inconvenient truth... FOR EVERYONE!!!

    I just watched An Inconvenient Truth, and I really wish I had known some of these facts previously. Such as: Greenland could melt, pouring into the ocean, stopping hot/cool temperature currents from cooling and heating, resulting in another Ice Age for either Europe or North America. Also, the entirety of Southern Florida would flood over if the ice melts anywhere in the Poles. I think we should cut back on anything that takes up more energy than we need. Personally, I work in the dark whenever possible, even turning the lights back off when they are turned on. I also like biking places more than my parents driving me somewhere.Lastly, from now on,
I'm going to turn off what's not being used. I used to just leave stuff on. Now, I'll turn it OFF.

Art in the office

Yesterday I had my first day of Homeschooling. During art I made a little figure out of sticky tack, his name is Frostno the melting snowman. I think he shows an alone snowman in a warming climate. It's what happens to snowmen whose owners have left them to nature. I personally squish my snowmen before it's warm, but that's just my preference.


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trip 5/16

   Today we had a 5 hour drive from Pismo Beach, California to San Fransisco, CA. When 

wegot here, we watched the Tale of Desperaux on HBO while watching ducks swim outside 

in a pond behind the hotel . When we got hungry, we went to this delicious Chinese place 

called Chef Jin's. I got wonton soup and spicy fried squid. It wasn't that fried, it was lightly 

fried in a nice clean batter.The fortune cookie I got said "you will be traveling and come into a

fortune".That may have already happened. My dad won two iPad2s to add to the one iPad,

and my mom wants the iPad. So that means I get an iPad2! Lastly, the Golden Gate Bridge 

is huge! I fell asleep halfway across, and when I woke up a few minutes later, I could still see

it close up! 

trip 5/15

  This morning we got off the cruise ship. We got breakfast on the lido deck (pool deck) while
we waited for our debarkation(?) number to be called. After we got off, we went into this big
dome building and got our luggage. We then got in the car and drove to Pismo Beach from
Long Beach, passing the Hollywood sign, where I learned it's on someone's personal
property! They could even take it down if they wanted to! When we got to our hotel,
I played with a Hexbug robot insect that my mom got me until it was too late to play
with something that made a buzzing noise. I think I gave up playing and went to sleep.

Trip 5/14

   On this day, it was my last day on the cruise. :-(  When I woke up, my parents were
just leaving the cabin for breakfast. They left with my brother, then I got ready and
left, but I went to the buffet too, so I met my parents there. After breakfast, I had time
to kill. Circle C didn't start until 12:00, so went to the arcade and spent my daily $10
all on the same game as usual. If they came out with the Time Crisis series for Wii,
I would be in debt about $80! (there are 4 or 5 Time Crisis games)
After I spent all my tokens, it was only about 11:30, and I was getting hungry. I
got some pizza and soda and waited outside Circle C until they opened. I only got
to play .hack//G.U. (which is so totally the best game I've played in a month) For
a while because Gail had some other stuff to do, so I hung out with some friends
for a while. After we did all the scheduled stuff before dinner, it was 5:00, so I
again hung out until 6:00, when I went to dinner. After dinner I babysat
until 8:30, when a dance party at club O2 started. I danced a good 45
minutes without stopping! Sadly, the party had to end at 1:00. After the party, I
just walked around with some friends for a while before going back to my
cabin and going to sleep.

Trip post #1

On Thursday we left for a trip around the country. We would have left yesterday, but the water

flooding the road was rising, and becoming undriveable. So instead of risking getting stuck, we

left before it got too bad. When we left, the water was a foot and a half deep! We had to drive slowly

through the deep water. In other places on the shoreline, there were big sticks and small logs on the road, in one place, there was a tire on the side of the road!

Then my dad, my brother and I dropped my mom off at a meeting. while she was at the meeting, we

dropped off some stuff we had for someone at their house. We also went to a scout meeting, even

though we forgot my uniform. I almost got another merit badge, but there wasn't time. I also signed

up for mynsummer camp merit badges (swimming, camping, and 1 session of sculpture for fun).

After we picked up my mom, we drove an hour to plattsburg to get away from now seperated

Isle La Motte.We stayed in a hotel where there was a drawing pad, so I drew until I ran out of paper.

Then I went to sleep.

Sculptures at Magrati Academy

               This is a picture I took of a sculpture I threw together with an idea and some homemade play-doh from Instructables.com. The sculpture is of a "hand king" and his four advisors. The one on the far left is his food taster/advisor of food, (a little chubby) next is his social advisor. (thumbs up!) Just to the right of the throne is the advisor of foreign affairs, (he looks like the klingon peace sign!) and the last one is his advisor of war. (pointy fingers!)I used about a softball-sized lump of play-doh, but I could have made it smaller and less rough. I put it together fast because I thought I might lose the idea.

               The idea came from an art:21 episode. The one after the one in my last post. I was thinking about art, and how awesome and creepy living hands are. Then I just got it! A scene of a king and his advisors, hand style!

