Why I should be able to get a Smart Phone

I am choosing a cell phone to get as an award for my STAR tests, but of course, my dad won't let me get anything but a average cell phone. Those are the ones that can't text, browse the web etc. and they are almost useless.  In my parent's time, the best they could get a humongous thick cell phone that barely had a display at all.  They have no idea how much a smart phone/ texting phone helps in an average person's life today.  

First of all, it will help the family greatly.  Often, we are driving somewhere and we want to find the nearest sushi restaurant (for example).  Normally, we would have to keep driving and looking for something that looks vaguely Japanese.  A normal cell phone wouldn't help in this situation.  But if I had a smart phone, I could quickly get a FREE app and search up "nearby sushi shops".  The cell phone will pinpoint the exact locations of sushi shops nearby.  It will work for many other things too, such as camping sites and clothes stores.

Another thing that could my family is IF my family got lost somewhere, I could use Google maps to find the way home.  There are also many other ways a smart phone could help the family.  I can search up random information quickly whenever needed.  Then we wouldn't need to go upstairs and get a laptop.  Or if we're going to a movie, I can reserve tickets while driving to the theater.  A smart phone would make our lifes so much easier.

It also makes my life better in many ways.  With a normal cell phone, I can only call friends and my pockets will be filled with something very close to useless.  These days, the common way of communication is texting. With a average phone, texting is almost as slow and tedious as throwing letters at the receiver.  A normal cell phone is therefore pretty useless and a waste of money.  Smart phones and texting phones all have either a physical keyboard or a on screen keyboard, which allows for easy, quick texting.

It may seem that a smart phone's service costs too much, but all the money that a smart phone saves makes up for that cost.  If I get a smart phone, I won't need a camera.  That saves about $50 already.  There are also many other things that a smart phone can serve as, such as a deck of cards, a GPS and much more. 

If my parents get a smart phone for me, it would help my family, me, and it would help save money.

A Day at the Park

Yesterday, I went to the park to play tennis with my friend, James.

My dad drove first drove me to the local tennis court so I could reserve a spot.  After he drove me there, he left to pick up James.  I stood at the court, bouncing a tennis ball on my racket.  I looked at the court to my right and noticed that a little kid was staring at me.  It felt like the world turned it eyes on me.  Very Perturbed, I went back to bouncing my ball on my racket.  It felt like ages past before my dad finally arrived with James.  We exchanged a few pleasantries, and I told him about my new racket, then we started playing tennis.  I thought of little else as the ball went back and forth between us.  Not long after, two of my other friends, Jeremy and Jimmy, came into our court with tennis rackets and asked to play doubles.  At that moment, I knew that we couldn't play anymore serious tennis, as Jeremy and Jimmy were both terrible at this game.  We played for a while, then decided to walk around for a bit.  With no where else to put the tennis rackets, we leaned them against my dad's car.

When we got to the play structure, we found that many of our other friends were there too.  At that moment, Sabrina, Amy, Sarah, and Natalie were all there.  We joined them for a game of "Lava Monster", which is basically tag, but the "monsters" can't come onto the play structure.  Being my lazy self, I just sat on the highest point of the play structure, where no one could reach me.  Of course, the "monsters" cancelled the use of that part of the play structure, so I had to resort to sitting on a bar and continuously moving.

In the middle of our epic game of Lava Monster, two other friends, Eric Lou and Amy's brother (I'm not sure... it might be Sabrina's brother) joined us.  Eric, being his usual creative self, decided to change the game into "grounders".  It is also like tag, except whenever the person that's "it" gets on the play structure, he/ she has to close their eyes.  Whenever someone gets touched by the person that's it, they swap roles.  We all played that game for a while, then Natalie left, so everyone started to leave too, including me.

Overall, this was a very fun and interesting day at the park.

Counterargument to Hans's Counterargument

"But a person talking in rhythm to his footsteps doesn't get stuck in one's head, so what makes music so special?"  But a person's words that coordinate with a rhythm don't get stuck in one's head, so what make music so special?  Okay... so the day before yesterday, I wrote about why we should not build the Cordoba house.  Hans responded with some counterarguments, and here are my counterarguments to his counterarguments.

Hans Gao's, "Response to Andy's Post" says that we should build the Cordoba house at the area near ground zero.  I strongly disagree with this statement.

Gao says that "Wang is saying that “You can build a church here, but not a mosque. Freedom of worship should be upheld – except when I don’t like the religion.”.  I don't oppose the mosque because of the religion it supports, Muslim, I oppose the mosque because the religion it supports happens to be the terrorist's religion and that may attract the terrorists to come to America and become a resident.  That itself is fine, but if terrorists make America their permanent residence, it would make it a lot easier for them to attack us.  


Gao also says, "That is the true spirit of America – Tolerance. To rise above differences and respect people as part of a greater whole – humanity".  In this context, that is saying that we should just put the deaths of a few thousand people behind us and respect the terrorists for being human.  How can we respect someone even after he killed a few thousand innocent, helpless people for no reason except that they live in a country that the killer hates?  Terrorists? Human? I don't think so.  They may be physically human, but mentally, they aren't even close to that level.


No normal person would randomly kill thousands of people and blow up a famous building for no reason.  It would be somewhat understandable if that person killed the person or group of people that he hates. But killing many people just because they happen to live in the country that the terrorist hates is not human at all.  


"Wang’s primary fallacy is equating Muslims with terrorists", Gao said.  As I said in my article, I know that not every Muslim is a terrorist.  But it is very hard to tell who is a terrorist and who isn't.  They all wear the same kinds of clothes and look very similar too.


"This is blatant nonsense, and a clear abuse of extreme, isolated incidents", says Hans counterarguing my statement that "In Europe there is much Muslim car burnings and violence, Belgian police are not advised to drink coffee on some Muslim holidays, women have begun to wear veil to pretend to be Muslims just for protection, and in a few parts of Britain, polygamy and sharia are the laws of the land".  All those other countries thought that it wouldn't happen to them either, but it happened anyways.  We are just like those countries, being gullible and thinking that disaster will never happen anywhere or anytime.


Gao also says, "By discriminating against Muslims, we are saying that they are the enemy. We are strengthening the terrorists and inspiring more hatred against the U.S.; we are fighting violence with something equally as dangerous and ignorant – intolerance".  We are saying that we are the enemy, but haven't the terrorists done that already?  They were the ones that made us their enemy by attacking us time after time.  Also, by keeping the terrorists out of our country, we protect ourselves by making it harder to access places that they can attack.


I think that we should definitely NOT build the Cordoba house in an area overlooking ground zero.

Why People like Music

Almost everyone on earth listens to music once in their life time.  Usually at least one of the songs get stuck in their head.  What makes music sound so good?

Music is actually just a bunch of sounds put together in a way that sounds rhythmically correct and / or sounds pleasing to the ear.  But a person talking in rhythm to his footsteps doesn't get stuck in one's head, so what makes music so special?

