The performers wait for the cue.
All the hard parts, we made it through.
At the top, we finished our climb.
Right here, right now, this is our time.
We use our mallets and our sticks.
We add energy to the mix.
Working hard, we are at our prime.
Right here, right now, this is our time.
The moment we begin to play,
Our focus can not go astray.
I hit my note, it is sublime
Right here, right now, this is our time.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
never give up
Never give up
Have you ever given up and looked back on that time, knowing you could’ve done better? A lot of people in our society just give up on something and never strive for the best. In the novella The Old Man in the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, the author portrays a main theme: never give up. Santiago (the old man) follows this theme throughout the story. He doesn’t give up catching the marlin even though the odds are against him, he has to take on a bunch of sharks, and in the beginning he mentions that he thinks every day will be lucky.
Santiago never gives up in catching the marlin. In one point of novella, he realizes that the fish is bringing him farther away from shore. He knows that this will be the biggest catch of his life so he doesn’t let the fish go. He also knows that all the odds are against him because he is an old man against a huge fish. He wastes three days of going after that one fish. “Let him begin to circle and let the fight come” (86). Even when sharks swim up to the skiff, he keeps at it and never gives up.
In the middle of the novella a bunch of different kinds of sharks come and eat the flesh off the marlin. Santiago doesn’t want his prize fish to be worth nothing because of sharks breaking off chunks of fish. So he tries beating them with his oars and one harpoon that he has. He knows that he will get fatigued eventually but he still bashes them for a long period of time. “The old man withdrew the blade and punched the shark exactly in the same spot again” (107). The old man has always thought he was lucky even thought everyone else doubted him.
Right from the beginning of the book he thinks that everyday will be lucky. He hasn’t caught anything that will actually help him in 40 days, but keeps trying and striving for the best. Finally, it was his lucky day with a huge fish. Everyday he gave himself motivation and kept his morale. He wanted to do the thing that he loves and the activity that he lives for. “The old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky” (9). The old man is very determined throughout the novella.
Ernest Hemingway’s theme, never give up is something that we should all listen to and follow. It will make all our lives much easier and we can appreciate life more. This matters because everything we do involves something that we will have to decide when we stop striving and working. Whether its applying for college or playing in a game, we have to strive for the best just like Santiago. In conclusion, Ernest Hemingway portrays a theme in his book The Old Man and the Sea which we should all use. We should never give up in life because we only have one try to get it right.
Have you ever given up and looked back on that time, knowing you could’ve done better? A lot of people in our society just give up on something and never strive for the best. In the novella The Old Man in the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, the author portrays a main theme: never give up. Santiago (the old man) follows this theme throughout the story. He doesn’t give up catching the marlin even though the odds are against him, he has to take on a bunch of sharks, and in the beginning he mentions that he thinks every day will be lucky.
Santiago never gives up in catching the marlin. In one point of novella, he realizes that the fish is bringing him farther away from shore. He knows that this will be the biggest catch of his life so he doesn’t let the fish go. He also knows that all the odds are against him because he is an old man against a huge fish. He wastes three days of going after that one fish. “Let him begin to circle and let the fight come” (86). Even when sharks swim up to the skiff, he keeps at it and never gives up.
In the middle of the novella a bunch of different kinds of sharks come and eat the flesh off the marlin. Santiago doesn’t want his prize fish to be worth nothing because of sharks breaking off chunks of fish. So he tries beating them with his oars and one harpoon that he has. He knows that he will get fatigued eventually but he still bashes them for a long period of time. “The old man withdrew the blade and punched the shark exactly in the same spot again” (107). The old man has always thought he was lucky even thought everyone else doubted him.
Right from the beginning of the book he thinks that everyday will be lucky. He hasn’t caught anything that will actually help him in 40 days, but keeps trying and striving for the best. Finally, it was his lucky day with a huge fish. Everyday he gave himself motivation and kept his morale. He wanted to do the thing that he loves and the activity that he lives for. “The old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky” (9). The old man is very determined throughout the novella.
