Evil vs. Good

Just to start out, I don't think anybody is truly "good" or "bad". Though people are often given these titles, it is completely based upon the viewpoint of the person giving the names. In order to be a "good" person we are expected to fight human nature when it comes to things such as lust, greed, envy, etc. But after all, we are human, and we are bound to make mistakes or bad decisions in our lives. To go even deeper into this argument, who even decided the values of a "good" person? Was it religious leaders or just a basic understanding amongst everyone? No matter what lead to it we will always have an idea in our minds of someone that is a "good" person even though they may be the very opposite in someone else's view.

good vs evil

Evil is anything that causes someone or something either physical or emotional pain, may also include selfishness. Good is anyone who does nice things for others for nothing in return. I do not believe in absolute good and evil. I don’t think that there has ever been absolute good or evil in reality, that it is just a fictional idea. Not one person is completely one or the other, just different mixtures of the two. Even the best good person has done at least one evil act, no matter how small. The same for an evil person, they have occasional good acts, too. Good and evil are things that have to exist. As humans, we were created with emotions, thoughts, and different ways of dealing with them that makes no two people the same. Some people will always be tempted by “evil” things and some will have more self control against them.

Good Vs Evil (Blog 3)

The concepts of "good" and "evil" are completely conceptual and therefore may be interpreted differently by different people. If one goes with a standard definition of both, it is clear that they are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other because if evil no longer existed, how could we define good (and vice versa)? Everything, I believe, can be defined as being either good or evil, even supposedly neutral actions. Let's say you saw a wallet on the ground and decided not to pick it up. This supposedly neutral action has in fact had results that one could easily interpret as negative. By leaving the wallet there, you are not only not helping the person who dropped it, but you are also indirectly giving someone else the chance to steal it. At the same time, you give someone else the chance to find it and take it to its owner. Basically, you are leaving the result of your actions in someone else's hands rather than your own, and that result can either be good or evil depending one what he or she decides.

However, no one is truly evil, and at the same time, no one is truly good. Even those such Hitler or Stalin have done good deeds, and important religious figures have committed sins. As long as life exists, so will good and evil; it's an inevitable consequence of being sentient creatures and having the ability to decide our actions.

Good vs. Evil

I believe that we live in a world that is filled with both good and bad things, but there is no clear cut distinction between a "good" person and a "bad" person. For there to be categories of good and bad or good and evil, there would have to be universal agreements on the definitions of good and bad/evil, which definitely do not exist. Although there are many things that most people would always believe are good or bad, many things depend on how the individual person views them. There could be a person that you think is a terrible, immoral, evil person because of what you believe and how they compare to yourself personally, but they might perceive themselves as a very good individual. Something as simple as cheating on a test, for an example, can be viewed in completely different ways. Some people might see cheating as just another tool that can be used to be successful in high school and that it is completely fine, especially when it's something as simple as letting your eyes "drift" onto a fellow student's paper when you can't come up with a couple of answers on the big test. However, there are also people who believe that any form of cheating is wrong and immoral and would feel terribly guilty if they were to take someone else's answer. So is cheating good or bad? That's up to the individual to decide. So, I think there is clearly a gray area that exists when categorizing things, people, actions, beliefs, etc. as good and evil. And, with everyone having different beliefs and opinions, I believe that everyone will continue to struggle with the concept of good and evil and that it is the individual's responsibility to be confident in what they believe and how they choose to live their life, no matter what other people might think about it.

Good Vs. Evil

I have always been a firm believer that whether or not a person is good or bad is determined by what they do when nobody is watching. As for the person who returned the wallet in the prompt, he could have kept the wallet and nobody would ever. Except, he would know. So, knowing that he could not take the wallet and maintain a clear conscience he returned it to it's owner. Similarly, in California recently, there was a bank robbery that led to a car chase. It was televised live o people knew where it was happening. Then while in a residential area the robbers started to throw money out of the windows to draw people in the street and slow down the police. It worked and hundreds of people crowded the street to grab as much money as possible. One person in the scramble was a middle aged man who saw the chase on the news. He was able to grab a little over $10. Then, he immediately took that money to the bank to return it. It would have been much easier just to keep the money he got and not say anything about it. But, when he was asked later why he brought back the he simply said, "I wasn't mine." This is a perfect example of a good person because he does what he knows is right even though nobody would ever know the difference. On the other hand, do I think the people who didnt return the money are evil? No. But, I wouldn't say that they are good people either. I think the reason why I cant say they are evil is because there is so much evil that is shown to us we tend to ignore it, but when someone does something good it is very recognizable.

Blog Post #3

From what I believe, I don't believe there is an absolute good and evil. I think that it is just really a gray area with people who do good AND bad things, as no one is perfect. This can even be seen in superheroes in movies and comics. An example would be Peter Parker in the new The Amazing Spider-Man. In the beginning of the movie, (spoiler alert) Peter purposefully lets an armed thief steal from a store for revenge against the cashier, though he has the power to stop it. Even though Spider-Man is a hero, does this act technically make him evil? I don't believe it does, showing the exact gray area between good and evil people. I believe that good and evil exist, but they can't be eliminated because they are natural for everybody to do and be. Even though we all might want to believe that we are good people, we all do evil things as well.

Post 3

I do not believe there is a clear cut between good and evil. I believe that sometimes people's situations can make them do things that appear good to them, but evil to other people. For example, someone who's family is starving and have no money, they steal food to provide for their family. The family would view it as a good deed but for instance the store owner would view it as evil. So i guess there is a gray area between good and evil, but certain things are distinguishable between good and evil. Murder would definitely be an evil thing, while saving someone from a fire would be a good thing. But once again, circumstances play a part!

The Two Dogs...

The other day I was wasting my time on Pinterest when I found a quote by George Bernard Shaw, he said, “A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most.” I don’t believe that there is one good or one evil, or that one will always rise above the other. I believe these are traits inside of us and our life is a struggle to determine to which we turn. Good people can do evil things, evil people can be good. I cannot say that the difference is a clear-cut issue. People are capable of both, take Adolf Hitler for example, a man known by all as evil. He was the first in history to start an anti-smoking ban, invented and initiated the highway system in Germany, and united a nation that was crumbing under the weight of a failing economy. Now, if any other man had done things such as these, they would be celebrated and acknowledged but it was not a good man who did these things. Somebody evil, who did some of the worst things that have ever happened in the world, did do some good. It makes one wonder what makes some one evil, “are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”  as sung in one of Stephen Schwartz’s songs. This issues obviously isn’t black and white, there is no one line to be crosses. It is much deeper.

Good vs. Evil

Depending on the situation, sometimes there is a clear “good vs. evil” but other times there is a murky gray area based on individual perception. When Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor was it considered good or evil? The rich in the classic tale of Robin Hood would most likely not revere him as good and a hero, but the poor probably would. Often times different peoples’ perceptions of situations can cause one person’s hero to be another’s villain or visa-versa. On the other hand, determining “good vs. evil” can be very clear-cut. Take the Spiderman series for example; to most people it is pretty obvious that Spiderman who is trying to save the town is the hero and Dr. Octavious, or whom ever the villain trying to destroy the community is, the evil one. Labeling the good vs. the evil can be clear or very murky depending on the situation.

