Happy New Year

Have you ever wondered about all the weird traditions and symbols on the New Year? Like New Years Resolutions? Or using a baby as a symbol for the new year? Well, look no fearther.

The New Years Resolutions began by the ancient Babylonians. Popular mordern day resolutions are to quit smoking or losing weight. But the early Babylonians most popular resolutions was to return borrowed farm equipment.

The tradition of using a baby started by the Greece around 600 B.C. It was their was to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus. By parading the baby in a basket to represent the rebirth of their god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

Traditionaly, new year foods are supposed to bring you good luck. Many clutures believe that circular food can bring you good luck because it means ``coming full circle``, completing years cycle. The Dutch believed that eating doughnuts will bring you good luck on new years.

Another very common tradition is champaign toasting at midnight to welcome in the new year. This tradition started back with the Greece and Romans, who would pour wine to those attending a religious function. The host would drink the wine first to make sure it was not poisoned. It was fairly common to poison the wine because that way you could get rid of your enemies.

Toasting got its name from a kind of weird tradition. Back at the time of Romans and Greece the wine was not as pure as it is today, so what they would do is place a square of toast to absorb the acidity. The toast that was floted in the wine would be eaten by the last person who drank the wine. Eventually, the act of drinking in unison was called a toast, from the act of putting a square of toast in the wine.

These are some of the weird tradition and how they originated. Its kind of cool how somethings we did now were done by the Romans and Greece. Sometimes we don`t even think about where these traditions come from. We should think about it some times and the people long ago because without them our New Year will not be the same.

The Hunger Games.

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve other districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before-and survival.

The Hunger Games movies comes out: March 23, 2011.

If you are going to see this movie are you looking forward to seeing it?

Im sure this movie will be AMAZING!!! Here is the trailer.

Some of the cast: Jennifer Lawrence		Katniss  Everdeen
	Josh Hutcherson	...	Peeta Mellark
	Elizabeth Banks	...	Effie Trinket
	Liam Hemsworth	...	Gale Hawthorne
	Woody Harrelson	...	Haymitch Abernathy
	Stanley Tucci	...	Caesar Flickerman
	Donald Sutherland	...	President Snow
	Alexander Ludwig	...	Cato
	Isabelle Fuhrman	...	Clove
	Amandla Stenberg	...	Rue

By the way my birthday is January 3rd!

Haha :D

Why Does Everyone Want to Fit in?

Everyone wants to fit in because, if you don't you get made fun of. And you have to either fit in or you don't that's how it goes.

If you are a person that does not fit in kids talk about you, and make fun of you.

For you to fit in, you have to be pretty, do your hair, makeup, and wear clothes that make your figure of your body look good.

Then is depends on if people like you if you fit in!!

Now I think thats all bull crap!!

Happy Holidays!

Since its almost Christmas and we`re about to go on break I wanted to write about Christmas. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. It is so exciting. All the presents and parties but most of the family. You get to spend time with your family. No matter how big or small your family is Christmas will always drive us to a place called home. `Tis the season of giving and being thankful.

We should be thankful at this time of the year, like for the whole year and stuff that we take for granted. I know that Thanksgiving has already passed but still. A lot of people I know take a lot of things for granted like having clean water to drink. This one person once said to `I hate drinking tap water`. Really? I mean you at least get clean water. some people don't even have that.

I think for Christmas this year we should all be thankful for things we have. We should also learn how to give. And always remember if you see someone in need don`t just walk by. Stop and think and then decide. You will always have more than the person in need. Give without expecting back.

If every breath is a gift, then every gift you give is a breath of life to someone.

Cupcakes!

I decided for my free post I wanted to write about cupcakes! Here is a few facts about cupcakes.

