Friday, September 3, 2010
Procrastination?
with 4 days left of school, im sure i'm not the only one who isn't finished their summer work :). SO HERE'S MY DISCUSSION QUESTION! Why do you (or we) procrastinate? (-100-0 words/9001pts)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Let's have a discussion!... Please?
It’s been a little more than a week since school ended, but the lessons from the two books we read during Bunje English haven’t stopped floating around in my brain. Two main ideas that keep coming back to me are: “That which you manifest is before you” and the idea of fate/”Maktub” (“it is written”) along with having a personal legend. I’m probably looking at it the wrong way, but lately I’ve had a bit of trouble reconciling these concepts. Allow me to explain:
“That which you manifest is before you” has always made sense to me; you have the power to create your own success, or, conversely, failure, depending on your outlook and effort. But then fate… I like to think that we are all part of some greater plan and that everything that happens has a reason for happening. But if this is the case, are we really manifesting what was meant to be anyway? I’m not sure. I tend to think that fate is flexible, so though something may be “written”, we can wander off the path that was “meant to be” or stray from our personal legends and rewrite our destinies. For instance, in the Alchemist, some of the characters (e.g. the baker and the crystal merchant) ignored their personal legends and ended up not living to their full potential. Same almost went for Santiago when he considered remaining at the oasis instead of continuing to the Egyptian Pyramids to pursue his personal legend.
So here lies my question: Should you just say “if event x is meant to happen, it’ll happen”, or should you go out and try to make it happen? If you want to manifest event x, how do you know that’s the right thing to do? How do you know when to trust fate and just go with the flow?
I hope you understand my blabbering, and if anyone feels like taking a break from summer and offering an opinion or two, please do! :) It’s starting to get lonely here!
“That which you manifest is before you” has always made sense to me; you have the power to create your own success, or, conversely, failure, depending on your outlook and effort. But then fate… I like to think that we are all part of some greater plan and that everything that happens has a reason for happening. But if this is the case, are we really manifesting what was meant to be anyway? I’m not sure. I tend to think that fate is flexible, so though something may be “written”, we can wander off the path that was “meant to be” or stray from our personal legends and rewrite our destinies. For instance, in the Alchemist, some of the characters (e.g. the baker and the crystal merchant) ignored their personal legends and ended up not living to their full potential. Same almost went for Santiago when he considered remaining at the oasis instead of continuing to the Egyptian Pyramids to pursue his personal legend.
So here lies my question: Should you just say “if event x is meant to happen, it’ll happen”, or should you go out and try to make it happen? If you want to manifest event x, how do you know that’s the right thing to do? How do you know when to trust fate and just go with the flow?
I hope you understand my blabbering, and if anyone feels like taking a break from summer and offering an opinion or two, please do! :) It’s starting to get lonely here!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Nerdy is as Nerdy Does
Ah, summer time, a refreshing respite from the tedium of the school year. The beach beckons children and adults alike to transform dull skin to a brilliant cherry red under a blazing sun, boardwalk vendors attempt to swindle unsuspecting passersby into buying colorful hermit crabs that soon go forgotten in a bedroom corner (shame!), and ice cream parlors encourage ravenous patrons to pack on the pounds. Others are enraptured by far different wonders. If you’re me, you read 3 1/3 books in half a week’s time, discover interesting new punctuation marks, and ponder the meaning of life. Oh, and write. Yes, write. For the fun of it. Mommy dearest thinks I’ve gone off the deep end, but if this is insanity, I relish it.
Anyway, while I attempt to procure a more profound blog topic, I want to share two interesting bits of information. There’s good news, and there’s bad. I’ve already hinted at the good; I found a very cool new (well, to be accurate, old, but new to me) punctuation mark called the “interrobang”. Occasionally, I find myself, ending a sentence with ?! (like “He said what?!”). Well, the interrobang is what happens when you smush a question mark and an exclamation point together and create a whole new beast. I am a bit disappointed that my keyboard lacks it, but if you want to use one in a word document (which I don’t think I’d recommend for a school paper, by the way) select the font Wingdings 2, then hold shift and click 6. Presto! An interrobang! If anyone else is as amused as I am, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang. Also, Wiki’s article “Irony Punctuation” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark#Irony_mark) has some cool punctuation marks under “Irony Mark”; I’m partial to the doubt point and the love point.
Whether the bad news is really bad depends on your view of Twilight. I’ll keep this short and sweet: the series made Oak’s “Summer Reading [suggestion] List” for grade 10. ‘Nuff said.