I think that music is so special because of it has a continuously changing tone, there are notes that coordinate with each other, there are usually lyrics that can relate to people all over the world, and there is a continuous background rhythm.  Continuously changing tone really makes music sound good.  When someone talks, it is very monotone and it doesn't really have a sound to it.  Music, on the other hand, has a tone that continuously changes, which makes it sound more pleasing to the ear than blah blah blah.  Also, in music, notes usually coordinate with each other well.  When writing music, people think for a while about what note to use next instead of simply throwing out a random note at a completely random time.  This way, the music sounds cleaner with less imperfections than a person talking.  Another reason music probably sounds good to a human ear is because of the lyrics.  The lyrics go in rhythm to the song, which allows more flow, and the lyrics usually talk about overcoming something that average people all over the world have to overcome.  People like to be understood, and if something as important as a song that everyone listens to tells about the people's daily life, then the people feel understood.  A background rhythm is what music listeners snap their fingers to.  It makes people want to jump along and it makes the ground vibrate.  It is one more thing to remember the music by.

Music is a wonderful part of our culture today.  It is so special because of its continuously changing tone, its notes that coordinate with each other, its lyrics, and its background rhythm.

Persuasive on Mosque

This will be a 1000 word plus persuasive about whether or not we should build a mosque at an area next to ground zero.

On September 11th 2001, Muslim terrorists destroyed the twin towers.  Today people are thinking about building the Cordoba House, or the Cordoba House, a place they can worship, over looking ground zero, the place they attacked.  Is that really logical?  I strongly oppose building the Cordoba House next to ground zero for a few reasons.  The reasons are; because it will make people upset, it will strengthen the terrorists, and it will give Muslims more control over our country and lose much of our hard earned freedom.

It will make people upset. More than three thousand people died in the terrorist attack of September eleventh.  Their friends and family would be very upset if we supported those terrorists by building the Cordoba House over looking ground zero.  Many other people would be upset too.  The friends and family of those who were the victims of the September eleventh disaster will post their thoughts on twitter or face book, then it will spread.  eventually, a lot of people would be upset about the Cordoba House and they might exclude Muslims from everyday society.  That's an extreme case.  A more likely outcome would be that most people don't think it's a good idea to help the terrorist's religion, and those people will segregate Muslims.  Either way, it will come out bad.  Building the Cordoba House in America is just like building a mega church in Islam.

Also, building the Cordoba House over looking ground zero will mentally strengthen the terrorists.  They will be sure that they can pass the Muslim religion to America.  Building the Cordoba House leads them to think that just by killing thousands of people, destroying the world trade center (the twin towers), and inciting terror into the lives of average people, that anyone they ask will bend to their every need.  That will give them a better reason to attack America.  It will also give them greater will to terrorize many other countries around the world.  The Muslim terrorists will be cheering and jeering.  Who and what's to blame?  It will be us Americans and our idiocy.  Everyone will be thinking, "Why the heck did we agree to build a mega mosque in our country, especially if it is overlooking the worst terrorist attack ever?"  And once the terrorist know of this conflict with in our nation, they will know that more terror, more bombs, and more death means more control.  And of course, that leads to even more terror, bombs, and death.  All this trouble can be averted by just simply not building the Cordoba House.  We can even save some money.

We will lose much of our freedom to the Muslims if we build the Cordoba House.  When we build the Cordoba House, many more Muslims will come to our country because they know that they will have a place to worship.  That may just sound like me being racist to Muslims, but think about it slowly and carefully.  In many parts of Europe, there is much Muslim car burnings and violence, Belgian police are not advised to drink coffee on some Muslim holidays, women have begun to wear veil to pretend to be Muslims just for protection, and in a few parts of Britain, polygamy and sharia are the laws of the land.  That doesn't sound like the kind of thing that can happen here in America, but that is exactly what the countries of Europe were thinking before the Muslims invaded the land.  The same thing will most likely happen to us if we continue with the plan to build the Cordoba House.  The Cordoba House obviously would not be the only reason that our freedom is lost, the Cordoba House will just kick start the chaos to come.  All this can be avoided if we just stop our not well thought out plans and do not build the Cordoba House.

After all this horror, there must be a valid reason to build the Cordoba House.  There in fact is.  The main reason to build the Cordoba House is to let Muslims be able to practice their religion in America.  But of course, when they are finally able to practice their religion within our borders, they will attract to the US like ants to food.  Then we lose our freedom and become a non free country whose only religion is Muslim.  Another reason to build the Cordoba House is to provide a recreational area for anyone.  There would be an auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare area, bookstore, culinary school, art studio, food court, September 11th memorial, and prayer space.  The prayer space is, obviously, the largest.  At this moment, all this may seem like a wonderful addition to New York, but later, when the Muslims come in and enforce their own rules and laws upon us, we might not even be allowed to use all these wonderful luxuries anymore.  Even if we are allowed to use them, it would be a very small earning relative to the freedom we lose.  It is just like getting paid a dollar to die.  Some people may be looking at this article and thinking, "This Andy Wang person is really paranoid.  Not all Muslims are bad".  That is completely true, besides the paranoid part, and I don't have any objection to the fact that not all Muslims are bad.  But the Muslims that are terrorists are "bad".  That may not be many people, but you can't tell who is a terrorist and who isn't.  You will never know when they will strike.  The terrorists can also persuade a bunch of other people to cooperate due to terror, and the mass of terrorists will get bigger and bigger.  So really, it is not such a good idea to build the Cordoba house anyways.


Right now the Cordoba house may seem like a wonderful building, but it will eventually turn out to be the cause of our loss of freedom and the strengthening of terrorists.  All the good parts of the Cordoba house will eventually seem close to use less.  The building of the Cordoba house is going to be the start of the end for America.

So...

I'm taking two days to write a persuasive about whether or not we should build a mega mosque overlooking ground zero.  Cheers!

Tennis

I have been playing tennis since I was 5, with some occasional gaps of not playing in between, and I realized that I have never written anything about it. (this is not part of the essay)

Tennis is a somewhat primitive sport, but it really never gets old.  If you think about it, all it is is using various kinds of objects to hit an inflated ball over a net and trying to keep the ball in the court.  So what really makes so many people play tennis?

I play tennis for a few reasons.  The first reason is because my family and friends play tennis.  Playing tennis is one more thing to relate to them by.  Also, my dad always drags me out to play tennis, so there's no avoiding it even if I wanted to.  Another reason I play tennis is because of the feel of it.  There is nothing like hitting a really good and clean hit.  Right when my racket touches the ball for a good whack, I know that this is the thing that will defeat my opponent.  It gives me a great sense of achievement.  Also, there are always moments of great suspense.  Whenever I  hit a really high ball that looks like it's going to go one inch out of bounds, I hold my breath and hope for the best.  When it gets in, I am very exhilarated and feel like I am at the top of the world.

