Assignment #14: Roast the "Veggies" Why Don't You"- Kelly Landry

     I am a vegetarian. I have been vegetarian for about five years. Because of this, I am susceptible to the badgering questions of concerned grandmothers, unsympathetic uncles, reproving relatives, and facetious friends. In a regular week I am often asked "So... where do you get your protein?" "Did you know that vegetarians are more likely to have depression?" "You know plants feel pain as well right?" "You only eat lettuce? How are you still functioning?" While I acknowledge most people are more un-researched/ignorant about the subject than they'd care to admit, and I am completely happy telling people why I do what I do, it seems pointless to answer an unreceptive audience. This issue is dramatically increased when eating with other people. Thanksgiving is when the questions get overwhelming, or at least they used to. My grandma makes me vegetarian stuffing and I have tried some fairly exotic meat substitutes, but in previous years I have definitely been hounded with questions.
     Despite how it may sound after that, I do find Thanksgiving relatively enjoyable. It definitely doesn't compare to Christmas or some other holidays, however it is much more relative and enjoyable than other events such as St. Patrick's Day.

Assignment #13: You Get a Planet and You Get a Planet...- Kelly Landry

Selfishness and vanity: modern issues that have skyrocketed since the invention of social media. Walking down the street, grabbing a bite to eat, and other mundane activities are flooded with people of all ages, from toddlers to full-fledged adults, desperately searching for the absolute best lighting and angle for their selfies, posing in multitudinous fashions for "candid" shots. Generally, the public uphold superficial values, despite the attempts to improve. What looks good? What will make me appear popular? What do other people think?

     And there it is. The root of all evil: other people.

     I propose we construct individual living spaces, whether it be designated areas within earth's preexisting limitations or personally exclusive "mini-planets," though with the second option the world would quite literally "revolve around you" thus defeating the purpose of eliminating self-centeredness. Other people have a great influence on someone's self-image and self-consciousness, by banning inter-human communication one would be less inclined toward egocentrism.

Assignment 12 - Tahsen Hossain - Future Roommate

For the most part, I don't ever try to "sell" myself to people but in the case of addressing a roommate, I would be especially against the idea of "selling" myself. If someone is going to be sharing a room with me, I think it would be a disservice to them to try and highlight my better qualities and obscure my flaws because they would likely be in direct contact with all of my traits good or bad at some point or other. However, I would like to warn them of a few things:


Dear Future Roommate,

     For starts, I'll apologise in advance for my music. Fair warning. It'll be on too loud at ungodly hours of the night and what'll be worse is that the songs won't even be consistent. One hour, I'll be jammin' out to Fall Out Boy; the next, singing along to musicals like Hamilton or La La Land; the one after will probably be pop like Ed Sheeran or Lorde; then some pop-indie like Bastille or Hozier; and the one after that, I'll be nodding my head to some J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar.

    Also, if you happen to be a person who likes things organised, you should know that I am not, at least not in a conventional way. Personally, I'd half-mockingly call my method of organisation "organic".  You are likely to find that on my side of the room there will be small disorganised unfolded piles of clean laundry in the order that I intend to wear them. Any books I use will probably lie covers-up in whichever place I last read them and on the page where I stopped reading just because I never to use a bookmark or worse "rabbit-ear" a page of any book I read.

    But probably the most important thing: I tend to keep to myself most of the time. Hopefully, that doesn't give you the impression that I am wholly disinterested in being friends or doing anything social or that I'm a complete shut-in.

Sincerely,

Tahsen Hossain

   

Assignment 13- Hannah Whaley- drives me bananas

 I’ve been waiting the entire day for the delicious yellow fruit I packed in my lunch. After the strenuous, exhausting focus I put into my first few classes, a banana is exactly what I need to get through the rest of the day. It’s not artificial sugar or crap I want, but a fruit. I remember it as I packed it into my lunch this morning, beautiful and golden. I slowly unzip my lunch box, only to pull out… a mushy brown mess? What the HECK happened to my banana? It spoiled. Fruit- it spoils! Although naturally sweet and good for you, it certainly won’t last the day. Considering how essential fruit is to our diet, it’s only wrong that it goes bad so quickly. In order to prevent the spoiling of nature’s candy, we should use more preservatives! If we make fruit more like actual candy, it will certainly last much longer. By soaking my banana in MSG, I doubt it will brown by lunch time if ever! Another added benefit is that you can put sweetener in the MSG marination as well, in order to make nature’s candy even more delicious. With such options available for our use, it’s a wonder bananas ever brown! 

assignment 12- Davis Mattingly

When introducing myself to someone, I often overthink what it is I should say or do to make a good impression to them, but once the introductions are over I forget all about it, and the cycle continues with the next person I meet for the first time, and me being unable to decide what to say or do. Though, if I were to finally break the cycle and attempt to come up with a game plan for how to introduce myself to someone as important to my daily life as my roommate, I would likely have to tell them how forgetful I am. Sure, I may say I plan on doing the dishes, but when they see a sink full of dishes hours later, I genuinely did intend to do those dishes, I just forgot about it pretty much 5 minutes after saying I would do it. (Ironically enough, writing this made me realize that I did actually forget I said I would do dishes today...)

Sarah Clark -Assignment 14- Thanksgiving ALONE

I’m not as excited about Thanksgiving this year. I haven’t seen my brother in 5 and a half months, and he’s not coming home until December 20th. Most of my other cousins aren’t coming for Thanksgiving, either, as they’re also in college. So it looks like I’ll be stuck with the older parts of my family, and won’t have anyone to laugh with when they inevitably get into politics. I won’t have anyone to sneak away and leave early with, and I won’t have anyone to shift the attention away from me, anyone to shoulder questions about grades, future college plans, and the thousand other things that I haven’t given any thought to. 