• Cupcakes cane date back to 1796
• They are called fairy cakes in the U.K
• One of the earliest recipes was "a cake baked in small cups"
• Cupcakes were originally made in large pottery mugs
• In the 19th century they used cup cake and cupcake for different uses
• Cupcakes are usually baked in muffin tins
• Chocolate and vanilla are the two most popular flavors

I really like cupcakes they are one of my favorite cupcakes. One of the best cupcakes I had, had bacon in it weird right? It taste really good though hahaha.:} If you want to now more facts about cupcakes click here

It's almost Christmas how exiting! It is a great time of the year people get to spend it with their families. Not everyone has a family though and some people have family out serving our country. They are great people out in the war helping to protect this country. Today and yesterday one of my teachers Mrs. Campau was having the kids in her class and others who wanted to volunteer make cards for the people ion the army. I thought it was kinda stockerish a t first because we were sending it to them and they didn't even know who we were. Then I realized it was nice and that them not knowing who we were was the point. They didn't know who we were at all we didn't really know them either; we knew that they were in the army and fighting for our country and we appreciated that. It's nice to know that even just a little card like that would be able to cheer people up. I think others should send out cards to people like this, that you know or don't know.

Piercings.

Have you ever wanted to get a piercing on your nose, tongue, or lip?

Elaine Davidson holds the world record for the most piercings on her face in Brazil.

She has an estimate of 4,225 piercings on her whole body.

That includes having her tongue, nose, lip, eyebrow, ears, and many other places pierced.

She has spents thousands of dollars on all of her piercings.

She also has an estimate of 100 tattoos on her body!

Talk about and insane women!!

That must have hurt getting all those piercings!

Plastic surgery is wrong!!!!

If you have ever thought about getting plastic surgery, think again!

Rajee Narinesingh came in to the doctors office looking normal. But when she came out it was a whole different story. A person claming to be a doctor filled Rajee Narinesingh cheeks with cement. She just wanted a face lift and came out with lumpy cheeks.

.

Here is some plastic surgery patients who's surgery went wrong:

Plastic surgery costs a lot of money. And most of the time it doesn't even look good.

I don't know why people would want to change their looks so much that they would change their body permantly and take a risk of it looking bad.

God made you in his own image. And thinks you beautiful just the way you are.

So unless you want to look like those people, I suggest not getting plastic surgery.

If you want to see more plastic surgerys that went wrong click here.

Born for a Reason

Do you ever feel like you don't fit in? Like people are not going to accept you for who you really are? Like the only way to stop them is by being someone else? If yes, then you know what its like to be me.

When I was in fifth grade I used to hate myself. I was new to the U.S.A. and didn`t speak English very well. Kids at my school used to make fun of me a call me names and stuff because I was quite and VERY Innocent. I used to come home and cry myself to sleep. I hate that feeling. I wanted to change myself so badly. I wished I could be so many weird things. Like I wished I had blond hair and blue eyes. Well, like everything, fifth grade came to an end and I graduated from elementary school and was off to middle school.

Sixth grade was AWESOME! I found/made a little group of people who I could call friends. People who I could trust and know wouldn`t make fun of me behind my back. I was so happy. This all happened because I didn`t become someone else. I believed in who I was and stuck to it.

I mean who are you trying to fool? It might work on your friends, your teachers, even your parents but to you, you would always be the same. Face it, you can`t run away form yourself and you shouldn`t have to because you are who you are because of a reason. All these things in the world like Plastic Surgery and stuff are things to distract us from our main goal.

People say thing to you and you should never let that stand in the way of who you are. Its wrong to change yourself because you are unique. You were born a original. Don`t become a copy. Why live to please others? I mean its your life. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. Enjoy who you are. Don`t hate yourself for who you aren`t.

Plastic Surgery Good or Not?

Is it really good to change yourself? In my opinion if you were to ever change yourself for plastic surgery I think its a bad idea. There are so many pros and cons to this subject. I think there are way more cons though.

There are many cons for plastic surgery such as getting an infection or the risks of liposuction. These risks can lead to more and more and it may not end well. I think by getting plastic surgery it ruins the uniqueness of yourself. I think you look this way for a reason so don't change it. I would never do this to myself for a flaw I have in my appearance.

For people who really just can't handle there flaw then change it. Its your choice you can really be happy with your appearance afterwords but i just want you to know that every plastic surgery ends up with a con. If you want to learn more about the pros and cons to plastic surgery click here

Fake People!!

WARNING!! There are fake people invading the world! People are getting things to make themselves look better to others.

But reality is, nothing you do to/for yourself will change what people think of you! It should never matter what others think of you, because someone will love you for who you are.

People think they have to fit in, but if you want to fit bad enough to make yourself fake, you've got some dang problems in your head.

