Sunday, November 30, 2014

Week 9

I am a very veRY weak person. I gave in. I'm so disappointed in myself. I had no control whatsoever during this four day weekend. Not only did I eat a lot on Thanksgiving but also on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to do a whole bunch of ab workouts this whole week. That's the plan. I am probably going to do sit ups and crunches. I might slip in some cardio. However my main priority is getting rid of this big belly.

Reflection 9

Not much to report on my boss creation progress. It's basically like a normal enemy, so I simply copy and pasted the obj_enemy_slime codes and modified the numbers for a bit. I wanted the boss to be fought in another room, but I am having great trouble, and I need help again. I created the room to fight in, but the "camera" or the "window" of where the game takes place. The camera is too zoomed out for some reason, and I have been trying to fix it for a while now. Yes, it is a giant room for a giant boss, but I'll have to sacrifice size for this to work. Now I know what my dad meant when programmers work nonstop; I usually think of different ways for coding something to work. As I type, I am still thinking of codes while I have an empty stomach. I'll fix this problem next week, if possible.

Here is a preview of the room and the boss. Pretty big, right?
P.S. Don't worry; I'll get dinner after I post this.

reflection 9

In all honesty, I did not physically work on my 20% project this week. I have mentally listed short term goals throughout the week to ensure my final project is the best it can be. Some of those included, not having weeks like this ever again and leaving myself an appropriate amount of time to complete my weekly training. I am going to push myself a lot this upcoming week to make up for the time lost this past week.

Reflection 9

  Why are there only 24 hours in one day? Time really does work against me and I once again see little progress in my 20% project. Although I did have an eventful week with Thanksgiving, a wedding, and a babysitting job, I blame most of my productivity, or lack of it, on the amount of work I have to complete and the little time I have to complete it. I find myself in a tight spot with so many things going on, but I did manage to review all of the words I have learned throughout the course of this project. Due to the amount of time I have spent focusing on other school subjects, I have not been able to really practice these signs and commit them to memory, so I have forgotten a few. However, with a couple refreshers I'll be able to master them. This next week I will focus my attention on the 20% project. I will COMPLETELY commit all 100 basic signs to memory and go through two ASL lessons this week. I will also take some practice tests and see if I can meet up with my friend to practice. I've also been trying to get other people to help me with this project. I've branched out to my friends and family and now my sister can sign the entire alphabet! I really feel that this project would be so much easier if I had other people do it with me, plus I think it's fantastic that other people are trying to learn this skill with me. I really feel that I can go farther than intended with this project if I put more effort in to it. Wish me luck this week!

Reflection 8

This animal sundae project is taking a lot longer than expected, but the ones that have been completed look quite nice. I am going to take about a week more to finish them all. One huge delay that I've noticed is that it takes a substantial amount of time just looking for usable picture/photos. This taking up roughly 30% of the entire project. I am considering using my friend's Shutterstock account, as this website contains high quality and a vast amount of material. Hopefully this website will help me complete my projects even faster allowing for more time to be used on the actual editing.

Reflection 9, Taylor

This week cooking became extraordinary because it was Thanksgiving. I was really excited to help out this year. I added a seafood effect to Thanksgiving and made delicious crab cakes.  . The ingredients included: one pound of crabmeat picked free of shells, 1/3 cup of crushed crakers, 3 green onions, 1/2 cup of finely chopped bell peppers, 1/4 cup of mayo, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of dry mustard, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, dash cayenne pepper, flour, and a 1/2 cup of peanut oil. I mixed all ingredients in a bowl until the eggs were beat, and then crushed the crackers and mixed it with the bread crumbs. Then I rolled the crab mix into balls, rolled the crab balls in the dry mix, made them into patties, and refrigerated for 30 minutes until they were set. Then I heated the oil and fried the crab cakes until they were a light brown color. Everyone loved the crab cakes and it encouraged me to continue learning how to cook. I did not know how happy food made people until I seen all big smiles at the Thanksgiving table.

Um... This is Reflection 9, right?


