And it was amazing in a lot of ways.
I have a ton of notes from the 6 lectures I went to, and I plan to go through them thoroughly. The people I met were another high point. Next year, when I'm a staffer for the newspaper, is looking all kinds of keen.
In the long run, though?
Listening to some talk?
Newspaper under Miss Adwell looks like it will be a worthwhile way to spend high school, as something to be really involved in. Possibly going to NYC, Washington, or even Ireland was brought up.
I've resolved to start saving money.
It's all adventure, folks.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Journalism State Conference
This coming weekend, I'll be in Austin, Texas.
Why would I do this? Why would I go there?
A few reasons, which I think make up a pretty decent story, if not cautionary tale.
First, background. Throughout junior high I was in the journalism class, and I think I did a pretty decent job. I certainly got no complaints. I ended up meeting some pretty good folks there, and I was pretty resolved to try my hand at journalism in high school.
It would have been a step up, right?
Only, the thing is, electives. Electives and scheduling. They worked against me.
Orchestra? Double blocked. Killed any hope I had of being in journalism, as well as engineering.
Opportunity knocked, and I got out of orchestra. I became an aide to a basketball coach. It was double blocked, too, but in all honesty? It was a free period. Daily.
Nothing wrong with that, when you're in Pre-AP Geometry, Geography, English and Biology.
In the end, I wasn't able to get into Journalism 1. I did, however, get into Theater Arts. Easiest fine arts credit ever.
I didn't want to waste a year as a sophomore for Journalism 1 when Newspaper called to me, though. So I went ahead and asked a few key people, later on in the year, if they speak on my behalf. Or anything, really.
These key people being none other than my English teacher, Gibbs, and my cousin, Chandi. Soon to be editor of the newspaper.
Their good opinions of me combined and directed to Miss Adwell, I've been guaranteed a spot on the newspaper team next year which I look forward to. Right after this, Chandi asks me if I'm at all interested in going to Austin.
I was surprised, yeah, but the word 'yes' is on the tip of my tongue anyway.
And so that is how I'll be going to both Newspaper 1 next year and the State Conference in around 6 days. Things worked out keenly.
That won't always be the case, though. So, to all equally inclined and inbound freshmen, put a bit of thought into how you might want to restructure things when you go to high school. My first week was full of apprehension and hoping my requests got handled properly by the counselor.
Then, I had the advantage of a sympathetic soul on the Newspaper team, and a teacher that would vouch for me. Since these things worked out, I have nothing much to worry about now, save maybe some extra scrutiny by Miss Adwell next year. But you never know.
At any rate, Austin! That's an upside, no matter how you look at it.
I should buy a hat down there.
Why would I do this? Why would I go there?
A few reasons, which I think make up a pretty decent story, if not cautionary tale.
First, background. Throughout junior high I was in the journalism class, and I think I did a pretty decent job. I certainly got no complaints. I ended up meeting some pretty good folks there, and I was pretty resolved to try my hand at journalism in high school.
It would have been a step up, right?
Only, the thing is, electives. Electives and scheduling. They worked against me.
Orchestra? Double blocked. Killed any hope I had of being in journalism, as well as engineering.
Opportunity knocked, and I got out of orchestra. I became an aide to a basketball coach. It was double blocked, too, but in all honesty? It was a free period. Daily.
Nothing wrong with that, when you're in Pre-AP Geometry, Geography, English and Biology.
In the end, I wasn't able to get into Journalism 1. I did, however, get into Theater Arts. Easiest fine arts credit ever.
I didn't want to waste a year as a sophomore for Journalism 1 when Newspaper called to me, though. So I went ahead and asked a few key people, later on in the year, if they speak on my behalf. Or anything, really.
These key people being none other than my English teacher, Gibbs, and my cousin, Chandi. Soon to be editor of the newspaper.
Their good opinions of me combined and directed to Miss Adwell, I've been guaranteed a spot on the newspaper team next year which I look forward to. Right after this, Chandi asks me if I'm at all interested in going to Austin.
I was surprised, yeah, but the word 'yes' is on the tip of my tongue anyway.
