Being under House Arrest is better than being in Prison: Aung San Suu Kyi

Why is Aung San Suu Kyi a hero? I personally think that she is a very important one because she is trying to free the people of Burma from the junta. She gives away her freedom so she can fight for justice in her country. I remembered back in 1st/2nd grade, I had a scenario exactly like it is in Burma. This one girl in my whole class got mad at me and then she got everyone to be on her side.
She kept it like that for a few weeks, I was all alone with only one friend to keep me company. I watched as all the bystanders kept it that way, which was really hard. So eventually, I told the teacher and things got back to normal, except that the girl was still mad at me.I think that it is important for others to speak up for injustice because if left alone, it could become a worldwide problem.

Little things that you do can impact somebody's life. Werther it is positively or negatively.

The story of Jesus Colon can occur in anyone's daily life. Jesus came home late from work, and he saw a woman-a white one- holding a big luggage with 3 small children, one is a baby. Colon's Negro side told him that he shouldn't do it because it was the time period when all the blacks and whites are separated in the United States. But his Puerto Rican side told him to help her because it is the right thing to do. Alas, he followed his Negro instincts and ignored the white woman. He feels horrible afterwards. This is a connection to Jason van Genderen's "Mankind is no Island" because in the video, van Genderen said to not walk away from people that need help, but Colon just walked away from the woman that really needs help.

This painting is called One world, One hope by Joe Average. He is a painter that lives with HIV/AIDS.



What Do We Do with a Variation?

What do we do with a difference?
Do we stand and discuss its oddity
or do we ignore it?
Do we shut our eyes to it
or poke it with a stick?
Do we clobber it to death?
Do we move around it in rage
and enlist the rage of others?
Do we will it to go away?
Do we look at it in awe
or purely in wonderment?
Do we work for it to disappear?
Do we pass it stealthily
Or change route away from it?
Do we will it to become like ourselves?
What do we do with a difference?
Do we communicate to it,
let application acknowledge it
for barriers to fall down?
James Berry


I think that this poem relates to Jesus Colon because instead of breaking the racism in his time period, he just ignores the lady so he doesn't get in trouble. "Do we clobber it to death?" wrote Berry. This line really stood out to me because it reminds me of Hitler. Differences make us who we are and nobody has a right to change that. When I was little, I used to think that everyone in the world lived all happy together, but that was back when I was naive. While growing up, I learnt that not everyone is connected. But I think that that's the way to live. Hand in hand.

No Man is an Island: Everyone is connected in some ways.

No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea, 
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, 
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee. 
-- John Donne

This poem is the exact opposite of "The Island" by Armin Greder. This poem tells you that everyone is connected to each other in some ways, while "The Island" shows that the people of the island can't accept the little man for who he is. Donne wrote "any man's death diminishes me this line shows that even if it was a stranger that dies, it may affect you in some ways and in "The Island", the little man's arrival affected all the people by scaring them, they all told lies about the man and used him to scare children. "No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, apart of the main" wrote Donne, this line really stands out to me because it's saying that it's not possible to survive on your own, while the people of the Island is completely isolating themselves from all the other people. They built a tall wall around the Island so that NOBODY ever gets in or out of the Island. They shot all the seagulls because sometimes, people on boats follow them, and the people of the Island want to be separated from the rest of the world.

Video by: Jason van Genderen

I think that the whole message of the video is listen to others, maybe they have an interesting story to share, and to be humane and not ignore all the homeless people on the streets, and just listen to them. The film shows how the 2 cities (New York and Sydney) are joined together by hope and hunger. "I walk by you today, I always look away" describes most of the people that were in the video. The homeless people are just there, sitting, while the luckier people just look away and not help. I have personally experiences this on the weekend. I was in the Great Eastern mall and there was a stand in front of Cold Storage. It was a deaf art stand. I found it really pretty, but didn't tell my parents that I wanted one.The whole trip home felt like a guilt trip. Not helping others makes me have this feeling in my stomach that won't go away for a few hours. Van Genderen took pictures of the words that make up the sentence showing negative things, and that if you show that you care, you might make the person's day, giving them hope, and sort of telling them that someone cares. It also says that nobody's different from each other. Everyone thinks like we do, sure, we might look different, think of the different things, and speak differently, but we're all human. Lending a hand can make a difference to somebody's life.

Four letter words story

The cat. That wild cat that was once mine. The damn car that hit her. He won't care. All I can do now is bury my cat. I miss her. He won't say sorry or even buy me a new cat. But a new cat is not the same. Not the same meow or even the same blue eyes. My cat, Beth, she was one of a kind. Her meow was like music. Her purr like a song of dark. The big blue eyes that stare at me as if I was a work of art and she was the artist.

