TU Tuesday Guest Speaker

1. Poise- I would give our speaker a 5/5 rating on poise. She talked a lot about every question that she answered and she always made eye contact to the person who asked the question. She did this when I asked one of my question's which was. " Was times union the first place that you applied for, because it's such a big newspaper. She seemed experienced when talking to the group and she felt comfortable. She said that she has done this many times before at collages.

2. Clarity- I would give our speaker a 4/5. I would give her this, because when she talked, it was very clear, bright, energetic and interesting but sometimes she talked too fast. Like when she talked about the "Dairy Queen" article. I thought that she explained it clearly and she covered everything but when she talked it was a tad fast so I would be focusing on something that she had said previously and she would already be on the next part of her story. During the Dairy queen story i didn't understand her reasoning for getting up at three in the morning to go with the farmers.

3. Volume- I think that her volume was perfect. She wasn't shouting at all but she wasn't mumbling at the same time. She talked at a perfect volume when she was talking about her who is Caroline? blog. There is no real example except for that she did it throughout the class period.

4. Information- I would give her a 5/5. Whenever she answered a question is was always with a lot of detail which is always good but also she never put unnecessary detail into her answer. For example when she was talking about her thanksgiving food blog post. She talked about the food she ate on thanksgiving she even said how she liked the food to be spicy and that thanksgiving food is heavy and bland. I thought this detail and information was perfect. It's not like she put in what she eats on the rest of the holidays because that would have been completely off topic and irrelevant.

5. Organization- I think again her organization was perfect. Whenever there was a story behind an answer, she always told the story in chronological order. When she told the who is Caroline story, she started with how in the first few weeks she called the head orders. Then she called billy's parents, then that resulted in the times union almost being sued. Her stories were always start to end never start to middle then oh wait i forgot to tell you something, middle again then end.

My Role- I think that I participated good and with effort. I asked about four or five questions and so did other students like Marcus and Jack. I did feel like some people were bored and just wanted to get it over with. But like I said before, some people were engaged and were asking questions frequently.

I would recommend you bringing her back next year, but i think that you should have the students do something else besides read her article, maybe find ten of her blog posts that you like, because it was hard to think of what to talk about at sometimes. Yes, I think that you could invite someone else but if you did, I hope that it would be someone nice like our last guest, we don't want someone who is boring and mean! I don't know anyone else that can visit, because I don't read the newspaper.     

TU TUESDAY- KRISTI GUSTAFSON

Article #1
http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Playing-dairy-queen-for-a-day-2229727.php
Question#1- When did your obsesion with cows start? And why?
Question#2- Did you still like cows after this ordeal, beacuse you said that the cow peed on you and you got cow manure on you?
Comment#1- I liked how much detail there was in  the peace. It made me feel like I was on the farm next to you. " Reaching between the hind legs of the cow, I feel for the teat. The large black and white animal lifts her back hoof. I jump, thinking about the multiple warnings that cows kick -- hard."
Comment#2- I liked how you wern't embarassed to say what happened while at the farm and how you expressed your emotions. " I feel the familiar, warm spray on my face. This time, I'm unfazed."

Article #2
https://secure.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?newsdate=11/6/2011&navigation=nextprior&category=LIFE&storyID=1093432
Question#1- I don't understand the resistance part, where you resisting agenst the mean and brutal opinions of others?
Question#2- Why did you start this job if you knew so little about it?
Comment#1- I felt bad for you when you were first starting your blog and that women commented meanly about your blog. But what I think is, who are you to say that this blog is horrible and that everything she writes will be horrible. She dosn't do that job so stop criticizing. "  Then some mean-spirited women came on to share with me and my 20 readers just how awful I was, and how anything I'd have to say would be boring.
Comment#2- I felt like this article gave a lesson that is helpfull to all, and it motivated me to take harassing comments and make them my motivation to keep going. "...because for some resistance is the greatest motivator."

Article#3
http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Ringers-in-the-extreme-2263911.php
Question#1- Why would wearing wedding rings make Cameron go to the hospital?
Question#2-
Comment#1- I liked that you explained a "complecated medical term" so that people could understand what your saying. " You heard that right -- degloving. It's a medical term used to describe instances when a section of skin is torn away."
Comment#2- I don't agree with this article. I think that people just like to were their wedding rings and that people get to into the meaning with this ring. " Plus we know wedding rings don't prevent affairs. Studies regularly come out that women are more attracted to men with rings, because it's a sign that that man was good enough to be "chosen" by someone. Of course rings don't prevent affairs

Thankful Four...

Just for reference...
1. My family
2. My good grades
3. My house/ safety
4. My talents- Bowling/ Singing

Blog opinion prompt #2

I do not believe in this statement at all. I think that kids should have the same amount of respect as adults when it comes to responsibility for abuse testimonies. It's like saying a child knows nothing at all, and that they aren't capable of doing something like testifying against someone in a case. I think that adults try to control kids too much. Kids can take care of themselves sometimes and adults don't realize that. Some adults act like kids are on a lower level then them. Maybe they aren't out of school yet but kids are usually equally intelligent as their parents. I know I am smarter then my parents, and if I couldn't testify against someone in an abuse case, then I would take it as a offense to my intellectual ability! Kids should be able to testify in an abuse case!  

