What I Want to Get Out of High School

                 When people ask me what grade I am in I reply and tell them that I am in 8^th grade. They ask me about the school I go to and about what high school I am going to go to. I tell them all about Eastmont Middle School and Jordan High School. Most of the time people ask me what I want to get out of high school well, my answer is simple.

                First, I want to get good grades to get a scholarship to Byu University which is a very hard college to get into without a scholarship. The chance to go to high school and learn all different subjects would be fantastic! In high school you can even take classes that will help you decide what major to take in college. There are some very educational subjects in high school. Jordan High School isn’t the only school that offers some extra classes. There are a bunch of different schools that have great classes.

                Second, I would want to have the social experience in high school that you can’t have in middle school. In high school you can meet a ton of new people every day. By going to high school you can work at places like McDonalds, Wendys, and Burger King! Doesn’t that just sound so delightful! You can be a clown, commercial writer, comedian, rollerskater, biker, summersaulter, gymnast, dancer, and singer! You can do all of these things by going to high school. You can also do them by not going to high school. Whatever you choose make sure that you can make a living out of it. You always want to be able to receive an education for the job that you choose so you will do better in it.

                High school is a great place to learn and grow, not only physically but also mentally. Without an education you won’t be able to do anything with your life. You will have to live on the street in a box and make your food with the only pan that you have. You will have to go on the corners and beg for food because you didn’t receive an education when you could have. People will only give you food/money because they feel bad that you didn’t receive an education like they did. You will sit all alone in the ally crying wishing that you could go back in time and take school more seriously! You will wish you could be the people who have great jobs like doctors, nurses, financial planner, or psychologist! They will earn more money in a day than you will in a year!

                Unless you want to be living on the streets with the hobos I suggest that you go and get an education. Going to high school is a great way to do this! An education is what I want to get out of going to high school! So then I will get a good job and live happily ever after!

Jack the Candlestick Hopper

Jack, be nimble,
Jack, be quick,
Jack, jump over
The candlestick.

Jack jumped high
Jack jumped low
Jack jumped over
and burned his toe.

                Jack was a former elf that worked for Santa Clause. One day Jack was working on a toy and he messed it up so bad that it looked like the checkered spaces on the checker board were circles. Some of the elves thought it was cool the way Jack changed the game, but Santa didn’t. He kicked Jack out of his workshop because when it comes to the toys, Santa doesn’t joke around.

                Now, you see Jack had a family. He had a wife and three little baby elves that he had to support. He decided to go to the park to relive some stress. As he was sitting on the bench watching the children play on the equipment, he heard their parents talking about the new Elf Games that were going to be starting soon. He asked them if they knew what the person got if they won. They said that the champion would receive 1,000,000 dollars! Now, you can imagine what was going through his head when he heard this news. I mean this elf he had gotten laid off from Santa! What else was he going to do?

                Jack told his wife everything that happened and she agreed with him to go to the Elf Games and compete. After all if he didn’t win he could just find another job. Later that evening he went to the building to sign up for the games.

                The next day Jack was training for the games. He saw and giant candlestick. He asked the trainers what he was supposed to do with it. They said Jack, be nimble, Jack, be quick, Jack you have to jump over this candlestick. He practiced and practiced very hard. He thought he was ready for the games!

                The day of the games people came from all over the world. Not just elves but fairies, princesses, princes, queens, kings, the three blind mice, (I’m not sure why they came they couldn’t see it anyways) some pigs and a wolf. The contestants lined up. They were all excited for the games they all thought they could win it! First was the elf jimmy. He went and jumped over that candlestick perfectly. Up next was Billy, he also did it flawlessly! As Jack was watching this he thought that there was no chance that he could win. He was up next. He ran as fast as he could. Jack jumped high then Jack jumped low. Jack jumped over and burned his toe! He didn’t win the Elf Games.

                After his horrible loss Jack went home to only tell his family the bad news. They would have been able to see it but they had no more money. Jack went job hunting and he found a job down in the United States to wash the humans’ shoes. Now, Jack wasn’t Jack the candlestick hopper, instead he was Jack the shoe shiner.

