These Are A Few of my Favorite Things

How best to describe me in ten objects? Maybe these particular items will shed some light on my personality. My bookshelf, My dog, a script, a rugby ball, computer, my bike, an Irish passport, chocolate cake, an airline ticket, and a T.V.

I love to read, as anyone who knows me will tell you, so I need a bookshelf to hold my vast collection of books, or rather, medium-sized collection of brilliance. As I once said in 4th grade, "Reading is a hiding place from boredom". But for me, reading is more than a form of entertainment. It is a portal into different worlds, past, present, future, a gateway to somewhere halfway round the world activated by opening a book. I know this sounds cliched, but reading, for me, is a different world.

Once, not so long ago, about a year, my family and I were at the pet store, when, in a cage in the back of the shop, on top of some other cages, we saw a tiny dog, barking, and throwing itself against the side of the cage. The dog was so pitiful that it could have made a war veteran cry. After begging, pleading, and a school essay, my mum finally agreed to get the dog. We named her Sheila, because she was an Australian Silky Terrier.

I first started playing rugby two years ago, although it feels like an age. I got this rugby ball at my first tournament, and for some reason, I can't pump it up. I first started playing rugby when my neighbor told me about Bintang Rugby Club in-you guessed it-Bintang. I recently quit BRC because the kids there only passed amongst themselves, and joined the ISKL rugby team. Rugby is my favorite sport along with basketball, and I follow neither.

There isn't really much to say on this topic. My mum dropped her laptop, got a new one, and the one she dropped still works, so it's mine, and I'm using it to write this essay. It's cracked screen gets my attention when I'm trying to edit blogs. Like this one.

I got my bike for my tenth birthday and I love it. It is very durable, has twenty four gears, and I've had it for a long time, so it feels comfortable riding it. I doubt I'll find a better bike anywhere, but if I do, I'll still keep my old one.

I have an Irish passport: I am an expatriate. I was born in the USA-by the way, my mum is Irish, and my dad is English- then we moved to England, my brother was born there, then we moved to Hungary for four years, and now I am here, in Malaysia.

My mum makes phenomenal chocolate cake, and usually it's gone within three days, courtesy of me and my brother. Chocolate cake is my favorite food, and I can also make it quite well.

I travel a lot, as you have seen from my passport paragraph, but I also go to a lot of places over the vacations, as do most expatriates. I have been to Bali, Phuket, Ankor Watt, although curiously, I have never been to KFC. But anyway, I do get around a lot, but the place I would like to visit most is where I was born: the USA.

As do most people I know, I have a TV. Often, after homework like this, plopping down in front of a screen and sitting there for an hour is quite enjoyable. Most people wouldn't write about watching TV, but I like to write about things most people would overlook as common. But, like everyone, I know that too much will rot your brain. It has been drilled into my skull quite a bit actually.

Well, now you should have a clearer idea of what kind of person I am. If you don't, well, you should probably talk to me for a while. That should clear things up.

Reflection on The Compliment Guys.

I think the Compliment Guys is a really excellent idea. It makes people happy, but more than just that. If someone is stressed, or has low morale, a compliment can make them feel better. A good compliment is almost as good as having a discussion with a councilor. Also, and this is a suggestion for the school, maybe we could have our on "compliments club". A few willing students could stand at the school entrances every morning and give compliments to passers-by. So back to the reflection. I think, tomorrow at school, I'll make a goal to compliment at least 5 people. The Compliment Guys are just normal people with a mission. Making people happy.

I chose this image because it is like the sign that the Compliment Guys were holding. Also, it emphasizes that compliments are "price-less".

Response on Matt Harding Video

I think that the video had a very "feel good" atmosphere. It also touched me that he was dancing with the children in Africa, who were probably quite poor, but they just danced like they didn't have a care in the world. Also, almost everywhere he was, people joined in dancing, from New York to Istanbul, North, South, East and West. There was an exception though. The Demilitarized Zone in North Korea. But, if there wasn't a soldier standing by, and there were normal North Koreans in the room, they would have definitely joined in, and North Korea isn't the best example of globalization.

