Semester Final

2) Choose one of your posts. (Your favorite? Your least favorite? The one that surprises you the most when you reread it? Any one you want to pick.) Analyze it in detail, with quotes etc. And link to it, of course!

My last blog post, about Rumble Fighter and other random things, has been the strangest blog post all year I have written. It can be found here. I wrote about Rumble Fighter and about my sophomore research project. I wrote about who I used to play Rumble Fighter with, and why my friends quit on the game...five to be exact. I only play with five of my friends now.

Team games can hold up to 8 people, 4 versus 4 people. I usually play in Glacier Cove, one of my favorite maps. It's fun because it's a map where I can fight decently and also edge people if I want. There are two little islands in the map, and I run there when I'm almost dead. It's easier to edger people on the island.

I meant to write "It's easier to edge people on the island." I guess I forgot to proofread that part. I also would have to edit "...where I can decently fight and edge people if I want." Little grammar mistakes can ruin a whole essay. Glacier Cove is definitely one of my favorite maps. I like to fight people, and sometimes ram them off the edge for fun. This part of my blog is perfect (to me), besides the grammar errors. It's all that I wanted to talk about for regular maps. I can't put this information in a better way.

What I forgot to mention that there is two other modes besides regular screens. There are moving screens, and boss mode games. Moving screen games feature a regular map, but the screen moves upward, or downwards. Rumble Fighter has not released a new moving screen since last year. I guess it takes a while to make because the screen has to move, twice as big as a regular screen, and they have to get rid of glitches. Boss mode games are exactly what they are. You fight some enemies, and eventually you get to the boss and defeat it. Boss mode games only allow up to three people to fight.

8) How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?

Having a blog really improved my writing this year. It made me want to write every week because it does not require a pen or pencil. I hate actual writing, I prefer to type on a keyboard. Typing also allows me to write faster than writing on a piece of paper. Writing makes my hand hurt if I write too much...especially in math and chemistry. From years of writing, I have developed a bump on my ring finger on my right hand. Hopefully one day this bump will go away. This year in Mr. Sutherland's class, has been a very fun year for English. Last year, I had Mr. Martin. He made us write in-class essays, and I got really low scores on them. I transferred out of his class because of the grades, and I ended up with Ms. Baranyi.

Summer has always been important to me. It's the time where I don't have to write ANYTHING. Well, this year I have two assignments for APUSH and APES, but I get to type it up. I love to type because I get to correct and fix my mistakes with the touch of a single button...the Backspace button <----. With a pencil, I would have to erase with an eraser. To erase with a pen is not possible, I'd have to cross it out. Computers are also eco-friendly, it doesn't use any paper, and computers are recyclable. I may end up keep writing on my blog just for fun every once in a while. It's a lot more fun writing on a blog than using Microsoft Word.

Every week on blogger.com, I have written a blog for the past year. I love writing on blogger because it's fun. I would prefer a word count on blogger though instead of going to Google Documents or Microsoft Word to count the words. Having a minimum of 500 words per blog post, made me write even more than usual. I liked the 300 word blog at first, but then it just became too easy for me to write. In my opinion, we should have moved up 50 words per quarter instead of jumping by 200 words. It was hard at first for the first 500 word blog, but then it became easier for me to write.

10) Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you to write?

This semester, I got my ideas for blog posts from my head. It's usually about whatever is on my mind on that day. For example, one day I was thinking about video games, and I decided to make it into two parts because it was too long. My blog about video games can be found here. I could even write a blog about a video game character. I like not knowing what I will be able to write about because it makes me think about what I have written already, and what I can write about later. I made a list of things I could write about so if I didn't know what I should write about, I could just use the list. This list included World War 2, and computers. The list used to be longer, but I wrote about them, some including Witch Hunts.

Blogging has made me think of ideas of what to write about. It made me go deep inside my mind, things I like to watch like Spongebob Squarepants and Phineas and Ferb, or random things like time. I wrote that blog because I was waiting for lunch, and there was about an hour left.

Whenever I don't have anything on my mind to blog about, I blog my quickwrites. I've only used one which can be found here. I usually have a topic in mind every single week. I always finish my blogs on time in the lab.

May Monthly Review

The book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is an easy-read fiction book that is set in present USA. The author tells the story of a young man, Percy Jackson, who prevents the gods from creating a war. He learns he is the son of the sea god, Poseidon. There is a law for one of the Big Three to not have kids anymore because there is a prophecy that one of the Big Three’s children will decide Olympus’ fate. Olympus is the home of the gods, on the 600^th floor of the Empire State Building. Percy Jackson goes on a quest with two friends, Annabeth, and Grover. His quest is to retrieve the Master Bolt, Zeus' weapon used to fight his father, Kronos. Along Percy's quest, he encounters Medusa, the Parthenon, water spirits, countless monsters, and the gods. Eventually, Percy finds Zeus’ Master Bolt, and Hades’ Helm of Darkness which almost triggered the war. It appears out of Percy’s backpack which was given by Ares, in which Ares knows who the lightning thief is. Although the lightning thief is not revealed by Ares, Percy finds out who it is. Luke, son of Hermes is the lightning thief. Luke escapes the Half-Blood Hill Camp with his magic flying shoes. Nobody knows where Luke is, not even the gods. But, it is revealed in The Sea of Monsters, that he is working for Kronos, lord of time,

2) For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

I would recommend this book to almost everybody who likes fantasy books. This book could also be recommended to children with great memory. This book is very easy to read, and I personally really love this book. My dad has actually already read this book; he recommended it to me to read for English class. Now, I love reading about Greek mythology and their gods. Historians who know about the Greek culture should read this book to analyze if everything is correct about the gods. The Greek gods are mentioned many times, and sometimes I get confused with the names. Introducing too many names in a book can be confusing to the reader, just like Bastard out of Carolina. (My monthly review can be found here. Bastard out of Carolina was a difficult book to read and understand at first, but after I remembered everybody’s name, it was a little easier to read.

Greek mythology was not interesting to me at first, but once I started learning about the characters, I began to like learning about it. Some elementary kids may not be able to understand the characters or some parts of the book.

Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor...

On the news, it said that Ares kidnapped Percy and his mom, Annabeth, and Grover. Percy was actually fighting him. Ares "shot" a gas pipe that caused an earthquake. This fight ended with Percy wounding Ares, and Ares went away. The story is not as complicated as it seems. If I were in elementary school, I think it would be hard for me to read this book.

7) If you’ve read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?

One book I've read in the same genre as The Lightning Thief is Eragon. This fantasy book was written by Christopher Paolini. In Eragon, Eragon is a simple farmer, until one day, he finds a mysterious blue egg. The blue egg hatches, and it appears that it was a dragon inside the egg. Eragon names her Saphira. His quest is to become a dragon rider, and defeat Galbatorix. Along the way, he meets Murtagh, Arya, and Brom. Only one of his companions survive, Arya. Brom is killed in an ambush by the Ra'zac, and Murtagh was killed in the next book.

Unlike Eragon, in The Lightning Thief, Percy has only 2 companions, Annabeth and Grover stay with him the whole journey. None of the main characters die in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. Percy Jackson's quest to save Olympus from a war is more interesting than Eragon to me. Eragon just got too boring, too long to read, and the series is still not over. After a point, the author just keeps stretching out the plot, and it is hard to read because he/she tried to extend it.

8) Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two characters.

One character I'm particularly interested in is Grover Underwood. He is Percy's bestfriend, and a character who sticks with Percy until the end. Grover was also the one assigned to transport Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia to the Half-Blood Camp. Grover is not human, he is a satyr. He's half goat, half human. Being half goat, Grover can talk to animals, such as dogs.

Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

Gladiola, a pink poodle helped Percy and his friends get money enough to buy a train ticket on the Amtrak. Grover proves to be useful instead of using woodland magic all the time.

Grover's quest is to find Pan, the lord of the wild. Many believe he is dead, but satyrs refuse to believe their god is dead. People believe this because somebody shouted that the great Pan was dead, and that there are not many untouched wild places left in the world. Humans are taking over the world, jungles, mountains, etc.

Last, Grover proves to be loyal to Percy. He is willing to go in the Underworld, which no satyr has done before. Only three have escaped from the Underworld, Hercules, Houdini, and Orpheus. Although, Annabeth, Grover, and Percy all escape from the Underworld by crushing three marbles which allow them to go where ever they desire.

May Literature Circle Letter #3

I finally finished the book Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It was a really good book, and it's easy to read. I really enjoyed the part when they went to the Underworld to visit Hades. The master bolt was actually in the backpack Ares gave to them. That means Ares knew where the master bolt was, and didn't return it to Zeus. It turned out that Luke is the lightning thief, the person who stole the master bolt from Zeus. The prophecy said that one of the Big Three's children would be the lightning thief, although Luke is a son of Hermes. Hermes is the messenger god, god of thievery, and more. The Big Three consists of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again...

This is when Percy Jackson fights the war god, Ares. Percy remembers Annabeth's saying "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes." With that said, Percy Jackson changes up his fighting skills. He has wounded Ares, and ichor, the golden blood of gods, was visible. Ares got pissed off and left. Mrs. Dodds, one of the Kindly Ones, said the quote to Percy Jackson. She realizes that he did not steal Hades' Helm of Darkness, and Ares was in possession of it.

Overall, I think this book was a very fun book to read. It is one of my books I'd actually read for fun. I usually do not read for fun, nor will it be in the future. I actually really hate reading, but this book was just so entertaining with Greek mythology, and I really like history. One question I have is why did Zeus not try and kill Percy when he was in the air because Zeus hates Percy. Zeus believed that Percy stole the master bolt at first.

Quickwrite: The Rules of Love...?

Today, guys are expected to pay for dates, meals, etc. The guy has to also open doors for the girl, and allow her to get in first. Way back when, guys used to ask girls out by asking "Would you like to study with me?" My mom told me that, I thought it was so funny. Now people ask "Do you wanna go out with me?" instead. During lunch, it doesn't really matter where you sit as long as you sit with somebody. I have never eaten at the school cafeteria, but I plan to eat there one day. It seems like everybody in there is asian and speaking some asian language. Also, they stared at me when I walked in...so I thought it was sort of creepy. So, I never go in there because I'd be left out, talking to nobody. Possible consequences of breaking the rules are getting pregnant, getting STDs, going to jail, and being hated at home. It sounds really bad, but they don't have to happen.

People all over the world can go out with somebody. Parents don't have to know about it. People can talk online over the internet, use the phone, etc. Some consequences of getting caught by your parents could be no more phone, internet, or even going out. People can even just say they're going to the movies and everything, but go off to see their loved one.

One funny commercial I saw a month ago said "Life is too short, have an affair." I thought it was so funny because it was real. People have dating sites, which is pretty sad I think. Which of these relationships actually work out? I think in order for a relationship to work, you have to live near the person, and see them often. In Dear John, their relationship didn't work out because John was always off in Germany for the army.

Rumble Fighter Part 2 + Random Stuffs

These past two years have been fun. I've been playing Rumble Fighter since the summer of 7th grade. In the game, most of my friends quit Rumble Fighter because of various reasons. Katherine said she stayed up too late playing, and her eyesight is getting bad. She used to stay up until 6 A.M. playing... Alec said he lags with his new wireless keyboard. Eva quit because she got bored. Sally and Vicky stopped playing after an incident on the game. Andy, Randy, Donny, Chenny, Jason, and Kenny still play with me though. We usually play all together, and we're split apart due to too many people. Team games can hold up to 8 people, 4 versus 4 people. I usually play in Glacier Cove, one of my favorite maps. It's fun because it's a map where I can fight decently and also edge people if I want. There are two little islands in the map, and I run there when I'm almost dead. It's easier to edger people on the island.

For a year and a half, I have been playing with Andy and his cousins. It's almost always fun because we win most of the time. We probably will lose once every ten games, but that's okay. We kick high levels, laggers, and people who say "wow" or start crying about losing. It's so funny kicking people, because after a while, they recognize your name and telling the room master to kick me. Oh, and last week the Easter bunny boss mode got cut. Good thing Andy and I kept playing boss mode to get our boxes.

Almost everyday I play Rumble Fighter. It's so fun, I'd spend money on it to support. This month, there's an event for playing 10 games per day for 28 days. I usually just suicide so it goes by faster. It's probably because less people play the game now, oh well. I'll probably play the game after my math and physical education homework. Speaking of PE, I'm not supposed to get worksheets in 0 period PE, and this is my 3rd time getting a handout. Well, it's just coloring...but I still don't like them.

So anyways today I've been to the lab twice, once in the Media Center for English 2, and 204 for History. In history, we've been doing our sophmore research project. My project is on water supply. I'm studying how people get water, our water sources, and proving that our water sources are limited, and we have to find a new source of water.

Here is my introduction-
About 1.8 million people lose their lives due to unclean water; ninety percent of them are children. Our water today is running low, and we need to find new sources of water. This is a global issue, and people will need to work together around the world unless we want wars over water to break out. If people do not find a new source of water, the human race will fade, billions of lives will be lost. One day, we will drain the Earth of water, and there will be no life on Earth. Our water supply is the most essential thing for life on earth. As human beings, we can talk, reason, and make decisions. The most promising solutions for our water problems are desalinating ocean water into drinking water, cloud seeding, and water conservation.

This is a hard topic because I do not how to start my second paragraph on the history of water irrigation and aqueducts.

May Literature Circle Letter #2

"...Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in my business, but they passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them you see. They are my company."

This quote is about Medusa telling a story to Annabeth, Grover, and Percy. She tells "sad" story to them. Her statues keep her company, and she always likes to collect more. She asks them to smile for her for a picture, but Annabeth recognizes Aunty Em as Medusa. Percy Jackson manages to slice off her head, just like Perseus from the Greek myths. I like this part because Medusa makes her life story into a short little kid version of it.

One thing I don't get about Percy is that why he's being framed for stealing the Master Bolt. Just because some prophet told the gods doesn't mean it's going to happen. The reader already knows Percy didn't steal the Master Bolt, Zeus's ultimate weapon. Percy has to find the Master Bolt and return it to Zeus because there's four sequels to the book.

A part in the book I disliked was when Ares, god of war, asked Percy a favor. Ares mentioned he left his shield in an abandoned theme park. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover go to retrieve the shield, but ultimately fall in his trap. It was a trap meant for gods. The team barely survives, and make it back to Ares. He gives them a ride to Los Angeles and a new backpack. But earlier, a water spirit told Percy not take the gifts. But, Percy ignores this and takes the new backpack.