Ernest Hemingway’s theme, never give up is something that we should all listen to and follow. It will make all our lives much easier and we can appreciate life more. This matters because everything we do involves something that we will have to decide when we stop striving and working. Whether its applying for college or playing in a game, we have to strive for the best just like Santiago. In conclusion, Ernest Hemingway portrays a theme in his book The Old Man and the Sea which we should all use. We should never give up in life because we only have one try to get it right.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Basketball Love
Doodle was an orphan with his brother Ken and they lived with their grandma. Their parents were killed in a car crash just off the highway. The doctor said that they died instantly at the scene of the crash. When Doodle and Ken found this out they knew that they would have to either live in an orphanage or with a relative. Their favorite person in the world was their grandma. Even though she was gaunt, she was still very cool. She was so cool that she had an alias for emergencies.
Doodle is twelve years old and is very athletic. He is basically good at everything he tries. The only problem is that he had eye surgery two years ago. The eye doctor said that he couldn’t play contact sports. If he played and got hit in the head, his retinas could detach. That meant no basketball. Doodle couldn’t just recede from basketball so he searched for other sports that he could play to get his mind off it. He looked at tennis, badminton, and ping pong but none of them felt right.
Even though Ken and Doodle were brothers, they were also best friends. They told each other everything and anything. Ken was kind of snobby and Doodle was ok with that most of the time.
“What should I do?” he asked his little brother.
“Well you can try to convince grandma to let you play. Duh!”
“She will never go along with it after losing mom and dad.”
“I don’t know then, I’m not a therapist!”
The next day Doodle’s friend Leon was handing out flyers that said he was going to have a DARE basketball team and everyone was invited to play. Doodle thought, I want to play. Maybe if I get a flyer and sign up grandma will say yes. He took one from Leon and didn’t show his grandma until after dinner when she was very tired.
“Grandma, can you sign this?” he asked.
“Sure what is it?” she answered.
“Oh it’s just for school.” Doodle replied.
“Oh it’s just for school.” Ken derided under his breath.
Granny signed it without taking a glance and Doodle thought, Yes, no questions! Score one for Doodle!
The next day, Doodle went to go find his brother, Ken and tell him his secret.
“Don’t tell anyone about this!” he exclaimed.
“Fine. I won’t, but what’s in it for me?” Ken asked, hoping he could get a kick out of knowing something that no one else knew. He was staring into space as he thought Blackmail!
“Ken! Hello? Earth to Ken?!”
“What… oh sorry yeah I’ll keep the secret if you do my chores and homework for a month.” Ken said while getting out of his trance. Ken was a typical older brother who was very selfish.
“Fine but I'm not doing a good job." Doodle said grudgingly.
That Wednesday was the first practice of the DARE team. No one knew that he had an eye problem so he would have to be very careful not to get injured. Doodle saw every one of his friends that played basketball, and allowed Ken to watch. The practice went okay but some of his teammates weren’t very good. At the end of practice they scrimmaged and Doodle’s team won!
When Doodle and Ken walked into the front door of the house they saw Granny sitting on the couch. As soon as they got in Doodle and Ken knew that they were in deep trouble.
“So how was your day?” Granny asked sternly.
“Um good.” They answered timidly.
“I was calling the school to find out where you were and they said at the gym. So might I ask what you were doing?”
Doodle gave Ken a look that said oops we forgot to make a cover story. Doodle thought that if they could embellish a cover story on the spot then they would be good. Suddenly Ken blurted, “We did it!”
“Did what?” asked Granny giving them a knowing countenance.
“Doodle is playing basketball on a team and neither of us wanted to tell you because we thought you would get mad.”
“Oh I’m not mad…I’m furious! You guys are very avarice self-centered people!” Granny reprimanded. In fact, Granny was so mad that she stormed up to her room and slammed the door.
“So what do we do now?” asked Ken.
“We just wait till she cools down.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
The next morning Doodle and Ken had to get themselves ready for school because Granny wouldn’t help at all.
“Doodle, I wanted a PB&J sandwich not PB&F you buffoon!” Ken complained.
“Then make your own. Or just take two dollars and buy lunch!” Doodle yelled.
At school Doodle told Leon all about the fight with his granny and that he might not be able to play. At the end of the day everybody was giving Doodle death stares.
“Wow. Gossip travels fast!” said Ken.
“Tell me about it.” exclaimed Doodle with his head down so no one could see his shame.
They even heard people say, wow Doodle is so mean to his grandma. I can't believe he did that.
