bOoOoOoOk

I will be reading the Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K Rowling.

1984

Writing letters while I sleep, 

my thoughts; they seep.

Awoken I fall into "no",

with much to forego.

Simplicity is a virtue, 

that is quickly consigned to.

What is said is heard,

and thought is absurd.

This is my wisdom,

but i stay mum.

For you are the future,

and you must be sure.

This is not life,

but my ongoing strife.

Ehh. I am kind of disappointed about how this came out because i had higher hopes. I am reading "1984" which is about a dystopian society so I thought it might be cool to write a poem from the point of view of a resident. Hopefully you like it more than i do.

Argumentum ad Numerum

Studies show that 18% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth.

WRONG!!!

In fact, the world revolves around Paris Hilton! (what were they thinking?)


STAY AT HILTON HOTELS




Created By: Josh Botterman and Denise Collantes





Description:
This was a argumentum ad numerum (argument or appeal to numbers), and is abusing statistics.

Almost Finished

Well, considering that I have been reading the same book for about six weeks I reluctantly agreed with Kay that I do need to finish. I like to look at my elongated process of reading this novel as savoring each and every page; like every bite of an incredible steak. Why would anyone possibly like to finish a book in a few days? I feel that diminishes its full affect on the reade- Ok. What am I talking about? I just haven't made the time, but I did today. So much happened in the portion of the book I read that I can't even try to explain it. What I can attempt to explain is the vocabulary that this author uses. Everyonce in a while he will pull words out like blase (with an accent over the "e"). Although this book is not meant for college courses, the pool of words Bosch pulls from is much larger or deeper than other youth authors. Now that I have convinced myself that I am learning something from this book. Well that is it this week.

More and More Secrets

THIS BOOK IS SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!

Yet it is so good. The more I delve into this secret tale of secrets I realize just how secret it is. Nothing is told or understood in this novel. Whether it is the clandestine ways of Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais or plainly the street that Cass lives on. I believe I have mentioned before how secretive it is and I wager that I am being extremely repetitive but what I say is true. Reading this book is like a love/hate relationship. I hate how Pseudonymous Bosch requires that nothing is what it really is yet I keep coming back to the book to read. UGGHHHHH!!!! I want to finish it already!

Maya Angelou Response

Just recently have I been enlightened upon an incredible person in our society. Maya Angelou has appeared, now, multiple times in our routine discussions in Humanities. I have discovered a humanitarian that often goes unnamed in common lists. After reading only two pieces of her work, her style is evident to me; philosophical, passionate, and profound. Her writing is done with such eloquence that every single word is imagined to come out of her mouth. Life's Good displays her "voice" as well as any other writing. As she begins to describe her misunderstanding of life, death, and all of humanity; she states, "I find myself surcease from the entanglement of questions only when I concede that I am not obliged to know everything" This summons the most vague question one can ask which is, "what is my purpose?" No, we cannot apprehend everything in this world, we all know that, but what i wonder is, why not? Why is everything not definite. Like numbers and lines. With a beginning, an end, and a middle. I wonder where questions originate from. It seems, to me, that a Utopian society seems like the future or past of our people, where no questions are asked but just merely ignorance. Now, by all means, I do not believe this totalitarian society where all aspects of life are controlled, but I see how some genius would plot to turn this world we know into a Dystopia-like nation. I once read a book titled The Giver that Lois Lowry wrote following a young boy living in an "anti-utopian" society. It is so incredible to think that the way they live is not so distant from our lives.
I apologize for going off on such a tangent. I really needed to stop. Anyway, here goes nothing.

I am barred in iron chains,
upright with disbelief.
I am barred in questions,
What?When?Where?
I am barred in memories,
living life in its wake.
I am barred in expectations,
all energies to liberate myself.
I am barred by love,
strange, impossible, alarming.
I am barred.





Josh

p.s. I am not barred. this is not a disclaimer, just a reminder.