Nuclear Disaster

                Can you imagine walking through a kindergarten playground and seeing white dust covering toys, children books, and other things that you would find at a place where children play? I sure can’t, but the people who are walking through the ghost town in Pripyat saw these things. The sight was so bad that the guide had to say, “Careful do not touch anything with your bare hands!” What kind of place would be in such bad conditions that you can’t touch anything with your bare hands?

                This town is now a ghost town because there was a nuclear bomb that went off there and made the place a disaster. Nobody has lived there since 1986. Nobody has bothered to try and make this place a town that you can live in again. There are so many destroyed little stores that you can’t buy anything from even if you lived in it. This town has no citizens in it anymore. The fact that nobody is trying to clean it up is just sad, because of that nobody would try to live in it.

                All in all I think that this town is a good tourist town. I would enjoy going to see this sight. Even though nobody bothered to clean it up, most likely because of the cost, it would be a very cool place to see it.

Tale of Atom Bomb

                In the book, The Last Train from Hiroshima published by Henry Hold claims to reveal a secret accident with the atom bomb that killed one American and irradiated others and greatly reduced the weapon’s destructive power. The article by William J. Broad goes on to say, “There is just one problem that section of the book and other technical details of the mission are based on the recollections of Joseph Fuoco, who is described as a last-minute substitute on one of the two observation planes that escorted the Enola Gay.

                Some people who have read this book say that Joseph Fuoco was just an imposter. Others say that he just wasn’t on the plane. After James R. Corliss told the story about how Joseph Fuoco was on the plane with him, people started to believe that he was not an imposter.

                After Joseph Fuoco died in 2008 claiming that he had never been on the plane with Mr. Corliss people started to lean towards believing Fuoco’s story.

                Now many years later, we are still confused as to which story to believe. We are all confused and we don’t know if Fuoco was telling the truth when he said that he was never on the plane with Corliss. If he says that he wasn’t on the plane then, I believe that he is telling the truth.

2,000 Descendants

                Can you imagine having more than a dozen kids? How about more than 200 grandchildren? What about so many great- and great-great-grandchildren that your family couldn’t even count them all. They had to guess that you probably had 2,000 living descendants. Yitta Schwartz had all of that and more. She was able to live during World War 2. Although some of her children were not so lucky and died in the concentration camps. I know that you are probably thinking, “Man, this woman is insane!” Well you can only believe that somebody who had so many descendants would have to be insane, but she wasn’t insane she was just trying to do what she was supposed to.

                She died last month at age 93. Her husband died 34 years before her and she never put her problems on anybody else. She did not like it when people took photographs of her. Her family was reluctant to provide more than one photo to the people who wrote this article. The people of her family say that she was a great example to them and she would always live in their hearts. Her family said that she used to say “Just keep me in your heart. If you leave a grandchild, you live forever.” Those are very inspiring words just think about them.

Uzbek Photos

                Umida Akhmedova is a photographer and documentary filmmaker. She was found guilty of slandering and insulting the Uzbek people for taking a picture of a boy lying down in an unfinished house. To me that is overreacting a little bit. I mean sure she was taking a picture that could send a wrong message about their country, but she was just being creative and spontaneous.

                “I can’t say my anxiety has subsided, I can’t say I’m suddenly O.K.,” she said. “There was a fear of going to prison. But to tell you the truth, I feel insulted, that’s the main thing. I still don’t understand how my creative work could have brought me to this courtroom.” She does not even know how she got to be in this situation. She doesn’t know what she did wrong. Punishing somebody for something they didn’t intend to do is just sick and wrong.

                Regardless, the photo that Akhmedova took was one that she thought was inspirational, turned out to be something that offended her country. Art should be something that you can have control in. Art is something that shows your interests and creativity. I don’t think that she should be sent to prison for being creative.

Loo's Journey

Alexa Loo started snowboarding at age 15. When she was 21 years old she started racing. She also worked as an accountant but the mountains were the most important dream of hers. She decided that she was never going to give up. In 2002 she missed qualifying for the Winter Olympics by 11-hundredths of a second. She was the first Canadian woman to complete in parallel giant slalom. She got so close to winning until she fell with only four gates remaining. She ended with 20^th.