And so that is how I'll be going to both Newspaper 1 next year and the State Conference in around 6 days. Things worked out keenly.
That won't always be the case, though. So, to all equally inclined and inbound freshmen, put a bit of thought into how you might want to restructure things when you go to high school. My first week was full of apprehension and hoping my requests got handled properly by the counselor.
Then, I had the advantage of a sympathetic soul on the Newspaper team, and a teacher that would vouch for me. Since these things worked out, I have nothing much to worry about now, save maybe some extra scrutiny by Miss Adwell next year. But you never know.
At any rate, Austin! That's an upside, no matter how you look at it.
I should buy a hat down there.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Happenings.
So.
High school couldn't be better.
The people I've met? Great folks.
The people I've known? Still great.
I am content in all things physical and emotional.
I went to the mall today, with Tina, Vincent, Ronnie, Vivian, small Vivian, and Tommy.
Notice a naming pattern there, that sort've works?
I did.
I think.
Possibly?
I chilled around with them, which was fun enough, and I ran into a lot of people at the mall. More than I usually do, anyhow.
I saw, not necessarily in this order, James, Jonny, Nataley, Kenny, Carrie, Veronica, and two seniors (maybe one of them was a junior?) just around the place.
I said hello to all of them! Except the two upperclassmen. Since I really do not know them so well.
So, while I was there, I stopped by Hot Topic (not by myself, Tina, Vivian, small Vivian, Vincent and Ronnie were around, too) and I walked to the back of the store.
And you know what struck me?
They got rid of the hats!
I don't mean fashionable baseball caps, or those watch caps and skull cap kind of things girls wear- they got rid of the fedoras.
And I was sad, no kidding. The fedora's been on the decline for a while now, and Hot Topic getting rid of their small selection in the back of the store struck me as being pretty bad.
Hot Topic has some nice fedoras. Had some nice fedoras. I bought my first fedora, one of three right now, there.
And, oh, there's a Lids just a few minutes from Hot Topic at the mall, sure. But the fedoras there seem cheap. Flimsy. Not solid like the tweed one I bought in August of this year at Hot Topic.
I've not done a lot of reading lately, sadly. I got The Soviet-Afghan War while I was roaming around 2nd period, and had stopped in the library.It is not so bad. Just very technical. Interesting reading, though! I want to finish it.
I've been reading Ethan Frome for English, and I am enjoying it. I haven't looked up the ending of the book, or anything. Just reading it as is as we have chapters assigned, and writing things in the margins now and then.
As always, I have been reading Lovecraft whenever I'm just idle.
Lovecraft's stuff is always fun. I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of it.
Also?
My cell phone, for bluetooth, is called Ithaqua.
My iPod Touch is Azathoth's Court.
My computer is Sarnath.
Maybe Sarnath isn't an appropriate name? Something with one eye, maybe.
If I ever get a small netbook or something, I am calling it Inganok.
Expect more! My goal is 14, since that's what I put up on here back in '08.
High school couldn't be better.
The people I've met? Great folks.
The people I've known? Still great.
I am content in all things physical and emotional.
I went to the mall today, with Tina, Vincent, Ronnie, Vivian, small Vivian, and Tommy.
Notice a naming pattern there, that sort've works?
I did.
I think.
Possibly?
I chilled around with them, which was fun enough, and I ran into a lot of people at the mall. More than I usually do, anyhow.
I saw, not necessarily in this order, James, Jonny, Nataley, Kenny, Carrie, Veronica, and two seniors (maybe one of them was a junior?) just around the place.
I said hello to all of them! Except the two upperclassmen. Since I really do not know them so well.
So, while I was there, I stopped by Hot Topic (not by myself, Tina, Vivian, small Vivian, Vincent and Ronnie were around, too) and I walked to the back of the store.
And you know what struck me?
They got rid of the hats!
I don't mean fashionable baseball caps, or those watch caps and skull cap kind of things girls wear- they got rid of the fedoras.
And I was sad, no kidding. The fedora's been on the decline for a while now, and Hot Topic getting rid of their small selection in the back of the store struck me as being pretty bad.
