Observe your surroundings.

Observations: Monday- many people have littered on the bus.

Tuesday- Kids of all ages are littering, not only younger kids.

Wednesday- Less 8th graders littered perhaps because of picture day.

Tuesday (back fro break)- bus driver looked annoyed because he saw some 7th graders

throwing garbage around.

Over the last week I noticed that many kids don’t care for the bus drivers and city

worker, on each day of the week at least 50% of the kids on the bus have some kind of

food from the deli. 48% of the wrappers end up somewhere on the floor or behind the

seats. On Tuesday November 20th I looked at who had wrappers from chips and other

food, I wanted to see which grade threw the most litter on the floor. The majority of the

kids in the back where 8th and 7t:h; graders, with the exception of a few 6th graders. I saw

that all the 7th graders threw their garbage on the floor and most of the 6th graders did, and

near all 8th graders did, this made me fell bad for the bus driver, because I know that he

would have to come back and pick up the litter when his shift is over. I think that the

favor is doing a favor for us by driving us already, first of all everyone on the bus is

talking, and many are yelling, it gets annoying even for me.

At first I thought that the majority of the littering would be done by younger

grades because they are not as mature. But many 8th graders are doing it too, maybe

people will grow out of it, this inspired me to walk around and look for people who

littered in the street. I was shocked to find so many people littering, I wish I brought my

camera because every couple of people would throw something on the floor. Another

thing I realized was that people litter in different ways. Some people read newspapers on

the train, and once they are done they just put it under their seat. You may not think that

putting your newspaper under your chair counts, but it does.

To wrap up my observations I noticed that many people of all ages litter, and it’s

not fair to the people who have to pick it up.







































Interview:
Me: What made you want to walk around the neighborhood and pick up garbage.

Lady: I saw how dirty the neighborhood got and wanted to get it cleaner because I have

lived here for many years, and do not want the neighborhood to become dirty, I want the

neighborhood to be like it was 10-15 years ago.

Me: About how many hours a day do you pick up garbage?

Lady: It depends how much litter I find, on average I start around 4:30 to 5:00 then got

until about 8 to 10.

Me: That’s a really long time! Do you think it is making a difference, is it starting to feel

like it did a few years ago?

Lady: I feel that if more people started to help it would be better! But I think I should ask

you if its making a difference, or at least if the neighborhood feels cleaner.

Me: I think any effort to help the community is great, I do think it is cleaner, but I think

that someone should tell the people that produce the litter to stop because it would make

your life easier, and make the neighborhood homier.

Lady: I agree

Me: Has walking around and doing this great deed become easier to do? Or do you just

tell yourself that you have to do this, and it’s the right thing to do.

Lady: That’s a hard question, I guess some days its easier that others, during the winter I

push myself to do it, because it’s colder outside. But during the summer I don’t mind

because its warmer and its really nice outside, I also like to watch the sunrise and I think

that it’s a beautiful couple of hours in the day. I think its sort of like running, most people

don’t like to run but they tell themselves that its good for them and they do it. So in a way

I like to think of this as my run, plus I don’t work because im retired so its good for me to

get up and walk around too.

Like I said in my interview I think what this lady is doing is great for the

community, I think the Earth is becoming over littered and people should stop. On the

bus I always see kids throwing wrappers on the floor, and I think of the people who have

to clean it up, it’s usually the bus driver himself, on top of driving the kids around then he

has to clean after them. If only we had millions of this women who picks up garbage. So

next time you have garbage hold on to it and throw it out, don’t litter, think about the

people who pick up after you, it may be your parents, a bus driver, or even a lady on the

street.


I made a collage to show a person littering and others showing that its bad, or

even giving them a dirty look. I think the image of the wrapper by the garbage shows just

how lazy some people really are.

In Carters Big Break by Brent Crawford one of the main issues is Hilary Idaho and her booze (beer) problem. Her bodyguard and Carter are the only people who know and "care" about it. She gets to the set of the movie they are shooting Hillary Idaho is always tired, her breath smells, and her eyes are blood shot.

If I where Carter I would do something about this, its not like it only happened once it happens very often, then she goes and takes ADD pills to get hyped up. In my opinion Carter should step up, tell more people, or try to help Hilary in a way, Because if this keeps happening its going to screw up the movie, but even bigger its going to kill Hilary's chances in staring in another movie.

I think she is going way to far, the author shows this issue many times and its becoming a theme for Hilary. The author doesn’t show this but I think Hilary is going to be in big trouble in the next chapter, because the last words I read was "My mom is coming"- Hilary Idaho. I think she thinks her mom will be on her side but I think it will be the other way around and she will pull her out of the movie, because she has a tough mom. This connects to my next thought on how this will pull Carter and Abby back together.