I don't really like tennis though.  Tennis is just another form of exercise.  It is even more primitive than other sports.  It has less rules and guidelines than most others.  That makes tennis a very boring and mundane experience.  You barely have to think about anything except, "run, swing, oh that ball is moving to my left, run, backhand".  It might be more fun for beginners, because they still have to think a lot about how to do the stroke.  For more experienced players though, It is just the same few strokes over and over again.  There really isn't much variety in tennis.  Apparently many professionals including Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf agree with me too.

Tennis can be a very amazing sport if you want it to be, but to me, it is a very boring and mundane sport.

Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address

I am going to write at least 1000 words about "Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address".

The 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address is a graduation speech.  It was spoken very differently from a normal speech.  Instead of following tradition and going with what everyone else did in the past years, The writer of this commencement apparently wanted to relate to the college students and tell them what life will be like as adults.

To relate to college students, he starts by saying the first part of the traditional normal style of a graduation speech, then the speaker explains that it was a requirement of commencement speeches  to say this first part with the moral story.  Then the speaker's version starts.

All the moral stories in this commencement show how people think.  The first one about the fish shows that the fish are so used to the water that they don't even know that they are in water.  The writer is trying to show an example of a prison so intricate that the prisoner thinks that it isn't a prison.  The point of the fish story is to show that "important realities are often the hardest to see and talk about".  Another example is the story about the atheist and the religious person.  The atheist said he didn't believe in god because once, he called on god to save him from a blizzard, but all that came to save him was a few Eskimos.  This is a mental prison in which the atheist won't even think about the other side of the argument, he only thought his way instead of thinking, "oh maybe god sent those Eskimos."  The speaker told us to stop being so arrogant and to see life through other people's shoes too.

The speaker also uses a real time situation to show people HOW to think.  The speaker talks about getting stuck in traffic.  The speaker says not to get mad at the person that drives past you and blocks your way.  Instead, you should think, "Maybe I'm the one blocking their way.  Maybe they have to get to the hospital and I'm blocking their way".  This is a good way to think because then, no one hates another person and the world is a happier place.  Of course, its not very likely that more that half of the world's population is going to follow this.  Being angry at another person for blocking your is your "default" instinct.  Subconsciously, you are always going to think that way.

It is extremely hard to think about other people every day and night because if you think about it, the world is really centered around you.  You see this happen, you get hit by a bowling ball, you eat the pie and get sick.  Its all centered around you.  It seems very selfish, but it is true. Because it seems that everything is centered around you,  it's very hard to focus on others when you are the most important thing.  Even tearing your mind from the little thoughts and arguments inside your head is extremely difficult and required lots of willpower.  Now you have to think about your thoughts and other people's thoughts while you are worrying about getting home late and your resume and your paperwork that you forgot to file?  That's just plain difficult.

The speaker then tells you that he is not going to "lecture you on compassion".  He said it is very difficult to adjust yourself to think about other people, and that only "well adjusted people" can do this.  The speaker says this so that you won't be pressured into thinking this way, but you will still try, as it is a very good virtue to have.

I think that this is a very important virtue to have.  If everyone in the world had it, the world would be a lot more peaceful.  First of all, everyone in the world would actually like every one and there would be a lot less hate in the world.  Second of all, it would be a nearly Perfect world with less taxes, absolutely no terrorism, and a more caring government that listens to the citizens and lets them vote for everything.  almost everything in the world would be perfect.  But of course, as I said before, not everyone in the world can have this virtue.

I sometimes have this wonderful virtue.  For example, once I didn't let my sister eat my snacks that I for got the name of, then I thought about it in her way, if I were her.  I realized that I would be begging for the snacks with an unknown name too.  Then I gave her one.  It made me feel like I was a wonderful person with a very giving attitude.  I knew that I did a  great thing.  That's a little over dramatic, but it really does make you feel good when you look at something from another person's point of view, and then you realize why that person is acting the way he or she is.

Closer to the end of the commencement, The speaker says that there is no such thing as atheism, and everyone worships something, whether it be yo yos or Jesus.  The speaker says one thing not to worship is your beauty.  If you do, you will never think that you are beautiful and you will never be happy.  The speaker says not to worship your power, or intellect either, because you will feel weak and/ or stupid.

Then, the speaker talks about freedom.  "That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing."  


Then the quote that will stay with me forever, "I wish you way more than luck".  I really like this quote because it stays away from the normal "I wish you luck".  This sentence shows that the speaker put a lot of effort into this commencement speech and that this commencement speech strives to be different from the rest.  


I said this a few times already, but I will say it again.  If everyone in the world followed what the speaker said to do, the the world would be nearly perfect.

Well...

(Sarah said "cool" and "dude" uncountable numbers of times today.  At least she made an attempt not to.) Anyways, I am going to write 1000 words about http://web.archive.org/web/20080213082423/http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html over a span of two days, so you can expect the 1000 words to be up tomorrow.

Hmmm...

I'm not sure what you mean by "Analyse a specific part of a book", and it's getting late, so my mom told me not to blog today :-/

ME

I'm going to write about myself. (^-^)

There is a lot that builds up my personality.  Like everyone, my personality is very unique and almost no one in the world can understand my every action.

The first aspect I want to point out about myself is that my activeness is very variable.  At certain times, I am very hyper, like I am full of sugar and caffeine.  At other times, I am very lazy and I don't want to move at all.  When energetic,  I move in random directions and wave my limbs randomly.  That's where my "floppy fish" gesture came from.  At times when I am lazy,  I just want to sit in the folds of a couch and fall asleep.  Usually, the temperature determines my activeness.  If it is hot, I'm lazy, and if it is cold, I want to run around randomly while flailing my arms.

Also, I am a somewhat generous and humble person.  I dislike complimenting myself.  Just writing this paragraph makes me feel kind of uncomfortable.  I suppose it really depends on the person I'm talking to.  If it is a complete stranger, and he asks me for a throw on my yoyo, I will probably say yes.  But if its one of my friends, I quickly jam the yoyo into my pocket and say no.

One major part of my personality is how unfocused I am for activities like writing this blog, until the end when it's almost due or almost time to sleep.  I push it all towards the last few minutes, then my brain suddenly focuses on the more important activity and runs full speed at that.  I could cause this procrastinating, but it is caused by my lack of attention.  For example, I might get distracted by my book, my yoyo, the neighbors across the street, or a bug.  Then I think about that for a while until I realize that my time is limited for the main activity, so I do that for a while.  After some time, I get distracted by something else.  That cycle goes on until the last minutes of the time I get to do the main activity assigned.  But no matter what, I always get the assignment done on time.

