Blog 8

My Terrible Thanksgiving break

Nina Yang

W&C III

Ms. Guarino

12/14/2014

    My thanksgiving break can be summarized in a complete phrase, which is “bad weather”. However, it did not suppose to be like that. My friend and I made a perfect plan almost a month before the break, but there was one thing we didn’t pay attention to—the weather report. Then, we got on to the plane to Florida excitedly.

    We decided to go to Miami and Orlando in the first five days of break because my cousin was there, and he could take us to anyplace we like since he has a car. We decided lay on the beach in Miami for first two days and get tan. We imaged the sun is like a huge heater when we were still in the freezing Connecticut. Things always go contrary to people’s wishes. After we got out the plane, the weather soon turned to windy and cloudy. It was like it didn’t welcome us to Florida. My cousin kept laughing at us. He said that it was our bad luck that brought the cold wind from New York all the way to Florida. The wind blew harder after we ate lunch, and my cousin asked us if we still want to go to the beach. We insisted. Actually, it was a bad decision. Because of the large waves, people were not allowed to swim in the sea. The temperature decreased rapidly because of the overcast sky. We were standing on the beach and hearing the sound of the sea was like crying in front of us, and also my heart was crying inside my chest. My thanksgiving break had started.

    After staying in the hotel for two days, we went to Orlando and hoped to have a good weather there. In fact, the sun seemed like disappeared in Florida. We went to the Universal Studio for two days. The first day was not bad without the sun. It was actually a good weather to go to an amusement park in a cloudy day because the temperature was not that hot. We enjoyed the first day so much, and I would definitely go to the Universal Studio again next time. However, it was completely different the next day. Our flight is in the evening, so we decided to go to the adventure Island of the Universal Studio, which we never been to before. The thing was in the morning of that day; we were having our breakfast, both of us got an alert that there was a hurricane around 10am to 10:30am, and people should not go out during that time. At that time, we knew that our plan was completely ruined by the weather. Around 10:40am, the hurricane had passed, so we decided to go to the Universal Studio even the rain was still pretty heavy. There were fewer people than yesterday because of the weather. The rain was like someone was pouring water from the sky. Even though we both had umbrella at that time, our shoes and pants got all wet. That day was like a disaster for us. Our flight in the evening delayed from 6pm to 10pm. We arrived at New York at almost 1am.

    The miserable story did not ended. On the day we arrived to New York, it snowed. We were supposed to go shopping on that day. The snow didn’t stop our desire for shopping. We went shopping in the cold wind and snow. The wind in New York was like tons of little knifes were cutting your face, cold and hurt.

    My friend caught a cold after got back to school. Our terrible thanksgiving break was finally ended. I learned only one thing from this break: remember to check the weather report before go on a vacation.

Summary

  In mark Kurlans' blog, he often use a question as the title of the blog post, and I think it's like the hook of his blog posts. That makes people have interests to read his blogs. In his blog, he often talks about some political topics, such as democracy, or what's wrong with republicans? His blogs are straight forward to talk about politics. 

