CT Mayhem `07 - `08

Six Months and Counting

This fall me and 300 other students will be attending high school.  We’ll be the new kids on campus, the freshmen, the fresh meat.  I’m not too worried about it because I have an older sister that will be a senior.  She’ll be able to help me out until I get a good grasp on things.  I think I’ll be able to handle the work loads and keep my grades up.  I hope that when I get up there, I’ll meet new people and learn new things.  Although I don’t think there will be tons of new students because most of us went through middle school together and already know each other pretty well.

I want to make sure I keep my grades up, so I know I will be working a lot harder and testing my limits.  I’m taking all honors classes except for Geometry, which is Academic for me.  I have 7.5 credits on my course selection sheet, and that’s 1 credit over the recommended amount.  I guess I’ve always been a little bit of an over achiever, but I have good time-management skills.

 The thought of high school doesn’t scare me.  I’ve been through things with my sister that some students haven’t, so I’m comfortable with the thought.  I’ll be going to school with people four years older than me, but I know a lot of them through my sister.  I know there will be the not-so-great-to-hang-out-with kids, but I wouldn’t interact with them.  I wouldn’t get involved with people I shouldn’t.

 The thought of high school actually excites me a little.  I know it’s only February, and I’ve got at least six months before I even start school.  Then again, there are more classes, block scheduling, new teachers, and more classrooms.  You won’t be limited to just one team, or a certain group.  Each class has different people that you are unfamiliar with.  The only thing I’m afriad of is not being with people I know.  But I don’t have the biggest concern for that.

Presidential Election v. 2008

What is the difference between a Democrat and Republican?  When you register to vote at age eighteen, what party will you register for and why?

In my opinion, people have different views, opinions, and interpretations of what the Democrats and Republicans stand for.  The differences to me are that the Republicans tend to spend money on government issues such as the war while the Democrats spend money on the welfare and benefits of the people and economy.  Either way, both groups spend a lot of money.  To me, the Democrats give away money and the Republicans work for it.  I believe that I want to be a Republican when I am eligable to vote.  I will not let my parents, my family, or anyone else influence me.  I’ll register to be a Republican.

This is a quote I found:

Democrats are kind, benevolent people who are genuinely concerned about the welfare of ALL Americans. Republicans only think about themselves and how they can make slaves out of the people they do not like—Democrats and the poor.

I think this is a very poor outlook on politics.  I think you shouldn’t be tearing down the opposing party, but just simply stating constructive differences.  Sure, Democrats can be kind but so can Republicans.  I’m sure a few Democrats can get nasty sometimes.  Republicans do not make slaves out of people.  They do not only think about themselves.  If they did, they wouldn’t be helping out with the war and funding national safety.  They wouldn’t be working for allies in other countries.

Dare To Be Different

I think this video delivered an important messege to me.  What I got out of it was that no matter what you have to say, no matter what people think about it, you should say it because it could mean something to the world.  People shouldn’t judge ideas when they might change the world one day.  Someone had to think of the idea to put music in a hand-held device.  Someone had to think of the idea to communicate with people all over the world with a small piece of technology that can fit in your pocket.  Sure, the whole world might think of you as insane, but who cares?!  You’re creativity and imagination is going to make the world better. Dare to be different and step outside the box.  You can take yourself anywhere.  You don’t need to follow the crowd.  Change the future.

I’m So Lucky That I’ve Found You

Outside of parents, who has influenced your life more than anyone else; who had an impact on your life and what was it about that person that meant something to you?

The person that has influence my life the most is my best friend.  I think in a way, we shape each other.  Our lives reflect off each other and make us who we are.  Her attitude makes my attitude what it is, and my attitude makes her attitude what it is.  It’s confusing at first but take the time to think about it and you’ll understand.  It’s like osmosis, once you spend enough time with someone you become like them and equal each other out.  Your best friend listens to what you don’t say.  They help me through hard times and teach each other life lessons no one else can.  They don’t play by the rules and never let you down.