Assignment 3

Is there a fine line between good and evil? yes. As far as actions go you can be a good person that makes bad mistakes, that is understood. The main difference is the motives for completing those actions. If one has selfish, self-rewarding motives for doing a good deed I don't believe that makes them a bad person, I just don't think that makes them a good person. There is some grey area around this concept. I believe it all comes down to selfishness vs. selflessness. Good people look for ways to help others, and assist others purely for the help they provide for the other. In contrast, bad people might do good actions, but do it so their social standard rises, or they get something in return for those actions. A prime example of a good person is Tim Tebow. He consistently goes out of his way to help others, and goes through extensive measures to make sure the media does not acknowledge his good doings because he does not want to be perceived as someone who does these good deeds in order to raise his social status. Good will always prevail over evil, but the battle will always be around. Good will never defeat evil, and evil will never defeat good.

Shades of Gray

People are neither good nor bad. That I believe to be a fact: every human being has the capability to do either good or bad. There is no such thing as "being" good or evil, unless you look in books or movies. Truly evil people are unlikely to exist; just because they are mostly bad doesn't mean that they can't do good. Don't think I'm saying that Hitler was a good guy; what I'm saying here is that at least he didn't add animal cruelty to his list. That also doesn't mean that I'm going to tell you that he really wasn't a bad guy. He was bad, that much I can say. But he didn't have to be. That's just how it happened, that's where he went with his life. If he'd been accepted to art school, who knows how the world might have turned out.

So, about this whole "war between good and evil" thing. I don't really think there's a huge war between good and evil raging all around us. As awesome as that would be (give or take a universe or two) I can't say with any certainty where I'd end up being shoved in that one, since I myself feel thoroughly in the gray area. Personally, I like the way Good Omens shows it. It's a great little book about the apocalypse and the war between good and evil. Now, there are number of points the book makes (and keep in mind that it was mostly supposed to be humorous) and they all settle around three characters (or at least the points that I'm going to bring up do.) Of these three characters, I'll start with two of them: the angel and the demon. Both of them have spent a while on Earth, and having done so have realized something: they're not all that different. That's the way I see it; both sides have a little bit of both in them. The demon, Crowley, brings a bird back to life after the angel, Aziraphale, accidentally kills it. That's simply a small example of it, but really my point being that anti-heroes and anti-villains exist. Their very existence is because it's more realistic to us, because there is no such thing as a perfect person (like there may be in books or movies.) As a quick ending to my lame excuse to talk about a book I really like for an assignment, the third character to mention would be Adam. He's the antichrist, who is supposed to bring the apocalypse. Only, because he grew up with humans, he's just like them: neither good nor bad, with a capability for both.

Good Omens is a book all about the war between good and evil, but it's also twisting the idea upon its head. Because that's the way I feel like it would be. Even if there was a war of good and evil, somehow, I feel like neither side would be able to claim complete good or evil. In the end, I'm pretty sure humans are just that: perfectly flawed. One thing that Harry Potter got wrong is that one can live while the other survives: if not for evil, then what in the world would good be?

Good vs. Evil

I don't think that people are good or evil. I think that some people try to do good things some dont but       poeple are neither good nor evil. The lady who gave the wallet back isn't better than anyone else she just did a good thing. Neither can defeat the other because their are no absolute goods or evils. I don't think it is even necessary for them to exist because who can judge if we all  "bad" things then how can we say we are "good" or have the right to say someone else is not good? I think that interns of examples one of the best is Gatsby of The Great Gatsby in terms of who is good or evil and how they don't necessarily exist. He is presented throughout the entire book as good at least through the narrator's eyes but many of us see Gasby as bad or evil. If he were actually are real things they are at least fluid ideas not concrete definitions. When we don't agree on if a single character is good, how can we rule if a person, who has a entire life not just what a book tells us of a character's life, is good or evil?

Evil Doesn't Play by the Rules

Deciphering between good versus evil, when really simplified into their basic structures, isn't as clear cut as it would appear to be. What one considers good or evil is most certainly not what someone else might consider, and from this stems the controversy over the difference of the fundamental basics of wholesome and malevolent actions. Looking at popular movies for aid in attempting to distinguish between the two, I chose two examine The Princess Bride and The Shining. For the first, the rivalry between the two forces is evident with Prince Humperdinck being the vicious ruler and Westley acting as the hero of the story by saving Princess Buttercup. With the latter though, this distinction isn't as obvious. In The Shining, one could argue that the force of evil was the murderous father who attempted to kill his family and the good forces were the mother and the boy who worked together to try and stop the father. But if one chooses to analyze the plot even further, as I have, an argument could also be formed for the source of evil being not the father but the malicious forces of the house that acted upon the father and forced him to perform the actions we deem as "evil". In that case, is the father truly evil? But what constitutes an "evil" action? Is it the infliction of pain or death, is it social disruption or cheating? In that same light, one could also question what the root of good is. Is it employing a sense of honesty or friendliness towards someone, providing help, or simply not indulging in what is deemed and evil action (i.e. self-restraint)? Seeing as how our society is so deeply embedded in these two values that we judge all actions, our own or those of others, by their standards, I don't believe that we could ever foster a definition for either nor could we function as a proper society if these two values were removed. I would consider both good and evil two gray areas of human life that will permanently remain that way, never to be defined, for as we as a people continue to grow, so do our beliefs and values and they will forever continue to change our perspectives on the two topics because wherever there is one, the other will shortly follow.

Assignment 3: Come to the dark side, Luke

The news does not shy away from stories that show the moral flaws of humanity. Read any newspaper and there is always something about the latest crime in its pages. Every so often though, we are fortunate enough to hear stories of people who still want to do the right thing. For instance, Leah Kleppinger recently found a wallet when no one else was around. When she opened it, she saw $4,600 in cash and credit cards and had every opportunity to pocket it, but instead returned it to its owner.

But just because we hear about bad things and nice things happening does that mean there is a true battle versus good and evil? Is Leah Kleppinger the epitome of good while someone who would have kept the wallet the definition of evil?

So...you're prompt for the week:

Do you believe in absolute good and evil? Is it as clear cut as Harry Potter versus Voldemort, the Sith versus the Jedi? Is there no war at all between good and evil; is there just this gray area where sometimes good people do bad things? Are good and evil even things that have to exist? Can one eliminate the other once and for all? What is evil? What is good?

Use examples when applicable!

Your post will be due by Sunday September 16th 11:59 pm

Video Killed the Radio Star

Just to start clear, technology is an amazing invention. It has changed our lives and the rest of human life forever, but like anything else there are pros and cons. Everyone can probably name a billion pros because technology is awesome, but I have lived multiple cons of technology.

I have a very big opinion on the negative impact technology has on society. Most of the time I use technology for playing games, listening to music, deleting emails and tweeting from my ipod. Or doing work, typing, research, playing games and checking my favorite freebie and social media websites on the computer. I don't do a lot of technological communication. It's not real to me. With technology in the way what communication is real? People are so different behind a screen than in person. There is so much to say about it but I am at a lose of how to describe it. 

Texting and driving makes me very angry and it happens everywhere, all the time. Is any text really worth it? My mom will hand me her phone to text for her so she can focus. 

Since my dad upgraded his black berry to an iPhone, ughhh. The laptop at his house doesn't work but since he can access everything he used to need a computer for on his phone he hasn't replaced it. Now I am computer less at his house and I don't like to use my iPod for everything. Also he is always on that thing, always. I try and have a conversation and it's not a conversation, there is a disconnect. I either get a generic response or a what, can you repeat that? 

Technology is also my biggest distraction. So many website, so many apps so many ways to find the answer to everything but I have other stuff.

I guess I have a more negative view of technology than most teenagers, but I think I have legit reasons and have had different experiences. 

Dat's life.