Final revision

16. World of Magic

Magic bowl

Nina YangW&C III-FMs. Guarino12/04/2014  
  Do you believe that I still didn’t know how to wash a bowl when I was 16 years old? Everyone has his or her own little secret story; I’m not an exception. I got a magic bowl when I was very young. It was a really cold winter, and I got home really late because of the busy school work. I almost fall asleep when I was eating my dinner. Then, I started to see some colorful lights were shining in front of me. I thought I was too tired, and it was a delusion because I was exhausted. The color of the bowl became turned ivory white. All the patterns and stripes on the bowl were all disappeared. The special power of this bowl was that it could clean up itself every time I had done with my meal in that bowl.   Obviously, the good thing was that I didn’t need to wash that bowl regardless how dirty that bowl was. However, I didn’t even know how to wash a bowl by myself eventually after I got the bowl. The magic bowl was like my best friend that always took care of me. Every time I get home really tired, and I don't feel like doing anything but to eat. The bowl seemed like able to read my mind after I finished my dinner because I didn’t want to wash it at all.  About ten years after I had got the bowl, the story happened. It was a dark evening; I was sleeping in my bed. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise was coming from my kitchen. It seemed like someone was screaming. “Ahhhh…” When I got there, I saw my bowl was standing in front of a guy with a black cape. I couldn’t remember that guy’s face. All I remember was that he was covered by darkness. “I have to take him back to Shue.” The guy finally broke the silence. “He has been here for so long, and helped you so much.” “Wait! Shue? Where’s Shue?” I was so confused. “It’s the place where I belong to. They sent me here to help you because you are the lucky one, but right now they asked to go back. You are the only friend in my life, and I would never abandon you.” My bowl finally explained it to me. Now, I understand why the bowl came here. “It’s time for us to leave.” The black-cape guy kept looking at his watch and said impatiently. “I refused!” My bowl cried out. “I need to help her and stay with her. It’s my responsibility for life to take care of her. ” “You still don’t understand? They would steal your soul out of your body, if you didn’t leave. You have no choice. Now, come with me.” The black-cape guy screamed out.“No! No matter what happens, I would still choose to stay here.” The guy glances at my bowl for a last time and left quietly.  The next day, when was thinking about to leave after I finished my dinner, I didn't see any changes happened on my bowl. I was shocked and finally understood what actually happened on me and my bowl yesterday. The story ends here. My life was changed completely after losing the bowl’s magic power. It’s just a normal bowl right now like all the other bowls, but I’m happy it didn’t leave me. Now, I have to wash it every time after finishing my meal. Although I have to learn how to wash a bowl, I would not complain doing it. I know it’s my turn to take care of it.   

3 choices

Jennifer"welcome to the warmest room"-The sequence of the description is pretty orderly, and when she talks about the pictures on her wall, she also talks about the stories behind the pictures.
Sophia"Comparison of my bottles"-I really like the first part when she describe the straw in the bottle. That makes me wondering about what she is going to write about next.
Amanda"The notebook"-The story behind a normal notebook is really creative and makes me want a notebook like that.

Revision #2

9. Structure

Somewhere safe

Nina Yang

W&CIII

11/08/2014

  Sometimes, I wander what will be like at the corner in my room, the little place behind my closet, or the cave under my desk. These are the places that people would never pay attention to and would never go to; these are the places that people forget the most and have the most dirt. To satiate my curiosity, I decided to explore one of these places in my room. Yesterday, I crawled under my desk where I had never been to. I sited there and observed for several minutes.

  For me, it seems like a big wood cave where safe to hide. It’s much darker than outside. To be honest, I feel relaxed and comfortable to stay down here. I’m right now sitting on the carpet I bought. It’s soft and furry, which is cozy to sit on it.  The first thing that caught my eyes is the surface of the cave because it’s grainy, and it’s not that smooth than my desk. I feel a little dizzy when I stare at the graininess for a long time. The coarse surface is pricking my hand when I’m touching it. Although it was kind of dark down here, I can still recognize the color of the surface is yellowish brown. Besides, I feel like I’m able to think faster down there because it’s quieter. In addition, I can sniff out the smell of the wood. I was not able to sniff the smell on my desk, but I can smell it inside here. In fact, the stubborn wood smell makes me feel a little upset since I could imagine all the trees that were used to make the desk is crying in front me. The aftertaste of the smell is like begging that: “Stop killing us.” It’s like using the last minute of its life to asking for the survival of itself and other trees.

Revision

16. World of Magic

Magic bowl

Nina Yang

W&C III-F

Ms. Guarino

12/04/2014

  Do you believe that I still didn’t know how to wash a bowl when I was 16 years old? Everyone has his or her own little secret story; I’m also not an exception. I got a magic bowl when I was very young. The special power of this bowl was that it could clean up itself every time I had done with my meal in that bowl. Obviously, the good thing was that I didn’t need to wash that bowl regardless how dirty that bowl was. However, I didn’t even know how to wash a bowl by myself eventually after I got the bowl. The magic bowl was like my best friend that always takes care of me. Every time I got home really tired, and I didn’t feel like doing anything but eat. The bowl seemed like able to read my mind after I finished my dinner because I didn’t want to wash it at all.