For our last monthly review, I plan to write about #2, #6, and #8. They're almost the same questions I answered in the first monthly review, but I like writing about these types of questions. They're fun to write about, and easy to expand on. I'm also reading the second book of the series Percy Jackson because I already finished the first book. It was an actual fun book for me to read. It's a simple book, yet easy to read.

Rumble Fighter Part 1

Since 8th grade, I've been playing a game called Rumble Fighter. I heard of it from my friend in Texas, and it was a pretty new game. I started my character, an elemantalist named ryanhuey10. It's a pretty obvious name, and includes both my first and last name. I usually always name myself ryanhuey10, ryanhuey, ryanh10, or ryanh. It's just my way of naming people on games. My first scroll was called Street. It's a basic scroll, and the cheapest. The combos are ppp, pk, and kk. It's a fun scroll to use when I play against low levels. I played with my friend Alec, Sally, Jason, and Vicky in 8th grade. It was always fun playing. Well, at that time Alec and Sally were going out, but not anymore. I learned how to ram, slide, punch, delay, etc. It was really fun to play.

During the year, I learned how to juggle by using a launcher. A launcher is a kick or punch that makes you go up in the air. After that, you punch twice, and do a combo. Although it took a while, it was fun to learn. It's useful when fighting against people and edging. A juggle will do more damage than a combo, and it goes farther. During summer, I was playing Rumble Fighter as usual. I went into a Dos Palmas room, a new map. I found a guy named EMwaveshinobi. It was really strange actually. He asked what school I went to, and I replied "used to be wood". Then he said, shouldn't you be reading The Hobbit? It was really scary...and it turned out to be Katherine Chiang's cousin, Tim. Katherine was there with Tim, and she recognized my name ryanhuey. She told Tim to ask the questions, and I had no idea who it was still. Katherine also plays Rumble Fighter, but she quit 3 times. Her name was lilazngrl510 at the time. She always puts 510 in her name.

In 9th grade, I met Andy Ye in P.E., in Mr. Thomas's class 4th period. I didn't talk to him in the beginning of the school year, it was about in the middle of the year. It was funny because he also played Rumble Fighter. I found him on the game under the name claypuppet. His cousins also played, they were all puppets actually. There was waterpuppet, sandpuppet, and ironpuppet. We played a lot, and we still play today. They made new accounts because sandpuppet's password was changed. We always play in Glacier Cove, boss mode, or Demolition. There's three types of gameplay in Rumble Fighter. There's regular maps, moving screens, and boss mode. There's too many regular maps in my opinion, they need more moving screens. Demolition and Taurus Temple are my favorite moving screens because I like to ram people off the edge. Regular maps is just fighting with ramming still, but the screen doesn't move. There are four types of boss mode. There is a shaman map, a skeleton map, a Halloween event map, and a Easter event map. The Halloween event map went away though, and now there's an Easter map. The Easter map will go away tommorow though after the update.

STAR/CST Testing

Standardized Testing and Reporting week was so fun. On Monday, we had regular classes, like any other Monday. Everything was fine, until I got homework. Teachers aren't supposed to assign homework on testing week. For me, the homework was fine because I only had math. In this week, I had a total of five CST tests. I don't get the difference between STAR and CST testing. The only thing I hated about the CST testing was that I had it in Ms. McAllister's class. Her class was really boring, and she let us use no electronics...well it is part of the rules. Everyday after testing, I played games with Andy and his cousins. When the clock striked 10, we just talked until two in the morning. I didn't have 0 period PE, so I figured I could stay up late.

On Tuesday, I had the English part of the CST. I got sucked into reading the passages for half the time. Although, they weren't as interesting as last time. I usually hate answering the questions, so whenever there was a question I had to think about for a while, I just guess. In Alameda High, the teachers tell you to test well. But since there are budget cuts, they'll probably end up combining high schools. Most people in Alameda don't care, they live in apartments and don't have to pay the parcel tax. I don't get why they would have another parcel tax ontop of the other parcel tax. Anyways the English CST was one of the harder tests for me. I do poorly in English, and I prefer the other subjects.

On Wednesday, I took the Math CST. I have Pre-Calculus this year, and it was under the subject Summative. The test was relatively easy. It had lots of geometry and algebra in it. There was actually no Pre-Calculus in the test. Nothing about the unit circle, conics, etc. After the day ended, I didn't want the next day to come, so I played games all day. Playing games makes time go fast, but it's entertaining instead of doing nothing. I had two CST tests in a row.

On Thursday, I took the General Science CST test. Before, Ms. McAllister had us take down all the chairs because almost EVERYBODY was gone. The only people there were Tabita, another kid (forgot his name), and me. The only good thing about taking the chairs down was getting a free soda. The General Science CST is for sophmores only. Basically only freshmen take Art 1. It was so easy, all about biology. Except some parts of the test I had no idea how to answer the questions. I finished thirty minutes early, and I eventually fell asleep. Right after, without a break, I took the Modern World History CST.

Friday, the final day of the CST testing, was the hardest. Chemistry sucks, I really hate the subject. There's too much math, and too much memorizing involved. I really liked the periodic table they gave us, but my stupid teacher collected it after the test. I wanted to keep the periodic table, it was very useful, and there were formulas in the back. The only thing I looked foreward to was getting out at 12:30, and the weekend.

May Literature Circle Letter #1

This month, I will be reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I have been waiting to read this book for a very long time. My dad recommended it to me, and saw the movie. My dad said there were some significant changes in the movie from the book. They excluded characters, changed the plot, etc. Sometimes, while reading the book, I had to re-read the book. Sometimes I didn't understand the book sometimes. It's a really easy book to read, and usually I read too fast and I don't understand it. I really like the story plot of the book. It's about a boy who finds out he's the son of Poseidon. He's a normal boy, with ADHD and ADD. He gets kicked out of many schools. His name is Percy Jackson. He has a passion for Latin class, and his teacher's name is Mr. Brunner. His best friend's name is Grover Underwood. Later in the book, he finds out he's a satyr, half goat, half human. After a while, Percy's principal kicks him out of the school after summer.

In a field trip, Percy went to a museum, where he finds Mrs. Dodds to be apart of the Kindly Ones. They aren't actually that kind, she attacked Percy, but Percy killed her. After a while, Percy goes to a summer camp called The Half Blood Hill. As soon as they arrive, they are attacked by a minotaur. The minotaur takes his mom, and she vanishes. Percy gets mad, and stabs the minotaur with the horn.

"This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger." - Percy's mom

Percy's mom tries to warn Percy that he's in danger. She knows that somethings coming after him, and tries to get him to the camp. The camp has an invisible shield that protects half-bloods. After the Mrs. Dodds incident, Percy also knew he was in some kind of danger. At first, he thought he was going crazy, because after nobody knew about Mrs. Dodds. Everybody forgot about her, except Grover (Percy knew he was lying).

I'm surprised that Percy gets a mission right away as soon as he reaches the camp. He is being accused of being the lightning thief, stealing Zeus's master bolt. Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and his best friend Grover accompanies him on the quest.

