Lincoln 2012

I have just listened to the new soundtrack for the Lincoln movie...OBSESSED!!! I love everything about this movie! They got the characters down perfectly and I am shocked to see that people are actually taking notice of such a historical film. I shall post more after I see the movie I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Holding Onto Innocence

Most seniors are thinking about going off to college and getting a fresh start in a new place. They want to like new things and meet new people. Trust me, I'm looking forward to all that jazz, but I will be holding onto one thing from my childhood. That one thing would be my extensive collection of Disney movies!! I LOVE all of them (especially Newsies, which is the only non-animated one) and I watch them whenever I'm having a bad day. I think that it's good to grow up and expand out to bigger and better things. But before we all go off into the great unknown, take a step back and remember your childhood memories! Chorale is going to be singing Lion King at graduation becasue we want to hold onto our childhood memories and Lion King was a moive that most high school kids have seen. I think that it's wonderful that we are putting time into singing something that most people will know and enjoy. If we wanted to act like adults we would have picked a song that most people didn't know and you all wouldn't listen to it! So don't be upset that Lion King is from our childhood, love it and enjoy remembering your youth, because we won't be young forever!!

Lost Cause...Spring Breat 2012

Me at Tredegar Iron Works

This past Spring Break I went to Richmond, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown in Virginia. Aside from all of the wonderful history, there was a lingering question in Richmond...has the Lost Cause died out? The answer is..NO!! Lost Cause is still alive and well in Richmond. I have been to places like Gettysburg before and no other battlefield had such a bias then the ones in Richmond. It seemed like the only places that were preserved were places where Confederates had won. It was crazy, even at Gettysburg they tell of the days that the Confederates won and Gettysburg is in the North! Not only were there Battlefields, but also a prison camp (Belle Isle) and the Museum of the Confederacy...walk in look up and then tell me Lost Cause is not a real thing! Cold Harbor was there too, all big and open, go back 150 years and you would have seen dead people all over the place! Belle Isle was the worst, the men there looked like Holocaust victims (it's these prison camps that helped Hitler get his idea for his death camps). The South just needs to grow up and accept defeat! The North won, it's time to move on! (That's just how I feel about it!)



Belle Isle prisoner

Tredegar

Civil War at Tredegar

Lost Cause at it's finest! (Museum of the Confederacy)

NRA...Guns Are Good!

The NRA (National Rifle Association) has been saying for years that guns are a good thing. I believe that guns are a good thing, they can protect people. Without guns we would be unprotected from harmful people. Sure, guns can kill people and when in the wrong hands they can cause a lot of damage, but when in the right hands they can be used for good. If you think about guns and our right to have them, that goes back to 1607 when Settlers came to Jamestown, VA. They needed guns to protect themselves from attacks and to get food. In the 1770s people in Willimasburg, VA needed guns to fight for Independence. in the 1860s guns were used to keep our Country together. After that they were used to keep people safe. Without guns in the house people could be killed or raped and killed when someone came into their home. People in the 1700s and 1800s didn't really have a problem with people running around shooting large groups of people, maybe because of the style of guns they had. Muskets and Springfield rifles were commonly used and they could do a lot of damage, but you had to reload them after you shot. Guns today are automatic which means you can fire many shots by using one cartridge. It's not the fact that we have guns that people are dying from them, it's the mass amouts of rounds you can fire to kill many people. If our army had the automatic rifles and people had Muskets or Springfield rifles than there maybe less deaths. Not to mention a lot of people would be happy to wear a tri-cornered hat or a Civil War cap (that wouldn't actually happen). People want to be able to protect themselves and their family and having guns is a method of protection. I'm not saying go out and stand watch in your front yard, but if someone breaks into your house you need a way to protect yourself. A lot of people down south have guns in their house and no one thinks anything of it except that they are used for hunting or protection. The people I have met wouldn't go out and bring their guns with them (call me a backwoods hick, but its true). People (normal ones at least) don't want to kill other people. Most people wouldn't think to kill anything, but some say they have a gun for protection and nothing more. I would never personally use a gun to kill, I wouldn't think "Oh if I shoot this intruder I'll kill him", if someone comes into my home and wants to harm me I'm going to think of my families lives and my own life, not the bad guy's. I think the only person that doesn't need a gun is Batman and his family. He's strong and can fight them off, but normal people wouldn't be able to fight off someone who is trying to harm you. Let's face it, none of us are Batman (at least I don't think anyone is...) we aren't going to think of fighting a bad guy, who could have a gun, with our bare hands. Guns are used for safty and they should be kept in homes. Our 2nd amendment says, "right to bare arms." we have a right to own guns and we need to use that right. Maybe they just need to edit it to say, "right to bare arms on one's own property." that way people won't go out and shoot a lot of people. That's what scared people about guns, the fact that people are going around and killing many people with one or two guns. If everyone had one rifle at home we wouldn't have such a big problem, it's hand guns that kill people. I think that people need to reconsider the topic of owning guns. We've had them for such a long time, we don't need to have them taken away, just don't let people buy hand guns anymore and I think we won't have such a HUGE problem with death by guns in this country. People are stupid and bring guns out in public with them and that is where the problem starts, leave it at home and we won't have as many gun deaths!

