The weekend

This weekend has been pretty wonderful not going to lie, and it's not even over.
On Friday I hung out with Stephanie and we went walking to the jordan river and along the trail. I had actually brought an umbrella to school but I thought it wouldn't be too rainy, but of course it was. It was so very cold and rainy as we walked to the trail, there were also horrid smells and gruesome sights (roadkill) that Stephanie pointed out to me =D but when we got there the skies began to clear, and it was very enjoyable. To get to the trail we had to hop over the concrete barriers on the side of the road and then trudge through some pretty gross mud. The river was really wide and full and we climbed down to the edge and sat and skipped rocks and just enjoyed the peacefulness. We kept walking and saw some cows that stared at us and there were some delicious looking mushrooms which were most likely poisonous so I didn't really feel like eating any. We walked down this trail in the grass and it was all very muddy and such, so we got back on the trail. We kept walking for a while, then made it to a sign and then we turned back. When we went back we climbed over some rocks and got close to the water again, when we went back again there was a snake that almost stepped on which made me jump (I totally wasn't scared) then Stephanie tried to pet it but it slithered underneath some rocks. We walked a little further the opposite direction and then it felt like it was going to start raining again soon so we headed back hopping over the barrier again. We saw some more cows and some more gruesome sights on the way back, but then we made it back to the house, and ate some delicious soup and hung out a little with Stephanie's little bros and then watched some avatar and mlp. My sister had the car until 2am because she 'fell asleep' so I was at Stephanie's until 2am. I got very sleepy and it was actually quite hilarious according to Stephanie. Then I went home.
On Saturday I had state orchestra, we were the only 2a school to make it to state so I felt kind of proud at that. Mrs. Vincent said the judges were brutal and that only a third of the schools that made it to state would get superiors. We heard some people play before us and I thought they chose much easier pieces than we had been playing, which made me wonder if maybe we should have done that. Well we practised and got warmed up, then we performed. We played well, although not as good as we did at disneyland. We hadn't really practised the brandenburg or holberg since disneyland so that probably was a deciding factor. We listened to another group perform, again with easier pieces and we got our picture taken and then we got the results. We got straight 2+s (equal to B+) which was good but wasn't marvellous or anything, I was slightly disappointed but it's all good. I put in about 50 or so hours into those pieces, maybe more I don't remember how long we've been practising them, but there's always next year.
On Saturday Stephanie also had her video interview for the grant, I don't know much details but it sounds like it went pretty well. Hopefully we made it, but if we don't I'll be fine too.
Oh and I'm supposed to get a haircut soon, my mum expressed concern for my growing mane, but she hasn't offered to take me. Orchestra Concert on Thursday, after that life will be so much less stressful, but it's all good. =D

My speech on veganism

It's been about a month since I've become a vegan and here's a speech I gave in government if you're interested in why I did it. Just ignore the obvious parts meant for giving a speech.

 I'm here to educate the high school populace on the reasons to omit any use of animal products. The road to vegan-ism is not as hard as one might think, and can contribute to the overall health of yourself, the environment, and humanity. I'm a vegan, and I'm here to tell you how the change to vegan-ism will help not only you, but the world. Peter Singer said -“[T]hose who claim to care about the well-being of human beings and the preservation of our environment should become vegetarians for that reason alone.” He adds: “They would thereby increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, and cease contributing to the clearing of forests.… He speaks further: “[W]hen nonvegetarians say that ‘human problems come first’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.” End quote. I have not been vegan for very long, but I have studied research and statistics thoroughly. Veganism helps the environment by reducing greenhouse gases, saving topsoil, and fossil fuels. Veganism also improves the overall health of humanity by not wasting food in the inefficient production of meat. I will also show how you can drastically improve your bone and heart health. I will begin by talking about the environmental reasons to go vegan.

By simply changing your diet, you can help save the world. Did you know that farm animals are major contributors to greenhouse gases? They produce methane, the second-most important greenhouse gas after Carbon Dioxide. Livestock account for about one-quarter of the methane emissions from human activities, totaling some 100 million tonnes a year. A United Nations report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that the livestock sector is "responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions". The production of cattle to feed and clothe humans stresses ecosystems around the world, and is assessed to be one of the top three environmental problems in the world on a local to global scale. Aside from methane, the transport of food to animals, instead of bringing food straight to humans, uses fossil fuels that contribute to greenhouse gases as well. It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from plant protein. Raising animals for food gobbles up precious energy. Greenhouse gases aren't the only concern on our list, huge amounts of topsoil are lost due to the grazing of farm animals. Grasses are essential to anchoring arid topsoil in a dryland region. When animals are allowed to graze recklessly, they remove all of the native grasses, exposing the topsoil to destructive erosion forces like winds and sudden thunderstorms. Topsoil isn't a simple thing to simply replace. As Professor Pimentel explains, "erosion is one of those problems that nickels and dimes you to death.” For an example: if a rainstorm removes 2/5 of an inch of soil, it would take natural processes 20 years to replace the 13 tons of topsoil that were lost. So we can see that large amounts of soil erosion is extremely problematic, especially given that 99.7% of human food comes from cropland. Pimentel’s study found losses of more than 37,000 square miles of cropland per year due to soil erosion. With more than 3.7 billion people already malnourished worldwide, addressing this issue should be a top priority. Along with environmental factors, which greatly affect humanity already, there are some direct problems caused from the consumption of animal on humanity. Domesticated animals consume vast amounts of food and water. Have you heard of the energy pyramid? Approximately 16 pounds of grain, corn, soy beans, and other foods fed to animals will only produce 1 pound of meat. Logically this is extremely inefficient, and it's estimated that if all food from domesticated animals were fed to humans, there would be enough food to feed 12 billion people. Obviously world hunger cannot be solved by simply changing everyone's diets, as there are several political and economical problems that contribute to world hunger, but making the switch to vegetarianism or veganism would drastically improve the efficiency of food production, and hopefully in turn improve the welfare of the world.