IT IS WRONG TO CHANGE YOURSELF FROM WHAT YOU CAME OUT TO BE BECAUSE GOD MADE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE FOR A REASON!!

And plastic surgeries or what ever else out there always go wrong one way or another, look at Michael Jackson, he got his nose done so many times, he had no cartilage in his nose!

If you want to see yourself what can go wrong click here to see for yourself!

Now people be happy with yourself ok?

Worst Day of the Year

    People say Black Friday is the time when you really want to be at the stores but, in the article I read it talks about why Black Friday shouldn't even be real.

    This women, Susan Reinhardt, says that Black Friday should be band, and sales should go on all holiday season. She also put in her article some fatalities that have happened on Black Fridays. She talks about a man pronounced dead on Black Friday by being trampled to death, people even saw people walk on him as he lay there unconscious!

    Now, come on people, really? I totally understand that money is low for all of us but that does not give us the right to; shot people, stab people, and trample them to death!

    This Black Friday crap is ridiculous! Black Friday should not be like that all violent!!

     Black Friday is tradition in the U.S. but, it's a tradition where people hurt others or even kill others! Where has this world gone to if we think it's alright to kill someone for some left over cash in our pockets, needed or not!

      Then, I read an article talking about how Thanksgiving will no longer be a holiday we will celebrate because, our heads will be for store buster deals and we wont have time for Thanksgiving.

       This article is by GateHouse News Service. It's a good article, if you'd like to read it here is the link.

This video to your left is what happens and I don't like the end but, that's off topic. But for two guys to brawl over a stupid little thing you can get any other time is a super lame thing to do.

Black Friday

 Black Friday is a crazy day. Lots of people will do all sorts of things to get a good deal on items, but some people will go overboard. At a Los Angeles Walmart at 10:20 am a woman wanted her items SO bad that she pepper sprayed people to get what she wanted. “Somehow she was trying to use it to gain an upper hand,” Abel Parga, a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department, told the Associated Press.
 People also said she was going all around the store pepper spraying people to get the deals she wanted. A shopper named John Lopez wasn't hit but he compared the scene to a riot. He said “[The victims'] faces were red,” he also told ABC news that a man was running up to his wife yelling "Call an ambulance, Call an ambulance!!" Sadley though the woman was able to purchace her items before the police came.
 its crazy what people will do n Black Friday. 

Black Friday drama!

As a young kid I always wanted to go shopping really early in the morning. But my mom always said no because it's too early to get up in the morning.
Now on the news you hear stories of people dying because of going shopping on Black Friday to get the best prices on cool things.
Now that i think about it, I'm glad my mom said no to going.
On Black Friday there is people being trampled to death and most recently people being sprayed with pepper spray!
I can understand why people want to go shopping on Black Friday to get the best deals, but I wouldn't go if I would be risking my life!

Black Friday Insanity

Black Friday is a crazy day for all of us. Well, its the day after Thanksgiving. Some of us have had too much turkey or too much pumpkin pie. But Black Friday is a whole different thing.

Its crazy how much one person can spend on one night. People beat others up for DVD players, like in one of the Walmart stores people started hitting each other with boxes and pulling each others hair off. This all happens when $200 DVD players sell for $50. A woman took out her pepper spray just to keep people away from what she was going to buy. Good thing I didn`t go out this year or I would have been caught in a fight over Barbies .

The crazy thing about Black Friday is that people think that that's the only time of the year to buy stuff. An average person spends about $372.57 every year on Black Friday. This year the Black Friday record was broken by 23%. This year the total amount of money spent was 52.4 billion dollars.

I think Black Friday is kind of a stupid thing to do because every year people get crazy and hurt other people. I think the stores should at least provide some security or something to keep crazy people in control.I only saw and heard about this much violence this year. Last year when I was in Florida there was no news of violence except in states like California.

Many people think that it is ok to to improve the way you are by getting plastic surgery or botox. I think that people who do these thing are stupid and should just accept themselves the way that they are. Some people just do it because their favorite famous person did it. Famous people should either like Kris Jenner the Kardashian's mother she has had a lot done with herself. Some people who get botox or plastic surgery have gotten it so many things done that it may be hurting their body and they still want more. It's like an addiction. Even though some people may think it is ok I think it is one of the worst things that you can put into your body.