Technology

Technology has definetely impacted my life in a positive way. Obviously, I have never lived in a time when people are not heavily reliant on technology so I dont have much to compare to. But, nonetheless, I honestly believe that technology has had a great influence on my life. The number obe way that it has affected me is communication. One major component of life these days, especially for highschool kids, is interacting with others. And, communication has made that easy for everyone. I remember middle school when I didnt have phone. It was almost impossible to communicate with friends. The only way was to call the house phone IF you could remember their number. But when I got a phone before seventh grade that all changed. All of the sudden it was possible to talk to my friends whenever I wanted. All of the obstacles that hampered my ability to communicate were remedied by adding a piece of technology to my life that was small enough to fit in my pocket. And, this is not the only scenario where this has been the case. In fact there are many cases like the computer I am typing this on, or the iPod I am listening to, and hopefully the car I get in the near future. In any case it is obvious that technology has improved my quality of life repeatedly and I do not anticipate that to stop.

iWrite as well as iCan

In my life technology has been wonderful it has made me more connected and the Internet is just amazing. I love the decade I'm in because my friends are all here plus my parents while they annoy me would really suck in any other decade. I love the infinite information on the Internet and might die without the freedom of cell phones and not the ones ontop of brief cases that were a dollar a minute. I feel technology has never got in my way and generally hen it gets in someone's way I find it's their own fault for not knowing how to use it. If I had to choose a decade m decade would be this one but if I have to leave I would choose the nineties because they were awesome. I love lannel and who doesn't want free ranged chicken and a good old protest every weekend? My playlist would be for a rainy day my songs would be "Rain King" by counting crows cause it seems appropriate, "Yesterday" by the Beetles because it makes me think of the sunny days, "Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele because it would be nice and warm then right? "Don't Download This Song" by Wierd Al because I spend hours wondering if it is supposed to be ironic, and "Ironic" by Ilanis Morriset because for the same reason.

iWrite

When thinking about technology, my thoughts automatically drift towards memories from when I was growing up. Starting when I was about three, my parents would pop a Disney classic into the VCR for my sister and me to watch in the afternoons before nap time. When I got into elementary school, my mom, sister, and I would listen to the Harry Potter books on cassette tape in the car during the long drive to Glendover Elementary. I would play my favorite Pokemon games on my Gameboy Advanced, Gameboy SP, and eventually on my Nintendo DS. I know I didn't realize it then, but when I think about all of these things and the memories they made for me, I can clearly see that technology played a huge role in my childhood. Today, the world pretty much revolves around the use of technology and gadgets and gizmos will continue to have a larger and larger effect on how humans live their lives. I believe that because I was exposed to technology at a very early age and throughout my childhood, I have an advantage going into the future. I have surpassed my dad's knowledge of technology and I am very quick to pick up on how to use new devices or programs, which shows how my exposure to technology as I was growing up is helping me keep up with the latest and greatest technological advancements. Today, I use my iPhone, Kindle, and laptop on an almost daily basis, so technology is obviously still a great part of my life. From a very young age up until this very second, I have been using technology and I can definitely say that it has had a very positive impact on my life.

Technology

Yes, technology has positively influenced my life. Technology in any form has been a benefit to all of society. It creates access to knowledge, communication, multimedia, and entertainment. It does not only give the general public access to helpful information, but gaming and socially networking that entertains  society. Social networking has personally connected me to my relatives whose main residency is up north. Without this technology I would not be able to keep in contact with them and share my personal thoughts and pictures with them. Yes, some would argue that technology has complicated today's everyday life and distracts today's youth, but in all honesty who doesn't enjoy having access most of life's questions at their finger tips? Having technology in classrooms eliminates the use of paper to an extent and creates a more environmentally friendly solution while also increasing productivity. International businesses would not be nearly as successful without the technology we have in the modern day. Our technology has bettered our means of entertainment and enhanced our form of communication, and as a result created a better functioning society.

Iwrite 2

Technology has affected my life in a positive manner in many aspects. As for school/education it has helped in my learning comprehension. For instance, computers let you research whatever you want, whenever you want. Calculators help you do math that may take hours by hand, therefore speeding up the process. Technology also helps with communicating. Now, because of cell phones, you can contact someone wherever you are, whenever you want. Thats very helpful to me because I am a very social person, and I text or call people all the time because I feel like I need to stay connected. Ahhh, speaking of which that is where social media comes in. I AM A TWITTER FIEND, I tweet all the time, as many of my classmates know. I love social media because you stay connected with all your friends and you can meet people that you would have never met without it. Technology really has just made life easier for me!

partly cloudy days are my favorite.

I haven't broken down and gotten an iPod yet.  I try to keep my mp3 player with me whenever I have a car ride over 5 minutes long.  If that doesn't work, I can always listen to music on my phone.  My perfect playlist for partly cloudy day in the middle of september (it's coming up soon!) would be this:

• "Going Away to College" by blink182 because it's a love song by an angst-ridden punk rock band who sometimes incorporates fun pop into their music.  It isn't the kind of cookie cutter love song you hear on the radio these days; it speaks more from a realistic relationship, one that has ups and downs and knows it isn't perfect.
• "Calgary" by Bon Iver because the the rhythm is just so smooth and calming.  No matter what I'm feeling, I am always reminded that everything is alright.  It slows down my thinking and allows me to refresh my mind.
• "After the Storm" by Mumford and Sons because it's just a beautiful song.  The musicality of it speaks to me in indescribable ways I wish I could put it into words for you.
• "Beautiful Place" by Good Charlotte because  it reminds me that everything bad is just temporary; my life is as good as I believe it to be.
• "Lullaby" by OneRepublic because parts of the lyrics talk about summer leaving and it's has a relaxing feel to it.  The title of the song fits perfectly because it's a slow song and it's one of my favorites. 

technology

I would love to have been born 20 years earlier than I was. Technology is the hardest thing for me to grasp. With every year that goes by, it is hugely advancing. I like simplicity, something hard to find with my life time’s technology. If I had been born 20 years earlier, I feel like my interaction with others would be better. With so many different ways to communicate with others, people tend to type instead of call. We’ve lost human interaction. Without peers being as distracted by their cell phones, including the web they can access on them, face to face conversation would occur more often.  Also, with technology people don’t get out as much. They have so many things that they can do from their beds that they feel no need to get up and go outside to avoid boredom.  I think that I would spend more time with friends if I were born 20 years earlier because they would just need something to do without today’s technology to entertain them.

iWrite (Blog 2)

What can I say about technology? According to my dad, I've been fascinated by it before I was even two, and nothing has changed since then. Really, if it were not for technology, I would probably find life to be pretty boring. That's not to say that I only find technology to be entertaining, but it is a large part of it. More importantly, though, through the internet, I have discovered a community of people with similar interests to me that I would never have found otherwise.

Almost four years ago, I was looking around a forum about a game series that I was heavily interested in at the time. I ended up finding a decently sized community of people that actually lived in Kentucky. I met up with them a few times that year and had quite a bit of fun. Now that I am older, I meet with them much more often, and we have formed a very close knit community. In fact, it wouldn't be out of place to say that the game series that originally united us has taken a backseat to the social aspect of the gatherings.