            It all went downhill from there. She tore a knee ligament in 2007 and it made her change the way she raced. In 2008 she lost her financing. She would have to finish in the top 16 to qualify for her 18,000 dollar stipend from Sport Canada.

            Loo decided that she needed to tell her story better. When she tried doing that she got more and more famous. Now she tells her story along with the Kin brothers who were in a situation similar to hers. Loo goes around to schools and teaches them about determination and how you can do anything if you don’t give up. Even though Loo didn’t get to do her dream before she tore her knee ligament, she still goes snowboarding for fun and enjoys talking to kids and encouraging them.

The Libya War

The fact that the U.S is entering another war is just insane. We just got out of a war and now we have to deal with this guy Saddam Hussein. Is he a new Hitler? Lately that is the question I have been asking myself. 

If I came up to you and said, “If you don’t follow everything I do and say then I will kill you!” what would you do? Would you go against me? I sure would. This guy Saddam Hussein is not very intelligent for saying that. He should have known that everybody would go against him sooner or later. The fact that he didn’t know that is scary. He will now have to go into a war with all of the other countries just so that he will get shot down by them as well.

In these days nobody wants to hear bad news. Especially families that have family members in the army. Why would we put more soldiers out in the war when we know that it is a stupid war to start with? 

My honest opinion about this war is that, we should not have to fight. I know we have a great army force but we are just getting out of the Iraq fight and going into a new one! How long is this one going to last? Could it be World War lll? No, I honestly doubt it. This war that we are fighting in is honestly one of the most mindless thing we have done. 

I honestly don’t know what President Obama was thinking when he had us sign up for helping out in this war! It’s not like we are the “clean up duty”. I am not saying that Libya doesn’t need help, because it does. I am saying that we shouldn’t have to always be the police in this world! 

What our world needs is to be able to get along in harmony. We need to have peace in our world. Earth should not be a place of violence. It should be a place for us to learn and grow. If you want to be in the army that’s great for you, go and learn how to do that! I’m not saying that all wars are bad! Without wars I probably wouldn’t be here today. Utah had to fight to become a state. The United States had to fight to become a country! We all have to fight to get what we want, but sometimes a compromise is the best solution. Actually, most of the time it is. We need to learn how to be able to turn the lemons that life gives us and make it into lemonade for everybody. We need to discover how to be able to get along with our neighbor countries.

Saddam Hussein was just trying to get control of his country. He decided to go all out and be so violent to those who needed a good leader. I think we should take advantage of our free world and show Libya that there is a way to compromise. There is always a way that you can get out of a fight. We don’t just need to stop the violence. We HAVE to stop the violence! There can be less intense fights. No, verbal fights aren’t the answer all of the time. We can make it so there are no more wars for foolish subjects. 

We have the chance now to make things right with the world. That is exactly what we should do. We need to be able to show everybody that there is a way to make it all work out! The people of Libya can have independence without having to fight! I think that is what President Obama was thinking when he signed us up for this war. I would have also. I know that in the beginning I said that war was not a good thing, but we need war in order to have peace. We need war to be able to be free. That is my honest opinion about the Libya War.

Japan

On March 11, 2011 an 8.9 earthquake hit the surface of Tohoku, Japan. The earthquake caused an extremely harmful tsunami with waves up to 97 ft. tall. They tsunami hit Japan just minutes after the earthquake. The tsunami waves went as far into land as 6 miles. The Japanese police agency has announced that there were 11,532 deaths, 2,873 people injured, and 16,441 people still missing. 

“In the 65 years after the end of World War ll, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan,” said the Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The earthquake moved portions of northeast Japan by as much as 7.9 ft. closer to North America. According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the earthquake shifted the Earth's axis by 9.8 in. The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 470 square kilometers in Japan.

Some reports say that as many as 100,000 children have been uprooted from their homes, some of whom were separated from their families because the earthquake occurred during the school day. The earthquake caused a large number of displaced people. The number of the evacuees has once passed 300,000.