But I do love stuffing, and I’ll definitely appreciate the 5 day weekend. I guess my favorite memory of Thanksgiving was a few years ago, when we went to Louisville to stay with our family. My mom is the youngest of 10, so I have a lot of cousins, and I’m one of the youngest. Anyway, people we didn’t know kept on ringing the doorbell, thinking their Thanksgiving party was at our house. It turned out the people a few doors down had put the wrong address on their invitations. As the adults were busy eating and arguing, my cousins and I left to go down the street. One of us would go and ring the doorbell, pretending to be invited to the neighbor’s party. Every time one of us got turned away, we sent another kid up to pretend they were invited, or somehow related to the family. At the time, I thought it was hilarious, but looking back, I guess it was a little rude. Anyway, hopefully Thanksgiving this year will be just as fun, but I kinda doubt it.

Assignment #12: Organized Chaos- Kelly Landry

     My lifestyle is basically the embodiment of the phrase "organized chaos." I am a planner; I love writing out elaborate plans, making extensive to-do lists, rearranging/reorganizing to make life easier/better, I am a slight perfectionist, and tend to have lofty ambitions. However, my spontaneous and forgetful disposition sometimes gets in the way of my "inner perfectionist planner" because I will put together detailed plans and ideas but then either get bored of them or forget them. I like to keep my living spaces organized, however they are often slightly messy but I take time out of my week to focus on cleaning and organizing which keeps the mess in check.
     Additionally aesthetics and how things look are very important to me so get ready for minimalistic but artsy room decor (fun lights, photos, salt rock lamps, essential oil diffusers, etc.). I like to have a minimal amount of objects in my room, having less to keep up with makes cleaning much easier and it looks nicer (in my opinion).
     I am passionate about healthy living and self-improvement. I love eating healthy foods (I have a homemade smoothie basically every day), exercise (running, cycling classes, and working out), and "self-care" (usually in the form of skincare... I spend way too much of my money on new skincare products). I have an inclination to convince, intentionally and accidentally, my friends and those around me to acquire my "health-nut" tendencies, which is a fantastic trait if you're trying to improve your lifestyle.
     While I seem relatively outgoing I am definitively an introvert. I enjoy hanging out with friends and going on adventures, however I do need time by myself to "recharge" my "social battery." I am also a "people-pleaser" so I usually try the best I can to provide for/support those around me. This also means I probably won't stand up for myself/my opinions unless I feel it's critical that I do so.

P.S. you have to deal with any insects we may encounter.

Assignment 14: Flying Turkeys

The stock image of Thanksgiving involves a lot of people around a nicely decorated table with a large turkey and a ridiculous amount of extra food. This image doesn't always depict the reality of the holiday though.

What does your Thanksgiving look like? Do you enjoy the holiday? What is your strangest or most wonderful memory of the holiday?

OR

What are some of your family traditions in general?  Holiday or otherwise.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, December 1 at 11:59 pm

December 2 is the last day to make up blogs 9-15

Assignment 13- Sarah Clark- tennis cheaters :(

The only way to get rid of cheaters in tennis is to cheat them even more. Fighting fire with fire always works, right?

The next time your opponent calls a shot out that is in, when the next point starts, just call every ball they hit out: especially the ones they hit in the middle of the court.

The only way to level the playing field with cheaters is to stoop to their level. When they mess up the score and give themselves an extra point, just give yourself an extra set. That’s the only way to solve the problem without exacerbating it. 

Instead of saying the ball is “out,” just shout “Not even close!” That way, you can keep the match friendly while making clear calls. 

Finally, when the match is over and you’re expected to shake hands, give them the strongest handshake possible to show your superiority. Then, compliment the worst aspect of their game to throw them off the scent: at first, it sounds polite, but the longer they think about it, the more sarcastic it will sound.

Using this combination of strategies, you are guaranteed to beat cheaters every time you play them. 

Assignment 9- Andrei Zivkovic- war on anger

So war is an extreme topic, and the question that is there ever a need for war I really want to say no. I know that there has been times that have gotten so extreme that there was a time for it but personally I want to say that there should never been a time for war. I don’t think that times should be that extreme that it calls for the outcome of war. Everyone probably wants to think that the world could be a peaceful place and sadly that’s not true. I think the topic of war is just groups trying to out evil the other in a way, I’m not saying that both groups are full of anger but I think as something like this goes on it’s less of fighting for an outcome that you want it’s just getting more and more angry with each other and trying to beat a group in who can get more pissed. So I don’t think war is a thing and I want to say that there isn’t a time for it even though that’s not 100 % true.

Assignment 12- andrei zivkovic- My life habits

So for my future roommate hold on cause it’s gonna be a ride. So I’m a big procrastinator unfortunately so I will probably end up going a good amount of my homework at like 10 pm -11 pm. I also really like to listen to music and have it on all the time whenever I’m just chillin In my room so we would need to find some music that we both enjoy so we can jam out and chill. I’m also really into sports specifically tennis and volleyball so we should try and do some stuff like that as like a hangout thing. I am also pretty good at cooking so when it comes to food I got it if we ever need to make anything. I don’t really have any bad habits like snoring or anything like that. I’m a very organized person so I will have my whole side set up and try to keep things as clean as I can.

Assignment 12- Hannah Whaley- my me time

I need alone time. If there’s one thing my roommate ought to know about me, it’s that occasionally I really really really need silence and a closed door between me and the rest of the world. Sometimes for hours at a time. I truly am a social person. However, if I don’t get my alone time to read or watch TV or whatever it is I do, I will begin to suffer. My social battery depletes every so often and I need my alone time to replenish it. However, the same applies when I’ve been left alone for too long. I become lonely and occasionally need affection. This is something that will vary by day and time of the month. Also, my roommate should know that any words spoken in bad taste are most likely misinterpreted, for I often speak before thinking. Any insults were probably not meant to be insults. Lastly, can we please not have ragers at our dorm? I’d really prefer not to mop up barf or other mysterious fluids and my bed is reserved for me and me only. Other than this, I have no requests other than the general niceties of keeping a cleanish house and having good food. If my roommate is vegan we will not work out. I am looking forward to meeting my new roomie and I hope they don’t find me demanding.