Springfield Rifle

Camelot...Best Show Ever!!!!

I think that it's stupid when people have to stop making good shows because other people don't watch them! Camelot on STARZ was an AMAZING show and they had to stop making it because most people were not watching it when it was on, they would watch it on Hulu or OnDemand. I am currently on Episoid 1 Season 2, it's hard to keep up with the whole thing unless you have seen each episod. The story line is not the one people are used to when they think of Camelot or King Arthur. It's been made into a dramatic story with love, lust, greed, passion, hate, murder, magic, and power. The characters are: Arthur, Morgan, Merlin, Guinevere, Kay, Igraine, Leontes, and Gawain. Arthur loves Guinevere, but she is married to Leontes. She secretly loves Arthur too, but she can't do anything about it because of Leontes. The quote that makes me think of Arthur and Guinevere is, "Ture love is when 2 people lying on the bed and they do absolutly nothing just looked in the eyes and they both cry from beauty!" That's what Guinevere and Arthurs love is like. I love this show and I am really upset that they cancled it. It's a FANTASTIC show!

White senator discovers family's African-American roots....responce




Marley, Rosie, Tay, my dad (talking politics), Grandma Avrit, Ryan. (in the back) Ariel and my mom

 

I think that it's great that the white southern senator is excited to meet his African-American cousins. I know when I first met my African-American cousins I was excited, but also a little bit nervous. I thought that they wouldn't like me or i wouldn't be cool enough for them. It's intimidating to meet someone for the first time. I wanted them to like me, and they do like me, but I was really careful about what I said around them. I didn't

want them to think I was racist if I said something wrong. They were cool and by the end of the night we were all cracking jokes about eachother. It didn't matter what race we were by the end of the night, we were family and that's all that we cared about. Families poke fun at eachother all the time and that's what we did.  I think that it's cool to have family of a different race. They bring a kind of diversity to the dinner table that people don't normally have. I think that more people should have a mulit-racial family...it's just more fun! I liked the quote from the article, "It's often said that a real Southerner can 'claim kin' with anyone." I think that this is really true. I think that anyone can be part of your family, you just need to learn to accept people.

Rosie (Tay and Tracy's friend) and Taylor







Mojo...Our Class Pet!



Mojo!!

 The turtle Mojo is the official class pet. He's cute and little and LOVES to talk about Issues!! He's an All-American turtle!! He's been in class for a month now and he really enjoys it! If you want to meet Mojo he's usually on my desk every day in class...just come over and say Hi! He loves meeting new friends!!


WE LOVE MOJO


Mojo eating





Drawing of Mojo meeting new friends