? Jonah - Why does Khan want to meet the president? What happens to the kids who killed Sam? Alyssa - Why didn't Reese tell the cops about who killed Sam? Sydney - Will Reeses ever tell the truth and regret?