To wrap it up I think that its not smart of Hilary to drink and take pills and she will suffer from this, and Carter has to step up, or this might bring Carter and Abby back together.

In past days one of the worst natural disasters hit the New York New Jersey area. Many of people where left without houses or had major flooding, schools were even closed for a week (a new record). After Hurricane Irene in 2011 many did not think that Sandy would be so horrendous.


I was looking on the Internet and stumbled upon an interesting article. Its name is “Standing Water and the Disease Bugs,” even after all the sad story’s of flooding and houses gone, we might be dealing with a disease outbreak, I know at least 3 families with flooded basements and thousands of New Yorkers has similar problems, but after all the clean up and hard work people may get sick. According to the article water that stands in a basement for a long period of time can host a great place for fungi and other bacteria to grow. This could lead to people getting sick. They say the only solution to fixing this problem is to complete destroy the affected parts and rebuild. This is time consuming as well and money consuming.


I know one family that just built there house and got 8 feet of water in their basement, now they have to rebuild all over, that’s not so easy considering that they have to work and have 2 kids and a dog, on top of that it gets dark around 5 o’clock and they don’t have power yet.


To sum it up many families have been hit by this hurricane and maybe people will react differently the next time there is a threat like hurricane Sandy.

Revised Blog post. 6 Teen Angust Nahhhh... ned vizzini

I am currently reading Teen Angst? NAAAH... by Ned Vizzini, the book is a QuasiAutobiography of Vizzini’s life. The story goes back to when Vizzini was in High School, Vizzini attended Stuyvesant High School, or Stuy for short. Vizzini talks about what got him through his hardships and what helped him survive school. Lets face it, everyone has some way of getting rid of stress, and relaxing once school is over.



For example Ned Vizzini had multiply ways of getting rid of his stress. He had Nintendo, and buy Nintendo, I don't mean wii or gamecube, I mean the very first Nintendo. Before he got into high school and before he studied for the stuy test, he would come home and play on his old Nintendo. This actually inspired me to hook up my old Nintendo 64. It brought back old memories and was actually really fun. Anyway that is just one of the ways that Vizzini got rid of his stress and made it through the long grueling days in school.



In Vizzini’s second year of high school, he was really into these cards called Magic. He collected these cards, and gave me a whole chapter on how somewhere more rare than others, and how they are just like baseball cards, some are really rare and can sell for 100’s of dollars. Vizzini said he even spent a whole night at a magic tournament, he told his parents that he was going to his friends house, then left for Manhattan. Even in the most odd times he brings up the cards. When he sprained his ankle playing volleyball, he want to the nurses office, then he had to get his stuff because he was going home, and he grabbed his cards from his locker. These are just 2 example of how Vizzini survives school. I am pretty sure there will be more later on in the book, given the fact that I am only half way through.



Later as you keep reading you barely hear about his school life because he gets a girl friend. Instead of hearing about his school life and homework and stress, all you read about is, “So a normal day is me calling her from the Stuy payphone.” Or “I called her as soon as I got home. He also plays dominoes with his new friends in Manhattan. He goes there every week, while there he gets free beer and has fun. So instead of school he is focused on his social life.



To sum it up, we all have some way of realizes our stress and getting through those long days of school. Ned Vizzini is no different from us, as shown in his book.

Teen Angst? NAAAH...

I am currently reading Teen Angst? NAAAH... by Ned Vizzini, the book is a QuasiAutobiography of Vizzini’s life. The story goes back to when Vizzini was in High School, Vizzini attended Stuyvesant High School, or Stuy for short. Vizzini talks about what got him through his hardships and what helped him survive school. Lets face it, everyone has some way of getting rid of stress, and relaxing once school is over. For example Ned Vizzini had multiply ways of getting rid of his stress. He had Nintendo, and buy Nintendo, I don't mean wii or gamecube, I mean the very first Nintendo. Before he got into high school and before he studied for the stuy test, he would come home and play on his old Nintendo. This actually inspired me to hook up my old Nintendo 64. It brought back old memories and was actually really fun. Anyway that is just one of the ways that Vizzini got rid of his stress and made it through the long grueling days in school. In Vizzini’s second year of high school, he was really into these cards called Magic. He collected these cards, and gave me a whole chapter on how some where more rare than others, and how they are just like baseball cards, some are really rare and can sell for 100’s of dollars. Vizzini said he even spent a whole night at a magic tournament, he told his parents that he was going to his friends house, then left for Manhattan. Even in the most odd times he brings up the cards. When he sprained his ankle playing volleyball, he want to the nurses office, then he had to get his stuff because he was going home, and he grabbed his cards from his locker. These are just 2 example of how Vizzini survives school. I am pretty sure there will be more later on in the book, given the fact that I am only half way through. To sum it up, we all have some way of realizes our stress and getting through those long days of school. Ned Vizzini is no different from us, as shown in his book.

