Marble Beauty

I found her very beautiful, in a hard, unfeeling sort of way.  She reminded me of a statue, just as rigid and half as inviting.  Her eyes were distant, cold.  Smooth skin, three shades lighter than caramel glowed in the pale light. 

She was thin and small, barely five feet three inches tall.  Her slenderness only emphasized the delicacy of her frame but the muscles in her arms and legs were defined and clearly visible. Bones and tendons showed though the exquisite skin of her hands and faint bluish veins drew intricate designs beneath the surface. 

Her jaw was fine and just a degree rounded enough not to be considered angular.  Cheekbones, not high but rather mild, were tinted the barest flush of coral. 

Glossy dark hair of burnished mahogany curled gently around a heart-shaped face.  It spilled over her shoulders and over her collarbone in a wave of soft, loose ringlets.  Pressed together, her bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top and a lush rosy pink.  She had not the barest hint of a smile. 

A small freckle dotted her cheek just to the left of her lips, pretty.  Elegant brows arched gracefully across her forehead.  Large dark eyes stared out from under curving lashes.  They held an unavoidable attractiveness, something about the color.  Like pools of sweet melted chocolate, they were liquid and had a faint sheen.  It was strange to me how they looked melted and warm while having such a frigid glint in them. 

I never understood why she was so distant, forever a mystery.  

Her name was Sahar, “dawn” in Arabic.  But she was not Arabian.  Indeed, she was fair as Dawn herself, just as soft and glowing.  

Sahar’s voice was quiet and sharp, but it had a lovely lyrical quality that took the edge off her tone.  

She didn’t like me, not one bit.  So we never spoke and I retreated, admiring from afar her perfect marble beauty.  

Censorship and privacy,Is it really necessary?

Internet privacy and censorship is an issue that has caused much controversy in recent times. With the astronomical growth of the Internet in the last decade, cyber bullying has become an unprecedented problem. Proponents for the removal of online anonymity have argued that cyber bulling would end if people would have to take responsibility for what they say.

A major problem with cyber bulling is the anonymity of it. For example, if a child bullies another child in person, the child can tell school administration and get the problem sorted out. If a child is bullied on lets say Facebook, it is much more difficult to catch the bully.

A fourteen year old boy killed himself on September 9th at about 2 o clock on an early Sunday morning. He was being bullied for his homosexuality, via the popular blogging site Form Spring. It also happened to be suicidal awareness month.Gay Pride

A very recent issue that has reached attention is Internet censorship. This bill is being debated in Congress right now. What it will do is outlaw “illegal pirating of movies, music and other copyrighted material.” This could be a very big deal to many people.

Many people illegally download copyrighted material on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see the backlash that comes from this bill if it is passed.

Frustrated.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodness, is it too much to give up one lunch of your day so that someone, somewhere could have a meal? So that maybe some animal could be saved. So that cancer research can be funded?

I am frustrated. Frustrated with the current predicament that student council is facing. We have proposed the idea of replacing one lunch meal at school for soup, salad, and bread so that the proceeds would go towards a charity of the student body’s choice. The underclassmen agreed to the idea. But the upperclassmen…that’s a different story.

A few people are concerned about not having a good lunch. They complain that lunch is bad enough already that they would not want to downgrade to a simple meal of soup.

But what astounds me is their view of community service. Community service is about giving, not about luxury. So why then, is giving up a single meal, one out of the 21 meals that they have a day, so difficult? All of the money goes straight to the charity. So why? Only good can come out of this experience.

To be continued. Hopefully, progress will come.

Steve Jobs-REBORN

Our generation often labeled generation X, is known for our technological superiority over older people. This “ superiority “ has led rise to many young entrepreneurs, kids who take advantage of the changing world. From apps, to social networks the possibilities are endless.