When Doodle and Ken got home Granny asked to speak to Doodle alone.
Granny had a sudden benevolence, “Doodle, I’ve been thinking… I think that I was a little too hard on you and Ken and we should compromise about you playing basketball.”
“Uh okay? So what did you have in mind?” This wasn’t at all what Doodle expected.
“I thought that I would observe the first half of your first game and at half time we would converse with each other. You could tell me how rough you thought the other team is and vice versa. Does that sound good to you?”
“Yeah sure.” Doodle sighed because he knew that if Granny saw just one minor thing that she didn’t like, that would be the end of his dream. He felt like he was being emancipated.
Saturday was their first game and everyone from school was there. Ken came too with some of his friends to see what happened. Doodle’s team was down by 15 at half time and they were really tired. It was affluent in skill. When the buzzer sounded, Doodle ran as fast he could over to the bleachers to see what Granny would say.
“So….?” He asked, feeling the excitement build up in him.
“Well…I think that they’re not that rough except for two big boys, number 11 and 15. They seem like they would give anything to get the ball so I don’t want you guarding them.” Granny stated loudly because the fans were shouting out loud blasphemous remarks.
“Yeah I thought that too.” Doodle rushed to say, feeling all the suspense rising up in him. “So can I play?
With a smile Granny said, “Sure. Why don’t you play for 5 minutes and then look at me. I’ll give you a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for the rest of the game.” Doodle was so excited he leaped off the bleachers and grafted to the rest of his team in the hallway.
“Guess what guys?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “I can play!!!!!!!” He gave him a short anecdote of his conversation with Granny.
The team was so excited and Leon gave him a huge bear hug. The coach didn’t let him go in right away but Doodle was one of the subs. Doodle would never forget the moment when his coach said that he would go in.
“Doodle, you’re up.” said his coach. Doodle was jumping out of his seat and almost tripped in all of his excitement.
“I am so ready coach! What am I playing?”
“Point guard.” his coach answered. That was Doodle’s favorite position and he was very good at it. Once Doodle was in the game, their team started pulling together. Doodle dribbled and ran deftly down the court. It turned out that he could play the rest of the game because when Doodle looked over at Granny, she had a huge grin on her face with two thumbs-up. His team got more points in the second half but still lost. Doodle was a little rusty because it was the first game that he had played in 2 years!
After the game Granny talked to the coach and they both agreed that Doodle could play in every game as long as he was careful and not guarding a huge person. In the car with Ken, Doodle asked, “Was I good?”
“You were great!” replied Granny and Ken.
Doodle is twelve years old and is very athletic. He is basically good at everything he tries. The only problem is that he had eye surgery two years ago. The eye doctor said that he couldn’t play contact sports. If he played and got hit in the head, his retinas could detach. That meant no basketball. Doodle couldn’t just recede from basketball so he searched for other sports that he could play to get his mind off it. He looked at tennis, badminton, and ping pong but none of them felt right.
Even though Ken and Doodle were brothers, they were also best friends. They told each other everything and anything. Ken was kind of snobby and Doodle was ok with that most of the time.
“What should I do?” he asked his little brother.
“Well you can try to convince grandma to let you play. Duh!”
“She will never go along with it after losing mom and dad.”
“I don’t know then, I’m not a therapist!”
The next day Doodle’s friend Leon was handing out flyers that said he was going to have a DARE basketball team and everyone was invited to play. Doodle thought, I want to play. Maybe if I get a flyer and sign up grandma will say yes. He took one from Leon and didn’t show his grandma until after dinner when she was very tired.
“Grandma, can you sign this?” he asked.
“Sure what is it?” she answered.
“Oh it’s just for school.” Doodle replied.
“Oh it’s just for school.” Ken derided under his breath.
Granny signed it without taking a glance and Doodle thought, Yes, no questions! Score one for Doodle!
The next day, Doodle went to go find his brother, Ken and tell him his secret.
“Don’t tell anyone about this!” he exclaimed.
“Fine. I won’t, but what’s in it for me?” Ken asked, hoping he could get a kick out of knowing something that no one else knew. He was staring into space as he thought Blackmail!
“Ken! Hello? Earth to Ken?!”
