My Neighbor Plan Failed - Haven

   Well, now don't I just feel embarrassed. My plan was to wait until Halloween to analyze my neighbor based off of his costume. Unfortunately it back fired as most of my classmates, him included. So it's with a heavy heart I admit I don't know a lot about Sir David. But I do propose this; he's psychic and secretly planning to take over the world. 
   My suspicions come from his mannerisms. I have never seen David panic about anything. Nor, no matter what non-sequitur happens to be spouted out for the day, does he ever seem to be surprised. Maybe amused, but that's debatable. The main point is David always has an appearance of control. One could say (ohh, I don't know) it's like he reads your mind. Or can predict the future. 
   Truth be told, I don't know much else about him. The characteristic that sticks out most is that he gets good grades - great grades, even. Which, in turn, could suggest a fine priority in his educational career . . . OR HE DIVINED ALL THE ANSWERS. WITH HIS MIND!
   I see the color purple with him, for that's the color I associated with psychic abilities. Particularly a maroon-ish purple with more of red influence, like this. 
   The animal question is a bit harder, since nothing really comes to mind. I'll have to settle for a horse. Kentucky, after all. 
   And finally, finally I can warn everyone. David is going to have a major power in five years. I don't have the same powers as him, so I can't divine on what scale his influence will be, but I have the unnerving feeling that it will be a stepping stone towards transcending into a new plane of existence.
   We're all players in this game, and I warned you.

   *I don't actually think David has malicious intentions for his potentially non-existent physic powers. I do believe he will succeed in what ever plan he puts his mind to. Happy Halloween you beautiful lunatics. 
   

Assignment 4: Parker Carroll, make up

Prohibition permanently changed the United States. Prohibition was a ban on the sell, production, and transportation of alcohol. It began in 1920 and ended in 1933. Prohibition created a huge market for illegally produced alcohol, moonshine. The demand for alcohol was still existed. Which led to the illegal production and sale of alcohol. The illegal alcohol market and bootlegging led to the further organization of crime groups. Al Capone was a major player in the moonshine industry. After thirteen years of prohibition the U.S. government finally decided to legalize the production, sale and transportation of alcohol again. The government realized the demand for alcohol would never die, meaning bootlegging wouldn't either. By the government legalizing alcohol they were able to put restrictions on the sale and consumption of it. Also, the government was able to create requirements and standardize the production of alcohol. Prohibition is a major part of U.S. history and one of the many events that has made the country what it is today.

Assignment 3: Parker Carroll, make up

I believe in absolute good and evil. However, I do believe that absolute good and absolute evil only exist in extreme cases. For example, some of the things Nazi's did to Jews during WWII were absolutely evil. Fortunately, I don't things quite that bad happen very often. On the other hand, I think absolute good is a rather common occurrence. I find someone giving a homeless person to be absolute good. Them helping someone in need and less fortunate is absolutely good. Although, these examples differ drastically in their magnitude I find them to be accurate. In my opinion, something that can be described as "absolute evil" is very severe.
Good and evil definitely have to exist. Without good, society would basically have an "every man for himself" mentality. Although, we wish absolute evil didn't exist we have to have it. Absolute evil is what we've used to develop our sense of right and wrong. Without right and wrong their would be anarchy and no civilized societies.
 Everyone has their own ideas of good and evil. I view evil as a party deliberately causing a severely negative affect on another party. Where as, I find good to be a party deliberately causing a positive affect on another party without intending to receive any gain and/or benefit.  

Assignment 2: Parker Carroll, make up

Technology has affected me in a majorly positive way. Many aspects of my life have been made easier by advances in technology. Technology has made made it easier for me to communicate with others and access information throughout my entire life. My whole life I've been able to communicate with others via the internet and cell phones. Internet communications began with email and instant messaging. Nowadays there is video chat and social media sites (all with some form of messaging). Cell phones, being even more convenient than the internet, started off rough but have evolved practically into mini computers. Cell phones are used to communicate through text messages, phone calls, and the internet. Cell phones and the internet are probably the most commonly used devices to access information as well. The internet is loaded with daily news and current events. Plus one can access an enormous amount of information via search engines. Cell phones with internet access can be used just like computers to access information. Both cell phones and the internet have communicating and accessing information easier and possible from almost anywhere.

