Driving is essential

Perhaps you want to go to the store, or the park, or even down the road to pick up a stick of butter or a sewing machine from a neighbor. Would you
a) lace up your trainers and jog over.
b) slip on loafers and clamber into the family vehicle.
c) jump into some riding boots and saddle up to your trusted pet emu whom you can ride around town.
As unfortunate as it might seem, you'll probably answer b). The emphasis on driving in this day and age is fantastic. For every little errand or jaunt around the town, people are expected to leap into a vehicle and drive off down the snaking pavement to a location of their choosing.
And with good reason! We couldn't actually walk everywhere, could we?! With the modern convenience of the fossil-fuel burning engines, what does a little air pollution really matter to us anyways?

Driving was once a luxury that only the rich could indulge in, but now if you don't have a car you are generally referred to as a tree-hugger, hippie, or just down right poor. Who wouldn't want to be the hot-shot behind the wheel of the latest Ford F150, belching blacked exhaust into the already weakened Ozone layer? Don't worry...it's only one more car. What harm could you possibly be doing on your own, anyways. If one person takes initiative to stop driving, then perhaps others would follow, but that first person certainly isn't got to be you. Oh no! you'd sooner saw off your arm than give up the leech on your paychecks. It's a social symbol you will want to get in on if you haven't already purchased your own automobile. It doesn't matter if your 17 years old, and barely able to make your insurance and gas payments, as long as you have that car...

Cars were invented in order to make everyone's lives easier, a task which they certainly have accomplished quite well. All things considering though, the distances between the vital stores and buildings in the average North American's lives have shrunk considerably over time, as cities began to pack more and more into every street. So maybe that grocery store your ancestors had to visit 10 km into town to pick up everything they'd need for the next month has moved a block from your apartment. That's no reason for you to actually have to walk to it! That's what your shiny new BMW is for. Who knows, you might even be able to accelerate above 40 km/h this time...after all hasn't the light just gone green? Your legs will get a bit of exercise in the shop anyways walking up and down all those aisles. It could practically be called a workout!

Clearly a vehicle is an essential part of the North American lifestyle, something we just couldn't live without. Sure we could opt out of short drives and take a healthier route (for both ourselves and the environment), but what if it was raining?

Wake up, wake up.

A young lady's world is filled with tears, jealousy, and an unfulfilled sense of self. Dr. Sax, a PHD physiologist and medicinal doctor. Through his extensive studies and surveys of the lifestyles of teenage girls in both Canada and the United States of America he has come to the realization that girls are far more anxious than boys even if it doesn't show on the outside. Many girls also feel unfulfilled with their lives, and that their use of gadgets such as computers and cell phones needs to be limited for their own health and well being. In his article he explained how many aspects of young female lives lead us to believe they are healthy individuals in body and mind, but further reading leads you into their empty lives which they aren't even sure they want to take up from.

Many instances have shown girls to suffer from far more anxiety than males during their teenage years. You can talk to many young ladies from North America and a large percent of them will describe how they are constantly worried about their weight, how much they've eaten the day before, struggling with appearances and social status. It is a proven fact that girls talk about these matters far more with their friends than boys do. It probably has to do with the fact that society as a whole puts so much pressure on girls to look and act a certain way, so their minds are constantly being sent messages. Whispers of 'Don't eat that' and 'you can't wear stripes..' which have an overall affect of undermining their self-esteem and raising their anxiety levels. With all this pressure, it might be safe to start checking young ladies' blood pressure levels.

'Anorexia of the soul' is the term used by Dr. Sax as he described how girls feel more and more unfulfilled. They are constantly being put on the spot before their peers and feel that they have to perform according to social standings and requirements. This puts a stopper in their personal development as a human being and leaves girls with an empty feeling. Instead of a performance they need to break out into the world and actually live. Living in the real world, and not only the society of schools and parties will help build their character and lead them to truly discovering who they are. Their true personalities can finally grown and blossom with ever soul-building experience. Climb a mountain, sail the seven seas, or simply leave your town for a few days and breath in a new experience of slightly more intensity that you're used to. Adventuring is part of the human experience, and one can not truly explore if they are constantly 'acting'.