If these reasons aren't enough to sway your opinion there are also various health benefits from going vegan. The Food and Drug Administration prefers the Vegetarian Food Pyramid over the normal one. Additionally, going vegan results in zero cholesterol intake, and improves your bone and heart health. Cholesterol, a major contributor to strokes, heart attacks, and poor overall artery health, is only found through animal sources. Elevated cholesterol (anything above 150) promotes atherosclerosis—the build-up of cholesterol, fat, and cells in the arteries that feed the heart muscle. Incidentally, while the average cholesterol level in the U.S. Is 210, the average vegan's cholesterol level is 133. People with cholesterol levels below 150 virtually never have heart attacks, while nearly one-third of meat-eaters will die from one. Is it worth the risk of heart attacks to continue to eat meat? Heart researchers have found that a low-fat vegan diet is the best diet for lowering cholesterol levels. Plant foods contain no cholesterol, whereas meat, eggs, and dairy products contain large amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats, which can cause arteries to become hard and clogged. Plus, the high fibre content of a vegetarian diet helps eliminate excess cholesterol from the digestive tract. Did you know meat, dairy and egg products contain zero fibre? Dr. William Castelli, says about heart disease, "If Americans adopted a vegetarian diet, the whole thing would disappear." You may be sitting there thinking that such a drastic change would impact your health in negative ways, such as bad bone health from not drinking milk or not getting enough protein in your diet. Did you know that milk is detrimental to your bone health? First of all, calcium appears to be ultimately pulled from bones to escort digested animal protein from any source -- not just dairy products -- on its trek through the body. Since the average American's diet is protein-heavy to begin with, some experts say that eating lots of dairy foods may actually cause people to lose calcium. Donna Herlock, MD says: "When you eat a protein food, such as milk, you may be swallowing calcium, but you turn around and excrete calcium in your urine.” Although protein is certainly an essential nutrient which plays many key roles in the way our bodies function, we do not need huge quantities of it. In reality, we only need small amounts of protein. Only one calorie out of every ten we intake needs to come from protein. You athletes out there may be thinking “an athlete needs a much higher amount of protein.” While this assumption is not completely wrong, athletes do not need much more protein than the general public. So how much protein do we really need? We need only 1/10 of our calories to come from protein. If we look at what vegans are eating, we find that between 10-12% of calories come from protein . By contrast, non-vegetarians consume protein close to 14-18% of their calories. There are no conclusive health studies that advise a high intake of protein. Actually, diets that are high in protein may even increase the risk of osteoporosis and kidney disease. The things that you may fear from a vegan diet are actually no cause for alarm, all of the nutrients that a human needs are available through plant sources. There are many more reasons to go vegan, but these are some of the most major and I hope you see now that the road to veganism can contribute to the overall health of yourself, the environment, and humanity. By making the switch to veganism your heart and bones will thank you, and vegans are estimated to live 3-6 years longer on average than meat eaters. You will also save the environment through reduced greenhouse gases, and saving topsoil. You will also be contributing to solving world hunger, and preserving our natural resources. I ask each one of you to try a vegan or vegetarian diet, not just for me but for the world. As Albert Einstein put it: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase [our] chances for survival as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” Thanks for being a great audience.

Object Writing

This is probably my best creative writing, which isn't saying much.

Henry was exploring at his grandfather’s house. He loved going there because the house held so many secrets and there were so many places to explore. His grandfather didn’t approve of Henry’s snooping around but that just made Henry enjoy it even more, because it added to the thrill of the search ducking in and out of rooms trying not to make a sound. Henry thought he was so sneaky, walking through the halls and avoiding his grandfather. He went down the main hall, clinging to the cold and dusty wall that had an old wallpaper that was yellow from its long life on the walls, barely making a noise. He had been down the halls numerous times before and was doubtful he would find anything new, but he kept his eyes on the lookout in case he saw something that he hadn’t before. Suddenly, Henry heard something in the distance. The noise sounded like his grandfather, slowly ascending the staircase. Henry froze, and then quietly slipped into one of the rooms, carefully closing the door as to make sure not a sound escaped. He left the door cracked so he could watch the hall and make sure his grandfather did not come into the room. He caught sight of his grandfather, and Henry thought that he was looking straight at him; Henry quickly stepped back, hoping he hadn’t been seen. He looked around the room for somewhere to hide, in the dreadful event that his grandfather came into the room. There was hardly anywhere he could hide. The room consisted of bookcases with old, strange books lining the walls and an old map hanging on the far side of the room, depicting what appeared to be the West Pacific. Henry had been in this room before, but he hadn’t been able to make sense of the map. The map had arrows and symbols dotting it but no key to explain what it all meant. Henry could hear grandfather pacing the hall, getting closer to the room where Henry was hidden and Henry desperately looked for somewhere he could find sanctuary.

