Sunday, January 26, 2014

Egg-Tastic

Going out to eat is always a good time, however it isn't all about the food as it is connecting with old friends, or even making new friends.  You see everyone is a friend until you meet them. When you meet them that is when they can turn into an enemy.  Anyone that is rude I try to distant myself, and this includes sitting on the complete opposite side of the table.(however this has never been the case)  Sure, we hang out, but you ask if we are friends and I will say no.  There aren't many people I hate, but really I try to talk to them even if they hate me, because if you see that the other person is holding nothing against you it is easier to be friends again.

Today my dad took me out to eat with his friends, because I don't have any.  The fun thing about brunch is that there is no need for lunch, just a little snack midday a few hours before dinner.  I met a lot of people and if they make me laugh oh, 100 points to Grifindor, well in this case to who ever cracked the joke.

<3 :) Drali

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Maybe Even Dangerous...

Sometime you are faced with a risky situation.  Something that could get you in trouble, however you do it anyways.  It might even be dangerous, but you still go through with it.  I still go through with it.  We all do.

The more stupid and reckless behavior is carried out by the young and naive.  I feel like sometime I fit in that category, and other times I able to break away.  However, what is the point of breaking away if you really do enjoy the thrill.  Say you don't do much on a daily basis, so popping pills is your daily getaway.  Of course, I do not speak for myself when I say that.  I feel like I understand the risk, the effects, and therefore I STAY AWAY.  So many, too many, people get hooked.  They get addicted, and there is no way out.  You see abstinence isn't just meant for sex.  If I had to choose between life or death I would want to live to see the thrill of life.  I don't need to do anything to make me feel like a risk taker, because my life is already full of chances.  I like to call them opportunities taken, because unlike someone who makes an artificial risk appear; I take mine raw.  Perhaps, raw or naked is not the right word to describe a natural risk.

There are so many risky scenarios that teens fall into.  I myself haven't fallen into anything thing… anything too deep that is.  I know I have to know my limits, I understand that an overdose of excitement could lead to death, and if you think I am referring to drugs then you don't know me too well.  You need to work on that, cause' you are a little too shabby.

If you are alluding to something be sure not to make me that stereotypical teenager.

The stereotypical teenager that drinks, gets high, and parties every weekend.

I can only dream of a getaway.  Not live one.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Blogging

90 posts, 1152 page views, and … one follower.  I am not complaining because I never want anyone to actually read my blog posts.  However, I'd like to think this wouldn't be the case with my youtube videos if I didn't beg people to subscribe to me.  The way I do it now is sort of trashy, but it works.  I like to watch their video and then tell them what I liked about their video.  When they reply to me, I go to private message them and ask them to follow me.  I try to comment on their videos when they post, so that I seem like a loyal subscriber.  It seems so bad that I do this especially since I believe in the saying, "treat others how you wish to be treated", and this is defiantly not how I want to be treated.  Let's see where my youtube lifestyle will take me xD

Friday, January 17, 2014

Being Truthful

Being truthful always gets you places.  You never stay in the same spot, unless your in a situation with another person who honestly wants nothing to do with you.  If you were to tell someone that you liked them your position in relationship won't suddenly boost up into a dating mode.  Sometimes, you get left in the dust and you have to deal with it because there is nothing you can do for someone that wants nothing to do with you.

However the other side of this could be that they don't want to hurt you, or they don't want to get you into trouble.  This situation arises when you lie to your parents, but they don't punish you because they have had just about enough as well.

I don't know what I would do with someone in love with me, or with my child.  What I do know is that I wouldn't tell them not to talk to me, and I would never ignore them.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Analysis v. Critical Thinking

The other night at dinner, my dad and I were talking about the skills that I need to improve.  I came up with the need to memorize information, and he said this was not enough.  I thought a little more, and came to the conclusion I needed to work on my analysis and critical thinking.  We were arguing about whether or not it was the same thing.  I thought they were different things, so I decided to look up the meanings and write a blog about it.