Without the internet, though, I am positive that this community would have never even formed, and I would have only one actual friend (although, admittedly, he is a very good friend). Technology has affected me in several different ways (as I may have mentioned, I believe video games are one of the reasons that I try to be nice toward others), but I believe that being able to meet and form a bond with this community has been one of the largest effects, and it's great to know that even when we aren't together, we can still contact each other through the internet.

iWrite on my iPod

If I had grown up 20 years earlier, I would be a much different person in general. Nowadays technology controls EVERY aspect of our lives including our relationships with one another. Can you imagine a world without 'Twitter fights', or someone getting mad at you for not texting them back? Because of technology, we are now expected to do things that we were not 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago for some. 20 years ago relationships would have differed in that everyone would focus more on who they were with at the moment rather than who they were texting or talking to over a social network. Without these distractions, we would have been able to develope our relations better than we are now. Technology has also given many of us the need for attention and approval by all of our peers. It seems like many people are more interested in how many followers on Twitter or Instagram that they have than how many close friends are around them. I realize that I am completely bagging on technology and my logic sounds like that of an old geezer, but I would like to state that I think technology is a fantastic and necessary part of our lives. In fact, I am using my iPod Touch to write this blog right now (as evident in the title). If I were to be born in any time period I would chose the 70s. No this is not because of the hippie movement, but because it was a time untainted by the pressures of technology, this allowing me to at least get through school without the distraction. But it is a recent enough period to where I would be able to see and experience the development of the amazing technology that we have today.

iWrite

I can pick up my cell phone and check my new text messages, Facebook notifications, and emails in less than two minutes. Though I may get in trouble sometimes for being on my phone a little too much, having these new technologies is such a luxury. The devices and Internet programs available to me have affected me in a largely positive way.  As I am getting older and meeting more people who live in different places around the world, having the technology to communicate with them at any time is becoming increasingly useful. I can keep in contact with friends and family, who I do not live near and I can keep the relationships that, without technology, would have fizzled out. Additionally, online resources allow me to keep up with current news from around the world and allow me to learn about the things that interest me; whether it is reading about new scientific discoveries that are happening around the world or looking at the directions to a new local coffee shop, technology allows me to explore and further my knowledge.

iWrite Blog

My iPod is like a baby to me. I take it with me everywhere to listen to music, including to school, to work, to workouts, and to other random places, playing music out loud in my car (which is where my music is played the most). Since I take it with me everywhere, I pretty much use my iPod 24/7 (or 16/7 because of sleep, but sometimes I even listen to music to go to sleep...). Since I use my iPod mostly in my car, I special playlist for driving anywhere, anytime. Here are some of my favorite songs from it:

1. As Long As You Love Me-Justin Bieber
While some people may be repulsed just by hearing his name, I actually do enjoy Bieber's music from time to time. This song is pretty upbeat, so it makes the drive go by faster with a little bit more fun.

2. Take Care-Drake
If you know me, you know that I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Drake, so of course it's one of my driving favorites. The song is also featuring Rihanna, who is also one of my favorites form this playlist.

3. Hurricane-30 Seconds to Mars
This fast-paced song is one of my favorites just because it is different from what I usually listen to, being alternative.

4. We Found Love/Only Girl (In The World)-Rihanna
I really love Rihanna, and both of these songs equally qualify as my favorites from her. They're upbeat, and they give off a lot of encouraging girl power.....

5. Rhapsody in Blue-George Gershwin
As you can probably tell by now, I enjoy listening to fast music by mostly popular artists when I'm driving somewhere. However, I also like classical/blues/jazz pieces from the 1920's and before, like this song. At 12 minutes long, it usually lasts the whole car ride to wherever I'm going and just allows me to think, because it has no lyrics.

iWrite...

There are many things about foreign exchange that are considered both pros and cons. You learn what is important to you, why your life back home is different from the one that others around the world are leading. Every one of my friends said that what my host family though of technology was “not a normal German thing” but it was normal for my family so I had to deal. They were against technology, or to be exact, they thought most of it would kill you. None of the four children got a cell phone, they shared a computer with the family, we had one hour of internet access on weekdays and one and a half on weekends, computer time ended at seven, to watch TV we had to ask and get the program approved, and movies were reserved for “family nights”. That was annoying. Before going to Germany, technology was my life. It still is, in a different way. It has always been my number one recourse for entertainment, but now it is something else. It is my connection to the people I love. My friends made me make a Facebook before I left and I’m so glad I did. That was newsfeed for life in the US last year and cell phone for the text messages I couldn’t get from my friends in Germany. Other amazing things were there like answers to our Chemistry homework which only one person understood and pictures of family and friends back home. Skype was just about the best thing in the world there, it tamed my homesickness and allowed me to feel like I was back home, if not just for an hour, so I could vent about the weird rules my host family had. Now, everything is flip-flopped. Skype is where I can compare notes with Charlotte, who traded lives with me for a year, and have just a regular conversation with my friends all at the same time even though one is in Germany, one is in Brazil and one is in Ecuador. Facebook now floods me with messages about clubs and keeps beeping from chats from people all over.  I realized last year why so many people hate the technological advancements of our world; they are loud, they keep people inside on days when the sun shines, they create a new aspect in the social culture, where people talk less and type more and they can, according to my host mother, give you cancer and kill the environment. But they can also keep families in touch, help you keep friends, make education easier, and most of all they create a world where you are just one click away from talking to, or even seeing someone that means the world to you.

iWrite Too Much

My life revolves around technology; when I say that it probably makes me sound terrible, that I can actually say that my life revolves around technology (the internet, pretty much, plus tv and other assorted first world necessities). I have the clarity to say that yes, I would be a completely different person if I had grown up 20 years earlier. Twenty years earlier than now it would be 1992, and I can just look to my parents' lives to see how I would have grown up. They would have been in their junior year of high school then; their horror stories of life having to actually talk to people face to face, or, in extreme cases, over the phone attached by a cord, tell me that I'd never be able to have the easy simplicity of simply texting my friends when I wanted to. Computers weren't really something they had, even in schools and certainly not at home. I wouldn't have just learned how to type over time and practice: I might have actually had to take a class for it. Right now, sitting in my room I have the NES and SNES that my parents played when they were in high school. As much as I love playing those, having seen the graphics for more recent video games, I'm not sure how I'd manage.

All of this sounds rather superficial when compared to the other posts made so far. I do use technology to talk to people in other countries as well, though only a few of them are related to me. I can still talk to my friend from 5th grade who currently lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thanks to Facebook, I can keep up with friends who have moved away (and who I have moved away from, though in most cases I'd be fine not keeping in touch with them). I can even talk to cousins I've never met, living in Japan (they're half-Japanese, half-American. I'm sure which half I'm related to is clear).

All of this said, I'm glad I live in the time period that I do. I'd really just prefer to live in the now. I'd much rather choose another decade to visit, rather than one to live in. That way I could always come back to the now and spend most of my weekend lazing on my butt reading fanfiction on the computer (another luxury I wouldn't have in the 1990s.)

iWrite Back Home

It's safe to say that, without technology, I would rarely speak to any member of my family outside of my mom and dad. Seeing as how the Atlantic Ocean provides a natural barrier between the two continents of North America and Europe, communication between the two can sometimes be difficult and would be close to impossible without technology and the Internet. Sure, phone calls are an efficient way to communicate but there is something to being able to see, not only hear, the family member you are speaking to that makes Skype so precious to me. Also, the fact that we don't have to pay the exorbitant prices for international calls is always a bonus! Without technology such as Skype, I would lose all connection to my old life and all the family back home. Being able to keep such an important aspect part of me letting me merge my old Bulgarian life with my new(-ish) American life is something I value highly and hope I never have to give up. Technology has truly affected me in a majorly positive way by providing me with the ability to not lose touch with my entire family and, for that, I respect it.