Mixed Reactions for Black Friday

Black Friday is a day where you can get numerous items for half the price. National chain stores do great like Macy's, Target, Sears, etc. but not all retailers were happy. Independent retails were very unexcited for black Friday.

Such stores in Victorville like Santa Fe Trading Co., Pharmacy Boardshop, etc. [independent retails] didn't do nearly as well as chain stores. Even with sales they were decreasing.Some still were happy with there profits because they had a low profit margin.

I think that it is good to check out the independent stores.Most likely there will be less people and you. You can also help them out. You can save and you might even escape the madness of Black Friday.

Even with the madness of black Friday you would think every store would be blown out of merchandise, but not all. So make sure you you visit the small retail stores. If you want to check out the article click here http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/local-31583-mixed-reactions.html

Dodgeball appropriate or not?

The great debate about dodgeball is pathetic. It's just a game!

People and P.E teachers shouldn't be banning it because someones feeling might get hurt.

I believe if teachers want to play dodgeball, play it.

If some P.E teachers don't like dodgeball then they can choose not to play it.

But personally I see dodgeball both good and bad to play.

Good, because it sees how fast you react to things.

Bad, someone could get hurt and go home crying to their mom.

If you don't like to play it at your school then don't

I really don't think it deserves so much debating and arguing over a silly game.

This is actually really cool, it is the worlds largest dodgeball game! It looked sooo much fun!

click here

haha

Is dodge ball an appropriate game for P.E classes? I think dodge ball is a really fun game and before I read articles and thought about it, I believed that all of the kids participated. Now I now that many of the kids just stand there or behind others and if their lucky they won't get hit with the ball. People say that it is usually the kids who just stand their and don't participate, but the is not necessarily true sometimes it can be because you threw the ball and someone caught it or if you accidentally stepped over the line. It's not that no one participates when they try to get the kids to play dodge ball it's just that most of them don't. Now for P.E we either get to play a sport or walk around the basketball courts. In these activities you are moving around rather than standing there like during a dodge ball game or when you get hit get out and have to stand their watching.

Dodge-ball

Should dodge-ball be played in schools? That is what a lot of school districts are thinking about. But, what is there to think about, its a game! Stop trying to shelter your kids, do you want them to have no life? Have no fun?!

Yes, dodge-ball is a game where you through a rubber ball at other students but, no one gets seriously hurt. I mean, yes kids will get bruises, cuts, red marks, and bloody noses(maybe) and that's it! You'd be better off playing dodge-ball then you playing soccer, football, or baseball.




Some people say its not supportive to the needs of students, but people need to learn that they have one body for the rest of your life, no matter if you like it or not, you have to learn to love it.

http://youtu.be/N3PMO4V9mCo
The link above is a video from Youtube and it shows a game of dodge-ball.

The Great Wussification

I think the Great Debate is a really silly thing. If you want America to be ready for anything you should try and stop the wimpification of the next generation. We should not ban games like dodgeball or tag. That is just so silly. I understand that kids can get hurt but that's part of life and growing up.

What kind of person would say that Simon Says is a bad game. I believe its childish but you can't give you child or student the false feeling of winning. Its just wrong! When they grow up they will not always win, sometimes they will have no choice but to loose. A lot of kids might never win so why make them feel like they are winners. I know it sounds wrong but its not wrong. What is wrong is to give your child a false feeling and then letting them find out the truth the hard way.

Banning all this kind of stuff will just be really stupid. Dodgeball is not a bad game but kids need to learn to how to handle loosing because there will be times when they have to loose not matter what. In dodgeball people can get hurt but most of the times the teachers don't allow their students to throw higher then three feet or only hit peoples legs. Some kids do get hit in the head sometimes but not that badly hurt. At my old school our coach would take out students if they hit another student in the head or face. So automatically they loose.

I think this whole thing is an open and shut case because there is no point in banning little games like tag and dodgeball. If you want your kids to little tenderized veal medallions might as well keep them at home where they would not get hurt. Physical Education is all about being tough and healthy so you can handle life later on. This whole thing is a waste of time for everyone. Whoever started this end it because it is really silly.

