Abena Osei-Gyamfi♥

12/14/2012

Although my plan sadly failed for the most part, I woke up with my alarm this morning! It was so exciting. The thing is, i pushed my alarm time up to 6:22, making it a little easier to wake up. I feel like 6:22 is the perfect time to wake up because it is still early enough so that i can get ready without rushing, and it also gives me an extra 10 minutes of sleep, as opposed to waking up at 6:12. Sometimes when i get out of the shower, I take a 5 minutes nap, but that doesn’t delay me much and it won’t, especially since I will be waking up earlier. I was able to get everything done and i even got to eat breakfast! I was also, as i thought i would be, in a better mood than usual, and i did not get annoyed with everything as I normally would.  If i had gone with my plan the whole week, it would have had a tremendous effect on my life, and my mornings would have been a whole lot simpler. Once I catch up on all my sleep that i missed from participating in Christmas in Washington, waking up with my alarm should be a piece of cake. I love not having to rush to get ready and get out of the house but then again, who does not? Sometimes, I wish school started later (still ending at the same time), so that  I would be able to get more sleep. I think i want to try to overcome this rut again on my own time because this morning was a good one and I could use a whole lot more. I know some mornings will still be bad, but waking up earlier and not having to rush can make a big difference. I was not the most successful with my plan, but “our greatest glory is not in never failing, but rising up every time we fail.” (Emerson). The next time I try this plan, or any other one, I plan on succeeding.

Abena Osei-Gyamfi♥

12/12/12

I did a televised event called Christmas in Washington this weekend. We’ve been practicing for it the past 2 weeks and i still have not been able to catch up with my sleep. This morning, I strayed from my plan and stayed asleep till 6:30 instead of waking up at 6:12. So far, I have failed my plan everyday this week. I still have to rush to shower, do my hair, choose out and put on my clothes, and leave the house.  I more than love the extra sleep but in the end, it has more of a negative impact than a positive one. The only good thing I have done while trying to overcome this rut, is waking up at 6:30 instead of 6:45. I thought giving up this rut would be a whole lot easier for some reason, but it is the total opposite. I know i adore my sleep, but i still thought I would be able wake up after the first snoozing of my alarm. Doing Christmas in Washington is probably the main reason why my plan has not been working since its so draining. Going to school all day, rehearsing intensely for hours after, and coming to home to homework after has been a lot to deal with and I need enough sleep as I can get. Who ever thought singing could be so tiring?! If i were able to fulfill my plan, my mom would be very pleased with me because she always tries to wake me up early, but i always whine a little so i can sleep more. I would love to take my time to get ready in the morning because “for every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness,” and If i could put my plan into a successful practice  i will be a lot happier in the morning (Emerson).

The book I am reading is called The perks of being a wallflower. “He’s a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.” That is what Charlie’s friend Patrick described him as to a group of friends. Charlie knows a lot about others and he learns a lot everyday but he does not say anything about a situation unless he absolutely has to. He is a very quiet person and not a lot of people noticed him but he notices a lot. Even while he is at home he is sometimes ignored by his older brother and sister when he is in a room with him not saying anything. Each day he writes to a “friend” about what is going on in his life and he even tells his friend about the things he does not understand although the friend never writes back. Charlie seems like a shy, lonely sixteen year old just learning by experience.

JaVaun Martin: Evaluation

I have started reading Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith. The protagonist of this book is Elena Gilbert, a popular high school student. Elena was the “girl every boy wanted and every girl wanted to be” (L.J. Smith). The first few pages explain Elena and then it begins talking about Stefan Salvatore. Stefan is obviously a vampire because the author began to explain how he killed a rabbit with his bare hands to satisfy his hunger. When Elena meets Stefan she becomes intrigued by him and I predict they are going to start dating.

Tiarra Andrews-Owens- Evaluation/Prediction

Ray meet with a friend of his father judge Harry Rex. Mr. Rex is gave ray all the information he know’s about Judge Atlee. Harry informed ray that during the last month of his father death he only earned nine thousand dollars. Ray was in disbelief, he told Judge Harry about the thirty thousand dollars that his father left him, and his brother. If judge Attlee earned just nine thousand dollars a year before his death how did he leave a cabinet with thirty thousand dollars.