Late night texting sessions seem to have replaced the late night talk shows these days, but they might be riddled with even more gossip and slander than parents seem to think. The vast majority of teenagers these days own a cell phone and text on a regular basis. A study done by CBSNEWS stated that 'almost four out of five teenagers carry a cellphone....and almost half of the teenagers surveyed say they having a cellphone is key to their social lives.' What people might not realize is the sheer amount of teenage girls who carry their phones to bed with them at night and stay up until the wee hours of the morning texting their friends and catching up on the latest school gossip, ect. Teenagers already need more sleep than other age groups as it is, and when they stay up late to text to their friends it is cutting back on valuable sleeping time which will lower her performance rates in classes. Parents should be able to take cell phones away from their children at night and return them in the morning, for the sake of their children's health if nothing else at all. Information can be spread and stretched so quickly in this day and age, including rumours and slander as well as praise.

The world of the teenage girl is a brittle existence. Girls have been proven to be more anxious than ever before, feeling uncomfortable with themselves due to their constant 'performances' for society, and trapped by the icy claws of technology. Dr. Sax showed this all in his article for MACLEAN's recently and it is without a doubt true. There are many girls which are not affected by these trials and have a healthy existence with themselves and those around them, but it remains an issue for just as many more no matter how silent they are about it.

Hoy, yo tengo un examen en espanol .

Ay ay!
..Dios Mio..

En mi examen, yo tengo escribir un parrafo sobre un 'desastre'.

'Hubo un huracan. Tenia ocho anos cuando el huracan comenzo. El huracan era muy poderosa y grave. Yo vivia en Savannah, y mi familia y uo fuimos a Chatanooga por dos semanas. Estaban asustados, y mi hermano estaba merviouso. En mi casa, hubo una inundacion y muchas personas paseaban en bote en las calles. Afortunadamente, nadie se murio en el huracan.'

Es corto, pero...


(also, I don't know how to type all the accents. I'm sorry! Lo siento, por favor!'

Success!

One Day without Shoes was lovely!

What did you do?

One Day Without Shoes

TOMS shoes stared an amazing event a few years ago called 'One Day Without Shoes', in order to raise awareness for children and adults in developing countries who can't afford shoes of their own. Shoes can prevent harmful cuts, scrapes, blisters, and dangerous illness which are otherwise totally preventable.



Millions of people around the world go without shoes every single day of their lives. Shoes. Something we either hardly thing about and take for granted, or lavish heaps of money into a single pair. Imagine what a simple pair would do for a young woman in Ethiopia who has to walked miles a day just to get water for her family over volcanic soil.



fact: Volcanic soil contains substances such as glass and alkali metals which, if you walk on it, enters the lymphatic system and causes a painful and debilitating disease called Podoconiosis. This disease is 100% preventable, by wearing shoes



So on April 8th. (It's TOMORROW, everyone!) take off your shoes!





Thank you!

Why was she allowed?

Recently a mass of enraged students shut down a speech at the University of Ottawa who could not stand the slander coming from the mouth, and reputation, of one Ann Coulter. The Canadian students were offended by her racist remarks and didn't allow her to speak. Was this taking this too far? They certainly didn't seem to think so. But how far should someone like her...be allowed to go?

According to internet sources Ms. Ann Coulter is an American Conservative speaker, who travels giving speeches and spreading her (very) right wing views with the general populous. Most people know her as a controversial speaker who brings protesters out of the woodwork at many of her tour stops. She is a 'successful' author and her views, how ever unfortunate it may seem to many of us, are highly respected across the United States. Her name can stir many emotions in people, either defending or rediculing her. She has been quoted saying such things as 'I wonder what would happen if women lost the right to vote?...In fact, in ever presidential election since 1950...the Republicans would have won if only men had voted.'