What I think of the Great Debate

Well I think it's crazy for people to band these games[tag,dodgeball,redrover,ect.] these games are for fun. In P.E you don't want to be stuck doing boring things these games get students interested in P.E. Believe me if I got to play dodgeball for P.E I would be a lot more excited to go.

I understand people don't want the students to get hurt but, it helps your student get active. I understand you will get shoved or pushed in the game but you can't let these things bother you. You can still get hurt in any activity like running, you can trip and fall.

We can't be so paranoid about these games its all made for being active. Kids get excited about these games.Besides you can get hurt in any activity. So I believe that these games are completely appropriate.

Poem

Poems, I love to read poems. They are like short stories with deep meanings.

Scaffolding
by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

I have read so many great poems. Some are too long to fit here but click here to go to another great poem I really like. I hope you enjoy it too.

Why do adults say we don't know what love is?

Why do adults say we don't know what love is? Do they expect us to have no emotions at all?!

My family always tells me I don't know what love is, but I think I have a general idea of what it is!

I know that there are a lot of you out there that think the same way, but fighting with them will not help the problem.

I have that problem here at my own house, so I researched what I have to do to prove them wrong, and the dot com I went on was; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090223123528AA3ProZ

It proves my point, but I still think that adults do this to us just because they don't want us to grow up.

So, ask your parent if they think you know what love is!

A ``Backup`` Tokyo

You have heard of backup batteries or backup flashlights or even backup shoes but a backup city is totally insane. Tokyo maybe cool but another one is a little too much.

Japanese are planning to build a complete replica of Tokyo in case of catastrophe. People are saying its a good idea because its always good to have a spare battery...or in this case a whole new city.

This ``New Tokyo`` will take over all the major functions of the original Tokyo in case the real one is distroyed. This is still a debate but who knows maybe one day we might have two Tokyos or even Washing D.C.s.

Click here for more information.

1940's Fashion

I'm interested in a lot of things like acting,fashion,new york,etc. One thing that I'm interested in and don't now much about is 1940's clothing. For me when I picture 1940's clothing I think of long beautiful gowns.


I grew up watching lot of older movies during the time period of the 30's-80's but, i have to admit my favorite time period for fashion was the 40's so to begin my quest I searched 1940's fashion trends.

1940's fashion was very unique. Unfortunately World War 2 had been around the 40's so, they were very limited on there clothing. They could only wear a certain length,style, and could only wear a certain amount of material.

Even though they went through this tough time, they still had major fashion treads, the top trends of the 40's were nylon,hats,swing skirts, and plat form pumbs. Nylon is a material that was used for stockings in this time. Swing skirts were long skirts with different designs such as floral and they were big on using them for dancing.



The top fashion icons of this era was Rita Hayworth, Ingrid Berghaman, and my favorite Katharine Hepburn. You can find this info on 1940's fashion trends on http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Ten-Fashion-Trends-From-the-1940s&id=1529787.

So since I am doing a free post this time I thought I would do it about Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. I heard that they were getting a divorce, or that Kim filed for one. I guess the people were right everyone was saying that their marriage wouldn't last. It's really sad though I actually thought that it would last, at least a couple of years not 2 months. Now I hear they did it just for the money and that they were not really in love. Since people have heard about Kim filling for divorce the reporters and other news people started talking about the shortest marriages.

Ronald Reagan Museum

Growing up in a house with a dad who loves to talk politics, I've always been fascinated with presidents. I never really had a favorite president, but doing some research, I do now!

About a month ago, My family and I went to the Ronald Reagan Museum. At first I wasn't very excited to go. I thought I was going to be bored and not be interested in anything.

But I was wrong. It was a very fun place to be. It had a lot of facts and interesting things to do and see. It showed many thing that Ronald did growing up. (Including acting, sports, and different colleges he went to.) It also showed how he died at the end. And I was crying when he did die of a sickness.

The whole time I was there i was learning new facts and things about being president and different responsibilities he was in charge of.

And I wanted to learn something new about him. So I did some research, and i found out he died of Alzheimer disease. (A sickness where you can't remember anything, which my grandpa died from also.) His wife is still living in L.A. And he died at age 93.

I think he was a very nice man who lived a great life. Personally he was my favorite president! If you're looking for a good museum where you wont be bored go to the Ronald Reagan Museum I guarantee you will enjoy it!