Now I have a bunch of pet peeves, like most people in the world.  My first one is that I HATE being late to anything.  I'm usually way too early, but that is fine as long as I'm not late.  I hate being late because whenever I'm late, I always have to worry about being late the whole way to the destination.  After I get there, people get annoyed at me and I miss a lot of stuff.  Another one of my pet peeves is that I hate fingerprints and those little blobs of dried spit on all screens besides touch screens.  Dust doesn't matter either.  Those little blobs and fingerprints just ruin the new look to the screen.  This is the reason that every time I open my computer, I always let the sun reflect off of the screen to see whether or not there are any fingerprints or blobs of saliva.  If there is, I wipe it with a cloth until it is gone.

Those are the main parts of my personality.

People that Influenced Me the Most

I didn't have a specific thing or person that influenced me the most, so I made three groups of things.  Also, I finished "Mortal Coils", and I am starting "The Truth" by Terry Pratchett.

There are three groups of people/things that influenced me the most.  They are my friends and family, teachers and tutors, and books.

Friends and family are very influential to my personality.  They are around me so much, I can't help but to pick up some of their habits and sayings.  For example, I picked up my habit of sometimes playing with my hair from my good friend, Jeremy.  He always did it in fifth grade, and it's really distracting to look at, so it sticks to my mind.  Also, grades in school are greatly influenced by friends and family.  If friends have straight A's, but you only have B's, you think, "Everyone else can get straight A's, why can't I?"  and then you work hard to get to their level.  But if friends get C's, then you think that you're at the top of the world in terms of grades, and you stop studying as hard and stoop to your friends' level.  Also, if your parents set high expectations and push you hard to reach them, then you slowly reach their expectations.  Those are the ways parents and friends influence me.

Teachers and tutors are obviously very influential to everyone.  They are the cause of most of my book smarts. I will thank them when I am graduating from college.  Tutors give people some habits because they are with them usually one every week, but they don't really influence peoples' personality.  Teachers and Tutors really help me learn.

Books are amazing.  Each one is a little world that a reader can immerse themselves in, while learning.  I can learn from books without even trying.  A good sentence in a book or a good style of story writing just sticks in my head, whether I want it to or not.  That way, I get the author's flow and I also write better sentences.  With books, I can entertain myself and learn at the same time.  Books are an extremely influential aspect in my life.

Friends and family, teachers and tutors, and books all are very influential to me and helped make me the person I am today.

Things to do for the Next 365 Days

I finished "Little Brother" and "Replay".  I am now reading "Mortal Coils".  Anyways... I will be writing about four of my main goals for the next 365 days.

I have four main goals for the next three hundred sixty five days of my life.  They are to continue reading a book per week on school days, reach 60 words per minute at typing, maintain straight A's, and to be in the top four places on my school's math counts team.

I think that reading books really improve vocabulary and sentence flow.  Books usually have more complex vocabulary than normal people's writing, and they are a lot more fun to learn from than dictionaries or vocabulary expanders.  Also, people who write books have to have good sentence flow, or the book would not sell well.  Books are a very good learning resource for learning to write better, which is why I put reading books as one of my top goals.

Typing is used for many things in life, so I have to get good at that.  More typing speed means more assignments finished in less time.  To improve my typing, I will continue taking typing lessons on a typing software and also find more opportunities to type.  I have already almost tripled my original typing speed using the typing program and I plan to improve more.

Maintaining straight A's is obviously a very important part of being successful.  It gives others a good impression, which in turn, leads to getting into a good college.  Eventually, it leads to getting a decent job.  To maintain straight A's, I will have to work hard in the years to come.  There will be many obstacles, but if I work hard, I can easily overcome them.

Getting in the top four places of the school math counts team isn't that important, but its still pretty high on my mental list of importance.  In seventh grade, I was in 6th place, and only the top four people get to go to any contest above county, so I didn't get to go to the southern California contest that our team won together.  I really want to go to that contest to get free stuff and to be able to say "I'm good at math" with out hesitation.

Those are my four most important goals and my plan to achieve them.

Patrick Rothfuss

I'm comparing this original letter,

Pat,

I know from your comments on facebook and your postings on the blog that you’re busy revising. What’s more, that you’ve been doing it for months. What I’m wondering is what, exactly, you do when you’re revising that it takes you so long to do it? Please don’t get me wrong. This isn’t another bitchy mewling e-mails from people complaining about waiting for WMF. I’m genuinely curious. You see, I’m not a writer or anything. The most I’ve ever written is papers for classes, and those I pretty much write, spellcheck, print, and then hand them in.

Consequently, this whole revision process is a big mystery to me. I know writers do it. And I know some writers (like you) seem to spend a lot more time on it than others. Back when I was a kid, I read about Piers Anthony’s revision process in his author’s notes. Where he would write the first draft of his books longhand, then revise them as he typed them into the computer. Then he was pretty much done. I know your books are much more complex than his, and a buttload longer. But still, I’m curious. Is there anything you can do to explain to us non-writers out here what exactly happens in the revision process? Can you show us how it’s done?

A big fan,

James

to this revised letter revised by Patrick Rothfuss,

Pat,

I know from facebook and your blog that you’re in the midst of revisions. I’m curious. What do you do when you revise, and why does it take so long?

Please don’t get me wrong. This isn’t another bitchy, mewling e-mail complaining about the wait for WMF. I’m genuinely curious. The only things I’ve ever written are papers for school. I just write, spellcheck, print, and hand them in.

Consequently, the revision process is a big mystery to me. Back when I was a kid, I read about Piers Anthony’s revision process in his author’s notes. He writes the first draft of his books longhand, then revises them while typing them into the computer.

I’m guessing your process is more involved than that. Your books are more complex than his, and a buttload longer. Is there anything you can do to explain the revision process to us non-writers? Can you show us how it’s done?

A big fan,

James

First things first, you can find these in Patrick's blog, http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2010/08/fanmail-qa-revision/#comments.

The first revision Patrick made was in the first sentence.  He got rid of "comments on your face book and postings on your blog", and turned it into "Facebook and blog".  He also changed "busy revising" into in the "midst of revising".  These two changes made the first sentence sound more flowing and it was easier to understand.  Patrick then completely removed "What’s more, that you've been doing it for months" because that sentence is actually pretty useless.  He then formed another paragraph instead of one huge paragraph because he was making a whole other point.  He then erased another whole sentence, "You see, I’m not a writer or anything."  That sentence is redundant because it is pretty much implied by the next sentence.  He changed the next sentence by replacing "most" with "only" and adding a period in the middle of the sentence to prevent it from becoming a run-on sentence.

In the first sentence of the second paragraph,(third for the revised version) he changed "this" to "the".  Patrick then removed "I know writers do it. And I know some writers (like you) seem to spend a lot more time on it than others." and made a new paragraph instead of having a run-on paragraph.  The next sentence is the same.  The sentence after that is changed to present tense and changes "Where he would write" to "he writes".  Patrick then splits it into ANOTHER paragraph.  The only thing he changed in that paragraph is changing this sentence, " Is there anything you can do to explain to us non-writers out here what exactly happens in the revision process?" to this "Is there anything you can do to explain the revision process to us non-writers?", which makes it flow better.

