Friday, August 13, 2010
Reflection
1. "I feel that Jimi is a strong iconic figure that represents peace, love and tranquility among people who are familiar with his music. Through the power of song, Jimi is able to express an infectious sense of calmness. His music helps me all the time. Whenever I am stressed out of my skull I can crank up the volume and let all of my problems drift away. Music is a great coping mechanism, and Jimi’s is the LSD of music. I am very passionate about music and have found an unmatchable sanctuary and inspiration in his music." a piece from Jon Silva's icon project. This is an extraordinarly good piece of writing because it is so descriptive and uses lots of strong words, especially when he says an infectious sense of calmness.
2. The quote at the begining I think is really good and it fits in perfectly with the entire paper.
3. I would go into more detail and research on how being a vigilante could be possible in San Diego because I think that would be really cool.
4. The icons project is important because it makes us dig deeper into ourselves and find out more about ourselves all while learning new ways to write.
Book Review:
1."Throughout the history of America we have had many war heroes dating back to the pilgrims time. But what if American “war heroes” weren’t really heroes at all? What if everything we have been told is a lie? Pat Tillman is an example of a leaked “war hero” that had an elaborate twisted story around an accidental death." A piece from Daniels book review. This intro was really good and got me instantly hooked, I really liked it.
2.I think the best part of my book review was when I made a connection to the book through a quote and explained it.
3. If I had another day I wold probably go into more depth on Chris's personality just because its so complex and interesting.
4. The importance of book reviews can decide weather someone else will read the book or not.
In General...
1. One thing I discovered about my writing is that if I try really hard I can go really deep and make really good writing.
2.One goal for the future is one day I want to write a novel :D.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
icons final draft!

In my opinion, a good vigilante is one who is not lead by their emotion, but by their logic, and have to have a good sense of morality. A vigilante is lead by emotion might kill an innocent man in the heat of passion or because of some personal conflict. Therefore, a vigilante who is lead by their emotion is corrupt. A vigilantie with no sense of morality might kill a man who is not deserving of death or let a deserving man go.
In Boondock Saints, Joe Yakavetta, a big mob boss is on trial for the death of countless numbers of people, possession and distribution of many drugs, and other criminal activities. There is not enough evidence for him to be convicted under the court of law, so he is going to walk. The Boondock Saints come in, mid trial, and publicly execute him. One life may not be worth another, but how about one life being worth 6 or 7 people? I think Joe Yakavetta is deserving of death. I strongly support the Boondock Saints and any other vigilante doing some good out there, and I myself might possibly become one.
"We must all fear evil men, but what we must fear most is the indifference of good men" Father McKinley, Scene 1, Boondock Saints. A vigilante is someone who stands up for the poor and innocent when the government fails to- and someone who upholds the law in a righteous manner by taking it into his or her own hands. The Boondock Saints really showed this by the two McMannus brothers going out and killing all of the mobsters and gang bangers in South Boston.
I've always idolized vigilantes because they stand out from a world where indifference is so common, where people just sit and watch while someone gets brutally murdered and don't do so much as call the cops. Much like the Batman series, none of the civilians want the presence of a vigilante. But I feel like a vigilante is necessary in modern day society where the police take 20 minutes to get to a scene where someone is being beaten to death or where a rapist or murderer is being let out of jail just to go back to doing what they did before. With a handful of vigilantes collaborating in one city crime rates would go down a lot. Though vigilantism is illegal it has been recorded back to the 1800's with acts like the Boston tea party and the Underground Railroad.
In my opinion, a good vigilante is one who is not lead by their emotion, but by their logic, and have to have a good sense of morals. One who is lead by their emotion might kill an innocent man because of a heat of passion or because of some personal conflict with them. So therefore a vigilante who is lead by their emotion is corrupt. A vigilantie with a bad sense of morals might kill a man who is not deserving of death or let a deserving man go.
