Final FINAL

1. Explain one or two ways your writing has improved (or not) over the semester. Include a few examples from your posts over time, with analysis and links to the original posts, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.


I feel that writing consistantly over the year has greatly improved my writing over the year, not only with quntity, but also with quality. With writing so much though, it might tend to burn some people out, and give people more troubles with writer's block. However, with our quickwrites, they really helped me find a way to get past writer's block. If you just keep writing, you will eventually think of something to write. This doesn't work with everybody though, it is all about finding what works for you.

In the beggining of the year, I felt like there wasn't enough for me to write about over the year to keep writing as much as we were. I thought "there is no way I am going to make it through this year writing this much", but it only took a little bit of inspiration for me to get through this year. My one true inspiration for writing this year was sports. Everything related to sports helped me get through this year. I think almost everybody can relate to sports in one way or another, so it also helped with people staying interested in my blog over time. I also saw on google analytics that sports was one of the more popular subjects for blogs throughout the year. So I read a few parts of other people's blogs and wanted to sort of stray away from the most popular things people talked about the most. Unless I was completely set on something I wanted to blog about, I would look for something that sounded interesting and a little exotic. I would also not blog about something if I started writing about something and would get stuck a lot. If I couldn't write about 200 words no problem, then I would look for a new topic to blog about. So I tended to avoid writers block all together by just blogging about specific things that I knew I wouldn't have a problem with. If it works, it works.

4. How do the things you read influence what you write about or how you write it?

Almost everything I write about was written by someone else. I got most of my topics from ESPN and would read interesting stories and blog about the first one that sounded interesting to me. I would then summarize the what I read in my own words, and give my opinion on the topic. For example, one of my main topics in the year was the Bay Area football team, the Forty-Niners. Over the year, I analyzed them and even made predictions for all things 49ers.

Without ESPN, there would be a lot of things I wouldn't even know about, because I am not one of those press people who are able to find out about everything (How do they do it?). So without my sources, I don't think I would have much to write about, and I probably would have had a lot more missing assignments in this class. I am horrible at coming up with stuff to write about on my own. Like some of my other posts non-sports related, I have noticed, tend to ramble a little bit. That or they are redundent because I was running out of stuff to talk about. But thanks to sports and people who cover sports for a living, I was able to make it through the year without much trouble, other than those darn pesky monthly reviews. It is hard for me to review other people's work, especially books. There are some books that people just rave about, so when I read the book, and I don't like it as much as they did, I feel bad writing something negative. This is why I think monthly reviews were the most hard part of the year, but that is just my opinion and will most definitely change as you move person to person as everybody's opinion is different. Some people may say that they disliked the weekly blog posts, but honestly those were the best blogs for me. They were free topic and made it much easier for me to avoid writers block and express my opinion without feeling too uncomfortable.


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?

Being a blogger has been pretty weird. If I didn't have this class, I don't think I would ever have or want a blog. I never really liked writing about what I did that day or anything like that, so I never saw myself having a blog or an online diary or anything else like that. But having a blog has definitely changed the way I think. When I hear an interesting story online or from someone else, I think to myself "Oh, I could probably write a blog about that" or "That sounds like something I would want to blog about".

Writing has become easier over the year, and I hope I can carry that through to next year to when I am a junior and will probably be needing to be writing a lot more than I did this year. This year, I only had to write in about 2 classes, English and History. I can't predict the future, so I can't tell you I will be writing more next year, but I can only prepare myself.

Blogging has been pretty weird for me. People sometimes come up to me saying they saw what I blogged about, and start asking me all about it. I don't necesarily like having one, but I also don't necesarily dislike having a blog. While blogging has helped with my writing for high school, I am not one of those people who like showing their feelings toward everything publicly. I hate having to have to give my opinion on almost everything I write about, because honestly, sometimes I don't have any opinion towards something. But still, blogging has done more good for me over the year than it has done bad in my eyes. And in the end that is all that really matters to me. Is what I am doing going to give me some new found experience and knowledge? And I think that blogging has done exactly that, so it was definitely successful for me.