Little Wonders

I wonder.. what do people really think after you do or say something?

People can lie straight to your face.  To some people, it comes naturally.  Have you ever wondered if after you do something, what your best friend or worst enemy is thinking about it.  They could say “good for you!” or “wow, bad decision!” But either way, you’ll never know if they’re telling the truth or not.  Their minds could be in a completely different place.  If you stand up for someone your best friend would probably congratulate you and tell you how awesome that was.  Your worst enemy would probably scoff and think themselves better of it.  But really, your worst enemy is probably mad they didn’t do it themselves because they know it wasn’t the right thing to just sit around and watch someone get picked on.  If you cheated on a test your best friend would probably just nod their head and say “Well, I’m glad you didn’t get caught.”  But really, if yuor best friend had morals they would know it was wrong.  Your worst enemy would probably just rat you at the second they found out about it.

I commented here and here.

The War That Will Never End

The United States is currently in the middle of a generational war that could be equivalent to the Cold War.  This is the kind of struggle that could take many years to put to an end.  Allies are currently fighting in the middle east to stop terrorism across the globe.  Many people are against this war and many people are for it.  Unfortunately, there is a tendency to underestimate the threat that terrorists pose on different nations.

Almost a year ago, anti-war citizens of the United States helped put congressional Democrats into power but they are still unable to bring any troops home.

Personally, I think this war is some completely unnecessary.  If I had the power, I would stop it all and just make the world leaders come to their senses.  Sure, people disagree over things.  The only reason Iraqi’s dislike us so much is because we allied with their enemies.  It’s silly, that’s like you becoming best friends with your best friends enemy.  You can still be friends with the both of them, you would just have to make some adjustments.  Unfortunately, it’s clear to us that the war doesn’t seem likely to end any time soon.   All we can do is pray for the safe return of the brave men and women across the Atlantic Ocean.

Think about it: Is there any solid way to exterminate terrorism? You would have to change the way people think.  People have hateful comments to say about almost anything, and there is nothing you can do about it.  Sadly, some of those hateful comments are towards a country, a leader, or a type of person.  Some of those hateful comments can lead to irrational things.  Is there any true way to get rid of terrorism for good?  If there isn’t, wouldn’t that mean this war we’re fighting will go on forever?

What are your opinions on the war that is currently active in Iraq?

If you had the power, what would you do to change things?

Visit: Let’s Say Thanks.  Send a card to thank the people fighting for our country.  Or you can send an e-card!

 COMMENTS COMMENTS COMMENTS!

Today In History

Today in history, Melanie Roche was born.

Melanie is an Australian softball pitcher.  She was born on November 9, 1970.  Today, she is 37 years old.  She won the bronze medal in the summer Olympics of 1996 and 2000.  In 2004, she won the silver medal.  As a pitcher, Melanie never hit.  She was the number one pitcher for the national team, therefore that was the only thing her coaches let her do.  She started playing on the Olympic team when she was 17 years old.  She was born in Bankstown, Sydney.  Her goal is to get the gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Bejing, 2008.

All About Fastpitch

I came across this blog while googling for the assignment.  It’s called All About Fastpitch.  I googled “blog + softball” and it was the first on the list.  I decided to read this blog because I play fastpitch softball and found the site very informative.  I really didn’t bother looking for any other blogs after I saw this one.  It seemed good enough for me.

I watched two videos from this blog.  One of which, I commented on.  One video had an unbelievable play in which a high school girl hit what was supposed to be a homerun.  I was heading over the fence when the left fielder dove over the fence, knocked it down, and caught the ball.  Unfortunately, once the ball passes the boundry line, it’s a homerun.  The girl didn’t get the out but she was still able to have the satisfaction of making the play of the year.  The hitter still recieved the glory of her homerun but I think the left fielder should have gotten the out.  It was an amazing play.  Here’s what I commented on that play:

“Wow that was an amazing catch. I’ve never seen anything that intense. Something as amazing as that should be counted as an out, but it was also a great hit for the other team as well. I play fastpitch softball as well but I’m young and maybe one day I’ll see something that cool.  –CTMayhem09″

I also left a link to my blog.  Here is a quote from that post:

“These two teams have always played each other tough and Kailua is one of the well known “powerhouse” teams in the state year in and year out.”

