Dialectic Journals Book 8 pt.2

"These are the last tears of mine my lord, that the sun will ever see."
As I was reading this I was really say poor Xeo was slowly dying. I thought overall the story was interesting and sad. But at least I assume Xeo died proudly as a Spartan. Even though he was not from Sparta he totally proved him self worthy so even though he died he died with honor. Which is how many people would like to die rather than with shame.

Dialectic Journals ch. 8 pt.1

"A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep while they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his mens loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold;he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pain he endures for their sake."

It's true I agree with this Leonidas is always fighting with his fellow Spartans and makes fun of him own self to show respect. While Xerxes thinks he's a god and buys his people with gold and just sit their on his throne while People are dying in his eyes. It makes me mad that hes king while he doesn't even do anything he really doesn't deserve the title. I remember watching the movie and not thinking much of it but now that I have read this book it really refreshes my memory and shows me much more information. I think that Leonidas showed leadership and was a real king. By being king you have a lot of authority over a person so the fact that he chose to fight is definitely heroic rather than just watching. And Leonidas dresses the same as everyone and doesn't think of himself as way better than everyone else.

Dialectic Journals Book7 Pt. 2

"On the second day I saw Alpheus and Maron take out six men of the foe so fast that the last two were dead before the first pair hit the ground."

haha this kind of reminded me of a yo mama joke. Anyways It gave me a lot of information about how strong the Spartans were. For me I just had like a short video in my mind of two Spartans taking out two pairs and the last pair hits the ground before the other one is dead. It makes me think more of the way Spartans fight. They are so strong and all those warriors war is what they do it's there thing and they know how to fight. So when you think of two people against six you think that the six are going to win for sure but the Persians were weak sauce and nothing compared to the Spartans!

Dialectic journals Book 7

"Surely no sight beneath heaven, not Troy under siege, nor the war of the gods and Titans itself, could have equaled in scale that which now spread our vision."

To me it's saying that the Spartans wouldn't see anything like this on earth it was out of this world. So when it says that not even the war of the gods and Titans itself could compare to what they laid eyes on it made me think wow they must have seen a whole lot of Persians. I like how the author turned this sentence into something so detailed instead of a boring sentence like, "There was so many Persians." instead of picturing hundreds or even thousands of Persians I pictured many more than that amount.
After reading that I plan to use something similar to that into my writing it really makes it come to life.
It also makes me admire the Spartans more because most people would just chicken out seeing that amount and give up but there was no way that they would leave, they would die for this.

Thankful

It's been a while since I last ate with my moms side of the family but the time it was around thanksgiving time and as I looked around me everyone was smiling, laughing, and having a good time. I felt those same exact feelings. I'm so thankful for each one of them like my Grandma she always has a smile in her face when she sees me and does her best to put a smile on my face. I remember during the time when I had a broken wrist I stayed at her house for a few days and she took care of me and would play card games with me. And before I went to sleep she made sure I was comfortable that I wasn't to cold or to hot. I felt like a little kid at the time. She did a great job and I was always thankful for what she did every time she cooked I made sure I thanked her and I did my best to help her around the house. She was like a second mom to me. Even though she would tell me stories and gave me advice that I thought were boring they were very important. I'm very grateful to have grandma like her.
I'm also thankful for my mom who does a great job in supporting my brother and I, she's a very strong woman who I do admire because she does her best as a mom. I'm thankful for each one of family members even my annoying cousins and brother who I always say I don't like but I know that if I were to loose any one of them I would never be as happy as I am now. Besides my family I have met great people who our now my friends I was afraid of going into a new high school with no one I would know but I'm very glad that I got accepted into HTHMA because I have more friends then I did in middle school who at times I do envy because I always compare myself to them. I'm glad that they like me for who I am. I appreciate every one who I'm thankful for, I hope that I will bring them as much joy to them as they have to me.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I took these pictures when I went over there a while ago. I forgot to post them but they look beautiful, it's a great place to visit. :)

Dialectic Journals Book 2

Ch.8, pg. 80
"Alexandros was ordered to piss into his shield. It was a training shield, yes. But Dienekes knew as he looked down with the other peers from the slope above that this particular aspis, patched and repatched over decades, had belonged to Alexandros' father and grandfather before him."