In Boondock Saints, Joe Yakavetta, a big mob boss is on trial for the death of countless numbers of people, possession and distribution of many drugs, and other criminal activities. There is not enough evidence for him to be convicted under the court of law, so he is going to walk. The Boondock Saints come in, mid trial, and publicly execute him. One life may not be worth another, but how about one life being worth 6 or 7 people? I think that person is deserving of death. I strongly support the Boondock Saints and any other vigilante doing some good out there, and I myself might possibly become one.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Icons pt. 5
"We must all fear evil men, but what we must fear most is the indifference of good men" Father McKinley, Scene 1, Boondock Saints. Vigilantism, is someone who stands up for the poor and innocent when the government fails to- and someone who upholds the law in a righteous manner by taking it into his or her own hands. The Boondock Saints really showed this by the two McMannus brothers going out and killing all of the mobsters and gang bangers in South Boston.
I've always idolized vigilantes because they stand out from a world where indifference is so common, where people just sit and watch while someone gets brutally murdered and don't do so much as call the cops. Much like the Batman series, none of the civilians want the presence of a vigilante. But I feel like a vigilante is necessary in modern day society where the police take 20 minutes to get to a scene where someone is being beaten to death or where a rapist or murderer is being let out of jail just to go back to doing what they did before. With a handful of vigilantes collaborating in one city crime rates would go down allot. Though vigilantism is illegal it has been recorded back to the 1800's with acts like the Boston tea party and the underground railroad.
A good vigilante is one who is not lead by their emotion, but by their logic, and have to have a good sense of morals. One who is lead by their emotion might kill an innocent man because of a heat of passion or because of some personal conflict with them. So therefore a vigilante who is lead by their emotion is corrupt. A vigilantie with a bad sense of morals might kill a man who is not deserving of death or let a deserving man go.
In Boondock Saints, Joe Yakavetta, a big mob boss is on trial for the death of countless numbers of people, possession and distribution of many drugs, and other criminal activities. There is not enough evidence for him to be convicted under the court of law, so he is going to walk. The Boondock Saints come in, mid trial, and publicly execute him. One life may not be worth another, but how about one life being worth 6 or 7 people? I think that person is deserving of death. I strongly support the Boondock Saints and any other vigilante doing some good out there, and I myself might possibly become one.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Icons pt. 4
I've always idolized vigilantes because they stand out from a world where indifference is so common, where people just sit and watch while someone gets brutally murdered and don't do so much as call the cops. Much like the Batman series, none of the civilians want the presence a vigilante. But I feel like a vigilante is necessary in modern day society where the police take 20 minutes to get to a scene where someone is being beaten to death or where a rapist or murderer is being let out of jail just to go back to doing what they did before. With a handful of vigilantes collaborating in one city crime rates would go down allot. Though vigilantism is illegal it has been recorded back to the 1800's with acts like the Boston tea party and the underground railroad.
Joe Yakavetta, a big mob boss is on trial for the death of countless numbers of people, possecion and distribution of many drugs, and other criminal activities. There is not enough evidence for him to be convicted under the court of law, so he is going to walk. The Boondock Saints come in, mid trial, and execute him. One life may not be worth another, but how about one life being worth 6 or 7 people? I think that person is deserving of death. I strongly suport the Boondock Saints and any other vigilante doing some good out there, and I myself might possibly become one.
Questions
1. I added alot of points about vigilantism to my revised draft such as the example in the last paragraph or at the end of the second paragraph.
2.
3. I got rid of a lot of fuzz in my picture and changed the backdrop a little bit as well. My next steps will be to add more of a heroic look to it.
4.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Icons!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Summer School, Blog #1
- Get an A
- try to be more interested in the subject
- get better as a writer
- try not to procrastonate
- read at least one book
Id really like to learn more about Jack the Ripper because it seems like an interesting story and he is a very famous killer. Also there is alot of refrences to his story and name in alot of music I listen to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbl0v1VGQ80
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Farmers Market

Q:Why do you choose to shop here?
Blog Post:
What struck you about the location you visited? Was it what you expected, or very different?
The Farmers market was alot smaller than I expected, just one row of a few different farmers and that was it.
Which items were cheaper than you expected? Which were more expensive?
Alot of the fruits were cheaper than I expected except for the apples and pears, those were pretty expensive.
Do you think you will start going to a farmers market more often?
To be honest I don't really think i will because the whole experience was a bit of a hassle for me, and it just wasn't that memorable as I expected it to be.