April Monthly Review

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks is about two people who fall in love in a month. John Tyree is a man in the army, about to be sent to post in Germany. Savannah Lynn Curtis is a girl building houses for her club Habitat for Humanity. It is a novel in which the two are separated, and promise to marry each other when John comes back. When John comes back, 9/11 splits the two apart. John chooses to serve his country for a few more years. After two years, John comes home, and finds out Savannah loves another man.

6) When John goes back to back to Germany after his furlough, he and Savannah vow to stay in touch and to marry when he returns. Do you think it's possible to stay in love with someone without seeing them for months or years at a time? How does being apart affect Savannah and John's relationship?

10) After John's father dies, he goes to visit Savannah. How has their relationship changed at this point? Is Savannah different from who she was in the beginning of the novel? Do you think Savannah is still in love with John?

12) What do you make of John's actions at the very end of the novel? Would you have done what he did if you were in his position?

When John goes to Germany, Savannah becomes very depressed. It's hard on Savannah to keep her promise to marry John because she rarely sees him. People in the military are sent in year-long missions and can't return back. All they are allowed to do is write letters to their family and loved ones. Being apart from your "fiancee" (John hasn't actually proposed) is hard. After a while, the relationship just loses its meaning, and question why it happened. Letters aren't the same as seeing somebody in person. You can communicate, but you can't see. It's like talking on a phone; you can talk, but you can't see.

I could talk about my long distant relationship, but I rather not post it in public. Instead, I will talk about Phoebe's long distant relationship from the TV show Friends. Phoebe met a guy in a coffeehouse, after embarrassing him in public. She dated him for about two episodes, so about two weeks in the show. After, the guy was given an opportunity to go to Moscow to do a science experiment. He chooses physics over Phoebe, because Phoebe wants him to take the opportunity. She lets him go because he may never have the chance again, and if he succeeds, he will become rich and famous. After 3 years, he finally comes back. She finds out he was unsuccessful. He calls Phoebe to go to dinner with him. After a while, she realizes it's wrong to have dinner with him, because she's dating another guy named Mike.

After John returns for the first time, John and Savannah lose their ability to talk about themselves. It was just plain awkward, and they couldn't think of anything to talk about. They haven't seen each other in a long time. John could have told about his friends in the army, and Savannah could have talked about college. Time has drifted the two apart, now they don't know what to do now that they're back together. Even though they didn't talk that much, they still kept their promise to marry each other. Savannah and John had only known each other for one month, and they were in love. It was too fast, and they didn't even really get to know each other that well. The only part I don't get myself is why Savannah and John didn't get married during the time John came back from Germany. He could have taken Savannah, but he didn't. Instead, he just goes back to Germany after the incident of 9/11. John chooses to serve his country over his relationship. He could have had the life he wanted, a life with Savannah.

John comes back the second time on an emergency leave. His dad just recently died, and he wants to see Savannah. She just told John in a letter that "...I didn't mean to fall in love with someone else." John probably wants to see who he is. She tells him they lost their "magical bond" that kept them together. After some months, she began to fall in love with another man. She can't be waiting for John forever. Now, their relationship went from awkward to just good friends. She is now married to Tim. Even though Savannah is married, she still has feelings for John. Tim is in the hospital, dying from cancer. They don't have the money for an operation Tim needs to survive. The whole town gave money for the operation, but it's still not enough. She starts losing hope, and needs somebody to talk to. When she offers to write letters to John, he immediately realizes that she still has feelings for him, and kindly declines her offer.

Savannah has definitely changed since John left. She has matured into a woman. She drinks wine, talks more maturely, and sounds more calm. In the beginning of the story, she's more talkative, and talks about her past. She always liked talking about where she grew up, her dreams, etc. Now, all she can talk about is Tim in the hospital and the operation. The only good thing is that they can actually talk without an awkward silence. At the hospital, Tim makes John promise "...promise that you'll always treasure her the same way I do."

John realizes Savannah will not be able to raise enough money for the experimental treatment Tim needs to survive. And so, John takes action. He has to raise money for the operation. John realizes that Tim loves Savannah even more than he does. Tim had loved Savannah since he was twelve. John willingly sold his dad's treasured coin collection; the only thing John had to remember his dad. He sold all of the coins, except for one. Most of them he sold underpriced, but John needed to sell the money fast. John feels like he has to earn enough money for his ex-fiancee because he doesn't want Savannah to be lonely. He doesn't want her to be stuck with Alan, Tim's younger brother for the rest of her life. John quickly donated all the money to Savannah, and saved Tim's life.

If I were in John's position. I probably would have sold only half of his dad's coin collection. It's all that he has left to remember his dad by. I think half of the coin collection would have gotten enough money. John shouldn't have sold all of his dad's coin collection, his hard work, all the years he spent collecting. If it still wasn't enough money, I could sell more coins. I'd at least keep more than one coin. I'd feel as if I had a duty to keep Tim alive. I couldn't just let him die knowing that I could have prevented his death. I would be forced to get the money, even though it's not my problem.

April Literature Circle Letter #3

This week, I have read the third part of Dear John, the end of this heartbreaking novel. In Part III, Savannah had just told John she loved another man. It was pretty predictable since John hasn't been back in a year. Savannah would have to get over John and find somebody else. She couldn't be waiting for John forever. Except, John's dad just had a heart attack. Later on, John looked after his dad, recently being released from the hospital. John's dad's last words were to John was "I love you, too, John." Seven weeks later, John's dad died. John went to visit his dad under emergency leave. A visitor came by after, telling about John's dad's will. He gave all the coins to John, everything in his possession. John's dad prepaid already for the funeral, it's like he knew he was going to die.

After a while, John decides to visit Savannah. She was in a barn, and the second she saw John, she just froze instantly. When they start talking to each other, John notices a ring on Savannah's left hand. John began asking if he can meet Savannah's husband. But, then she tells him "It's Tim." When John was away, Savannah had a hard time. She needed somebody to comfort her. And that person? It was Tim. Tim was always there to support her. It turns out that Tim has cancer. Savannah and the whole town started getting money for Tim's operation. It still wasn't enough. Tim told John to make Savannah happy after he's gone. Tim feels hopeless because there isn't enough money for the operation. Alan, Tim's brother, has always clung to Tim. Alan needed special attention, and Savannah would have to take care of Alan if Tim passes away. After realizing how much Savannah loves Tim, John sells his possessions. He sells his dad's coin collection, except for one coin. John sells them for less than what they are worth, in time before Tim dies. John makes a donation to Savannah, but anonymously. John decides he shouldn't tell Savannah he donated his dad's coin collection money for Tim's operation. Tim survives, although it is not certain if he will live to an old age.

