Rain Rain, Please Don’t Go Away

It finally rained the other day .

After having so many hot days, I was really ready for the weather to cool down, and to let the water fall from the sky.

There was talk of rain over last weekend weekend, and in the beginning of the week, and I was skeptical that it would actually happen.

There was between a 20-40 percent chance, but with less than 50% chance, the earth still made it happen.

Thursday started off clear and I was worried that this one rainy day was going to be just a cold day, where I was looking to the sky hoping for rain.

Soon enough it began to rain a little after noon.

I was standing outside and felt a light drizzle.

I returned back indoors and just as the door shut behind me, it is as if the skies opened and the heavens rained down upon the ground.

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Back to Reality

Camping with third graders can be quite the experience. I went with a small group of seven third graders for three days and two nights. Wednesday morning, I woke up earlier than I usually do to get ready to get camping. I was at the Floyd’s house helping Mrs. Floyd pack up food for her camping trip. Mrs. Floyd, Connor, Taylor, and myself all drove down to Lower Campus to meet our classes. I show up to the Third Grade class ready to go and I see some familiar faces. I see Alex, daughter of Mr. Alvarez, Hayden, who was my reading buddy in 7th grade, and Ryan, a kid who went to OVS Summer Camp this past summer.  It was quite funny to see some of their reactions when they figured out that I was going camping with them. The two girls in the class ran up and hugged me, while all the boys stood there with an expression of disappointment on their faces. We load up the truck with camping supplies and pile into the bus for the hour and a half drive to El Refugio State Beach.

We arrive at our campsite for the next three days with excitement. Personally, I think I was more excited than the kids were. Basically the first day we just set up our tents and then hung out at the beach all day. We had burgers for dinner and sat around the campfire doing improv. I sat in my tent reading while all the kids were playing in their tents before bed.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of a freight train. I wasn’t very happy about that. We had eggs and sausage for breakfast. We packed up for the day to hang out with the fourth graders at another beach. It was really fun. All the kids got to hang out with their friends from fourth grade. I also got to hang out with my friend Connor all day Thursday.  After the beach, we had quesadillas for dinner and s’mores around the campfire. We had an early night that night. I was so tired I don’t even remember getting into my sleeping bag.

The next morning we ate breakfast and packed up- tents and all. Then we had a last walk down the beach before lunch. We got back to camp, had hot dogs for lunch and put all of our stuff back in the truck to go home.

The drive back seem so long. It was actually shorter than the one on the way there. I didn’t want to go back to school because I didn’t really want to do homework, but I did do some while I was camping. Anyways, we get back on campus and unpack and all of that. I’m waiting for Mrs. Floyd with Connor and Taylor. Taylor and Connor were exhausted and then there was me just like “Oh hey I’m perfectly fine, I actually want to go back.” All they said was “Jenna, you had seven kids.” Anyways, we drove back up the hill and I was glad to be able to see my roommate and my friends again. Everyone was still in sports when I got to the dorms, so I just relaxed, took a shower and did some homework. I walked downstairs to get some water and I find Nicole, my lovely and sweaty roommate who just came back from volleyball practice. She attacked me and gave me a big hug. At that point, it reminded me why I go to OVS- for the people I love and the people that love me. We are all one big family here and it is not the same when one person is gone.

(Sorry that this is like a week after camping, but better late than never.)

App Review: Civilization Revolution

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Hello. As anyone who goes to OVS knows, gaming has been banned in the dorms. There is a grayish area however (More of a ignorable area). iPhone Apps, more specifically iPhone Games can be amazing.

The game we will be looking at today is Civilization Revolution, an IOS spin off of the critically acclaimed Civilization series.

In Civilization Revolution you are given an open goal, build a civilization and mold it into a world dominating empire. One of the standout features in this game is the variation in victory. There are four ways to win Civilization Revolution; you must achieve a Technological victory, a Domination Victory, an Economic Victory, or a Cultural Victory.

Upon starting a new game the player must choose a leader for their nation, selectable leaders are drawn from great (sometimes bad) rulers from history. These leaders are not drawn from any one-time period but are as varied as Abraham Lincoln to Cleopatra. The leader you chose effects which city you start in and also gives you a unique ability.