How do these locations fit into our essential questions of “Why Don’t People Live More Sustainably?” and “How Can I Convince them to do So?”
This location fits in very well with living sustainably because going to one of these events and getting locally grown and organic foods helps out the environment alot. As for convincing something to do so, I could just say that everything may be a bit more expensive, but the food is better, and healthier for you, plus you are helping a good cause.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Dialectic Journal
Quote:
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Time Travelers Pillar

The assignment was to make a painting relevant to the pillar of civilization we were assigned. We were given one square on the physical pillar that we could paint in. The steps to get to the final product were to first look up or create a picture relevant to our specific pillar (mine was religion in the Mayan civilization). Next step was to sketch out a to scale size sketch of what we had to paint. After we got that approved we were finally able to paint. I think what I learned through this assignment was how to put detail into my paintings and also how making a sketch of what i was going to paint first really helped. The one challenge I encountered was that i picked a drawing that required a lot of detail and precision to look good. I overcame this by using a very small brush. One thing that I would change would be giving us more time to be able to paint the pillar. This could very well help me later when I want to use painting as a creative outlet.
Semester Academic Goals (Humanities)
First Step: Make sure I know all the work that needs to be turned in and do it right away.
Goal: Keep binder more organized by actually using the tabs in it.
First Step: Make sure to put everything in the correct tab and if I don't know, ask Charlotte.
Goal: Be more serious with wex entries.
First Step: Take all prompts seriously and write at least a page each time.
Semester Academic Goals (Mysics)
First Step:Doing homework right when I get home.
Goal: Don't get distracted in class.
First Step: Don't sit next to friends.
Goal: Write better and more organized notes.
First Step: Write EVERYTHING that Mele writes
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Time Travelers Essay
Mayan Religion
Civilization is what makes up the world. Without it we would be nothing but savage beasts. But different parts of civilizations are what mold us into what we are now, and every part of a civilization is important. For example: religion, arguably the biggest maker/ breaker in a civilization. Although the Mayan civilization was prosperous and strived for a long time, they’re religion ultimately lead to their downfall.
The Mayans were a Mesoamerican civilization, located roughly next to the Yucatan peninsula. The Mayans where known for their large temples and sacrificial rituals. They were around from about 2000 BC to 900 AD when the Spaniards invaded them. The Mayan religion was polytheistic, meaning many gods, mainly based around the sun god: Kinich Ahau and the “creator” (as in creator of the world) being Itzamna.
The biggest strength of the Mayan religion was probably the creation of the Mayan calendar. The Mayan calendar was a celestial calendar, which means it follows the stars. The Mayan calendar was based on different cycles, following the same seasonal cycles such as winter, summer, fall, and spring. Another success about the Mayan religion was their purification and divination process1. The purification process involved fasting, sexual abstention and exorcism of evil spirits. These rituals could lead to better lifestyles of a regular person therefore improving the lifestyle of the entire community. Plus I think fasting it gets rid of obesity.
The main downfall to the Mayan religion was that it was very sacrificial. Their main sacrifices included mostly small animals like turkey, quails, deer and fish. But later on adopted the ritual of human sacrifice and sometimes anthropophagy (cannibalism) 1. Some say that sacrifice was the core of Mayan religion. This was bad because the sacrifice of so many animals drained their stock and made for less to eat. Especially since they sacrificed and offered food to the gods the most during a drought. The sacrifice of human beings is also very bad because it lowers the population, especially in big rituals where up to 10 people could be sacrificed. Another downfall of the Mayan religion could be social division. Since the government was mainly wrapped around religion so all the hierarchies were based on priests and deities. Social division is bad in any civilization because it causes separation in the community in general. One of the rites of the Mayan religion is that at the age of three months, you would be presented with different items depending on your gender (i.e. for males it might be a set of tools or a religious artifact, or with females it might be cloth or a sewing needle). This would be bad because by doing this your job was pre- determined when you were only three months old, causing unhappiness as adults making for a more unhealthy lifestyle.
The Mayan religion is closely related to many other Mesoamerican religions, much like the Incan religion. Both religions celebrated and worshiped mostly the sun god and the main creator. Also both religions were very sacrificial and devoted most of their time and resources to their gods. There are also many other similarities, like their purification rituals, and they also ended up being conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors. Though the Mayans were more advanced than the Incans in one way, the Mayans had a calendar, while the Incans just followed the stars.