The Most Deluded Idiot in the World Award goes to... me!!! Some part of me knew the project was due before the end of the year, but it completely went past me that the 20% Time Project is due around mid-January. Here I am going at such a leisurely pace because I have other things to be done and I just push this off until Sundays, not realizing my window's closing fast. Anyway, enough of my dramatics. As the picture demonstrates, I've gotten far with my digital wolf model. I've partitioned it into about 49 pieces. Each has been painstakingly saved as its own file. The program I used to both obtain the wolf model from a 3D Model Warehouse without purchasing anything is SketchUp. Can you believe that some -ahem- trashy wolf models can go up to $50 online? It's ludicrous. That's besides the point. The model itself is only a mesh, which is where I run into my problem. If the model is only a mesh and not a base (solid), it has no volume and therefore, cannot be printed via my newly purchased PrinterBot. By the way, my father and I went shopping for printer filament this weekend and out of three spools, bought a wrong one (it's the weakest plastic available so it's useless to us). I emailed a Scott Sheppard(?) from Autodesk, asking if I could have the free download of the Mesh Enabler (changes mesh to base) since I am a student. Apparently, you have to ask personally and if not, you have to pay for it as a subscription member. I am not doing that. At this point, I am just waiting for his reply. If I do get the Enabler, my next step would be to export all 49 files as .stl so I could import them into Autodesk Inventor to make them bases. I'll give them a volume as well as cut of notches and holes for pins that will come into play when I put the pieces together. After that, I print the parts and start construction of the wolf. The construction will most likely take up my winter break. The electronics will too, but my father doesn't think it's much of an issue considering I only need to learn basic coding commands. I would say wish me luck, but it's pointless now.

Reflection 9

The script is done.  I worked hard the past few days and committed many hours.  Even though it was very time consuming, I had a lot of fun working on it.  I really enjoyed being creative and writing what I was thinking in my head, which I rarely ever get to do.  I definitely have no regrets choosing to make a short film.
Ok so the script is done, now we have to start filming.  I am aiming to do so at the end of the week, Thursday or Friday, and continue filming until winter break.  Before we start filming though we will read over the script with everyone acting in the film.  Once the actors know and understand their roles, we should have no problems filming.

Reflection 9

This weekend I didn't have too much time to work on 20% time, due to many Thanksgiving related events and it was a friends birthday. However, I have been working on a drawing and I had time to color it. It didn't turn out how I wanted it to, most likely because it I haven't got the hang of shading and blended with color yet. I think I need to watch more videos or practice more to master it. A family friend of mine who is a really good artist is coming home from college during winter break, and I can ask her for help. 

Reflection 9

This week I dedicated to research since a majority of my time was spent in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. I learned that doing single-legged squats can skyrocket a vertical due to the added resistance. Within the following week I plan on dedicating time towards that and see the results of it in the coming weeks. I did notice that I can get all of my fingers above the rim, but to complete a dunk I need a wrist above the rim. Hopefully, within the next 3-4 weeks I can achieve my goal and push the limits.

Reflection 9: Where I Spend Three Minutes in an Attempt to Make a Decent Thanksgiving Turkey Pun out of the Title and Fail. My Productivity Knows No Bounds...

   Please excuse the tardiness of this post; as I was at my grandmother's for the entirety of Thanksgiving break, I was unable to access the Internet and upload this reflection at any point.
   This week, I finished the prologue/introduction to the story and began work on Chapter One. I did not get as much work done as I had hoped due to the presence of family ("Josh! Get off your computer and spend some time with your cousins!"), but I am more excited to stop researching and keep writing than I have been thus far and plan to work much more efficiently this week.
   Here is an excerpt from the prologue; constructive criticism is welcome! Or nonconstructive criticism!
   Or, if anyone would like to simply post some decent puns that blame the presence of Thanksgiving for my lack or productivity, that works as well!