“What… oh sorry yeah I’ll keep the secret if you do my chores and homework for a month.” Ken said while getting out of his trance. Ken was a typical older brother who was very selfish.
“Fine but I'm not doing a good job." Doodle said grudgingly.
That Wednesday was the first practice of the DARE team. No one knew that he had an eye problem so he would have to be very careful not to get injured. Doodle saw every one of his friends that played basketball, and allowed Ken to watch. The practice went okay but some of his teammates weren’t very good. At the end of practice they scrimmaged and Doodle’s team won!
When Doodle and Ken walked into the front door of the house they saw Granny sitting on the couch. As soon as they got in Doodle and Ken knew that they were in deep trouble.
“So how was your day?” Granny asked sternly.
“Um good.” They answered timidly.
“I was calling the school to find out where you were and they said at the gym. So might I ask what you were doing?”
Doodle gave Ken a look that said oops we forgot to make a cover story. Doodle thought that if they could embellish a cover story on the spot then they would be good. Suddenly Ken blurted, “We did it!”
“Did what?” asked Granny giving them a knowing countenance.
“Doodle is playing basketball on a team and neither of us wanted to tell you because we thought you would get mad.”
“Oh I’m not mad…I’m furious! You guys are very avarice self-centered people!” Granny reprimanded. In fact, Granny was so mad that she stormed up to her room and slammed the door.
“So what do we do now?” asked Ken.
“We just wait till she cools down.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
The next morning Doodle and Ken had to get themselves ready for school because Granny wouldn’t help at all.
“Doodle, I wanted a PB&J sandwich not PB&F you buffoon!” Ken complained.
“Then make your own. Or just take two dollars and buy lunch!” Doodle yelled.
At school Doodle told Leon all about the fight with his granny and that he might not be able to play. At the end of the day everybody was giving Doodle death stares.
“Wow. Gossip travels fast!” said Ken.
“Tell me about it.” exclaimed Doodle with his head down so no one could see his shame.
They even heard people say, wow Doodle is so mean to his grandma. I can't believe he did that.
When Doodle and Ken got home Granny asked to speak to Doodle alone.
Granny had a sudden benevolence, “Doodle, I’ve been thinking… I think that I was a little too hard on you and Ken and we should compromise about you playing basketball.”
“Uh okay? So what did you have in mind?” This wasn’t at all what Doodle expected.
“I thought that I would observe the first half of your first game and at half time we would converse with each other. You could tell me how rough you thought the other team is and vice versa. Does that sound good to you?”
“Yeah sure.” Doodle sighed because he knew that if Granny saw just one minor thing that she didn’t like, that would be the end of his dream. He felt like he was being emancipated.
Saturday was their first game and everyone from school was there. Ken came too with some of his friends to see what happened. Doodle’s team was down by 15 at half time and they were really tired. It was affluent in skill. When the buzzer sounded, Doodle ran as fast he could over to the bleachers to see what Granny would say.
“So….?” He asked, feeling the excitement build up in him.
“Well…I think that they’re not that rough except for two big boys, number 11 and 15. They seem like they would give anything to get the ball so I don’t want you guarding them.” Granny stated loudly because the fans were shouting out loud blasphemous remarks.
“Yeah I thought that too.” Doodle rushed to say, feeling all the suspense rising up in him. “So can I play?
With a smile Granny said, “Sure. Why don’t you play for 5 minutes and then look at me. I’ll give you a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for the rest of the game.” Doodle was so excited he leaped off the bleachers and grafted to the rest of his team in the hallway.
“Guess what guys?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “I can play!!!!!!!” He gave him a short anecdote of his conversation with Granny.
The team was so excited and Leon gave him a huge bear hug. The coach didn’t let him go in right away but Doodle was one of the subs. Doodle would never forget the moment when his coach said that he would go in.
“Doodle, you’re up.” said his coach. Doodle was jumping out of his seat and almost tripped in all of his excitement.
“I am so ready coach! What am I playing?”
“Point guard.” his coach answered. That was Doodle’s favorite position and he was very good at it. Once Doodle was in the game, their team started pulling together. Doodle dribbled and ran deftly down the court. It turned out that he could play the rest of the game because when Doodle looked over at Granny, she had a huge grin on her face with two thumbs-up. His team got more points in the second half but still lost. Doodle was a little rusty because it was the first game that he had played in 2 years!
