This week seemed like a dream and I still don't believe that today is Sunday. Yesterday I spent all day at Grand Valley for our Science Olympiad competition. That was such a long day. I got up at 5:30 AM, left the house at 6:30 AM and we got home at 7:30 PM. I crashed. But we did very good. Our team got 2nd overall and I got two 2nd place medals for my events, so I felt very accomplished.
So for my trend, I have been going through the archives at the state swimming site and I have found that the girl's times have been dropping quite a bit each year, but that might just be because they're getting better, so I am trying to figure out a way I can prove it's the swimsuits. Also, I am still waiting for my coach to e-mail me back about the use of the suits at the state meet, so once she replies I will have more knowledge on the subject.
This week, I have been reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for "fun". It is one of the books I am required to read for test-out and as got further and further into the book I actually started enjoying it. The beginning was horribly slow in my opinion, the middle was exciting and the end is getting boring again. I only have about 20 pages left so I hope to finish it tonight and share about it Tuesday(:
"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
-Victor Kiam
Sunday, March 27
Sunday, March 20
Swimsuits, swimsuits, swimsuits!
Well before I start talking about my trend (which I have much to go on about!) I have to tell you about the Catalina show last night! For those of you who don't know what Catalina is, it is a synchronized swimming club at our high school. So last night, Madalynne (Koeppe), myself and two of our friends went to see the show (I signed up for it at our 9th grade orientation and needed to know what I got myself into). So we went and it was AWESOME! The girls were very synchronized and the guys were hilarious (I think the main reason they were so funny was because I know most of them XD). Just thought I'd share :)
Trend! I started with Google-ing and a TON of links popped up. So I started at the top, and some were really junky, sleazy sites trying to sell cheap knock-off suits, but others had very quality articles with (hopefully) genuine information. So I found that in the 2000 summer Olympics (which was the first year these suits were used) there was 15 world records were set and 37 new Olympic records. I am now trying to locate the number of world and Olympic records broken at the 1996 Olympics. I also found that in the 2008 Olympics, there were 21 world records and 66 Olympic records set and only ONE Olympic record managed to survive for both men and women. That is so mind boggling. I'm interested to see how this year's Olympics are going to go (I'm scared to see how hard I'm going to have to work to even think about making it in 2016). So right now I have about 8 tabs open with various articles and my favorites bar is probably upset for being loaded so heavily, but I am making progress!
Trend! I started with Google-ing and a TON of links popped up. So I started at the top, and some were really junky, sleazy sites trying to sell cheap knock-off suits, but others had very quality articles with (hopefully) genuine information. So I found that in the 2000 summer Olympics (which was the first year these suits were used) there was 15 world records were set and 37 new Olympic records. I am now trying to locate the number of world and Olympic records broken at the 1996 Olympics. I also found that in the 2008 Olympics, there were 21 world records and 66 Olympic records set and only ONE Olympic record managed to survive for both men and women. That is so mind boggling. I'm interested to see how this year's Olympics are going to go (I'm scared to see how hard I'm going to have to work to even think about making it in 2016). So right now I have about 8 tabs open with various articles and my favorites bar is probably upset for being loaded so heavily, but I am making progress!
Sunday, March 13
Trend Essay
My trend is how "fastskin" swim suits are becoming more and more popular with swimmers to the point that they are seen at every big meet.
