Sans Serif: January 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tribe House 1 Map

Sunday, January 22, 2012

CheeseForMice Spoiler

[spoiler] [img]photo URL here[/img] [/spoiler]
If you want the spoiler named just make the beginning tag like this: [spoiler=name]

My Maus Drawings ^_^

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Bully

Do you want to be the reason
Why
She cries behind closed doors
With the lights off
Late into the night
When the world sleeps?

Do you want to be the reason
Why
Instead of a proud smile
She lowers her head
And hides her face
When her name is posted
Big and shining on the wall?

Do you want to be the reason
Why
She suppresses her ambition
And hides her dreams
Until they disappear
On their own?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Best of 2011 Credits

http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/blogs/lists/2011/11/28/BestOf2011.jpg?1322498806
http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/351596-551-24.jpg
http://elleamberley.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/new-beginnings_t_nv.jpg
http://www.thebeautyboxsalon.com/beautybox/images/pagepics/feather_hair_extensions_dallas.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s5KS91AkXnU/Tui6aWD1xpI/AAAAAAAAAUw/DGB8FMFsi4I/s1600/carpe_diem.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2W6wn660OZI/TpYA2F0lllI/AAAAAAAADWs/hXQHBok1OLo/s1600/cinder.jpg
http://wvlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/cover_stoppretending.jpg

Best of 2011

Question 1. One word/phrase that describes 2011- New Beginning. This year, I started middle school. Also, I've set goals and worked hard to improve upon myself in many different ways. Also, I started fencing in 2011 and I LOVE it! Fencing is much harder than I expected, but it's really fun and a great challenge.

Question 4. Something I let go of this year- this year, I lost my lucky bracelet at a swim meet, but decided not to pursue it. It seemed like I'd had it forever. Moreover, It wasn't changing my life at all. That day, I decided to take my life into my own hands. I don't know if "luck" exists or not, but I won't take a chance by depending on it. That day, I had let go of my "security blanket", which felt strange at first. But now, I feel very comfortable without it and couldn't care less.

Question 13. Last year, I went to Florida to visit my friend Wendy, who moved there two years ago. The weather was AMAZING there! It wasn't too hot or too cold, and the beaches had gorgeous turquoise water and soft white sand. This year, I would like definitely like to visit there again. Also, if I had the chance, I would travel to France and soak up all their great art and culture. I would especially enjoy going to the Louvre and Notre Dame to admire some of the greatest visual arts in the world.

Question 14. Last January at the Leete, Kosto, and Wizner New Year's party last year, there was this delicious yellow poppy seed cake topped off with whipped cream, strawberry syrup, and strawberries. (mm...) I've looked everywhere, but have never been able to find a recipe for it. I guess the delicious-ness will have to only exist in my mind... (sigh)

Question 15. My most joyful ordinary moment in 2011 was when I was in Florida playing badminton with Wendy. The sun was peeking over the clouds, and the coarse grass tickled our bare feet. Normally, I dislike badminton, but being with a friend made it all very enjoyable and special.

Question 16. I've never been a great swimmer, so I was thrilled that I had made a lot of progress in 2011. However, I even surprised myself when I got a 1:18:19 in the 100 yard backstroke in December of 2011. That was as close as I had ever gotten to an Age Group cut; in fact, I was only 0.2 seconds away!!! I was both extremely proud and disappointed at this (only 0.2seconds!!!!). This year, I made it my goal to drop that 0.2 seconds and make the Age Group cut.

Question 17. This year, the most memorable books I read were Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones. Stop Pretending is a beautiful and haunting collection of poems by a girl whose older sister goes crazy and causes much internal and external conflicts within their family. The one verse that speaks most to me is, "4-1=0" [Sones, 82], and describes how the narrator feels about her sister being gone changing her formerly 4 person family.

Question 19. A huge trend that emerged out of nowhere last year was feather extensions. It seemed like overnight, everyone had colorful feathers extended into their hair. Personally, I was disgusted by this, considering that feathers come from BIRDS, and therefore, BIRDS get hurt in the making of feather extensions!