Spring Break

This Spring Break I went to Anaheim to go to Disneyland. We went three times. It got boring after the second time. We went on all the big rides, like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. My family went on Monday. I got so bored I read my English reading book, Dear John. I had nothing to do for eight hours. We were stuck in traffic for a very long time. I brought my Itouch, and Nintendo DS to play. I started playing Pokemon, but I got bored after I got to Lake of Rage. I had other games, like Cooking Mama. It reminded me of Biology Class because we played Cooking Mama after finals. On my Itouch I started playing Zenonia 2. The first game was pretty fun, so I got the second. Zenonia 2 is an RPG game that has basically better graphics and a better story plot than the first. We took about 3 breaks for coffee at Starbucks, lunch at In-N-Out, and a bathroom break.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, the Sheraton Park & Resort, I immediately stood up. My legs were falling asleep. Usually when my feet fall asleep, I take a hot shower for ten minutes. Anyways, I even got my own key card, well it was my dad's. He let me have it since my sister got a room key, and I didn't. The hotel was pretty nice. It had two beds, an OLD TV, and a separate sink from the bathroom. It was pretty good since my sister takes a long time in the shower, and at the same time I can brush my teeth. I'm pretty picky about where I stay, and how nice the hotels are. I hate really disgusting hotels with unclean glasses. We stayed there from Monday to Friday. Every single day, we went out for lunch and dinner. We ate in our room, usually cereal or bread. I was surprised, there was a 7/11 and ABC store there. It probably isn't part of the ABC stores in Hawaii because the things they have are different. They don't have those calendars of women or men in the ABC store in Anaheim. My dad and I bought milk from 7/11. We bought whole milk for my dad and I, and two percent milk for my mom and sister.

Anyways, we stayed at Disneyland from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. We usually ate at a fast food place, or somewhere at Downtown Disney. Afterwards, we'd take a break and eat dinner. One day we ate at Kagura. The food was delicious, Japanese food. It was sort of Americanized, the walls were really pretty cool. I ate Kobe beef for an appetizer, it was really tender. It looked like it wasn't cooked, but my parents said it was fine because Kobe beef was supposed to be tender. This particular Japanese restaurant had no noodles, or ramen. I was surprised because I usually order ramen or udon, so I ate teriyaki chicken. On Tuesday, we went to Disneyland, and eventually hopped over to California Adventure. It sort of got boring...and it was really hot. We decided to get frozen yogurt from the soft serve place. I asked for a strawberry swirl, they said they ran out. I asked for an orange swirl, they also said they ran out. I got really mad so I just ordered plain vanilla. Later, I got really hot again so I ate another soft serve. Their ice cream tasted so good, their ice cream tasted like they added whole milk. It was pretty thick, and was the best soft serve ice cream I ever had.

April Literature Circle Letter #1 & 2

For these two weeks, I have not annotated the book at all. It does not improve my reading skills. I feel as a waste of time and lead. I do not read over the book a second time. If I needed more information on a specific part, I will simply just find it in the book. In the first part, I liked how John and Savannah met. Savannah's friend knocked over her purse, and didn't want to get it back. It was sinking in the ocean, away from the dock. Savannah was about to jump, but John jumps in the ocean to save her sinking purse. John was a "hero" and was invited to a party Savannah was going to. John gets to know Savannah, and vice versa. They begin to understand each other, and go on dates. They never ran out of things to talk about, like their past, family, what they do for a living. John works in the army, and has to leave in one month. Savannah is building houses. After the month, they fall in love. Unfortunately, John has to go to Germany. Savannah writes letters to John, hence the title, Dear John.

Another part of Dear John that I liked was when John came back for a week. Things become...rather awkward between the two. John and Savannah lost their interest in each other, and have basically nothing to talk about. It becomes so awkward that they go talk to John's dad. Savannah studies John's dad to see if he had a disorder. John gets offended and gets mad at Savannah. Savannah also wrote letters after, about how she loved somebody else. John became very upset.

For the monthly review, I plan on writing #2, 4, and 8. They are the same questions I answered for Bastard Out of Carolina. I like these questions because they are very open. I will continue with these questions until the school year ends. I would probably recommend this book to anybody. This book is a very easy-read book, and it goes by quickly. It's a love story, so some guys may not want to read it. I was debating over reading it, and during my trip to Disneyland, I decided to read the book. (I was stuck in the car with nothing to do for eight hours.) Dear John is a love story, for guys too. I loved this book, and the ending made me cry...sort of. The author does use the words "Like I said," a lot. I found it quite annoying, as I read the book in two days. I will probably write about Savannah or John, the main characters of the book. Or maybe John's dad, he only likes to talk about coins, possibly having a disorder.

One question I have is why Savannah falls in love with somebody else. Why doesn't John quit the army to live with Savannah if he loves her so much? Didn't John "propose" to her? How did she fall in love with somebody else? John should be going back to ruin the couple, and get back with Savannah.

I predicted that Savannah and John's relationship wouldn't last. It seemed a little to perfect. In the beginning, it was an adventure, learning about each other. They spent the entire month together, learning about their past, goals, etc. If they kept talking and talking, they would have run out of topics sooner or later. Nobody can keep talking to the same person everyday, and not run out of topics. In Part Two, it becomes very awkward. Although, they do it. It creates a better chance of John and Savannah getting married, but it's very slim.

4th Quarter Statement of Purpose

This quarter, I want to write about something new. Something that I have never written or thought about. Some things I would improve on my blog posts would be proofreading. I usually always blog, and never look at it again. I will just stop writing after 500 words, sometimes I go over. My current goals as a writer have constantly changed. I like to write about anything I feel like writing about. This week, if this blog weren't assigned, I'd write about Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I read all 5 books. I read the 5th book yesterday. It was an accomplishment for me, I read a book in one day. The ONLY book I read in one day. This quarter, I might write about events happening now, instead of writing about the history of things, or a summary. I want to write about something I have never known before. Also, I write blogs for myself, nobody reads them usually. Except sometimes Elaine or Michelle leave a comment rarely.

Next year, I will be taking 0 Period Current Life Issues, AP U.S. History, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus AB, Multimedia Art I, Physiology, and English 3. I want to take these AP classes because I really enjoy these subjects. They are my better subjects, except for maybe math. Math has always been easy, well up to 7th grade. Geometry in 8th grade killed my math skills. It challenged me, learning about angles, postulates, theorems, it was hard. I have always had a passion for history. I got really interested in 8th grade, learning about the U.S., the Civil and Revolutionary War. Although, my teacher Ms. Jacob didn't make history that interesting. I even read the history textbook on my own. My freshman year I had Mr. Wilson for Biology. It was the best class ever. I loved that class, and it was so easy. The homework only took 5 minutes, and the worst grade I got on a test was a B. Now that he is teaching Physiology, I really want his class again. He's a great teacher. I want to take APES because I heard it was the easiest AP class to take, although it was because Dr. Griffith wasn't there for half the year. I decided to take Multimedia Art this year because I heard about the budget cuts. I want to take all the electives I want now, before they get shut down. Zero period Current Life Issues is ideal for me, Multimedia Art lasts a whole year. If I were not able to take 0 period, then I would have to cut out an elective. If English were not required, I probably wouldn't take it. I really hate writing during class, or in-class essays. I have already prepared my senior year schedule on Blogger. It's a draft for now, but I plan to post it just because. I like to know what I want to take, and I spent a great deal of time planning. I'm assuming the parcel tax will not pass, and taking all the classes I want will be difficult. I will have to be flexible and may have to take regular classes since Encinal High may be coming to AHS.

March Monthly Review

Bastard out of Carolina is one of Dorothy Allison's older books about a young girl living with her mom's newly wedded husband. In the book, Bone grows up to be a Boatwright woman, with the abuse of her step-dad. Bone was a gracious girl who could make stories that everybody enjoyed to hear. When her mother gets married, Glen, the step-dad, isn't so great as he seems. He appears very nice, but after a death, he becomes very different. He treats Bone very abusively, and changes her life forever. She is not the sweet girl who could tell great stories, but becomes moody. She doesn't get along with her sister Reese, and ultimately ends up breaking her coccyx from her step-dad's abuse. Bone, however becomes very sad in the end for a certain reason. I have mixed feelings about the book. However, I would recommend this book to an adult audience, as there is lots of cursing, and people can not understand what the author is writing if they are not old enough.

