Double Bubble Character Map

What I have read recently

10/5/08

The last book I have read was Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. In this book, Pfeffer shows how out of control things can get when an asteroid hits the Moon. Since the moon is responsible for many of the Earth's environmental controls, and when the orbit of the moon changes, so does the environment. Tidal waves destroy cities, killing millions. All electricity is lost. Gas goes up to $35 a gallon for 3 gallons. The main character, Miranda, still tries to cling to a normal life when so many people are dying of starvation, and diseases we never get anymore. Miranda believes that if her family works together, they stand a chance, even if it might not be for long.

10/8/08 

I recently read an online article on the CNN website called "Polar bears resort to cannibalism as Arctic ice shrinks." This article showed how the ice is melting 40% as much as it did 4 years ago, which causes there to be less ice surface for humans, and more importantly Arctic animals in danger of extinction, such as the Polar Bear. Polar Bear's rely on the ice surface to live their lifestyle, such as ice fishing, making dens, and scouring for penguins. But due to the recent loss of the ice sheet, Polar Bears drown, can't get food, starve, and even resort to cannibalism. It is getting so extreme that Polar Bears are now listed as an endangered species, which is very frightening. Another bad effect of the ice loss is that the ice sheets reflect solar radiation which helps cool the earth, but now since the ice sheet is getting smaller, more water is exposed, which in turn absorbs the solar radiation so that the earth is getting warmer. With warmer water, even more ice melts. I think that we really need to do something about this problem.

10/12/08

I recently read the book "Dylan" a clique summer collection book. It was a quick read due to the fact that it is only 120 pages. In this book, Dylan and her mom, a T.V. host of the show The Daily Grind go to Hawaii for the Hawaiian Aloha Tennis Open. Dylan's mom took her there because her mom's show is covering the whole tennis match, but mainly to get an interview with the teenage tennis superstar/wild child Svetlana Slootskyia. Dylan starts to relax in the Hawaii lifestyle when she meets J.T. They become good friends, but when Dylan tries to befriend Svetlana, she realizes that she isn't the sweet person she see's on the T.V. Dylan want's to go out with J.T. but she has to learn tennis first. Will Svetlana help Dylan or not?

10/15/08

I recently read an article in the magazine teen vogue. The article is called "Breaking Point", by Jane Shin Park. In this article, it discuses how girls may be at higher risk of being "super stressed." For example, on reason is that in one survey of 2,000 college students in the United States, over one-third said they experience stress frequently. The survey found that girls seem to have a harder time keeping their cool than boys do. And also in that survey, it showed that girls were more likely than guys to be troubled by all potential stress triggers such as grades, family, friends, dating, sports, college, work, etc. Also, because girls generally seem to be under more pressure to be looked upon as pretty and fashionable by their friends. In addition, girls are really hard on each other and like to look for things to make fun of in other girls, which most boys don't do that much. Unfortunately, having all these stressers can make you physically sick and in the long run, give you serious health problems like heart disease, depression, and high blood pressure. 

10/19/08

I recently read an article in Vogue magazine called the "Dark Horse" by Annie Leibovitz. The article talks about Daniel Radcliffe's stage debut in Equus, where he plays Alan Strang, a teen who blinds six horses with a metal spike and the psychiatrist who tries to discover why. It is based off of Shaffer's version in 1973. What makes this role so important for Daniel is that it sets him apart from his image as the beloved Harry Potter. He has to be extremely mature for the role, which, the directors and his fellow collegeus say is no problem for him at all. As his director said, "He's got all sorts of hidden depths. He's terribly mature without being remotely boring, and he's extremely complex without being screwed up. All in all, I think he's in for an enviably interesting life."

10/22/08

The book series I am currently reading are the private series. They are about a sophmore girl named Reed Brennan who tries to get in an exclusive private boarding school called Easton Academy. Reed tries to get in to the Billings House, a boarding house for the brightest, smartest, and most athletic girls in the school. Being a Billings girl not only means popularity, but guaranteed admission into the college of your choice. But getting in isn't the hardest part, doing chores and risky tasks for the Billings, staying in is. Reed goes out with Thomas Pearson, a mysteriously good looking senior whom many people disaprove of their relationship. She ignores these precautions and just goes with it. One morning, Thomas dissapears and can't be found anywhere. Everyone is worried and has no clue what to do. After the group comes back late at night from the Legacy party in NYC, a very exclusive party, they find out that Thomas has been killed. While they try to make sense of this, people are questioned on campus. When everyone leaves over Thanksgiving break except for Reed, some other people she doesn't know, and one of her friends Josh Hollis, she is forced to confront her feelings for Josh. One day, Josh is taking in for questioning for a long amount of time and looks pale after it. Just when Reed was falling asleep Noelle comes into her room and tells her that Josh isn't the person she thinks he is. Apparently, he is on heavy medications for depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders and he switched to Easton after being expelled from his other private school when his roommate committed suicide by "hanging himself." Thomas also happened to be Josh's roommate. Reed goes to Josh one night to get an explanation about it all. When she meets him, he hasn't been taking his meds, and he gets constant mood swings, sometimes violent and scary, not like the levelheaded Josh she knows. He tells her that he didn't do anything to Thomas because he was his friend, but later, the cops come in and arrest Josh for the murder of Thomas Pearson. Reed asks for evidence and the detective says they found his baseball bat next to the body. What will happen next? 