Some earthquake survivors died in the shelters or in the process of evacuation. Many shelters struggle to feed evacuees and are not medically sufficiently equipped. Fuel shortages hampered relief actions. In the first week after the earthquake, supplies of food, water, and medicine had been held up because of a fuel shortage and the weather condition. Food was limited for some unevacuated people, and as of late March, some were given one meal a day. There is a need for temporary housing, as the Japanese government are trying to remove evacuees from large shelters, where there have been reports of poor sanitary conditions. As of late March, 8 800 temporary units were planned in Iwate, 10 000 in Miyagi, and 19 000 in Fukushima.

Some analysts are predicting that the total recovery costs could reach $122 billion. The northern Tōhoku region, which was most affected, accounts for about 8% of the country's gross domestic product, with factories that manufacture products such as cars and beer, as well as energy infrastructure. It includes the northern Miyagi prefecture, where Sendai is located, about 300 km 180 miles northeast of Tokyo. The Miyagi area includes manufacturing and industrial zones with chemical and electronics plants. It is estimated that Miyagi accounts for 1.7% of Japan's gross domestic product.

An 8.9 magnitude is very big, and the U.S. Geological Survey stated that this was the fifth biggest earthquake in the world, and the biggest from the history of Japan. The earthquake caused a tsunami, and the reason for that was the fact that the seafloor from the fault was forced to move vertically all of a sudden because of the subduction. Japan is situated near the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the most active earthquake belt in the world. This is the reason why the country and the region are often hit by earthquakes and by tsunamis. 

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan was a horrible tragedy. Many people were killed in the earthquake and tsunami. It was a horrible thing but it was out of our hand to stop it from happening. Nature comes in an interesting way. If there was a way we could stop this horrible tragedy from happening, we would have. Nature does what nature wants to. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we deal with what does happen to us. I think the U.S should help Japan in any way possible. 

Photojournalism Part 2

Are Ducks the New Chicken?

Overall feeling: After looking at this I am craving a cupcake and some milk.

The artist (me) made me feel this way because I see the duck cupcakes and think about how i would just love to eat whats on the inside! The blue m&ms underneath the cupcakes (meant to look like water) make me want to eat it more! 

Everybody has heard the saying, “Mmmm tastes like chicken!” In this picture, I wonder if ducks are the new chicken. I say no. These ducks are actually cupcakes! They do not taste like chicken, that would be absolutely disgusting. The ducks on the outside look just like normal ducks. However if you look closely at the ducks in the middle you can see that they are diving in the water.

Baby and Mommy Seals 

Overall feeling: This picture makes me feel happy.

The photographer made me feel this way because no matter what you are your mother wants to help you. This mother is teaching her baby seal how to swim. This baby seal was born this week. I know this because I took this picture in San Diego, California at the Childrens Beach. The seals took over the beach, there were about 75 seals on the beach.

I want the people who look at this picture to know that it is true that your mother will help you no matter who you are or what you are. I think this picture will make the people who look at it realize the love a mother has for her children. I love this picture because the mother is leading the baby seal into the water to help it learn how to swim.

Summer 2011 

Overall feeling: When I look at this picture I feel excited.

The artist and photographer made me feel this way because you can see the faint water ripples under the sun, the palm tree, the sun, the flip flops, the sunglasses, and the flower. All of those things make me think of summer! Just looking at this picture makes me so excited for the summer! 

I am the artist and the photographer in this picture, and what I think people will think of when the see this is summer. Without the Summer 2011 in the middle of the picture I think they would have still thought of summer because of all the other summer items in the picture. I think about going to the beach, and having my toes in the water and my toes in the sand. Summer makes people think of lots of different things. 

Photojournalism

This is Atom Bomb Test Bikini, Atoll

Overall feeling: The bomb puts me in a more sad mood and when I look at this picture it reminds me of Pearl Harbor.

I think that the artist wanted to make the dust from the impact look kind of like the clouds. It makes it blend in more with the picture. I think the artist wanted to show the wind blowing because the wind is making the palm trees blow sideways. You can also see the ships in the background. 