I wrote this story for a writing exercise with John Marsden, an author from Australia that visited us.

Lady Gaga's Not-So-Famous Make-up artist/ stylist/ photographer?

I know what you're thinking.
I bet that you're thinking, 'What's with the title,  why Lady Gaga, and what's with the picture?'
Well, you can probably find the answers when you read on, and if you don't read on, you won't find the answers and if you e-mail me asking for the answer, I'm not going to answer you.

1) My Ripped Jeans= I love these jeans because they are "in style" right now. I have an obsession for fashion, I read the fashion magazines like Vogue or Marie Claire and plus, these jeans hug my curves although they are 3 sizes too big (I wear size 27, these are size 30). They also moves the attention from my torso to my toned legs. I bought them at Forever 21 last year. I don’t always wear them because they slide down my hips a lot, and apparently, people find it inappropriate to wear these because there are too many rips. I had to beg my mom to let me buy these jeans and I bought it in Pavilion.



2) My Anarchy Converse= As you can tell, Converse is my favorite shoe brand. I currently have 4 pairs, but I outgrew 1 so I'm going to ask for a new pair, Metallica this time. Metallica is the first band that played metal music and they're a legend. I have an  AC/DC one, a black one with pipe prints (the one I outgrew), my Anarchy one, and one with the paint marks and Grace's (My best friend that moved) signature on it. I don’t usually wear the one with Grace’s signature because I don’t want it to fade away. We were playing truth or dare on my iPod Touch after Batik last year, and it said "Let someone write something on the sole of your feet" but I was wearing my converse and was too lazy to take it off.



3) My Thomas Sabo Necklace= I'm not sure if you can see it, but I have my Thomas Sabo necklace there, the one with the Eiffel Tower chain and the ISKL one. This is my BFF necklace, I gave one to Grace, Diksha, and Sophie. This necklace is important because it makes me think of Grace and she is best friend. We promised each other that we're going to meet each other someday in Paris. Grace and I had planned to make a salon, her as the hairstylist and me as the Make-up artist. I got the idea for the saloon when we were fooling around at Grace's house and she was doing my hair, and I was doing her make-up. That was the best memory I had with her.



4) Lady Gaga Album= Lady Gaga is my hero, I love her music. I find that some of her clothes are very bizarre, while some of them are really pretty. I love how she is so creative, and doesn't care about what other people say about her. I find her confidence very inspirational. I’ve read articles where fashion critics judge her by saying “Her clothes are too crazy” but I admire her because she never changed no matter what the critics said about her. She is also my hero because she dares to be unique and takes risks to be creative.



5) My Digital camera= This item is important because I love photography, and to take the picture above, I used my Canon one. My Canon one is EOS 550, I think it's 18 or more mega-pixels. This camera is Shock & Waterproof so I can usually bring it down to the pool or to sleepovers, it is important because I took some of the best memories with this camera. The other orange one is 12 mega-pixels and I really love it because it has all these modes that are so cool, like the speed shutter, it’s where you press on the take picture button for a long time and the results will be like about 20 pictures, depending on now long you press it for, when you scan through it, it moves as if it were a video. I got my Canon camera this summer and the Lumix one last year.



6) My Twilight book= I chose this item because I'm a big twilight freak. I am on Team Jacob because I believe that love comes from friendship, instead of love at first sight. My favorite book from the series is Breaking Dawn and I'm planning to watch Vampires Suck next week. I started reading them during the summer of 2009 and got addicted. It took me only 1 week to finish the series! Last year, I planned to see New Moon with Wai Yan, but my mom got sick so I had to cancel the plans. This Summer, I went to see Eclipse with 2 of my cousins. The movie I plan to see on the 28th is called Vampires Suck, it’s a hilarious parody of the Twilight Series.



7) My 'Wateva' doodle-pad= I think that this item is important because it is like my sketchbook, but instead of being huge, it is pocket size so I can bring it anywhere. It has most of my best sketches I have done in YEARS. It’s also handy because I can just scribble notes here. It also is important because I bring it to every class and whenever I get bored, I just doodle in it. It also helps me let my feelings out by drawing things, whenever I’m sad I don’t usually let my feelings out and wear a fake smile. I let my feelings out in my room , I lock my door, keep my windows closed and turn the lights off, this helps me because I don’t want people to see me cry and this connects to my doodle-pad because it's where I express my feelings.



8) Seventeen magazine= I find this magazine important because it has fashion, make-up, and guy tips. It also has inspiring stories and hilarious traumaramas (embarrassing moments). This magazine is also great because it has the do’s and don’ts for fashion, like what type of clothes are great for your body shape and what’s not so great. It also has what’s in and how to be creative with make-up. It also has great work-out tips and how to get great hair and skin. There is also coupons and free gifts but I can’t get it because I always get the US one.