2) For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

I would recommend this book to a person who has lived a life in luxury or a rich family to show that everybody does not have a good life. People struggle throughout life constantly. People in Alameda are fortunate to have generally a good life. Virtually, I would recommend this book at anybody to learn about the hardships of Bone. She has endured sexual assault and abuse from her father, saw a girl die in flames, and her mother leaving with her husband to California. Bone has to now live with her Aunt Raylene, because Bone's mother is afraid of Bone hating her. Almost nobody has ever had this experience, and people should know what it's like to be in Bone's situation.

This book is generally focused for young adults. It's a book about a poor family's life, and their daily routines, and their "special" events. Bone's family is not any ordinary family. Bone faces abuse from her step-dad, Reese is a tomboy, and her family is constantly being called poor. This book also contains raping, racism, and a daughter's love for her mother. The book is quite slow in the beginning, but it gets better after the first few chapters. It's sort of like Harry Potter books, slow in the beginning, and gets better when he goes to Hogwarts. Dorothy Allison shows affection, courage, and love in the book Bastard out of Carolina.

One person I would recommend this book to is my dad. He enjoys reading, and collects many books. Reading is one of my family's favorite hobby to do. I don't get why my family likes to read, I hate reading. I recommend this only to my dad because this book contains many sex scenes. (Most of my relatives are girls, and I don't think they'd read it.) Bastard Out of Carolina is a national bestseller, and has been out for over ten years.

3) What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?

One weakness is going back from family, to Glen. A major part of the books is about Glen, a new member to the family that marries Anney, Bone and Reese's mother. Allison repeatedly goes back and forth between family and Glen. It gets confusing and hard to understand. First, they start out talking about family, then Glen raping Bone, family, Glen raped Bone again, family, and then Glen raped Bone for the third time. Finally, Anney (Bone's mother) runs away with Glen. I think it's sort of a bad story line.

Although, some parts of the book were enjoyable. Allison can write a fascinating description of a suicide, Shannon's suicide. She played with a flammable liquid, and basically burned herself alive. She didn't' scream, didn't run, she just stayed in one spot, and died.

Another weakness was just trying to read the book. Usually, when I read a good book, I can read for hours. This book to me was a struggle to get through. Reading about Bone's family isn't as exciting as it seems. The only interesting part I learned about her family was that Auth Ruth dies. I like characters dying, it makes the book better. Aunt Ruth however was not a main character. It was just like "Oh, Aunt Ruth died.", no big deal. She was mentioned, but I just didn't feel sad for the family.

This book had too many characters in it. In the beginning of the book, I got very confused, with the story plot. I had to read it over several times to remember. Only five characters only stood out to me. They were Bone, Reese, Anney, Glen, and Aunt Raylene. There had to be over ten characters in this book. It made me bored of the book, and not want to read it. (I read the book up to the paperclip right before the Lit Circles was due.) If the book had less characters, I might have been more interested. Too many characters just ruins the book, and makes the book hard to read.

8) Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.

Glen Waddell, is Anney's second husband. They met in a diner, and have been in love ever since. After two years, Glen and Anney decide to get married. All of a sudden, Anney finds out she is pregnant. When Anney is in labor, the baby comes out stilborn. She is no longer able to have kids. They name the dead baby Glen Junior. Right before Anney gave birth, Glen raped Bone. Right now, she is only about eleven or so. She doesn't even know what's going on, and tells Glen to stop, but he keeps going. Glen appears to be bipolar. He is nice at first, but then ends up raping Bone. When Anney finds out, Glen asks for her forgiveness, saying he loves Bone, and he would never do it again...

Glen sort of disappears for a while until he rapes Bone for the second time. This time, he broke Bone's coccyx. Glen asks for Anney's forgiveness once again, after she finds out that Bone has a broken bone. Glen starts saying things like "Don't trust your grandma." to Bone and Reese. Glen disappears yet again, and Bone go to her relatives.

Glen appears for the last time when he rapes Bone again. This time, Anney walks in while they're doing it. Glen tells them to shoot him, he can't live without Anney. Anney decideds to take back Glen again. But this time, she runs away with him to California or Florida. Anney leaves behind Bone and Reese to their Aunt Raylene.

Glen to my opinion, is bipolar. He acts mean when Anney isn't around, and when Anney catches him having sex with Bone, he asks for her forgiveness. Glen is a horrible man, and I don't get how Anney forgives him. If I were her, I would run away with Bone and Reese and move to a different country. Glen was never the same man after his stillborn child.

March Literature Circle Letter #3

This week, I have not annotated the book. I never annotate because I never read the book again. Annotating to me ruins the book's resale value. I hated many parts of this book. They change between Glen and Bone's relatives too much. They rarely talk about Glen after he rapes Bone for the second time. Then, Bone's aunt Raylene finds out that Glen raped her, and then her whole family wants to kill Glen. It turns out her mother knew, but was afraid to tell someone, and if Glen were to find out, then something would happen. When Glen finally comes back, he rapes Bone AGAIN, making it the third time. This time, the mother, Anney, catches them. Anney takes Bone to the car, and Glen follows them saying "Kill me!". But, Bone goes to the hospital, and Anney goes back to Glen. Anney still loves Glen, even though Glen raped her daughter three times. Glen and Anney run away to California or Florida, leaving Bone and Reese with their Aunt Raylene for the rest of their life.

I dislike this part because I think that Bone's mom should of run away from Glen, and continue to support Bone and Reese. Aunt Raylene should have not let Glen and Anney to run away together. I wonder why Anney CHOSE to run away with Glen, than to stay with her children. Doesn't family come first? Why does she care so much about Glen? Can't she find another person to marry? Does she love Glen more than Bone and Reese? I'm also thinking of writing #2, 3, and 8 for my Book Review.

I see no connection in this book to my own life, except for having a big caring family. My grandparents had a lot of children, six in total. In this book, she has 3 aunts and 3 uncles. Her family is very supportive and loving, just like my own. They'll support themselves if they're ever in need.

My Very Sad Weekend

This week, the third quarter will finally end. It has been a very long quarter, and seemed to have gone by quickly. When I say quickly, I mean I don't remember what happened. It's sort of like I don't know what happened it went by so quick. This past week, I have been sick, for five days including today. I've had the stomach flu. I actually have no idea how I got it, because my other cousin was sick, but he had coughing and runny nose. I saw him twice, last Monday and Thursday. My cousin is young. five years old, and in Kindergarten.

On Friday, my cold started out with a runny nose. It wasn't that bad at first, but then it got worst as the day progressed. When 5th period was ending, I felt thirsty, and I went to get some water. After five minutes, I was thirsty again. I started getting a fever. I didn't really care because I thought it would go away after I drink some more water. I thought I was just dehydrated. I got home around 3:20 and drank a lot of water. I had to use the bathroom a lot. I started to play this game called Red Stone, which is an MMORPG game that me, Andy, and his cousins play. It's like Maplestory with 3-D graphics, and a lot easier to level up. But around 9, I had to use the bathroom again, and something came out. It starts with a D and comes out your behind. I thought I probably ate too many oily foods today.