Drummer Boy at Shiloh

In the story “Drummer Boy at Shiloh” Joby (the main character) faces a problem. Joby lacks confidence. Joby is the drummer boy in the civil war. It is not made clear to the reader on which side Joby is on. Joby goes through changes in this story, he starts out as an unconfident drummer boy, after having a chat with the general he gains some of the confidence that he was lacking so much. Joby has very little confidence in the begging of the story and is scared. For example at night a peach blossom falls of a near by tree and wakes joby up and startles him. Another example is his says “All I got is a drum and 2 sticks to beat it.” In fact not only is Joby scared but the general also gives some hints to Joby that he to is scared. He says... “Go ahead and cry boy, I did the same last night.” This leads me to believe that maybe everyone is somewhat frightened by the fact that they might not live another day. Later on the General tells Joby probably the most important words anyone will ever tell him, “You are the heart and soul of this army boy.” This sentence by the general gives Joby his spark, “If you beat slow they march slow.” Joby suddenly feels that he means something more that just a boy with a drum and 2 sticks to beat it with. The general continues to tell him that, “He is the leader of the army, if he was to fall then Joby would lead the charge.” All of this leads Joby to being more confident. To sum it up Joby isn’t just a drummer boy at Shiloh, he is the heart of the army. Joby also changes though the story by becoming more confident.

The Theme in The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is about a young boy named Hugo who has a goal of fixing the invention that his dad showed him. The machine is apparently supposed to write something once fully operational. Hugo was so interested in the machine that he got his dad to start trying to fix it. Hugo would always say, "don't you want to know what it will write." That is one thing that is keeping me into the book; I really want to know what the machine will write, maybe a code or message, or simply nothing! Anyway his dad was focused on fixing the machine that one day he was staying at work late drawing the parts in his notebook, the guard didn't know he was in the building and locked the door. Then a fire started and killed Hugo's dad. I think the overall theme in the story will be Hugo’s quest to fix the machine and find out what it says and possibly go on some sort of mission to find out what it means. Or maybe he will find out how to fix it and become famous because the invention is so cool and complex. It may be the second one because the books name in The Invention of Hugo Cabret. To sum it up the theme of the story is Hugo’s mission to fix the machine and find out what it will write and possibly go on a mission of some sort to find out what that message means.

responding to responses

RESPONSE 1 I really liked Aaron’s response because it gives you he gives you a really good overview at the begging. This helped me understand his book and get more interested in what it was about, it also allowed me to understand more in his response. I think that it was really helpful of him to do that, and that is the reason I liked it a lot. RESPONSE 2 I liked Emile’s response a lot. The reason I liked it was because it is different than other responses because it is a biography. He goes into good details, explaining how Steve Jobs was different and what he accomplished in his life. I really like apple and Steve Jobs so this post was intriguing to me.

The Mocking Jay is the 3rd book in the Hunger Games Trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. The book is about a teen named Katniss Everdeen who has out smarted her capitol on many occasions. Katniss has to over come many disasters in the book. One example is the bombing of her home district (12), and the death of her little sister Prim. The death of Katnisses sister, hurts her a lot. She no longer has a sane mind. She is set on revenge, and dose not think about anything bout getting back at president Snow, for all of the things that he made her go through. Bye the end of the book Katniss is about to win the war, by using her famous bow and arrow. She is face to face with Snow and Coin. (Coin is the leader of the rebellion). Katniss pulls back he arrow and shoots. But she doesn’t kill the person you think. She kills Coin! At that moment in the book, I looked back at all the moments and realized that maybe it wasn’t the worst idea to kill Coin. Anyway Katniss is hauled of. Snow is taken as well. Eventually Gale Haymitch and others convince the rebel leaders to let Katniss go. Once let go she goes and sees Snow, who is locked up in his room/garden. In her meeting Snow dies, out of the blue, and the book is pretty much over. The bombing of district 12 added to Katnisses thrive to get back at the Capitol. Everything is destroyed except for the victors village. As if the capitol is sending a message to Katniss that she is next. When she goes in her old house, she finds a rose. President Snow is known for his roses. Again sending a message to Katniss. Katniss takes some of her old stuff, like her dads hunting jacket and cat. The messages in this scene make me conclude that Katniss was fueled in anger. To sum it up, Katniss wins the war with the capitol, with some help of Snow. I think this because of all the anger he brought Katniss.