Hot Topic has some nice fedoras. Had some nice fedoras. I bought my first fedora, one of three right now, there.
And, oh, there's a Lids just a few minutes from Hot Topic at the mall, sure. But the fedoras there seem cheap. Flimsy. Not solid like the tweed one I bought in August of this year at Hot Topic.
I've not done a lot of reading lately, sadly. I got The Soviet-Afghan War while I was roaming around 2nd period, and had stopped in the library.It is not so bad. Just very technical. Interesting reading, though! I want to finish it.
I've been reading Ethan Frome for English, and I am enjoying it. I haven't looked up the ending of the book, or anything. Just reading it as is as we have chapters assigned, and writing things in the margins now and then.
As always, I have been reading Lovecraft whenever I'm just idle.
Lovecraft's stuff is always fun. I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of it.
Also?
My cell phone, for bluetooth, is called Ithaqua.
My iPod Touch is Azathoth's Court.
My computer is Sarnath.
Maybe Sarnath isn't an appropriate name? Something with one eye, maybe.
If I ever get a small netbook or something, I am calling it Inganok.
Expect more! My goal is 14, since that's what I put up on here back in '08.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
ODST and general happenstance
Played it, beat it.
Overall?
A very.. lonely game in comparison to the rest of the Halo franchise.
Admittedly this changes towards the end, but man. A bit sad, not grim, but very different in feeling.
Enjoyable, though. Music and lighting changes were really really really well done.
The one thing I didn't like so much? As the game progressed I really did start to like the pair of new guns Bungie saw fit to give you in ODST, but there's no ammo for the things.
There's this map, an open world map where you can roam to the heart's content, find bits of story and whatnot, and I was evidently unlocking supply caches.. that I never once stumbled upon even after browsing the game's map for a while.
And ammo for the nice, and even touted on the game's cover art, gun is impossible to find past the occasional (that is, I think, twice in my first playthrough) corpse.
The music was a neat change. No moving choir pieces, but there was a few lines of that Gaelic-y business from the live action trailer.
Other news-
High School is going well, with straight As in all my classes.
Homecoming in approximately one week, on the 3rd of October. I had a date for a while, before it became clear that the band and color guard weren't going to be able to make it. At all.
Birthday's coming up.
I have homework to do.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Miracle Worker
"The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson is an interesting piece. It is the dramatization of a segment of Helen Keller's life in play form. I suppose this makes it dramatic nonfiction in genre. To me, it read very much like a comedy you'd see on the big screen today. Or that one reality show, Supernanny. I say it reads like a comedy, even though it deals with a fairly dramatic and serious part of a very real person's life, because of just how absurd some situations become. Acts 1 and 2 are full of scenes where Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller wrestle about and fight, and these are exceedingly well written and fun to visualize. I would think these are meant to be very tense and serious, but it simply does not come across like that to me. I'm drawn to vaudeville style black and white stage fights, to that one scene out of Step Brothers where the two titular characters go at it in the most inane way possible.
That said, act 3 does not read like a comedy in the slightest. It feels like the downtime one gets in most movies, after a big event or change. A breather space. But that changes substantially around the last 10 or so pages, with the story going into an upswing and then reaching an end with two plot points settled neatly.
On the whole, I liked "The Miracle Worker", with particular regard for setting. It is not a plot point but dialog between characters like Aunt Ev, James Keller, and Arthur Keller do a nice job of fleshing a post-Civil War South out in a nice way. It uses stereotypes, but not jarringly so, and I thought it was a nice way to immerse a reader, or viewer, of the play.
For reference: this post is number 25 on the Summer Reading Project Directions and Requirements list for Pre-AP English 1. A direct link to this post is:
In regards to the last post: I made a mistake in reading some of the instructions on the packet, and this is the correct part of the project to be viewed. For those directed at my last post, be it from facebook or whatever, please comment on this one, and not Watership Down.