Monthly Review

The novel "Killing Mr Griffin" by Lois Duncan is about a group of teenage high school students who are sick of their English teacher and decide to play a prank on him. They want to just scare him, but when they find he has died from what they did, they have to come up with a plan to cover up what they did. With the fear of going to jail entering their thoughts, they scramble to come up with a plan to cover up what they did and how to make it so no one ever found out.

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 feel like this book was written for people about the same age as the people in the book. So pretty much anyone around the age of 14-20 who faces drama during their school year from their teachers. A real moral from this story is to not let the drama and all the things that happen to everyone get to you. You just have to find a way to get through it and deal with it and don't let it dictate your life.

"'That Griffin's the sort of guy you'd like to kill"

This quote is about what a student in the story is feeling because he feels he has had enough of his teacher. There is just one thing that really pushes him over the top into saying that. Sure everybody over reacts, but I don't know many people who would go this far as to say they would want to kill one of their teachers. The only thing is, at the time, he didn't really plan on killing his teacher, just scaring him into begging for his life like Mr Griffin made one of his students beg to retake the class. At an age like being a teenager, it is critical to keep your emotions under control. A lot of teenagers are going through puberty, so their hormones are rushing. As a teenager, it is important to understand that you won't always be happy, it is just about not sinking too low when you are down.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is going through high school and feels like they are never feeling their best. So pretty much, anyone who is going through school, it is normal to not feel your best, just don't let it hold you down for too long or over reactions like this kind of story can happen. It is also not that bad of a book for people who have already gone through this sort of thing, or anyone who over reacts, as this is a real wake up call for them.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

This book, I think, was written to let people know that everybody goes through difficult times, it is just that the successful ones are the ones who can cope with it, get through it, and move on with their lives. You just have to take punches as they come, and hope it all turns out for the best. Something that really helps me get through things is thinking, "OK, my situation is bad, but there is someone out there in a much worse position than me, so I can live and get through it."

So the next time you feel like your life can not get any worse, just think, there is someone out there without a roof over their head, without a guiding person in their life, going through probably ten times worse of things than you are. Suddenly your problem doesn't seem so bad.

"'Hell no. Just scare him. Shake him up some.'"

This quote is about the thought process that the students were going through due to them over reacting. If they thought things out and tried to fully understand what they were talking about doing, they might have actually realized that they were crazy for thinking that they could get away with something like that.

So this is my advice as a fellow teenager who goes through crazy things, take it all in YOUR stride and realize that things could be much worse. I think I can tell that this was the author's purpose, because I read it all, and truly felt that this was the meaning of the book. The author puts a lot of detail into the regret that some of the students have after going through with what was meant to only be a prank, but turned out to be cold blooded murder. While the author does exaggerate a little, sometimes that is necessary to fully get a point across. I mean, just look at some politicians, they over exaggerate with statistics for themselves and against their opponents for their own personal gain. The author of this book is no different, expressing their ideas in a book and sometimes using a bit of over exaggeration to get their point across.

I think the author was very successful in this, well at least with me. I feel like I will never over react (of course I will eventually) when something bad happens, because I will always think first,"Hey, it could be worse". I just hope either the book, or my review will open some people's eyes about how truly lucky and blessed they are to have what they have in life, and to really not take it for granted. So if you feel like your life can't get any worse, stop, think, and realize how blessed you are.

So overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for people who know what I am talking about when I say that everybody over reacts, and it is just how you deal with it. I enjoyed the fact that the book had pretty short chapters and each chapter focused on someone different, but still linked them to the main plot of the story. So my suggestion is, if you are in the mood for an eye-opening book, go pick this one up.

Finale

So this is the last free topic blog post for me for this school year and quite possibly my last ever, so I want this one to be one of my best. My favorite sport of the year is well gone as football ended in February. Basketball is coming to an end with my favorite team, the Lakers, on the verge of their 18th NBA title, if they are able to win only 6 more games out of a possible 12 this year. That is only going .500 for the rest of the season and the coveted championship is theirs. The only thing is, they are playing the elite teams in the NBA so it definitely will not be a walk in the park. The Finals start June 3rd and by that time, school will almost be over and the only thing standing between the students at Alameda High and summer will be finals, only a different kind. We won't be playing basketball, we will just be taking about 10 hours worth of tests of everything we have learned this year. That's it.