Henry then noticed a tile on the ceiling different than the others surrounding it; he saw a string hanging from it and realized what it was: an attic. He pulled the string and the trapdoor swung open, unfolding a ladder. He tested the balance and then stealthily climbed up, pulling the trapdoor behind him. The trapdoor slid easily into place before it slammed shut, louder than Henry had wanted it to. He just hoped that his grandfather hadn’t heard it. His heart was pumping furiously from the narrow escape as he tried to calm his breathe, the thrill of the chase sent adrenaline through his system making it harder to keep quiet. His body screamed for air but Henry would not allow himself to breathe deeply, if his grandfather heard it he would regret it. Henry then looked around the attic for the first time and was taken aback, it was filled with boxes, most of them open revealing old documents and shiny medals. Old flags and maps lined the walls, and old chests which Henry was sure treasure would be in.

What drew Henry’s attention the most was a simple glass case, which held a beautiful sword. The sword was long and curved, delicately carved and it had a shine that Henry thought was not possible in a sword. As beautiful as it was, Henry could tell that it was old, likely many times older than he was. Henry was entranced by the sword, and wanted to get a closer look. He began to look for a way to open the case. His hands fumbled around until he felt a handle, and pulled.
“Darn,” Henry said with a sigh. The glass case was of course locked. The key hole was shaped in such a way that Henry would know the key if he saw it. He began to search the room for the key, rummaging through the old chests and boxes, careful to keep the objects in the same spots and not break anything so his grandfather would not be aware of his search. Suddenly he heard the trapdoor swing open and Henry heard the ladder squeak as his grandfather climbed up. Henry searched for somewhere he could hide, he saw a window in the far corner that he could jump out of but he decided it wasn’t worth it. He turned to face his grandfather, expecting the worst.

“What do you think you’re doing here,” snapped his grandfather, “don’t you know you shouldn’t be snooping around my things?”

“I’m sorry grandpa, I didn’t mean any harm,” mumbled Henry, his eyes downcast. His grandfather’s eyes were mixed, they looked angry for Henry’s disobedience, but they also looked gentle, because the kid was only being curious.
“That’s alright, Henry,” said his grandfather after some time, “I suppose you’re wondering where that sword is from.”

“Yes, why is it here?” Henry asked, “and why have I never seen it before?”

“That sword is from a war, quite some time ago, and it was gift. Would you like to see it?” his grandfather asked rather unexpectedly.
“Yes, I would like that very much so!” Henry exclaimed with delight. His eyes shot up from the ground and they began to shine with excitement as his grandfather moved towards the glass case. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large ring of keys. Henry wondered what other secrets these keys could unlock, but for now he was content with seeing the sword. His grandfather chose a key and inserted into the lock, turning it slowly. The lock clicked, and the little door opened. His grandfather pulled out the sword, being extremely careful with it and avoiding touching anywhere on the sword he did not need to.

“Well then,” his grandfather said, “I suppose I should tell you more about this sword. For one, this type of sword is called a wakizashi. It was given to me by a friend, after the war some time ago. It’s called Ryukento, meaning the sword of the fist of the dragon.” “It was hand crafted and is worth more than you can imagine. This sword brings back many memories,” his grandfather said, and Henry thought he could see his eyes tearing up, “if you would like to hear it, let’s head downstairs where I can sit in a chair, my old body isn’t what it used to be.
“Alright,” Henry said curiously, “lead the way.” They carefully climbed down the ladder and swung the trapdoor back into place. They went out of the room, his grandfather closing the door securely behind them, headed down the familiar hall, down the stairs and into the cozy living room. Henry’s grandfather sat down slowly into his rocker, and Henry plopped down onto the couch. His grandfather cleared his throat.

“Ryukento was given to me the day I was promoted to captain of my squad. The sword was more of a decorative touch, and I never used it in battle. The man who gave it to me, my superior officer, was a great man, but also a confused man. One day when we were setting up a camp, and creating barriers and buffers so the enemy would have a harder time attacking us, I was called to my officer’s office by a new recruit, who looked like he was unsure if he really wanted to be there. He scurried off and I headed down to the tent. I was unsure of what to do when I got there, because there was no place to knock but I knew it was disrespectful just to walk in. I decided to wait outside until my officer came out and gestured me to come inside.

“Hello, Captain Jim,” he said, “this is General Locke.” I quickly saluted General Locke and my officer.

“General Locke, sir,” I said, trying to stay perfectly still.

“At ease captain,” The general said, gesturing to a chair adjacent to him and nodding to my officer, who left the room. I lowered my arm and sat down, waiting for the general to speak.

“The reason I’m calling you to my office is because I have a special task for you, we just received intel that there is a spy base operating not more than 5 klicks from this base, and we want you and your team to go in, stop their base of operations, and destroy any intel they may have on us,” The general said, “Your officer will brief you.”

“Yes, sir,” I said as I left the tent.

“Jim,” my officer said, “you leave tomorrow. Your entire squad will come unless you feel like someone should stay behind, and this will be very dangerous so if you feel like you would rather not head this mission, I can find someone else to do it.”

“Thank you sir, but I am ready to do this,” I said.

“Very well, here are your papers,” my officer said with a nod as he handed me the packet, “good luck.”