I Want to Write About #96

Through out my life, I have learned many important life lessons. One of the most important one that i have learned is to not take things for granted and never wish away time. Life is short. My aunt Frances was a person whom I looked up to alot. She was succesful, loved life and she lived everyday as if it was her last. She alwasy rented a house at Lake George and my grandma would take me and my cousin John up there for about five days. The last two years in which she rented the camp, I realized how much I loved it up their in the house which practically sat on the water. I realized then and there that I should stop getting in fights with John and stop wishing away my time up there, because I got to spend alone time with my grandma and aunt whom I loved dearly. When she passed away, my summer never felt complete. I always wish that I could turn back time and bring back those memories in which I found joy and happiness. So it's irony, because whilw I was wishing away my time up there, a year later I was saying how I would do anything to get atleast one more day up at that big, white, old house which sits on a hill up on Lake George. To spend time with two people whom fill up my heart.

Magnetic Poetry

G=Galapagos islands

7 Sights and Attractions
1. Go see one island in the Galapagos called Espanola. Espanola is the oldest island in the Galapagos chain, when you go there, you can see much wildlife, which overtime have adapted to their natural needs."Secluded from the other islands, wildlife on Espanola adapted to the island's environment and natural resources." Just one example of an animal you can see is a iguana, during their breeding season, they change color!

2. When your in Espanola, look for the Hood Mockingbird. This bird is not afraid of people. "...frequently land on visitors heads and shoulders searching for food." The Hood Mockingbird is bigger than most of the birds on the island. One unique feature of this bird is that it is the only carnivorous bird in the island. It eats things like insects, baby turtles and sea lion placenctas.

3. Another place that you can go while in the Galapagos is the island of Fernandina. This island is the youngest of the Galapagos islands. This island has a extremly active volcano. "...since eruptions still may occur every few years. Which changes the landscape and life on the island." When you go to this island you can take a dangerous yet unique path which shows you lava feilds.

4. While in Fernandina, you can also take a path which shows you marine iguanas and a colony of sea lions. This island is the home to the largest colony of marine iguanas. "During the first half of the year the iguanas nest here by burrowing small holes in the sand." When you go to see the sea lions, you will surely hear them before you see them. This is becasue they are extremly territorial and what you are hearing are their warning barks.

5. Another island of the Galapagos that you can go and visit is the island of Genovesa. This island is relativly small. Which has a collapsed volcano in the middle of it. This island is an oasis for birds, which you would go to see. "Tower attracts an enormous number of pelagic seabirds that come there to nest. Great frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and storm petrels all breed here by the thousands." Although these birds are an amazing sight to see, you better book you excursion quickly, because of conservation atempts.

6. When your in the island of Genovesa, go and visit the Prince Philips Steps. In order to get to these steps, you first start by taking a panga ride along the rocky cliff edges. These steps are named after Prince Philip who visited the island in the sixties. Once at the top of the steps, the terrain becomes flat and abundent with birds. "At the top of the steps the trail becomes relatively flat and bird life abounds." If you visit during the right time of the year, you could possibly see thousands of birds nesting.

7. While in the Galapagos, you can try visiting the largest island called Isabella. This island was made by the connection of six volcanos. The island is shaped like a seahorse. When your on this island, you can visit the six different volcanos which are frequently active. You can also see the abundence of tortoises and different vegetation. "Isabela's large size and notable topography created barriers for the slow moving tortoises; apparently the creatures were unable to cross lava flows and other obstacles, causing several different sub-species of tortoise to develop." Although this island is farly young; forming about one million years ago, it has very different vegitation. The new soil and lava feilds do not have much nutrients in them, so there are different fauna and flora from the other islands.

http://www.galapagosonline.com/Islands/Galapagos_Islands.htm

"A chain is no stronger than its weakest link"

This proverb means alot to me, it makes me think. I love to sing and thats why I am in chourus and all of the select choir groups in the school. I hate it when people who are in these groups don't like to sing. Then I ask myself, "Why are they doing this if they don't like to sing?" They are the weekest link in the chain. This relates to the choirs because the choir can only excel if its weekest link (The person who dosn't want to be there) trys and is doing what they are suppose to do, because if that person does something wrong it sticks out like a sour thumb. I also use this proverb with bowling, if some perosn on my team dosn't like bowling, they arn't going to try and they are going to bring my team down. A team or group is only as succesful as their weekest person! Why do it if you hate it?!

DULCIS BREVIS Poem

Squirrels

Grey,
Bushy,
Tails.

Swift,
Agile,
Sly.

Always,
Finding,
Acorns.

Lifetimes,
Spent,
Collecting.