No Lamps

1. He smashed the mirror with his kendo sword to face his fear

2. I was afraid of failing when I first started high school.

3. I'm afraid of putting a financial burden on  my parents because they are paying for my education.

4. Sometimes I lack self control and that scares me sometimes.

Summary: Section 1

Half of this scene is Hamlet's immensely famous "To be or not to be..." soliloquy. This soliloquy is Hamlet trying to figure out whether he should continue to live, or to commit suicide. He lists the reasons why being alive is horrible: heart ache, despised love. He refers to the trials one endures in life as "heart ache and the thousand natural shocks." At the end of the speech he decides that he cannot kill himself because he has to avenge his father.

Section Two: Enter, Ophelia

Background: Ophelia has been sent as "bait" by her father to prove that Hamlet is crazy/Hamlet is acting crazy... here we go...

Ophelia tries to return gifts that Hamlet gave to her, but he denies that he ever gave them to her. She fires back saying that he most certainly did give them to her and with them he spoke sweet words to her. She says that she realizes they mean nothing if he doesn't care for her. Knowing that he is being watched, Hamlet asks if she is lying and if she is beautiful. She does not understand the question and Hamlet explains that if she is too beautiful,then she cannot be honest, but if she is honest enough, this virtue can keep her beautiful.

Hamlet goes on to tell Ophelia that he did and did not love her. He orders her to go to a nunnery and to stay pure because he doesn't want her to sleep with anyone else. He lists the reasons why she should not marry him or anyone else so that she does not have children or "sinners." She asks where her father is and she says he is at home, which Hamlet knows is a lie. He tells her if she does marry in the future that she must not sleep with her husband and again wishes her to go to a nunnery.

1. What is your favorite part about your essay so far?

My favorite part so far is the topic itself. It was easy for me to write about it because I really believe in the concept.

2. What areas of your essay need the most work?

The introduction probably needs the most work. I want to grab the attention without coming on too strong.

3. How did the peer revision process help you?

The peer revision helped me clear up any parts that may have been confusing or unclear.

4. What did you learn about your own writing by revising the work of others?

Operation Physical Jackhammer part 2 is working on a video diary about freedom. What we have found so far is that no one really has a definition of what freedom is.

The Joy of Bubbles.

This week, upon finding a ridiculous amount of bubbles in my room, I decided to bring them on campus and blow them during passing periods...and sometimes during class. Once I saw the reactions of my fellow classmates and staff I thought I could make a DIY out of it. My first act as the self-proclaimed "Bubble Menace" was to fill a hallway and casually leave. When I walked away from the bubble-filled 230 hall, I was delighted to see students basically freak out. This is understandable, seeing as this is a high school campus where bubbles are not usually spotted floating around. The look on peoples' faces made it clear: Bubbles are amazing, and I thought it my duty to continue menacing this campus until the solution ran dry.

The rest of the week consisted of many bubbles both inside and outside the classroom. Throughout the week more and more students began to catch on to me as they followed the trail of bubbles I was leaving behind.

The point of this DIY was to see the reaction to bubbles. Overall I have observed a state of shock and excitement in most students. Even Nina of supervision got in on the fun when she saw I was carrying a bottle of bubbles and asked to borrow them to blow some herself. Furthermore while I was blowing bubbles outside of 306 with a group of people, Mr. Arnold came by and inquired about what was going on. He laughed and zestfully referred to Zac as a "sponsored bubble stacker."

Unfortunately the 1984 Big Brother aspect of this establishment has already attempted to kill the bubble buzz. Apparently, students have been complaining about their confusion regarding where the floating, poppable wonders keep coming from. I've been directly told to take my bubbles home & not return with them. To that I say absolutely not. It's definitely not my problem or fault that students are confused & I don't see any reason to punish me or the students who are excited to see a bubble every now and then for it. If someone had to revoke a pleasure or were punished every time a student on this or any other campus was confused, school would not exist.

In conclusion, bubbles are great and kids and adults alike can be united in wonderment by the nonsensical appearance of them on a high school campus. But like everything that is enjoyed, someone will try to ruin it. This simple DIY might have alot more connections to 1984 than I even configured. Since I will not stop blowing bubbles, we'll definitely find out.

Update: Big Brother is definitely watching. Every time I have blown bubbles since I was told to stop I have to look around corners and over my shoulder. Sometimes I look to see if the coast is clear, and it is, then once I start blowing bubbles supervision appears to tell me to stop. They basically show up out of nowhere. This relates to 1984 because you never really know when someone is watching what you are doing or thinking. I'm still gonna blow bubbles, but that's just me being me.

The issue that Mr. Ziebarth is facing was confusing to me at first. I didn't understand where the connection was lying. Dylan and Z explained that the "memory" on the web is history that is being deleted. That Mr. Z is Winston holding memories and "big brother" is trying to remove them. 

Here comes the way back machine. If the photo is deleted on the original site it will only be found again if the url is placed into the way back machine. Then the original page is restored and was never gone at all. This, to me, is creepiest part and the most relevant to 1984. 

I believe that like the original image, memories are deleted from the original location. However, like with the "way back" machine, the memories can still be viewed as if they were never gone. The party is like the way back machine. They can view the memories that were erased from the original location. 

Triangle of Attraction -

Dylan's DIY project is to learn more about himself, this inspired me to learn more about myself.

Dylan and I were having a very interesting discussion about the theory of an "Attraction Triangle." The idea is that each person has two of the three attractive qualities of the triangle.

We decided that maybe people have all three, they just shift depending on the day, time, and situation. We also tried to figure out what the most attractive qualities are in a person. Then realized that people are attracted to different things in a friendship, coworker, relationship, or mentor.

Furthermore we discussed that it might be possible that people are attracted to others who have the third quality that they lack most.

My portfolio is strong because I provide up to date evidence of my DIY learning as well as posts about 1984. I prefer to post more posts about my DIY learning projects because I'm more passionate about what I want to learn. (Obvi) I know that the DIY learning is actually helping me learn useful things that I will use in the future. For instance, this week i have been at home a lot so I have been utilizing much of that time for baking. I have learned new recipes and have been inspired to cook something everyday. I have made a coffee cake, a casserole, and last night I made berry muffins. I'm becoming more confident in trying my own recipes in the kitchen.