Li'l Crystals

               A few months ago, I started growing crystals in this little plastic container. I used a kit I got at  ECHO Leahy Science Center gift shop. I got the green set because it was the only one there at the time.
These are NOT edible, I could tell by the hundred bajillion adult supervision and safety warnings. When we moved these from one place to another, I spilled some of the starter liquid, but couldn't tell until an hour later when there were crystallized circles all over the place. I really like science projects, so I loved this!

               It may not be completely visible here, but the big lump in the top corner used to be a base rock for
the crystal to grow off of. There is another smaller rock lump in the middle, so that shows that crystals that grow directly off the rocks are bulbous and big. Others are small, pointy sticks, but on the wall, the crystals are flat and more white than green. The crystals are kind of small, but I'm happy with it because I made them.

Homemade mints

           A while ago my mom and I made mints of our own. We made them out of little flavorings and gum paste. You make them by squishing flavorings into gum paste, like kneading dough. But instead of flour, you use powdered sugar. All the flavors kept leaking out of the gum paste onto my hands!

          When we made them, I made mine a vanilla marshmallow (vanillamallow) flavor. My mom's is cherry supermint (above picture). The mint was so strong, the little ones on the top are almost overwhelming! Mine were almost always a favorite though. They were so melt-in-your-mouth, oh-so-soft, and delicious.    

Mouse!

     I just got a new mouse! She is a mouse type called Fancy Mouse. I had to get a small animal and take care of it for 3 weeks for science class. I did talk my way from a cricket to a mouse! Her name is Ginger Sherbet Liloia.To make an aquarium we had "mousified", we had to get pine bedding, to keep the actual tank clean. We also got a special mouse food with extra nutrients to keep her healthy. To make her more comfortable, we got her a green plastic igloo that looked like the one she lived in at the store, but smaller. I gave her half a hairless coconut shell and a cardboard tube segment to play with and be happy. I'll post more about her more in the next few weeks.

Growing Shrooms

    I'm growing mushrooms in a kit I got in the mail. When I started it, I had to "comb" it with a fork! There was white stuff on it when we opened it, so of course, it's frozen, right? Wrong! It was the fertilized mycelium! (growing spores) Now, we wait for it to grow. I'll post when it's making it's first mushrooms.

Paper lantern making!

This week we learned how to make paper lanterns. You are supposed to put candles in them, but they're paper lanterns! So, we put little electronic candles in them. Here are some instructions on how to make them.

     Materials Needed:

     Balloons

     Paper Plates

     Water

     Glue

     Tissue Paper

     Chisel-Shaped Foam Brushes

1.Mix glue and water on paper plate to make thick goopy "cement".

2a.Blow up and tie balloon (twice as big as a softball),B.paint either strips of tissue paper or balloon with glue, then affix paper.

3.Repeat 2b until at least 3 layers of paper are on the balloon.

4.Hang it to dry.

5.Once it is completely dry, cut a hole in the balloon, deflate, then cut the top out so it looks like the picture.

6.Lastly, peel out the balloon from the paper, now, you are done.

Valley Forge Battle

While we learned about The battle of Valley Forge, we wanted to feel what it was like walking in the snow without coats or shoes, so we tried it. It hurt my feet! Imagine pins & needles. Then imagine them frozen. Then imagine them frozen and on fire! Yeah, ouch.

Soldiers did this for hours and hours every day. At night, all the guys in one tent would give all their clothes to the guy on watch duty. Many men died on the trip.








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Eating... Ketchup?

   I read an article in Malcolm Gladwell's "What the Dog Saw".  The article is called The Ketchup Conundrum, and is about... well, you can read it for yourself. We, (my Mom and I), made up a test that corresponded with the article about taste. FYI. Heinz is the best ketchup.

HEINZ         Flavor Order        Flavor Rating (Strength)       Comments:
                     1.Salty                     6                                    Even flavors make it taste better.
                     2.Sweet                   5  
                     3.Tomato                 3        
                     4.Bitter                    5
                     5.Vinegar                 5    
                     6.Spicy Aftertaste?   5   MMmmm....
 Store Brand
                     1.Sweet                  6                                  Too sweet! Not enough vinegar!
                     2.Tomato                7
                     3.Salty                    7
                     4.Bitter                   4
                     5.Vinegar                2.5

 We tried to do this with Coca-Cola, but the flavors are much more subtle. Also, we are "trained" to only taste the trademark "Cola" taste.
           

Problem!

A problem in our town is speeding. People should be more careful drivers. People have crashed while driving in my area. Someone couldn't take a hint and crashed twice! It's a danger not only to the speeders, but others on the road too.

To stop people speeding on the island, I plan to ask the sheriff to speak at town meeting day. Also, to people who weren't  there, I will put notices in the voting booths, on the bulletin board at the front of the island, and on the board in front of the town hall.


           Sheriff's Script

Hello everyone, I am here to talk to you about speeding. We need to be more careful while driving. I have seen a lot of accidents, and I know there are some you don't walk away from. About 115 people die in accidents every day. Think about it. Thank you for listening.