I slept, wearing about five layers of t-shirts, two sweatpants, and two pairs of socks. I wanted to get rid of my fever so I could get better. Big mistake. I woke up at 1 A.M. feeling dizzy, and had to use the bathroom. More stuff came out, and I thought ummm again? I took off one sweatpants, three t-shirts, and my socks. It was just too hot. I went to my dad's work room to get water. I drank about a bottle and a half, and went back to sleep. Three hours later, I woke up (at 4). I had to use the bathroom AGAIN. In total, I used the bathroom five times before I actually got up to go downstairs. It was the worst day for me this year. I felt awful, and my fever didn't get better.

On Sunday, I just slept the whole day. I laid downstairs on the couch, watching the TV. I have to say, laying on the couch all day is pretty much boring, especially when it hurts to get up with a stomach cramp when my new computer came from hp.com. It's pretty awesome. (Using it right now.) We customized our computer to have a TV Tuner, with more GB of memory, and a faster processor. I love this new computer, and it's a touchscreen, so I don't have to use the mouse or keyboard. It has bluetooth, a webcam, two microphones, wireless, pretty much a giant computer with many accessories. My old computer is now in the corner of this room, getting dusty. I had that old thing for a long time, 5 or 6 years, I forget.

To sum up, I only have headaches now, and head-rushes. No more bathroom, no more fever. I feel great..., well except for running pacers in P.E. (I feel like I'm dying in that class.) I mean I can run the pacers, it's just that I feel more tired than usual. It's probably because my headaches.












Loveee this computer.

CAHSEE

CAHSEE stands for California High School Exit Exam. It consists of two tests, math, and English. It is given to all 10th graders, and is required to be taken, and passed to graduate high school. For the the Exit Exam, I was stuck in Ms. Wong's/Mr. Joo's/Mr. Hardin's class. First period I had Ms. Wong, and 2nd and 5th I had Mr. Joo. The Exit Exam is just a test on the basic math and English skills needed for life. Everybody basically says it's really easy. Most people don't need the full time period to finish. To study for the Exit Exams, they gave two packets, English and Math. Only people in Geometry got the Math packet I think. The English part of the exam was given on Tuesday, two days ago. It was full of passages with questions at the end of it. I got stuck reading the passages because I was really bored. At the end of the CAHSEE English Exam, there was a questionnaire. It was asking if you studied for the CAHSEE, or if it was too hard to do. After the test, we were allowed to do something quiet, like homework or to read a book. I read my book Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse a book about Percy Jackson's adventures. He is a half-blood, the son of Poseidon, and half human. After everybody was finished, we got to talk the rest of them time, or play card games. It was actually a really fun day. We had only 6th period to go to. When 6th period came, we went to La Pinata to learn about the culture of the Spanish.

On Wednesday, I took the math part of the Exit Exam. Only people in Geometry got the study guide for the CAHSEE. I think it was because there were some Algebra II problems in the test. The test was during Mr. Joo's 3rd period, and Mr. Hardin's 4th period. We only took like an hour for the whole two parts of the test. It was really easy for our class. Afterwards, we basically did the same thing as the first day of testing. We just played UNO and Deuces for most of the time. It sort of got boring in the end. They kept skipping me or either putting down draw twos. But after a while, I finished second. I read my book for the rest of the time, and played with my iTouch. My book, Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse was really interesting. A lot more exciting than my other book for English, Bastard out of Carolina. Every night, for the past week, I have been staying up until 11:30 P.M. - 12:30 A.M. reading my book. There are five books to the series, The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. I'm currently on the fourth book, and I read the other three books in a week. That was an accomplishment for me, reading three books in a week. I have never read so many books in many years. Except, the Percy Jackson series are children books, which was strange to me since they have so many characters the children would be confused.

March Literature Circle Letter #2

This week, I have read pages 104 to 203. I haven't annotated one page. I don't usually annotate anything because I don't go back and look at them later. I have tried annotating two books, The Hobbit, and Schindler's List. In the first book, I wrote in the book and felt like I ruined the value of the book. In Schindler's List, I used post-its, and there were just too many. If I were to annotate a book, I would just leave a little post-it on that page, reminding myself to look over it. I don't like writing that much.

In these 99 pages, the only part I enjoyed reading was Shannon and Bone getting mad at each other, and making up. Shannon invites Bone to a barbecue, and when Shannon plays with lighter-fluid she starts a fire. She added more fluid, and the lighter-fluid can sputtered and sucked up air. The flame went right back to her, and died. Earlier when they were arguing at the church where they met, Shannon says to Bone "It's colored. It's niggers." She insults Bone's family by saying "...Everybody knows you're all a bunch of drunks and thieves and bastards. Everybody knows you just come round so you can eat off my mama's table and beg scraps we don't want no more. Everybody knows who you are..." Bone replies with "You little shit, you fuck off...You're God's own ugly child and you're gonna be an ugly woman. A lonely, ugly old woman." This is a turning point for Bone, where she turns from an angel to a bitch. I think it's due to her step-father raping her twice now, and broke her coccyx. She now defends herself, and even Reese and her don't get along.

The only question I have is why Reese turned into a tom-boy and argues with Bone a lot now.

Video Games part 2

When the Nintendo Gamecube came out, I bought it a week after, because I didn't know it came out. I thought it was pretty cool because it used mini-discs. (A smaller version of a DVD/CD.) This was the first time that Nintendo used discs instead of cartridges. Nintendo used cartridges to prevent games from being copied. Although, the mini-disc didn't have much space, and some games were on two discs. Nintendo had two memory slots, and four controller ports. There were many types of memory slots ranging from 4 MB to 64 MB. Some games were sometimes able to play against people around the world, using the internet. I had many games, and most of them I never even finished.

The best selling game for the Gamecube, was Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was so fun, I actually unlocked all the characters, and every stage...well except for one. It was too hard to get, and it required me to finish the 51 event stages. The stage was called Final Destination. I liked the stage Final Destination, but I couldn't finish 4 of the event stages. Super Smash Bros. Melee is part of the Super Smash Bros. series. The first game is Super Smash Bros., followed by Super Smash Bros. Melee, and then Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I don't get why it has the "Super Smash Bros" in the game. Although, I pretty much assume it's based on Mario and Luigi. I never use their characters though.

Another game I finished was Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. It was one of my favorite games on the Gamecube. For the first time in Fire Emblem, they used 3D graphics. There were many chapters, but the plot of the game was pretty much boring. Ike's dad dies, and fights a war with a lot of nations. They introduced a new class, the laguz. They could transform into animals, like tigers, cats, lions, white/red/black dragons, ravens, and hawks. You get every kind of laguz, except for a black dragon, raven or lion. You have to choose between a lion or a raven. Ravens are the fastest of the birds, and the lions are second strongest. Black dragons are the strongest, but the slowest, and hawks are stronger than hawks, but a little slower than ravens. Ike eventually finds the man who kills his father, but fails to kill the Black Knight. Ike and his companions do kill King Ashnard, the monarch of Daein. His dragon is actually a laguz, a black dragon, and one of the sons of Goldoa.