An Experience With My Sister, Sarah

I couldn't think of an experience with my sister, Sarah, off the top of my head, so I decided to create one.  I went downstairs while thinking about what to do,  then I got the best idea ever.

I started poking her.  She looked at me with her deep brown eyes like I was some kind of mad man and was very bewildered of the strangeness.  She asked, "why are you poking me?!?!"  I told her that I was creating an event for my blog.  She was bewildered.  Complaining is one of her specialties, so she used it here.  "MAMA, Andy's poking me."  My mom was already used to this, so she just nodded it off.  Then, my sister took off, running.  I decided to pretend to be a ninja, just for the fun of it.  I jumped out of a wall while yelling as my sister rounded the corner, so she screamed and ran the other way, her black hair flying behind her.  I ran the opposite direction, the cold ground under my feet and jumped out again, a little too early.  But she was still frightened of my poking skills.  This time, I ran after her.  She thought I would just stop and turn back again, so she stopped and turned around.  On her face was a look of pure terror.  With a yelp, she ran again.  I knew I was out of options.  All my tricks and ploys were used.  I decided to go upstairs and watch her run.  She ran one extra lap, and quickly became suspicious.  Just then, My mom called her to go upstairs to sleep.  Relieved, she gave an OK and followed my mom up.  I jumped to cover and laid down, flat as a pancake, planning my next move.  I decided to stay there.  My plan was to lay there and let her jump in surprise when she noticed me.  Of course, life isn't fair and my plan didn't go as I planned.  When she saw me, She started laughing, almost like it was an inside joke.  OH. It was an inside joke.  A while ago, I hid in the exact same place and she couldn't find me for decades.  When she came upstairs, she nearly stepped on me.  Her laugh was the same as it was a few years ago, like crystal clear water in a stream.  It was a trickle, not a thunderous roar.  I decided my work here was done, and I started this blog.

Dog: Man's best friend or Worst enemy

People always say that dogs are man's best friend, but is that really true?  Dogs are cuddly, cute animals that everyone likes to play with, and they save some lives, but are they really worth taking care of?

First of all, they excrete everywhere.  You first have to train them to go outside to do their business, which takes a LOT of work over an extensive amount of time.  Even after you get them to go outside to go,  you still have to pick up their excrements.  When you pick up the feces, you feel the soft, squishy warmness under your fingers, which doesn't feel good at all.

Another reason that dogs aren't man's best friend is because they always want to play.  This may seem like a good thing at first.  After a while though, you realize that it is very annoying.  Every time you come home from an agonizing day at work, your dog encircles or jumps onto you and forces you to play either though you only want to lay down and go to sleep.  And you still have to clean up after your dog.

A smaller, but still annoying reason is that dogs shed everywhere.  You have to use a lint roller or a vacuum and clean the house at least every week.  Even after a hard day at work.

Once in a while, you have to pay lots of money for the dog going to the vet when it is sick.  You also always have to pay for its food, toys and other daily equipment.  All that stuff to pay for is almost as expensive as taking care of a child.

One think people often overlook when adopting a dog, or any pet, is their capability to break valuable belongings.  They can knock over vases and lamps, they can drool all over your computer with the family photos, they can eat your beloved iPod.  They can even tear out pages from your library books or use your money as a bedspread.

Taking care of a dog is as annoying, or even more annoying, than taking care of a child.  So next time you want to adopt that cute little animal sitting in a glass cage at the mall, think about it some more.  Are dogs man's best friend or worst enemy?

Cheese

Cheese is the god of all foods.  It is used for so many things including salad, pasta, hot dogs, pizza, cheese platters, sandwiches, various kinds of bread, and those little cheese wheels that everyone likes to have as a daily snack.  It can be flavorful, bland, stretchy, hard, soft, squishy, liquidly, colorful, or uncolored because of the hundreds of different kinds.  Just saying that cheese is the god of food is a major understatement.

Let's start from the beginning.  Cheese was said to have been created by a Greek one-eyed creature.  Thats obviously not true, but no one knows the real origin, so they left it at that.  Cheese started in Greece and Rome and stayed there for quite a while.  Some centuries later, Romans realized that it wasn't fair for the rest of Europe not being able to eat these wonderful foods, so the Romans spread cheese making techniques all across Europe. Cheese was unheard of in oriental areas and scarcely available in places like Africa.  The first factory opened in Switzerland in 1815, but it wasn't very successful.  America was the first place cheeses were first popular.  That factory was opened in 1851 by a farmer.

Making cheese is a very complicated process.  It starts with getting the milk.  Cheese varies a little depending on  what the animal eats,  so cheese makers have to get milk from the same animals with the same diets.  After cheese makers obtain the milk, they have to separate it into curds and whey.  To do this, They acidify the milk and add rennet, which separates the curds and whey, and some starter bacteria.  The curd is then separated from the whey and cut into cubes.  This allows more whey to drain out.  Then, salt is added to drain out more whey, to preserve the cheese better, and to add a bit of flavor.  After that, the cheese is pressured to get out more whey, and left to age.

The aging process is also complicated.  For some cheeses, you can just leave it in a cold place for the bacteria to take effect and give it more flavor and texture and those familiar holes which are actually just carbon dioxide emitted from the bacteria.  But for most, mold is added.  Mold does many different things to the cheese.  For some cheeses, the mold forms a outer layer to protect the cheese.  For others, it digs deeper and creates colorful "veins".  All cheeses with mold change texture and flavor.  Mold plays a major part in the aging process of cheese.  After the aging process, the cheese is ready to eat.

When someone goes into a cheese market, he is immediately struck by the vast variety of cheeses.  There are hundreds and hundreds, and it is often very difficult to choose which one to get.  My personal favorite is one you can buy at many grocery stores, The Laughing Cow's Mini Babybel Original cheese.  At a first glance, one can tell that it is going to be a very tasty and hight quality cheese.  Each little circle of cheese is coated with luxurious red reshapeable wax to preserve it.  The wax itself looks edible, but self preservation instincts prevent you from taking a bite out of it.  You will then stare for a while, wondering how to open it.  You begin to grow frantic with the prospect of not getting to eat your precious cheese.  Then you see it.  There are two little strips of paper at one end of the wax coating that invite you to pull on them.  When you eventually do pull on them, you are greeted with the wonderful aroma of cheese which is unlike any you have smelled before.  You also get a first glimpse of what will be the best snack in your career of snack testing.  There are a few familiar holes from the release of carbon dioxide from the bacteria.  You then take the top half of the wax off and admire the beauty of the cheese.  Its yellowish white and has lots of indents which are bubbles.  You can resist no longer and you take your first bite.  The first thought you have is, "Wow its pretty soft, must be a creamy cheese".  Then you chew for a while and realize that it feels a lot like cream cheese.  The only difference in feeling is the springy feeling that is common in soft and creamy cheeses.  Then the taste finally gets through your taste buds.  It has a slight acidic flavor that most cheeses have.  It is also very buttery and greasy in a good way.  When you finally swallow the cheese,  You realize the amazing after taste which is a lot like less acidic cream cheese.  By then, you are converted to a cheese lover.  You can't wait to take another bite.  You get the same experience with every bite to the last drop.  Then, you realize it is gone and go back to the refrigerator for another one.