Assignment 10: On Procrastination (a la David Sedaris)

Fun fact: the word procrastination is derived from the Latin word procrastinare, which originally comes from two separate Latin words, pro, meaning for, and cras, meaning tomorrow. Therefore, to procrastinate literally means to save something for tomorrow . So, does that mean that if the aforementioned tomorrow has already arrived, you've reached a new level of procrastination? Is there a word prolatertodaytion? What causes people to procrastinate, anyway? Stupidity, perhaps? I did just spend 45 minutes using a pair of tweezers and my iPhone flashlight trying to fix my keyboard space bar after breaking it, when I should have just put up with it and used Geek Squad some time later. Or is it perfectionism and/or obsessiveness? I knew I wanted this post to be good, so I put it off in the fear that I wouldn't write it well. A short attention span, maybe? The Internet is notorious for sucking people in and preventing them from getting work done, which I can surely attest to. I think the clearest reason for procrastination is simply human nature; we are all human, and so we desire pleasure and instant gratification. Why should I do something that causes me stress and anxiety now when I can passively watch TV, or listen to music, or scroll through Twitter? Right now, though, I'm feeling yet another reason: the I-told-you-so. It is now 11:57 and this blog post is due at 11:59 and I'm going to submit it on time, so who really gets the last laugh?

Note: I'm really not even close to being as funny as David Sedaris, but I thought this would be an interesting piece to try to write. And I kind of left this until 11:59 to submit to add an effect. Kind of. Also, I don't find writing these blog posts stressful and anxiety-inducing; that was referring to physics.

Assignment 10: Ethan Petraitis

If Zombies attacked... Let's see, I would probably wind up abandoning my family in favor of hanging out with my friends. I'm guessing that we would all just drive around killing zombies, screwing around, and stealing things until each of us died. I don't think I would want to try and survive, I think I would much rather just go out with style, killing zombies in an epic montage with "Eye of The Tiger" playing in the background. I'd probably be the scumbag klepto-arsonist that just dies anyway. But hey, I think that would be by far the most fun thing to do in a total anarchy situation, I mean you have to look out for yourself anyway, no one else will. Just remember to double-tap, and bring a box of Twinkies. NOT SNOWBALLS. Also watch zombieland, great tips for survival right there.

Assignment 11: Do you know your neighbor?

You are juniors. You are in the Academy. You sit next to each other in Mr. Logsdon's class. You've been here for 13 weeks and only 5 to go until the end of the semester.

I think it is safe to say that you know at least a little about each other. Your understanding of each other may include extra curriculars, favorite TV shows, hobbies, but your level of familiarity may also extend into knowing each other's personality. Are they intimidating, carefree, honest?

This week, write about the person you sit next to in English class. What do they do? What are they like? What color would you characterize them as and why? Where do you see them in five years? What type of animal are they like?

I know you're in a seating chart, but you are writing about your peers. Getting to know for the past few months, I have seen you as genuinely nice people and so I expect genuinely nice things in your posts. It doesn't have to be all puppies and ice cream cones, but your entries shouldn't cut anyone down.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 3rd at 11:59 pm.

Assignment 10: Grace Goulson

Had I remembered about my blog post earlier this evening, I probably would have considered writing an observational humorist piece, but sadly I am unable (at this hour) to expend the necessary time and energy in order to do the piece justice. So, I guess I’ll decline to writing about what I would do in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Firstly, (having watched some of I am Legend earlier tonight), I would find a way to power my house by installing generators. I would also (like Robert Neville) set up UV light projectors to keep the zombies away if they happen to be afraid of light. The next thing to do would be to gather all the food and water I could, and I guess I would have to obtain some guns (regretfully). Supposing I become the only non-infected living human that I know of, I would keep my animals close. Dogs and horses could be very helpful against zombies, not to mention that they would be great companions. I would also make sure I have easy access to gasoline so I could drive anywhere.