Question 24. When I went to Florida last year, I really wanted to go parasailing. Unfortunately, the boats were all booked, so I wasn't able to, but I plan on going parasailing in Rhode Island this year. It looks like a lot of fun and I'm looking (very) forward to it. My parents say that I may get to go this summer in Rhode Island.

Question 25. This year, I'm going to stop procrastinating and make every moment count. If I better organize my time, there will be so much more that I can do! I've already started to make extensive color coordinated schedules that include elements such as priority or time limits. This will enable me to have more scheduled free time, and better yet, seize the day!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Shatter- First Draft

Another bomb explodes in the air. There is fire. Desks, potted plants, paperwork in manila folders. Objects fall, reminiscences of normal human life. That is in the past now. Ash swirls down like gray snow.

There is deafening noise. It pounds in my ears, leaves ringing that bounces back and forth in my skull. People scream tortured, anguished screams from the ground. I dare not look. A man flies down from a burning building. I see that he has black, black hair and a gray tweed suit. He wears no shoes, only red socks.

Even through the window, I can smell smoke. It stinks, like rotten eggs or decaying garbage.

I feel guilty for being here, alive, safe. Whole. Where is Lucas? Where is an older brother when you need one? Lucas is big and strong. He is thirteen years old. In past summers, we would laugh in the shade and run in the grass. That was only two years ago. It seems ages away.

I start to cry. "It isn't fair!" I wail into the gray wall. A mistake.

"SHUSH!" the whitecoat thunders from the other room. He strides in. "Do you want us to be discovered?" he hisses.

Then, he noticed my tears. I try to brush them away, feeling embarrassed. "Now, hush hush Maria." the whitecoat says in a softer tone, bending down to give me a hug, " you're lucky to be here."

The hug leaves me with a strange, chemical smell in my lungs. It's what everyone says, I think. "You're lucky to be here." I wonder if I really am. I certainly wouldn't want to be out there. The whitecoat walks away.

"I don't want to be here," the words come out barely a whisper. As soon as I say it, It sounds wrong. Ungrateful. Another message bleeps in my brain. 'You are lucky to be alive. They made sacrifices for you. Now you must do the same.' The voice is cold and electronic. I wonder whose voice it is. Why does it sound like that? How does it know everything?

Five years pass by. The war rages on. The messages still bleep in her head. Maria has lost track of time.

The white rat sees the girl again. She is afraid, he thinks. She does not know what will happen. The rat sighs and climbs to the rim of his food dish for a better view. He has been observing the girl for quite a while now. She has dark, short hair trimmed once a week by the ones in white.

Despite everything, the rat is fond of the ones in white. They have given me what no rat has possessed before, he thinks. Intelligence. The rat knows that he possesses amazing capabilities and emotions that no rat has ever felt before.

Because of this, he knows. He knows what will happen to the girl, who is entering the incubation chamber. He knows that he will see her again in five years, when she will emerge. He knows he will be right in his cage, right by the barred window when she emerges.

Perhaps, just perhaps, thinks the mouse, I may just have met my match. At this he shuddered, and retreated to his burrow under the fiberglass shavings.

Mouse with Eyebrow Ring ^_^

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Grocery Store is like a Cell- Manager's Office/Nucleus of Plant Cell

The Manager's Office is like the Nucleus of a Plant Cell

The nucleus of a plant call is located near the edge of the cell. This is because that the vacuole of the cell is so large that it pushes it off to the side. The nucleus is the "control center" of the cell and contains all the instructions for the all the cell's activities. The managers office in a grocery store is near the edge of the store, since the shelves for merchandise take up so much room. In the manager's office, there are papers and computer records of store's activity, such as profits, popular items, expenses, and business strategies. These things determine what happens in the store. The nucleus in a plant cell and the manager's office are similar because they both serve the same purpose and are both in the same location.

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