Assignment 11 - Tahsen Hossain - Neighbours

Mary Huffman

Mary has had to deal with me since last year when we had Mr Behler's class together. She has also been my physics lab partner the entire year. She was a very spooky ghost baby in Scary Stories. Mary is an incredibly considerate person. Every day, when I can't see the board she always tells me what it says and when I don't do my calculus homework until the period before, she always tells me the page and problem numbers. This might just be me being easily amused, but Mary has this hidden talent where she can make something funny just by making an expression at it. I'm not sure how or why but it's just unbelievably comical to me. 

Landon D'Angelo

Landon if you read this: "Welcome to Kentucky."

Landon and I went to Winburn together, however, we didn't talk much. In fact, we still don't talk much and that's mostly my fault. Most of our conversations go like this:

Me: *says something with complete and absolute confidence*

Landon: *believes me*

Me: *is completely and utterly wrong*

Landon: *calls me out*

Me: *sits there with an awkward smile on my face like an idiot*

Aside from that, Landon is just a really chill person. He always seems relaxed and unstressed. He's good at soccer and can speak Italian. He's pretty cool.

Sarah Clark

Until Landon returned to Lexington, Sarah was my seat partner and she's pretty cool, too. Sarah's on the tennis team and debate team. She's probably the most enthusiastic and energetic person I know, which makes her easy to talk to. However, she does have an interesting tendency to purr, hiss, or "rarrr" as though she were a cat as a common reaction.

Assignment 11- Mary Huffman- Artistic and comedic, I believe

One of my many neighbors in AP Lang is Juliann Hyatt. She has had the misfortune of sitting next to me in English class now for two years, the first in Mr. Lentz’s class. Juliann and I became friends, in my opinion, because Mrs. O’Bryan didn’t learn to tell us apart even after a full school year. My apparent doppelganger never fails to make me laugh, usually at someone else’s expense. Juliann is a member of the Archery Team, Academic Team, and KYA (I think). Her artwork, which often features Elmo and Shrek, is truly inspiring in its modern creativity. Juliann lives with her mother, father, and younger brother, all of whom are very nice people. She is also a considerate individual, but is also very honest. 

To my right sits Tahsen Hossain. He is also gifted with my presence in AP Physics, where we have been in the same lab group all year. Tahsen is quite the comedian as well, though his comedy airs more on the offensive side sometimes. That’s not to say he isn’t funny, of course. He plays soccer on a club team, which had a successful season if I remember correctly. Tahsen’s art is as different from Juliann’s as it can get. Every time I see him, he’s working on another intricate, incredibly creative drawing. Tahsen is a mysterious character who listens more than he shares, which made this blog post a little challenging. What I do think I know of Tahsen is that he is very good at physics most of the time and is quite genenerous.

Though my seat partners may of course have their quirks, I really do enjoy sitting next to them each morning, and I hope they feel the same towards me.

Assignment 10- Mary Huffman- World War Z

When a biological crisis unavoidably occurs, I plan to live through a zombie attack more successfully than even the esteemed professionals depicted in the film Zombieland. My survival plan for the zombie apocalypse is as follows:

1. Become well informed of the possible situation by educating myself in the diverse literature and cinema surrounding inevitable zombie attack
2. Make good use of a Costco membership by purchasing copious amounts of nonperishable foods and survival items
3. Board up all exterior windows and doors in my home with the otherwise unnecessary scrap wood in the basement
4. Research zombie strategy and weakness via social media to plan effective defensive techniques
5. Create list of reasonable rules to be followed by residents of secured household
6. Carry out strategies based on research and availability of resources
7. Keep phones charged, food well-stocked, and spirits high whenever possible
8. Maintain family’s security as the only priority through continued enforcement of rules
9. Survive and even thrive while awaiting inevitable end to zombie attack

assignment 12 - Bethany welch

I generally just begin with small talk and try to find something we have in common, and then try to have a conversation about that. I'm pretty bad at being creative with conversations, so I generally hope the other person is pretty talkative so that I'm able to keep talking. I struggle a good bit with being an outgoing, social person, however, I know I'll need to be when going on to college since I probably won't know anyone there. I generally can make myself be social until I get to know someone pretty well, then it just comes naturally. I tend to make friends easier with talkative people, but I do get socially burnt out easily and I don't talk much. I am really looking forward to college though because I'll get a fresh start in meeting people and they probably won't have pre-made friend groups that I'll have to try to get into.

Assignment 11 - Bethany Welch

I sit next to both Jake and Hannah, however, I don't know much about either of them. My impressions of Hannah are that she's really smart and outgoing. I know she used to dance, however, I'm not sure if she still does. I admire her for her ability to speak to just about anyone, as I definitely struggle with that. I also know she's pretty good friends with Justin. In five years I definitely could see Hannah in a prestigious college and studying something in the medical field. I'd characterize her as purple, even though I'm not sure why, it just kinda feels that way to me. I honestly don't know what animal she's like, also I feel like if I choose something it'll either come off sounding weird or mean. For example, if I said she reminded me of a hippo, no matter what reasoning I gave it would probably just come off as if I'm calling her fat.

