Carson -- Blogmeister

"My First Flight"
When I was ten I took my first flight, I was a pilot and flew my F-16 through the air with ease; but it took a lot to get to this point. We took several weeks to get my plane built, painted and learning how to fly. Overall I think this is one of the best summers I’ve ever had, and the most fun I’ve had with my grandpa.

It was May thirty-first and I was bored out of my mind. Summer had started off slowly and I desperately needed something to do, so I decided to walk to my Grandpa’s house across the street. When I got to his house, slowly knocked on the door, not knowing what he would suggest. He opened the door and I asked him if he had any ideas of what I could do. He thought for a minute then suggested trying to learn how to fly the old remote control planes he had stored in his shed. We walk to the shed and he showed them to me, I was fascinated and asked him if he could help me build my own to add to the collection and if he could teach me to fly. He soon replied yes and explained to me that he would only do it if I stayed focused and listened to his directions. I nodded yes and told him I would give it my all. We wasted no time after that getting started on the mechanics, he tough me what wires went to what, showed me how hewing flap moved, and tough me how to solder each wire to the correct lead. As we were working he kept saying, “There’s always something to do if you’re willing to look.”

Once we were almost done building he began teaching me to fly. I started with cheap prebuilt planes and it was a good thing to do that because I must’ve crashed thirty or so times. About three weeks into my lessons I began to get the hang of it, and had my first successful flight with a small plane. After my first successful flight he let me fly a medium sized plane and I was surprised to see this seemed easier to fly. I was able to do loops, fly upside down, stall and recover, and even land. It was amazing to finally be able to pull off these simple stunts and I couldn’t wait to learn more. Once I could fly and do basic tricks we went back to the building process and we finished the plane towards the end of June, and all I had left was the paintjob which we finished the next week. My first competition was a week after the final coat of paint was put on, and I was excited.

The morning of the competition was nerve racking, I was so fidgety and nervous. My Grandpa came get me early that morning and we ran final test on my plane. My heart sank because when we went to start it nothing happened, no sound other that a loud gurgling. I thought I was done and wouldn’t be able to fly but my Grandpa assured me it was a simple fix and changed out the fuel lines. After the full lines were properly secured and the tank full of gas the plane started with ease and my excitement returned. After all tests were done and all equipment was packed we turned to the plane and started dismantling the wings to make it easier to haul. We were one the road an hour later, headed towards who knows where I was so excited I couldn’t pay attention to where we were going. I just stared at my remote practicing some of my made up maneuvers hoping they would wow the judges. We got to the flying range and I saw many kids my age there for the junior competition. I was surprised to see that I was the only person flying and F-16 style plane, all the other kids were flying biplane style planes.

The first round started at 1 o’clock and I was ready I did another round of checks before the round and put fresh fuel in the tank. I was third up, and was getting nervous seeing the two kids in front me fly their plane easily with no nervousness. I was jealous of how calm they were but my grandpa helped me overcome some of the first time jitters. Now I was up and I started my plane easily. I took off like a pro and began my routine flying low near the judges as my first trick then slowly transition into a loop de loop, the judges seemed impressed but I couldn’t look at them long, I knew that the slightest error could cause a serious crash and ruin all my hard work.my routine last longer than expected at about ten minutes but the cheers of the crowd told me I was doing okay. I slowly brought it in for the landing and landed almost perfectly overrunning the runway by two feet.

Judging seemed like an eternity and I was more nervous than I’ve ever been. The judges called the top three; it was me, another boy, and a girl. The judges announced third place first and the boy walked up to receive his medal. Now it was down to me and the girl. The judges paused for dramatic affect and after what felt like an hour they called the runner up, and it wasn’t me. I was so excited when they called me up as the first place winner. I was so surprised to have one my first competition in first place.

On the way home my grandpa turned to me and asked,” So did you have fun this summer?”

I nodded yes and he said,” see there’s always something to do if you’re willing to look.”
That summer has by far been one of my most exciting summers ever and I will never forget it. It’s a memory I will cherish for always and I hope to someday be able to fly again but alongside my grandpa and not with him watching.