  About ten years after I had got the bowl, the story happened. It was a dark evening; I was sleeping in my bed. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise was coming from my kitchen. It seemed like someone was screaming. “Ahhhh…” When I got there, I saw my bowl was using a knife pointing at a guy with a black cape. I couldn’t remember that guy’s face. All I remember was that he was covered by darkness. “I have to take him back to Shue.” The guy finally broke the silence. “He has been here for so long, and helped you so much.” “Wait! Shue? Where’s Shue?” I was so confused. “It’s the place where I belong to. They sent me here to help you because you are the lucky one, but right now they asked to go back. You are the only friend in my life, and I would never abandon you.” My bowl finally explained it to me. Now, I understand why the bowl came here. “It’s time for us to leave.” He kept looking at his watch and said impatiently. “I refused!” My bowl cried out. “I need to help her and stay with her. It’s my responsibility for life to take care of her. ” “You still don’t understand? They would steal your soul out of your body, if you didn’t leave. You have no choice. Now, come with me.” “No! No matter what happens, I would still choose to stay here.” The guy glances at my bowl for a last time and left quietly.

  The story ends here. My life was changed completely after losing the bowl’s magic power. It’s just a normal bowl right now like all the other bowls, but I’m happy it didn’t leave me. Now, I have to wash it every time after finishing my meal. Although I have to learn how to wash a bowl, I would not complain doing it. I know it’s my turn to take care of it.  

5strong vs. 5weak

strong:
I am on my bed now. What color is my bed? 
This is my room, do you like it? 
Most of time, I use my desk to do my homework. 
The desk is littered with six books, two mirrors, one desk lamp, and several test paper. 
Of course there is a chair in front of the desk. 
When I sit there, I can see the trees and roads outside. I like watching TV. The TV is in front of the bed.
weak:
I can lie to watch TV on the bed.
Look up the wall, you can see four of my pictures.
Another one is my personal picture. 
The picture between picture my dog and my personal picture is my dear grandma. 

    I ate the most famous stone crab in Orlando, Florida. The pliers of the crab were as big as my palm. The most valuable and delicious of the crab is the meats in its pliers.
    To eat the meat inside the pliers is like to peel a boiled egg. You have to peel the shell of  the crab first. Then, you could see the meat inside. The color of the the meat is like snow. Since they only boiled it, I couldn't smell anything. I ate it with some kind of sauce that was kind of salty and sour. You can also eat the meat without any sauce in order to feel the freshness of the crab. When I put it in my mouth, I could feel taste of the soft fresh crab meat. Although it was soft, it was juicy and chewy. The meat without the sauce was fresh, it was salty and kind of sweet. I like to eat the stone crab without the sauce because it was like to taste the flavor of nature. The cate that provide by our Mother Nature.

10. people watching

10. People watching

An Observation during Thanksgiving break

Nina Yang

W&C III

Ms. Guarino

12/01/2014

  During this thanksgiving break, I went to eat a lot of tasty food in New York City. One day, I felt like to eat some Korean food, so my friend and I went to the Korean town, which is located at Manhattan. After we sat down at the table, I realized there was a man behind us who was drunk. When I looked at his face, I could see his face turned all red like an apple. He and his family were having a dinner, so he was probably feeling happy. He talked really loud and sometimes I could hear his lough coming from the table behind me. I could smell the delicious smell of the meat and the soup they ate, and that made me feel hungrier. Then, there were two girls came and sat at the table beside me. They looked like really good friends, but they talked in a lower voice. I could barely hear them talking compare to the man behind me. I heard them talking about something excited and giggled. The food they ordered was pretty similar with our food, so I didn’t smell anything special. When I was about to leave, the girl who was sitting next to me looked at me and smiled at me. I could feel she is a really nice girl.

  These are the two people I observe during the thanksgiving break. They were totally different people, but I believe they all enjoyed the dinner that day.