After selecting your leader you are dropped onto a randomly generated continent. You are given one warrior and a city (what you are given varies with difficulty). You are then free to research the basics of civilizations such as writing or pottery (Yes I know the game starts rather slow). As you research more technologies, new technologies become available at a extremely fast rate. It will not take much time (or skill) to be begin researching advanced technologies such as gunpowder or flight. You must choose your research carefully, not necessarily because of the in game time limit, but because of the threats of other nations.

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Family Guy/Seth MacFarlane

For years this cartoon has been enchanting the homes of those young and old.

This show first aired on January 31, 1999.

File:Family Guy Logo.svg

I feel like I have watched this show since birth, and while this is not true, I have seen every episode, all 190 of them.

When this show first aired I was two and a half years old, so i don’t think it was exactly appropriate for me to watch it at that age.

Family guy is a hilarious adult cartoon created by the wonderful mind of Seth Macfarlane.

Family Guy may be MacFarlane’s most famous piece, but he has done many other shows such as “American Dad!” and the “Cleveland Show“.

He has is also a fantastic vocalist, and just recently put out is first feature length film, “Ted“.

Here MacFarlane can be heard doing the voice of Ted.

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Defeated by the Indians

 

While many of us were feeling hopeful going into our first night game under the lights, it did not turn out how we had hoped.

The team gathered in the locker room 5 hours before kick off to prepare for the close to 3 hour road trip over Highway 33 into Maricopa.

We all put on the lower half of our pads and so that when we walked off the bus we could get right into our pre game warm ups.

The bus ride was filled with many people sleeping, listening to music, and having a good time.

The team has not played a game under the lights for a while, so seeing lights on a field was pretty exciting.

While it was not a huge stadium, it was still a stadium none the less.

Seeing as we arrived about an hour early we spent some time running around on the field to get accustomed to the grass, and pass the ball around, having a good time, smiles could be seen on all of our faces.

At about 6 pm we all entered the final stage of game mode.

We quit the messing around, grabbed our bags, and walked over to a covered area to finish dressing and spend time thinking about our assignments, and what we wanted this game to be like.

It was almost completely silent as we all helped each other grab straps on our pads, and get pumped for the game.

After we were all ready we lined up in two lines, two men across, holding hands, and walking out in complete silence, as one well oiled machine.

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Camping, Here We Come!!!

Last year, I went camping with third graders for three days. It was a lot of work, but tons fun. I got to miss three days of school hanging out at the beach everyday and just being a kid again. Who couldn’t love that? Well the reason why I mention this is because I get another amazing opportunity to go with the third graders again. I am leaving tomorrow (Wednesday, October 2, 2012) and will be back on Friday. I’m actually really excited to go. It is nice to take a little break from school that is longer than two days. I’m going to miss my friends and my lovely horse, but it will only be three days. Don’t miss me too much while I’m gone! I’ll write all about it on Friday or Saturday!

Oh and I don’t have any pictures yet because, well I haven’t gone yet, so here is a picture of a cat.

Moving Forward

After the OVS football team came home with an outstanding victory in Lee Vining, that winning streak did not continue this past Saturday.

After our return we had a week to prepare for our next game against Hillcrest Christian of Thousand  Oaks, California. During this week practice seemed to be filled with not only focused faces and hard work, but excitement and laughter after the team had just broken a new Ojai Valley School record of being the first team to win a varsity football game.

It seemed that the win may have gotten to the heads of some players, myself included, and that if we beat that team, that we would probably be able to carry that win into the next game.

Although the game did not put another W on the Ojai Valley School’s standings it did teach the team a valuable lesson, a lesson our coaches were trying to instill in us all week.

Yes we won, but that is just one game, and that while we should be happy we won, there was still plenty of work. In practice Coach D said that yes we did play well, but we need to be better, the word better was repeated over, and over, and over, but apparently in this game our opponent ended up with the better score, which means, they won.

While many of us wanted to walk off of the field with our heads down, we had to keep them up, and come back to our next game playing even better than the first and second.