“Thank you sir,” I said. I went back to my tent thinking about the mission ahead of me. I looked over the packet and then drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the trumpet call, early in the morning, and I gathered my squad together. We ate a quick breakfast then started getting prepared for the mission. We put on our camouflage gear and strapped guns on our backs. I put my sword on my belt and my squad said their goodbyes, then we headed out. After the long trek through the rugged terrain, marshy jungles with insects annoying us the whole way, I stopped my group hardly a klick away from the location of the spy camp. We ate a quick meal then snuck into the woods, our mission would have to be stealthy and hopefully end with the enemy unaware of what had happened. I heard the noise of a jeep in the distance and directed my squad to take cover. The jeep stopped near us and I was afraid we had been spotted, but only two of the men stepped out of the car, and started walking in the opposite direction of my squad. The jeep drove off and we followed the two men, stalking them quietly like a predator its prey.

“Sir, I think we can take out these men without anyone else noticing, shall we take them out?” whispered Private John. I contemplated it, even being in the military I disliked the idea of killing but I put that aside for the mission.

“Yes, take your shots carefully,” I replied. Private John and Sergeant Ryan screwed on their silencers onto their guns then carefully took their shots. They squeezed the triggers and the two men dropped. We quickly moved up and pulled the men into discrete locations then we moved on. I could see the enemy compound in the distance; they were hiding in an old warehouse. Our intel told us that we were best to head in a side entrance. We went in, scanning the area for cameras or traps that might give us away. Our squad split up, I went down a side corridor. I was looking for anything that could give us an edge on the enemy. While walking down the hall I walked straight into a young man. I pointed my gun at him and he started crying on the ground.

“Please, don’t shoot me,” he said. I was conflicted, this man was very young, hardly eighteen, but I was concerned for the mission. I eased my gun and the young man took the opportunity to run straight into me, knocking the gun out of my hand. My gun rolled across the hall, out of reach but I quickly brought the young man to the ground. I pulled my sword out and the young man’s eyes grew wide with fear. This time I was not merciful, and I plunged it into his chest. There was a lot of blood and after I sheathed my sword and retrieved my gun I quickly left the scene…

Henry looked at his grandfather, the story obviously pained him, and then the phone rang. His grandfather picked it up and after a short conversation said, “Henry it seems like it’s time for you to go home, your mom is home now.”

“Aww, can’t we finish the story?” I asked.

“No, maybe another day, but let’s take you home,” he said. We hopped in my grandfather’s car and we went back to my house. Greeted by my mother I soon forgot all about the story.

Sci-Fi Writing

I don't like this one all that much but here.

The news was on, what was even more amazing was that there was still electricity. The electricity woman must have a thing for him or something. He hasn’t paid the electricity bill in over 2 weeks and he’s savoring it while it lasts. He flips through a paper looking for available jobs. Something catches his eye in the job’s section, an assistant with free housing and meals. Perfect. He says the pay, which is also better than he thinks he would find. Now he’s disappointed because it is likely that he won’t get such a nice job especially with the economy as it is. People look panicked on the TV. Austin un-mutes the TV and listens as a reporter speaks with an interesting look on her face. “...people here have just experienced yet another tragic attack brought on by what may have been one of the worst mistakes humankind has made.” “The founder of one of the most popular computer companies, InterAct, the creator of the line of interactive computers that many say has revolutionized the world as we know it…” He turns the TV off. ‘I’ve heard enough of that lately,’ he thinks. He calls up the number on the ad for the job. They would like to interview him on Monday. Two days is plenty of time for him to get prepared.

He grabs his keys and walks out the door, locking it. Outside he feels the warmth of the sun, the breeze playing with his hair and a feeling of excitement. This could be his big break. With the world in such a war and with economy doing so bad he would be lucky to get this job. He needs to get ready for the job, get ready physically to go to the interview and also mentally. The reason he is out of his old job is because of his nervousness. If he can just become calmer then he should be set. He picks up a laundry bag and heads back to his room. What a perfect way to fix his problems: the internet. It was surprising he even had a computer what with the computers becoming smart enough to strike back against us. Most people’s computers were destroyed when the computers began malfunctioning. Luckily for Austin his computer was so old and such a piece of garbage that the government let him keep it.

A quick Google search on ‘How to relax during an interview’ brings up several choices. One them was already dark blue, meaning that he had already used that one before. He avoided that one as the advice didn’t really help him at all before, just made him look worse. ‘Funniest things to do during a job interview’ also was something he didn’t pull up, maybe later when he wanted a good laugh. Then, he sees a perfect one, written by some sort of psychologist professor or whatnot. He checks that one. The computer buzzes and it seems as if the loading bar is going ridiculously slow. “Finally,” Austin exclaims. Patience also isn’t one of Austin’s strong points. Hopefully he isn’t going to have to wait outside the interview for long. Back to the article, it brings up a lot of helpful information. “Breathing is key, breathe slowly and focus on your breathing.” The article has links to several links to YouTube which he clicks. They are supposed to teach him how to breathe slowly and stay calm. He opens one in a new tab. After it finishes buffering, which takes painfully long he starts it. A lady, either in her late twenties or early thirties appears on the screen. “I’m going to teach you how to relieve stress easily.” Hopefully this video will help Austin relieve his stress and help him during the interview. The lady goes on a bit longer until she begins. “First step is to close your eyes, although if you have good practice you won’t have to.” Austin closes his eyes. “Focus on just your breath, and your body in relation to your breathing.” Austin tries to focus, but his brain just won’t stop thinking. “Begin your breaths, breathing only through your nose, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out; good.” Austin begins his breathes and his mind begins to clear. He feels a lot calmer. The lady interrupts his peaceful mind with: “Practice your breathing often, also remember to remember your breaths before and during a stressful situation.” Austin exits out of the tab. The article also mentions to get adequate sleep. Looking at the clock he sees that it’s 9:30. He starts to get ready for bed. He practices his breathes before going to sleep.