10/26/08

Recently, I read an article called "Learning to love or hate the game," by Hal Tearse in the magazine Let's Play Hockey or LPH. It talks about how hockey has changed over the years, and with that how priorities change. Also, it explains that in today's busy society, there is little time to develop the same kind of passion that our parents had for the game. For example, nowadays most children think that hockey involves adults yelling at them most of the time and trying to "coach them." Also, now kids "love" the new jerseys, warm-up suits, hats, personalized team equipment bags and stick bags, sweatshirts/sweatpants with their names and number for all to see. These are nice but they have nothing to do with playing hockey said coach Dennis Green. Many parents assume that their kids will enjoy it just as much as they did, which is another problem. Also, many players are quitting hockey due to time commitments, travel, tournaments, and thousands of dollars spent. Yet after all this, is a child supposed to learn to love the game? 

10/29/08

I just started reading a bit of the novel I will read for the novel choice assignment. This book is by one of my favorite authors, John Greene, who also wrote Looking For Alaska and an Abundance of Katherines. The book is Paper Towns. In this novel, a boy named Quentin Jacobsen has lived next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman in the same Orlando subdivision since they were really little. As children, they played together, until one day when they were nine. That day, Margo and Quentin found a body in a nearby park. Neither of them knew this man, Robert Joyner, who killed himself in the park that the two were playing at. This changed their relationship. Now Margo and Quentin are high school seniors. They still live next door to each other, and Quentin still thinks Margo is amazing and gorgeous, but they don't really talk. Margo is the pretty and popular one who is very adventurous while Quentin is the exact opposite. One night, Margo climbs through his window and takes him on an adventure, consisting of pranks on the people who betrayed Margo through all her popularity, and takes Quentin along to have some fun. This is where I stopped reading. I think that this book will be a good read with a lot of suprises.

11/5/08

 Recently, I read an article in Lets Play Hockey magazine titled, "Free Ride?" by Megan Bizzou. In this article, it talks about how expensive it is to be able to play hockey, even recreationally. A thing that caught my interest was a picture of a family and their son, dressed in hockey uniform, standing on the side of a road holding a sign that said "I need free ride to the rink." With increasing gas prices, it is more expensive to go to out of town tournaments or away games, which causes more inter-city competition. While not an entirely bad thing, many players can be dissapointed due to the fact that many hockey players look forward to those types of games and tournaments. Another affect of rising gas prices is the cost to maintain a hockey rink. This causes many rinks to minimize the amount of ice time used, and also to clump times together, so that the rink can preserve energy when not in use. Although it has may family's worried, there are always alternatives. Some familys carpool to rinks and have pasta dinners at homes instead of going out to eat. This goes to show that even in difficult times, you can always find a solution to a problem. 

11/9/08

I recently read a section of my european history book for homework that I found interesting. The book is called The Western Heritage by Donald Kagan. The section I read was on Louis XIV and the absolutist monarchy. In this section, it talked about Louis growing up as a boy and how his childhood experiences affected how he ruled later in his life when he was old enough to make decisions by himself and for himself. As a young boy, Louis inherited the French throne at the age of 5 but did not rule until after the death of his regent Mazarin in 1661. During the Fronde, when the French nobles rebelled against Louis as a young boy, he was convinced that big policies could harm the throne. From then on, Louis would concentrate almost entirely on the authority of the monarchy, making it the most important institution in all of France. 

My favorite book is Looking for Alaska

My favorite book would have to be Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book is about a 16 year old boy named Miles Halter, aka "Pudge" who is obsessed with memorizing famous dead people's last words. He's tired of his boring life so he leaves for boarding school in Alabama to find what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Pudge soon has friends whose lives are anything but safe and boring. At the center of their group is the beautiful and self-destructive Alaska Young, who is a master of pranks and avoiding school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love with Alaska, who in turn always adores him but has a boyfriend of her own. When Alaska dies in a car crash, driving drunk, it tears apart at everyone, but mostly Pudge. Alaska meant so much more than a friend to him, more like his life and soulmate, as if they were the same person. Only when faced with death of a loved one does Pudge truly discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally. It also shows the impact one life can have on another.

Athletic

Although many people describe themselves as athletic, my live does revolve around sports. Firstly, I am involved in soccer. I have been playing soccer for about 6 years now. Soccer was teh 1st sport I started doing, and it is one of my favorites. The second sport I play is hockey. My sister got me involved in it about 5 years ago. Both of those two sports teach me responsibility, time management, and dedication. They also let me get in good shape and have fun.

Hall of fame

Britta Halvorson graduated from EHS in the year of 2011 with honors. She was an EHS Alumni and was active in many school board events. After graduating, she went to Stanford Medical School for 4 years to receive her Undergraduate Degree. During her Undergraduate years, Britta had a double major in Chemistry and Psychology. Soon after, she pursued a PhD in Anesthesiology, which took an additional 6 years. Upon her second graduation from Stanford, she founded a hospital in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde in Africa. The hospital was dedicated to providing free surgery and anesthetics to families in Poverty. Britta is now retired living on the island of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean.