Reflection 15 (Last one)

Like I said in my previous post, I was able to lose all the weight I've gained and even more. I am currently 103 pounds, my "three measurements" are now 35-25-35. I still haven't gotten the flat belly that I really wanted but I'm working on it. My legs are much tighter, they definitely do not jiggle as much as they did before. I'm so nervous to present my 20%. Unlike other projects I don't have a final product but I am going to show the changes and improvements of my diets and workouts throughout the months and also my weight from the first post to my last.

Reflection #13

This marks the last Reflection blog for this 20% project. It's been a very uneventful time unfortunately, with the constant delays and unexpected changes in scheduling for getting the project approved. It was agreed upon that today would've have been the day to speak about the project idea to Mr. Esposito. Unfortunatley, Mrs. Linnett could not come in today, so i'm gonna have to present my idea and what was planned for it during my collaboration with Mrs. Linnett. 

The plan is not dead, however. I will still pursue getting the project green-lighted. A plan is lined out for discussion with Mr. Esposito, and I am sure that it will allow him to reliably bring the project towards the administration at UCVTS.

If you have been following my blog posts, I am happy you joined me on this project. I will see you with my next 20%. 

Reflection #14

For twenty percent time this week, Phoebe and I made paleo banana bread. Although we made this recipe before, we used a different recipe this time to try to compare the two and to taste the differences. The major difference between the recipes was that this one called for coconut flour. Now, last time we used almond flour however we learned that almond flour isn't supposed to be cooked at really high temperatures. The recipe called for cinnamon, walnuts, and chocolate chips. We cheated a little since the chocolate chips aren't paleo :) The setback we experienced was that the bread came out way too greasy. The reason we think that it came out too greasy is that we put too much coconut oil in it. In addition, we should have baked it for a little longer at a lower temperature but since we were short on time we really didn't think of that. Overall, this recipe tasted a lot better than the almond flour one even though we messed up with the baking a little bit. Banana bread is really tasty so maybe we can try an alternative recipe next time.

Reflection 13

This week my mind made another Paleo banana bread.
This time we used a different recipe; this one called for coconut flour (since almond flour actually isn't supposed to be cooked at really high temperatures). It had cinnamon, it had walnuts, and it had semisweet chocolate chips (not very paleo). Unfortunately, it came out a little greasy-- maybe because there was too much coconut oil. Maybe next time we'll just use less coconut oil. It may also have been greasy because it needed to bake longer. I'd like to experiment with this recipe and perfect it because I like it much better than the almond flour recipe I usually use.

Reflection week 14

This week for 20% time I tried one last drawing in an attempt to hopefully have something better than when I started. I guess it looks alright but its similar to one of the first drawings I drew. Besides that I didn't do much this week. 

Reflection 13

Last 20% time, I worked on customizing more of the theme base and succeeded in adding a title to the sidebar, changing the color of the sidebar, fixing the sidebar image so that it shows up, making the meta tags neater, and adding things to the html section. I added a before and after picture to show the differences between the two and what changes I made. There's no radical changes because I am not that skilled. However, this is a decent start in the journey of learning how to code. I can definitely say that I've learned a lot during this process and might continue on in expanding my knowledge in coding. It may not be end result that I originally pictured, but I'm still very proud of this. Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience and I'm going out of this knowing a lot more about coding than I did before.

Reflection 14

This week I continued to work on my presentation and practice "Stand by Me" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." While it's unlikely that "Christmas" will be perfect for the presentation, I hope to show the class how challenging it is and the progress I've made. The importance of this week's work is that I am continuing to tailor my presentation so that it will be as effective and introspective as possible. I will use the tools I learned this week in my presentation - like playing the guitar, practicing my presentation will make perfect. Like always, the more I practiced the presentation and the songs, the more comfortable I became. I believe I did well this week - while my guitar playing skills are far from perfect, it is so clear that I've made significant progress and will continue to make progress for as long as I play this fantastic instrument. Seeing as this is the last week of this semester's 20% project, there isn't anything left to do except give my presentation to the best of my abilities. I can't wait to share what I've learned and how far I've come. Until next semester!

Weekly Journal 14

January 18, 2015

This week on January 15, 2014, I began my twenty percent time by beginning to work on my presentation for midterms. I have decided to use a powerpoint presentation to display my project. I then reviewed the first seven out of fifteen basic sign language phrases. Then, on January 14th, I began my session by going over the alphabet and  the fifteen basic phrases. Constantly reviewing the alphabet and phrases is important because the more I practice them, the more likely I am to remember them a time from now. This is not a skill that I wish to forget because I feel as though it could come in handy some day. This week there were no patterns due to the fact that I did not learn anything new. I believe that this week I have done well with reviewing and getting a head start on putting together my presentation. Finally, I plan to finish off this project with reviewing everything that I have learning and finalizing my presentation that way I will be ready to present in class. This project has served as a valuable experience for me and I am most glad that I could finally learn something that interests me.

Reflection #11

This week I observed my partner make coconut flour waffles. I didn't contribute in any other way except for measuring the amount of ingredients i need. The reason is because i wanted to learn how to make them and by first watching someone else make them i can later do it on my own. I decided to test myself by doing this and then seeing if i can actually do it by myself. The recipe called for coconut crystals, eggs, coconut flour, and cinnamon. These ingredients made it low carb and paleo. After my partner finished making them we tasted them and we both agreed that we put in too much cinnamon. This is a setback that we experienced. In addition, we thought cinnamon would make the waffles more tasty but the cinnamon took over the flavor. TO make it less strong, we add berries to even out the flavor.