Austin yawns and stretches. He looks at the clock, it’s 7:30. ‘Wow, I woke up ridiculously early,’ he thinks as he gets dressed and walks towards the kitchen. ‘Great, cold cereal with a little milk just how I like my breakfast,’ he thinks as he slowly eats his breakfast. He hopes that the food at his new job will be better than what he has now, if he gets it that is. After he finishes his breakfast he brushes his teeth and hops in the shower. He’s instantly hit by a freezing rush of water. He’s used to it though so he doesn’t mind. He looks at the miniscule piece of soap he has left. ‘Hopefully the have nice showers at my new job,’ he says, optimistic. After the shower he puts on some clean clothes sticking his dirty ones in the laundry bag he got earlier. He’ll take it to the apartment washer: a dusty old thing that makes more noise than it cleans closes, ‘and a nicer washer.’

He contemplates going out for a run and decides to because he needs to keep fit. He puts on his worn shoes, they used to look nice. He remembers when he used to run cross-country and how these shoes helped him do well. He heads outside, again locking the door behind him. He’s glad he can still go outside, that his city is still safe. Not many people out on the streets. The people that are on the streets look rather mean. He decides to go his usual route seeing some of his favorite places to eat and recognizing people he knows. Too bad he hasn’t been able to go to any of then without sufficient funds. He remembers how deliciously satisfying the food is there and the memories that go with them. He did go on many dates before he lost his job. Now he hasn’t had the money, although he has had plenty of time. ‘Oh well memories are just that: memories.’ He sees his apartment in the distance and knows he’s almost finished. A quick burst of adrenaline pushes him to sprint all the way back. “Whew I am out of shape,” he exclaims after entering his room. He again works on his breathing; he’s getting better at it.

After a quick lunch he returns to his computer. He pulls up Facebook, reverted to its old form after the crisis. The computers actually were an awesome piece of equipment, a great idea by the inventor of CEO of InterAct. He hadn’t actually used the computers but he’s heard much about them. They somehow can read your mind on what you want to do and can find things that you might enjoy. InterAct quickly became partnered with Google and was integrated into Google search, Gmail, and YouTube. He remembers when it was first being released he thought it would be such an awesome thing. It was released right after Austin lost his job so no luck there. After Austin got bored of the computer he cleaned up the apartment and began practicing his breathing. He wondered what he would take to his new living quarters. Most people would think as his stuff as garbage but he had so many memories associated with them that he wanted to keep a lot of it. He ate a quick dinner and headed to sleep.

He woke up even earlier the next day, 6:30 to be exact. Following his usually morning ritual ate and showered. He looked through the closet for the suit he would use for his interview, brushed the dust off of it and looked at it with overall distaste. Hopefully the interviewer didn’t mind its worn general worn out look. His interview was at 2 and it was just a 10 minute walk away. He had some time to kill. He got back on the computer and pulled up the article. Another thing it advised to do was to be prepared for the questions the interviewer would ask you. He follows a link to a questionnaire and begins filling it out. He was glad he did, some of the questions would have been extremely hard to answer in person. He struggled with one specific question: ‘What were his greatness weaknesses?’ He supposed it was probably being extremely stressed out and having to work through the stress by himself. It was probably the epitome of Austin’s situation right now.

Austin was ready for the interview now; he ate a quick snack and put on his suit. Checking the mirror he thought, ‘It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would be.’ He headed outside and locked the door behind him. After walking for quite some time he saw the building loom ahead. It certainly looked nice; he entered and immediately noticed the receptionist. He walked quickly towards her and said, “I have an appointment with…” he quickly glances at a note in his pocket, “ahh yes, his name is Mr. Sanderson.” “Hmm,” the receptionist says as she types into the computer, “You’re early, but that’s alright.” “All you need to do is head down the hall to the left,” she says pointing, “and it will be the third door on the right. He walks down the hall while looking around at the pictures on the wall. Some famous people he didn’t know smiled at him. When he reached the door he remembered his breathing and calmed himself down.

He remembered what he would say to Mr. Sanderson and then he knocked on the door. “Who is it,” a friendly but questioning voice called. “I’m here for the interview, Austin Beckham,” he replies. “You’re early, come in,” Mr. Sanderson says, a bit surprised. Austin opens the door into a medium sized office. A single desk, with a very nice looking computer on it is one side of the room with a big office chair holding what Austin assumes is Mr. Sanderson. He looks friendly enough, with short, combed, brown hair with blue eyes and a flawless smile. He was wearing a suit probably many times more expensive than Austin’s. Plaques and pictures of what could be assumed to be Mr. Sanderson’s family clutter the walls. A simple chair faces the desk, most likely brought in especially for the interview.

“Sit down,” Mr. Sanderson says. Austin sits and makes himself comfortable. Remembering the advice he focuses on his breathing as Mr. Sanderson starts the interview. Austin did well on the questions, pausing few times. He reached the hardest question: What were his greatest weaknesses? Austin was ready and feeling good though. After they were done Mr. Sanderson said “I think you would perform well for this job.” “I would usually contact you in a week’s time but there isn’t much time for that.” “Great,” Austin exclaims, hardly containing his excitement, “Can you tell me a little bit about the job?” “Yes, you will mainly be assisting me whilst we study the computers malfunctioning.” “You will be going aboard a vessel with me and other crew members and it won’t be entirely safe.” After giving it some thought, Austin said “I’ll do it.” “Great, you need to get all the belongings you need and meet here tomorrow.” “I’ll be here,” Austin says. “Alright, you can go,” Mr. Sanderson says with a wave of his arm. Austin leaves, overwhelmed by excitement, curiosity and extreme nervousness.

