OR #8: Today, I read a poem called "The Meeting" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem is from a book called Good Poems and the poems were selected by Garrison Keillor. This poem is about friends and family getting together for Christmas and New years. It should be a happy time, but the poem says that everyone is feeling sad because they are remembering the ones who have died in the past year and how they're not able to be with them this Christmas. I think that this probably happened to the author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and he is remembering how sad it was for him. I also think that he has a pretty awesome name.

OR #7: Today I read an article in the Minnesota Daily. This article was written by Mike Langseth. The article is titled, "Metro Transit bus runs over biker's legs on 10th Avenue". This headline really caught my attention. What happened was that there was this lady and she was biking north on 10th Avenue against traffic. She swerved a bit and fell down. Then the bus rolled over both her legs. One of the witnesses reported that they heard the bones snap and pop. I was shocked when I read this. I think both drivers and bikers need to be more aware and careful of their surroundings. The victim is now in the hospital, but the hospital will not release the condition of the patient.

Heroes in a Box

For the heroes in a box assignment, I chose to research American musical heroes. One of the categories I used was women. The artifacts in this category  were (1)Aretha Franklin's song "Respect", (2)Judy Garland singing in The Wizard of Oz, and (3)Dolly Parton. 

(1)

"Respect" Video

I chose this artifact because it shows a great American musical hero doing what she does best. This contributed to the definition of a hero because it shows the charismatic stage presence that makes a musical hero.

(2)

Wizard of Oz Video

I chose this artifact because it adds to the definition of a

 hero by showing that being an American musical hero you need to be expressive when you are either singing, playing an instrument, or conducting.

(3)

This artifact helps the definition by showing how heroes always have a good attitude.

Another category for the artifacts was that two of them got to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The two artifacts that fit in this category are (1)Johnny Cash and (2)Elvis Presley.

(1)

This artifact shows that a hero has to be determined, just like Johnny Cash was with his music.

(2)

The picture of Elvis here adds to the definition of a hero by showing that a hero is looked up to (like having an idol).

Conclusion

In studying American musical heroes I now know that a hero can be either gender and that they are well-liked and looked up to. I have explained this with my artifacts above. I believe that these musical heroes have influenced many other musicians after them. This was my Heroes in a Box project. 

OR POST #6: Today, I read another poem of Shel Silversteins. This one is called "Have Fun". It is only four lines long, but I thought it was pretty good. Here's the poem: 

"It's safe to swim 

In Pemrose Park

I guarantee

There are no sharks."

The poem doesn't really make sense without the illustration because the illustration is of someone swimming and under the water you can see an octopus. I like Shel Silverstein's illustrations because there not that complicated and you get the impression that it's just a quick sketch. That is my OR blog for Wed. Oct. 22! : ) 

#5 OR Blog: I read a poem by Shel Silverstein called Allison Beals And Her 25 Eels. I love Shel Silverstein's poems and this is one of my favorite of his. It's about what she uses all of her eels for. For example, Silverstein writes, 

"Two of them with silly faces

She would use for sneaker laces".

The last line of the poem is, 

"And one got a new job on page fifty-nine."

And if you go to page 59, you see one of the eels as a plug to a computer. That's what I read for outside reading today.

Siddhartha Blog Assignment #4

I have just followed Siddhartha in his journey to enlightenment. I saw him leave Kamala, befriend Vasudeva, gain and lose a son, and reunite with his old friend Govinda. After following Siddhartha, I think that he learned that everything has a good and bad side to it, and I think I saw him learn this lesson best when he was with Vasudeva by the river.

When Vasudeva sat with Siddhartha as they listened to the river, Siddhartha heard everything jumbled into one. It turned out that the one word was Om, meaning perfection. This told Siddhartha that there was perfection in everything, good and bad in everything, or just a different side to things. Like on page 135, when Siddhartha says, "He could no longer distinguish the different voices-the merry voice from the weeping voice, the childish voice from the manly voice." 

I feel as if Siddhartha has reached Nirvana. He has lost his Self into the big picture of things. Witnessing all these things makes me feel hopeful for other people out there searching for Nirvana.

For this outside reading bog I'm reading The Canning Season by Polly Horvath. I think it's a pretty good book ( it received a national book award), but I think the front cover illustration is a little creepy looking. The book is about a girl who goes to live with her great-second cousins because her mom sends her. The main character's name is Ratchet (sounds to me like a hardware tool). At first Ratchet really does not want to go. The author writes, "I'm going where?" Ratchet gasped." But, as she gets to know her great-second cousins (she calls them her aunts), Ratchet really enjoys her stay.