Assignment 10 - Bethany Welch

My biggest fear is definitely open bodies of water. Something manmade I don't have a problem with, like a pool, but like oceans/lakes/rivers scare the crap out of me. It's not necessarily the water itself, I can swim and tread water just fine, it's what could be in the water. I hate not being able to see what's around my feet, especially if I feel something touch me. Coupling this with the fact that not much of the ocean has been discovered makes it a pretty scary place. One time when I was a little kid I was playing around in the lake, and in this lake, I couldn't see very far down. Something bit my foot and I never found out what it was. I honestly feel like that started my fear, but to this day I'm almost petrified of jumping in murky water. I've been to Lake Herrington a few times and it's definitely made my fear worse.

Assignment 9 - Bethany Welch

I feel like there really isn't a "time" for war, but I do feel the only appropriate excuse for war would be in defense of the country. I really don't feel like violence is necessary, but at times it can be the only choice. I feel like the only given time a country should go to war is when their peoples' lives are endangered by another country. I don't feel like war is necessary in times where countries don't pose a threat to say the U.S., however, we still invade because we don't like something they're doing. I feel like countries should usually keep to themselves unless allied with another country. When allied, I feel like countries should provide protection to each other in times of war. I honestly don't have a strong answer for this because I feel like it definitely depends and that each situation for each country is different.

Assignment 13: Cha Cha Changes!

Think of all of the things and ideas that exist in the world.

Which one bothers you the most?

Think on Jonathan Swift's "Proposal" and write your own satiric solution to your troublesome issue.

First I would spend some time watching and or reading a great deal of satire to get into in the mental mode satire requires.

To Be Absolutely Clear - 

You are writing your own SATIRE, not discussing satire.  Read lots and lots and lots of The Onion or NewCircleCircular before you start!  If you do not write a satire you will not receive credit and you will have to redo the assignment

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 24 at 11:59 pm

December 8 is the last day to make up blogs 9-15

Assignment 12- Sarah Clark- the perfect roomie

I never really think about “selling” myself to strangers, but normally when I first meet someone, I try to be friendly and act relatively normally. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I am an expert at small talk. I could talk about the weather for HOURS, but that would probably get pretty boring. Anyway, I want my future college roommate to know that I can be really mean when I’m in a bad mood/just woke up. I also hope my future roommate isn’t too crazy of a partier, because after a certain point, I get tired of people and need to unwind a little alone. However, I don’t want my roommate to be really weird and shy, because I definitely have that dream of becoming besties with my roomie, staying up late watching movies, and doing each other’s hair, etc. Hopefully my roomie is smart, because I could always use some homework help, and if she played tennis, that would just be the DREAM. Going to tournaments together, discussing strategies, trash talking other teams, and watching Wimbledon together at 3AM is literally my idea of a perfect roommate.   

Assignment 10- Juliann H- Please make it a challenge

Zombie survival? Easy. Hole up in a meijers and rock out with a juniform. 

Food: Meijers. Plenty of canned goods for when the power goes out and destroys all the frozen foods. Obviously eat the perishables first, though. 

Weapons: It's a meijers. There is a sporting goods section. I’m on the varsity archery team. It’ll be fine. 

Fortification: Lock the doors and push the shelves in front of them, or just something big. Mesh some shopping carts together. No problem. 

Armor: Right now, go find your favorite pair of jeans and try to bite through them. You have to remember that zombies have human teeth. While y’all are running away in light clothing, I’ll be in the 80's style full denim taking my sweet time. 

Entertainment: it's a meijers. There's a whole craft section with like Styrofoam heads. Get creative. Paint the floor. Raid the game section. Make a perler bead thing of Donald Trump’s face. 

When you ride the bus for a long time and can’t read or anything due to motion sickness, you think in depth about weird things.

Assignment 9 Juliann H war?

To put it objectively, the necessity of war is highly subject to what side you are on. Some may say that, as a world superpower, it’s our job to correct human rights violations and the like, but where does the line really fall between moderating other countries and imperialism? Is it really in our jurisdiction to decide what other countries can and cannot do? Who’s to say that Britain couldn’t declare war on us due to our treatment of gay people? Americans would disagree with the necessity, but Britain would see it as necessary. The killing of innocent people is never okay. That outright bans nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. But when other bad actors are killing their own people, is it okay to kill them? Does Hammurabi's code still apply in this age of Snapchat and UberEats? Is it justifiable for a student to stab a school shooter? I think, because this class was born after 9/11, our view of war is highly blurred as we are missing that impact. But others may say that it’s more clear because there’s less bias. Who knows.

Assignment 11- Hannah Whaley- Justin Zhu (my best friend)

How would I describe my seat partner? Rambunctious, noisy, annoying, rowdy. Clearly, I sit next to Justin Zhu. Although at first he may simply seem like a pest, Justin is one of my most caring friends. Nobody else will bring me Asian pears and candy every morning. Nobody else will review my work at the drop of a hat.
 Anyways, let’s get to talking about Justin’s interests. Considering that I’ve sat next to him for six years now (thank you seating charts), I know him pretty well. Justin is a fan of anime and always gives me good suggestions. He really likes the show Neverland and always tells me to watch it. Justin also adores ultimate frisbee and the restaurant Pho BC. Preferably on the same day.
If you need honesty, Justin’s the guy to go to. He’ll tell you when your belly’s out. No hesitation.
If Justin were a color, it’d be a very vivid yellow. Not because he’s of his Asian descent! It’s because, although some may find that color obnoxious, many people love it for its warm and kind association. I’m one of the people that loves yellow!
In five years, I see Justin still in college so let’s skip to ten. In ten years, at the age of 26, I see Justin as a successful salesman. He holds a certain social skill and charisma, and any job with lots of face-to-face interaction is where I feel like he’ll flourish.
Lastly, if Justin were an animal, he’d be a blue-footed booby. Just kidding! I just really wanted to choose a random amusing animal because it made me laugh. Anyways, love you Justin and I wouldn’t want anybody else in that seat.

