Wellesley middle school Football

I am in the Wellesley Middle School football team. It is a lot of fun but it is also a mental and physical challenage. We have to do push ups but, everytime you go down you hold it, then you go up. Also you have to do sprints with all your gear on. But it is a lot of fun when you play games. It is also fun when you get to tackle other players. Once I jumped over this other player while running running to the end zone.
When you think of football you think it is for guys, but frankly Framingham doesn't think that way. I saw seven girls on that team and some of the girls are bigger and taller then me. Luckly they were very easy to tackle but at the same time it was very akward, because as a child you learned not to hit a girl, and you don't know what to do at this situation.
I wanted to football because my uncle is huge football fan. When I was eight he was socked when he found out that I didn't have a football, so an hour later he took me to walmart and got my first football. My friends also got me into the sport becuase if we have nothing to do we will play football.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Steve Harmon is a sixteen year old black male that is accused of murder during a robbery that he was involved in. He gets thrown in a juvenile detention center, and he starts to write a diary, like a movie screenplay. He writes it like a movie because none of this feels real to him. He tells his experience in his jail cell, his emotions, and tips on how to survive in jail, but he mostly describes fear. He also writes what his trial is like and what everybody is saying during the trial. This book might be scary for some people because the book talks about suicide, and people getting beat up. For example on page two the book said that if you want to cry in jail you have to do it at night because that is when someone else is getting beat up for crying and your noise is getting blocked out. I haven't finished the book, but so far it is really good because the book is easy to read and the trial and his life are very suspenseful. You think you know what's going to happen but then it doesn't happen.

Korean Cram Schools

In Korea getting into a college is very challenging. Some people take years to go to a specific college. To be prepared for all of that Koreans attend Cram Schools. Cram Schools are special academy's or schools that prepares you for getting into college. The students wake up at 6:3o am every day and usually don't go to sleep until 2:00 am. Some rooms have music stands for students who stand up so they won't fall asleep. Some call it a jail cell because nobody is allowed to date, accessorize, and much more. Some kill themselves because of the pressure they have to deal with. Some of the boys run away and the girls go to a psychologist. 40% of the students who attend the Cram Schools drop out. It is also a financial battle because parents have to pay $1,936 a month for Cram Schools just so students can attend a good college. Some describe it as a war. One student said that every day is a battle to go to a better college. They do this because they believe that 70% or 80% of your future depends on your college, such as jobs and a high salary opportunity.
In my opinion going to college shouldn't be like training for a war.

Ted Kennedy 1932~2009 R.I.P

Ted Kennedy was the youngest out of eight children. He was considered the chubby baby of the family. He was a court jester that brought laughs to the family, he was also less talented then his older brothers, but when he helped his brothers' campaigns he met people and he turned out to be really good at that.
His family had the most political power in the 1960's. After his brothers died he was the only surviving son of the Kennedy's. As he grew older he served in the senate for 46 years. While senator he influenced a lot of laws, also he turned his main focus on civil rights, women's rights, and most importantly national health care. He effected the history of the senate and the state of Massachusetts benefits from that. He died of brain cancer late Tuesday night at his home in Cape Cod.

Bowling for Columbine (Movie review)

This is a documentary of America's obsession with guns. Michael Moore (the director, writer, and star of this movie) travels around North America and studies specific cases of gun violence. One interesting case was the shooting in Buell Elementary School. A six year old kid was staying at his uncles house. When he found a small pistol he decided to bring it to school. The next day he shot one of his fellow six year old students and she fell to the ground with a bullet through her body. It was the youngest school gun violence in American history.
When Michael Moore was comparing Canadian culture and American culture he found a huge cultural difference. Americans always lock their doors, no matter what, however Canadiens do not lock their doors even at night. Also Canada has a population of thirty million people and ten million people own guns. Canada has more guns for each individual then America but the gun death in Canada is very low.
This is one of the best movies I have ever seen this year. It showed the dark side of America. I learned that there is plenty of gun violence among children. Also death by guns in America is very common and it is the highest rate in the world.
I recommend this movie to everybody who loves guns so it makes them think twice.