He heads back to his apartment for the last time. He heads to the foreman’s office. ‘Here we go,’ he thinks, letting out a sigh of exasperation as he knocks. “Who is it?” someone within says harshly. “Austin,” he replies. “Well don’t just stand there, come in.” Austin opens the door and walks in. “So what is this about?” the foreman questions. “I’ve got a job supplying me with a room to stay so I’m going to not be renting anymore,” Austin says waiting for the foreman’s harsh reply. “Good,” the foreman says, “Is that all?” “Yes.” “Well then get out of here,” the foreman says then goes back to his work. “I will, goodbye,” Austin says as he leaves. ‘That went better than I expected,’ Austin thinks as he returns to his room excited for his new life. He begins packing all his belongings and manages to stuff it all into a couple of bags. He drops his keys off at the foreman’s office and gets ready for his new life.

Frederick Douglass Essay

This is on Frederick Douglass, I wrote it really late and rather quickly so don't expect the best. (although Mrs. Sadleir liked it)

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, and What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Frederick Douglass shows us great insight into the life of a slave during the 1800s. Frederick Douglass shows that our freedom, our control over our own destiny, our civilised thoughts, and our ability to think and act freely are the defining characteristics that make us human.

In What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Douglass shows that in slavery and oppression there can be no liberty or freedom. Talking about the founding fathers he says: “'With them,' justice, liberty, and humanity were “final,” not slavery and oppression” (26 4^th of July). He says this quote meaning that justice, liberty, and humanity were direct opposites of slavery and oppression. The same way in which the founding fathers were enslaved by the British by unfair taxation and other forms of mistreatment, and they broke free of the bonds that tied them to the British, the same can be done by the slaves who are literally enslaved by Americans and must break free, and based on the American Constitution, should.

Why then, did slaves not see this obvious lack of inalienable rights that they deserved? The slaves were never allowed to think and act freely, all of their free time was spent sleeping and resting after a hard and long day's work. They thought this way of life was acceptable, that they truly were just cattle who would do the work of their masters without any oppression. Slaves were treated like animals, and that was the only reason they became as such. In their captivity the motivating ideas behind slaves were: survive. The slaves' minds were driven to keep the slaves alive, and had no room for any other thoughts. Beaten and starved, the slaves only thoughts could be about their next meal, or the whipping they might receive if they fell out of line. Their lives were controlled by hunger and fear.

The pathway to freedom was the slaves' control over their own destinies. In their enslaved state they had little to no control over their destinies, in the case of Frederick Douglass he was blessed by the mistress who first taught him how to teach, without her he most likely would have never broken free. After the mistress begun to teach him to learn to read, he caught a glimpse of hope, shining through his dark and cloudy life, and he began to control his own destiny. He began to teach himself to read and write and actively sought out ways to better his understanding. As soon as Douglass could control his own destiny, he would eventually be able to control his thoughts, actions and freedom. Soon after he began to have control over his own destiny, it was taken away from him: “...but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit...the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (90). Douglass' control over his own destiny was taken away from him, and soon he became nothing more than a man, simply one part of the farm being trapped in a life of slavery with no time for his civilised thoughts that he still was still capable of.

The thing that the mistress brought out of Frederick Douglass, was his ability to have civilised thoughts. Before that he was consumed by work, hunger and unhappiness that he would never be able to think civilly. He might have thoughts and wants of freedom, control over his own destiny, and an ability to think and act freely, but he would never be able to accomplish them without his civilised thoughts. He could escape from the plantation or farm, but he would become confused and not understand how to care and fend for himself in the world. When Frederick Douglass seeks to escape from Mr. Covey, his only escape is back to his old master. “I, however, watched my chance, while Covey was looking in the opposite direction, and started for St. Michael's” (94) Frederick Douglass does not have the knowledge to survive on his own, so he cannot simply leave his farm and seek his own life, he does not have the knowledge to defy the people that would bring him back to slavery if he did leave.

Frederick Douglass' freedom depended on his ability to think and act freely, and have civilised thoughts. These eventually brought him to his place in humanity, a place where many slaves could not understand or come to without realisation of the definition of humanity.

Cosmogony

Just dumping papers and such really.

 In the beginning there was a speck, something so small that humans would not even pay any attention to it, even if they could even see it. The speck travelled throughout the vast emptiness for something, anything that would explain what exactly he was and what he was supposed to be doing. He searched for ages but found nothing until one day he grew tired of searching and began drifting off into a trance, not sleeping but just mindlessness. He dreamt of another speck just like him that he would be able to communicate with, for the speck was lonely. He began to feel the dream world slipping away, something had nudged his side, effectively awaking him from his trance. He saw a speck, not unlike himself, right in front of him. A thought entered his mind, but it was not his. He began to understand that the speck was communicated with him through his own thoughts. They conversed greatly and the second speck, as would be called hereafter, wondered where he was and why he was here. The first explained that he had not found a clue of why he was here, but only that he made the second appear by mere dreaming. The second offered that the first dreamt up more specks, ones that could help them understand the world that they were in. He imagined a speck with the knowledge that he sought, and soon after the speck appeared. Sadly the speck had no more knowledge than the first and second and the first was greatly saddened by this. Many more specks were created in a futile attempt to find the answer to their ‘life’. After so many failures the first tried to create something other than a speck, a machine that could answer any question and do anything that you wished. The first asked the machine the question in hopes of an answer that could help him understand what he was to do, but unfortunately no answer was received.