Reflection #10

For the first time I am finally preparing a dish on my own without the help of my partner Phoebe. In addition, this is an exciting week for I am preparing dinner for my family. They should be in for a surprise (hopefully).  I made paleo salmon burgers. The reason they are paleo is because they are organic and I will be consuming them without buns so technically its just a salmon patty with vegetables. This meal was fairly easy to make and so healthy at the same time! They cook on the grill really quickly because it took 5 minutes on each side at 450 degrees. While they were grilling, I prepared the vegetables. First i took out the tomatoes and washed them and then sliced them accordingly. After, I took out red onions (cried a little) and sliced them. Lastly, I added my favorite ingredient to the meal, AVOCADOS! You can prepare the avocados by either mashing them or just slicing them in cubes. I prefer to just slice it. When the burgers are done, I put all of the ingredients stacked on each other and top it off with the sauce of my choice (I choose ketchup). What I learned while preparing this meal is that paleo meals aren't all that complicated to make,. For instance, this is just a hamburger with out the bread. I didn't experience any setbacks except for maybe burning the patties a little bit. They ended up being delicious and I'm happy I finally prepared something on my own.    

Reflection 13, Taylor

This week I went back to baking. I made a scrumptious peach cobbler. All you need is peaches(peeled, pitted, sliced), sugar(white, 1/4), sugar(brown, 1/4), ground cinnamon(1/4 teaspoon), ground nutmeg (1/8 teaspoon), lemon juice(4 teaspoons), cornstarch( 2 teaspoons), flour(1 cup), Baking powder(1 teaspoon), salt(1/2 teaspoon), butter(6 tablespoon, chilled cut into small pieces) boiling water(1/4 cups). As you can see it is several directions to follow, and mixing was the most difficult part. The oven has to be preheated to 420 degrees. I combined the peaches, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch first, and then poured it into a 2 quart baking dish, and allowed it to bake for ten minutes. Then I combined flour, white and brown sugar, baking powder, and salt into the butter, and then stirred it with water. I forgot an ingredient and started over twice. This baking project was frustrating. I then removed the peaches and sprinkled over the mixture, and baked for another thirty minutes, and the ending result was delicious. I learned again from this experience to follow directions carefully.

reflection 15

The powerpoint is almost done, I just need to add a few steps to make the project progress flow smoother. Seeing the progress picture by picture was really cool because it goes from essentially nothing to an amazing project. I've also begun rehearsing what I am going to say and the actual layout of the presentation. Can't wait to preset this to the class!

reflection 13/14

I've begun work on the powerpoint the past two weeks. Ive been trying to find previous saves of all my works to show the progress of each project. I dont think I will have enough time to work on one more, but I am extremely proud of the works that I made this semester.

Reflection 13

For my final project, I've decided I'm going to create a powerpoint. For my introduction, I'll play the fencing scene in the princess bride and discuss the techniques used.  Then, I'll go over what I learned, what I could've done better, what constraints I had, etc. I'd bring in a visual aid, but weapons are...well...weapons and I'm almost positive I can't bring one in.  Maybe I can borrow an old fencing mask from someone, but the equipment is very expensive so I'm not sure if I will. I hope I'm able to make a nice presentation that'll be long enough.

Relfection 15

So at this point I am preparing my presentation. A website would almost be impossible to make at this point, however I have still learned quite a lot of HTML and CSS coding. At this point I'll have to settle for a very simple website and it will not be as good as I planned it to be due to money constraints and domain costs. I'll keep searching though, but time has ran out.

Reflection 14

Last week, I got to play violin with my friend who was back in college. He gave some pointers as to what to do and was very encouraging with his statements. Although his advice was mostly to "keep practicing," I very much valued the opinion that was outside the Internet and was much more personal. Also, I practiced my hand gestures to soften my very harsh stroking of the violin. To make the strokes more gentle, I've had to move my hand in a very flowy manner with just the bow itself, and transfer that gentleness to the violin slowly. As I continue to narrow down my search for performance pieces, I want to take another trip to Sam Ash for more music.

Reflection 13

During winter break, I found solace in listening to many, many violin quartets doing covers of famous songs. As I wrote my college applications, the Youtubers StringSpace were always in the background, as well as the Vitamin D quartet. This helped me get accustomed to the sound of the violin more, and really solidify my goals as to what I'm aiming for. In addition, I've become a little more decisive as to what to play for the class, and I've narrowed my options down. I'm still scared that I will mess up, especially since someone cannot perfectly learn violin in such a short span of time!! My arm movements are still shaky, but my friend did give me a shoulder rest!! Finally, my left arm won't hurt as much anymore from holding up the violin. The violin rest itself is a weird feeling to have on your shoulders and it is something I need to get used to.

Reflection 15

This week instead of exercising has been used to gather all the information for the up and coming twenty percent due date of 1/16/15. I started to make the PowerPoint and thought of other ways to present my progress, and thought what better way than a short video. So my partner and I are going to create a short video accompanied with the PowerPoint in order to show all the results we garnered over the past four and a half months.