9) My Mascara= I think that this mascara is important because I really want to be a make-up artist, but I think that it'll be my second career because I want to be a lawyer too. I have other make-up products but I find this one most important because I use it daily and it makes my very thin lashes appear thicker and longer, this one is by Maybelline, but the one I want is by MAC because it's the brand that most make-up artists use.



10) My flat iron= I love having straight hair. I use this flat iron whenever I go out, I don't use it to school because my hair dryer is broken and it take a few hours for my hair to dry. I also love these because they leave my hair smooth & flat for the whole day. My natural hair is wavy and very poofy, which is kind of annoying, but they are pretty tame. I have 3 different shampoos and conditioners. I use my sunsilk shampoo when I use my flat iron.



11) My iPod Touch= I find this item  important because it is filled with all my favorite songs and it has pictures of Grace & I. Most of my songs are rock and heavy metal.
My favorite band is Slipknot and my favorite song by them is ; Before I Forget and my current favorite song is “Hey There, Delilah” by The Plain White T’s because it would be amazing to have a boyfriend write a song like that for me because that would be so romantic. I am also in love with the song "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance, because the mood really changes throughout the song.


x,
Gita
=)

Dina Goldstein

I just recently discovered a photographer, her name is Dina Goldsten.

I was very amazed by her artwork.

My favorite ones were the one when she took photographs of models as the Disney Princesses and how they would look like in reality.

Click here to see her work.

Why I Chose the term 'A Hero is Born Among a Hundred'

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”

-Plato

I chose this quote because I think what he said was true, a hero is born among a hundred, maybe some of them are unrecognized or even forgotten. Plato was a Greek philosopher, and has many great quotes. I was inspired by this quote because like I said, a hero is born among hundreds, and maybe, the hero might be someone you know!

X,

Gita

reference:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/82/78682-050-9FBF4ECB.jpg

Dance for Peace

I think that what Matt is doing is really great, because being connected by dancing with everyone around the world is very peaceful to watch. It's like we have no worries, no racism, no sexism, no deadly diseases, no poverty and no unequalness. When I saw him dancing with the children from africa, they look so happy to be dancing with Matt. I think that what Matt is doing is quite unique, fun and brings a smile to it face when we see the video, from his funny dancing and all the people so happy to be dancing.

X,

Gita


picture:http://store.vectorvault.com/product_images/g/966/9279_free_vector__24042_zoom.gif


I chose this picture because it shows friends with different shapes and sizes dancing and just having fun

Flowers Blooming

I think that what the compliment guys are doing is really creative and friendly because maybe a person they were complimenting was having a bad day, their compliment might cheer them up.


I personally think that if someone just randomly compliments you while you're on your way to class is really nice. Once, I read somewhere that one girl was going to commit suicide one night, and a stranger just walked up and said that her hair was nice. She didn't commit suicide that night and it was just because of a little thing that somebody said, and that is why I think being nice/ complimenting other people is really important.


x,
Gita


Reference:
http://oconallstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/banksy3.jpg
picture by Banksy


If you want to see more of his art, click here

I chose this picture because when you get a compliment, it's like little flowers bloom inside of you.

Would you want your future to be decided by others ? Why or Why not?

I would never want my future to be decided by other people because it would really suck if my parents got me into a medical while I wanted to go into the Arts. It would also suck if my parents have an arranged marriage for me because freedom for me is really important, and I really need my own private time to read and all. If I lived in Jonas' community, my life would be really plain and boring, though their life is perfect to some people, it's not perfect for me. A perfect life for me would be going to rock concerts everyday and go out at night, and of course shopping. I think that in Jonas' community, there is no music at all and music is a really important part of my life, it made me the person I am today. Sameness really sucks because I really like being different from other people.


GO NIRVANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Gita


P.S. GO KURT COBAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were to have dinner with a dead person (brought to life ofcourse), it would have to be..
...
...
...
KURT COBAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slipknot ( my favorite band )

Members: The Nine

DJ Sid "0" Wilson is Slipknot's turntablist.

Joey "1" Jordison is the drummer for Slipknot.

Paul "2" Gray is the bass player of the band .

Chris "3" Fehn is the second custom percussionist for the band.

James "4" Root is the rhythm guitarist of Slipknot.

Craig "5" Jones is the sampler/synth player of the band.

Shawn "6" Crahan is the percussionist of the band

Mick "7" Thomson is the lead guitar player .