Honestly I have never thought about what I would do during the zombie apocalypse, but I’d like to think I could outsmart those darn zombies and maybe some of my human counterparts, too.

Assignment 10

Considering Halloween is approaching, I'm assuming the "what scares you the most" prompt is referring to the more stereotypical fears like vampires and ghosts, not failure or death.
Under this assumption, I think the thing that scares me most is running away from someone in the dark with the inevitable fate that they WILL CATCH YOU. The natural 'fight or flight' instinct cannot be fulfilled because 'flight' is impossible. Somebody is coming, and when they finally touch you, all of those stress and adrenaline-induced springs of tension will finally snap and send a shock of the purest and most white form of terror you have ever felt. And even after they grab you, fear upsets you again. Will they torture you? Where are they taking you? Why is this happening to me? Why can't I just go home? The questions will eat at you reserves of sanity until the membrane is eradicated, causing your offenders to prod your exposed insanity until nothing is there anymore. No complex thoughts, just the blinding emotion of fear and paranoia for the rest of your unfulfilled life. Or maybe they'll let you off easy and just kill you. Who's to say one outcome is better than the other?
I think the above just showcases how I should stop thinking too hard. Yeah, I think I've decided: in this case, ignorance is undeniably and undoubtedly bliss.

Assignment 10 - Angela Tseng

One of my biggest fears is bugs. While, I'm not scared of all bugs, it's fair to say that I'm scared of the majority of them such as spiders, centipedes, and even ants. And while lots of people may say that ants aren't even scary, or they don't do anything except steal your food, I have a reason to hate ants. The reason being that when I was in the 4th or 5th grade (I don't really remember at this point) some of my friends were outside at recess stepping on, and therefore killing, some ants. Since I was a naive little child, I went over and picked one up and proceeded to tell them to stop because ants were 'harmless' and 'never did anything to hurt you', but just before I could finish my sentence, the ant that I had picked up decided to bite my hand. After that I just let them keep stomping on and killing the evil ants and I've not liked them, and been somewhat 'scared' of them, since.

Assignment 10- Ryan Collins

In the event of a zombie apocalypse i would take the following actions:

1) I would take advantage of the running water and fill a bathtub full of it before it gets shut off

2) take all important things such as first aid kits, non perishable food, weapons and other necessities and put them on the second floor of my house

3) i would then demolish the stairs, therefore preventing any zombies from making it to the second floor (assuming that the zombies would be similar to those depicted in night of the living dead or walking dead) 

4) i would set up sound traps such as wind chimes and fragile items around the ground floor of my house to alert me of any zombie presence.

5) i would then wait it out, making occasional ventures out to gather supplies, until rescued by some sort of law enforcement or military force.

Assignment 10: Alex Warren

If Zombies attacked, man I am always thinking about this. I mean of course I am a Zombie Apocalypse survival expert from my countless hours playing “Call of Duty: Nazi Zombies”, watching numerous zombie movies (ie:”Dawn of the Dead”), and watching “The Walking Dead” (Which I am missing right now!!!). Ok my plan would be to have a “Bug Out” bag and location/house. In the bag would be basic survival supplies like a knife, water, food, blanket, pistol, etc. In the house would be enough food to last 10 people for 3 months, basic house commodities, and lots and lots of weapons. The 8 people I would be bringing with me would be my mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend, my nephew, and my 3 best-friends: Aaron, Bobby, and Henry. I would leave one spot open for another person to come along. We would then live in that house for 3 months and train our zombie killing skills and live like normal human beings, hopefully with no mishaps. After the three months we will decide as a group wether to stay at the house, or travel the country and kill zombies and help other people, my vote would be on the latter part. And uhh that’s my plan in a nutshell