"The buildings were no longer buildings; they were but charred husks that fell before the girl’s gaze. The great metropolis was aflame; bursts of blue, green, and purple plasma juxtaposed against a field of charred and melting structures that seemed all too insignificant against the never-ending inferno that consumed it. Great black forms, absences of stars in the sky whose metal hulls were accented by the fire fueled by human hatred below, dropped humanoid shapes or flashes of cold colors, landing or exploding respectively amongst the urban landscape. Even smaller, faint against the flickering flame but far too visible to ignore, were the inhabitants of the once prosperous beacon of culture and life: vague, anthropomorphic silhouettes blending with the background of the all-too-bright inferno. Many dueled, spears and blades of electrically warped and physically layered steel twisting against each other’s magnetic fields, sprays of blood visible even from the hilltop house whenever a weapon pierced through cracks in an opponent's armor, tangible or otherwise. The armored figures danced, caring not for those among them who did not carry blades: civilians, innocents, men and women and children with hopes and dreams now twisted and turned to ash; every one of them burned in that all-consuming, daemonic fire, withering and charring as the flames devoured them and forced them to kneel before its might as if in reverence of its near-divine power.
   For a moment, the massacre of those billions of human lives her was reflected in the girl’s eyes.
   Forever, the spirits of those damned to die in the inferno would haunt her very soul.
   The girl stood stunned, mouth agape, assailed by the screams of ghosts that were not yet ghosts but people who would soon depart the land of the living, as the great city, countless inhabitants, and beautiful world of Kyoto burned before her."

Reflection #9

This week I began to learn the first chord progression of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas": G, C, A7, D, B7, and E minor. I also learned the strumming pattern for the song: Down, Down, Down, Up, Down, Down, Down, and Up. The importance of learning these things is that I have formed the basis of playing a much more difficult song. What's important about this week is that I am building up confidence knowing that I can play a difficult song as long as I learn it piece by piece. I will constantly use what I learned over the next few weeks as I gradually perfect my playing of the song. The pattern I noticed was that learning the basics of this song was much easier than beginning to learn the last song. Clearly this is because I have much more practice now playing the guitar, so learning a new song comes a lot easier to me. This week I did very well- I didn't perfect the first part of the song, yet I still progressed very far and learned most of the chord progression. Next week I will continue to learn the song, and hopefully move on to the next chord progression. Until then!

Reflection 9


This week, because of the Thanksgiving break, I did not do much. But, wherever I saw Kannada words, I tried to figure out what it was. I improved my reading skills, even though I did not actually write the alphabet. I will work on writing the alphabet next week.

Reflection Week 8

So much has been happening these past two weeks. First of all, a bad cold kept me out of school for a few days last week, and then we had Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, and we all know how teachers cram a bunch of tests and stuff right before a break. I mean, to be fair, pretty much all they have left of the second marking period material is between now and winter break. In addition, I got into my first choice school on Friday, so that's where I'll be attending next year! (yay!!) I've also been away from a smartphone for a week since mine broke. I hadn't realized how much I used it in my day-to-day activities (maybe that's a bad thing). Anyway, there's so much going on, and I didn't think about my 20% project much. I did have some conversations about Fencing equipment but that's really it.

Reflection 9

This week I did not get much done towards my 20% goal but I did get a few clips for my final video. In the clips I noticed a few mistakes that I was making with my follow-through. I would usually twist my hips too much so the ball would go off to the side and miss the goal. Not only that but it also makes the ball get a spin and curve instead of giving the ball the knuckle effect, with no spin. I have to make sure I fix that and continue working on making the ball dip next week. Hopefully, I can fix this big mistake I have by next week and maybe even complete my twenty percent project.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Weekly Journal 8

November 29, 2014
This week on November 29, 2014, I began my twenty percent time session by reviewing the words I learned on November 20th. After, I began to learn the following words in ASL: “blue,” “green,” “yellow,” “red,” “brown,” “orange,” (both fruit and color), “gold,” “silver,” “dollar”/ “dollars,” and “cost”. Learning these words are important to learn if I ever find myself needing to ask an individual for an item in a specific color, or if I wish to know the price of an item. I could use both the color terms and the money terms on any given day, especially if I am at the mall or any store in general. This week I noticed the usual patterns of memorizing, and that of having the alphabet play a big part in a lot of words. For example, for the color/fruit, “orange,” first the letter “c” is needed which is then followed by the letter “s”. This week I believe that I have done very well, particularly because of how easy the words seemed to be compared to others I have previously learned. Next, I will continue to learn the first 100 basic words in ASL.