I think the artist wanted to show a story about Pearl Harbor. When I saw this picture the first thing I thought of was Pearl Harbor. I remembered when I first heard the story of how the Japanese bombed us right where it would hurt us the most, Pearl Harbor. This is exactly how I pictured it would look.

Dock and Palm Trees, Tahiti

Overall feeling: When I look at this I feel completely relaxed.

The artist made me feel relaxed by putting in palm trees. There is something about a beach, especially a beach in Tahiti, that makes you relaxed. The people in the picture look relaxed so it made me relaxed.

A story that this picture would tell me is, two couples, on their honeymoon, went to Tahiti to enjoy a carefree trip. They do all kinds of relaxing things. They go snorkeling, canoeing, and the lay on the beach. This would be a honeymoon I would like to go on.

Lake of Zug, Switzerland

Overall feeling: When I look at this I’m nervous yet excited.

The artist makes me feel this way because when I look at the picture I picture the dock as the road of life. In some places its very snowing and some places not so much. You have to stay on the road and not slip off from the snow and land in the water. 

The story I get from this is my life. For example you can walk and get stuck in the snow and slip up a little, but you have to stay on the dock. At some point life does end, and the way I look at it is that there are two places you can go when you die and that’s why it splits at the end. You can go to Heck or you can go to Heaven. My point is that every road has an end to it and you need to not slip up so you can go the right way and not get stuck.

Patten Pond, Maine

Overall feeling: When I look at this I feel happy.

The artist made me remember when I was about 6 or  7, when I had no cares in the world. I would do what I wanted and not get in trouble because I didn’t know any better. The reason I feel happy when I look at this is because I remember the good old days. 

A story this picture would tell is, when I was little my cousins or friends and I would get into my hot tub and we would stick our heads in the water and do that exact same thing. We would splash the house, the grass, and occasionally the dog. She didn’t enjoy it very much when we splashed her but we didn’t care.

Clouds Near Mt. Everest

Overall feeling: When I look at this picture I feel scared.

The artist made me feel scared by only using dark colors and white. Mt. Everest looks very pointy and sharp, and the clouds by it are not just white but they are dark too.

When I look at this picture I can just imagine a climber climbing Mt. Everest right at this moment. He keeps telling himself to not look down. He doesn’t look down he just keeps looking forward. Then he looked up, he noticed a dark cloud and sharp pointy objects. He realized that if he was going to make it to the top he couldn’t look up or down anymore, because the thought of falling and the thought of something falling on him scared him too much.

Bering Sea Sunset

Overall feeling: When I look at this picture I feel excited

When the sun goes down something in me just pops out and tells me that the day isn’t over and you still have a few more minutes of sunlight to do things! The wave coming over the rock like that, looks like a firework had just exploded! Everything in the picture just makes me want to get outside and do something while I still can!

When I look at this picture, I picture a little girl running out of her house, on the beach, and jumping into the waves and just playing in the water. She didn’t have her swimming suit on because she wouldn’t have time to change into it before the sun went down. She just played int the warm ocean water until the last stream of light fade away.

Perry Moore

Biography on Perry Moore

By Alyssa Willardson

Full name: William Perry Moore IV

Occupation: Film producer and Novelist

Date of Birth: November 4, 1971

Place of Birth: Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

Date of Death: February 17, 2011 (age 39)

Place of Birth: Manhatan, New York City, New York, U.S

Genres: Fantasy and Children’s literature

Notable: Hero

Early Life

Perry Moore was born on November 4, 1971, in Richmond, Virginia, to William and Nancy Norris Moore. He had two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth. While still in college he interned at the Virginia Film Festival. He also served as an intern at the White House.

Interesting Facts

Perry Moore was an executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was openly gay and lived in New York City with his life partner Hunter Hill (a writer for Paper magazine). He was Christian and spoke publicly about his faith.

Death

Moore’s death was caused by drug overdose. He had suffered knee and back problems before his death, which required pain medication and corrective surgery, but which he had put off to continue working. Moore died on February 17, 2011, at the age of 39. The New York Times and Variety reported that the cause of death was yet to be officially announced, and that a medical examiner’s report was pending. 

Las Vegas, Good or Bad?