I am really lucky that I enjoy almost all sports or else I don't know what I would be blogging about right now. There are a few sports I don't hate, but definitely don't enjoy as much as other people probably do. One of those is baseball. I just hated playing it as a kid, so watching it isn't much better for me. This is difficult for me because a lot of my friends play baseball for Alameda High so they are always talking about it a lot when we hang out. I just find it boring and too slow paced for me to enjoy, but who am I to talk, I play golf and actually like watching it sometimes. I guess if you play something, it is easier to watch because you can appreciate what the pros are doing and go out and try to copy them. Inspiration always makes things easier to do, so what is more inspiring than watching another human being doing something great at the sport that you play. So I can understand if you play a sport like tennis or golf, and like watching it because I am in a similar position.

There are of course sports that are entertaining if you play them or not, like football and basketball. Well, maybe not basketball because I used to play when I was younger, and still kinda "play" pick up games like during P.E. But football is truly America's sport. Nobody, NOBODY says football is boring, and if you find someone who does, go get them checked at the doctor's. Football is fast paced and always entertaining unless some team is getting the crap beat out of them and it's a blowout, which is kind of rare. And if you can't tell by now, I love watching football and basketball, and with those seasons almost all done, I will be bored out of my mind during the summer when I'm not doing something with my friends. So there it is, quite possibly my last free topic blog post ever. Hope you enjoyed this and all my others.

Love

The rules of love change from person to person and relationship to relationship. Most of the rules are made up for specific relationships due to everybody being different. Then again there are some rules that apply to every relationship like no cheating, but even rules like that can vary for different relationships. Usually, the guy asks the girl, and the guy does almost all of the stuff like pay for dinner and stuff that the girl wants. He also usually is responsible for picking the girl up and just being nice in general. The girl, on the other hand, usually gets to choose what she wants to do and the guy will pretty much have to do whatever the girl wants to make her happy, or she will be angry.

The consequences for violating the rules is usually breaking up and ending the relationship, or sometimes people forgive each other and give it another chance. This is usually the case for people who have been together for longer and feel more comfortable with each other, and don't want all the time they spent with each other to go to waste. There is give and take in relationships and finding the balance is sometimes hard to do. With relationships that are longer, the people know each others boundaries and the balance is much easier to find, but with relationships that are newer, the balance is paper thin, and there is not as much give and take in it as other longer relationships.

So all in all, relationships are almost all give and take, and it takes a lot of things going right to make one work. People who don't know how to sometimes settle, usually have a harder time in finding a balance with someone else to have a good relationship with.

Lit Circle Letter 2

"'You mean-not tell anybody?' Susan said in amazement.
'Why should we do that?'
'Why, because-because-there's a man dead!'
'Would he be any less dead if we told people?'
'No, of course not. But you can't just have somebody die and not report it."

This quote shows the scrambling that the kids in Mr. Griffin's are going through after Mr. Griffin died when he wasn't supposed to as they put it. They meant it to only be a joke, but when they left him out in wild unattended for too long, the teacher they all hated was dead. The plan was to "kidnap" him and make him beg for his life, just like he made one of his students do when he was in class the previous year when he caught him cheating. So as revenge, the kid wanted to make Mr. Griffin beg for his life, but when Griffin refused, the kid became frustrated. Since he was on the basketball team, he decided to just leave him out there until after his game which would be about 7 hours time total. But when the innocent girl and the Senior class president go out to check up on him, they find that he is dead and start to panic. They all have their alibis as to where they were in case Griffin got mad about the kidnapping, but now they might need them for something much more bad and they could actually end up going to jail for this.

I'm really enjoying this book and how it is starting to unravel. It is interesting to see how they decide to handle their situation. Since they thought out the pre-kidnapping so deeply, they didn't even think something like this could happen and go this wrong. So when it did, they didn't have enough time to figure it out and actually solve the problem. So it will be interesting to me to see how they deal with that and the solutions they come up with to solve their problem they started with what they meant to only be a joke.