Anyway, while I attempt to procure a more profound blog topic, I want to share two interesting bits of information. There’s good news, and there’s bad. I’ve already hinted at the good; I found a very cool new (well, to be accurate, old, but new to me) punctuation mark called the “interrobang”. Occasionally, I find myself, ending a sentence with ?! (like “He said what?!”). Well, the interrobang is what happens when you smush a question mark and an exclamation point together and create a whole new beast. I am a bit disappointed that my keyboard lacks it, but if you want to use one in a word document (which I don’t think I’d recommend for a school paper, by the way) select the font Wingdings 2, then hold shift and click 6. Presto! An interrobang! If anyone else is as amused as I am, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang. Also, Wiki’s article “Irony Punctuation” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark#Irony_mark) has some cool punctuation marks under “Irony Mark”; I’m partial to the doubt point and the love point.
Whether the bad news is really bad depends on your view of Twilight. I’ll keep this short and sweet: the series made Oak’s “Summer Reading [suggestion] List” for grade 10. ‘Nuff said.
Summer Summer Summer...It Turns Me UpSIdE dOwN!
Hello Langers!! I hope your summers are off to wonderful starts. As today is Wednesday, I thought it would be cute to post a little diddy in case anyone has a blog-jones besides me!! Also, our "bad seed" Jessie Bacha has respectfully requested permission for you all to take over the blog now which I hereby grant by the powers vested in me by the state of confusion!
It's yours now--Make it matter!
Stay safe and don't do anything that will inhibit my breathing! <3
It's yours now--Make it matter!
Stay safe and don't do anything that will inhibit my breathing! <3
Monday, June 7, 2010
Never Say Goodbye
WOW.
I wrote my post title first today (I don't normally do that--with anything. College papers, OP's or anything else that needs a title. I always feel like it pigeonholes my writing). This blog, though, is different than most things I write, and as such, it deserves its own moment of "newness." This is the last blog of the year--and the last blog you will ever do as an AP Langer. While most of you are now doing that fist-pump thing in the air that you do when you're thrilled about something, I am sort of trying to post through a watery screen of unshed tears at this prospect.
My first year, the end of the year was tough--a bunch of kids that were different than any I had known at Central, yet somehow I loved them even more--it was tough to let them go. The next year was my first year taking over AP Lang, and man, that was a tough one too. And now, this year, wow. It may be the toughest one yet. I feel as though we have been through one of the most arduous journeys together, and when I look back at the twists and turns of the road we traveled I am humbled and awed by the experience.
I will save most of my internal musings about this for my final OP (and just get on with your task for this, our final blog together as an AP Lang family.
This week, my pumpkins, I would like you to use your voice and leave your mark here, on this page. You walked into 204 10 months ago not knowing what to expect or what you should think. You will leave with--well, I guess that is the question of the hour. What will you leave with--what have you learned, what have you experienced? What was your favorite day, your favorite lesson, your finest moment that you can recall? Are you different now then you were then? Better? Worse? Indifferent? What did your junior year do for you? What are your hopes for your senior year? Is there anything you want to say to your friends? Yourself? You can say whatever you want--just, please don't end your post with saying "goodbye." Because, it's not really "Goodbye"--it's more like, "See you later."
I wrote my post title first today (I don't normally do that--with anything. College papers, OP's or anything else that needs a title. I always feel like it pigeonholes my writing). This blog, though, is different than most things I write, and as such, it deserves its own moment of "newness." This is the last blog of the year--and the last blog you will ever do as an AP Langer. While most of you are now doing that fist-pump thing in the air that you do when you're thrilled about something, I am sort of trying to post through a watery screen of unshed tears at this prospect.
My first year, the end of the year was tough--a bunch of kids that were different than any I had known at Central, yet somehow I loved them even more--it was tough to let them go. The next year was my first year taking over AP Lang, and man, that was a tough one too. And now, this year, wow. It may be the toughest one yet. I feel as though we have been through one of the most arduous journeys together, and when I look back at the twists and turns of the road we traveled I am humbled and awed by the experience.
I will save most of my internal musings about this for my final OP (and just get on with your task for this, our final blog together as an AP Lang family.
This week, my pumpkins, I would like you to use your voice and leave your mark here, on this page. You walked into 204 10 months ago not knowing what to expect or what you should think. You will leave with--well, I guess that is the question of the hour. What will you leave with--what have you learned, what have you experienced? What was your favorite day, your favorite lesson, your finest moment that you can recall? Are you different now then you were then? Better? Worse? Indifferent? What did your junior year do for you? What are your hopes for your senior year? Is there anything you want to say to your friends? Yourself? You can say whatever you want--just, please don't end your post with saying "goodbye." Because, it's not really "Goodbye"--it's more like, "See you later."