The Name of This Book is... Secret

Secrets, secrets and more secrets. Why do people have secrets? I believe people have their own little corner of confided truths so that they feel they are somewhat important. This is especially true if you were told the secret and are now the one holding it. Every single person in this world keeps something from someone because they plainly do not want them to know. I am not here to say that you should not keep secrets-that would be hypocritical- but rather share your knowledge to the best of your ability and spread what you know.
This whole entire book is a secret. The characters and plot are unknown and this is why I don't like secrets. I like to know EVERYTHING. Therefore this book is so incredibly frustrating although it is quite captivating. So the next time you have a secret remember that I told you, reader, to share it because there are more Josh Botterman's in the world that want to know everything.

A Little Something About Nothing... Is That Possible

What is nothing? Hmmm... No one knows the answer. Plainly, nothing is nothing. Nothing has to be something though, right? I mean we cannot be speaking and pondering nothing. So therefore I value the statement that "nothing is something, it has to be". What is funny about that is the fact that an eight year old could proclaim that. In saying that nothing is something, we can infer that there is no such thing as nothing. Nothing is nothing; if that makes any sense at all. A great parallel to the definition and semi-understanding of the word "nothing" is the universe. In eighth grade at Bonita Vista Middle School, my science teacher proposed a question to us. We were studying astronomy and astrology when he questioned, "If the universe is always expanding, and the universe is everything, with nothing outside of its edge, how is it growing?" he also asked, "what would you see, feel, hear, if u stepped outside of the possible edge of the universe? what is there?" Mr. Dougherty also told us to think of a plausible answer to these ,abnormally large questions for a thirteen year old, before we fell asleep. If anybody besides me abided to what he said, they were very tired the next day. I don really understand this. In fact I don't at all. As soon as I have a lead it gets foiled by "what if's" and "no that can not be true's" As Karina said very opiniated, as usual, after our coffee shop conversation, "nothing is something ithout anything". When I heard this I was amazed. It is incredibly true yet incredibly incorrect. Like I said, nothing is something but the part that she summed it up with was "without anything". This still brings me back to the question of "what does nothing look like?" It cannot be white or black or even blue. It cannot be big, nor small. Not noisy or silent. Not warm or cold. Nothing is a series of "not's".coming away froms Kay's class I was utterly stumped but now I feel that I understand that nothing cannot be correctly translated, which is a step ahead. Whether or not you got anything out of this, or it was a huge compilation of "nothing", thank you for reading my little something about nothing. Is that possible?

Josh

The Name of This Book is... Secret

Well, like the title reads, this book is EXTREMELY secretive. First off, the author of this book will not tell the reader the names of the characters or the setting or basically anything! The story is about a magician(explains the secretive part)that was killed in a kitchen fire. Two young oddballs find themselves on an expedition to try and solve this case.
Although, by any means, I am not an old man, back in my day I'd find myself with my friends taking excursions into the deep dark wilderness in my back yard. I can relate to this girl and boy because i see the fun in trying to solve things. I am sure that all of us once in a lifetime have tried really hard to find something out that matters to them.

Lastly, GO RAYS IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!

Vocabulary

alacrity- prompt and cheerful response
When the mail man asked with curiosity if she had gone to the concert last night, she responded with alacrity and excitement.

languid- slow, sluggish, listless, weak
With slow, languid movements the sloth climbed from one vine to another high a top the Amazon Rain forest
Muse- to ponder
As a young child he would muse around the park intently recognizing shapes and objects.