Martha's Vineyard

I went to Martha's Vineyard with my friend's family last Saturday and came back yesterday in the afternoon. It was great, we went to the beaches a lot and the water was nice and cold. We saw Ernie Boch Jr's, mansion and his house was huge, and he had five or six llamas in his giant yard. We went into Edgartown and went to The Black Dog, which is a very famous restaurant. We ate fudge from Murdick's Fudge, it was really good fudge. The waves at the beaches were good for a few days then it was really disappointing. Some of the waves just barely could reach my waist.
Martha's Vineyard is an island that is just off the coast of Cape Cod, and you can only go to there by boat or by plane because there is no bridge. Most people take ferries and drive their cars into the ferry. It was very pretty. There were stars at night and a clear blue sky in the morning. Most of the time the weather was nice and warm. There were nice healthy green trees everywhere and there was a lot of wildlife. I saw moon jellies, hermit crabs, crabs, krill's, star fish, fly fish, eels, muscles, and clams. Also along the ferry ride I saw tons of fish and jelly fish. So many people go to Martha's Vineyard because the weather rarely breaks 90 degrees. Also it has famous vineyard wine, film festivals, wildlife, many beautiful beaches and a lot of famous people vacation there, such as the Kennedy's or the Obama's and much more.
I recommend you go there at least once in your life, because it is worth every minute of your time.

Would I want to be a spy?

I would definitely not want to be a spy, because of the risk of getting executed and the dangerous things that I would have to go through.
Some people want to be spies because of the money or the patriotism for their country, sand ome spies go against their country, because they think their country is doing the wrong thing. Everybody loves spy movies because of the action and the thrills. For example, James Bond is one of the most famous spies of all times. In his movies it's always guns, bombs, killing and money which are always good qualities for spy movies. Some young children watch movies like this and want to become spies, or become something like it.

Vocab from Spies book

1. Indian reservation: Land that the government gives to Indian tribes. On their reservation they can make there own laws, it's like a another separate nation in the U.S soil.

Foxwoods Casino is in the Pequot Tribe Reservation.

2. Transcribe: To listen to something and write it down.

The Japanese couldn't transcribe the Navajo language.

3. Missionary: Religious people who try to help the poor or go to different countries to spread their religion.

Philip Johnston grew up in a Indian reservation because his parents were missionaries.

4. Gizmo: A tool or an invention.

Spies used the most latest and modern gizmo's on there missions.

5. Mata Hari: A famous belly dancing spy who spied for the French. She was executed on October 15, 1974, by a firing squad.

Mata Hari was a Dutch women who spied for the French.

6. Harriet Tubman: She was a spy who got her freedom and helped many other slaves become free.

Harriet Tubman was part of the under ground railroad and help many black slaves to freedom, some call her the black Moses.

7. Exotic: A new or foreign thing. A exotic flower can mean a imported flower or a foreign flower.

Many exotic plants from the rain forest are poisonous.

Secrets, Lies, Gizmos, and Spies: A History of Spies and Espionage

This book is non-fiction by Janet Wyman Coleman, and its about famous spies in world, such as Whitaker Chambers who was a Time Magazine journalist, and a spy for the Soviet Union. This book teaches you the history of spies and spying. One thing that was interesting was that the first American spy was George Washington. He knew that the only way to beat the British was to spy on them because the British had better trained men, better weapons, and a lot more men then the Americans. George Washington found out that the British were going to invade Rhode Island, and to prevent this from happening George Washington wrote a fake letter saying that he was going to invade New York. He gave it to one of his secret agents and told him to give it to the British general. When the British read this they changed direction and went back to New York while the Americans headed to Rhode Island.

There was another story about the Navajos during World War II. Philip Johnston read an article about how during World War I Canada used Native Americans as code talkers. So he told the military and they recruited Navajo Indians to be code talkers, because they have a very complex language. One word can mean different things depending on the pitch of the word. They were trained in San Diego and went to battle. When the Japanese tapped the message they couldn't transcribe it or decode it. One Japanese code breaker said that he thought he was listening to gibberish.
This book talks about spies, and how to spy also, and it shows pictures of people and spy gadgets. in chronological order throughout history. I love this book because it is easy to read and you learn interesting things on every page.

More Vocab: from the Percy book

1) Hinder: To prevent; V
Percy tries to hinder Kronos from invading the world and Destroying the Olympian Gods.
2) Agitation: A feeling of being upset; N
Percy felt agitation when Annabeth got stabbed by a poisoned knife.
3) Stooped: Bent over; Adj
Percy stooped into the River of Styx to became a great warrior.

The Drop of the Scaffold

Yesterday in Boston, MA two window washers almost fell to their death while washing windows at a skyscraper on State Street. They were on a scaffold washing windows on the 37th floor when suddenly their scaffold dropped 20 feet and tilted in a 45 degree angle. They were dangling for about 20 minutes before any help came. Finally fire fighters had to break windows to rescue the two window washers. Many people saw it happening from inside the building and from the streets. It doesn't say why it fell but it looks like one of their cables snapped.
Window washers get paid a median wage of only $18,790 per year, so is it actually worth risking your life to get paid that wage?