Assignment 10

I am afraid of being sick. Honestly. I am always sick, and it scares me. Even when I'm not "sick" I don’t feel as healthy as I should. It's not normal for someone to be sick as often as I am, at least when I'm compared to my peers.  I am afraid that this will never go away, that I will be this sort of on-and-off sick that I have been for the past two and a half years. My family and I have been to doctors, trying to understand why I am sick, but we really have gotten no answers. In my unprofessional experience, I believe something about high school (whether it be the building itself or something else) is what makes me sick. I was never sick like this in elementary or middle school, (or even sick at all really, once I got to the age of six,) only going to the doctor when I needed to get shots or a check-up. The only way I (optimistically) can see myself not being sick anymore is to leave high school. And the only way I am going to do that is to graduate, so it looks like I am going to be sick for another year and a half. But every time I feel like I am going to be sick, I can feel myself slacking on my responsibilities, so I can sleep more, which is supposed to help with being sick, but it doesn’t seem to help either with my health or  my responsibilities. I guess my fear of being sick isn't quite like the fear some people might have of heights, or of snakes or spiders, but it is the fear I am faced with most often.

Prompt of the Living Dead

In the unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse, the first thing I would do would be to scream bloody murder, just to get it out of the way. Then I would calmly collect myself and proceed to make my house an impenetrable fortress. I will have the following objects stockpiled with me:

1. Food and water for as long as possible. I have faith that the U.S. military will be able to wipeout the zombie plague—a la World War Z—within a few months, so I will mostly be waiting.

2. My personal savings in gold (Au). If the combined armies of the world cannot save us, then all of Earth will descend into anarchy. Precious metals and vital resources will become the de facto currency. Back on the gold standard, at least Ron Paul will be happy.

3. My automatic Nerf® Gun. When push comes to shove, I will trust my life to my Nerf® N-Strike Longshot. I will attach to each plastic dart a capsule of a highly caustic chemical solution that will explode on impact. With this setup I will mow down the marauding, mausoleum-desecrating menaces.

My fears - Maranda Gaines

There are a lot of things that scare me but I would have to say one of my biggest fears would be getting cut up alive in the most disturbing ways possible.  Having my ankles cut off while going up old stairs you can look through, getting my arm ripped off by a chainsaw massacre, having my neck slowly sliced until the blood is pouring out, getting my fingers snapped off one by one: these all terrify me. I’m sure most people find these things scary or terrifying but I feel like my fear is especially intense. This fear probably developed in me at a young age since I grew up watching every Saw made over and over with my mom. Every night we’d either watch a Halloween, Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street, or some other crazy scary movie with graphic killings that frightened me to death. However, I loved watching them and still do even though they create fears in my head like the one I just described.

Assignment 10: Parker Carroll

I am scared of a lot of things. There's the basics: spiders, ghosts, growing up and the dark. Then there's the one thing I fear more than anything else, failure. Having my best not be good enough is my biggest fear. If I fail all of the time, effort, and money others have invested towards my success is wasted. I would be failing all of them, as well as myself. "You can't be afraid to fail"- the motivational words of every athletics coach throughout history.I interpret this overused expression to mean if you're afraid to fail you'll never be able to do what it takes to succeed. Which I find to be very untrue. In my opinion, the fear of failure further motivates one to succeed. Although I find fear of failure motivating, failure is not motivation. Another idea often misconstrued by athletes and their coaches. Failure is crippling, indisputable defeat, not motivation. Failure is my biggest fear and well deserving of it. However, as unfortunate as it may be, I will fail. We all will fail at some point or another, its inevitable. We will all fail and we should. We must become familiar with failure and accept it. We must fail in order to succeed. Without knowing failure, how can one truly appreciate success?

Halloween Scary Fun Time! - Haven

   In preparation for the zombie apocalypse, our survival depends on the excess of three things - food, guns, and treadmills. 

   The first of these objects is obvious, as we'll need food to survive. Perhaps the best course of action regarding food is to buy plants and renovate a room to be a miniature farm. The guns are for defense, but if all goes well, their usage will be quick and minimal.

   The final step is to acquire treadmills. Lots and lots of treadmills.