In Canada, people follow a delicate set of guidelines concerning freedom of speech. Freedom of thoughts, belief, and opinion and encouraged..but to what point? The Charter of Rights and Freedoms includes a 'imitation clause' stating: " The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such responsible limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." Canada works within limits of respect for all fellows and strives not to offend people of other races, beliefs, or physical limitations. Before Ms. Coulter arrived in Canada she was sent a warning to watch what she says, as the Canadian people are very touchy about such comments as she makes every day. Her retort was that is was her 'freedom of speech'!

Perhaps in her own country.

Canada has different guidelines to abide too, and the vox populi has significantly less controversial topics being so harshly commented on. As a cultural mosaic, not a melting pot, Canada has the weight of a thousand nations to protect. She has gone too far, for us.

If this woman feels the need to spout these horrifically racist and offensive views to the world, perhaps she should start a blog? At least this way she's be quiet, and the world could silently yell their comments back at her via the internet. Maybe it would get closed down after a while too. Though it might be considered a hate crime as well...but shouldn't some of her books be looked at under the same light as well? Probably.

Unfortunately if she is fought against with blistering determination, it will only further 'fan her flames' so to speak and give her even more of a reason to retaliate again and again. "Look how angry I can make everyone!" She'd probably say happily, and saunter away with delight etched over her face. We shouldn't really give her any attention at all.

Maybe none of this article should have been written in the first place?

Se vente yurta

La yurta es muy simpatica. Esta diez minutos del lago grande en el parque. O, no te gusta caminar? No hay problema! La yurta tiene un patio grande. El inodoro esta afuera, en el aseo. En la yurta hay dos dormitorios, una amplia sala, y una cosina rustica. La yurta es perfecto para una familia pequena. Ten una aventura!

...except there are no accents on that at all, since I really have no idea how to type them. But that is part of my spanish project.

I was just doing some yurt research, however, and it seems to me that you can get a very nice 30-foot wide yurt built for you for under 15,000$. How wicked is that? You could get a very nice plot of land for all the money you'd save on your house! I'd totally be up for that....especially the yurt-living part. Yurts are a mongolian structure, used as housing!

How wonderful does that look? I just found a company called 'Pacific Yurts' that could build it all for you, and ship it to your location~ It's brilliant
If I could live in a yurt one day...

A Daring Rescue!

The girl was hanging within an inch of her life on the side of a cliff. She was calling bloody murder for help.

“Will no one save me?!” She cried as her fingers slipped even farther down the roots she was clinging too with desperation. The damsel in distress flicked her hair out of her eyes and gazed sorrowfully upwards. Above her head the great pie in the sky shone brightly, its rays beating down on her sweating forehead. Suddenly there was a great crash overhead, and a ‘knight in shining armor’ looked down at her, his blue cap askew.

“I’ll save you, ma’am!” his voice was like nails on a blackboard as it cut through the air.

“Please hurry sir! I can’t hold on much longer!” Her eyes were overflowing with tears.

The wind was picking up, becoming colder than a bad girl’s heart as it rushed around them. Luckily the man in the blue cap had nerves of steel and seemed to really know the ropes. He moved fast and furiously to make a rope out of random t-shirts on the fly, from the people trapped on the bus, which had flipped over and was teetering on the edge of the cliff. (the woman was knocked off the road by said bus).

“Here you are ma’am, hold on!” The man tossed the shirt-rope effortlessly over the side of the cliff, where is hung just within the reach of the trapped woman. However, as soon as she took hold of the sleeves, there was a tearing sound.

“It might not hold up!” She wailed in despair, but for the gentleman and scholar that problem was just merely a fly in the ointment.

Quick as a whip he hauled up the line once more, and ran a cable from the brakes of the bus down the center, knotting it in places to hold the cloth more securely. Again he tossed the line, which arched through the air like a rainbow and landed within hair’s width of her nose. She grabbed the line, and the man in the blue cap began hauling her upwards, hand over hand.

The wind tore at her hair as she moved slowly upwards. She closed her eyes for the progress was as slow as watching paint dry and she knew that a watched pot never boils. Then before she knew it, she had been pulled over the edge of the cliff by the man’s big strong arms.