VOCAB: 10 words from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth

1) Malice; Hatred: N
Kronos felt malice towards Percy.

2) Sheathed; in the sheath, something you put your sword in: adj
After the battle between monsters Percy put his sword in his sheath.

3) Reckon; Figure out: V
Percy reckon that Kronos was evil.

4) Hydraulics; Something to make it go up: adj
The car was bouncing up and down because it had hydraulics.

5) Spittoon; A spitting bowl: N
Pirates had Spittoons to spit in or spit out tobacco juice.

6) Cauldron; A big black witches pot: N
In the play Macbeth witches were making a special potion in a big black cauldron.

7) Skeptically; A way of talking that shows that you don't believe: adj
I was skeptical about scary campfire stories.

8) Shrewd; Smart: adj
Percy was very shrewd when he convinced his father to stop defending his palace and help send Typhon back to Tartarus.

9) Stalagmite; Pointy rock columns in caves: N
There were a lot of crystal stalagmites in Calypso's cave.

10) Dank; Wet: adj
When Percy was in the labyrinth there were a lot of dank places.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

The series Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a modern day extended version of Greek mythology. Percy is a normal kid who has dyslexia and ADHD, and also he has been seeing a lot of monsters lately. He thought it was just his imagination, but that changes when his math teacher becomes a monster and tries to KILL HIM! He was saved by another teacher who held a bronze sword. Now Percy realized that there are actual monsters and something was just not right, and later on he realizes that he is a demigod: half human and half god. Most importantly he is the son of Poseidon, one of the most powerful and major gods out of all the Olympians.

The setting takes place mostly in New York but, there are fictional palaces and monuments. For example, the author describes Poseidon's palace somewhere under water in New York. His palace has mermaids and mermen, with sea creatures and architecture of Poseidon's palace has mosaic floors coral roofs, and much more.

Percy Jackson discovers he can navigate where he is in the sea, he can breathe under water, he can control the water if he wants to. He also realized that the handicapped teacher that had saved him from the monster was Chiron, one of the best trainers and teachers for warriors and heroes, who had trained all the famous heroes and warriors, such as Hercules and Achilles. Percy goes on death threatening missions with his friends Annabeth and Grover. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, she knows everything and every creature/monster. Grover is a Satyr, and he can control nature with his reed pipe by playing certain music.
I think this book is great, because it has everything I like, Greek mythology, suspense, and mystery. I couldn't have found a better book then this.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Why is the book called Flipped?
Well, I think it is because the main characters' beliefs flip. This is a book about two neighbors and their lives. The main character, Julianna, is a girl who is poor and dirty, who has a huge crush on Bryce (the other main character), but the problem is that Bryce is a rich kid who is very clean. So he wants no part of Julianna's crush. Julianna will do anything to get just a glimpse of Bryce's face, but Bryce will do anything to stay way from Julianna. Later on Bryce makes fun of Julianna's retarded uncle, which causes the Flip. Now Julianna tries to avoid Bryce and she will do anything to get away from him. Bryce, on the other hand tries to make peace with Julianna and would do anything to just say "Hello." Also their families flip. In the beginning you would think that Bryce has a great family and Julianna has a terrible family. Actually that is not true: later in the book you realize that, even though Julianna's family is poor and her house is messy, deep down this family is very much happy together, and Bryce's family is rich but his family always get into fights and his house is just generally not happy.
One interesting and mysterious part of the book is that Julianna's family is poor because her dad works hard for his mentally disabled brother to be in a nice mental hospital, (Julianna didn't know about her retarded uncle) and Bryce's grandfather really admires that. The problem is that Bryce's family are very selfish and the grandfather is really hoping that one day his family can be just like Julianna's family.
The book is a mystery, and the reader discovers some shocking things about the families, which makes it very interesting to read, such as how Bryce almost died because he was getting choked by his umbilical cord.
I think the lesson of the book is that you're not always happy when you are rich, because money does not buy happiness.