Assignment 11 - Andrei Zivkovic- my seat neighbor Justin Zhu

So my seat neighbor in class is Justin Zhu and he is a pretty intelligent guy. There are sometimes in Ap Lang that he says things and I wonder if he thinks before he says those things but it’s usually always funny so it doesn’t really matter. But I didn’t really talk to Justin until this year because I sit next to him but he is a genuine guy and is a good friend because he always supplies Hannah and I with Asian pears and they are really good. He also sometimes walks past and comes in Mrs Conleys class while Jake and I are there and says hi to Mrs Conley which makes her upset and it’s pretty funny. But I’m glad I stayed talking to Justin this year more because once you get to know him he is a very funny and down to earth guy and it’s fun to talk to him. He is very confident and can always speak his mind and that’s something that I admire because that’s something I struggle with and Justin can say whatever comes to his mind and doesn’t care what people think.

assignment 10- Andrei Zivkovic - SHARKS ARE NO BUENO

Okay, so sharks. They are not friendly at all and I most definitely hate them with all the bones in my body. So story time it was 5th grade summer going into 6th grade and I went to South Africa with my step mom, brother and dad because my step moms brother was getting married. So he was trying to convince my brother and I to go shark cage diving, and keep in mind at this time I was 11 and like 5’1 so not my tall self as I am right now. But after watching jaws and all these shark movies I’m like nahhhhh. If you have ever seen 47 meters down let me recap it for you. So these two girls are shark cage diving and then all of a sudden the cable snaps and they fall 47 meters down. And eventually have sharks circling them and they can’t swim up. So you will never see me doing this ever in my lifetime, and let’s think about this big shark or metal cage who is going to win, not me.

Assignment 13: Penelope Pierson- Pants pockets

Girls don't have pants pockets. This has always been a problem. I complain, my friends complain, it's constant. Boys, on the other hand has pockets for days! I once saw an entire water bottle being fit in a single pant pocket. Women pockets though, cant even fit an iPad. This is bias. They know we carry purses so they give us smaller pockets. But I don't want to carry a purse. I want pockets. But I know that won't happen, so I have a solution. Get rid of women. It's simple. If women can't have pockets, than there should be no women. If there were no pants, there would be no debate over why women are being excluded from this revolutionary carrying system. So it's simple, no women, no problem. You may be thinking, Penelope, how will the human population survive? It's simple, it's not my problem. But, I can solve a problem you didn't think it would: the money in your pocket. Without women, the expenses that little girls bring and wives bring would be gone. No longer will you have to but the "pretty doll" on the shelf or the expensive pair of shoes that your wife wants. And also, homosexuality would be normalized, you no longer would have protests against same sex marriage because that would be the only type of marriage!

So, to solve your pocket problem, I have given a solution. I personally have plenty of pocket space, but I think this is the only solution to solve the problem at hand.

Assignment 12: Penelope Pierson- Dear Roommate

I like to sell myself as the lighthearted one. I love making people laugh and smile. I wake up everyday without coffee or caffeine, and by the time I arrive to school, I need to be high energy to hopefully bring up the mood of others by me. Yet, when I get home, I crash and would rather not speak to anyone so I can recharge for the next day. Though sometimes, just sometimes, I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and I get mad. When I get mad, I nitpick. I will find the smallest thing wrong with someone and completely blow it out of proportion. So sorry if you've been on that receiving end. But, usually, on good days, I will hopefully make you smile. I will make you laugh. I'd so rather make myself seem dumb, stupid, and do ridiculous things than to just let someone I talk to have a bad day.

I also love Ellen. Ellen has the personality where when people see her, they smile. I would love to radiate that energy, being confident but also staying humble. It's admirable, so, roommate, I hope you can bare my overbearing personality and my bad days and that you will find the joy that being my roommate brings.

Assignment 11: Penelope Pierson- My seat partner, Elizabeth Moore.

Elizabeth Moore. Blonde, art, Kentucky. That is what comes to mind. Elizabeth used to have ridiculously long hair. Now, it's a nice length thats very cute and short. Poor Elizabeth always seems to be under pressure; from her parents, school, but mainly by herself, as she tries to do her best. Though, thankfully, Elizabeth has been getting more slack, which means she has become more relaxed and less tense in not only her mannerisms but also her personality. If Elizabeth was a color, I would think she's the color dark green. This colored is used as a serious color in painting, to darken other colors, and to add depth. While this color is certain situations can be used in happy, bright paintings, it's also a color for serious paintings, which Elizabeth can be sometimes and also serious conversations is what I would also like to have with her. In 5 years, Elizabeth will be something. I'm not sure what, but success is almost guaranteed for the motivation she brings to whatever she does. I think her home-y personality fits very will with a country-side Kentucky lifestyle. A southern mom, but a CHURCH southern mom. I like it. :) If Elizabeth was an animal, she would be a worm. Why? Because worms are always helpful. They help so many plots of land, while also never breaking even if split in half.

This is Elizabeth Moore, my seat partner.

Assignment 10: Penelope Pierson- Zombie life might be the right choice

I will not die. It's simple. To survive, I have to care about myself and myself only. If someone knocked on my door during an apocalypse, I would not open it. Actually, I might set a bear trap and hopefully whoever is at my door will become dinner for the night. Once I have a good amount of food, its the Oregon Trail game for me. I have to make my plays strategically. I'll treck to the outside world only if I feel that its getting unlivable in my house. Once I run into a zombie, I'm running. But also, once I'm a zombie, I will have no worries because I can't die or feel pain. Actually, I might just purposely get bit after I'm super swole so I will be the most powerful zombie, and become a leader of hopefully the winning race.

Wow. I think I just came up with a plan.

Assignment #11: Seat Neighbors- Kelly Landry

I sit next to Connor Kelley and Catherine Lucier. Because we have more in common, Catherine and I talk more frequently than Connor and I. Therefore I know Catherine significantly better.