For the many cheese haters who only have tried processed cheese, you have to try Babybel Original cheese.  Why?  Well, in my opinion, processed cheese is the bane of cheese's existence.  It goes great with sandwiches and other stuff like that, but by itself it just doesn't have cheese magic.  Its texture is horrible.  It doesn't stay together at all, and it just simply turns into a liquid in your mouth.  The flavor is too intense.  The manufacturers do this to make it stand out more in sandwiches, but by itself, it is disgusting.  There are so many complaints I could make about processed cheese, but that would just take up half of my whole article.

I will say this again.  If you are in fact a cheese hater who's only tried processed cheese, then you have to try some quality cheese.  There are so many different flavors and textures, so if you don't like one, you can always try another until you find one that's just right.  Cheese is truly the God of all foods.

(Btw, this is my 1010 word post)

Morally Right Or Not Morally Right, That is the Question

A lot of people wonder how to tell if an action is morally right or not.  It is a widely discussed topic.

There are two basic beliefs in morality.  There is subjective morality, and objective morality (also known as moral universalism and moral absolutism).  Subjective morality is where different groups of people have different views on what is right and what is wrong.  Objective morality is where everyone has the same beliefs about what is right and what is wrong.

I believe in subjective morality.  Think about it.  Apparently, the terrorists don't have the same views of whats right and whats wrong as the American government.  The terrorist wouldn't just kill people and enforce terror for no reason.  They think its the right thing to do.  The US government obviously doesn't think that way.  They oppose the terrorist's way of thinking.  If objective morality is applied into this situation, then it doesn't make sense at all.  If the terrorists had the same point of view as Americans, then they probably wouldn't be randomly attacking America.

This is just one example.  Subjective morality happens all the time in daily life.

Ronald Reagan's Remarks on the Challenger Shuttle Explosion

I watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKIZ7j20EA, and the sound wasn’t clear, so I also read http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=147.

“””””As for the second sentence, "He made many songs such as The Sad Song, The Turn, and many others, which are all made using the same method." <----Say this out loud to yourself. It's somewhat awkward. Part of assignment for tomorrow: how would you revise this sentence?”””””  He made many songs such as The Sad Song, and the turn, which are made using the same method.

Ronald Regan was a very great president.  When he was president of our country, there were no economic problems, or wars.  It was peaceful.  His speech he made on the space shuttle Challenger's crash shows just how great a man he is.

If someone didn’t listen to the speech and just watched him talk, that person could tell the solemnity and the seriousness of his speech.  Regan’s arm don’t move wildly like he is trying to explain something, he is not smiling crazily, and he has many pauses during his speech.  Now when the viewer does listen to him, but don’t listen to his words, the viewer can hear the pauses, his very calm and relaxing voice, and the viewer will know that he is very solemn and respectful.  Regan’s tone and body language earns much respect among viewers.

If you did anything that I said above, then you missed the best part, the actual speech.  His words are very inspirational and organized.  These words could influence anyone on earth that actually cares about other people’s welfare.  He started with telling the viewer that a few very brave astronauts died in the Challenger Shuttle explosion, and that we should mourn them.  Then, he relates to the astronaut’s families.  He comforts them and tells them that the astronauts did great things and helped advance our scientific knowledge, and they helped the world become a better place.  Then, he said that we will still continue space exploration because it is a very important step to advance into the future.  He assures us that we’re not sending people to their deaths by sending them into space with rockets that haven’t been tested.   He said, “I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen.  It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”  Then, he explains to the school children that the astronauts died for a good cause.   And finally, he talks about NASA’s dedication to the citizens, and wraps it up.

This speech was very moving.  It made me want to visit the astronauts grave, and it made me want to become an astronaut myself.  This is one of the best speeches I have ever heard, and I have heard many.

A Sad Song - Fredo Viola

I watched this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRqjZtr6JaE&feature=related, and I am going to describe it.

Fredo Viola is a great artist.  He made many songs such as The Sad Song, The Turn, and many others, which are all made using the same method.  He makes a few different recordings of himself and a few of instruments playing, and then he mashes them together into one audio file.  This allows him to create music without a complete band.

I like this song more than others because of a few reasons.  First of all, the video actually shows his face.  That way, you get to see all the different audio files and how they are sung by him.  I like the way the video shows his face not like a solid video, but more like a reflection of a car’s window.  Another reason I like this song is because it is more relaxing than his others.  It has a light swaying feeling to it.  This is partly because of the dynamics.  He grows louder at times and at other times, he is very soft.  The music is very in sync.  The final reason I rule this song above his others is because the scenery in the video fits the music perfectly.  When he is loud and the music is moving fast, the scenery in more bright and flashy and it is passing by really quickly.  When he is soft and the music is slow and mellow, the scenery is more dull and dark and it is passing by slower. 

I like the effect Fredo Viola puts into most of his songs.  It’s almost like you’re looking at a series of mirrors all facing in different directions, and the mirrors are all moving in the same direction.  It makes the scenery more realistic and crisp, almost like you are looking at the mirrors yourself. 

It’s easy to tell that he put a lot of emotion into this song.  His heads are swaying in a way that coordinates with how he sings.  The people who give the jumpy background music are bouncing their heads, and the main head is pointing upwards.  This is another great song by Fredo Viola.

Description of a Picture

I am going to describe this picture http://www.floresyplantas.net/wp-content/uploads/Vladimir-Kush_6-1.jpg.

When I look at this picture, I first notice the strange texture of the water/tree.  It definitely is water, but it has the texture of a tree.  Then I notice the man in the middle of the picture.  He is using two oars to guide himself while the current/tree is moving with him.  After that, I finally noticed the trees.  There are two trees and one stump.  The trees are melting into the current/tree.  Last, but not least, I realized I had an overwhelming sense of the color green. 

Almost every picture has a purpose or a meaning.  I think this picture is trying to say that man can control his/her fate.  If man decides to destroy the environment, then that would be his own choice.  But from that environment-destroying, he will also suffer.  The first part, man can control his/her fate, was derived from the oars.  The man in the picture can control which way he wants to go and how fast he wants to get there.  I got the second part about destroying the environment from the tree stump.  The man might have cut that tree down to make his boat, but by doing that, he gets rid of the shade.  By getting rid of the shade, he suffers from the heat. 