New Hampshire Camping Trip

Last Friday I went camping with my friend Michael and his family. There was of course 2 other families. It was a great experience, but there were tons of bugs biting, even though we had bug repellant on, its like they're immune to it. Also, one night it was pouring and water got into our tent, and my sleeping bag was like a swimming pool. Altough bugs were biting and my sleeping bag was a pool I had a great time. We told ghost stories, made s'mores and went on night walks. We also went to the lake and swam. We were going to rent canoes but they were all out, and on the trip back we had to go through a disgusting muddy trail. I also made a fire that was about 10 feet high, using lighter fluid. On our last day we saw the Northern Star the Big and Little Dipper, we also saw Orion's Belt. When I got home I thought that the experience was so fun I would risk all the bug biting and the wet sleeping bag to go again.

Michael Jackson DIED!

Michael Jackson was known as the King of Pop, and he was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He sang, danced and wrote music that is still listened to, to this day. As a child he was poor and his father abused him. He was seventh out of the nine children and all of them became singers. When Michael Jackson was only nine he was in a group called the Jackson 5, which was four of his older brothers and him. They had many albums that were in the top 5 disco singles and top 20 hits, however the sales started to decline around 1975. The Jackson 5 split up in 1975 and left Motown. Even though the Jackson 5 split up Michael Jackson still sang, and in 1982 he made one of the best selling albums of all times, "Thriller." Later on in his life he was accused of molesting boys, although he was fortunately acquitted. After he was acquitted he married Lisa Marie Presley, but they got divorced in less than 2 years. A few years later he got remarried to Deborah Jeanne Rowe who had 2 of his children. He died in Los Angles on June 25 2009 at age 50.

One thing I didn't know about Michael Jackson was that his father was in a band called the Falcons with his brother Luther.

Title IX

I just read a book from the library about Title IX, which is a law that was passed in 1972, which states that no one in the United States can get excluded from sports and extra curricular activities in public schools. Women in the 1960's to the early 1970's protested against unfair treatments, such as women can't play in men sports,Girls in public schools couldn't use the fields when the boys were using, or the boys always had better and newer equipment. Now all of that has changed. and every man and woman is equal and they have equal rights and opportunities. There are professional women's sports teams, such as WNBA and soccer.

Osama bin laden by Elane landau

I am reading a book about Osama bin Laden from the library, a terrorist who was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.
Osama bin Laden was the youngest son out of all the bin Laden's. His father, Mohammad bin Laden was a very successful business man. Later his father owned every construction company in Saudi Arabia. His father's company made about 36 Billion dollars. When is father died in a tragic plane accident, Osama bin laden inherited about 330 million dollars. His brother Salim had taken over the business but unfortunately Salim died a couple of years later in a plane crash.
The book says that Osama bin laden wasn't a radical Muslim until many years later. He went to business school hoping to inherit his fathers company. He was a heavy drinker (Muslims aren't suppose to drink), and he also fought over women and one of whom was a well known prostitute. He became a radical Muslim because of the soviet union. When the Soviet took over most of Afghanistan he realize he should protect his land and religion. So he became the leader of rebels that fought against the Soviet Union.

Rope Walking

Korean rope walking is a traditional entertainment performance, like tightrope walking, by the Koreans for many years. It began during the Chosun Dynasty in the 12 century. It is a performance of humor, drama, and acting. There are two types of rope walking. The first type is called p'ansori, where there is one musician and one rope walker. The second type is when there is music, actors with masks and a rope walker. This also requires a lot of skills because there is no net, and the clothes are just plain old cotton. While training for rope walking, you experience a lot of pain. Rope walking is dying out because no one wants to be a professional rope walker. Also not many people like to watch rope walking since there are so many popular TV shows and movies.

Rope Walking

Bomb Scare in Wellesley

Today was an average day for any middle-schooler, it was almost the end of 1st period when suddenly the fire bell rang. I thought it was a regular fire drill since we did not have one for a long time. When we were outside I saw fire trucks and police cars coming toward our school with their sirens on. Ten minutes later police dogs and police officers entered the building, and after that fire fighters rushed in with full gear on. From right then and there I knew that it was not a joke.
We were evacuated to the high school, where there were no bombs that we know of. The principal told us that the police officers and the fire fighters were searching every inch of the school and that there probably wasn't a bomb.
Three hours later we were back in the school. About 20 minutes later our teacher told us that there was no bomb found. We headed toward 7th period with only 20 minutes left.
This bomb threat happened last Friday. I think this was done by a person who has a lot of issues and does drugs. This bomb scare beats being in school all day.

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar was the emperor of Rome. This play takes place in ancient Rome. The murder of Julius Caesar happened when they were offically announcing him as emperor of Rome.