As for the essay, I totally agree with the statement "Globalization is forcing our brains to evolve." Being able to fly all around the world and see different places makes us more open to other cultures. Also, he says that the new generation will have brains so slightly better suited to the culture and complexity around them. Matt Harding has made an excellent statement, and one which, in the future, I believe will almost definitely become a reality.

I chose this image because it shows people connecting, and Matt Harding's video is all about connecting the earth. Also, from the silhouettes, all of those people look different, and possibly are from different countries.
http://blog.worldvitalrecords.com/2008/01/16/world-vital-records-inc-changes-name-to-familylinkcom-inc/

The Giver Blog Thingymabobby. Question One.

The question is: would you want your future to be decided by others? Why or why not? I think it has it's ups and downs. Some advantages are: if someone else decides for you, they would probably make the right choices because they would have been studying you for a long time. Another advantage is, that, in the community, they are assigned spouses. They know that they would get along, so they put them together, instead of risking you making wrong choices, and becoming unhappy. But the big disadvantage is there would be no freedom, or indeed, real happiness, in your life because you just do what other people want, not what you want. The fun and adventure in life is taken away.

Review of the White Mountains

I liked the book "White Mountains" because it had a very original story line. I like the idea of the Tripods and capping. I also like how the author conveys Will's feelings. All of these are great assets, but there are some things I don't like about the book. For one thing, nothing much really happens. Often, all the author writes about is walking. Another thing I don't like about the book is the ending. One moment they are running away from Tripods, and in the next sentence they are at the White Mountains. Despite these setbacks, I still enjoyed reading the book and am keen to read the second one.

Letter to Will

Dear Will,

My name is Robert Chance, and I have a few questions for you. One is: What really motivated you to leave? Was it Ozymandias, or was it Jack's capping, or a different reason altogether? Also, I was wondering, what made you trust Beanpole? He could have been a spy for the Tripods, sent to track you to the White Mountains. There is a nagging thought inside of me: if Eloise hadn't been sent to serve the Tripods, would you have remained and been capped, betraying your friends for royalty to be with Eloise? Also, do you have any theories on why you didn't remember being inside the Tripod?

If your memory needs jogging, maybe I could voice my opinions on these questions. For the first one, I think that Jack's capping was what created your doubts about staying, and then Ozymandias confirmed it. If I may add, I think you trusted Beanpole because he helped you escape from the man's cellar, and he knew that if he was capped, he wouldn't be able to continue his experiments, so he had a reason to rebel against the Tripods. Frankly, I think you would have stayed at The Castle of the Red Tower, because you were so attached to Eloise, it was only her going to serve the Tripods that made you decide to leave. And lastly, the Tripod could have sedated you before you were able to see inside of it, or maybe you blacked out from the struggle or from pure fear.

Before I finish this letter, I have one more big question to ask you. What will you do to defeat the Tripods, and how will you do it? If I were you, I would try to strike the Tripods at their heart: find their capital city, infiltrate it, and destroy it from the inside. As to how, there are possibly other tournaments like the one at The Castle of the Red Tower. The champion goes to work in a Tripod city, with a false cap of course, and could feed information to the White Mountains. Then, when you have developed suitable technology, you could raid the capital city of the Tripods, presuming you find out where it is, and if your agent survives.

Regards, Robert Chance.

Freedom

The people in the Castle of the Red Tower do not have a will of their own because of caps, machines that constrict thoughts which are controlled by huge, three legged machines called Tripods. No matter how friendly they seem, they are controlled by the Tripods, and thus, they are the enemy of Will, Henry, Beanpole and all the other rebels. Will will do anything to avoid being capped, and to get to the White Mountains, but he has feelings for Eloise, so he discovers that freedom comes at a price.