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Lyrical Philosophies
Although you may think I personalized this blog post for Kristen D, I can assure you that is not the case.
We've been out of blog practice for a few weeks; time to ease back in with something that will get us thinking about ourselves in ways we don't usually. So, onward and upward.
Many of you use music as a gateway. To sanity, to serenity, to solace and/or to solitude. Music, to many of you, is an escape from the harsh realities of teenage life.
So, now it is also going to be a tool in which you come to a greater understanding of how you see the world, and how you see yourself.
Think about all the music you love to listen to. Specifically, think about the lyrics to songs you love. Now, I want you to pick one or two songs that adequately encapsulate how you feel about life, your life. Of course, like a quote, nothing can COMPLETELY "sum up" your entire life--I understand that. But many songs, either through explicit or implied messages in lyrics, can at least provide a concrete example of either what you want out of life, what you want out love and how you want to be perceived, taken, understood etc. These are the key concepts I am looking for.
So, your task this week is to tell us about a song, copy a few of the refrains/chorus/passages, and explicate their meaning(s) to you.
Try to pick ones that have some depth and that will provide a deeper understanding of your innate beliefs. (450-500 words/70pts)
We've been out of blog practice for a few weeks; time to ease back in with something that will get us thinking about ourselves in ways we don't usually. So, onward and upward.
Many of you use music as a gateway. To sanity, to serenity, to solace and/or to solitude. Music, to many of you, is an escape from the harsh realities of teenage life.
So, now it is also going to be a tool in which you come to a greater understanding of how you see the world, and how you see yourself.
Think about all the music you love to listen to. Specifically, think about the lyrics to songs you love. Now, I want you to pick one or two songs that adequately encapsulate how you feel about life, your life. Of course, like a quote, nothing can COMPLETELY "sum up" your entire life--I understand that. But many songs, either through explicit or implied messages in lyrics, can at least provide a concrete example of either what you want out of life, what you want out love and how you want to be perceived, taken, understood etc. These are the key concepts I am looking for.
So, your task this week is to tell us about a song, copy a few of the refrains/chorus/passages, and explicate their meaning(s) to you.
Try to pick ones that have some depth and that will provide a deeper understanding of your innate beliefs. (450-500 words/70pts)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Bunje English Begins
Ahhh..I don't know about you but I feel good. Here it is, Sunday night and I am not pacing the floor of my house trying to figure out new and inventive ways to teach the you all the fine points of writing and recognizing a periodic sentence laced with metonymy with a clear antecedent in the active voice. Woo Hooooo!!!
So, onward and upward. First the book is here! It is labeled quite unclearly so that I may escape the notice by the long arm of the law, who will, I'm sure, note that I have violated about 12 million (HYPERBOLE!!) copyright laws by having it here on the blog. Look to the left of your screen, and on the nav bar you will see a new folder that I am sure you can all recognize. For those of you not able to procure a copy of said book, you may use the download/upload and it will do just as well. Perhaps even better. :)
As stated, I plan to run the remainder of year similar to that of a look club filled with intellectual discussions about the book and about the many issues and ideas that the book may bring to the fore for some of you.
I would like very much for you to have read the first 2 chapters of the book for tomorrow's class. You can, of course, read at your own pace, and I suspect that many of you are going to feel the same way I do about this book, and because of that you will undoubtedly read ahead. Please feel free to do so.
For tomorrow's discussion, I would like to focus on the last 2 lines of Chapter I: "People and their rituals. They cling so hard to things sometimes."
Thoughts?
So, onward and upward. First the book is here! It is labeled quite unclearly so that I may escape the notice by the long arm of the law, who will, I'm sure, note that I have violated about 12 million (HYPERBOLE!!) copyright laws by having it here on the blog. Look to the left of your screen, and on the nav bar you will see a new folder that I am sure you can all recognize. For those of you not able to procure a copy of said book, you may use the download/upload and it will do just as well. Perhaps even better. :)
As stated, I plan to run the remainder of year similar to that of a look club filled with intellectual discussions about the book and about the many issues and ideas that the book may bring to the fore for some of you.
I would like very much for you to have read the first 2 chapters of the book for tomorrow's class. You can, of course, read at your own pace, and I suspect that many of you are going to feel the same way I do about this book, and because of that you will undoubtedly read ahead. Please feel free to do so.
For tomorrow's discussion, I would like to focus on the last 2 lines of Chapter I: "People and their rituals. They cling so hard to things sometimes."
Thoughts?
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