As far as reading about my topic, I've found a blog that is deticated to these suits. I've been making my way through the posts and they're very interesting. Also I found a couple articles about how when Speedo created this suit and how it's been giving athletes an advantage in some meets. I've also been reading some product descriptions on Speedo's website (this things are VERY expensive by the way...) and I feel cool knowing all this stuff! I really like my topic and it's something I can relate to (hopefull I'll be wearing one at the State meet this fall... XD)
:)
As far as reading about my topic, I've found a blog that is deticated to these suits. I've been making my way through the posts and they're very interesting. Also I found a couple articles about how when Speedo created this suit and how it's been giving athletes an advantage in some meets. I've also been reading some product descriptions on Speedo's website (this things are VERY expensive by the way...) and I feel cool knowing all this stuff! I really like my topic and it's something I can relate to (hopefull I'll be wearing one at the State meet this fall... XD)
:)
Sunday, March 6
R&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&J(:
Romeo! Romeo! I just loved in the film version when Mercutio ran around yelling for Romeo, it made me smile. I was going to title this post Highlights but that would make me feel like a sports commentator or a hair stylist; neither of which I am. So, onto the highlights *smiles to self*. I really enjoyed the whole play. But I think I liked the actual idea more than the way Shakespeare expressed it. Sure, the language was beautiful, but the idea that these two teens were so engulfed in love that they would die for each other is... profound. And (warning: quick Twilight reference) I think that Shakespeare did a MUCH better job describing Romeo's and Juliet's love then Stephenie Meyer did describing Edward and Bella's love. All she did was have them constantly think about each other (which is apparently very appealing to some teen readers) while Shakespeare put their love into an intricate relationship problem that could only be solved by death! So take that Twilight(:
Trouble... trouble... I think the thing that gave me the most trouble was understanding the humor Shakespeare used. I didn't get it at all. Well, actually, I picked up on it at times, but not very often. And when I did catch it, it was just a dry, subtle humor. It was humor that, to the untrained reader, didn't even appear funny. Now that is skill. Bravo Shakespeare, for tricking us all! So, as far as the question "If you were writing this for a middle school audience, what would you do differently?" goes, I must say that I wouldn't change the language (because I feel that no one is really fit to change and re-write the entire work of another person) but I would attempt to make the humor more pronounced so the middle-schoolers don't think 'Oh, Shakespeare was quite a dreary guy, we could really just use a laugh after everyone died.'
As you know, from my many blog posts and my constant 'participation' in class, I had a lot of favorite lines from this play, so I don't think I'll bore you with repeating them. But, I do think I need to ramble about my favorite character for a while. For me, it wasn't Romeo, or Juliet, or even good Friar Laurence (even though he was probably the most neutral person in the play) but it was the strange canary, Mercutio. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, how cliche of her to choose her own character!' but as I read, I paid quite a bit of attention to Mercutio (as so I could report his doings to the Facebook page). And as I went on to scenes when he wasn't there, I felt myself wondering when the fellow would reappear and say something witty. And, when he died, I was very upset. Thanks Shakespeare for getting rid of the cool guy! I mean, he kept sly Benvollio, but not Mercutio. That's just wrong.
It was a very good play, but I'm somewhat glad to have it over. Each week I would look at the assignment sheet and see what acts we had to read and I thought, 'I wonder if this is the act where they die?' so it just feels good to have all that stress behind me. (:
Trouble... trouble... I think the thing that gave me the most trouble was understanding the humor Shakespeare used. I didn't get it at all. Well, actually, I picked up on it at times, but not very often. And when I did catch it, it was just a dry, subtle humor. It was humor that, to the untrained reader, didn't even appear funny. Now that is skill. Bravo Shakespeare, for tricking us all! So, as far as the question "If you were writing this for a middle school audience, what would you do differently?" goes, I must say that I wouldn't change the language (because I feel that no one is really fit to change and re-write the entire work of another person) but I would attempt to make the humor more pronounced so the middle-schoolers don't think 'Oh, Shakespeare was quite a dreary guy, we could really just use a laugh after everyone died.'
As you know, from my many blog posts and my constant 'participation' in class, I had a lot of favorite lines from this play, so I don't think I'll bore you with repeating them. But, I do think I need to ramble about my favorite character for a while. For me, it wasn't Romeo, or Juliet, or even good Friar Laurence (even though he was probably the most neutral person in the play) but it was the strange canary, Mercutio. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, how cliche of her to choose her own character!' but as I read, I paid quite a bit of attention to Mercutio (as so I could report his doings to the Facebook page). And as I went on to scenes when he wasn't there, I felt myself wondering when the fellow would reappear and say something witty. And, when he died, I was very upset. Thanks Shakespeare for getting rid of the cool guy! I mean, he kept sly Benvollio, but not Mercutio. That's just wrong.
It was a very good play, but I'm somewhat glad to have it over. Each week I would look at the assignment sheet and see what acts we had to read and I thought, 'I wonder if this is the act where they die?' so it just feels good to have all that stress behind me. (:
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