Reflection 9

        



So obviously because of my schedule and all the holiday planning I wasn't able to buy the watercolors or charcoal I wanted to. I did however try drawing something with some markers! My first thought was that it was 10x more difficult because I had to try to NOT mess up. If I drew something wrong or didn't like the way it came out I had to deal with it because marker is obviously nothing like pencil. Although this made drawing a lot more harder I love the color and boldness of drawing in marker. After this first drawing I think I want to stick to markers for a while longer and see what other really cool things I'll find to draw. 

Reflection #8

Unfortunately, I was not able to propose the "Save the Piano Fund" to Mr. Esposito, since, according to Mrs. Linnet, he was in and out of the school and was busy with meetings, so hopefully this week I can finally share my idea with Mr. Esposito.

With that, I did a bit of a layout one what I wished to do in order to get the project rolling:

  • Contact the PSA to see if they are willing to make a donation towards the repair of the piano.
  • Visit the "Loria Music" shop in Rahway to see if they know any piano repair services available in Union County or beyond (perhaps ask if they would like to make a donation).
  • Go around my local high school, generally around the band room, and ask the music directors and students for any donations that they are willing to provide towards the repair. Most of these people I am very close with, so it would be my best bet for donations. I could also ask the band directors if they know of any piano repair services.
  • Come in contact with anybody in the Music Club at Magnet and see if they have anyone willing to donate to the cause.
  • Have a food drive at the end of the school day to earn profits towards the piano repair.

This is the basic list of plans I have so far if this project is approved. I can partially complete points 2 and 3 in the case of the piano repair service.

In the mean time, Alex out.

Reflection 9



          Last week I said that I’d work harder this week but that didn’t happen. In fact, I think I made more progress last week than this one. We didn’t have 20% time last week so that was a huge drawback. And then, even though we had two days off, we had a lot of family over for thanksgiving so there was no time to practice. I think I might actually have a real solution this week though. I’ll simply practice in the morning. I always have some time before I leave the house for school and I’d be able to do it every day. I’ll try it out.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Reflection 6

I was not in school on Wednesday the 19th when we had 20% time, but earlier that week, I had lunch with a good friend of mine who goes to APA. She told me about her experience as a theater student, and I asked her some general questions about performing. What she said about performances had to do with technical presentation. She said to focus on breath control and volume. Breath control was important because when someone's voice sounds a bit shaky, it makes him/her look nervous. Anything that detracts from the actual performance is to be avoided. Volume was important because it is another thing that can detract from the performance. If the audience can't hear you properly, or they can hear shakiness in your voice, your performance will not be as strong. Next week, I hope to work on volume in my performances.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Reflection VII

This week during 20% time I decided to use the skills that I have learned so far and attempt a drawing using all of them. It sort of well but it took a while and I had to erase several times. I think it looks kind of good but as I got towards the end of the drawing I realized that I started it too high up on the paper so a bit of the drawing got cut off. However, the part that got cut off doesn't really matter too much and the drawing looks fine without it. From this week, I plan to continue practicing what I have learned so far and continuing to learn new things. Also, I have decided that I am not going to post pictures at all because when we do finally present in the end, I want the pictures to have not been seen before but, I might post them all into the final reflection.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Reflection 8

This week I have advanced in CSS quite a bit. I used Code academy as usual for my lessons. So far CSS isn't as hard as I thought it would be initially. I had done simple inline CSS but normal CSS is a bit different. I learned how to make a picture table that has clickable links to begin my lesson this week. I also learned how to use separate files for CSS and HTML. However, the 2 sheets correspond. For really basic CSS, you need to have a "selector" which is a selected piece of the file, and a property (color,font-family, size) and a value. It is very simple and similar to HTML. As I delve further into CSS, it will most likely get a lot harder.