That said, act 3 does not read like a comedy in the slightest. It feels like the downtime one gets in most movies, after a big event or change. A breather space. But that changes substantially around the last 10 or so pages, with the story going into an upswing and then reaching an end with two plot points settled neatly.
On the whole, I liked "The Miracle Worker", with particular regard for setting. It is not a plot point but dialog between characters like Aunt Ev, James Keller, and Arthur Keller do a nice job of fleshing a post-Civil War South out in a nice way. It uses stereotypes, but not jarringly so, and I thought it was a nice way to immerse a reader, or viewer, of the play.
For reference: this post is number 25 on the Summer Reading Project Directions and Requirements list for Pre-AP English 1. A direct link to this post is:
In regards to the last post: I made a mistake in reading some of the instructions on the packet, and this is the correct part of the project to be viewed. For those directed at my last post, be it from facebook or whatever, please comment on this one, and not Watership Down.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Watership Down
As I type this I've just finished Watership Down scarcely 10 minutes ago. My impressions of the book are generally positive, and it was by no means a bad read. But my one qualm comes from the way rabbits seem cast along the lines of good and bad. There is no in between that I can see. The one, that was to me jarring, example of this comes with the character of Captain Campion.
Both Bigwig and Hazel are reluctant to harm him, despite his working for their enemy and posing their biggest threat when it comes to their plot to raid Efrafa; the threat of detection. While most of Hazel's band seem to think being found is the one thing they cannot do, and indeed Hazel does order his expedition to attack any passing rabbit and ask questions later, both he and Bigwig show reluctance to harm Captain Campion.
It seems to me the only reason for this is because he is somehow good! But the reader is not given evidence of this at least until the very end of the novel, if one does not take Bigwig and Hazel's amiability towards him seriously.
If there was going to be one exception to this, I would have thought Blackavar's guard Bartsia to be good, and worth redeeming. He only treats Bigwig with some measure of respect and seems a very dutiful rabbit while Campion is only seen, at least by me, as a distant eye capable of bringing down the wrath of a warren's military arm on Hazel's band. But Bartsia is simply attacked and wounded in Bigwig's escape from Efrafa and left at that.
That one point aside, Watership Down is a nice piece of adventure fiction with an interesting perspective that casts humans in the same light as H.P. Lovecraft's unknowable Great Old Ones. As sometimes malign gods that have no real regard to what goes on as consequence to their actions. It is this indifference that I really did like, that had me smiling as I caught the odd parallel as I read Watership Down.
For reference: this post is number 25 on the Summer Reading Project Directions and Requirements list for Pre-AP English 1. A direct link to this post is:
http://talesfromtheglass.blogspot.com/2009/08/watership-down.html
Both Bigwig and Hazel are reluctant to harm him, despite his working for their enemy and posing their biggest threat when it comes to their plot to raid Efrafa; the threat of detection. While most of Hazel's band seem to think being found is the one thing they cannot do, and indeed Hazel does order his expedition to attack any passing rabbit and ask questions later, both he and Bigwig show reluctance to harm Captain Campion.
It seems to me the only reason for this is because he is somehow good! But the reader is not given evidence of this at least until the very end of the novel, if one does not take Bigwig and Hazel's amiability towards him seriously.
If there was going to be one exception to this, I would have thought Blackavar's guard Bartsia to be good, and worth redeeming. He only treats Bigwig with some measure of respect and seems a very dutiful rabbit while Campion is only seen, at least by me, as a distant eye capable of bringing down the wrath of a warren's military arm on Hazel's band. But Bartsia is simply attacked and wounded in Bigwig's escape from Efrafa and left at that.
That one point aside, Watership Down is a nice piece of adventure fiction with an interesting perspective that casts humans in the same light as H.P. Lovecraft's unknowable Great Old Ones. As sometimes malign gods that have no real regard to what goes on as consequence to their actions. It is this indifference that I really did like, that had me smiling as I caught the odd parallel as I read Watership Down.
For reference: this post is number 25 on the Summer Reading Project Directions and Requirements list for Pre-AP English 1. A direct link to this post is:
http://talesfromtheglass.blogspot.com/2009/08/watership-down.html
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)