“Oh sir,” the girl planted a kiss of the cheek of her rescuer, “I am ever so grateful for your heroic venture!” She let her hair down and hugged him tightly, so happy that she was once again safe and sound.

“From now on, I will walk on the safe side of the road.” She murmured and looked at the man, who doffed his blue cap in embarrassment.

“Ma’am, it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings and there are people stuck in the bus!!”

"Well," the girl exclaimed, " I'm all ears! Just tell me what to do!"

The man quickly explained his plan, and the two of them looped the cable/cloth/line around the rear axle and preceded to winch the bus back from certain doom.

The passengers filed out and thanked the man with the blue cap...their very own bus driver for being as brave as a lion. The bus driver simply nodded and made his way back to the bus followed by the passengers. They started up the engine and drove away, leaving the woman standing alone in the road.

From a path overhead came the notes of an Italian opera, and she looked up to see that there was indeed, a fat lady singing.

.END.

Super Powers Project.

English work part 1.

Smoke billowed relentlessly out of the wide beakers and vats in the laboratory. Out of the smoke emerged a whithered old man in a greying lab coat followed by a girl with thick orange hair and blue-grey eyes. The man lead her over to a set of glasses standing alone on the tabletop at the center of the room.
"My dear," He muttered quietly "in these glasses rests a liquid that can turn even the most mundane of humans into a great super-hero! I am giving you the choice of becoming a super-powered being, child. Will you do it?"
The girl gazed at the shimmering glasses with rapture before quietly asking,
"What will the powers be, Doctor?"
The man laughed and stepped back from the table, spreading his thin arms wide and exclaiming with a profound excitement,
"Girl, your powers will be whatever you choose! When you drink the mixture you must think long and hard about what you would like your powers to be. Choose wisely, for it is an irreversible potion, and think of all details of the power. Now go!"
The girl stepped forward and grasped the first glass in her knobbly hands. It was warm beneath her fingers; the liquid seemed to come alive upon contact. She raised the glass to her lips, trembling, and taking a huge breath she swallowed the contents in one mighty gulp.
"Now think girl, think!"
She nodded and closed her eyes.

Super Powers can be classified into two categories, which is unknown to many people first dappling with the realm of super powers. The first of these can be labeled as 'Conventional Super Powers'. Under this heading you could be sure to find powers that popular culture have let the world become great associated with over the last few decads. Things like flight, invisibility, and super strength or speed. Typical powers that everyone is comfy with, and if anyone they knew suddenly emerged with one of these powers we might stop and think 'Cool' before heading off on our merry way.

"I know!" the girl muttered, "For a conventional super power, I think I'll choose breathing underwater. It would make a lot of sense, seeing as my plans for the future involve a lot of underwater exploration." She smiled to herself, eyes still closed.
"Don't forget the details, child, the details..." a voice in the back of her head muttered as the strange potion she had just ingested swirled it's way through the cardiac sphincter into her stomach.
"Of course. I would have small gills behind my ears, so that no one could sea them when I was out of the water, because my hair will fall over them! They will filter water into separate lungs so as not to interrupt my normal respiration when I am not under the ocean's mighty surface. It would be terrible if I could not breath on land anymore...I don't want to live in the sea forever. And breathing underwater would help me investigate the ship wrecks that could otherwise continue to rot away or be pillaged by unruly treasure hunters. I think it would be for the best, you know, if I could breath underwater. It would help my work, and my enjoyment! Imagine all the sea life I would be able to observe."

"It seems like you've thought of everything. That is very good. But what of the second glass?" The old man crooned from his place in the shadows. He was pleased that is experiment was turning out so well, and he could already catch a glimpse of small gills forming behind the girl's ears.

The willowy girl opened her wide eyes and stared about the room for a moment, taking deep breaths and running her hands over the thin flaps behind her ears. They moved gently back and forth with each breath but did nothing to inhibit her normal 'land' breathing.
"Of course sir." She grinned widely and swiftly clasped the second glass, throwing the pink liquid down the back of her throat with satisfaction.