This past loss has given the team a reality check that while we did play well the first game, and this is not to say we did not play well on Saturday, that we do indeed need to be better.

Our next game is Saturday night against the Maricopa Indians.

This game will be very special for the team because we get to play in the Indian’s stadium arena at night under the lights.

This next coming week of practice is going to be tough, but it will only give us more time to sharpen our minds, and sharpen our plays, because come Saturday it will hopefully be time to put another win up on the boards for this team of new records.

Hopefully we can show everyone that we do deserve to play, and shatter the harsh words that some put on OVS football, like the program should be cancelled because “we aren’t good.”

To all of the people who doubt our team or speak I’ll of us, I ask you to come out and try to do what we do everyday, and see after that what you think about the fact that we aren’t good or that we don’t deserve to play.

If you have to win all the time to be worth it, than sports would not be what they are, nobody would ever win because everyone would be just as good as the other. And if we are to follow in this thought that winning is the only reason to play, than nobody would be able to play because winning would become impossible.

Empty Stadium

If any of you would like to know what it is like to go through what a football team goes through together, I beg you to come out on to the field everyday, put on your helmet and pads, run around in the heat, get beaten and battered, and then return from a loss, and hear, “wow who could have seen that coming,” in a sarcastic tone.

Hopefully we can better ourselves from this game and have the season of all seasons. If you can come out and support at any of our games it would be greatly appreciated. And to all of you who doubt us I really hope we can change your minds at some point, and if not try and keep it to yourself.

Democalypse!

I’m calling it.

332-206.

That’s what the electoral college will read at the end of the presidential election, with Obama taking the win.

To me, this is the better of two outcomes. The term “lesser of two evils” comes to mind, but hey, that’s just the consequences of a two party system and an indirect democracy.

The two party system that America has into place is a way to funnel your choices down to two people you almost certainly disagree with. It is almost impossible for someone to agree entirely with Obama, or entirely with Romney. Even if you did agree with them 100%, it is then their work ethic that comes into play.

For example, I agree with Obama that Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed ASAP. In fact, I agree with him that it should have been done 4 years ago…Anyways, to me, the US needs to stop its weird romance with torture prisons and secret “interrogation techniques”, but that’s for another blog. My point is that while you may agree with a candidate, you may not agree with the way they get things done (or don’t get things done).

Another thing that I don’t like about the election system is how much it all depends on character. Many voters decide who to vote for just based of who they relate to more. Well hell, I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t want a president like me. If he was anything like me, we’d be taken over by Canada in a matter of days. I’d want someone smarter, stronger, and just all out better than me.

Now that I’ve gotten way off topic, I’d like to ask you who you believe is going to win, and by how much? What’s your count for the college?

Does America really need all of its power?

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America has had a varied history. Originally one of the least organized countries in existence, America would become the most powerful country in the world. America’s modern history has been influenced by the modern world in which we live. America’s Power would not come without sacrifice, as power always has its price.

After World War II America’s leaders took the Monroe Doctrine to the extremes, in short they decided to become the Worlds Police Force. America would spend the latter part of the 20th century embroiled in a decades long Cold War. America’s main goal during this time was to stop communism and spread democracy.

America’s top leaders believed that if every country was Democratic then warfare as mankind knows it would cease to exist. Accomplishing this (extremely improbable) goal would require the US to stay several steps ahead of their enemies. As we all know this requires vast amounts of money.

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Why Romney, Why?

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Why is it that people vote for politicians who really don’t care about them? I am of course speaking of the “charismatic” Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.

Romney has distanced himself from the average American several times. The most recent remarks, in my opinion, have been catastrophic. He said, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what… [M]y job is not to worry about those people.”

He is proclaiming that he does not care about 47% of America, that is almost half of the nation.

If that is what he said and most certainly what he believes then why are people, the average American still voting for him. I mean most of Romney’s voter base may call most of the attacks on him Liberal propaganda. In this case however the attacks are exactly what he said and yet Conservatives have attempted to defend him in the wake of this public relations nightmare.

I understand party loyalty but to follow a man who does not care about you, the average, is ridiculous.
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