Second Semester Blogging

The end of the year is so close. I feel as if I am at the final stretch of a marathon, but as I step back to look at the big picture, I see that I have only been through half of my high school race. Sophomore year is coming to an end. Now, I must take the time to stop and examine my blog. I am briefly going to compare this semester to first semester on the different types of assignments my class had, and how they affected me. Blog posts were increased from three-hundred words to five-hundred words. Literature circle group letters were given a new format. They changed from addressing how one annotated a book, to more of a quote analysis type of assignment. But, just like last semester, my blog post topics vary from a wide variety of random topics with different styles of how I approached them. These are the very mild changes that have affected the way that I write.

I am positive that my writing has improved in at least one way. I am beginning to become a faster writer. This skill will certainly help me in the future if I am ever timed for writing. I believe that my speedy writing has been caused by all of these quick-writes that my English class does on some unique topics. Strangely, I wrote quick-writes last year in class for practice as well. They are an interesting task where a teacher gives their class a topic, and the class must write without stopping for a said amount of time. Sometimes the teacher can give the class a few minutes to arrange their thoughts on the topic. Over the two years that I have done them, I guess that I was bound to become a "quick-writer." An example of one of these awkward writing tasks would be my blog post called the "Quick Write: Rules of Love." This is not the best example of a quick-write because I put it in question format rather than attempting to form paragraphs about the questions (which is the normal format). Thanks to practicing these, I am capable of phrasing complex sentences for my blog posts in smaller amounts of time, and pretty much finishing them altogether in a short amount of time as well (roughly thirty to forty minutes). In "Chaotic Week," I discussed an unfortunate position I was placed in, and briefly about the book I would have to read over the weekend. "I am only forty pages through this four hundred page or more behemoth, which means that I have only taken a small glimpse of what is yet to come." I had hardly slept the night before, and yet I was able to formulate this sentence. I thought that it sounded perfect the way it came out. I did not even consider altering this sentence as I proof-read the blog post. The several minutes that I use to plan out a quick-write have also affected me. Every time I have to write a book review (e.g. Unwind, Hot Zone, and Parable of Talents). I now find myself using a sheet of binder paper to prepare for what topics I will write about and what quotes I may use from the book. It is a habit that I nearly find impossible to do without.

As I had mentioned in my "First Semester Blogging," I stated that "my blog has a lot of varying topics." I would still find this true. I still even blog about "either an event that recently occurred, or a thought that was lingering within my head for the past twenty-four hours." Some topics are not too out of the ordinary (well at least for other people). While I was writing "Avatar=My Hurt Locker Anticipation," I got to act like a legitimate sophisticated movie critic. At first it was a bit strange talking about the two most highly acclaimed movies of the year, but eventually I just let my ideas flow for whomever to see. Just the feel of writing like a critic was a bit different for me. Another blog post that appears completely bizarre is "Our Kitchen Sink." The title is not suppose to have some sort of double metaphoric meaning. That might actually throw off the reader before he or she begins reading. I even included "This weekend was not so good" as an intro. The whole post is just a plain and simple story telling the sequence of events that happened on my (at the time) recent terrible weekend which involved the replacement of my family's kitchen sink. I was still in a bit of a "handy-man" mode and decided to write about the experience the following day. Well, there was a familiar topic that I decided to write about with a new approach. "Easing Up" is about my somewhat new writing topic of skateboarding with a slightly new form I chose to write in. I decided to write as if it were just a journal entry. In the first two paragraphs, I mainly reflect on the distant past. But, things change in the last paragraph as I tell of a more recent event where my friends and I were "playing a game of L.I.N.E." For the ending half of that paragraph, I allow the reader to see exactly what I was thinking at the moment I was losing and also the feeling of triumph for being able to perform certain tricks under a certain amount of pressure.

I can hardly believe that I am at the middle of my high school career. I am beginning to feel concerned if the remaining other half will pass as quickly as the first one. All that I know is that I have become a better writer during the time I have been blogging. New assignments like quick-writes have given me the ability to write faster while being able to form perfectly coherent sentences. And now, I briefly, yet carefully, create a layout for what my essays (or book reviews) should include. My random blog post topics still continue to exist. New topics and new approaches to familiar topics are seen throughout my blog. They will continue to be posted onto my blog for as long as I want them to be. I think I might still blog even though it will most likely not become an English class requirement for the next school year. I want this to become a hobby of mine. For once, I have found a method of writing that I do not hate, and I might even conduct on my own free time.