My original thought was that analysis was the deeper meaning within the text, meanwhile critical thinking was the deeper thinking making connections from outside of the text.  However, I am proved wrong withen this blog post.

Analysis is the process of dividing big things into individual constituents.  This is the breaking down, and examining of what the meaning is.  Meanwhile, critical thinking is the way of deciding what information is true or false.  Critical thinking involves coming up with a reasoned conclusion based on a reasoned process.

Both critical thinking and analysis are processes to help you understand the material.  They are both ways to break the information down to see if it logically makes sense.  Analysis is more of the thinking side of things, meanwhile critical thinking is more of the part where you come up with a conclusion.

Monday, January 13, 2014

COT Essay about Womens Rights in China

From the 800 to 1750AD the Chinese began to have less rights and privileges, however they were always viewed as man’s companion and nothing more than that, and they were very cultural orientated.

In 800AD all women were viewed as man’s companion.  The men took charge, and hunted the food.  Meanwhile, the women tended the home, and maintained the garden.  Women had a big role in society just like the men did, but they were not as prized as the men were.    In the 1200AD women were still very culturally orientated, they were religious, and fital piety began.  Elder women were respected with fital piety, and women were not mistreated, but they were not at the top of the social ladder.  Empress Wu helped with the women movement of importance, however that did not leave a huge impact.  In 1750AD Chinese women began to have even less of a role because of the Enlightenment period.  Foot binding because a popular activity for women, because it provided that their feet stayed small: this was attractive.  It was very rare to see a female owning a shop or company.  The rare case would be in a situation where she was a widow.  Women did not have many rights and they were viewed as man’s companion.

From 800-1750AD the Chinese were having less rights and privileges, however they were always viewed as man’s companion, and they were very culturally orientated.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Baking Fish

It's not that is was bad.  It was just really fishy, not crusty, tasted raw, and it gave sword fish a bad name.  Using an Ideal Protien book that my mom had purchased for my dad to better himself in his eating habits turned for the worst.  I have been picking out recipes from this book and everything seems to be oven baked, when usually it isn't cooked that way.  It's not that it is bad, however it certainty is not appetizing.  I am not looking for anything to fatty, but is a little bit of crust like what you get from frying fish to much to ask for.  I really hate going to pick up the fish at the market, but that smell is not supposed to linger all the way to the dinner plate.  Since it was lacking that brown crust the fish tasted raw and unfamiliar in my mouth.  I didn't know how my feeling were toward sword fish at first, but this certainty changed my opinion.  I shared this with my dad who also had to suffer, and he explained to me that sword fish does not usually taste this foul, because they aren't usually baked.  When I said my New Years Resolution was to bake this is not what I had in mind.  However, how bad could this have really turned out is the real question.  Sure, some parts were too done, and others were under done, but there were those parts that were perfection.  I am not saying the sauce didn't help because it did.

The Walnut Basil sauce I had prepared to accompany the sword fish was magnificent.  I really liked the way it tasted, because it had the basil kick with the walnut chunks.  This defiantly helped with every swallow of the sword fish.  At first my dad and I barely took any because we were unsure of how it would taste.  Later, we were taking it by the spoonful, so we could finish up our sword fish steaks.  It was very neat to try out baking fish, but I doubt I will do it again.  However, don't let me discourage you from baking fish, because I probably did something wrong along the way.  Does this make my whole article invalid?  No!  I followed the recipe, and its Ideal Protein you should blame.  I also listed clearly what the effects of cooking sword fish were, so don't think that this post is trash like the others. ;)

Friday, January 10, 2014

Circles, Ellipses, Parabolas OH MY!

I know this is another education-orientated post, but what else am I supposed to blog about?  Boys?  My dad reads this, so please.

Not only are we back from break, but we are also starting a new unit.  I was happy that I spent the time to prepare for the upcoming topics, because I was totally ready for the new lessons despite the new seat changes we also got.  In math class we talked about circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas, basically we talked about conics.  We did a brief overview today about what they were all about, so it was interesting.