I associate the color crimson with Catherine because she's a fairly fierce and profound person and the color crimson is bold, yet unobtrusive, like Catherine. While I don't know all there is to know about her, I do know that she is very patient and a good friend to others. I have an overwhelming amount of questions about a lot of things, but Catherine graciously answers all of them to the best of her abilities (even when they're relatively moronic.) In five years I think that Catherine will be very successful at whatever she's doing because of her intelligence, adaptability and charisma.  Could be completely off, but she strikes me as an open and non-judgemental person, and I think she’s relatively unafraid to tell people the truth (even if it may be upsetting) , which is a quality I respect/admire about other people.

Assignment 11- Davis Mattingly- Cat wrote about me first

I sit next to Daniel, who I've vaguely known since I sat next to him for about a month in AP Government in freshman year, and Catherine Lucier, who I've known since 7th grade, as I'm sure you've already seen in her post, where she also talked about me. She mentioned how we "dated" in the summer after 7th grade, where we attempted to hold hands once but I felt awkward and pulled away, before realizing I was, in fact, as Catherine described in her post, "Rather gay." Even before our "relationship", the two of us were pretty close friends, such as when we went to the birthday of a mutual friend at the time (Who, looking back, neither of us are exactly fond of), and our antisocial middle school selves decided to (Ironically) hide in a closet, and eat uncooked Ramen Noodles while telling stories about things I've long forgotten about. The two of us are long past our days of eating raw ramen noodles in a closet, as well as a thousand other embarrassing stories from the years we've known each other, but we still manage to do thiings while hanging out that im sure the two of us will be embarrassed of a year from now.

Assignment 11-Sarah Clark-my neighbors Landon and Tahsen

Up until a few weeks ago, I sat next to Tahsen. Tahsen is always very nice to me and makes a point to ask how I am, what’s new with me, etc. I know Tahsen watches Better Call Saul (like me) and I know he plays soccer and was the second seed in a soccer tournament. If Tahsen were a color, he would be maroon, because whenever I picture him, I see him in a maroon hoodie. In 5 years, Tahsen will probably be in grad school, studying physics/math, because always helps me in those subjects. If Tahsen were an animal, I guess he would be an owl because he’s wise.

Now, I sit by Landon. Landon is also nice and can be really funny, but he seems more confused. You can’t really blame him for it, though, because he’s “new.” I think Landon plays soccer, and I know he’s taking anatomy. I don’t really know if I can classify Landon as a color, he seems all over the place, but I guess blue. Blue is a chill color, and Landon seems pretty chill, except he never knows when anything is due/when tests are. In 5 years, Landon will probably have graduated college, and will be looking for a job. I don’t really know his future plans, but he also seems pretty good at math because he talks about how easy Mrs. Dewees’s class is compared to his calculus class in Indiana. If he were an animal, I guess he’d be a dog, because he’s pretty friendly and his hair kinda reminds me of a shaggy dog.

Assignment 12: I’m not crazy. I promise (College)

How do you “sell” yourself to a stranger?  For most, when you step onto your new academic home you will know no one -- so your roommate is an important safety line.  As such, it’ll be important to pick a good one.  What you would want your future college roommate to know about you?   This question asks you to share something significant about your day-to-day way of being. You can discuss just about anything here! Although you could approach this essay in a somewhat playful manner, do not be tempted to address a topic for its shock value. It’s important that your response is genuine and conveys your personality in an appropriate tone.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 17 at 11:59 pm

December 8 is the last day to make up blogs 9-15

Assignment 11 - My neighbor is Davis - Cat Lucier

Who do I sit next to in English? Davis Mattingly and Kelly Landry. As much as I love Kelly, I've known Davis for a longer time, and so I feel better equipped to talk about him.

I met Davis back in 7th grade when I moved schools from Hayes to Tates Creek for the advanced program. We didn't really become friends until the second half of the school year, but since then, we've been good friends. Of course, it fluctuates between school years depending on the number of classes we have together, but we've gotten pretty close this year.

You may have noticed that he is rather gay. There is a pretty funny story that goes with that. in essence, we "dated" for about 2 months over the end of the 7th grade and a little bit of the summer. Absolutely nothing happened. Looking back, it is hilarious. I went to summer camp, and there I met this girl, who I actually broke up with Davis so that I could date her. I won't specify who she is, but I will say that she is in the academy here. There were absolutely no hard feelings between Davis and me. We love to retell that story as "we dated, and then we both turned out gay."

Davis is cynical and occasionally a dumbass in the most endearing way. He can be very caring and is always down to listen to you, whether it be the latest tea, or a story from the weekend, or complaints about parents. He is quite smart, but is also lazy, which results in low grades that don't necessarily reflect his intelligence. I find it frustrating, but at the same time, he seems to be doing just fine.

Assignment 9- Davis Mattingly- This might be controversial, but war might be bad

I always try to avoid making my political views too widely known in public settings. This is mostly because I'm bad at avoiding arguments once they've started, and once an argument gets political it rarely results in a lasting,healthy relationship between both parties. But, I feel quite confident in saying my opinion on War, since I think it's kinda hard to at least acknowledge that war is rarely a good idea. Sure, sometimes countries are forced into it- the various Atlantic Revolutions, such as the Haitian revolution, being good examples, where the revolting countries had to choose between oppression or fighting for their rights. Wars such as that are hard to avoid, but nevertheless, the aftermath is rarely pretty. Even when fighting for what's right and just, there's always casualties, and likely far more than there should've been. And with the constant evolution of war tactics, the possibility of civilian casualties is only increasing. I understand war sometimes can't be avoided, but I believe all those involved should attempt to stop it at all costs