An upstart business “man” who has cashed in on his affinity for technology is 6th grader Thomas Suarez. Getting into computers and programming in kindergarten, he has gone on to create Earth Fortune and Justin Bieber. Earth Fortune is an app that predicts the future, while Justin Bieber is a whack- a- mole style game, were you whack Justin Biebers head.

Releasing his 1st app in 2010, he has said that he has drawn much inspiration from the late Steve Jobs. He taught himself the basics of Python, C, and Java in order to program apps. Thomas has also started an app club at his school for students and parents alike because he feels people do not know how to create apps.

Another young entrepreneur is Lim Deng Wen, a 9 year old who hails from Singapore. He has been programming on computers since he was two and has taught himself six programming languages. His best selling app is “Doodle Kids”, which allows you to use your ios devices as drawing pads.

Doodle_Kids_iPhone_app.jpg

These young men embody the American Dream, a dream that gives you a chance to succeed in life, no matter your gender, race, economic standing or age.


Worst Person 6-HERE IT IS PEOPLE-JERRY SANDUSKY

I have been reached by a number of people that have read my blog and have been asked “Hey dude, what about Sandusky (or as some call him, that Penn State pedophile) for your Worst Person in Sports?

Well quiet down. I got ya covered. Jerry Sandusky was the defensive coordinator of the Penn State Nittany Lions and he, my friends, is being convicted for having sexual relations with young boys, around the ages of 10-12, in the showers in the Penn State football locker room.

WHAT?!?!?!?! Now I don’t wanna totally bias my post because I’m a huge fan of free thought. But don’t even think about thinking that this is appropriate. The craziest thing is that these “relations” occurred in 2002. That was the most recent occurrence.

Then how has it not surfaced in 9 years? The answer lies with the other Penn State coaches, including coaching legend Joe Paterno.

JoePa was fired recently after he was questioned by the Penn State Board of Trustees about the scandal. Apparently, Paterno did not come forward with information that he had in order to retain his coach.

What do you guys think of the scandal? Whose guilty? Is Sandusky a pedophile or just wrongly accused? Watch this Bob Costas interview if you need some help with your decision.

Son of Citation Machine

WARNING: BLOOD AHEAD.  VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. 

I’ve recently had to cite over 100 sources for two research papers and one oral presentation.

Research papers are the bane of my first semester.  They’re stressful because they simultaneously seem super easy and incredibly complicated.  On the bright side, you can research all the information you need.  On the not-so-bright side, you have to outline, organize and cite every single bit of information.

I think I would have spontaneously combusted without Son of Citation Machine.  Violent implosion is another definite possibility.

For all you high schoolers and college kids, we know citing is a major pain.

I feel bad for the dinosaurs (like my journalism teacher) who had to actually use encyclopedias and card catalogues to create their citations.

MLA:

APA:

MLA and APA are the two academic citation formats.  MLA is used to cite English and humanities related research while APA cites scientific and behavioral investigations.

There is NO WAY I would be able to cite every bit of information by myself.  I’d be dead.  As my best friend Louis says, “not -girl-gets-pimple-before-prom-dead, serious –Manny-Pacquiao-just-punched-me-in-the-face-dead.”

Pacquiao punching Magorito
Pacquiao knocks out Ricky Hatton

See that?  Those guys look the way I feel about citations.

So I used Son of Citation Machine.  SoCM is a citation-generating website.  I like it better than easybib or bibme because it gives you in-text citations and I just find the layout more professional and clean-cut.  It even indents the lines for you.

It’s free and fast and unlike bibme, you don’t need an account.  You can go back and make corrections to your citations and it gives you many options for citing your source such as a book, a web document, an encyclopedia, a newspaper article, an online journal article, a magazine article, a radio program, a television program, a lecture, a government publication and many more.

I am eternally grateful for this website and it makes citing sources 1,000,000,000 times easier.

So next time you have to write a research paper or make a Powerpoint with a works cited slide and in-text citations, skip those other websites and go straight to Son of Citation Machine.