After the game Granny talked to the coach and they both agreed that Doodle could play in every game as long as he was careful and not guarding a huge person. In the car with Ken, Doodle asked, “Was I good?”
“You were great!” replied Granny and Ken.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, Little, Brown and Company, 1976. Genre: Mystery novel.
The Mysterious Benedict Society is a novel that is very intriguing and interesting. I would say that there are a lot of big characters but the main protagonist is a boy named Reynie Muldoon. The setting is a city called Stonetown near a port called Stonetown Harbor. The conflict is that an evil genius is trying to take over the world by brainwashing people's minds. Four kids try to stop him by going to an institute which the evil man owns in order to get close to him and find out what he's up to.. The whole book is about trying to stop him and save the world from being brainwashed.
The people from Booklist say, “Like the Potter books, his story goes beyond mere adventures, delving into serious issues.” I agree with Booklist because when I read this book, I couldn't put it down and I would always have to read one more chapter. This book is like the Harry Potter series because both make you want to read another chapter or page. Then you always hate when the book ends.
Reynie Muldoon took three consecutive tests in Stonetown and aced all of them. The trick to each test was that you didn't really need to know the answer, you needed to find a pattern in the test. Reynie meets three other people who passed the tests, and they become really good friends. One of these friends, however, is really stubborn, which comes in handy at the end. All four friends go to this Institute run by an evil genius to try to stop him from taking over the world. This story reminds me of Nancy Drew books because they're both mysterious and her clues are usually patterns just like these clues. The writing in The Mysterious Benedict Society is in third person omniscient because the author knows what's going on in everyone's mind.
A quote that gives a sense of the writing style is on page 338, “The wall swung closed behind them, and immediately a light came on overhead.” This tells you that there are a lot of secret things happening in the book because usually a door would open, but in this case, the wall does. It also indicates that the place they're in is very high tech because the lights turn on automatically. This shows that the man who owns the institute must be smart in order for the lights to work this way. This quote might grab readers who are interested and like mystery books.
I really like this book because some of it is scary, funny and very interesting. I like any kind of mystery, but ones that make you figure out patterns are especially cool. I also like how the author develops everything in the story and has really good diction. He uses rich vocabulary and even includes Morse code so that you learn along with the characters. Since Trenton Lee Stewart is such a good writer I'm going to read the next book in the series. It's called the Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I hope it's as good as the first one.
The Mysterious Benedict Society is a novel that is very intriguing and interesting. I would say that there are a lot of big characters but the main protagonist is a boy named Reynie Muldoon. The setting is a city called Stonetown near a port called Stonetown Harbor. The conflict is that an evil genius is trying to take over the world by brainwashing people's minds. Four kids try to stop him by going to an institute which the evil man owns in order to get close to him and find out what he's up to.. The whole book is about trying to stop him and save the world from being brainwashed.
The people from Booklist say, “Like the Potter books, his story goes beyond mere adventures, delving into serious issues.” I agree with Booklist because when I read this book, I couldn't put it down and I would always have to read one more chapter. This book is like the Harry Potter series because both make you want to read another chapter or page. Then you always hate when the book ends.
Reynie Muldoon took three consecutive tests in Stonetown and aced all of them. The trick to each test was that you didn't really need to know the answer, you needed to find a pattern in the test. Reynie meets three other people who passed the tests, and they become really good friends. One of these friends, however, is really stubborn, which comes in handy at the end. All four friends go to this Institute run by an evil genius to try to stop him from taking over the world. This story reminds me of Nancy Drew books because they're both mysterious and her clues are usually patterns just like these clues. The writing in The Mysterious Benedict Society is in third person omniscient because the author knows what's going on in everyone's mind.
A quote that gives a sense of the writing style is on page 338, “The wall swung closed behind them, and immediately a light came on overhead.” This tells you that there are a lot of secret things happening in the book because usually a door would open, but in this case, the wall does. It also indicates that the place they're in is very high tech because the lights turn on automatically. This shows that the man who owns the institute must be smart in order for the lights to work this way. This quote might grab readers who are interested and like mystery books.