The first became frustrated and in his frustration he dreamt up many things, none of them good. He dreamt up temptation, darkness, fear and evil. Soon after, the evils flowed through the vast emptiness, mingling with the specks, tainting them. The first turned to the second, astonished at what he had done, but the second was not moving, no thought waves or patterns emerged from the second. The first tried to rouse the second, and the second awoke. The first entered the second’s mind but what he felt was not his friend, but was emanating with darkness and evil. Dismayed, he withdrew from the second’s mind. The second gave a mysterious look to the first then fled into the darkness. The first became very sad and angry for what he had done; he had lost his first friend and released an evil upon the land. He did not dream well. Each dream the second, in its original form, appeared and was thusly created, but it was not the same second. The first vowed that he would control his dreaming, to prevent more specks to emerge and to make sure no more evils would be released upon the land. He trained his mind to dream only when he wanted it to, and to dream what he wanted it to. Amidst his training he received word from one of his messengers.

“First, the second has returned to thy land,” The speck exclaimed. The first was excited for maybe he could help the second to return to its original state.

“Where is the second?” the first asked.

“He has taken your machine and fled into the vast emptiness,” the messenger said with a touch of remorse, “We have gone to search for him but to no avail.”

“Thank you, you do not need search for him, forget that he even came,” the first said.
“Of course,” the messenger said leaving the first’s area. The first continued with his training, for what else could he do? In his training he saw something in the distance of the vast emptiness, an explosion of some sort, horrible and beautiful at the same time. The other specks also saw it and wondered at its greatness. The first felt the explosion get closer, not that it was reaching towards him, but that he and the multitude of specks had begun to move ever closer. After a long stretch of time which could have been forever they reached the site of the explosion. The first recognized the second, even more hideous had he become. Darkness seemed to shroud him. He had created some sort of lair, completely evil looking, dominated by dark and ugly colours that made the first uneasy. The second soon began to form lies in the form of honey sweet thinking. He told them how he knew what they were here for, and that they must join him to do what they needed to do. The specks were swayed, some began to murmur and some began to move towards the second as if to join him. Few remained behind with the first and the first was awestruck, he could see straight through the second’s lies and was baffled that his creations would go to join the second. He knew it was his fault; he had released the temptation and the want to do evil. The first took his followers and headed back to his slice of emptiness.

The second was crafty, and the first did not know what he was up to. He supposed there was nothing for him to do, but to wait and see. He and the specks lived peacefully for a short while before the second returned. He was followed by a band of hideous looking specks, each one disgruntled by staying in such a horrible place with a horrible speck The second demanded that more people join him, or that they would be destroyed. A few left but for the most part the specks were loyal to the first. The second left soon after and the specks once again went back to their silent lives, conversing with each other and silently meditating. Some grew bored with this life, and consulted to the first for what they should do. Something must be done, the second must be destroyed. The first knew this but he also knew that he himself would not be able to do it, for he was kind hearted and peaceful. He devised a plan that would punish the second and his followers and told it to the specks He thought of a cage that would trap the second and his lair. He set out with his followers over to where the second resided. After a long period of time, he reached the second’s lair, enclosed by a sphere of unbreakable glass. The second seemed to pay no heed to the sphere, as he didn’t care about leaving his lair. The second was working on the machine, spawning death traps and engulfing the sphere in flames. The specks seemed not to care, for they had no feelings of pain or heat. The second laughed maniacally and then the first concentrated on what needed to be done. The second and his followers began to scream, they were being engulfed with a burning, painful fire that they could now feel thanks to the first. The first removed the machine before the second could do anything. The first noticed how helpless the second looked and felt like it was his entire fault that it had turned out like this. The first covered up the sphere with a dark matter, to cover up the fires; he hardened it and shaped it so that no fire could escape, he named this the Earth. He did his best but sometimes fires escaped in the forms of volcanoes. He then took a speck, a mellow and calm one, and blew it up to many times its original size. It became as the moon, a place close to the earth so that the first could watch over it closely and the moon could report on what was happening on the earth. Next he took a speck which had been engulfed in flames, blew it up to make it as the sun, where it would be burn for all eternity. He carpeted the earth in green grasses, mosses and algae, then trees and shrubbery. He took specks and formed them into various animals, fowls of the air, fish of the sea and beasts that travel the earth. He never forgot what he wanted to know, to find out the true meaning of life, so he took the most intelligent of specks, and formed the speck into a human, to carry out the task of finding out what the meaning of life was. He brought to pass all of the emotions, adding joy and happiness to the world and making life more enjoyable. He sent the remaining specks up into space where they would become stars. The first, feeling all alone now, began to cry for his friend, the second, and the water flowed throughout the world to create the oceans, the rivers, and the lakes. The first then took his leave into the sky, to become a star, never to be seen by humans.

Government

Well I haven't done a blog post in a while so I thought I would just share my US Government paper since I'm bored maybe.

 Our country is basically divided between two parties, both intent on securing the freedom and prosperity of this country's people, but use some very different ways and means to achieve this goal. Both parties have good and bad things in their platforms, and I do not think I can simply choose a party to align myself with. I will choose to take the route of an independent. I however, will touch on some of the points each party makes, including the growing national problem in healthcare, the problems in foreign relations and some of the wars we are experiencing right now, homosexual Americans problems regarding their service to their country and the problems they have back home in the attempt to be given the right to marry.