Wow I really felt pity for Alexandro that he was ordered to piss on a shield and not just a shield but it was something sacred to him that was passed down to from both his grandpa and father. It would suck if someone disrespected an item of your that was important to you but for someone to put shame on his own loving item it's just sad. I felt angry and sorry for him, it's so cruel. I think the author was trying to say that back then if you made a small mistake like ignore your shield for even a minute as Alexandro did, there would be consequences something that valuable shouldn't be ignored especially if it was passed down to you.
I can relate to this because I had an item that was passed down to me and it was special to me I would always carry it with me where ever i went, and one day I was so careless and lost it I felt ashamed of myself and angry. However I found it and I would never loose it again I couldn't trust myself holding it only because of the fear of loosing it so I kept it at home.



Ch.9, pg.95
"Alexandro's beautiful broken face." (This is actually suppose to be a long sentence but I only wrote down the part that struck me.)

I really love this oxymoron. Normally when something is broken you wouldn't praise it and call it beautiful. Not only that but Alexandro had just finished fighting and his face was covered with bruises and a broken nose. I remember when I was small my brother would say always use the word, "Pretty ugly." I never knew which when he meant and I would always ask wait what do you mean are you giving someone a compliment or insult? He would always laugh. I finally knew what it mean and it was just a way to describe someone in a different way of ugly like if someone says, "It's pretty hot." there describing how hot it is. An other example is "jumbo shrimp." you don't actually think of shrimp as large you think of them as small but it's just another way to say shrimp that's bigger than most I assume.
An other one I use a lot is "Same difference."
Anyways I really liked that the author used an oxymoron I don't really hear those any more.



Ch.10, pg. 101
"The pirate accepted his fare, grinning like Charon on the ferry to hell."

I smiled reading this I just pictured it very clearly a pirate smirking at two young kids taking them to a destination to hell. I was really interested to learn more so I looked up the word "Charon" and found it a meant a ferryman who carried the souls of the dead. So I really liked how the author showed and not tell I could see it very nicely. I feel like it can somewhat relate to me because when I was hiking at the grand canyon I asked a guy how much longer until I reached the Indian gardens and he said like two hours and said I wouldn't make it and I would faint he gave me an evil smile and his attempt to try to scare me failed. :)

Dialectic Journals pt.3

Ch.6, pg.45

"I had seen my own heart and it was the heart of a coward. I despised myself with a blistering, pitiless scorn."

What I really liked about reading this was it only had two sentences yet it told me so much. I really loved the metaphor used in this text. I also like the adjectives the author uses to describe hate , instead of the author writing, "I hated myself" (Boring) he used great detail writing on describing it that I really enjoyed reading that one part.
I can relate to this because at times I make big mistakes and I strongly dislike myself for making them. Obviously though they way he felt about himself was much more vigorous.

Dialectic Journals pt.2

Ch.5, pg.38

"Tripod kept taking it and taking it. The flesh of his back had been torn through in a dozen places; you could see tissue and fascia, rib cage and muscle and even the spine. He would not go down. "Pitch!" his two commanders kept urging between blows, meaning let go of the bar and fall. Tripod refused."

Wow when I first read this I was so startled. I really liked how the author described Tripod's pain I could easily picture it and I could see guts and the flesh, it made me have goosebumps just reading it. What really amazed me was that he refused to pitch. I know I wouldn't last a second at his possession and I would have pitched a long time ago but this guy just kept getting beaten and beaten and wouldn't fall. I think Tripod was so strong.

One question that was on my mind while I was reading this was why is doing this to his body?, what is he trying to get from all this? Overall I think the author did a great job on showing us an extraordinary image with just writing.