Corey "8" Taylor is the Vocalist

credits to http://www.slipknot-metal.com/ for the info

My fave Slipknot songs (may contain bad words, sorry Mrs. Reiser) 

1)People = Shit

2)Dead Memories

3)Before I Forget

4)Duality

5)The Blister Exists

6)Eyeless

7)The Nameless

8)Purity

9)All Hope is Gone

10)Wait and Bleed

The End is here (finally) :)

How Henry changed:


In the very beginning of the book, Henry was Will's enemy, and always had a reason to pick a fight with Will. When Ozymandias told Will to go to the White Mountains, a place without Tripods, Will ran away from home at night, Henry followed him, and Will had to spill the beans to him. Henry & Will, both didn't want to get capped, and Henry disliked the Tripods as much as Will did, so Will decided that he can come. When Will broke his ankle, Henry helped him, and didn't abandon him. Throughout the book, Henry became friends with Will and never fought with him again. In the beginning, Henry was mean, and was a bully to Will, in the end, he was kind and was also Will's friend.


I disliked this book because I don't read science fiction, I can read any genre, but only if there was romance, or any type of pets in it. Most of my favorite books are romance, and my favorite quote from A Walk to Remember is: "Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful". In the book, it is about adventures, and things that will NEVER  happen, I like books that make me believe that someone will always fall in love with you, even of you're unpopular, weird, and all that stuff.




:)

Freedom

Freedom is very important in life because without it, we won't have a right to make our own decision. Without freedom, we would have to do what we DON'T want to do. Chapter 8 from the White Mountains explained freedom by showing that Eloise, her family, and the people of the Red Castle actually look forward to LOSING their freedom (by getting capped) Will, Henry, and Beanpole didn't want this to happen to them, and before they get capped, they ran away to The White Mountains for freedom. I think that the author wrote this chapter to show that freedom is important in life, and that some people don't have freedom. :)

Snapshot: Going to Jakarta

During my Christmas Break, I went to my home city in Bandung. I spent most of my time there stying home. I spent the rest of my time there shopping. I love spending my time at home because my grandma and my favorite uncle live there. A few days before the holiday ended, my family decided that we go to Ancol in Jakarta since my little sister has never been there. We went to SeaWorld, went to ride on the Cable Car and last, but not least, we went to Dufan.

Dufan is a Theme Park, I haven't gone there since I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. me and my brother chose to ride on all exreme rides. So we went on the lines of all of them, some of them took quite long and some didn't take very much time. This piece of writing is going to be about The Roller Coaster. The line to go on was so freakihly long, it felt like 2 hours though i only took about 1.5 hrs. On the line I was so freaked out and needed to go to the bathroom so bad, but I knew when you were so scared, you just want to go to the bathroom, so I didn't go. I was so scared, I was almost shaking. In the line, I thought "Oh s***!!!! I just hope I don't vomit or wet myself during the ride" I was so scared when we had to go on, I was so nervous, I didn't take the backseat like I usually do. When the ride started, I was hoping that the ride wasn't too scary. When the ride went uphill, and it was so freaking high. Then the ride went straight then downhill, whick totally made me scream, and then on a loop, which wasn't as scary. Then the ride slanted to the right, then downhill, uphill, then downhill again really quickly, then it wen straight so quickly ans then its done. We rode on a few other rides, then when it was closed, my mom and I wanted to do to Mangga Dua and shop.

After we arrived to Mangga Dua, we bought a few DVDs, then went to a sale and looked at Jackets, but didn't buy anything. We were hungry, so we went and bought Bakso [meatballs]. After that, we went home, and the ride home was long. I was singing along to the songs playing in my iPod, and then got tired and chose to sleep. As I remember, we went home at 8 pm and arrived home at 2 am.

blog reflection

A skill that I learnt this year was playing the flute. Last year, in 5th grade, I chose to not join band, because I wanted experience for both band and music. So this year, I chose to be in beggining band. I chose to play the flute because it sound nice, though it is pretty hard to blow.

The way I handled challanges was to keep doing it and try again if I got a bad grade. A real challange for me this year was writing. Since last year, I have never been good at writing, I usually get B's or C's in writing, so I keep trying very hard, though it does not make very much difference.

One skill that I want to learn is to calculate maths faster in my head. This will help me calculate things faster and that will help me keep track of time all the time.

I contributed positively towards the 6th grade community by showing respect, and sometimes kindness. I show respect by respecting all my teachers and other students. I put in sometimes kindness because I am not always very nice to the boys, because they insult me and wouldn't stop when I ask them to, so I get kinda mean.

One New Year resolution I have is to help out more at home and one goal at school is to focus while doing writings, because when I do writings in class on a computer, I fool around and end up doing very little work.