Fungi Pictures

                                                     Not visible enough for identification.

                                                 This fungi is called Mycena Rorida. It's really small, and hard to identify. It has a small, white cap and stem.

                                 This mushy little thing is called Boletus Subglabripes. It changes color when it gets wet.

                                      The name of this mushroom is Lactarius Glyciosmus. The cap has a slight convex,(slight upward bow) and is brown. There's nothing special about the stem, though. Also the edge of the cap is a little wavy.

                                      This fungus is called Hygrocybe miniata. Don't eat it though, it may look good, but trust me. This mushroom's normal size is around 3cm. It is found in lawns and in the woods mostly.

                                     This is called Coriolus hirsutus. It only grows on wood, and is inedible. It usually grows in a group.

                                     This poisoned growth is called Crepidotus mollis. Do not eat. It is around 5-15 cm wide This also grows on trees.

This one is Leucopaxillus Giganteus. It is very large and white, and distinctly scaly.

Slime!!

Today I learned about Protists. Protists are unicellular organisms that are called eukaryotes. That means they have nuclei. There are two ways that they produce energy, some are phototrophs, (sun energy) and organotrophs (Like us, eats things).

One type of protists are called slime mold. They grow really fast, and grow over almost anything. One of the pictures is slime mold, and the other is a stink-horn mushroom. What I like about those are the lace-y stuff.

 

Mystery Box

I watched a video about JJ Abrams, and he makes TV shows and movies mysterious because of a box he got at a magic shop called a Mystery Box. It is full of magic supplies but he doesn't know what because he never opened it, why? Because it resembles infinite possibility, and if you open it, that possibility is gone because you've seen what it is.

An idea from the show Lost which is a Mystery Box was the Man in Black becoming John Locke. Everyone thought that John came back from the dead until he stood next to the real John's body.

Here's an idea from another show which is also a Mystery Box.In the show "The Lost Room", the guy lost his daughter in a room which is behind every door in the world if you use the key. Also, there were other things like a time-stopping comb, and a bus ticket that teleports you.

The idea of a story I just thought of has a Mystery Box too. There was a man created with seven souls, and one began to wonder why he only remembered Mondays. He then found out about the others and tried to get rid of them. He communicates with the others by sending emails to himself. To get rid of the others, he has to find the seven soulless men and match them with the right soul.

Carving Kitties

This is a picture of a project I did. It's like when you color on a page and cover in black crayon, and scratch it off. My mom bought this piece of "Engraving Art" paper with a picture similar to this to scratch out. It didn't take long to do, but it came out looking great!


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ILM Constitution

  I made a fake Constitution for Isle La Motte because I just studied the making of the Constitution, and how they made each section. This is my ILM Constitution.

•   There shall be a Democratic Monarchy, and all Kings and Queens must be elected by the majority of the island every year.
• There shall be five royal figures to govern the island fairly, one from each region of the island.
•  All ideas shall be approved by at least 3 of the figures (King & Queen), and at least 51% of the island.
• Census is twice a year.
• Trade routes supervised by Trade Committee, 2 representatives from each region who are elected every 6 months.
• All religions are accepted.
• Barter system and money both used.
• Ambassador establishes trade routes and relationships between countries.
• Judge is elected by whole island, and town hall is court.
• Militia commander elected every year.  

Scott Pilgrim

  A few days ago, I saw a movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The movie was really cool because it played out like a game in parts. He has to beat the 7 evil exes of a girl he likes, and they're like levels. The picture is him earning "The power of love". I want a sword.:-(

Paper Quilling

  My mom got us a paper quilling kit as a project. We both like making crafts, and she thought it would be a good thing to work on. You start with a long, thin, piece of paper,and the quilling tool. It has a green handle with a tiny stub of a metal stick. It has a slit in it that make the end look like two tiny, semi-circular, sticks of metal. Then you put the end of a strip in the slit, and twirl the tool until it's one tight circle. Hold the circle, do a 1/4 turn back, wiggle it off, glue the end to the circle, and you have a tight coil. Let it unfurl and you get a loose coil. I made many mistakes in this process!
 
  We ended up making a 3D paper skull out of quilling coils. We made it because we had a gift swap with my grandma's side of my dad's family. I got my dad's cousin, Christopher Bond, and he really likes handmade things and makes pottery.

  Chris really liked the skull when I gave it to him, he even started thinking about where to put it when he got home. He kept thanking me for the skull, and already noticed most of the animals I made! I felt great giving it to him, I love giving gifts to people.

  Some of the easier parts were making coils and animals. I made some animals by shaping and gluing coils together into things like cats, spiders, roosters, and fish. some harder parts were gluing the coils to the wax skull and quilling quickly. Quilling is easy, but takes a long time! Also, when we glued coils together, sometimes they fell apart.
 I'll probably do paper quilling again. I don't know when, but I really liked it, and would want to do it again. When I quill again, I want to make a fish.