Reflection 14

So so so this week I have been so busy, it's tragic really. Sleep deprivation will be the death of me.

Pictures are saved on my flash drive (which of course is at school) so they will be posted with the next reflection (the last reflection???).

Midterms are approaching, which means presentations are also! I haven't quite decided yet but I think my presentation will consist of a PowerPoint highlighting the many aspects of realistic drawings and maybe showing some before & after (meaning good & bad) drawings of mine. The excitement is setting in.

So look forward to the pictures and stay fabulous.

Reflection 13

During class I worked on improving my powerpoint, reviewing the signs I will be presenting to the class, and practicing how I want to present my topic. I'm a bit worried that my presentation won't go exactly the way I want it to because of the limited amount of practice I have had, but I'm confident that I will be able to show exactly how much I learned over the course of this project. I hope to finish the powerpoint by wednesday and be able to practice just in case I must present on friday. Wish me luck!

Reflection 15

I am so, so sorry (please forgive the redundancy) for the latency of this reflection; I have had a high fever for the last few days and, as such, have not been in the best of health and have not been thinking straight, so to speak.
In any case, the Twenty Percent deadline is quickly approaching, and to say that I feel woefully under-prepared is a gross understatement. I feel as though I have not written enough and as if I have very little to discuss during the presentation. That said, I'm sure I can put something presentable (pun intended) together.
This week, I have written more of the story, but could not complete as much as I had wished due to the aforementioned viral infection (thanks, viruses). I have very little to say, sadly. There has been no changes in the last week, and all my feelings have been summed up in the last reflection (sorry about that, by the way; I wasn't exactly "in a good way" at the time).
This coming week, I plan to work on the presentation and pray to the Old One and every Lovecraftian entity I can think of to aid me through the end of this project.

Cthulhu Fthagn, Ia! Dagon!, and Umbasa, this is Josh signing of... ONE. LAST. TIME.*




*Until next marking period.

Reflection 15

As a whole, I really enjoyed doing twenty percent time. I learned something that I really wanted to learn but never got the chance to, which is learning to write Kannada. Though I am not perfect, I learned a lot from this and I will continue to perfect it. For the presentation, I originally thought about writing the Kannada alphabet, while saying it, and writing some words, but I since I have not fully learned the complex alphabet, I will write some basic words and speak some Kannada. This was not originally the plan, but I thought, why not speak some Kannada while also writing it. It shows that I have improved my Kannada both ways. I am really excited to show my peers what I have learnt over the semester.

Reflection 13

This being my last post for this semester/project, I want to conclude my research and whatnot with more of a reflection on what I was able to accomplish during this short (relatively short) time period. I feel this may be an appropriate time to be doing this and plus, I am not too much in the mood to be researching about baking because midterms are coming up and I really need to study/do homework. Besides having a considerable amount more baking experience and practice, I was able to research about baking and I think I have learned a nice amount about baking and some of the science behind it all. Above all, I was able to bake and have fun whether it be with my little baby brother, or just baking with my girlfriend, I had a good amount of fun with this project and I enjoyed myself. Its been a cool semester. Bring the next.

Reflection 13

This week I'm finishing up my scarf or I'm going to try to. It's very time consuming and difficult. When knitting you can only really focus on knitting, because if you look away you can drop stitches or mess up somehow. I've heard crocheting is easier than knitting. I think a lot of factors have contributed to this project and why it's been so difficult. Maybe I chose the wrong type of yarn to start out with. I definitely set my goals way too high in the beginning of this assignment.
Also, I think I should've dedicated more time to this, but it's hard to do that. I think something that isn't so time consuming and frustrating would be better to learn as an in-school project, because of the stress it brings when you don't have time to work on it. This was a good experience, though. It made me learn a little about knitting, and even though I absolutely hate it, I think after this is over, I'll try to knit something easier and smaller.

Reflection 12

For my competition on Thursday, I made paleo energy balls. I used dates,balmonds, walnuts, vanilla, coconut oil, salt and cinnamon. It was easy to do in a food processor. First I whizzed up the dates, and then I added the nuts. I pulsed it until the bits were chopped but not pulverized. All I did after that was scoop the mixture into balls. They were sticky, so I toasted some coconut shreddings and rolled the balls in them. I refrigerated them and brought a few to my competition. They were the perfect thing and were heathy and delicious!

Reflection 12

Over this past week, it was very hectic to film, with people involved, myself included having to go to AP Sessions, assemblies and other complications., Nonetheless, we got some filming in by the end of the week. We definelty do not have enough time to finish the movie, but we have done the majority of the filming. I plan to display m progress with showing a scene and all of the effects and visual tools i learned with making the movie.

Next week I will have to pack in the last of the filming and editing the entire movie. I guess I will have to bring my laptop to school to accomplish this.

With the software, I will begin to add effects and fix any inconsistencies in the clips. I have already organized them and they are ready to be edited.

Reflection 14

Fortunately, I've completed the game in time but I have been unsuccessful to fix that music bug from last reflection. For now, press the "Q" key to stop the music if it loops and "W" (if I remember correctly) to play the music. As presentation day looms, I have to work on preparing my game to show to the world. I have to export the game to be playable (and to test if it works) outside of my computer. I briefly read over these links:

http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/61440/how-do-i-share-my-game-maker-games

http://docs.yoyogames.com/source/dadiospice/000_using%20gamemaker/009_distributing%20your%20game.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiKGxJLnscQ

and I'll have to test this out when I come home.

After exporting the game to Windows/PC, I will test if the game will work in the school computers by either putting it to a USB or sending the file to my school email. This is the plan that I want to test out. If all else fails, I'll bring my laptop to play the game over. Good luck, everyone~!

Reflection 11

Although I was not in class for 20% time this week, my work outside of class consisted mainly of practice. As a suggestion by one of my friends who goes to APA, I sat in front of the mirror and tried to bring all of the skills that I've been researching into play. I tried to be loud and speak clearly, I tried to commit myself to the character, and I tried to improve on the little details of my performance. I think everything has come together nicely, and I'm proud of my progress.

Reflection 11

Over break, i could not do much with filming for it was impossible to bring all the actors together for even a couple hours. But I did accomplish some scenes right before break.

Before break we performed several scenes that incorporated some basic effects and visuals. Additionally, during several of the scenes we were interrupted by teachers. The scene incorporated a bullying scenario, which several teachers stumbled on, and interrupted thinking it was an actual event. Those scenes were a challenge to film and were a a true pain to perform.

Additionally, I acquired a new laptop for my birthday, which I plan to use to really help and benefit my editing process, speeding up and increasing its quality.

We also incorporated several different camera angles and movements to make it really life like and organic in the scenes.

Reflection 14

I am only a human being... Sadly, I am constantly reminded of that fact. The wooden skeleton is done. I've used the most basic of coding to get the LEDs and the servos working. I will only be having the ears and jaw move. All I need to do now is insert the electronics, cover the wolf in foam where needed to fill out the body, and then cover it in fur. Please God, let me make it before Friday. I still don't exactly know what we have to do for our presentation. Can someone kindly inform me?

Reflection 14

Since our final project is due in less than 10 days, I have began my final drawing and starting recording the process. The drawing is coming along fine but I doing it slowly so it can be as realistic as possible. I keep on redoing the outline of the face because that is probably the most important at it is the structure. On top of this, I also have to work on my presentation. Using my reflections as a timeline of events, I am going to give a summary of my progress and then reflect back on what I learned, how it affected me and how I could have done it better. Hopefully I'll have everything finished on time without added stress. 

Reflection 12

I during my fitness class I did a lot of legs exercises using a high tension rubber band. I also did jump exercised with a few wall squats in between. I have also been training for a marathon lately and the running is helping my legs gain strength and propulsion.

Reflection #12

As the dead-line for the first 20% nears, I am in a rush to STILL get the project accepted by my Principle Mr. Esposito. He's been in quite a few meetings recently, and Mrs. Linnett is doing her best to schedule a meeting with him. It's somewhat frustrating that this has been the giant brick wall that is impeding the progress of this project. Fortunately, even if this does not get accepted in time for the dead-line, I will still pursue the project in hopes of getting it green-lighted. Magnet, outside of it's vocational engineering courses, carries a group of talented individuals. Some of these people are musicians like myself, practicing for several years or just starting to grow interest in music. A piano like the one in the MHS lobby should not be abandoned. It is a a powerful, not to mention expensive piece of musical ingenuity. I wish for this piano to get fixed up and maintained, even after I leave Magnet. There are people who will play it, spread music and harmony through the halls. That is what a piano is meant to do, not to sit and rot in a lobby.

This will be my second to last reflection for the 20% project. If anyone has been following this, I am thankful for your interest and I hope my peers will do well in their 20% works.

In the meantime, Alex out.

Reflection #13

This week I focused on the actual TED talk I will be giving in little more than a week. I constantly referred to the given rubric, and am tailoring my talk so that it will be as interesting and informative as possible. I believe I've come up with a clever introduction, that ties in nicely with my learning path from the beginning of the project to the end. The importance of this week's work is that it sets me up for the actual presentations beginning January 20th. The more I practice the presentation, just like playing the guitar, the more comfortable I become with the material. I will use my presentation ideas developed this week in my actual TED talk, and will continue to develop my presentation. I believe that, considering I was improvising my talk when I first started practicing, I did well (I have a clear vision of what I plan on doing). While I will not be able to play a full length song, as originally intended, I plan on making the progress I've made abundantly clear to the audience. Next week, I will continue to work on the talk and will complete the written aspects of the presentation. Until then!

Reflection 15

This week I mostly focused on working on my final video. Sadly something terrible happened and one of my clips got deleted. The worst part is this one clip was showed one of my best examples of the knuckleball and showed the most progress. I am currently just focusing on the clips I have to put together a nice video but this definitely will impact my final video. I hope that maybe I can either go out later tonight or sometime during this week to record a couple more clips and maybe catch a really nice example on camera. I am pretty proud of my overall progress with this knuckleball and I definetly got the technique down but of course I will always need to continue to practice it because there is always room for improvement.

reflection 15

This week I focused on working on my video for my presentation. I ran into a few obstacles while continuing it. When I started it, I remembered that the videos from when I first started, were on my flash drive that I misplaced. So, I had to remake those videos, and then continue to record the final videos for my completed tricks. In addition, I went to the gym for the majority of my free time this week. I've lost a lot of body fat and gained a lot of muscle weight. I am excited for everyone to see how much I've improved over the months on my soccer tricks.

Weekly Journal 13

January 11, 2015

This week on January 9, 2015, I focused on the fifteen basic phrases I have learned over the past two weeks. For whatever reason, I still have a hard time trying to sign “Why are you learning sign language?” Generally speaking, I have trouble using my hands for things like this. For example, I cannot clap at the same time as a large crowd because my hands simply do not allow me to do so. As hard as it is to explain my slight problem, I feel as though this has something to do with me not being able to follow the man in the video when he is signing this particular question. For this reason, I spent a lot of my time trying to learn this question in ASL. The importance of this question is quite significant. I am learning ASL because I am fascinated by the different ways that people can communicated amongst themselves, especially through sign language. Perhaps someone else feels the same and I would very much like to know why they learned or are in the process of learning ASL. I could ask this question to practically anyone I meet who knows ASL. This week I did not notice any patterns during my twenty percent time session. This week I believe that I have done okay, although I would have liked to do more. Next, I will try to review everything that I have learned in ASL.

Reflection 15

This week I've been focusing on my final drawing for our project. The first portrait i did on the character Walter White came out with way too many flaws but of course this was a practice run. With the new larger canvas i bought last week i started my second and hopefully final attempt at this portrait. So far I've gotten all the outline done and i need to start adding all the little details and shading. One difficulty I've ran into is the new canvas I bought. When i bought the board I made sure it was for all medias (so pencil included) but the texture is rough and the pencil doesn't go smoothly on the canvas. It hasn't ruined my drawing but it has made it more difficult to work with. By Friday i should be done and I cant wait too how it turns out!

Reflection 14

This week I had a reality check and realized that this project is due next week. I crammed like there was no tomorrow. I'm focusing on polishing the skills I already know because I haven't practiced them in a while. I’m still “cramming” right now but I’ll have to start working on the video soon. There’s not really any time to start learning a new move. I’ll use the weekend to keep developing my skills and start recording on Monday. The video will most likely be a short collaboration if the things I learned. That should give me enough time to be ready for the presentations on the 16th.

Reflection 12

This week during 20% percent time, I got around to adding the meta tags to the theme and tweaking some things in the CSS as I added modifiable features in the meta tags. As shown in the picture, I added the options to upload your sidebar image and change the color of the background, text, link, link hover, tags, and tags hover. I believe I also added in the meta tag for the fifth link in the sidebar, so if people wanted to insert another link, they can. Something that happened while I was working on the theme was that the sidebar image was not showing up after I uploaded. I tried figuring out what was wrong and fixing it, but nothing I did at the time worked. So I'm gonna spend some time fixing that and hopefully changing some other features.

Reflection 11 (winter break)

Over the break, I followed through with my idea that I would use a new base code, one that was closer in appearance to what I wanted my theme to look like and was a bit more user-friendly. That being said, I happened to stumble across a base code while searching for a theme for my main blog. I didn't end up using one of the creator's themes, but I did really want to use her base code. I included a picture of what it looks like. So far, I'm really liking it. much better than the one I was using before. This base code, however, forces you to really code a lot as a majority of the sections are missing or incomplete
so that you must fill them in yourself. Which I thought was fine because I wanted to do most of the customization myself anyway. I believe the most I did over break was install the theme on another sideblog, modified the CSS format, and changed some of the dimensions (those are really the only things I do best at the moment) and later, I will add to the meta tags portion (which was blank) and the html section.

The Unlucky Thirteen...

...is anything but unlucky! well okay maybe a little, as I forgot to bring my instrument to twenty percent time this week. BUT, but, that does not mean I haven't been practicing!!! I have been, a lot. Like a lot a lot. This week my focus was strumming pattern. There are a lot of variations I could do for this song that'll still make it sound good. But I'm fairly certain I've found one that I like. So once I figured that out (which took me about half the week), I've spent the rest of my time really practicing it, playing it with the right rhythm and keeping the rhythm steady. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but I think I've done fairly well with it. I'm not great yet, but I have another week to practice it before midterms really come around. After that I think I'll start deciding what exactly I want to say. Because really there is alot I could say. That's all monkeys! tata!

Reflection 11

This week I made coconut flour waffles. I did it on Christmas morning because my mom found a recipe, and I thought it would be a nice gesture on my favorite holiday. It called for coconut crystals as sweetener, eggs, coconut flour, and cinnamon. This is what makes it low carb and paleo. However, I did not put enough cinnamon in them; I didn't want them to taste like cinnamon, but I think the cinnamon is just supposed to make them more flavorful, since they were sort of bland. However, I took some frozen berries and reduced them in a pot on the stove to make a warm berry sauce. This definitely made it taste better. I also made some bacon (hormone-free, organic, grass-fed) for some protein and variety. Overall, it was delicious!

Twelve

Gonna be honest, dragging myself out of bed to practice was hard. But I did it! Don't get me wrong I love playing and learning, but sleeping has also been nice too.

Okay back to business. So my final choice was tied between "Dead" by My Chemical Romance and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds. I really love both songs, and have different reasons for wanting to play them both. Finally, I decided; I'm going to play both. Noooo not for the midterm! For the music club concert, I'm going to perform Don't You (it fits with the theme for me (also please come to the show it's going to be great!)) and for the midterm I'm going to play Dead. Now it's kind of a morbid song, but honestly when I was planning on getting the ukulele in the first place, I specifically had this band in mind. So, I figured I should stick with my original plan of using this instrument to play My Chemical Romance songs (obviously that isn't the only band I've played from, because I need a variety to really learn the instrument). I've been practicing it A LOT. For this break period I mainly practiced the chords and playing them in order and working on not having to look at the chord sheet and not having to pause to correct my finger position. This will help me in doing the best performance of the song I can do, and also it helps build my 'muscle memory'. Considering how lazy I want to be during break, it's gone really well!!! Let's hope it stays on this path! Peace and Love! Feliz Navidad and a Happy New Year to you all!

Reflection 13

This week for 20% time I am starting back up with drawing. This week I am currently attempting a rather hard drawing that I know I will not be able to make look perfect but it should at least serve its purpose in showing where I am at now in the final week before the presentation. I have not improved as much as I had hoped to by the end of this but I had a feeling it would happen because I was terrible at drawing to begin. Whats done is done and at least I learned some, I have thought about it and I will probably look for something else to do for the second marking period. That is about everything for now, I will reflect on this project more during the presentation.

The Eleventh Reflection

So at this point is been more so narrowing down my options for what to perform for the midterm presentation (because lets be honest, I'm learning how to play an instrument, I have to do a demonstration). I've really been working with the songs I Don't Love You, You Are My Sunshine, Dead, Vegas Skies, Fix a Heart, and Don't You (Forget About Me). I know, it looks like a lot but I've honestly by trying a bunch of different songs with all different types of chords, and I feel that these best represent where I stand as a player. So I've been testing these out, trying out various strumming patterns and throwing in extra chords here and there for some of the songs. I figure I'll get as near to perfect as possible (because really, there is no such thing as perfect) with these songs and then choose which one I enjoy playing the most. Because playing an instrument is more than just perfecting skills, its also about having fun and expressing yourself. So this week was honestly just in preparation for the midterm. I'm fairly certain that's how I'm going to be spending these next couple of weeks, seeing as midterms are coming up. Wish me luck!

Reflection 13

We filmed two more scenes this week.  We could have done more but due to meetings and other projects the actors' availability was limited.  Filming should be done soon.  Now I must plan what I am going to present to the class for the TED talk.

Reflection 12

I think this whole project made me realize that I really dislike knitting. Over the break I was barely motivated to do anything, let alone knit. I feel disappointed that I'm not as good as I thought I'd be. It's really hard to keep yourself concentrated when doing this, and knowing what to do when you make a mistake. My scarf doesn't look as great as I'd want it to, but I'm determined to finish it.
Over winter break I worked on it, but not as much as I think I should have. I told myself that I'd finish it over break, but I was very lazy. I think what this project did for me the most, was let me confirm who I am as a person. I'd want to continue bettering myself in this skill but I don't think I have the patience or motivation anymore. I'm glad that I chose this as my project, because at least now towards the end I know I don't particularly like it.

Reflection #12

Over the break, I was not able to get too much done. Instead of playing a lot of music, I was listening to so many great street musicians in New Orleans, as I was on vacation. Plus, I got a guitar of my own for Christmas! I no longer have to borrow one from a friend, and I was able to play "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" before I went to New Orleans. I worked on 20% for a couple of days before I left, in which I tried out the new guitar by practicing the song. All of this is building towards the presentation. I'm not sure how I will show my guitar playing skills, but I'm thinking of making a video with a few clips of me playing, to show my progress. As the presentation date approaches, I will continue to practice the song and will begin to work on the actual TED talk. That looks like what I'll be doing until January 20th. Until next week!

Reflection 12

During the break, I also didn't have much time to work on my 20% project. I guess I don't have a good excuse this time--but no one wants to do work during a break from school! Plus I had a lot of other work to make up. Anyway, I planned to go to a very big fencing tournament called Cetrullo. It's all day and I was excited to learn more about the complicated event. Unfortunately, my friend who was supposed to take me succumbed to a terrible sinus infection that has gone around, and his brother who was supposed to be fencing at the event had some horrible flu-like disease. So we didn't go. I think it's time to work more on my final project anyway, since the deadline approaches fast.

Reflection 11

Ok so the week before winter break, I had surgery and pretty much was out of commission sleeping on the couch for almost a week--and then I got a really bad cold and spent even more time sleeping. Jeez, I came back on Tuesday before break to see any teachers I might have missed and have the attendance record; and with my wound and cold ended up being very miserable during AHA day. I soon realized that nearly everyone else in my grade was also sick! Needless to say, I didn't really get much done on my 20% project.  Which I'm not very proud of but I feel my excuses are legitimate.

Reflection 12, Taylor

Over the break I was really sick and spent most of my time trying to sleep. I also spent a lot of time visiting family. I took every chance I could to give a helping hand in the kitchen with small things such as watching food and turning off the stove when things were done. On Christmas I managed to get out of bed and baked chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. I also baked a vanilla cake with my younger sister who is the queen in the kitchen. It is a shame that she is thirteen and can cook almost anything and every thing. Although cooking has become easier for me since I started my project, I'd still prefer just cleaning. One of the most important things that I have learned this far is to clean as you cook. My grandma would always fuss about this to anyone who is attempting to make something in her kitchen. It really makes things easier to do it this way instead of continuously letting dishes pile up. I plan to get back into the stroll of things during these last couple of weeks in the semester.

Reflection 14

So once again I'm late from last weeks reflection but I'm catching up. Last week I was finally able to buy the big  canvas I needed for my last drawing for this Twenty Percent project. Along with the canvas I bought 2 new drawing pencils, one for darker shading and a white pencil for better highlighting. I started my drawing and as I'm comparing it to the first one I did, the small changes I'm making is improving my final portrait a ton! The first drawing of Walter White really taught me what I should fix and what I should shade more. The drawing Im working on now is coming out just how I want it t so far, I'm really excited to see how it'll look when I finish. I'm taking my time with this one but I'm 110% sure I've timed everything perfectly and I'll be finished by the time our project is due.

Reflection 12

During break I did nothing... because there was nothing to do.  The script is done and the only thing we have to do now is film and edit.  If we keep a steady schedule of filming during co it should be done promptly.

Reflection 14 (I think?)

 This week went really bad.... I didn't put any work into my 20% project. I did not do any workouts or even eat correctly. I ate so much. I feel like I messed up everything to be honest. I was looking at myself in the mirror and was not happy with my body at all. I try so hard and I'm still not happy with myself. I realized that my main weakness was balancing my diet with my family's. This week I went to practically all of my relatives' houses from my dad's side. I ate soooo much beef, chicken, rice and drank so much soda. But then :)))))) I got a text from my neighbor asking if id be up for running with her after school. She was just so excited and motivated and it reminded me of myself at the beginning of this project. I asked for my parent's permission (bc I don't really live in the most friendliest neighborhood) and now starting I think tomorrow we're going to go running and then workout in my basement. I'm so excited. I'm kind of bummed out how I'm basically starting from scratch again. But at least I'm not alone and I'm doing it with a friend. I spend a lot of my time just thinking and arguing with myself and so I realized that I have every reason to be happy because to be honest I have been putting in so much effort into this project and I should be proud of myself and my body. I mean one thing I'm happy about is that I'm sure I can lose the weight I gained just by fixing my eating habits.   BTW sorry for the late submission! And I'm having a problem with tagging the post on the mobile version?? Is it okay if I don't tag it??

Weekly Journal 12

January 5, 2015

This week on January 5, 2015, I began my twenty percent time by reviewing the eight phrases I learned on December 22, 2014. I did not have time this week or over the break to work on reviewing a chunk of the basic words, however I do plan on working on that later this week. After reviewing the first eight phrases, I learned the last seven phrases: “Is this yours?” “Where is he/she?” “Are you married?” “Do you go to school?” “Nice to meet you.” “Do you understand me?” and “Why are you learning sign language?” As with the first eight, learning these final seven phrases is very important due to the fact that they are solid conversation starters. I could use any of these fifteen phrases when speaking to a deaf-mute. A new pattern that I noticed this week was when I was learning how to sign, “Nice to meet you” it joined two fingers together to communicate the action of meeting. This shows how sign language incorporates different everyday signs that people who can speak and hear do even when they do not realize that they are doing it. On an unrelated note, I believe that the hardest phrase was the final one, “Why are you learning sign language?” This question has a lot of hand movements and it is quite confusing, this is one that I will surely have to review very often. This week I believe that I have done okay. I could have done more, however time simply slipped away from me. Next, I hope to review all fifteen phrases and if time permits, find and learn more phrases online.

Reflection 13

During the course of winter break, I fell ill and was unable to work on the game. I was patching up some tiny holes and mistakes that were left behind for this week. There were no major changes, but the only things that I attempted to do were to stop the music looping bug (which failed) and making the game more pleasant aesthetically. Several instances of the visual appeal is to animate some of the enemies so they would feel more alive. Also, I changed the pause menu to be more player friendly by putting instructions!

For future patches, I would like to continue to fix the music bug.

I would like to say "here is a pic of the new pause menu," but my computer was having connecting issues so I can not show the picture at this time.

[insert picture here]

Reflection 12

I'm ashamed to report that I haven't worked on my 20% project at all over break. I've been very busy with family matters and honestly, I wanted to experience the break for what it was: a break from school and schoolwork alike. However, before break started I managed to form my powerpoint and organize how I want to present my findings. I started the first couple of slides and I practiced how my entire presentation would play out. I will  have more to report by the end of the week, but this week is piled up with presentations and projects with FBLA, a spanish video, and an english speech. Hopefully, I will complete another chunk of the presentation.

Reflection 14

My Friday and Saturday nights were spent on the gym pushing myself doing stretches, cardio, and power lifts to strengthen my legs. The repercussions are insanely sore legs Unfortunately, on Sunday I got sick with stomach ache, sore throat and nose congestion so it prevented me from attending the gym that day. I hope this doesn't linger on with me for the entire week because this will prevent me from filming my project because I won't be at my best. This sickness can potentially hinder my production and I hope it goes away as soon as possible.

Reflection 13

This week I really did not do anything because it was Christmas break. A majority of my time was spent on wrapping and delivering gifts rather than on this project. Towards the end of the next week and to be specific from the night of January 2nd on I intend on spending a decent amount of my time to better my results so that once the time comes to film my project I don't disappoint myself with failure.