I think the overall color of green is there for a few reasons.  The first reason is to keep the picture monotone.  The painter, Vladimir Kush, didn’t want the viewer to become too attracted to this picture.   Kush probably wanted for the viewer to be able to look at the picture and think about its meaning, instead of looking at it just because it looked good.  The second reason for the overall color of green is to let the viewer be able to look at the picture and get the mood of time and uncertainty.  For most people, green means environment, time, and uncertainty.  The final reason of the green color is to make the red color of the trees stand out.  It tells the reader the environment is very important.

There are two reasons that the texture of the water is like a tree and currents.  The first reason is that Vladimir Kush is trying to show nature is a big part of life.  Man has to learn to live and cooperate with nature.  The second reason is that the currents are the currents of life.  The currents are shaped like a trees rings to resemble life.  If a tree grows well, then the rings are thick.  If a tree doesn't grow well, then the rings are thin. Life is also sometimes great and sometimes horrible.

I like Vladimir Kush’s work.  Every piece has a purpose that is easily noticeable.  It makes it easier to be able to appreciate his work instead of just pondering what it means.  Most other artists' work aren't like that.  A person has to stare at it for ten minutes without realizing much except, “Oh, that bird is interesting”.  In my opinion, this picture is one of Vladimir's best.

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, provides a very unique look into the future of the world.  It's really sad to see a world without books.  Books are one of the most important things that drive today's society forward.  Without books or other sources of information, we would all become "mindless sheep", like the people in the book.  The government has complete and utter control over the people, which makes it a dictatorship.  Books provide conflicting theories which, supposedly, make the society less peaceful.

The real reason the government doesn't want people to read books is probably because they don't want people to know that they are in a dictatorship.  If one person knows about the dictatorship, then they will write a book about it, then most of the population will know.  The population will then attempt to overthrow the government.  The government completely eliminates that possibility by getting rid of books.


Bradbury always writes for purpose.  When he wrote Farenheit  451, I think he was trying to explain to the world one of two things.  First, the people of the world are mindless sheep.  This may seem a bit "off", but really, the people of the world know little of what the governments are doing.  The second thing Bradbury might be trying to say is that books are a vital part of today's society and without books, we would all become mindless sheep.  Overall, Fahrenheit 451 is a very well written book that serves a just and logical purpose.

My Swim Meet

Today was the day of the swim meet.  It started with waking up at 8:00 in the morning, which was really early for the average 10:30 wake up time of summer.  I was really groggy and upset for waking up so early.  I had to get to agoura high school by 9:00, so I woke up pretty late already.  I ate breakfast, which was a glass of milk and a peanut butter and nutella sandwich.  We then drove towards the pool at agoura.  On the way there, we were ticketed by a police because our car registration was out of date, which made us a little late.

When I finally got there, we started warm-up, the coach gave me a team suit which he said we had to wear.  It was really tight.  I got in the water, which was the perfect temperature at about 85 degrees.  Then, we did some warm-ups and a relay, which we won.  After all of that, we were ready for the main events.  I won two, fifty and a hundred yard freestyle, and got second place in a fifty and hundred yard backstroke.  It was exhilarating when I raced against six other people and won. 

After my first actual event, I started to wonder why I didn't want to come to this swim meet in the first place.  After a while of sitting and wondering, it struck me.   The waiting was excruciatingly agonizing.  While a person is waiting, he would have to sit in the burning sun for a long time with nothing to do but to watch the swimmers swim in the nice, cold water.  Overall, this experience was very rewarding, but I would not like to do it again.

Another Description of Someone I Know (I Can't think of anything so I will create an imaginary person)

Dom Stryker was a very intriguing man.  He was a midget, about 3 foot five at the age of eighteen.  Because of his midgetry, his skin always had folds in it which made him like an old and fat man.  There were folds covering the top half of his eyes, and therefore he could never see people's faces unless he looked up.  His hands were small, but pudgy, much like a baby's hand with a lot more wrinkles.  A side effect of the midgetry was that his hair was gone.  When someone looks down at Dom, all they see is a wide expanse of pudgy, foldy skin.

Because of all the skin, he looked like a very grumpy man.  In truth, he was actually very friendly.  But the seclusion suited him well.  He wasn't very good at talking with people and he didn't like people staring at his deformity.  He lived far away from society, in a old cabin at the edge of a forest.  He lived there because he despised technology.  The new gadgetry (cell phones, ipods, etc.) were just too complicated and frustrating to work with.  He had a few friends, including the squirrel next door and the beaver on the other side of the forest, and he talked with them often.  He ate the fruits and vegetables in the forest, as well as the occasional deer.  And that is the strange life of Dom Stryker.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time starts when the protagonist, Christopher, finds a dead dog in the lawn of one of his neighbor's houses. He then goes on a search to find the culprit behind this murder. So he starts by, like, talking to all the houses behind his neighbor's house and finds out that no one knows about it. The actual neighbor just doesn't want to talk about it. Then there was Then he figured out that his mom was still alive because he looked in his dad's bedroom and and found out that his dad was the man who killed the dog. Thus ends my plot point by point analysis.

Okay, the book was quite a good book because the author really made it a good imitation of an autistic person, and that it was interesting seeing the world through the eyes of an autistic person and that made it interesting. (Editor's note - Agh! Do not use the word "interesting!") Um... and the author When Christopher finally found his mom, I found it strange that his mom didn't really care about him tenderly, but just knew all his interests and didn't care about him as a son.

I found it interesting (ugh!!!) that Christopher could think of his math test while he was in such a big crisis. To him, the math test was calming. I was a bit confused when he and his mom traveled back to his dad's house back to live, but then I realized that his mom didn't like his dad anymore.

Christopher has no friends. This is something of huge importance, because it demonstrates his detachment from society, and his sheer and utter loneliness in the world. He is estranged from his father, his mother has an expressly cool attitude towards him, and there is no one else that truly thinks like he does or can understand his way of thinking. The only exception might be a psychologist at his school, who took care of him and helped him function (at least tangentially) in everyday society.

Christopher may one day be integrated into society and more like an average person, but for now, it doesn't look likely as autism is a permanent condition. Blah blah blah Um.... So ugh his only real companions were his pets, like his dog and his rat. It just goes to demonstrate how he can't relate to humans. He thinks in a completely logical fashion, but this causes him to be completely baffled by the notion of emotion.

I can't think of anything so i'm thinking right now, um... I'm rummaging through my head for more things to say so that I can talk about more things to talk about the book. The fact that he goes on a search for the reason/murderer behind the dog's death shows that he can really relate to animals more than people.

I'm thinking again and still thinking. and Oh, The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time is an unusual book in that it comes expressly from the viewpoint of an autistic person's mind. Still thinking and rummaging through my head and thinking and thinking and still thinking and still looking through my head for something to talk about. And now I'm trying to talk faster so that Hans can't keep up with me.

Okay, Mark Haddon is quite an interesting writer becuase he sometimes puts in pictures and riddles and math problems to demonstrate all that is going on in Christopher's head. I think that Haddon has had to have experience with autistic kids to have bee able to write a book like this.