All in all I think that the Mayan religion was a failure and helped lead to the downfall of the Mayan civilization. The reason behind this being that the Mayans had an over dependence on their religion. But not only their over dependence on religion, the fact that they sacrificed so much to the gods drained their resources, plus a lot of their rituals drained the time of the day and people ended up not doing any work at all.
With the evidence shown I think it is safe to say that the Mayan religion was overall a failure and lead to their downfall. Some important evidence that could be restated would be although the Mayans were very spiritual and “pure” they were also very sacrificial which potentially could reduce population and is overall an unhealthy practice. So although the Mayans were overall a very successful nation their religion ultimately lead to their downfall and failure as a nation.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Hero Project Reflection
1. I think a hero is defined by the person they are effected by, therefore creating a one perspective that that person was a hero, even tho someone else may perceive someones "good deeds" as bad.
2. Project Description: In this project we were required to pick someone (locally) that we considered a hero in our eyes. We then had to learn what a character sketch was and create one describing how this person is a hero or showing them in their heroic moment.
3.The first step of this project was to pick the person we were going to honor and describe why we were honoring them, after that we had to learn how to write a character sketch. Then we had to write our first draft, have it peer reviewed by Diana's class, then write a second draft. After we wrote our second draft we had to turn it into Charlotte, then she reviewed it, then write our final draft. During all of this we also had to take two different pictures of our hero, one of them in their heroic moment and the second a portrait of them. After we were all finished we pu all of this information into an Adobe InDesign template and turn it into Charlotte.
4. Definetly one thing I learned was how to create a character sketch, and us Adobe InDesign. Really the only challenge I met was meeting deadlines.
5. One of the habits of mind I used was evidence. I had to do alot of research about H1N1 disease and find out alot about it to write my character sketch.
6. This is my Final Character Sketch
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Hero Sketch
“Ok, who’s here?” My mom says as she arrives at work, tired as usual.
“We have two nurses missing in the screening room,” said one of her coworkers.
“Ok well I will fill in for them when I’m done in my office,” she said disappointed as usual that people were absent.
When she was finally done in her office she walked out and saw the patient that she had to screen. He was coughing the whole time he was there and was pale as a ghost, it smelled of death.
“So what’s wrong?” she said already inspecting the patient, going through every procedure like she had done it a million times before (and she has). “Fever and tensed muscles,” she thought to herself.
“Well,” said the patient, “ I have a sore throat, I’ve been coughing up a storm, and my muscles have been tensing quite a bit.” My mom made a slight grin then quickly put it away.
“Do you have asthma?” My mom said like his life depended on it.
“No.”
“Ok,” said my mom, almost looking disappointed. “looks like you’ve got the flu.”
“ But not the swine flu right?” said the patient with fear in his eyes.
“ No,” said my mom feeling guilty “ fluids and rest ok?” she said in a very motherly tone
“Ok thank you nurse.” Said the patient as he left the door.
“Ugh.” grunted my mom as she walked into a hallway where all the nurses were. ”We have another case of swine flu.”
“Wow, did you tell him?” asked one of the nurses for some reason surprised.
“ About 99 percent of the people we screen for the flu have it,” She said, without a hint of sarcasm or humor in her voice. “ I f we told all the students they had swine flu, there would be mass hysteria on the campus, and we cant let that happen. Besides it’s just as easily treatable as the regular flu, we have to keep that from happening.”
Monday, November 2, 2009
Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting. He was a tall skinny man, hair like a lion's mayne (smilie). She shrugged, with a look on her face like she wanted to huddle up in a corner and just stay there forever. She thought back to the last time she tried to talk to him.
" Hey whats up?" she said to him
" Who are you?" He asked. She then ran away, face in her arms, crying because he didnt know who she was.(flashback)
"No i wont let that happen again!" She thought to herself, " I'm not going to humiliate myself again!"
She was suddenly a fierce creature, ready to pounce on her pray. (metaphor)
" H-hey whats up?" She said with a bit of confidence in her tone.