I already know that an ellipse is an oval shape, circle is a shape, a parabola is half a ellipses/circle, and a hyper bola is 2 half ellipses/circles.  We dealed with identification of these different shapes.  I know how to tell the difference between an ellipse and a circle if we simply look at the sides in relationship to the radius.  The ellipse has 2/4 that would match and the circle will have 2/4 that would match.  Identifying a parabola is easy since only one side of the equation is squared.  Finally the hyperbola, how would you identify it?

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Memorizing and Changing an Accent

Memorization and losing an accent in a language go hand in hand.  I studied both of these skills today, because I want to get better at my free recall, and I also want to improve my spanish.  I think that I am capable of improving not only my vocabulary, but also the pronunciation of words in spanish.  I feel especially confident in me being able to improve my memory, despite my brain age being 25.

On my day off due to wind chills below freezing, I took a test online to see how old my brain was and I was 25.  I immediately thought this was an old age, however now that I think about it could be a good thing.  The website said if it is older then your current age, then it is a problem.  However, I am probably younger then most of the ADULTS taking this quiz.  Maybe I am not so bad off after all. Free recall is constant quizzes to help remember the information.  By doing this you can retrieve the information without a cue. Free recall is when you can remember something off the top of your head without a cue.  Cued recall is, you guessed it, like free recall however triggered with a cue.

There are three steps to the information going into your memory.  The information is introduced and that is called information input.  It is then remembered by using several different techniques and this is called retaining information.  Finally, is one of the hardest steps for me which is retrieving the information.  The retrieving of the information could be free or cued recall.

Speed reading is a skill that helps with memory.  Speed reading consists with decrease sub-vocalization, schematic processing, and meta reading.  Sub-vocalization is the process of reading the information out loud, schematic processing is when you associate it with something else really rapidly, and meta reading is when you can scan chunks and find out what is important.

Some good strategies are summarizing information for written exams.  Taking cornel notes which consists of writing questions within the notes you take.  Doing a self explanation and having elaborate interrogation.  Another great tip is to practice test your self.

Some basic tips are reading when your alert and attentive, separate the information for trivial, pause every now and then, take notes, and remember that learning comes from mistakes.

Learning a language is similar to a great memory.  A lot of it is derived from practice, practice, PRACTICE!  It seems like the information of talking to your self, thinking about it, taking notes as you watch something, and some other memory tips also apply to learning a language, or learning any subject really.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Remember To Study (About Studying and Memorization)

Getting better at having discipline is my New Years Resolution, however I need to also get better at other skills.  I have been working on memory, studying, discipline, critical thinking, and test taking.  I found some similarities and differences that I want to share with you in the process to get better at studying and having a stronger memory.


Studying sometimes doesn't have to be done alone.  They suggest study groups of few people who really care about getting good grades.  They don't suggest re-reading the material, and they day that underlining/highlighting the information is not the key to success.  This surprised me because it is what I do most when I study.  They also said that using mnemonics for everything try to relate information.  

When you are memorizing a piece of information start early.  One of the key tips was to not cram, to practice, and to try to make it into a daily routine.  They said that chunking was an effective method.   To chunk you have to take and break down what you need to memorize into groups.  An example would be a long list of numbers that you break down into 3 or 5.  The other process they mentioned was the method of loci which is when you think about something you do everyday and relate it to what you need to learn.  If you need to memorize the order of the Chinese dynasties, and every day when you come home you see a quirky house where the cat lady lives, then a hallow house in which no one live, then a silver house where you live then it would be easy to memorize Qin, Han, and Sui as the first three dynasties in China.

What I found interesting was that both for studying and having good memory you need to make sure you focus on the material given at hand.  Another thing is that they both suggest just letting the mind wander and think of different scenarios.  They said that this was effective so that later you could recall the information for when your taking a test.  Goal and motivation were also a big key.  You actually have to care about the information that is being given to you so that it will be memorized and learned effectively.  They described various types of memory, then they described learning styles such as visual, aural, reading, and kinesthetic.  Both mentioned that breaks were key in retaining the information quickly and efficiently.  Relating the information to what you already know can be important and very helpful in remembering the information for weeks and weeks.