Another category of Super Power is far less known, and usually requires a touch of explanation when it comes to deciphering it from the average sorts. These powers can be found under the label of "Unconventional Super Powers" and they would be the sort that no one has heard of. Strange and unique powers found in only one person in the world such as 'X-ray breath' and 'Colour-changing skin'. These powers are usually scoffed at by others, but if one really thinks about them hard enough could...possibly...serve a purpose to society. Maybe?

"Oh I do have an idea." She grinned and closed her eyes as the liquid lept it's way joyfully through her stomach and into the duodenum, "As I didn't choose the power of flight as a conventional power, I'll need something to get quickly from place to place, no matter how awkward the location might be! I think...I think I'll chose 'Bridge Power'!
This power would allow me to point with my fingers at any space in the world, and command a bridge to spring forth. It could be any sort of bridge too, not just one sort. Suppose I was being chased by a wide, off balance man? I could command a bridge (in my head, mind you..we can't have everyone knowing how to do it) to appear that was only made of two-by-fours oddly nailed together. I could easily race across, and when I had safely reached the other side, the bridge would vanish. However I could always leave the bridge there forever. What if an agrestic town needed a new bridge across a river to their grazing commons, and the old bridge had been washed out in the previous year's winter storms? It could actually be a very useful power. Imagine being able to send a beautiful suspension bridge across the Grand Canyon itself? That would be glorious!"

The girl opened her eyes once more and looked around the room. She glanced at a shelf about 10 feet from her and raised her hand. As soon as the thought
'a bridge of matchsticks' came into her head, there was a small snapping sound and a red and brown arc rose from the floor and ended at the base of the shelf.
"This is amazing! Now I can not only swim forever, but I can leap tall buildings in a single...um...bridge! Thank you so much sir." She raced over to the old man and shook his pale hand with grand enthusiasm.
"Not a problem girl, not a problem at all." he smiled tiredly, just pleased that his experiment which ad been years in the making had finally worked. He was too pleased to mention the various other failed attempts locked in the back rooms of the laboratory, "But you have to promise me one thing child. Never tell anyone where you gained your powers. Fabricate a story that they will be forced to believe, for I do not want the military to find out about this invention. The world has enough war as it is without terrors from Plan 9 raging about them. Can you promise me this?"

"Of course I can. I'll make the most brilliant story up and no one will even suspect you." She nodded her head vigorously to the request. She could only imagine the horror that would ensue if a certain country to the south ever found the technology to fabricate their own super powers.
"Good girl. But I can't be totally reliant on your word..there is one other precaution I must take" With that the man drew a third glass from a cupboard and hastily swallowed the liquid.

"I will be invisible, and everthing I touch in the next 5 minutes will also become invisible, lost to the visual world forever."

When the girl looked back at the lab from the top of the path, she saw nothing but a clearing and the imprint on the earth where once a mighty brilliant rested. With a small fox-like grin she created a bridge from the hill to the edge of a cliff in the shape of a slide and slid off into the mighty sparkling sea.



The End.

-Robyn

This story stemmed from a wonderful conversation aboard the tall ship Pacific Swift in the summer of 2008. My watch was discussing the ups and downs of various super-powers when the question was posed by the first mate "What would your conventional and unconventional super powers be?"
Bridge power was invented by myself during that discussion. Now, we had hit a massive storm that morning crossing the Strait of Georgia, and had to take shelter in a strange little town called Deep Bay. After we had anchored, we'd gone ashore to visit a small convenience store. As we sat on deck hours later a girl in my watch muttered,
"I wish we could go back and get more candy."
to which I said happily,
"Bridge-power doesn't seem so silly now, does it? "

It's true~

Have a nice day!

Uno

This is be a blog for English 12 work, which I thought I should make ahead of time as I can only access my e-mail from home, and I wasn't sure if I'd need to confirm my making of the blog or not for it to work.

This will also be my travel blog, so I can post lengthy tales from my trips and adventures without cluttering other places up to badly!

I called this blog "Travel to Moher" after the famous Cliffs of Moher, Ireland. One day (soon, I hope) I wish to travel there and see them jutting in splendor from the Atlantic.

Thank you!

-Robyn