I really like this book because some of it is scary, funny and very interesting. I like any kind of mystery, but ones that make you figure out patterns are especially cool. I also like how the author develops everything in the story and has really good diction. He uses rich vocabulary and even includes Morse code so that you learn along with the characters. Since Trenton Lee Stewart is such a good writer I'm going to read the next book in the series. It's called the Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I hope it's as good as the first one.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The band cell
The band cell RoseDennis
10/1/08
B block
Ever wish that you could be a billionaire and own a mansion with a pool and many cars? Well only an extremely tiny fraction of the people in the world are billionaires and it's very hard to become one so good luck succeding. Even though we can't buy a great amount of things that are really valuable and expensive, we still have the things that have much value to us. This might be a stuffed animal, a poster, or even something really old that will crumple if anyone touches it. These are the poeple who can't be filthy rich valuables. Now you might be asking yourself right now, “What's the most valuable thing to me?”
My most valuable thing that I could buy is my cell phone that I just got for 8th grade graduation. It's very special to me because it's my first one and it's a new level of responsibility that I have to take on. My mom picked it out for me but I did give her hints. My parents tried to keep it a secret but I could tell something was up. It's a green Rumor that slides upwards to reveal a keyboard. My mom got me an awesome plan that has unlimited texting and good minutes. I charge my phone every night when I go to bed and keep it off until the next day when school is over. I text a lot of people everyday and call someone at least 5 times a week. There is a website where you can see how many texts you have so far in the month. Last month I had 1,546 texts! I have already figured out all the gadgets and gizmos on it. I know how to use the camera really well and I can even play demos of games(mostly tetris) that they want me to buy.
I pick up the lime green rectangle and throw it up in the air and... whoops! I missed. It only has a microscopic sratch so no one will notice. I do this repeatedly waiting for someone to answer. Finally someone texts back and I know it's Marissa because her ring tone is blasting from the speaker. I put it on level 5 for the volume because I was playing my drum set downstairs. I have just asked her if she's going to band and she said yes. For me, one conversation with her usually uses up about 20 of my texts. I'm not aloud to text during dinner so I find time for it usually before dinner. When I'm done with my conversation with Marissa I start to play Tetris. Tetris is a game on my phone that I don't really have so I can't play forever but I do have the demo. I get 14 pieces until my demo is over and then I usually press the exit button and start a new game of it. I have other games on there but Tetris is more fun than poker, pac man, tornado mania, and pool.
I can also use the phone for family reasons such as calling my mom to pick me up after practice. I even taught my mom how to text. She has gotten pretty good but I'm still much faster than her. I also use the calendar in it so I won't forget any of my relative's birthdays. I take my phone every where I go including band competitions. After we have performed and the judges announced the scores, I text my mom and tell her how we did. On the bus, I call my parents to let them know when I'll be back in the high school parking lot. My phone is very valuable to me because I can use it anytime I want except at school. It also connects me to the most valuable thing that I can experience which are my band competitions.
Our South Hadley marching band travels to different schools in New England almost every weekend to compete against other bands. Each year our show has a theme and this year it's witches and warlocks. So far we have won every competition! I play the marimba, vibraphone, bells, and chimes in the pit. We don't have to march but we do have to make sure that everything we need is in the Penske Pit Truck before we leave and we have to memorize all our music.
Band competitions are really fun because you get to play all your songs and hang out with your friends. After I perform I load the pit truck, with the three other people in pit, so it can take all the equipment back to the high school. Then we catch up with the rest of the band who are in the stands. Every place we go, they have food and beverages that we buy. One place even invented a food that's called the walking taco. It is fritos, chili, and cheese in a fritos bag. It's really good. We bring our band jackets because it's usually cold at night because we perform in October and November.
I love all the tension in the air when the judges are about to announce our division and what place we got. The last three competitions we got first, best percussion, guard, music, and visual effect. The pit doesn't have shakos(hats) that the marchers wear so people on the bus french braid our hair to make us look nice.
Both my cell phone and the band competitions are suspenseful to me because with each one you are waiting for someone to say something. When I'm texting I wait for someone to text back and at the band competitions I'm waiting to hear what we got from the judges. They are also very different because one I can hold and one I can only capture the moment when it happens. My cell phone has a price for it and it's the most expensive thing that I own but the competition is priceless to me. My cell phone helps me communicate with others. I value both things a lot and it would be hard for me to live without any one of them. As you can see, I have two valuable things that I can't live without. What's the most valuable thing to you?