My Goals for Writing

Well. It is about that time of season again. To go back and to examine my past past works of writing and also to set up some new goals for my future articles of writing. Looking back, I would say that my writing has gotten more of a casual and almost inviting style to it. It has become more appealing in such a way that it pulls readers in at the beginning so that they will have a good chance at making it through the whole composition without getting sidetracked. I like this style of writing. I feel that it suites me well. But, there are some more components that I would like to factor into my blog. The primary object that my blog seems to be lacking is more exquisite vocabulary (notice how I tried really hard just to use some in this sentence). Hopefully, by using more complex words, people will feel that they are not reading from a blog of a "stupid kid," but rather from a well educated teenager that has a good understanding on how the world works. Another weakness that I currently have is the fact that I simply do not revise my writings before posting them (or turning them in). I still find some various typos and some awkwardly phrased sentences or even paragraphs from time to time. I try not to beat myself up for this, but the fact that it could have easily been prevented, makes me feel terrible.

My other goals that I have right now are mainly for my blog, and what I wish to do with it. I guess that it would be a blog owner's dream for their blog to become famous or just plainly well known throughout the nation and or world. This would be cool, but more likely overwhelming for me. I guess that I can try working my way into writing about more current and popular events such as recent occurrences that are mentioned in the daily news because people of the United States seem to find these the most "interesting." For these events, I will display my point of view as a student and/or teenager and how these events affect me. I will most likely try writing about more of my hobbies and other things that I enjoy doing (i.e. slot car racing at the local track). By undergoing these two improvements, I am keeping high hopes for an increase in "followers" by obtaining a bigger audience and plan on getting more comments and good/bad feedback. I hope that I am able to fulfill these goals that I have set up in this small writing reflection. If not, I think I will be okay. I will not be heart-broken, but I will live. I plan to keep blogging as I am doing so right now. It might even become a small hobby of mine. I do find it quite enjoyable. So, in conclusion, have fun reading my blog.

Mucho Passion

At school I am usually stereotyped as the "good grade" child. I guess that this is true. People normally tend to get surprised when they find out that I skateboard. Probably because they never see me carrying a board to school. And, it may have to do with the fact that I use to think that I sucked (terribly) at skating. But now, I do not have much of a problem with what other people think about me skateboarding. I have some really good skateboarding friends at school (maybe even some of the best at the school) and they tell me that I am actually a pretty good skater. That gave me a confidence boost and makes me realize why I do it anyways. Its because I love it so much. Some people just do not understand why these "kids" and adults throw away their future to "push a piece of wood." It just brings so much bliss to us who enjoy it. I am not saying that I am trying to get a future in the skateboarding industry (although some of my friends have a fighting chance at getting sponsored), but I skate because it is an activity that relieves me of all my stress and allows me to have wit my friends.

Just this past Friday I landed so many tricks that I thought were extremely difficult and I may never have a chance at landing. Other than that, I really liked just being around my brother and his friends because of all their positive attitudes. His friends are getting close, if not have reached, the skill level my brother and I are at. They (including my brother) are all two grades bellow me. Just seeing them doing some of their tricks makes me wish that I had began as early as they did. I started learning how to do tricks in the eighth grade (but knew how to ride a board before that). They probably started around seventh grade. The tricks that the majority have now are some I did not get for a year. Others have tricks that I may never land. But, thats another reason that I love skateboarding. Everyone has their own "bag" of tricks and individual style. It is just purely fascinating.

Well, back to last Friday. I landed some serious tricks and I landed some silly tricks that I simply put together that suited the surrounding. We went to a local public park that had a little wave/wedge good for skating. My brother told me that one of his friends just learned a few tricks last weekend that I wanted to land involving that concrete wave. I had been working on them before (not seriously) but always ended up falling because I lacked the ability of shifting my weight to the slope of the wave. Strangely, the trick that I had been going for (for all you fellow skaters out there it was a rock fakie) I landed it on my first attempt. Then on all tries after that I landed it. I was so happy. That I decided to go for other stuff too. I went to the waxed ledge to the side of the wave (the people at the park don't get mad at us for using it because it is not a part of any of the nearby buildings). By just fooling around I landed two frontside feeble grinds. And this is only one week after learning how to grind. Hopefully, I can continue my passion for recreational skateboarding (I don't have a big dream of getting sponsored and going professional) and get better over time. Well, at least for a few more years. Before my parents tell me to grow up and get a job. So, I will enjoy whatever is left of my youth while I can.