Reflection 12

First, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this reflection, I was not around almost all break so for week 13 I did not get anything accomplished except for planning how I wanted to do the presentation when it comes around.

Reflection 13

"Okay. Let me begin my three-part apology by saying that I think you're a wonderful human, with great potential."
^If you know where that quote is from, then we can be best friends.
But seriously, I cannot post pictures tonight because I was about to try to fall asleep and I thought to myself 'oh, I didn't post the 20% reflection.' So here I am. 
(sorry sorry sorry. the pictures are on my camera and I am in bed. ugh laziness prevails) 
I've done a bit more drawing in the past week-- mainly of cool people I know/find on tumblr. It's actually been really interesting, as I've gotten to experiment with tattoos and piercings. 

Pictures should be up next week (sorry again).

Reflection 13/14 (Not Sure Anymore)

This has possibly been the most painful, productive, and nerve-wracking week of my life. I have the jaw set without tongue done. I have the head mostly done. I have the neck, shoulders, forelegs, torso, and thighs done. I created the eyes with casting resin. I still need to attach the head to the neck, attach the neck to the torso, attach the torso to the thighs, and build the back legs of the wolf. I also have to quickly create the flexible ears and tail. I am still working on the LEDs for the eyes as well as the servos for the lower jaw, ears, and tail. I don't have time for audio; I will play it off my phone. After finishing the construction of the wooden skeleton, all I will have left is to foam and fur it and create/add the nose, eyes (created and painted), and insert the Arduino in the torso. Despite how it all sounds, I feel very optimistic with my progress. I may very well pull this off in a week! As for the presentation portion... I don't have the energy left in me to memorize how to spell out everything I did step by step... Although, it seems like I have no choice. *sigh*

Reflection 14

Relative to the last few weeks, I accomplished quite a bit due to the break; that said, I am not at all happy with my progress. It is slow due to occasional procrastination and increasingly prominent anxiety and panic; as almost anyone who has known me long enough is aware, I find it (somewhat paradoxically) difficult to concentrate on and/or accomplish tasks I am anxious about. I become sidetracked and, instead of diving into the task at hand, I step back and try to calm my nerves for a little too long.
Due to the lack of progress, I am honestly feeling as though I may fail the 20% Project. I have failed myself already; why should the numbers given to me reflect anything different?
In any case, this negative reflection (all but devoid of useful information due to the lack of change in the project itself) is using up time that I could spend writing and is in no way helping to stave off the useless and often suicidal thoughts that become all the more frequent as the deadline draws near. Back to the grind, I suppose. Wish me luck.

Reflection 14

This week I practiced a lot on my knuckle ball at the new soccer field I found nearby my home. I still cannot make the knuckle ball dip the way professionals or really experienced players do but my free kick still does have the standard effect. I hope maybe I get really lucky and I catch one of those really nice ones on camera so I can put it in my final video. Currently the video shows the progress that I have had but it doesn't show any "major" improvement in my opinion. Hopefully I can make time for recording some more clips so that I can get a really nice example on video.

Reflection 14

This week I was out of town, so I could not do much, but I did try to read some words by myself and was pretty successful at it. I rewrote all the words I had learnt including the names of the people I my family, mountain, and cotton bud.

reflection 13/14

I am late on one reflection, but now that the holidays are almost over, I will definitely get back on track. During these two week, I haven't got much done to be honest. But I started my video before break, and I still have three weeks until the presentations. That is more than enough time to put everything together. My goal for these next three weeks is to go to the gym everyday and work on my tricks to see how much better I can get them.

Reflection 12/13

Sorry this is late! I went on a cruise on the 21st of December and came back on the 28th and forgot about reflections. However I really didn't get much done that week considering it was vacation. On the other hand, this week I have definitely been able to work on my final project. I am going to be recording and speeding up the process of drawing a portrait. I found my old video camera and a tripod. I have also found a good place in my house with perfect lighting. However since there is construction going on in my house, I'm not really sure if I'll be home everyday for the next two weeks, creating a consistency problem. I'm sure I'll find a way around it. Also I'm narrowing down on a portrait that I want to do. I want it to be challenging but not impossible. If everything goes correctly, I will start on Monday, work on it everyday but wednesday for 30 minutes to an hour, and it should be finished by next week. 

Reflection 14 (or 13??)

I've ran into quite the predicament. I thought that with Cloud Cannon or with any website builder for that matter, that I could publish my website through DropBox or other file sharing services for free. However, I was gravely mistaken. Either way, it costs money to publish a website. So I have still been searching for a good builder. For my presentation I will have present screenshots of my website and pictures of the code that is being used to make it. There is no other way I can showcase what I have learned. I have only learned CSS and HTML after all, and I am no expert in either of the fields. I may not be able to even fully develop the website...

Reflection 13

This week, in addition to a younger cousin that came in the beginning of winter break, another cousin came and left just yesterday. I didn’t get much done. I actually had to hide the ball because no matter how many times I told them “it doesn’t bounce” they’d continue to try. There’s the holidays. Basically all I have this week are a bunch of excuses – none of which I think are valid. Sure it would’ve been hard but I could’ve done something. Not much has changed since reflection 12 in terms of progress. By next week I’ll be relative-free so I should have something to show by then.