The Senators thought that Julius Caeser would destroy Rome and make Rome into tyranny

This play is about Julius Caesar's murder and the final show down between Marc Antony, Caesar's right hand man/best friend, with Marcus Brutus, a senator of Rome, Caesar's best friend and also the person who cut Caesar's life short.

This is the best tragedy play I have ever read.It does not stall on the action. It gives good examples of life, death, and betrayal. Friendship also takes a major role because at the end Antony makes sure Brutus pays his price.

Brutus was Caerar's best friend but later Brutus betrayed him, but Antony, another of Caesar's good friends made sure Brutus got his suffering.

Antony did this not because of fame or power: he did this for their friendship.

Torture: Is it good? or is it bad?

Iraqi prisoners were tortured heavily by the US soldiers. Some were water boarded and threatened with vicious dogs that can bite off your face in no time, and many other terrible tortures.
The people where tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison.
President George Bush let the guards torture these prisoners to get high quality
information,but instead we got false information most of the time.
A trainee doctor has a hard time cutting open a person for there first time, but it is their job and it saves lives so they eventually get used to the idea. A doctor wrote on the New York Times that when he first started being a surgeon it took him a while to get used to, but the idea of torturing is 10 times worse. So later on he asks if you can get used to cutting open people can you get used to torturing people?
The Geneva Conventions are international laws that were made in Switzerland to protect prisoners and and soldiers from abuse. But George Bush had broken that law.

Swine Flu

The Swine Flu is the biggest issue on TV and the media right now. The Swine Flu is a bacteria that is caused by pigs. It is a disease that can be transmitted by coughing or sneezing. Some symptoms are High fevers, runny nose, aching, coughing, swelling. So far many scientists have been doing research on this Flu but no vaccine had been found. The first person to start it up again is a boy named Édgar Hernández, who is from a town where pig industries are huge in Mexico. Edgar was sick in early March, luckily he did not die and he had recovered.
Schools in New York have been shut down and have been disinfected because so many kids had the Swine Flu. These children had just returned from Mexico, and officials are saying that the Flu came from Mexico.
In the US 64 people were ill and 4 people were so ill that they had to be hospitalized, but no one has died
In Mexico 2,498 people were confirmed to have the Swine Flu and 159 were confirmed to be dead.

The Battle of Yorktown in the revolution

The Battle of Yorktown took place in Yorktown, Virginia in 1781, between the British, led by General Cornwallis, and the Americans, led by General George Washington. General Marque deLafayette from France led French troops who helped the Americans win this important battle. When Cornwallis lost the battle in North Carolina he was sent to Yorktown Virginia. General George Washington thought that if he won this battle the revolution would be over.
Washington sent Lafayette and 1,200 troops to fight off the British army and take back the Virginia state. Cornwallis however arrived with 6,000 troops. This was not an easy mission, since the French general was very much outnumbered by the British. Luckily Washington arrived with 8,500 American troops and 10,800 French troops. Legend has it that Washington was the first person to fire the cannon and the cannon ball landed right on top of the British generals dinner table.
It was a 3 week siege. The British were short on supplies and men. Since the Americans cut off the ports the British couldn't get any reinforcements or supplies. Cornwallis had no choice to surrender in the unfortunate battle. He sent one of his lieutenents to bring the sword of surrender and one of his men who was waving a white flag.
It was the final major land battle of the revolution.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night is a comedy that William Shakespeare wrote during the Elizabethan time. This play has twists and turns and the ending is nothing you would ever expect.
The main characters are: Viola/Cesario, Sebastian, Olivia, Duke Orsino, Malvolio, Sir Toby Blech, Sir Andrew, Maria and the Fool.
Viola loses her brother in a tragic accident. She was saved by the captain and a couple sailors. She learns that women don't have a lot of rights in Illyria so she gets help from the captain to be a man, Cesario, and to live like a man to work for the duke.
Lady Olivia has also lost a brother. She is so sad that she swears never to look at or marry a man for seven years. Too bad for the duke because he is insanely in love with Olivia. The duke tries to convince Olivia to forget about her brother and marry him, so he sends his servants because he is to scared to do it himself. But one day he sends Viola\Cesario to talk her out of it. But the duke made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Instead of Olivia falling in love with the duke she fell in love with Viola\Cesario. Later on Olivia marries Viola's brother, who actually had survived the tragic accident. And Viola marries the duke.
In this play Shakespeare puts the characters in two places. Romance or becoming psycho. Also Shakespeare makes the fool the smartest one and the servants or educated characters not as smart. This was the best play I ever read, because it was so funny, and a tragic story was turned into comedy.