REFLECTION SIETE

Heyyyyyyyy people of the Earth!!! So for this weeks twenty percent project I worked on various E chords, B chords and D chords. These are a bit more difficult for the Ukulele than some of the other chords I've learned, and I've become better at some than others. But it's all a process, which is what learning an instrument is. I guess this is important because it's broadening my knowledge of the instrument and allows me to play various songs. To play an instrument you have to know every chord and note. And to play a variety of songs you need these chords as well. I think I did fairly well. I'm not perfect, but I am a beginner, so its not expected of me to be perfect. Next I might just try combining all of them into various songs. We shall see!

REFLECTION 6

Good Day To All The People!!!!!!! (I don't really know what that was sorry). So really what I have done this week is sharpen my skills. I was away for a while so I didn't really get the chance to learn anything new as bringing a Ukulele on a trip probably isn't the best idea. So honestly I just worked on the skills I had begun to develop. For example, I can play the song Hallelujah much better than before; it's honestly rather smooth at this point!!! For next week I'm probably going to learn some new chords! Wish me luck!!!

Week 7: reflection

In the last 2 weeks I've made a bigger effort in keeping my blog updated. I have been so stressed lately so I've accommodated my diet. I'm still eating healthy but I can't find the time to eat as much. At work I tend to have a random snack here and there to fill me up till I get home. Once I get home I feel like it's too late sometimes so I just go to sleep. I researched how many other people find this problem and took a couple notes on vitamins I should take to help out. I realized I eat a lot more in the morning so I also took that into account. Now I have started having a big breakfast everyday and drinking a lot more water. Over all, I'm still adapting and learning.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Reflection 8

We are coming close to our deadline for the script.  We have about a week or so to finish it.  During the Thanksgiving break we will work hard, so it shouldn't be a problem getting it done.  We have at least half the script written already and we have the plot laid out.  Also, the we still need to get actors and props.  We have a good idea of who is going to be in it, but we just need to make them definite.  The props are also thought of, we just need to find them.  We may have to end up buying a few things, but it's o.k since not much is needed.

Reflection 7

This week in my 20% time project has been a good one. The video my friend recommended for me is pretty helpful and I think I'll be where I want to be soon. The videos are so much easier to learn from than the still pictures. Seeing a person actually do it makes it seem easier than it actually is and trust me it isn't easy. I honestly didn't think it would take me this long to learn but I guess that was the point of doing this project. We were suppose to do something that wasn't necessarily easy and something to do for one week. I just cannot wait to finally get this thing done.

Reflection 8

I created a text box that contained a simple message for the players. This text box appears when you press the SPACE key. It was time-consuming to create this text box because I had to adjust the box countless times to fit in a suitable shape. I also had to find a way to make all of the text to fit. I had to sacrifice quality over quantity since all of the dialogue that I wanted to fin in would not work unless I simplified the goal of the game. The dialogue is simply a note that was given to the player for a reminder of the goal of the game. This is basically all I had to do, since it was difficult to find ways to draw a text box with words that could fix it.

Next time, I plan on refining the text box if need be and to find a way to make a final boss. I have the free version of GameMaker, thus I have limitations to the amount of objects that I have to create. I'll also have to make another trade-off (haha) to do that.

Here is the pic of the text box and the programming behind it:


Reflection 8

I have an Autocad Dog model downloaded. Thanks to how slow my laptop works with the program, it has taken hours for me to make improvements to the proportions of the body measurements to make the model wolf-like but I'll cope. Skimming the e-books, I'm still kind of winging it through three dimensional Autocad, considering I only am familiar with two dimensions. Besides that, my father has put a 3D printer on hold, PrinterBot. Apparently, it had good reviews in a magazine. Hopefully, during Thanksgiving (and on Thanksgiving permitting I have my laptop with me) I will be working further on the digital model, slicing it into parts that can be simply made by the PrinterBot and assembled. We have paused work on the electronics.