And now I'm flipping through the text.... I really like how Christopher explains himself every time he does something. It's way he uses the word "because" a lot. For example, this part says: "I like this bit _because_ science can always explain...." His actions are basically just a string of "becauses" and this illustrates his completely rational behavior.

 For a logically thinking person, it's very strange the way he looks at cars. If he sees yellow cars, he has a bad day, and if he sees a string of red cars, then it's a good day. For a purely logical person, these are moments of irrational behavior completely at odds with the rest of his mind.

When he has to relax or calm down, he always returns to mathematics. He does cubes in his head. This is a great book for psychologists for them to figure out how autistic people think. Of course, this might not actually be an accurate representation of what an autistic person really thinks, but only what Haddon's perception of them is.

Christopher wants to become a scientist, and obviously there are many social obstacles and other hurdles to overcome before he can do so. But the fact that he went to London all by himself and wrote a book to boot means that there's not a lot he can't do if he just sets his mind to it.

An Experience I Might Have Had When I Was Small (A experience I didn't have but I'm going to write about it anyways.)

I've always had a fear of spinning uncontrollably.  It was not so much a fear like a fear of the dark, but more like a fear of death.  The first time I figured out that I had this fear was when I was tossed around by my Dad, while spinning.  I sat in a corner of the house for the rest of the day, thinking what would happen if I spun too long.  Then I grew up, and I realized that nothing would really happen to me, but the fear was always there.  It stayed until one day, my dad bought a spinning chair.  

When I first looked at it, it looked like a normal chair, but there was something off about it.  Maybe it was the foreboding black color, maybe it was the tiny wheels on the bottom of it, I will never know.  But when I looked at it, I had a feeling of deĵa vu.  I didn't know where it came from, so I got on the chair to try it out.  Then I realized what was so different about this chair.  It moved.  It didn't just move, it spun.  I tried to get off, but it was too late.  It already started spinning because of my weight.  I decided to close my eyes until it was over.  It was over in a few seconds.  I started getting off, but suddenly, my sister ran past and spun the chair really fast.  My blood rushed to my head and I started screaming.  Moments later, the chair stopped again.  I wasn't dead!  I finally opened my eyes again.  Then my sister ran past the chair again and made it start spinning yet again.  I didn't realize it at first, I was only conscious of the blurs of colors around me.  They were so pretty.  My mind wandered off the colors and focused on the strange feeling of sideways gravity.  This feeling was actually quite exhilarating.  I started laughing, but then I was stopped dead in my tracks.  I was spinning.  I could't breath for a few moments, but then my mind was again focused on the breathtaking blurs of colors and the thrilling sideways gravity.  When the chair finally stopped spinning again, I was soaked in sweat.  I realized that spinning was actually quite fun and exciting, and my fear finally left.

Revision of Yesterday's Post

"Looking for Alaska", by John Green is one of the best books a teenager will ever read.  It really shows the life of an average teenager in boarding school, aside from the pranks, and shows how to cope with the "labyrinth of suffering", which is life.

From the start, "Looking for Alaska" draws you in.  Green makes the teenager's, Miles Halter's, life so complex and realistic, that the book becomes very difficult to put the book down.  Even the friends of Miles are captivating.  There's The Colonel, who is a mischievous, loyal-to-friends prankster.  He really helps Miles through his toughest times.  Then there's Alaska, the unpredictable, fun-loving, much wooed girl of the story.  She stole Miles's heart and played a big part in Miles's life.  After Alaska died, and Miles and The Colonel went on a search to find the reason of her death, the reader is motivated to continue reading until he finds out the reason of Alaska's death and the answer to the question that builds the book, "how do we get out of this labyrinth of suffering".  This is a truly phenomenal book, so take a chance and step out into the great perhaps.

Looking for Alaska

John Green really does a spectacular job of writing novels, and "Looking for Alaska" is no exception.  The way he sets up the chapters really sets it apart from other books.  Green starts the book out with a very minimalist page with one lowercase word in the middle, before.  That word gets readers thinking about what lies in wait for them after the before.  After that page, the reader finds himself looking at, instead of chapters, how many days "before".  For example, the first chapter is "one hundred thirty-six days before".

From the start, "Looking for Alaska" draws you in.  Green takes a teenager's life, Miles Halter, and makes it so amusing hilarious, exciting, sad, and romantic that you can't put it down until the book is finished.  Even the friends of Miles are captivating.  There's The Colonel, who is a mischievous, loyal-to-friends prankster.  Then there's Alaska, the unpredictable, fun-loving, much wooed girl of the story.  After Alaska dies, and Miles and The Colonel go on a search to find the reason,  the reader is motivated to continue reading until he finds out the reason of Alaska's death and the answer to the Question that builds the book, "how do we get out of this labyrinth of suffering".  This is a truly phenomenal book, so take a chance and step out into the "Great perhaps".

The Microsoft Tablet Won't do Well in This Market

I read this article,  http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/29/technology/microsoft_analyst_meeting/index.htm,  and I think that Microsoft's tablet isn't going to be very successful.


Microsoft got the idea to make a tablet when Apple came out with their iPad.  The tablet industry started growing and Microsoft knew that it was very important to make a tablet.

There are a few reasons I don't think Microsoft's tablet will do well.  First and foremost, Microsoft doesn't have the best reputation of creating the most sleek devices.  This will cause a lot of hesitation among consumers.  They will probably think of the failure of Vista and compare it to the Windows 7 thats running on the new tablet.  Another reason I think the new tablet won't do well is that it is a newcomer into a market that is populated by the iPad.  Many consumers would want to stick with the iPad, which has already proven itself to be a very good tablet.  Also, a lot of people also don't like Windows 7.  It is very prone to viruses and is sometimes very slow and CPU-consuming.  I don't think that the new tablet from Microsoft will fair very well in the tablet market.

Hello

Ok, so I read to 2.7 of this  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sense-data/.


The person who wrote this had very similar thoughts as I do, but on a much greater degree.  I only talked about colors perception varying between people, but the author of this passage said that shapes, perspective, color, etc. perception also varied between people.  Even the part about color is different.  He said that an object doesn't actually have color.  It's the light that has color.


I find his point of view extremely unbelievable.  The only part that is believable is the color perception.  I don't agree with the "nothing has a color" point either.  If nothing had a color, then how does the light choose what color the object is going to be?  It would probably keep changing colors if it had no absolute color.  Also the shape perception is impossible too.  If a person saw a rectangular prism, but it was really a sphere, then the person would have been able to tell be feeling it.  There would be no angles.  The depth perception theory has very little flaws and is pretty believable.  If the person sees depth a certain way, then everything would be like that and it would be a perfect world.  I did not understand the part about hallucination.  It's easy to see what the author means for the time gap theory, but it is obviously not true.  Everyone only sees the light of objects.  So if we see the light of a distant star that just died, we are technically still seeing the star.  Double vision is caused because we have two eyes.  I really don't agree with sense-data.