Firstly, I will be addressing our nation's problem with healthcare. I believe the system is in need of a complete overhaul, I'm not advocating the more radical or socialist aspect of healthcare, but that side should not be completely disregarded. The healthcare system in place at this moment leaves many Americans who have preexisting conditions stuck in a very difficult place, insurance is marked up with a premium for things they might not even have any control over. I don't believe the government should have complete control over the healthcare and insurance market, monopolies are probably something we should avoid. I do however believe a government run healthcare system should be implemented, as a choice that could possibly help out those in need, those with disabilities or preexisting conditions or might not have the funds to secure their own healthcare rights, which I believe all Americans are entitled to. Everyone should have equal opportunity to receive healthcare, and in our current system , select individuals are discriminated against based on conditions they could have simply been born with, and they should not be punished for something they have no control over. The program should not be available to everyone, and I believe if we reformed our current healthcare system we could use the money that we saved from that and use it in this venture. State government does not even have to be directly involved in the healthcare, they could provide funds for the Americans in need, and have them choose their own carrier. Carriers should not discriminate based on preexisting conditions or disabilities, and that alone could potentially safeguard against this problem, but in most cases people with preexisting conditions or disabilities will generally have more hospital visits, doctor appointments, prescriptions and money allocated to their health will on average be higher than those without preexisting conditions or disabilities, which is why they need help. They deserve healthcare just the same as any of us, and should not be punished just for something they have no control over.

Next I will touch on another problem our country is facing, and the greatest source of our debt today. Today our country faces threats in other countries, most notably in Afghanistan and Iraq. I found the quote in the democratic platform particularly interesting: “We need to be a ‘super smart power’ not a ‘super power.’ That means we need to be a world leader; not a world bully.” -

Listening to America participants, Lebanon, PA”(32) I agree with this quote, we need to be more smart with what countries we are going into, and how we are going about it. We need to focus more on our own defense, than trying to force countries into democracy, like we have done with Iraq. This tactic not only fails, but will lead to more hate and attacks against the United States. With Iraq, the 9/11 attacks are not proven to have actually originated in Iraq. We need to step up our spy and espionage programs to avoid such a blunder again. We need to remove troops from the situation as quickly as possible, while still keeping Iraq from becoming too unstable. Governmental spies could play a huge role in this, countries like Iraq have very little chance of becoming completely stable, what we need to invest in is spies and espionage, the more we know about Iraq and what things they are plotting and planning would safeguard us against any future attacks. Both parties are attempting to fix the problems in Afghanistan, and the Democratic party has said: “we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq” (24). and the Republican party reacts with: “We flatly reject the Democratic Party's idea that America can succeed in Afghanistan only by failure in Iraq” (13). The Republican party in a way attacks the Democratic idea without a really legitimate basis. A failure in Iraq cannot be really considered a failure, the failure was going to Iraq in the first place, and as such it's not necessarily a failure in Iraq that will lead to success in Afghanistan, it's more of a ending of an altogether unnecessary war, to finish what we went to the Middle East in the first place for, to remove terrorists that harmed us during September 11^th.

Along with war and the usual strife associated with the military, the nation faces another problem, homosexuality in the military, and back home as well. In the military, homosexual Americans have the right to serve their country in times of peace and war. The Republican party has said that homosexuality is “incompatible” (5) with the military. I don't believe this is altogether true, there are measures we could take to solve the problems of homosexuality. In the current “Don't Ask Don't Tell” policy we are spending money to train and deploy troops, then if it is found that they are homosexual they are sent back home. This is a great expense to the nation, costing over $360 million. A more affordable solution would to offer separate housing and showering for homosexual Americans. A separate tent, or room that the nation already owns would not cost more to be segregated for homosexual Americans, nor would it cost more to have them shower at different times. Obviously for any behavior that is unacceptable, they should be punished accordingly. It's not that homosexual Americans are incompatible with the military, it is just that the military refuses to make it work. Back at home Americans who are homosexual have problems getting married. It is not in the constitution to choose who can or cannot be married. The federal government should have no control over this. They should not completely disallow any form of marriage, except for the problem with consent, no one should be married if they do not consent to it, children obviously, will not comprehend exactly what marriage is, and they should not be allowed to marry very young to older people for their own protection. States should not be allowed to disregard a marriage license. Federal or State Government should have no control over adoption, blood parents and adoption agencies, should have the control over who they allow to adopt their babies, although in the interest of protection of the child, some people should be denied access to adoption, such as criminals and sex offenders. They should not force Religious institutions to comply with the marrying of a homosexual couple, religions should be allowed to choose who they are allowed to marry, and choose who they view as married. The only problem with marriage of homosexual Americans is the benefits gained from marriage, tax rebates among other things. Government cannot discriminate the entitlements that come with marriage based solely on sexuality. If marriage should be called something else, such as a civil union, so be it, if that is what it takes to give Americans their rights.

I believe government does not have the right to force healthcare, adoption and marriage policies upon its people, but they can offer choices and let private institutions and people decide on their own. The nation will never agree on anything, but denial of healthcare rights should not go unchecked. Democrats and Republicans both have the country's interest in mind, and both bring up valid points on different issues, but I find it foolhardy to align myself with either side, as we all are Americans and need to bring ourselves together, in the interest of our country.