Reflection 8

I made a great amount of progress this week. I started sketching free hand a lot and I think that really helped me get some angles and features perfected. I've started drawing daily at a certain time each day, because I heard you work more efficiently that way. I also experimented with drawing in pen. Here are some of my favorites: 
 

Reflection 8, Taylor

This week I started my new job at chipotle. Chipotle's vision is to make food with integrity. I was trained all week on salsa. I learned how to make Fresh Tomato Salsa, Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa, Tomatillo Red Chili Salsa, sour cream, and Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette. The fresh tomato salsa is made with tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos, cilantro, kosher salt, and citrus juice. The tomatillo green chili Salsa's ingredients include tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, red onions, cilantro, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt and citrus juice. Chile de arbol, tomatillos, cumin, garlic, black pepper, salt, and tabasco are included in the tomatillo red chili salsa. The sour cream includes 100% cultured cream. And lastly the Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette is made with honey, red wine vinegar, kosher salt, black pepper, soy oil, oregano, and adobo. It was cool to learn how to make food from a different culture. I am looking forward to learning more stations at chipotle as well as increasing my knowledge on food for my 20% project.

Reflection 8

This week was really busy with all those tests and quizzes but I managed to find time for recording some clips of my knuckle ball. I still can't get the ball to dip as well as I want it to but I know it's going to take more practice. Next week I am going to try to practice a few times before the short break comes because I am going to be busy during that time. I will just continue to work on the dip and accuracy so that I can achieve my goal by the end of this project

Week 8

This week I only went to the fitness room twice. However after school, I began running/jogging and started doing squats. What I like about this whole thing is that I realized that I can eat as much as I want as long as I burn it all off. This marking period, I have health and in the beginning of each class our teacher makes us workout. The last workout we did was an ab workout and it was absolutely amazing because I felt the burn. I'm thinking of doing it on my own time three times a week. I haven't worked out in the morning like I said in the previous post because I'm just really not a morning person.

Reflection #7

This week my partner and I made paleo breakfast muffins. They were made with meatloaf and eggs in it. In addition, there was bacon in it. How delightful ! Pretty much we made a typical american breakfast in a single yummy treat. Since, we used almond flour (an essential substitute in the paleo diet) it held all the other ingredients together and made it low-carb. What fascinates me is how this usually "unhealthy" breakfast can be made into a nutritious meal. What changed it was the almond flour and that every produce used was organic. What I learned this week is that bacon is healthy. There is a common misconception that it is bad for you, however, all the bad fats are stored in hormones and non-grass fed meats but this one is organic therefore contains only healthy ones! A challenge we faced while preparing this dish was coming across the meatloaf crust. It was difficult making it in tact and making it fluffy and delicious in the end. Almond flour os the way to go and it makes baking easy and healthy!

Reflection #7

This week, I did some "productive procrastination." While I have no physical proof of any progress, I did some helpful purusing of the internet. I found a great youtube channel with step-by-step tutorials on how to make various articles of clothing. What's best about it is that the girl whose channel it is has a very similar style to mine. I'm definitely going to use some of her tutorials in the future.

Reflection 7

We decided to stray from baking sweets this week. We found a recipe for "breakfast muffins" from paleogrubs. These "muffins" are actually like miniature meat loaves with an egg inside and bacon on top (or maybe like an egg pie with a meat loaf crust and bacon top?). They are very dense and filling since they are low carb and also the perfect thing to hold you. It's a complete breakfast; it has protein and healthy fat and minumal carbs...and, not to mention, bacon!! The only carby ingredient is almond flour (which is still relatively low carb), used to hold the ground beef together for the "crust."

There is a common misconception that all bacon is unhealthy because it is about half fat. Wrong. It is true fat is what stores the hormones and toxins in non-grass-fed beef and other meats. Since this follows paleo guidelines, we used organic, grassfed beef, eggs, and pork bacon. This means all the fat and meat is healthy. Have your bacon...and eat it, too!