Connections

When I first got on that plane on August 17th, 2004 I didn't realize what I would be leaving behind, I was far too excited. I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to go over to my cousins' house everyday, or see my big sister every weekend. Then I flew to another continent with only a teddy bear twice my size as a memento from home. Now, here I am, 2398 miles away from my family. Through Skype and email, I have been able to see my nephew grow up and I can see my big sister every week even though they're in another continent. Skype allowed me to "attend" my uncle's wedding and countdown to the New Year with my cousins.The softphone on my computer allows me to make calls to my family whenever I want, I can call my cousin after a bad day.Technology keeps me close to home everyday. Technology has affected me in the greatest of ways, it's my connection. 

Week 2 Bo Phillips prompt 1

It is safe to say that technology has played a huge role in my life. For example, I am currently typing this on my iPhone 4s. Focusing on the iPhone, since I got one for my birthday in February my life has dramatically changed. I Say this because I feel more connected since I can now have things like twitter Facebook and instagram with me wherever I go. Not to mention I keep a calendar with it, set alarms with it and obviously keep in touch with everyone thought call and text. Dating back to before the iPhone was my iPod nano! This was a huge change for me because up until that Christmas I had always been the kid that didn't have anything too fancy but was never worried about it. Then I got my ipod and a whole new world opened up. I started to care about those types of things and more importantly I was introduced to the massive world of music. I feel so privileged for this to have happened to me because without it I wouldn't have found the music I love so much. These are just two examples of how technology has positively changed
My life and I can't wait for it to keep changing it!

Hey, I’m Laura, obviously. My goals for this year are to stay out of trouble at school and get all A's, B's, and maybe one C. I'm also going to try to read the entire apush book, but that one isn’t an as serious goal. All summer break I worked as a life guard at Hartland, so I didn’t have very many meaningful moments.. For superpowers, I would love to be able to change into a turtle whenever I wanted. I like turtles, they’re pretty chill. I don’t obsess that much about things or get "geeked out" but I really enjoy art, so I guess that’s the closest geek-like subject I’ve got going on.
So, I know to get full credit I have to post a hyperlink to some website I really enjoy, but I really don’t have one. I don’t own a personal computer and the only way I’m allowed to use my parents is for homework only. I'm not much of a technology kind of person anyways. Here’s a link to my blog page.. I think.. ?
https://plus.google.com/u/0/114546275837685297945#114546275837685297945/posts
the picture is of me, just chillin in a tree at the park. I got stuck so Will had to get me down. I like trees and am usually needing some sort of help so I figured this was a good enough picture to describe me as any.

 

Assignment 2: iWrite

In 1976, Steve Jobs became a co-founder of Apple. 35 years later he retired, putting his enormous company into different hands, and shortly thereafter succumbed to cancer. His retirement and death did not just mean a promotion for Tim Cook, the new CEO, but a major shift in a company that has been a key player in technology innovation in the 21st century.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Steve Jobs changed our lives.

So, this brings us to your writing for the week:

How has technology affected your life?

Choose one of the following prompts and in 150 words or more, provide your answer.

• Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?
• Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?
• How would your life have been different if you'd grown up 20 years earlier? How would you interact with others? Do you think your relationships then would differ from your present relationships? Which time period would you prefer and why?
• How often do you use your ipod (or phone or whatnot)? What is your perfect playlist for ____ (fill in the blank - it could be your perfect playlist for a sunny day, for a road trip, for thanksgiving, etc.) Choose 5 songs, note the song and artist and why you chose this song.

The deadline for this blog is Sunday, September 9th at 11:59 p.m.

Hello

Hi! My name is Urvi (it means Earth). Something that totally “geeks” me out is art. I absolutely love theater, and music, and visual art etc. Going to see a play or a concert with friends is my favorite thing to do. I also like to follow politics and the news. Sometimes if I go to a website with just news on a very specific topic that is very technical, if I am not completely passionate about that topic, I get bored.  And if I go to websites with lots of celebrity and social news I also get bored. Almost everyday I visit www.yahoo.com and read their news. I do this because they pull top stories in topics ranging from politics, to food, to celebrity news, to sports. This mash up happens to be the perfect balance of serious and silly for me. If I could choose any super power in the world to have it would be that I could have “spidey webs” like Spiderman. I am a fan of Spiderman and think the webs he swings on are super fun. If I had spidey webs I would always have something entertaining to do.


My favorite movie!!!

Wad up. Claire is the name, goofing is the game.

Really though if you look up Claire Elizabeth Gardner you will see big goofball next to it. Oh and back on my full name I find it pretty awesome that my initials are two letters apart in the alphabet, yet I haven’t been able to find anyone else who fins it as dazzling as me.

I love making people happy and smile, you could it’s my hobby. I guess it geeks me out, but we will get to that in a sec. Drama and I don’t mix, unless you know someone named Drama then you should introduce me, but really I don’t mix well with it so that is why I love making people smile and forget their troubles for a moment. My mom says I’m a bit of a peace maker and since sixth grade I have loved peace. The symbol, the idea, what it stands for, everything about it. The symbol is what means the most to me; I created a peace sign out of Arizona cans for my room.

So the assignment, if I could have a superpower it would be mindreading. I have never met anyone else that agrees with it. I want to the answer to everything; no matter if the answer hurts me it’s the truth and that is all I care about. It could hurt but it’s not a lie. That is why I could handle being able to read minds. I would love that power so extremely much.

I would say I had a pretty average summer but every summer of mine includes going to my everything. Camp. It’s called Wakonda-Ho (Wa-Con-Da-Ho), it’s located in Yosimite, KY(oh and that is also the hike pronunciation). There are two one week high school camps back to back and I went to both so I had 14 days of amazing fun filled with loving friends. It is a church camp, but honestly I love it for the surroundings and the people. I have met some pretty amazing people that will be life long friends.

My goals for this year are to get all A's and B's. I would like to get 4's on my AP exams. I also want to narrow my college list down to very few because I would like to apply for early application senior year. I would also love to narrow down my carrear list to about two jobs, I know what I'm good at I just have to find out how it can be a job, which I am finding is very difficult.

So what geeks me out- crafting, art, etc. I love to take old items and make them art, a sculpture. This is my peace sign of cans, I love it.

A website I visit a lot is postsecret.com, and Tumblr.

Audios!

i'm callie and i insist on double spacing between sentences.  i have a left-handed guitar (that's right, you guessed it, i'm left handed) and i am known to sing in the shower.  i think music should be celebrated by all, but that opinion also goes for all things academic related as well.  i don't know how i spend my free time because i so seldom have any, but i know i try to spend it with my friends. i spent my summer babysitting 4 kids: olivia and luke, two kids from my Mary Kay world, and freddie and deuce, my boyfriend and brotherfriend.  (that's what deuce-the-three-year-old calls himself in relation to me.)  i don't know where i want to go to college or what i want to study, but i do know i will be a Mary Kay director by the time i graduate high school.  Mary Kay is a third of my life outside of school; the other parts would be my church and my boyfriend.  i hate the state of ohio (mostly just the people, but the landscape isn't that great either) and that of colorado (there's bad blood there that dates back to third grade with me).

i will always geek out about quite a few things.  i am a romantic romantic (not to be confused with a hopeless romantic.  they are quite different things).  pride and prejudice is one of my ultimate favorites.  math and spanish will also geek me out.  i may not be the best at either but whenever and wherever they are involved, i go out and give 120% of pure love.  i love animals, but the cat will be my spirit animal forever.  i am also half cat (at least).

if i could have a super power it would be the power to pause time.  i'm a little forgetful sometimes, so then i could do whatever i needed to do with the time paused and then continue like i had already had it done.

my favorite website would be http://www.lizziebennet.com/ and here is me as a kid.