10/1/08
B block
Ever wish that you could be a billionaire and own a mansion with a pool and many cars? Well only an extremely tiny fraction of the people in the world are billionaires and it's very hard to become one so good luck succeding. Even though we can't buy a great amount of things that are really valuable and expensive, we still have the things that have much value to us. This might be a stuffed animal, a poster, or even something really old that will crumple if anyone touches it. These are the poeple who can't be filthy rich valuables. Now you might be asking yourself right now, “What's the most valuable thing to me?”
My most valuable thing that I could buy is my cell phone that I just got for 8th grade graduation. It's very special to me because it's my first one and it's a new level of responsibility that I have to take on. My mom picked it out for me but I did give her hints. My parents tried to keep it a secret but I could tell something was up. It's a green Rumor that slides upwards to reveal a keyboard. My mom got me an awesome plan that has unlimited texting and good minutes. I charge my phone every night when I go to bed and keep it off until the next day when school is over. I text a lot of people everyday and call someone at least 5 times a week. There is a website where you can see how many texts you have so far in the month. Last month I had 1,546 texts! I have already figured out all the gadgets and gizmos on it. I know how to use the camera really well and I can even play demos of games(mostly tetris) that they want me to buy.
I pick up the lime green rectangle and throw it up in the air and... whoops! I missed. It only has a microscopic sratch so no one will notice. I do this repeatedly waiting for someone to answer. Finally someone texts back and I know it's Marissa because her ring tone is blasting from the speaker. I put it on level 5 for the volume because I was playing my drum set downstairs. I have just asked her if she's going to band and she said yes. For me, one conversation with her usually uses up about 20 of my texts. I'm not aloud to text during dinner so I find time for it usually before dinner. When I'm done with my conversation with Marissa I start to play Tetris. Tetris is a game on my phone that I don't really have so I can't play forever but I do have the demo. I get 14 pieces until my demo is over and then I usually press the exit button and start a new game of it. I have other games on there but Tetris is more fun than poker, pac man, tornado mania, and pool.
I can also use the phone for family reasons such as calling my mom to pick me up after practice. I even taught my mom how to text. She has gotten pretty good but I'm still much faster than her. I also use the calendar in it so I won't forget any of my relative's birthdays. I take my phone every where I go including band competitions. After we have performed and the judges announced the scores, I text my mom and tell her how we did. On the bus, I call my parents to let them know when I'll be back in the high school parking lot. My phone is very valuable to me because I can use it anytime I want except at school. It also connects me to the most valuable thing that I can experience which are my band competitions.
Our South Hadley marching band travels to different schools in New England almost every weekend to compete against other bands. Each year our show has a theme and this year it's witches and warlocks. So far we have won every competition! I play the marimba, vibraphone, bells, and chimes in the pit. We don't have to march but we do have to make sure that everything we need is in the Penske Pit Truck before we leave and we have to memorize all our music.
Band competitions are really fun because you get to play all your songs and hang out with your friends. After I perform I load the pit truck, with the three other people in pit, so it can take all the equipment back to the high school. Then we catch up with the rest of the band who are in the stands. Every place we go, they have food and beverages that we buy. One place even invented a food that's called the walking taco. It is fritos, chili, and cheese in a fritos bag. It's really good. We bring our band jackets because it's usually cold at night because we perform in October and November.
I love all the tension in the air when the judges are about to announce our division and what place we got. The last three competitions we got first, best percussion, guard, music, and visual effect. The pit doesn't have shakos(hats) that the marchers wear so people on the bus french braid our hair to make us look nice.
Both my cell phone and the band competitions are suspenseful to me because with each one you are waiting for someone to say something. When I'm texting I wait for someone to text back and at the band competitions I'm waiting to hear what we got from the judges. They are also very different because one I can hold and one I can only capture the moment when it happens. My cell phone has a price for it and it's the most expensive thing that I own but the competition is priceless to me. My cell phone helps me communicate with others. I value both things a lot and it would be hard for me to live without any one of them. As you can see, I have two valuable things that I can't live without. What's the most valuable thing to you?
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