Memorizing and studying have similar ways to study.  This is obvious to me because studying sometimes involves memorizing.  I noticed that memorizing in this and several articles I read is sometimes meant to be learning.  They constantly mention connections and that isn't something one tends to do when memorizing.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Religions I Tried Out

Christmas time was rolling around and my freshman math teacher offered students the opportunity to help rebuild a fence for the baseball field.  In return she offered math extra credit and community service hours.  I was excited not only to raise my grade, but also to help out the community on a Saturday morning.  Fortunately, waking up early was not an issue for me.  When I got there everyone was being addressed as brother or sister, because most people were from the same mormon church.  I really enjoyed seeing how everyone was helping out each other and I wanted to go to church to find that same connection between people.  I am on a search for the best church and the one I enjoy most, so far I have visited a mormon, presbyterian, and a pentecostal church.  They are all branched from Christian church, and they hold slight differences that make them unique.

I went to the mormon church and the missionary of the church, Sister Belle, came up to talk to us at the end of the service.  She wrote down my phone number and address and said she wanted to come visit me sometime to talk more about the church.  She convinced me to go to Sunday School where I was around kids a year younger than me.  They were talking about leadership and they kept referencing the Book Of Mormon.  I was not familiar with this book, but I later realized its a continuation of the Bible and it is about the 3rd coming of Jesus.  Like all the churches, everyone was really nice and they were happy that we attended.  I didn't feel it was the perfect fit for me, but I do want to visit it again.

The next church I tried out was the presbyterian church.  Luckily, my dad had friends that went to this church and they were very friendly.  We even got to go to their house for lunch after the service.  This church was different because the Sunday School was right before the service.  I walked into a classroom that was much bigger, but that was probably because we were in a middle school.  I walked in and we were talking about the Galatians and how their were fake gospels that we shouldn't listen too.  What I found amusing was that they were calling the Book of Mormon a fake gospel and I went there just last week.  After Sunday School, I met up with my dad and the service was almost just like the mormon church.  A lot of preaching and verses from the bible.  However, at this church I noticed a lot more singing which made it fun.  I really liked being with such a nice community, everyone came to greet us, and I really do want to visit again.

2 weeks ago, I visited my first Pentecostal church.  My friend Anai is spanish and she goes to that church, so I told her I wanted to check it out.  It was really different, but everyone was super nice.  We got lots of handshakes and smiles.  The whole service was in spanish, and everyone looked latino, so my dad and I really stood out.  We stood out so much that we were asked twice if we wanted a translator: Both times we answered no.  The preachers seemed to be yelling, but really it was just full of passion. I also noticed there were lots of songs sung here too.  I guess a church is not a church without songs.  I really liked this church, but I barely understood anything.  I want to be able to relate more than just the brief points.  I don't want to visit this church again, but one day I would like to accompany Anai again.

Every time I visit a new church I feel like a stranger.  This is why I prefer to go with a group of people that I know, or even just a single friend.  I feel like I can connect a lot better and understand how they do things if I am with someone that I know.  I feel so sad when I can't understand something, or if the person next to my attempts to talk to me and I can't understand them.  I want to go to a church that fits me, and its kinda funny to think that the community service project my math teacher started got me hooked on religions.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Tis' The Season

No, I was not kissed under a toe just the ratchet one in my mind was hanging.  Other than that, my Christmas was spectacular.  My mom had decorated the tree with my help one day that dad had gone out of town.  However, that didn’t make Christmas any less special.  This year I thought would be the worst with three F’s (two I was able to bring up before break ended) and I thought I would not get anything.  However, I got just what I wanted.  A smiling happy family for one night, a GoPro, new Uggs, and a Vera Bradley traveling bag.  Almost like my mom knew me too well, because the day after my dad and I were leaving for a ski trip in Colorado.  Sometime I imagine if we had a bigger family or more friends that Christmas would be more exciting.  It is so much easier to cherish the little moments.  I really believe Christmas time is a family bonding experience.