Hello my friends. I am just a typical fella trying to live my life the best that I can. I play lacrosse, and have dreams to play in college. I enjoy playing Frank Sinatra loudly throughout my household on the weekend, and singing to songs of Adele. I am not able to describe my best friends because I am friends with all people. That is untrue, but I do not want to name my closest friends in case I forget one, and I do not want to hurt anybodies feelings. In my spare time I look up pictures of puppies, and my favorite website for that is usually https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=627&q=cute+puppies&oq=cute+pu&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1899.2760.0.4602.7.6.0.1.1.0.73.399.6.6.0...0.0...1ac.lBebVLoZJCo I would consider myself to be a dog person, and definitely not a cat person. I have very conservative political views, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. Essentially, I am very outspoken and I am a firm believer in the no sock movement in America. #sockless2012 I love book club, and I think everyone should join. #gobooks!!!!! My life motto is #yolo, and that is all. Thank you for indulging in my first blog post, and I look forward to this year!!!! I can not post a picture due to the fact that my brother broke my computer three days ago, so I am sorry about that. You do have permission to take a picture of my face whenever you want if you so desire. I apologize for that Mr. Logsdon. Goodnight my friends, and I bid you a pleasant labor day.And my goal is to get all A's this year, and commit to a college for lacrosse. Goodnight!!!!

           As you have probably already noticed my name is Bo Phillips. What you might not have noticed is that I am 16 years old, play on the varsity soccer team, am the best procrastinator in the academy if not the world, and I can talk about sports for hours. My favorite sports to play are soccer, basketball, golf, and football. However, my favorite sports to watch are soccer, football, basketball, and golf; although, it doesn't look like it there is a huge difference in those lists. There are other things I care about besides sports though. For example, politics and school. Cursory overview of my politics is that I am conservative, but I do not believe that in order to call myself a conservative I have to be conservative on every issue. But that is a topic for a different multi-hour discussion. School is something to talk about now though. This year I am taking 4 AP classes (US History, Calculus, English, and Biology) as well as Physics and Spanish 5. My goal this year is to get all A's. It is doable but with AP Biology in my way it will be very difficult.

              I geek out about a lot of things but a some of the things that geek me out the most are any and all things soccer (especially European, which brings me to my favorite website: foxsoccer.com ), Childish Gambino (my favorite rapper), and good television. Good television is a much vaguer topic than soccer and Gambino so I'll focus on that. My favorite television shows are Suits, The Newsroom, and The Office. Unfortunately, The Office is going off the air after this next season which is good because it is out of its prime, but I will definitely miss it. However, The Newsroom on HBO has just finished its first season and I cannot wait for it to come back. I like it primarily because it raises so interesting points about our society today and the way we accept pure lying. Finally, Suits is my absolute favorite show right now. I identify with the show because I hope to be a lawyer one day, but the real reason I like it is because it has the perfect combination of wit, drama, and bad-assery. It is safe to say that Harvey Specter is my idol and that Rachel Zane and Donna Paulsen are my tv crushes!

             In conclusion to my first blog post I would like to say that I am looking forward to this year, and that if I could have any super power it would be invisibility. Also here is a picture of me doing what I love:

megan blazie

my name is megan ashley blazie, I am 16 years old and as much as I would like to tell you that I'm not your typical teenage girl, I am and I know it. my favorite color is pink, and I love anything sparkly or monogrammed, and I would rather go shopping than just about anything. I guess you could say shopping is what "geeks me out." I like to shop all the time, but I really love to go shopping with my gramma, sure part of it is because she gets me whatever I want, but I really just like spending time with her. whenever I'm bored, or have a minute of free time I am usually on www.pinterst.com , not only does this website feed my need to shop even more, but it also makes me want to force my mom to make me every recipe I find and instantly turn into someone who has the patience and time to do all of the crafts. but because I don't live in megan dream land I make the compromise and "pin" them because I tell myself one day I will have the time.

see? I'm a princess

my parents divorced before I was born and I am thankful for that, not that they divorced, but that they did so before I was born so I never had to go through that traumatic experience that so many kids do have to go through. I have two little sisters, an 11 year old sister who lives with my mom and I, and a 7 year old sister who lives with my dad in florida. although I am the oldest child in my immediate family most of teachers and mentors think I act more along the lines of a youngest child. I don't know why, maybe it's becasue I was raised around adults, or that I was five when my little sister was born, or that I just still think of myself as a little princess who should get everything she wants.

the most memorable part of my summer was camping at the Oshkosh air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. this summer was my second year going and it is definitely an interesting experience. I am not really an outdoorsy person.. at all, but getting to spend the week with my jogie (jogie is what I call my grandfather, it's polish for grandpa) and all of his friends that I have grown up around but don't get to see much makes it all worth it. since my jogie, dad, and uncle are all pilots, and my dad lives in Florida, I have grown up around places. I started flying by myself when I was 4, but even to begin with I was never one of those babies who cried that whole flight. I am learning to fly and once day I will have my pilots license but for now I'm too scared to do my solo, an hour in the plane all by myself? no thank you! I don't even have my drivers license yet! the air show was fun, but honestly anything with my jogie is fun. he is my favorite person in the world and if I had it my way, he wouldn't live in Maryland/Florida, he would live in Lexington, Kentucky so I could see him everyday. with that in mind, if I could have any super power, it would be teleportation. so that i could see my grandparents whenever I wanted.

this is my jogie and me at their house in Maryland when I was little

my goal for this school year is to not be so lazy. taking four ap classes is a very big commitment and to do as well as I know I can it is going to take a lot of hard work. I plan on doing all of my homework, and studying for all of my tests.

in my opinion I think I am a pretty easy person to get along with, I usually go with the flow and take life as it comes. I am looking forward to a good year!

Yo, It's Will Carrico

Oh hey, didn't see you there. I was given the name of Jeffery William Carrico after my father and grandfather, yet go by Will. I am cursed with forever being called Jeff by substitute teachers and my last name constantly being mispronounced. My academic goals for this semester include receiving all A's and B's in my classes with a maximum of two B's. I had a fantastic summer this year which consisted mainly of working at my summer internship, spending time with friends, and going on vacations and trips. This summer I had an internship at the Center for Behavioral Science at UK under Dr. Sharon Walsh. At this research lab volunteers were screened and tested for a series of weeks each in order to determine the effects of certain drugs on long-term users (opiates in this situation). I had a huge interest in psychology even before my internship after I took AP Psych last year, but this experience opened my eyes to another side of psychology which is research. One thing that really geeks me out is music and discovering new music. This summer I had the opportunity to go to two music festivals, Forecastle in Louisville, and Lollapalooza in Chicago. At these festivals I discovered many new artists and met many new people. I would say that I listen to many different types of music, but primarily alternative, rap, and indie. However, I will never be caught listening to country music... It makes me sick to my stomach. Although one of my fellow classmates already stated this, if I could have one super power it would be to control time. with this power I would be able to save time, along with relive moments in life that I have found to be especially magnificent.

Here is a picture of my dad and I at Forecastle during the My Morning Jacket show.



I also took a video at Lollapalooza of a band called The Head and the Heart that you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAzK9-dKN7g
You can probably hear me singing along, but just ignore it.

My favorite website would have to be a tie between www.pollstar.com and www.pandora.com. Pollstar is a website that allows you to locate shows and where musicians and bands are playing around the country. Pandora, although you probably already know, is a free online radio that allows you to listen to music similar to any song or artist that you type in. I have found many new artists through the use of this site, and hope to find more.

Hey guys....