Dialectic Journals pt.1

Ch.4, pg.27

" Why had I not foreseen their peril? Why was I not standing at my father's shoulder. armed and possessed of a man's strength, to defend our hearth or die honorably before it, as he and my mother had?"

What struck me about this was he seemed like he really did want to help his mother & father and be courageous. He probably didn't want to be afraid and make everything right. My reaction to this quote really made me want to just jump in the story and comfort him, especially after seeing his parents dead on the floor.

I think that this can relate to some people after a loved one dies they think to themselves wishing they could have been with them. If I were in his possession I would probably think the same thing as he did. I feel like this passage is very significant because when something as horrible happens to someone it can really change them as a person, so I think Xeo will try to avenge his parents death.

What I think about the US economy & Obama and McCains ideas.

So if you look at the US economy now it is very bad. The problem is money supply! For example: People borrow money from banks they can't pay them back, so Banks loose a lot of money, then soon become bankrupt or known as Cascading failure because the bank is depending on the person to pay them back. Many people have lost their jobs, Stock markets are going up and then go down, banks have to work with other banks just to stay alive, and several companies have been out of business. Other countries are suffering because of the US economy for example the past few weeks the value of the peso has gone up and down like a roller coaster. The value of one peso
In other issue is gas prices. Gas is strongly connected to the price of oil, the price of oil has been going down from $140.00 per barrel to the current price of $70.00 a barrel. The price of gas has followed the drop of oil so now it about 4.59 per gallon to 3.20 per gallon. However the gas prices are sure to go up. I don't think I want to know how much a gallon of gas will cost me by the time I can drive. (I didn't find a link for what I just said about gas, I got this great information from a guy I know, Thank you Bob) I thought I should mention gas prices because many people are very concerned about them.
As I was saying before the economy has pretty much gone down hill and Obama and McCain are claiming they can fix it. Obama's plan is to increase tax for upper class citizens and decrease taxes for lower and middle class citizens, he doesn't support fair tax.I believe that taxes should just be equal.
McCain just wants to keep taxes low. Obama's tax plan
As I said before about the banks being bankrupt, when you keep spending money and you can't pay for it what do you do? well you don't continue spending your money the money will only over inflate. McCain is changing a few laws that involve spending a lot of money as well. Obama wants to nationalize things put them in control and once again that involves spending a lot of money so they are not really changing anything they are only spending more of your money.

Side photo

Cindy Rodriguez is always there for people, she enjoys giving advice to others and making them happy. There's something about Cindy that really makes me want to be like her, maybe it's the way she always spends her time encouraging people or how shes not your average teenage girl.

cool picture

I really liked this picture because the moment I saw it I thought peaceful. When I look at this I see a girl and shes dreaming about something maybe home or a glorious place that she misses or that shes going to go to. This picture really caught my eye because you see a image inside in other image. I like how you can see a background and you see the girl at the same time it's very beautiful. :)

Were my Predictions right?

Before I read Secret Life of Bees our class had to make predictions on what we thought the book was going to be about based on looking at the cover and reviews. My predictions were pretty accurate. One of my predictions that was really accurate was when I said that this book was full of detailed writing based on the reviews I read, and when I started reading the book I found out I was right because the author Sue Monk Kid wrote really great writing that could make you feel like you were in the story for example on pg.38 it says, "You don't scare me," I repeated, louder this time. A brazen feeling had broken loose in me, a daring something that had been locked up in my chest. I thought those two lines made me see Lily's reaction and you could tell that she had courage to talk back.
Even though that prediction went well I predicted a couple of things that were kinda off. I said that its gonna be about 5 girls and a bunch of bees, there were five girls and bees but there was way more to offer than that so I really thought the book was going to be boring but I ended up liking the book.

this weekend I might......