Assignment 10- Hannah Whaley- Are you serious? I hate zombies

I find it incredibly amusing that I just admitted my irrational, crazy fear of zombies a blog or two ago and now here I am detailing my survival plan. Which, of COURSE I have a plan for survival. Let's say the outbreak of a new virus has begun destroying brain cells, leaving only the brainstem and a malfunctioning hypothalamus that sends constant signals of hunger to the brain. Humans are rather appetizing in this scenario. This is the roots cause of our "zombies." The virus is spread by bodily fluids - so a single bite can transfer the saliva that will make you one of them in the span of a few hours. How do you survive? I rely on the hope that one day a cure will be found. This hope keeps me going. I, of course, dress in items of clothing that cover every inch of my body with a light but difficult- to pierce material (like silk). I don't want zombie claws or teeth to draw blood in case I get infected by the virus. I don't want any loud weapons like guns because, as television shows, zombies have a keen sense of hearing. So, a silencer on my guns suffices because no way in hell am i getting close enough to the monsters to be within biting range. If any member of the party gets infected- they die. For food, we have missions to rob grocery stores and sleep in a fully guarded building far from zombie congregations. Some sort of fancy mansion with good alarm systems is ideal. If after a decade there's no cure and all my family is dead, I am unsure if my mission will continue or if I will just be done. Maybe I wouldn't even make it that long. Just speaking about such scenarios fills me with anxiety and anguish.
I hate zombies.

Tahsen Hossain - Assignment 10 - 3rd Grade Me and the Sleep Paralysis Demon

Sleep has never been welcoming to me. The ambient world whispers through the night air in hollow voices, Don't close your eyes. The pillows push my neck as to cause me just the feeling to adjust and adjust as if it too wishes that I keep my distance from sleep. The bed groans with each slight twitch of my impatient hands, tightly grasping the blankets protecting me from the wind chill seeping through the gap in my window in a semi-constant sshhssshhhhh. And for the moment I am convinced. My sketchbook is laying on the ground beneath my desk and my small collection of five or six books on my wardrobe both of which are out of my reach and require me to get up and turn on the light. I lay in limbo, not so bored as to attempt the seemingly Herculean task of moving and certainly not desperate enough to die of dysentery or cholera ad infinitum in the Oregon Trail on my small but indestructible Nokia phone.

So with nothing better to do, I stare up, motionless, at the ceiling as I start seeing slow creeping changes in the creased white plaster. "That can't be, I must just be tired", I think. But I keep my eyes open and focused on the shadows as they seem to slither like little white maggots across a blank piece of paper. At first, I just wanted to know why they were moving. I stared and stared. Eventually, I realised that the shadows were moving because of the headlights from cars driving past refracting through the window, but at that point, it didn't matter. I kept staring and staring; I don't know why. Maybe a little part of me had already conceded that the walls were alive and couldn't quite take back that concession. I do know that it felt discomforting like somehow my thoughts weren't my own anymore.

Click.

"They're early." I bolt upright. The two familiar hushed voices of my parents follow the front door's slow creak. Out of pure habit, formed from years of staying up late, my body drops to the annoyingly soft mattress in dead silence, letting my limbs lay limp sprawled randomly across the crinkled sheeting, and feigning my breath to the strained but soft flow that comes with sleep. The dim light from the single bulb no one's changed in two years illuminates my room and I stay still as stone, hesitant even to allow my chest's due diligence, lest I look too animated in my counterfeit slumber.

My head turned away from the doorway as to conceal my eyes, which despite my best argument, insisted on remaining open. And as my gaze wandered through the far side of the room it halted spitefully on the window as a gust of cold wind passed through the gap in my window and hissed in my face. Ssssshhshssssshhhhhh. But soon something felt strange. Made clear by its glare in the window, the light was on despite the considerable amount of time that had passed. I had begun to suspect that my parents had uncovered my ruse. "Did I miss something? Was I too obvious?" But then I thought, "Then why haven't they told me off yet? What stalls them?" I'm perplexed. But then I inspect the glass of the window one more time, inquiring it as a magic mirror to reveal the secrets of my shadowed bedroom, hoping to find some clue to the condition of my parents. My vision was blurry and imprecise so I couldn't decipher the reflection. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I reopened them the reflection in the glass was clear. All I saw was an empty doorway. My parents were not home.

I shut my eyes one more time. I don't know why; I was scared. After all, the walls are alive, the night air can speak, why should it not be that...

Shhhh......

In an instant, my fingers go numb and the room's temperature descends to freezing. I can no longer feel the blankets around me. And another blast of wind...

Shhhhhshsshhhh...

Force. I feel something push against me. Pushing my chest only lightly. Then a little more. And more. And more. The shock from the icy wind recedes and I know what I have to do. I collect all my courage and I fight. I flail my arms and kick and scream but I don't feel my arms move, my legs don't extend, and I don't hear any such scream. No matter how much I fight it, nothing happens. I'm frozen, trapped in my own body. I can't push anymore and for a moment I concede again. It felt like I would stay motionless forever.

Shhhshhhshhhh...

"I don't want to be this cold forever." I tried again. Starting from my fingers and toes, I try to move something. Anything. Until I finally made it to my eyes. I didn't want to open my eyes. What would I see? Some horrifying monstrosity or vindictive apparition. But it had to be done.

I opened my eyes, awake again. The blanket at my heels, my pillows kicked and thrown around and my parents in the doorway wondering why I was screaming at 4:30 AM on a Sunday night.