Hi! My name is Briana Nicole Gochett, and I don't think anybody will ever be able to say/write my name correctly. I'm 16 years old (17 on February 6th) and I have two brothers who I love to death. Me and my younger brother, Brendan, are 10 months apart and were born in the same year, so we are especially close. I'm scared of the future and of the dark, and I've met Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Sylvester Stallone and Nastia Liukin. Also, two of my biggest pet peeves are upside down stop signs and un-orderly things (I understand these are completely random, and sometimes they lead me to believe that I am slightly OCD). I'm addicted to chocolate, and if I had any superpower, it would be the ability to fly (with inspiring, upbeat music playing in the background). My summer was not very interesting at all, my highlight actually being getting my license and a car, so I would say that I'm a pretty average person.

 

Me and brothers, Kevin and Brendan, in a cliche sibling picture. 

Now that I'm done with random facts about me, I have academic goals that are pretty similar to everybody else's. I take my schoolwork very seriously, so I want to keep my 4.0 gpa, pass my three AP tests with 4's and 5's, and get at least a 30 on my ACT. I don't know what college I want to go to, but I'm looking into Duke, Vanderbilt, Tulane, and Xavier. I want to become a pediatrician, because I absolutely love kids. Personally, I have a goal to reach out more and become an active member of society, and to stop procrastinating.

Whenever I'm not doing anything related to school, I'm either working at Chick-fil-A (I absolutely love my job there, weird I know...), playing my cello, or learning anything and everything about gymnastics. You could say these things "geek" me out, especially gymnastics. I fell in love with the sport at age 6, and I became a competitive gymnast, competing in meets all around the nation (I even got a spot on Team Kentucky in an annual national meet). I also had--far fetched--dreams of going to the Olympics. I had to quit because of my "career-ending injuries". I developed painful arthritis in both of my wrists and minor scoliosis in my back. Despite this, I still adore gymnastics and I get extremely offended and defensive when someone claims that it isn't a sport. Today, I still try to stay involved in gymnastics by volunteering in events with my old gym.

This is me and my old team at practice.

Me doing something kinda cool.

With everything else that I'm doing, I only use the internet for a few things (mainly twitter and instagram), but one of my favorite websites is www.yahoo.com. Even though I use Google as a search engine anyway, I like looking at the random news articles that Yahoo! has.

Well that is pretty much me!

er...

So my name is Dominik Booth. I was born in some tiny town you've never heard of while my parents were on vacation, grew up in another obnoxious tiny town, then moved to Las Vegas where I was raised around strippers and smokers (which is always a wonderful way to raise children.) After some fantabulous remarrying (through which I acquired a step mother) my father realized that children on the Strip was sort of a stupid idea and moved to less exotic Lexington.

Nowadays I spend all of my time perusing the winding corridors of the Internet and generally being obnoxious. Most of my time is spent either on Tumblr or clicking through a delightfully painful to read webcomic concerning children left in their homes playing video games, featuring wonderful time shenanigans and other stuff. No, you can't have a link, you'd all judge me. When I'm not doing that, I'm making horrible looking gifs (they are intentionally gross... just so you know) like the ones I'm posting down below.

My other geeky obsession is 19th and early 20th century Russian literature. I've got an entire bookshelf filled with Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Chekov, Pushkin, Nabokov and yeah that's enough. My love of the classics isn't just limited to Russia, but I haven't really read anything contemporary (post WWII) in a while.

Academically, this year's goals are to get straight A's and be a successful leader for History Club and Lit Mag.

My superpower? I'd want to be a parkour master. Like Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge. Oh, and I'd like to point out to Jacob Snelling that his super power is totally cheating.

My name is Jacob Snelling and I am 16 years old. Even though I have my license my parents don't let me drive-_-.  I play middle linebacker for Henry Clay and we got our first win against belfry two nights ago. I have a huge bruise on my hip from the game and it is hurting as I type. If I could have a superpower it would be the power to have every superpower... That way I could do whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. I guess football and other sports are what "geek" me out because I am obsessed with it. I can probably tell you what play is going to happen before it happens. I go to all of the Henry Clay basketball games and am always in the 'Devils Den.' I hope to get all A's this school year and improve my work ethic...it's horrible. But a website I am addicted to is www.twitter.com social media is a big part of my life. And speaking of Devils Den here is a picture of me and a classmate about to go be a part of it..

file://localhost/Users/jacobsnelling/Documents/me%20and%20gates%20swag.jpg 

This Really Won't be Very Interesting at All...

My name is Lusi Lukova, but my real and full name is Luiza Petkova Lukova. From that information, you can probably gather that I'm not American. I was born in Bulgaria and my family and I moved to the United States when I was four. Only two years later, we moved back across the Atlantic, only this time we settled in Barcelona, Spain. Just those 2 huge moves had a tremendous impact on the small 6 year old girl that i was but my parents, being the indecisive people they were and always will be, decided that we should move once again, and thankfully for the last time, move back to the United States where we have happily remained for the past 8 years. (I suppose they didn't like very much in Spain, just like me. I only truly made one friend that I liked and that was because we were both forced to sit next to the bus driver on the 2 hour daily commute to school because we both got carsick.)

I think that even though I hated the constant packing when I was young, it led me to develop my biggest passion in life: to travel. Anything about a different culture fascinates me whether it be Tibetan religion, French art, Indian food, Aztec ruins, or German literature and I can say without a doubt that when I daydream, which happens quite often, I plan all the trips I would one day like to make. Another thing that truly geeks me out is a really good book. I have this re-occuring dream where I always find myself in a secluded cabin all by myself, in front of a roaring fire sitting in a soft armchair covered in a warm blanket. Beside me are a cup of steaming tea and stack of books. Anytime I have that dream I never want to wake up; I wish I could live my life that forever.

My personal goals for this year come along with a somewhat funny, yet also somewhat sad and embarrassing story. Along with hoping to maintain my 4.0 GPA, I would like to actually take my AP Tests this year. That's right not pass with a 4 or 5 (though that would be preferable!) but actually take them. This stems from last years AP World History class and the fact that I flaked out on the test and didn't take it the morning of. That's right, I'm a wimp. Even though I had read the AP Review Book, annotated it in its entirety, and taken the practice tests, my mind was not able to comprehend any of the information that I would have liked it to absorb and I had what some would call a panic attack. I'm deeply embarrassed by my decision but, like the moving, I hope it's something I can use to learn from and grow as a person. So far, even though its only the beginning of the year, I feel like I'm managing to juggle my 4 AP classes fairly well. Lets hope it stays that way.

My summer contained two memorable moments and those who know me can probably guess them. First, I was able to go back and visit my family back home in Bulgaria. This fact is not too exciting to those who know I do this every year but seeing as how all my relatives live so far away, communication even through sketchy Skype calls is difficult and doesn't compare in the slightest to that moment when the double doors at the airport open for you and you find your aunt and uncle and baby cousin waiting on the other side, grinning.

This is my little cousin. Her name is Vanina, she loves chocolate ice cream and sings along to ACDC in the car but she prefers to call them "AZBZ". 

All of you who complain you have to go to your grandparents' houses for Christmas have no idea how much I would kill for that; you guys have it easy. The second notable part of my summer was getting to see my best friend Sophia again after she came back from a year abroad in Germany. I wont bore you with the details as you can read them on her blog post. (Just scroll farther down and she's one of the first posts. Yes, she's one of those people who does their assignment for the next week the night it's assigned. She'll probably kill me for typing this...but i can't lie to my blog, she's a geek. It's okay though, we're all geeks here in the Academy.) Here is a picture of us when i took her to Bulgaria with me last summer. We spent a good majority of the time watching TV re-runs (Golden Girls is a favorite) and knitting. I know, I know....we lead sad lives.