I read Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. I really like this book, it's probably one of my favorite books, even though it's a very easy read. It's about a elementary school boy who has to write poems in a journal as an assignment. He doesn't like to write poems, so he hates the assignment. Jack writes, 

"September 13

 I don't want to

 because boys don't write poetry

Girls do."

In a lot of his poems he writes about his yellow dog. I thought one of the poems about his dog was really sad because I always imagine my dog as the dog in the book. By the end of the book he has more enthusiasm towards poetry. I think this is a great book.

For this outside reading blog I read, The Seashore. It says that a crab has ten legs and is called a crustacean. Shrimps and lobsters are crustaceans too. The sea anemone is an animal too. It eats shrimp. A scallop moves along by clapping its two sides together. A starfish has no head, but a mouth on its center. A plaice is born with an eye on each side of its head, but as they grow, the eyes move to the same side. That is what I learned from reading, The Seashore. 

Dear advice columnist, 

My friend Siddhartha hasn't been feeling his best. I can tell he is very depressed. I think he might be thinking about suicide and I am worried he won't get better. One time he said this about himself, "Might the fishes devour him, this dog Siddhartha, this madman, this corrupted and rotting body, this sluggish and misused soul." Is there anything I can do to help him? - Pragya

Dear Pragya,

Your friend, Siddhartha won't kill himself. He needs to have this experience so that he can learn from it later. Once he has figured that out he will be happy again. You don't have to worry.             - Advice Columnist  

For my outside reading, I read an article in Scientific American called Why Migraines Strike. The article was about migraine headaches. It said that migraine pain stems from the dilation and stretching of brain blood vessels, leading to the starting of pain-signaling nerves in your brain. The article also says that migraines can be set off by alcohol, perfume, dehydration, exercise, stress, weather changes, seasonal changes, allergies, lack of sleep, altitude, flickering of lights, and hunger.(77) The four phases of migraines are prodrome: difficulty concentrating, yawning, fatigue, and sensitivity to light and noise, aura: visual illusions of sparks and lights, often followed by blind or dark spots in the same configuration as the earlier bright hallucinations, headache: excruciating pain accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and sometimes the pain affects half the head, and postdrome: persistence of sensitivity to light and movement, as well as fatigue and difficulty focusing. Some people call the postdrome the "zombie" phase. This is what I learned about migraines.   

Govinda: i need some advice

Avatar: what about?

Govinda: my friend, siddhartha, has just left me and i feel very sad that he's not with me anymore

Avatar: well, i think it was time for u 2 move on 

Govinda: but i've spent my whole life with siddhartha

Avatar: ya, and now you should go your own way

Avatar: u pledged ur allegiance to gotama by yourself, not after u saw siddhartha do it, so this is a good thing for u

Govinda: ok i guess ur right, thnx

Avatar: no prob 

I don't think that Govinda is taking his separation from Siddhartha well. Ever since the beginning he has said that whatever Siddhartha becomes, he wants to become also. So, when he saw that Siddhartha was going on without him, he also saw that he wasn't going to become great, like Siddhartha. Now, I bet he's wishing he hadn't pledged his allegiance to Gotama and that he had stayed with his friend. Govinda wants to become enlightened too, so I think he also feels left out when he sees Siddhartha going off to find Self. 

My name is Pragya. I am 66 years old. I have seen Siddhartha as he learns things from the Brahmins. He is very smart and everyone seems to like him. His friend Govinda is like his shadow. He follows him everywhere. One day I happened to be passing in the forest and I saw Siddhartha and Govinda learning from the Samanas. They both look as if they are on the verge of dying, but their expressions are blank because they are meditating. There has been a rumor going around town about someone called Gotama, the Buddha. I went to go hear him talk and I saw Siddhartha and Govinda there. By the end of Gotama's teachings I saw Govinda step up and say that he would follow Gotama and become a monk. Siddhartha did not step up. Govinda tells me that he has gone to find Self.

My name is Megan and this is my blog. My favorite season is summer because of the warm weather and no school. I love to go tubing and swimming in Lake Minnetonka. I have a golden retriever named Hobbes and two older brothers. My favorite color is a bluish-greenish color, kinda like aqua. I love listening to all types of music and watching movies. This was just a little paragraph about me and now, here's my blog!