   The treadmills will be hooked to a generator (perhaps water-mill powered) and surround the safe house. They should all be set on maximum and face away from the walls. For the first few days maintenance is required, shooting any zombies that come too close for comfort, but once rigor-mortis sets in the zombies should be too stiff to pose any real threat.

   Survive as long as possible, the end.

   . . . . Well, that was far shorter than I'm satisfied with, lets do a second prompt!

   

   My biggest fear, as I'm to believe, is failure.

   I can't confirm it, but I believe it's close to a phobia. I've been told as a child I would refuse to speak simply because I didn't want to pronounce the words wrong.

   Even today I have some difficulty facing situations where I might be incorrect. It might be as simple as a question in conversation (where I'd reply "I'm not sure, just tell me" to learn I was right) or a video game interrogation (thanks, LA Noire) more seriously not answer questions on tests. Some entire essays go unfinished because of this. I love writing, but I hate the idea of being wrong.

   But failure is part of the human experience, so I really shouldn't be afraid.

   So why am I?

   I can't tell you why.

   Perhaps it's just pressure. My parents remind me that as the youngest sibling I'd be the first to go to college, that I'm gifted and special and all the other nice things parents tell you that makes them your parents. It sounds like a fair argument in my head, but I still can't shake the feeling that it's something deeper. I feel that this fear is something I as a teenager who skipped on psychology class can explain.

   I suppose the fear isn't crippling, but it's there and more prominent that my other fears.

   Geez, all these blogs recently make me think I need to see a professional.

Is it good? Ben G

Peace should always be the first option in a conflict between nations. However, as we have seen many times in recent (last 250 years) history, war became a necessity. Case in point: World War II. Peace was tried first. Neville Chamberlain, the PM of the UK at the time, made an agreement with Hitler over the annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Hitler would be allowed to take over the area, and he promised that his territorial demands had met. Chamberlain returned to England proclaiming “… peace in our time…”   However, this was a phony peace, actually called appeasement. About a year later, Hitler launched his joint invasion of Poland, with the help of the USSR. The Second World War had begun.

Assignment 10: BOO - UPDATED

ZOMBIES HAVE ATTACKED. Detail your survival plan.

OR

Explain what scares you the most and why.

OR

Describe a moment in which you were fraught with peril. Tell it as a ghost story.

OR

In the vein of David Sedaris write an observational humorist piece related to your daily life: school, home, social, etc. (don't be mean)

Happy Halloween!

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, October 27th at 11:59 pm

Writing Territories (assignment 8) LATE

Fear: Oblivion.

Annoyances: Narrow-mindedness.

Accomplishments: Eagle Scout. Good student. Dedicated golfer.

Confusions: Quantum physics—what’s up with that?

Sorrows: Quitting band. Not knowing what I want to do with my life.

Dreams: The American one.

Idiosyncrasies: Rubik’s Cube. Science junkie. I listen to old or obscure music.

Risks: Yo-yo-ing too hard. Once I rode my bike without a helmet.

Beloved Possessions: The golf ball with which I shot 67. Special copy of the Hobbit. These              wood carvings of mushrooms that I’ve had forever.

Problems: Procrastination (e.g. this post).

I fear oblivion: the inky black void to which we all resign ourselves. Death is part of this fear, but I’m okay with death, basically. I know that no one lives forever; those who live today are only the temporary caretakers of the world for those who’ll live tomorrow.

What I’m really upset about is the idea that I will be forgotten, that I won’t matter. So I tell myself, “Hey, David it’s alright. You will leave behind your children and friends. You will live on in them.” And that is a good argument, but eventually, those people will pass on, too.

Let’s assume that, upon my death, I become a worldwide savior, worshipped as the likes of Jesus or Zoroaster. In that instance, I would be remembered, possibly until the end of human existence. This is a comfort, but then I realize that the sun will implode in four billion years, anyway, swallowing up the Earth. At this point, you may begin to understand what I’m worried about.

It stands to reason that everything I do, everything I create, everything I am will become meaningless. All of human civilization, from the sandstone of the Pyramids at Giza to the marble columns of the Capitol, is ephemeral. What, then, is the purpose?

This is what I think about.