On a side note, what I eventually wish to accomplish out of life is to merge my two passions of Literature (and writing) and travel and make a career out of them. As of now, I'm only planning and beginning to look into colleges, but it is my biggest aspiration. Perhaps I'll become an editor for a travel magazine? Boy, wouldn't that be nice. Maybe I'll start smaller. Hopefully I can convince all the people I work with at International Book Project (Mr. Logsdon, I believe you happen to know a certain Todd Johnson who works there) to take me along on their next trip to India so I can better understand how the non-profit organization manages to deliver pallets upon pallets of much needed books to impoverished countries. The main coordinator, Tajus, seems to like me so hopefully I can mange to convince him! Im already imagining the delicious streetfood...yum. Speaking of food, my current favorite website happens to be www.foodgawker.com which is where I go to waste my time away. Ive become an expert if I may say so myslef.

Thanks for bearing through my long post...that is if you had the patience to actually read it in its entirety... I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.

...

Hello, my name is Jacob Ward. Of course, most people in the school just know me as that, "one quiet kid." Well, I can't say that isn't my fault to be honest.

Since this is my junior year, I will try much harder to achieve my academic goals, which are as follows: earn an A in every class and get at least a 32 on the ACT. They are simple goals that most people in the Academy hope to achieve, and I suppose you could call such goals a cliche, but there really is not much beyond that that I hope to achieve this year.

The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation... well, it would easily be my trip to Japan, but that spanned two weeks, so it's not really a moment. We visited Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Suwa, and Kyoto. The temples and shrines were all beautiful, and the people were incredibly nice and polite. For those that don't know (which is more than likely most people), I've been self-studying Japanese for a year and a half. I know how to read Hiragana, Katakana, and a few Kanji (all different forms of writing). I also have what I deem a decent vocabulary, and I understand basic sentence structure and grammar. Going to Japan allowed me to test what I had taught myself, and while I was able to translate a few signs, understanding natives was near-impossible with my beginner-level Japanese (although, I would say that I have surpassed a Japanese 1 level). Now, before I end this paragraph, I just want to state that unlike quite a lot of people that I've seen on the internet, I don't like Japan simply because of its anime and video games (although, I do enjoy both, the latter more than the former), but instead because I have taken quite an interest in its culture and history. I had a very enjoyable time, and I hope I can go back there some time in the future.

Being someone who prefers to observe, rather than take part in, if I could have a super power, I suppose it would be complete invisibility, as in the ability to not only alter the light and wavelengths around me, but also to mask any sounds I make or faint odors (and when I say that, I mean an odor that only a dog could pick up on). I would feel much more comfortable in class, and finding a place where I can get a moment of peace would be much easier. Now, I have an alternate answer for this: if we are considering a world where other people besides me obtain super powers, then my answer would be border manipulation, which includes both conceptual and physical borders. For example, by manipulating someone's personal border of life and death, I could kill them without even blinking. I could also essentially travel to any place or time at any moment simply by manipulating the border between where I am and my destination (basically, imagine a rift opening up, me stepping through it to my destination). Border manipulation is considered by some to more or less be the ultimate power that one could have, and in a world where others can also obtain super powers, it would definitely be the power that I would seek. Of course, in a normal world scenario, I'd just stay with the much less audacious invisibility.

Lastly... what "geeks" me out.... Hmm, well, to put it simply, the activity that many adults consider a waste of time, video games, specifically Nintendo games (personally, I dislike first person shooters; the only ones that I have thoroughly enjoyed have been the Metroid Prime Trilogy). Ever since I was three and started with good old "Pokemon Snap" on the Nintendo 64, I have been hooked on these things. In fact, I was hooked to such a degree that when I was in second grade and Christ the King decided to show the second grade classes several health videos that made me realize my current lifestyle may make me grow up to be fairly unhealthy, I decided I could pick between unhealthy foods (including candy) and video games. I have not eaten candy since second grade, but I am currently excited for the Wii U's release this year. Seeing video games evolve as I get older has been astounding. I started with a game that where there was nary a circle or curve in sight, and now there are beautiful games (by a technical perspective) like "Super Mario Galaxy 2," (by an artistic choice), "Okami" and "The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker," and (by great animation) "Sonic Colors." Of course, once in a while, I always go back to my Nintendo 64 and play some of the older games because no matter what console generation one looks at, there will always be spectacular games that everyone interested in the medium as a whole should at least try once. Also, just to give a hint on how to get me to talk so much that you'll want me to shut up (surprising coming from me, right?), just ask about "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask," which is by far my favorite video game; it's also a Nintendo 64 game.

On a more... academic note, Japanese culture and language interests me very much as well (big part of why I went to Japan this summer). Actually, funnily enough, this interest initially began with... video games (no one could have seen that one coming). I believe I was at Disneyland and playing "Pokemon Silver." At that time, my thought process could be summed up as thus: Am I playing Pokemon? If yes, yay! If no, why aren't I playing Pokemon, and how can I start playing Pokemon? Yes, Pokemon was a gigantic part of my life, just like most kids born in the 90s. Anyway, while I was playing my game, my dad started talking to me. He asked, "Do you know where that game was made?" I replied with a simple, "No," because I was five and hadn't learned much about the real world, even though I knew the geography of Kanto and Johto (not the real world ones) like the back of my hand. He then went on to say, "That game was made in a country called Japan." I think I said, "Cool," as I defeated a wild Pokemon, but this conversation planted a seed curiosity in my brain that would sprout into the great interest I have in the country today.

A website that I often go to is zeldainformer.com While it is a "Legend of Zelda" fan site, it also often posts other news about Nintendo (and the game industry as a whole). While the validity of some posts are somewhat questionable, I find it to be a very solid website for that kind of stuff as a whole.

I've heard a saying along the line that a person is the sum of his or her experiences. Well, here are all of my experiences, so I think this picture is quite appropriate for expressing who I am. Now, before anyone reads this and judges me poorly for enjoying video games as much as I do, hear me out. Main stream video games have not been around for long, and like other young mediums, have been harshly treated and are only beginning to become popular among "regular" people. They are following the same path as many other trends, such as rock. There has been much research put into video games, and they are not as much of a waste of time as many think. I would not say that it would be a stretch to say that my healthy vocabulary is a direct result of playing heavily text based games such as "Pokemon" and the "Legend of Zelda" series. I even learned to read with the help of the previously mentioned "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask." Video games have truly had a very positive influence on me, and contrary to popular belief, they may be the reason why I try to be nice and polite with others in the rare moments when I speak. It is for these reasons that I believe this picture truly represents me.

As a disclaimer, I want to state that video games aren't the only thing I enjoy as I have several other interests, but they have been with me for as long as I can remember, so that's why I consider them to be an important part of my life. Of course, their importance will diminish as I get older and have to worry about such things as a job and maintaining a house, but I don't believe I'll ever "outgrow" them; I mean, I don't think people tend to outgrow what they enjoy doing in general (like sports or watching TV), so why should I outgrow what I enjoy doing?

Anyway... wow... this was much longer than I intended it to be to be completely honest. I suppose I simply just got carried away. As you can probably see, I am much more comfortable with typing out my thoughts than saying them. In fact, those who communicate with me online say that I can put a lot more emotion into my text than my speaking. Well, if you got all the way through this, good job! I'm not quite sure why you decided to take the time to read this overly long blog post, but thank you for doing so; I appreciate it. Lastly, I apologize to everyone that has to now scroll through about 1.2x more than they did before this in order to see the directions for the first blog.