    Many people don’t like Las Vegas. They don’t like it because of the night clubs or the casinos. In my opinion I like Las Vegas, just not the scary bad places. There’s always going to be some evil in something good. That’s why I believe that Las Vegas is not an evil place but, a good place that is overrated.
    It’s very annoying when you get handed the cards that tell you about a new strip club or something. Anyone who has been to Vegas has gotten one. You can always see past the faults of a place before giving it a final judge.
     Las Vegas has some bad places but there are also some very cool places to go. For example, there are always cool plays/musicals that go to Las Vegas. When you go there expecting all this bad stuff that you hear about and you leave after enjoying yourself I think that’s a good thing.
    When you hear people saying that they are going to Vegas do you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing? If you think it’s a bad thing then, maybe you should look over your reasons. You always have your opinion on things and thats good. If you say it’s a good thing do you say it because you agree with the reasons above?
    Yes, Las Vegas has a bad reputation but a lot of places do. If you only get one thing out of this post it should  be this; don’t judge anything by what you hear. Always take a look at it yourself.

Is Blogging Journalism?

     I agree with Gina Masullo Chen, who wrote a blog responce to the question, Is Blogging Journalism. I do agree with her because she gave very good reasons to why blogging isn't journalism and I couldn't disagree with the reasons that she wrote. Chen wrote that blogging isn't the threat to journalism-fear of change is.
     Blogging isn’t journalism because, a lot of people use blogs as sources for what they are writing about as journalists. When you look at a blog do you picture what you’re reading to be in the newspaper the next morning? People write about their families in their blogs. You don't normally read about family stories in the newspaper.
     Blogging is writing on a computer, and journalism is writing in the newspaper or doing reports on the news. Blogging is totally different from journalism. Blogging is not journalism and that will never change.

What Really Matters

    Lets face it, we all get nervous sometimes. I got really nervous on January 29th. I was getting ready to go to a dance with my friends it was our first dance and we were all really excited. The theme of the dance was to dress up as a nerd. I think that I ended up trying over 15 different ways to do my hair. I ended up just putting it in a side ponytail. I popped the lenses out of my 3D glasses and put those on. When it came to what I should wear I was stuck. I had no idea what to wear to a nerd dance! I called my friends who were going with me and we all decided to wear black shirts with some jeans because you still want to look cute even though you are supposed to be dressing up as a nerd.
    On the way there my friends and I were just giggling! We were so nervous and I think we were all hoping that somebody would ask us to dance. I mean after all we are still girls. When we arrived at the dance, we went into the gym and noticed that not a lot of people were there. It was a few minutes past 8 and we were the losers who showed up on time. We decided to go into the bathroom and just wait for a while. We just sat on the counters and talked about how excited we were and how we hoped the more boys would show up.
    A few minutes after we went back in a high schooler asked my friend (who is is 8th grade) to dance. While they were dancing my other friend and I went over to get a drink and eat some of the refreshments. When the song was almost over we decided to go back to where we were before so our friend could find us. During the rest of the night we all danced with some boys and we all had a wonderful night.
    It was almost time to go and the last slow song was on. I looked over at a boy who I had kind of been watching. He hadn’t danced with anyone that whole night so, I went over there and asked him to dance. After we had been dancing for a while I noticed that this boy had special needs. I didn’t know that he had special needs just by looking at him. As soon as it was 11 he looked right at his watch and told me that he had to go and call his parents so he went and called his parents and I just walked over to my little group of friends. I felt a tap on my shoulder I turned around and there was a lady that I didn’t know. She told me that she knew that boy that I danced with and she thanked me for dancing with him. She told me that he was really excited to come and the whole night he hadn’t danced with anyone. After she walked away the boy came up to me and made me promise that I would be at the next dance.
     It was this night that I realized something very important. Sometimes it isn’t just me and what I want and need that is important. It is about what others need and want. When I found out that this boy had been waiting all night to dance and that I had made his night by dancing with him, well, I think that made me feel better than if I had danced with the cutest boy there. I felt great as I left that dance! You can bet that I will look for him at the next dance and make sure that I dance with him!