Chargers stomp rival Patriots in AFC showdown

Music to my ears, well actually to my eyes. Now I wonder what this article could possibly be about. Hmmm... maybe the Chargers' twenty point victory over the defending super- oh, wait. They lost in the Super Bowl too! Well to tell you the truth, the Patriots are not the same without the robot, Tom Brady but beating them is still as sweet as apple pie on a Sunday night.
Whenever the Chargers play a team like the New England Patriots you know there's going to be lots of talk and hype about the game. The press was all over this one. Although most of this article describes the actual play in the game it does explain about the rivalry between these two teams. The past three years have been filled with games between these two franchises each meaning a lot to the team's record and morale. Another morale booster is having over 68,000 people yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs and supporting you. The environment at Qualcomm Stadium finally matched the one that they have been waiting for... and the score did too.

Financial Crises Spreads in Europe

Although I am pretty sure that James has been all over this topic already, but we can share some knowledge, right? I'm talking about the economic issues of late, if you hadn't guessed yet. I read this article titled Financial Crises Spreads in Europe from the online front page of the New York Times. Authors, Carter Dougherty, Nelson Schwartz, and Floyd Norris, write that the recent stock market crashes along with the housing market continually dropping have traveled across the Atlantic to the European countries. Across the continent governments have bailed out major banks in order to keep their economies alive.
At no time would I say that I have ever been deprived of something that was needed or even wanted, but there has been a large difference due to the weak economy. For the first time in my life I heard things like, "we don't have the extra money right now" when I pleaded for a macbook. In a way I believe this "recession" has been a good experience for me because it shows that you have to work sometimes although who doesn't want a new computer. ;P

The Diary of Anne Frank

This weeks portion of Anne's Diary changed drastically in mood and tempo. They way she wrote was much more cheerful and it made me read faster. It is odd how the moods in writing dictate the reader's speed of reading, at least to me. Last week when I was reading Anne was very pessimistic as well as frustrated and it seems that I read much slower than usual. This week ,though,the pages seemed to flip themselves. I don't understand the logical reason for this but I have noticed it many times. I wonder if any others have had the same feeling as me?

The Diary of Anne Frank

The portion of the Diary of anne Frank that I read this week wasn't much different than last week's. Anne Frank and the rest of the "Secret Annex's" inhabinants continue on their track to insanity. The never ending case of cabin fever seems to catch up with everyone. Anne starts to become depressed in the way she writes.
I realize I have never been stuck in a secret condo with another family for a year and a half during the middle of a war, but I can relate some how. When my family and I were stuck inside the house during the fires, we all seemed to get on each others' nerves. We would knock into each other and get in our way. I am not sure that I would survive in her conditions.

The Diary of Anne Frank

This weekend's potion of Anne's diary portrayed the mood of the people living in the "Secret Annex". Everyone is very up tight because of the invasion of the Germans and the English' bombings.
Although Germany is being bombed in our back yard and we are not hiding illegally in a secret part of a building, my family has many stressful times. For example, when my brother, mom, and I went back to school and my sister and dad to work, the stress level was turned up a couple notches(my mom is a third grade teacher). You can just feel the tension. At points it feels like it is an uncanny amount of gravity or vacuum, just until someone breaks the seal and blows up. This cannot be good, you must be saying, well I look at it in another perspective. We are just letting out our anger so that we won't on an innocent bystander :P. I believe all families have these times; well at least I hope so. I wouldn't want to be the only teenager being reprimanded.

Interview

Humanities
Kay
9/11/08

Interviewee: Reyna Forman (Grandmother)

Q: What personal experiences have helped you develop your perspective on immigration?

A:Immigrated to the U.S. when she was 19

• while living in Tijuana, Mexico she met her future husband
• wanted to marry
• never thought she wanted to move to America or marry an American man
• no country like America
• when she reads the newspaper she gains information and gathers her perspective
• America cannot be compared to smaller countries that do not have the same population we have

Q: If you could immigrate anywhere in the world, where would you immigrate and why?

A: She would not immigrate anywhere in the world

• there is no other country that can provide such a great life
• no where better, family and kids are here
• Mexico's government is too corrupt: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer
• in America, if there is any corruption in the government does not affect her

Q: What would you do if you could help and/or change immigration in America?