Reflection 8

Truth be told, this week I didn't work too much on my project. Except for the occasional sketch I didn't look up any new tips or techniques to try out. Theres been almost no time to draw because of all my school work PLUS this unnecessary load of college papers I have to sort out. I was really hoping to try some water colors but I guess ill have to stop by A.C Moore sometime next week. Along with water colors I wanted to buy some charcoal. I want to try out all these different mediums because it really changes the way a drawing looks like and I want to see which style I want to focus on. Buying all these materials is going to be really expensive so managing money is going to be another obstacle.

Reflection 8

  This week has been pretty unproductive for me with my 20% time project, especially since I have been swamped with tests, other school projects, and personal issues. However, some sort of unexpected event did help me realize the importance of this project. After going to a concert this week, I lost my voice and could not talk to communicate to my friends and family. I took this time to try and apply the words I learned to answering questions, even if they didn't understand what I was signing. Putting the words I learned in context and using them for real life situations was completely different from simply signing them by my computer. It gave me an understanding of what the people who use sign language every day feel, and it has given me more incentive to progress with this project as much as I possibly can.

Reflection 8

Due to the four major exams assigned this week, I'm afraid I did not accomplish as much as I would have liked. I have done more research into the battles of the war, as well as some into the history and techniques of shinobi assassins (ninjas) and the rules of the Bushido (the samurai code of honor) for several of the characters; however, very little writing was actually done. I have planned out the prologue of the story (a very significant achievement for me, as I have always had trouble at the beginning of any writing piece), and have already pictured the rest of the story. To show some progress, below are several of the narrating characters in the novel (all are unnamed, as I view names as additions to, not foundations for, characters):
-A warrior monk and zealous worshiper of the Stars
-A genetically modified and synthetically enhanced shinobi assassin, whose entire family was murdered at the burning of Kyoto
-A high-ranking, loyal to Oda Nobunaga but longing for power he can never achieve by simply following in his daimyo's footsteps
-A scientist and explorer from a land far from the Systems, bringing with him alien technologies and knowledge
-A wandering samurai and poet, searching for truth in a chaotic, war-ridden society and seeking to perfect himself through honorable duels and less honorable tests of character and skill

Reflection 7

This week I didn't have much time to work on this project at home, but I did work on it a lot in class. I went to the craft store yesterday to buy more yarn, but they didn't have the same yarn I had. So, I'll go to a different one some time this week. The scarf's starting to get pretty long, and I'm happy about that, but it looks horrible in my opinion. I know I'm just learning, but I don't think I'll actually wear it like I planned. It's silly that I thought I'd be making sweaters by now...Maybe I could've if I had more time. This would be a great thing to learn over the summer when you have no responsibilities.
Other than that, I believe in myself and I know I'll finish this by the time mid-terms come around. I doubted myself before, but I've been making progress recently. I've been knitting faster and fixing my mistakes. I wish I could do more things but it really does take a lot of time.

reflection 8

My prediction for the outcome of this week was correct. I let all my assignments and tests get the best of me. I only went to the gym twice for a little while, therefore no actual progress was made. In addition, I haven't touched my soccer ball since last week. I'm striving towards practicing the rainbow later. It's going to be really great once I get the hang of it.

Reflection #8

This week I needed to find a new song to learn on the guitar. I've always wanted to play a Christmas song on the guitar, and seeing as we are rapidly approaching Thanksgiving I thought now would be the best time to try. So I started to learn "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", a holiday classic. My goal is to perfect the song before we leave for the holiday break. The song itself is certainly more difficult than "Stand by Me" to play on the guitar; there are far more chord transitions and two completely different sets of chord progressions. There were two new chords that I needed to learn in order to play the song: B minor and A7. I really liked the step up in difficulty; this is important because I need to challenge myself in order to get better. I didn't get a chance to play the song for long this week, but I certainly will do so over Thanksgiving break. Next week I will continue to practice the song. Until then!

Reflection 8


This week, I continued writing the regular alphabet and almost perfected it. I also worked on writing the complex alphabet, but learning it is a little difficult. I have not yet memorized the pattern, but I will work on it this week.