Movie Review: The Lightning Thief

Well. What can I say about this movie? I guess that it was alright. To be honest, I would have to say the book was ten times better than that movie. The first book was one of the longest from the series, so I have to give some credit to the directors for being able to squeeze such a big plot into a two hour film. Now, where shall I begin? Hmm. I will start from the first time I ever witnessed the trailer for the movie. I was with a few friends watching the recent Harry Potter film. The trailers for upcoming movies were playing, and all I saw was a boy standing on the Empire State Building, looking up at a path to a shining city or temple of some sort. At that exact moment, I knew that I was soon going to be upset, but I was never really sure why. Probably fact that filthy rich directors were going to tear apart a book series that meant so much to me and just continue on with their life.

Now, I will begin to talk about the actual movie. It somewhat kept to the plot of the book. The movie had Greek gods, a dyslexic and ADHD Percy Jackson, and a lightning thief. These are the majority of key points that the movie included. I was a bit upset that the acting was a bit "cheesy" and over-dramatic at some times, but a lot of the lead roles were played by new actors. The movie did not include a lot of monsters that I really looked forward to seeing, such as Cerberus and the Chimera. It also did not include the actual character who stole Zeus's master bolt. People in the audience that were watching the movie even got confused from time to time. In order obtain a well understanding of the film, I highly recommend that one should read the book or look into Greek mythology so that they will not get lost in the plot while watching. But, if they read the book, they might end up disappointed (like me) because of how much of the actual characters and story was changed.

Video Games and The Future

My classmate Jordan writes:

Even if we try we cannot stop video games. As technology advances so will video games. I think as we advance into technology there might be a virtual realty. People are going to find better ways to make video games so realistic that you don't think that you are playing.

I also believe that video games will continue to become better and better. Game designers will enhance the quality of the games' graphics and the realistic feel of the games. This is what has me looking forward to the future of gaming, and somewhat fearing it. If someone was to look at the present state of the gaming world, they could see that the size of the gamer population has drastically increased since the 80s and 90s. The visual graphics and game play of some top-notch games are outstanding and often incorporate real life scenarios, such as playing the role of a soldier in Baghdad on a mission to rescue an imprisoned colonel. These games to appeal to a wide audience because people get to be a character with objectives that they would not be able to experience in the real world. If the graphics of these games and the way we play them (i.e the Wii is a simulator because it incorporates real-life motions to play) only continue to get better, some people might not even feel that they are playing a game.

Video game addiction has already become a problem in our current society. As games become better, people just keep finding them more difficult to take a break. I use to be quite the avid gamer. I was possibly even addicted to video games a few years ago. I would play for hours with friends and/or family. But now, with more homework to complete to maintain good grades, and just hanging out and skateboarding with friends to relieve myself of the stress of school, I find myself playing a lot less than the amount of what I use to play. Now, if the gaming audience and continues to increase, gaming addiction is becoming more common, and video games are getting better graphics with realistic game play, I am staring to fear the future of video games. Realistic graphics incorporated with new gaming technology, possibly simulator suits, will draw in a big audience that possibly will become easily addicted (especially the children). Now if someone were to factor in the increase in violent games (i.e war games). The virtual suites might be the worst idea in video game history. I am pretty sure that nobody wants to experience killing someone as if "you don't think you are playing."

Assassin's Creed 2 (THIS IS NOT A REVIEW)

Assassin's Creed was an amazing game when it came out. It surprised so many people with its amazing graphics, game play, and limitless possibilities. I never owned the game, but I was always eager to play it whenever I was at my friend's house. I didn't really know much about the storyline because I never did mission's. All that I knew was that you played the role of a man in the near future. He works for scientists as a test dummy who enters this virtual-reality chamber that allows you to experience medieval times through the eyes of an assassin. The group of assassins that the main character is a part of kills only corrupt government officials and helps peasants that are abused by knights. At my friend's house I never did the missions for story mode. I just messed around by killing guards. It was also pretty fun just to run around the small towns and climb giant buildings.

Assassin's Creed got many great reviews. Its review scores ranged from 9.5 to 10 out of a possible 10. Currently, the sequel to this great game should be coming out soon. But, this makes me and my fellow gamers wonder, how can they possibly make the sequel equivalent, if not better than the original? I watched the trailer and some game play footage, and I was in awe. Both the trailer and footage showed that this time, the group of assassin's are in the Renaissance era. Now this is great. If my parents wonder why I bought the game, I might be able to make them overlook the fact that the game is rated M and say "I find this highly educational because I'm learning about the Renaissance in history class." The other thing the trailer revealed about the storyline is who the assassin's are enemies with. Now they are against the corrupt Roman Catholic Church (which I am learning about in history class). In order to improve game play, the creators have added new tools, new weapons, new combat features, and Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine (its a glider). All of this is making me extremely eager to play this masterpiece of a game.