" Hey, have I seen you before?" He said without a care in the world.
" Nope, wanna go out sometime?"
" Sure" He said with surprise in his eyes.
" Okay, awesome" She said, about to explode with joy.
"So where do you wanna go?" He asked.
"Ummmmmmmmmmm" She said, as all her confidence seemd to flush down the toilet. She then ran away scared. ( Irony)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Life as a High Schooler
My heart races faster than normal as I sat down while the graduation started. As I wait for the other team to finish I think about all the good times I had throughout middle school. I think of the time when we were all goofing off in class and Mr. Elizondo just plain joined in. This thought suddenly brought a burst of happiness straight into my heart. As each name gets called the line gets shorter and shorter, my heart beats faster and faster.
When the Hetrick/ Eggleston team finished giving out their “diplomas” (which I later found out were just rolled pieces of paper), I knew it was my teams turn, the Staff/ Holmes team. I remember how we practiced this specific moment for over an hour trying to get it right. “This is almost monotonous” I thought to myself. As they introduce our team we all stand up, and get in line in an abecedarian fashion.
“Smile!” says my friend’s mom as she takes a picture of me from the side of the line. As the camera flashes my eyes are suddenly blinded, but only for a few seconds. As the vision in my eyes comes back, my vision is flooded with black dots. I rub my eyes and open them again to see everything as clear as ever.
“Eric Simpson” Mr. Holmes calls from the podium.
Adrenaline rushes into my veins and I jump up on the stage, almost running towards Mr. Holmes to grab my “diploma”. He throws out his arm to give me a good hand shaking. I respectfully deny it and instead give him a big hug. As I start walking off he gives me a nice pat on the back. As I am walking back to my seat I see my parents, giving me a congratulatory nod. I sit back down feeling good. At that moment I realize that as I pass into high school, my life will never be the same again. Emotions swell up in my brain, overpowering every muscle in my face and my eyes suddenly tear up with the fact that all of these people, all of my friends, will all be going in different directions, off to different high schools and their life as young adults. Although I take comfort in the fact that a lot of my friends will be going to the same high school as me, the infamous High Tech High Media Arts.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sherif Shoe
" Hey Shoe!" Called one of the deputies. " We goy us a classic bar fight on our hands, now get you and your dumbo ears in the car and get over to the tavern!"
" Right away Sir" I said with haste, grabbing my jacket while simultaneously buttening on my sherif's badge.
I ran to the car, jumped in and sped away to the ol' saloon. As I got there i immediately saw ol' Jimmy get thrown out the window. I stepped into the saloon, kicking the doors open like a cowboy. As I walked in i could hardly see anything with smoke filling the air. I pulled out my gun and shot it 3 times.
" Now all you listen here, get outta this bar right now or ima go apeshit on your asses!" All the men immediately scrambled for the doors like a heard of cattle trying to escape. When everyone left and the smoke cleared a approached the bar tender to find out the cause, because I am a police man it is the rules to find hte cause.
" So, What the hell happened here?" I said in almost a menacing voice.
" Well," Said the bar tender, still shaking from the brawl. "A black man came in you see, and he came straight up to the bar and asked for a beer." he pointed to where the black man sat. " Now all the boys at the bar got a little restless because of this, and one man came up to him and grabbed him by the collar." "then he said: Boy you best be gettin out o these here parts, aint no room for the colored men around here"
" Go on." I said in a demanding voice.
" Well then the black man punched him, then after all that everything was a blur"
"Well thank you for your time" I said " Good thing you called up, those men coulda burned down this whole here saloon" " I seen them types before, them racists, it aint to pretty what they do"
" No sir it aint" said the bar tender as i was leaving.
" Another job well done Shoe" I said to myself as I stepped back into the car.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
My Favorite Fictional Hero
My favorite fictional hero(s) are the Mc.Mannis brothers from the cult phenomenon movie, Boondock Saints. The storyline behind the Mc.Mannis brothers is that they started as two regular people put into extraordinary circumstances and had to kill two russian mobsters. After the incident they came to the decision that they would go out and kill all that is evil in the world. The Mc.Mannis brothers are my favorite fictional heros because they are actually just regular people going out and doing the best for the world by killing all of the bad people