Assignment #10: Counterintuitive Hobbies- Kelly Landry

I don't think I have a specific biggest fear. I have various irrational fears such as butterflies, moths, public speaking, and small holes (trypophobia, aka the grossest concept EVER). However, I also am afraid of possible real-life situations such as being kidnapped or assaulted. This fear probably stems from my relative addiction to crime shows and scary movies such as Criminal Minds where the victim is often relatable to me: female, young, and not a martial artist. Because being kidnapped and assaulted are actually fairly common in our society today, the realisticness of these scenarios scares me. While I am afraid of this, it is not my biggest fear. Some of the more unhumorous, but still not the biggest, ones include leaving a bad impression on someone that I cannot fix. This is probably my inner perfectionist and people-pleaser showing through, mostly my desire for other people to always feel comfortable/be happy.

Assignment 10 - i did not enjoy dwelling upon this topic for as long as i had to to write the essay - Cat Lucier

I am not going to tell you all what is my worst fear, because y'all don't need that information.

But I will tell you something that does scare me, and has become much more pertinent in the past few months. I am afraid that I'll be driving the family to church, or to a performance, or some other such event, just trying to get more driving experience before taking the test for my intermediate, and I'll lose focus for just long enough to veer out of my lane a bit, or pull out into traffic at the wrong time, and we get hit by another car going 50 or 60 mph and everyone in my family is dead or will never be the same, and it is all my fault. That is a huge fear of mine. In fact, I think I'll go make some tea now because thinking about this is making me feel quite anxious.

Assignment 11: Who’s your neighbor?

You are juniors. You are in the Academy. You sit next to each other in Mr. Logsdon's class. You've been here for 11ish weeks and only 7ish to go until the end of the semester.

I think it is safe to say that you know at least a little about each other. Your understanding of each other may include extra curriculars, favorite TV shows, hobbies, but your level of familiarity may also extend into knowing each other's personality. Are they intimidating, carefree, honest?

This week, write about the person you sit next to in English class. What do they do? What are they like? What color would you characterize them as and why? Where do you see them in five years? What type of animal are they like?

I know you're in a seating chart, but you are writing about your peers. Getting to know for the past few months, I have seen you as genuinely nice people and so I expect genuinely nice things in your posts. It doesn't have to be all puppies and ice cream cones, but your entries shouldn't cut anyone down.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, November 10 at 11:59 pm.

December 8 is the last day to make up blogs 9-15

Assignment 10 - Elizabeth Moore - Genuinely Going to Be a Prepper

Since I have prepped for an event like this - I really do plan to have canned goods, flint and steel, water treatment kits, medical emergency kits, axes, knives, and guns ready to go in the event of a sun spot that takes out the electricity or a nuclear threat - my zombie-apocalypse survival plan will run very smoothly. I gather my supplies quickly, get my dog and family into the largest car we own, a Chevy truck, and high-tail it out to Jessamine county to the cabin by the Kentucky river that my family owns. The river provides a constant source of water and fish, and we can treat the water for consumption with the kits I packed. Not unlike the valley in Z is for Zachariah, the Kentucky river valley is highly defensible since the palisades on either side are sheer cliff-faces, and there is only one road coming down to our cabin. As an added bonus, the people who live at the top of our road are trigger-happy and likely have an army’s worth of weaponry, a perfect line of defense against walkers or hostile groups of humans. Although highly unlikely, should any walkers make it down to our cabin, we will dispatch them with arrows, blades, and axes as opposed to attention-drawing gunshots. We will reserve the guns and ammo for defense against the violence that will inevitably ensue after humans are left in anarchy. If an undefeatable herd of walkers stampede the valley, my family and I would load warm clothes and supplies into canoes, kayaks, and my paddleboard, and retreat to the opposite side of the river where there is no road or even an even path down the palisades for walkers to take. If I’m being honest, I’ve developed this plan over MANY years because it’s just so darn entertaining, and I’m definitely going to survive.

Assignment 10- Davis Mattingly- Spiders, how creative

I know, I know, you've heard it all before. Spiders are scary, there's something about their legs, I hate seeing them on the ceiling, looking away, and looking back to see they're nowhere in sight, etc etc. But, it's also not a cut and dry fear of all things 8-legged; I find some species of spiders quite cute, in fact, such as the tiny colorful jumping spiders I'll occasionally see while out on a walk during the summer or spring. I also find the bigger spiders, like Tarantulas, quite cool. I wouldn't have one as a pet, but if a friend of mine did, I would think it was cool. My main issue comes from the relatively smaller, darker-colored spiders, who it's impossible to tell whether or not they're venomous, and they can slip away into a crack in the wall on a moment's notice. Those are the one's I'm always vigilant against, as I never know whether I'll slip my foot into a shoe, only for one to set up its nest in there, bite my foot and slip away, only for it to turn out to be a black widow or brown recluse. With tarantulas, I know they aren't venomous, and they're too big to hide in too many places. With tiny spiders, I know they have little chance of making a bite any worse than a mosquito would, but basically every other spider could be either a mundane, harmless house spider, or a brown recluse ready to send me to the hospital on a moment's notice. Perhaps its not spiders themselves that scare me- perhaps I'm afraid of the unknown.

Assignment 10- Sarah Clark-zombie apocalypse

So I haven’t really thought about zombies coming to attack, and I’ve only watched like 2 episodes of the Walking Dead, so don’t expect this plan to be bullet proof or anything. I guess the first thing I would do is try and get my hands on a gun. Then I’d probably get one of my smart friends, like Ellis, to come help me with the harder parts like finding a place to stay. Staying in a Meijer would be pretty cool because it’s not so big that it has tons of exits, but it has a bunch of food to keep me alive for a while. I’d also try and find some other people to come with us who we can sacrifice to the zombies if necessary. I would also like to have my brother with me because he knows how to farm and hunt, which are some useful skills for zombie-killing. I also want someone experienced in the medical field, and that would probably have to be Matthew David, because he’s the president of the Future Medical Professionals club. Jasir would also be vital to the team because he would keep everyone grounded to reality. He also would probably have a better plan if zombies were to attack.