I personally find very little in common with Red Scarf Girl. After reading this book I found that most of the things that I can relate to in this book fall under the general categories of “The easy choice isn’t always the right choice” or “Too much power can be a bad thing”. For example throughout the book Chairman Mao has supreme power and enforces many laws punishing people for their political views and family background, I can relate to that but on a much smaller scale because I’ve been in several clubs who give an absurd amount of power to the president or senior officer of that club (179-182). I can also relate to that general theme because many team sports follow one specific person such as a team captain or coach regardless if they’re wrong. The minute you speak up against their wrong decision and offer another idea they shoot you down. I don’t know whether other players are just going along with it because they’re afraid to speak up or genuinely think the leader was right either way this proves why a monarchy isn’t a very good way of governing something.

The second general theme I can relate to is “The easy choice isn’t always the right choice”, because I will usually speak out against a visibly unfair or unjust decision by a leader whether it be against me or another peer. Speaking out against visibly wrong decisions that will unjustly or unfairly affect people is difficult especially when that decision is made by someone older than you or someone you highly respect. Another hard choice is taking care of siblings when no one else can, I like Ji-Li would gladly take care of my brother if neither my parents nor relatives could do so (262).

After reading Red Scarf Girl I found a few connections but not many. I would hate to have gone through what Ji-Li had and quite honestly I’m not sure what decisions I would have made in that situation

2) Gieco commercials
4) They use the same line in all the commercial like, “it’s so easy a caveman can do it” or “is it true. . .” or “Can a . . . do . . .”
5) I started watching the commercial half way in so all I heard was “it’s so easy a cave man can do it”. I had to infer what the commercial was about.

1. bullying is constantly harassing some one to get a negative response.It usually done by people being bullied or people seeking attention.
2.I've heard a lot of thing that are bullying but get called "playing" or "joking", such as calling someone a name and passing untrue story about some one to other people.
3.If your being bullied you should get a group of friends to stand up and take a stand with you, there is strength in number, or you can tell an adult.
4.There not much you can do at our school to stop bullying, most kids that bully at PBMS don't care whether they get in trouble or not. Sometimes standing up for yourself with friends can stop it or telling a teacher can stop it. These method may stop that person from bullying you but they may go on to bully someone else.

Percy Jackson: The Titans Curse
1. This book is more about fantasy than most other books I’ve read, I usually like to read more action or war novels but I really like this series and the sequel series to it.
2. I really like the book I like how Thalia and Percy are trying to find there friend Annabeth but I don’t like how Bianca just leaves her brother alone to join Artemis’s hunter when she is all he’s got.
3. I agree with many of the characters action except for Bianca, she shouldn’t just leave her brother alone, at least not now. Maybe she could stay with him wait until hes older then join the hunters like she wants to.
4. I really don’t see any connection to my life its more fantasies and I’ve never really experienced and real life situations they have faced so far.

Percy Jackson: The Titans curse
1. I think there might be a war of titans and gods in this book, or some titan will curse the mortals.
2. I think I would get along with Percy the best because he’s the main character and he doesn’t sound a snobby as Thalia. He is also son of Poseidon which is awesome because that would make surfing so much fun.
3. I think that Percy and Thalia may fight a little because they are both children of major gods but Thalia gets more from her godly father.
4. So far I can’t make a connection to the book I’m only at the third chapter and they are just rescuing a couple demi-gods.

1) "Believe you can and your half way there"- T Roosevelt

A)I think it means that in order to succeed at anything, you must first believe you can.
B) I believe i can make "A's" and im getting closer and closer to all "A's".
C) Yes, it could change someone's attitude, because if they believe they can achieve something then they could change their attitude and succeed more.
D) If the world would believe we could succeed at something or fix a problem we may get closer to where we're at now.

Ive learned:
1. That my poet wrote songs to.
2. He was married to Anne More
3. He Was born a catholic then converted

Learned about technology:
1. I learned how to use wikispaces
2. I learned how to use photo-story

Learned about communication:
1. It is very difficult to communicate with People when its not in real time back-to-back

when I reread my poem i didnt discover anything that I had'nt before. The only thing is the fact that he was trying to show his views on death.

And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
I think he is saying that he believes in life after death.

I commented on mrs lubich's blog on november 30. the blog was "Books Anyone?"