Global Warming Podcast

I spent a little while searching iTunes for podcasts I might be interested in listening to and I decided I wanted to listen to something that had to do with the environment.  I searched the program for podcasts that would fall under that category and considered listening to the following:

• Today’s Environment Show
• One Environment
• The Green Alternative
• Environment Report
• Environment Yale

I chose to listen to Environment Yale’s “Global Warming and Species Distribution.”  Professor Schmitz talks about how global warming affects the predator-prey relationships between different species.

I learned that animals are flexible creatures and they can adapt to their surroundings but the plant species can’t.  The temperature and amount of soil are affected, making the plants migrate to more appropriate places.  People are worried that these plants won’t be able to adapt quickly enough for the animals that feed on them.  The beneficiaries from these plants may go extinct along with the plants themselves.  Its impossible to tell if an entire species can become extinct but predictions about how species adjust to global warming have been made.

•  Bats will do fine because they can fly and the warmer climate will enable them to live more spread out throughout the United States.
• Mice species will not do great because they cannot migrate as easily.
• Larger mammals, hoofed mammals such as deer and antelope species will be able to migrate.

If animals lose they’re cultural role, agriculture may be negatively effected.  For example, spiders and grasshoppers develop at the same rate and around the same time so spiders can keep up with the grasshoppers as they’re prey but with climate change happening, the development rate might go out of sync.  If plants died in a highly populated moose area, all of the moose would die and so would the wolves preying on the moose.  You can come up with cost-effective ways to manage a forest that are not harmful to the economy.

I e-mailed Professor Schmitz, commenting on how much I loved his podcast.

“As a class assignment, we were all to choose a podcast that would teach us something and write a blog post about what we heard.  I decided to listen to your “Global Warming and Species Distribution” podcast from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.  I have always been interested in the environment and that’s what drew me in to listen to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed your podcast.  It was very informative and I had never realized the impact global warming had on so many species.  It was good to hear that some people actually do care.  After listening to your podcast, I learned so many new things that I can now share with my classmates.”

  My iTunes didn’t want to play it for me so I had to go to Yale’s website to listen to the podcast.

Click on the picture to go to the Podcast Page.  If the picture link does not work, click here.

Scariest Night Ever

Okay, well Saturday night was possibly one of the scariest nights ever for me.  Most of you will think its hilarious, but I never will, trust me.

It was my grandma’s birthday and so we threw her a party at my house.  When it got dark, my best friend and I went out back to start a fire for everyone to sit around.  We must have spent a good two hours trying to get a decent fire started and at this point we were playing around burning cardboard.  I was laying on my stomach on the grass while my friend lit up some more cardboard.  I decided it was time to call in for some back-up and find someone that could tell us what to do.  I started to flip through my address book on my phone when I noticed a massive, black, hairy spider slowly crawling up my arm.  That second, I screamed bloody murder, tore of my jacket and started freaking out (i.e. jumping up and down while screaming and waving my arms).  My friend couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me so she started screaming, too.  By the time we ran up onto the deck I was in tears and once we were in the kitchen I was hyperventilating.  My mom spent a good fifteen minutes trying to calm me down so I could explain to her what happened.  She thought it was hilariou but made my dad go and retrieve my jacket and phone which I had left outside.  I made him look over the coat a million times and put it through the wash before I would touch it again.  Yes, I have a gigantic fear of spiders or any creepy-crawlies.  But no lie, this spider was obnoxiously huge.

Blogging Style: Life Blogging