A: Immigration is a great opportunity

• the immigrants that come to America cannot just come to make money, they need to adapt the culture
• in the long run it would be better for the immigrants if they waited it out and wait it out until they get the proper paperwork
  
• illegal does mean illegal though
• the immigrants can enjoy their culture in private but must embrace the American culture when in public

Q: Do you think immigrants should have any rights? Why or Why not?

A: In emergency the United States can not let illegals suffer. for example, if they broke their hip bone working the hospital has to let them in, but the immigrants an not take advantage

• when the immigrants use the emergency rooms as a way to get a "check up" they are possibly taking time away from a patient that has an urgent condition
• the children of the illegal immigrants had no say in this matter, so in the end they suffer the consequences that the parents may have left behind, such as being deported
• the immigrants wanted to come here, America did not force them, so if they come across problems America is not to blame
• most of the immigrants that come here cross the border to make more money and support their family, but that should not be the only reason, they need to work to become an American

Q: How do you fell about illegal immigrants getting deported?

A: When illegal immigrants come to America they must know that they run the risk of getting deported

• if an illegal immigrant commits a crime, they should be deported immediately, because now they have broken at least two laws, one of them a federal offense
  
• there has to be a remedies for families that have been living in the U.S. for several years and have grown children. how are you going to deport a whole family? a suggestion would be for them to make up for their offense by working for the community
• the American government cannot do much because the Mexican government urges them to go to America; also, their are thousands of illegal immigrants that cannot all be deported

Q: Do you fell everybody is an immigrant? Why?

A: If you go far enough back, yes

• sons and daughters of immigrants would be considered immigrants
• hundreds of years ago there were only Native Americans, so we are all essentially immigrants

Q: If you were an illegal immigrant how would your life be different?

A: There is nothing strong enough for me to commit a crime and immigrate illegally

• knowing that one day could change your life if you were deported, I would no feel comfortable
• I have never done anything in my life that is against the law

Q: What do you think about the border patrol?

A: On the whole, they try to do the best

• their opinion must be torn sometimes when they must deport a whole family, yet they have to do it
• the fact is that their job is to stop illegals from crossing and capture the ones that did
• they swore in to the job and they must fulfill their requirements
  

The Diary of Anne Frank

The portion of The Diary of Anne Frank I read this weekend was about the struggles that the two families are starting to encounter in their "Secret Annex". Anne speaks of the difficulties that they face because they live in such tight quarters such as bathing and studying.She begins to nit get along well with her mother and sister Margot. Anne feels like her mother, Margot, and her father sometimes team up and treat her unkindly.
As a child with siblings I know how it feels when you do not get your way when in an argument with your brother or sister and you don't get your way. Although it is extremely unreasonable, I felt like my mom always sided with my brother. It does not feel good.
Also, my brother is the middle child between my sister and me. I know that he always felt that we "ganged up" on him.I can understand that too. We seemed to always agree with each other and Zach was the one left out. It is a terrible feeling. I'm sorry that we made him experience that!

Where I'm From

I am from crazy high-top shoes,
from Jamba Juice smoothies and cluttered desks.
I am from the blaring TV's
(bright, loud, they never cease)
I am from the coral tree,
the glistening stream
who's appearance strikes like a threatened snake
I am from hilarious holiday dinners and awkward questions,
from Gerry and Robert.
I'm from hypochondria
and over reactions,
happy times and yelling too.

I'm from sharing is caring
with a baseball bat
I'm from my Bar Mitzvah
and that's it.
I'm from Chula Vista and Turkey
yapracas and iced tea
From the six weeks it took my grandparents to marry
the fatal day in the Bahamas for my dad's dad.
Above the aquariums few albums sit
traveling back in time,
telling our story
to make our mark
I'm from what I say
What I do-
What I am.