Dag Dawit

Ray, and forest are arranging the funeral of their father with Reverend Palmer. Since they both don’t know what to do with the house they are planning on selling it “Forrest wants to sell it & collect the insurance”(115). The funeral was held in Reverend palmer’s church. Ray didn’t want his fathers casket to be open so he told Mr. Magargel to close it. He was impressed with the number of people that attended. Foster was in a hurry until the funeral was over, and so was ray. I predict that once there father is buried ray, and foster are going to come to a disagreement on what to do with the money left over.

Dag Dawit

Prediction

I just started reading the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” The book is written by Frederick Douglass himself. I was very interested this book after we read in excerpt of it in class. Frederick Douglass basically begins the book by talking about his life and where he was born. He says that he has [no aaccurate knowledge of his age since he has never seen any record of it] (Douglass 1). I find it odd that he did not have any knowledge of his age. Why did the master’s choose to keep the age of the slaves from them?

Tiarra Andrews-Owens – Question

This book is full of life. I can see the scenes play clearly in my head and I am able to picutre each character with abolute clarity. This story is about a world were instead of abortion parents can choose to unwind those who are within 13-18 years old. Unwind were you basically take that person aprat and can use every single part of them and give it to those who need it. Those parts still keep that person’s essence, so technically they never die. Cy-Ty is only a minor character in the story, but to me this book would have not been complete without him. He had an inury in part of his brain so he recieved a replacemen part from an unwind. Well the kid who that piece of brain belonged to would come into his mind and put thoughts their that didn’t belong to Cy-Ty. The kid didn’t realize that it wasn’t his body any more. The kid in Cy-Ty’s mind major desire was to go to this city called Joplin, Cy-Ty believed that if he gave in to this major desire maybe the kid in his brain would leave him alone. When Cy-Ty got there he just walked around untill the kid in his brain led him were he wanted to be. He ended up at the house were the kids parents live. The moment he got their the kid in his brain took over. He has difficulty expressing what he needs, but finally he tells them he wants the shovel. The parents are scared because they realize that it is their son who they unwinded who is speaking. Cy-Ty notices that the moment he realizes what he is looking for he knows exaclty were it is, in the back yard. The kid who took over starts shoveling he pulls out a brief case full of jewelry. Then he digs into the breif case and fills his hands with jewelry. This boy who is on his knees approaches the man and women and begs “Please, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it…Please do anything but don’t unwind me” (Shutterman 191). I can see the pain in his eyes, the desperation, and I can feel his hoplessnes.

Jennifer Posada-visualize

I am about half way through the book and everyone is still without a food supply to them and power. Its been about 2 months without power and people are “forget what it feels like to be able to type on a computer.” I predict that the power if have to eventually go back on in order for everyone to survive. The book can’t end with everyone dying due to lack of food supply to them, their is still more to read of the book so they have to have the power come back in order for people to go back to school. I predict that somehow the astronomers will find a way to push back the moon from when it was pushed in due to the meteor. So then this will help to lower the tides of the ocean so that they can get food supply.

Prediction- Lia Niebauer

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay Is the book that the TV show Dexter is based off of.  The main character, Dexter Morgan, is arguably a sociopath but is written to be a very likeable character.  In the first few chapters of the book it is revealed that Dexter, a serial killer, only kills people who fit his code. These people must also be killers, have slipped through the ‘cracks of the law,’ and he must also have proof that this person is going to kill again. Dexter works as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department.  He uses his skill of finding killers to help his sister Deborah, get promoted to a detective in the Homicide Department.  Right after the start of the book the Police Department starts to realize there is a serial killer (not Dexter) on the loose, known as the Ice Truck Killer.  While investigating on his own, Dexter starts to realize that the killer is very similar to him, and for the first time Dexter feels a real connection with another person. Dexter can tell that this guy has the same urges as him, he says“That’s why I liked him, I think. Another guy pretending to be human, just like me” (Lindsay, Ch 4.) My prediction is that there is more to their relationship than Deter knows.  I think that the Ice Truck Killer knows who Dexter really is, and that he is going to try to contact him soon.