Postseason

This week was eventful as the NBA playoffs are continuing. The Lakers swept like they were supposed to beating a beaten up Jazz team in 4 straight games completing the sweep. Their next opponent is the Suns who also swept their opponents, the Spurs, in 4 straight games as well. The eastern conference is being dominated by the Orlando Magic who ALSO swept their opponents the Hawks by beating them in 4 games. The only team not to sweep is the Celtics who have good reason to not sweep as they were playing everybody's favorite team to jump on their band wagon, the Cavaliers. The Cavs had the best record in the NBA this season, but then again they play in the East which is much weaker than the West is. This was Lebron's last year in his contract with the Cavs so he probably won't be coming back after 2 straight disappointing seasons with the Cavs. They have had the best record in the NBA for 2 straight seasons but still haven't won a title either of those years. And with the best player in the league, that isn't cutting it.

This off season is going to be one of the biggest ever when it comes to free agents and how many high caliber players there are entering free agency this year. LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and possibly Chris Bosh are all going to be free agents meaning they can sign with whatever team they want to for as much money as they are offered which will be higher than a lot of people will ever make in their life.

While having the best team, but still no championships, the Cavalier's head coach is on the chopping block. To be honest, he didn't do that much, because how much do you have to do as a coach when you have the best player in the NBA on your team? Now he will most likely have to prove himself without that best player, because he will most likely be leaving for some other town this off season (see above). So this will be his year to prove himself as a coach, trying to make the playoffs without his star player who carried his team's weight on his shoulders the entire time he was there.

The Atlanta Hawks also let go of their coach following their early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Magic who swept them in 4 games in record fashion. Well, they didn't really let him go, they just aren't going to re-sign him after his contract expired on Monday. This one I don't really understand though, as he brought the team from almost nothing (winning only 13 games in 2004-2005) to actually being something (making the playoffs the past 3 years and winning 53 games this season). So for you future head coaches out there, keep this in mind. No matter what you have done for your team, they will always be looking to upgrade you for something they feel is better, even if it isn't.

NBA/NHL/NFL

This is my first blog in two weeks and it has been an active two weeks for sports. Both the NBA and NHL playoffs are under way and the second rounds have started in each league. So far, California teams have been doing good as the Lakers advanced to the 2nd round in just 6 games against the Thunder while it took the San Jose Sharks only 6 games as well to handle the Avalanche. The Lakers are now underway with their second round series with the Utah Jazz (where there is no Jazz) and have gone quickly up 2-0 in the series. The Sharks haven't been doing too shabby either going up 3-1 against the Detroit Red Wings. They were up 3-0 but lost a blowout game against the Red Wings in game 4 in Detroit. The Sharks now have a chance to clinch the series with a win in San Jose in front of the home fans.

The Raiders also started off my Spring Break by trading for Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell who has been doing good for one of the worst offenses in the NFL for the last few years. The move is a great move and filled one of the big holes that the Raiders had entering this season. Some questioned when they chose not to draft Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen in the second round and instead filled a hole they had on the defensive line. But the people in the Raiders office knew what they were doing. In somewhat of a surprise move (not to me, I called this last year after the Redskins head coach was fired), the Raiders traded a 4th round draft pick in next years NFL draft to the Redskins for the underrated (at least to me) quarterback that could easily be a franchise quarterback.

This was also a sign that the Raiders were admitting defeat with their number one draft pick in 2007, the one and only JaMarcus Russel. After having below average years in 3 years since being drafted number 1, the Raiders showed they were ready to move on by trading for Jason Campbell. Many question JaMarcus' drive to play football at a professional level. In what was a shocking move to almost nobody, the Raiders released Russel on Thursday. Many thought JaMarcus had plenty of opportunities to prove himself, and failed at almost every chance, and was staying in Oakland too long. After being benched mid season last year, travel man back up Bruce Gradkowski took over at quarterback and led the Raiders to come back wins against playoff caliber teams like the Bengals and Steelers. He apparently didn't fit what Raider's owner Al Davis was looking for, as he started the talks with the Redskins to trade for Campbell. So in just a week and a half, the environment for the Raiders has almost completely shifted due to good draft picks during the Draft, as well as realizing what your team needs and making the right moves to go out and fill the positions you need.