Go to a Bonfire! last Wednesday was my friends birthday and she didn't really want a party but her friends and I insisted that we should have a bonfire. If it rains again I hope we can cope with the droplets dropping on the hot fire. I wonder if it will be windy and warm? I can't wait hear Cindy's clownish jokes as usual but the thing I'm looking forward to the most is the food full of flavor! I want to taste something terrific and tremendous, Perhaps some scrumptious sweet and sour shrimp! ah the sweet smell, and a huge veggie hot dog with habenero sauce.

I assume the bonfire will be in a dark small park. There will probably be a few people attending the bonfire. I hope it wont be boring and quiet, I want loudness and more, running and laughter like a little kid again. I hope I go otherwise for sure I will mope :( I look forward for the day to come and even if it doesn't happen I will still have a mini feast at my place.

Little Livy

One you meet me you will say I'm a huge goof ball, I'm a fountain of energy, and I'm sweeter than honey. I'm silly and jumpy as a frog. I'm down to earth.
I may be short but I'm as tough as a cookie! Sorry this picture is kinda blurry and on the left is my brother haha.


My cheeks are as squishy as jello. :) My hair is as soft as a teddy bear. I'm as happy as a duck in water. I prefer to be as free as a bird and fly away to my happy place. At first I'm as quiet as that little mouse underneath the hole on the wall then I will roar like a lion. I'm as handy as a pocket on a shirt. :D

Very Epic

An Epic is a long poem that describes a hero and his/her achievements. It 's something heroic and is most likely a big deal.

Some of the examples that I considered epic was on lines 53-56 when Apollo listens to his priest Cyryses prayers and takes actions and attacks the camp. I thought it showed he was helping Chryses.
An other example was when Achilles stands up and talks back to Agamemnon, because his ranks probably wouldn't stand up to him. That was on lines 159-181.
My third example is on lines 335-338 when Agamemnon says he is going to take Achilles girl but on lines 366 Achilles prays to his mother Thetis and ask for help so I think that it was heroic to ask for help instead of thinking he can do everything by himself.

In this picture it shows someone giving a helping hand I think that anyone who decides to help someone out is doing something heroic.

There goes my hero

So as you all know a hero is someone that an individual or people look up to. Well in the past I have been thinking of who can be my hero and it always changes. At one point it was my mom and next it was Tyra Banks, then it was some other person who inspires me. So then it hit me and I don't really have a a hero I guess you could say I have heroes. I look around this world and I admire at least one quality of a person who I know.
For example I think kevjumba from you tube can be my hero because his videos are funny and they have a point in which i agree in, or maybe some random person from the street who helped me find a lost item. I know there not really big things that they do for the world but I believe that most people in this world are a hero in there own way. So if your hero was a president or actress, etc. they most likely have a hero of there own and their hero has a hero of their own and so on, so it pretty much leads to a bunch of random people who are a hero to one in other.
I think a lot of people in this world are heroes they could be seen as villains to others but every ones opinion on heroes are different.
So in conclusion I believe that people from the past, present and future in the world are my heroes...and my picture shows earth I don't want people thinking earth is my hero but the people who live in earth like you!

30 Things about ME!!!

1. I like cooking
2. I like board games.
3. I prefer texting over calling people.
4. If I'm really bored tears will come out of my eyes
5. I love to read if it's a good book
6. I want to dye my hair dark red
7. I survived hiking on the grand canyon
8. When I was smaller I collected seashells and feathers
9. I love eating junk food
10. I like typing smiley faces. :)
11. Vitamin water is good
12. I like shows like invader Zim, Family guy, and Monk
13. I want to learn Japanese
14. I love Thai food
15. Kindergarten was my favorite school year ever
16. I'm a pesceterian
17. I sing in the shower
18. I laugh a lot
19. I'm better at understanding Spanish then speaking it
20. I like the pool better than the beach
21. I want to watch a world cup live
22. I think rainbows are pretty
23. I fractured my wrist
24. I like the color blue
25. Ice cream is a great breakfast
26. I get worried to easily
27. I'm only afraid of the dark when I hear scary noises
28. I think cats are better than dogs
29. I want to own a tiger
30. taking pictures are fun