There was also an accessory that allowed people to play Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Color games, the Gameboy Player. It was actually just the gameboy game with a larger screen. The sound was improved, and balanced. I played some of my other games, but it just didn't feel the same playing on the Gamecube than the actual Gameboy. It's sort of like playing Gameboy games on computer, and playing it on the Gameboy. The computer ruins the fun of playing.

March Literature Circle Letter #1

My book, Bastard out of Carolina, is about a girl named Ruth Anne, nicknamed Bone. She has a father, which abandoned her eight days after she was born. He did come back to see Bone, although she peed on him and drove him away. Her mom, Anney, had a second child with another man named Lyly. He died while he was working, on the pavement of a street. Their child together was another girl, named Reese. The family, aunts, uncles, and grandma go out for dinner at the White Horse Cafe. Uncle Earle brought his new workmate, Glen Waddell. In time, Anney, Bone's mother begins to date Glen. He is nice to both Anney and Reese, although things change too fast. Within two years, Anney and Glen become married, and go on their honeymoon together without Reese and Bone. Everything goes down from here.

Anney discovers she is pregnant Glen's child. Glen always wanted, a son, and if it were a girl, then he wouldn't love her. Glen only wanted a son. Anney goes into labor, and Glen, Reese, and Bone go back to the car. Reese falls asleep, leaving only Bone and Glen awake. Glen begins to smile at Bone, and puts his hand on her neck. Soon after, Glen begins to rape Bone. Bone, at a young age, does not know what Glen is doing to her. She's too young, and begins to cry, saying her thighs hurt. The next day, Glen comes out of the emergency room with terrible news. The baby, Glen Junior, was still-born. (Meaning the baby came out dead.) Glen cries with Anney.

The rest of the book talks about Glen and Anney not being able to pay their bills. Anney tells the children about being really poor, like fighting over the last bacon. She feeds her children ketchup and crackers for a snack. Glen keeps telling Anney that things would be different soon, and that they'd live in a big house. Then, Reese and Bone go to the Aunt's house to stay for a while.

Video Games Part 1

Since I was four, I have been playing video games. My dad taught me how to play Super Mario Bros., and often I would die on the first goomba. I began to play more, and more, but never finishing the actual game. Then, my dad brought the SNES, and the first game I really liked was Super Mario World. It was very fun to play. I always stayed on the first world though. I let my dad play most of it. We kept playing and playing. One time we couldn't beat a level, so we left it on throughout the week. (I wasn't allowed to play on the weekdays. They would make me do homework, eat dinner, and go to sleep.) That game lasted for about a year for me...until I found out about Star World. It was so fun. There were two exits for each of the five levels in Star World. Then, there was Special World. (Sounds sort of stupid.) Special World consisted of Funky, Outrageous, and other weird names. Outrageous was one of the hardest levels I have played. There were bullet bills flying everywhere, and to get to the exit, I had to climb ontop of the bullet bill things that launch the bullet. My parents would later on let me play on the weekday after I finished homework.

We then bought Kirby Super Star, which is a 8 games in 1. They were all pretty fun, but some of the games were just mini games. The first one was called Spring Breeze. It was only four worlds, and all were pretty easy. It only took about an hour to finish. The last game however, was the one I liked the most. It was called Milky Way Galaxy. I liked it because you could actually save in that game. Instead of sucking up monsters, you could get statues of the enemy and just use their power whenever I liked. There was also a slot for a second player, which was even more fun. If I didn't have a second person playing, then I could have a helper helping me defeat enemies. My favorite combination of powers were wheel and yo-yo. I would have the helper be the wheel, the wheel is actually a motorcycle, and I could sit on top and kill enemies.

My dad and I bought Nintendo 64 right away when it came out. It came with two games, a yellow Donkey Kong 64, and a red football game. Donkey Kong was the only game I really liked on the Nintendo 64 until Super Smash Bros. I went crazy over that game. I got all the secret characters, Falcon, Jigglypuff, Luigi, and Ness. Ness and Kirby were my favorite characters. Kirby now sucks in the newer games though. I liked Ness for his shield, yo-yo, and PK Fire. It was really annoying to other people. There was another mode besides Break the Targets, which was Board the Platforms. Jigglypuff was the most difficult one to Break the Targets, and Kirby to Board the Platforms. In Jigglypuff's stage, I had to keep punching, and flying to reach the last target. I was on the very left side, and the target on the right. Kirby's stage required me to keep flying, then go down, and then around another platform, etc. It just kept going on and on.

Naruto

Naruto is a boy in the manga Naruto. He lives in Konohagakure, which is in the Land of Fire. In the beginning, the fourth hokage sealed the nine-tailed demon fox inside of Naruto. Naruto is the son of the fourth hokage. Naruto started to do crazy things in Konohagakure for the attention, because he is an orphan. Later on, Naruto goes into the Academy to become a ninja. He is paired up with Sakura and Sasuke after he passes. Their teacher (sensei) is Kakashi, which teaches them new techniques and to make sure they don't die. Sasuke introduces himself as an avenger, and wants to kill a certain someone. Right before passing from the Academy, Naruto learns a forbidden technique, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which allows him to many hundreds of clones of himself.

After many missions, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the rest of the of the genins enter the chuunin exam. To become a chuunin, they have to battle with other countries, and survive. During this exam, Orochimaru, one of the three senin, interferes with the exam. He bites Saskue on the back of his neck. It's a curse, and Sasuke almost dies from it. With the new curse, Sasuke can obtain lots of power. Orochimaru is trying to find a new body that is strong, and wants Sasuke. In the end, only Neji becomes a chuunin, and Orochimaru battles the third hokage. Orochimaru succeeds in killing the third hokage.

With no hokage to protect the village, they must find a new one. They ask Jiraiya, one of the three legendary sannin, but he refuses. Then, Naruto, Jiraiya, and Sakura seek out Tsunade, the last of the three sannin. She is the granddaughter of the first hokage, and she accepts to become the fifth hokage. She is a healer, and she can punch really hard. Sakura wants to become just like her, a healer. She also becomes Tsunade's errand person, and learning how to heal peopl Sasuke goes to Orochimaru because Sasuke thinks Orochimaru has power for Sasuke to kill Itachi, his brother. Itachi has killed his clan and spared him. But, Orochimaru just wants Sasuke for his eyes, the sharingan. Also, a mysterious group called Akatsuki appears. They are collecting the kyuubi, monsters within people that are powerful. There are only nine, and Naruto is one of them.

Naruto goes along with Jiraiya to receive personal training for two long years. After the two years, Naruto returns. Gaara, and old friend of Naruto's, is captured and killed. When Akatsuki extracts the kyuubi, the host dies. Chiyo is able to kill her own grandson, a member of the Akatsuki. But, Chiyo developed a way to ressurect people, but takes the users life. She dies, and Gaara is revived.

Afterwards, Sasuke kills Itachi. Sasuke learns the truth, from Madara Uchiha. Madara is the first Uchiha, and tells Sasuke the history of the Uchiha clan, the founding of Konohagakure, and why Itachi killed the Uchiha clan. It was actually the advisors, the third hokage, and Danzo, who allowed him to do so. The Uchiha clan was about to rebel for more power. The other countries would take advantage of this, and a fourth ninja war would begin. With nothing else to do, Sasuke joins Akatsuki, to gather the jinchuurikis for the kyuubi. Jinchuurikis are the host of the beast.