SOL 4: MAH FARST SKIING PARST

The howling winds blow at me, nearly succeeding in their goal of pushing me off of the T-Bar and onto the fields of snow. Tightening my grip on both my poles and the T-Bar (click to see what a T-Bar looks like), I glance over to the kid in my ski class that I am riding up with, noting his stupidity in not bringing a face mask. I look up towards the end of the T-Bar, and am overjoyed to see that I am maybe fifteen feet from the end. As I come over the edge of the catwalk, the gales of snow ease off a small amount, allowing me to throw off the T-Bar and slide away and towards the point where our ski class agreed to meet at. I wait calmly as the rest of our group assembles. Everyone slowly assembles, looking snowblown and exhausted. Our instructor, Ben, is the last to arrive, and quickly shouts at us over the force of the gusting wind that we are to drop into Horseshoe bowl and travel left, to where the powder is. He then quickly skates off, clearly as ready as the rest of us to be out of the howling winds. I arrive at the lip of the bowl, next to the sign reading Horseshoe Bowl -Double Black. I jump off of the cornice without a hesitation, landing in the silky, cloudlike powder below.

Shogun Week 1 of 2

This week, I read half of the amazing book Shogun. Shogun is an amazing story of an Englishman (Blackthorne) who becomes an aide to a Japanese warlord. Blackthorne struggles to learn Japanese, understand the cultural norms, and evade death. This book is one of the best historical fiction book I have ever read, and one of the best books I have read. It has an engrossing page-turning plot that pulls me in and makes me want to read more of it. This book has amazing characters who come alive with their struggle for power and success.  This book never has slow parts.
I liked how the author depicted the complex plot and characters. I can not give this amazing book enough praise. The one thing about the book is that it is an amazing 1152 pages long in size 12 font.
Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an amazing book. I would compare this book in terms of complexity to the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. This book is an easy 11/10.

-SGC

SOL 3: Arriving at School + Random Photo of a Panda

I cruise down a stretch of asphalt dusted white with millions of snowflakes, lounging in the passenger seat of my parents Prius. I glance at the impossibly slow minivan that creeps along in front of me, thinking of how early I would have arrived, except for the slow minivan. I have a theory about minivans. That theory is that most people who drive minivans are frightened by any weather other than 70 degrees and sunny. I look out the window and am slightly surprised to see that I can see Logan in the distance. In somewhat of a better mood, I punch the Audio button, wondering what is on NPR today. The radio starts in the middle of the Morning Edition people introducing the news. I listen to the news with minimal interest since no big new stories have popped up overnight, except if you can count the GOP fiercely denying and criticizing everything that Obama said in his state of the union speech. No big surprise there. I tune out and look out the window, noticing that we are slowly pulling into the loop. The loop is especially crowded today, including that slow minivan that I hate. I watch as the minivan slowly pulls into a parking spot, and then turn my attention to getting out of the car. I push open the passenger door, hop out, slam the passenger door, open one of the backseat doors, and grab my backpack. I shut the door and settle on my backpack, trudging up through the snow and towards another day at school.

Panda Drawing

The Towers Of The Sunset Book Review

This week, I chose to read The Towers of The Sunset by L.E. Modesitt. The Towers of Sunset tells the story of Creslin, a son of a powerful military commander. Creslin leaves his country to escape an arranged marriage and ends up learning about himself and the outside world. This book is the second book in the Magic of Recluce series.
I liked this book because of how the author broke gender barriers and stereotypes. The author also created a complex plot that is interesting and full of little details. However, the beginning to the book was confusing and hard to understand. After the beginning, however the book sped up and became understandable.
Overall, I liked this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys good fantasy and a detailed plot. This book is certainly not for younger readers, because it has violent scenes and language. This book could be compared to a more complex version of the Hobbit. This book earns an 8/10.

-SGC

SOL 2: Bamboo Pens

I walk over to the back room, passing chattering hubs of procrastination in my hurry to get newspaper. Walking into Max's room, I quickly locate the newspaper, grab a sheet, and hurry back to my desk. I sigh as I pass my dead bamboo plant, thinking of how much effort I expended trying to save it, just for it to die over winter break. Passing Linda's desk, I grab an X-Acto knife (also known as The Sword of Exact Zero in the Lego Movie). Returning to my desk, I consider how to cut the bamboo as to get the most pens out of it. I settle on the idea of cutting the section of wood that I will be working with first off the stalk. Using my Easy Cutters, I snip off a short section of stalk about 8 inches long. I examine the stalk, noting that it has a short  inter-joint area on the bottom and a longer section on the top. I start carving the first pen by slicing off a diagonal section on the end, leaving the moist interior exposed. The interior is an glossy white color, similar to the color of milk. I slowly whittle the exposed end of the pen down to a point, creating a area for the ink to drain out of when writing. I set the pen down, and slice a slit through the wall of the point, creating a tiny path for the ink to drain out of when I write. The wood splits a little bit on the side of the tip, which annoys me. After a couple minutes of trying to figure out what to do, I realize that I can just shave off part of the point and make the slit in the middle of the pen. Feeling stupid the whole time, I do this and proceed to the next and hardest part. Drilling a .2 millimeter diameter hole at the end of the slit. Setting the bamboo down, I take my X-Acto knife and carefully slice out the ridiculously small hole. I smile to myself, satisfied that my first bamboo pen is finished.

-SGC

Bad Island Book Review

This week, I read a graphic novel called Bad Island. Bad Island is about a family who go on a boat trip and get shipwrecked on a mysterious island. The island has plants and animals like nothing humans have ever seen.
I liked this book because how the author weaved suspense with comical moments. The author also made the characters interact in an an interesting and believable way. The author wrote scenes where the characters interacted extremely well. The one thing I did not like about this book was that the author made everything to easy for the characters.
I did like this book, and I would definitely suggest it for anyone who wants a quick, easy, and entertaining way. I would compare this to the Amulet series in terms of reading level. This book is an easy 5/10.

-SGC

Slice Of Life #1 - Thoughts On Santa

When I am trying to fall asleep, I often lay in the dark of my room, stare at the ceiling and think. This particular night I was thinking about Christmas. I started off thinking about how enthusiastic everyone is for it. I mean, what is there not to like about giving and receiving gifts? As I thought about this, I realized that there is quite a bit to not like. The first thing I came up with was the television advertisements. Around this time of year, the tv ads switch to last year’s cheesy commercials, which gets annoying and blows the whole buying part out of perspective while burying the giving part under a rock. Also, Black Friday isn’t even an actual holiday. It started out when some businesses tried to convert one of the slowest days of the year, the friday after Thanksgiving into a day where people spent money. You would think that businesses would try and prevent injuries during Black Friday, but no. They do nothing to prevent deaths, which have happened. People chop down millions of pine trees every year for christmas trees, trees that could have been supporting the ecosystem, producing oxygen, and preserving nature. Instead, Christmas has turned into one big “pollute-the world-and-destroy-nature-party”. Children act with a sense of entitlement towards Christmas gifts, not caring about anything. Christmas shouldn’t be treated with that attitude. Even in the US, there are millions of children who are not fortunate enough to receive anything for christmas, because their parents can not afford gifts.

My final problem with Christmas is how children are told for a long time that Santa is real, but in fact they are being lied to. Children who are taught not to lie by their parents are told by their parents a massive lie, undermining the parent’s credibility. Children are also forced to sit on Santa’s lap, often when kicking and screaming. Then I fell asleep.

-SGC