Diary of Anne Frank

Today I started a trek sought out by many people, beginning and completing a novel. The newest book of my choice is The Diary of Anne Frank, a very popular and recognize reading. The book is a true journal of a young Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, Holland during the rise of German Nazis and the second world war. She describes the daily life of an adolescent girl as well as struggles rarely seen in humanity. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the introduction to the Bantam Books version of the novel, elaborating on how these writings have shown just how nothing should be taken for granted. She starts her introduction by saying, "Written by a young girl-and the young are not afraid of telling the truth-it is one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that i have ever read"
As far as being a practicing Jewish person,this book means a lotto me. The Holocaust is the most influential event in the history of Judaism except for, possibly, the Exodus from Egypt. Over six million Jewish men, woman, and children were killed and more than twice the number were prosecuted for as little as existing. Personally, World War II is something revered as "incredible and "unreal", yet in this novel the reader realizes that it was real. Every last minute of strife and struggle was real. How could a family of four and a family of three abstain from any outside contact for years? How could young children pacify themselves without formal schooling, and no room to play? Yet someway, somehow people overcame what couldn't be overcome and have shared the stories of their lives with the world to better are knowledge.

A Guy Named Josh (The Real One)

Once upon a time, about fourteen years ago, a WONDERFUL, GREAT, AWESOME little boy was born ;). That little boy was named Joshua Adam Botterman. That's me!
As I grew up in a comfortable, Eastlake Greens, home I was introduced to the most influential things in my life. I learned how to play sports, read, and even go to the bathroom! I learned how to make friends and share and everything a toddler does. All the while I became bestfriends with my cousin Alex who is just one grade older than I. When i was about 6 years old we moved to an old house in Bonita. Although the house was bigger and I had a larger yard, there were no sidewalks on the street so I never learned how to ride a bike there. I attended Burton C. Tiffany Elementary School where my mom taught. I always liked to succeed expectation and please my teachers as well as my parents, but most of all myself. As I went on through Elementary School I became comfortable with speaking in public. I came in second all three years in the school-wide speech contest. I was always sooooo close but never got that blue ribbon. Luckily though, my good friend won all of the marbles. As all this school work was going on I was going to Sunday School and Hebrew School at both Beth Israel and Temple Emanuel. Also, I was getting into baseball more seriously and thinking of pursuing it in further years.

Fast Forward To: Now
Right now I am 14 years old and loving high school. I'm living in the best house I've ever lived in. My family and I live in a newer Bonita house looking over Bonita Long Canyon. I went to Bonita Vista Middle School in seventh and eighth grade. I participated in Knowledge Bowl in both years. In eighth though, I was elected Associated Student Body President. ASB was single-handedley probably the best experience of my life. We came in as strangers but at the end, we were like a family. I worked in the store, led meetings, and spoke at my promotion at Southwestern College. I play on a travel or club baseball team called the Bullpenn Bulls. I play second base, catcher, and I also pitch. I am a HUGE Yankees fan but most of all Alex Rodriguez. My second favorite team is the home team, the Padres. I love all sports though, basketball and football are some of my favorites. GO CHARGERS! I loved the olympics this year and can't wait untill London 2012! Speaking of 2012, thats when we will graduate, hopefully, from High Tech High Chula Vista. So to make a REALLY long story kind of short, that is my life!

Josh

A Guy Named Josh (Mallory)

so... what can i say? josh is so cool! he was in a movie! when he was 5 but its cool cuz he was this famous ladie's, whose name i forgot, but he was her son!! cool i know. aaand hes jewish so he has 8 nights of Hanukkah(: and 7 days but they do everything at night so its more like 8 nights. also he was the ASB President at Bonita when he was in 8th grade. and he has has the most awesome eyes EVER. guess what! he just told me that his birthday is May 29th!! woo hoo!!! he also has a 16 year old brother named ZACH and a 22 year old sister named Rachel. and for the ladies: Josh is a sport lover and loves to try new foods, he also likes to hang out with friends at the mall or movies :P
well thats all for now!
Mallory