Response to Learning Style Results and Progress Journal

In my results I was 15% auditory, 30% tactile, and 55% Visual. I agree with this completely. I'm an art major so visual learning is very important to me. Telling me something like a phone number and expecting me to remember it just will not happen.

Progress Journal:
Today I began work on the last two sites that I am doing, Russborough and St. Catherines. I am finished with Russborough, but still need to work on finishing the synopsis of St. Catherines and find the websites I used for the pictures. Also need to finish the home page or at least get it started sometime before our group meets.

Total Time: 2.5 Hours

Progress Journal

Autumn Bussen
Sunday Nov. 29, 2009:
Get pictures for all the pages of our website, (forgot to record where i got them from so have to go back and find those for works cited page).
Begin one page for one of my sites and finish it. Fortified Churches page is done.
Talk to Colleen to see what she's gotten done.
Begin home page and slide-real.
Monday Nov. 29, 2009:
Finish slide-real for pictures with the sites that I know we're doing.
Total time: 4 hours

Progress Journal

Autumn Bussen
Purpose: to find three historically endangered sites that need to be saved

1. The Fortified Churches of Southern Transylvania
2. Russborough, a manor house in Ireland
3. The Cathedral of St. James, Old City of Jerusalem
Need to figure out how to set up website pages and talk to group about what sites they plan to do. Need 10 total.
Begin layout with information and pictures about site #1, the Fortified Churches of Southern Transylvania.
Found information about endangered sites on the World Monuments Fund's list of endangered sites.

11/20/09 1 hour

Progress Journal

Autumn Bussen
11/17/09
Project: write up proposal

Figure our who is doing what for the website.
Print proposal.
Talk with group about proposal.

1/17/09 1/2 hour

Visits from home

I do believe that some of the best times when you are in college is when your family comes up to visit you and take you out to eat. It's so awesome getting away from campus food and going somewhere you haven't been in a while. My grandparents are coming today, I think I'll make them take me to Panera Bread. Yum!
After almost 4 months in college you kind of start to miss seeing your family everyday (one thing I never thought would be possible). But here I am, missing my parents, my sister and brother, my two cats and our German Shepherd Zoe. I wouldn't trade college life to go back to high school though, not ever. It's just an odd feeling to finally realize how much seeing family everyday meant to me.

Progress Journal

Autumn Bussen
Project (Group Members, Purpose, Thesis, Audience, How we will present)

Group members, Matthew Amaro, Colleen Regan, Kayla Heator, and me
Purpose: To provide awareness to the world about endangered historical landmarks
Theses: The conservation and restoration of historical landmarks needs more attention from the public so that these places will still be there in the future.
Audience: Older wealth people who can help save these endangered landmarks
How to present: create a website with the top most endangered historical monuments and descriptions of each. Contacts tab for more information. Becoming a patron. Homepage. Slide real for pictures.

Top 10 Movies of all Time

What constitutes a good movie, a lot of action, adventure, blood and gore, romance, is it funny? Well in my opinion almost all genres have great movies. The best movies are usually those that have transcended time and are still popular years after being made. The following list is made of up classics and stuff that I grew up watching and still love today.
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Independence Day
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. A Christmas Carol
5. Goosebumps
6. Back to the Future I, II, III
7. Lord of the Rings I, II, III
8. Star Wars (all of them)
9. Groundhog Day
10. Terminator

A Bad Way to Wake Up in the Morning

It's easy to imagine terrible ways of waking up in the morning, dog jumping on you, you're house is on fire, the covers yanked away, etc. Well how I was woken up on Sunday morning is kind of along those lines.
Recently my boyfriend and I adopted two kittens from the animal shelter in Muncie. They're about 4 and 6 months old now. Usually they're pretty quiet at night, but once the sun comes up they like to play. Sunday morning they were chasing each other around the room and wrestling with each other. This game of chase and tackle led to them running over my forehead. This was not a pleasant experience, and not something I want to have happen again. Not to mention the fact that one of them scratched my forehead with his back nails leaving a three-inch gash. How fun is that, it's not even 8 o'clock in the morning, I'm not even out of bed yet and I'm already bleeding. What fun...... Darn cat, good thing they're so adorable.

Halloween

Halloween, a time for dressing up as someone you aren't, gobbling down candy, watching scary movies, and scaring your friends. But where did Halloween come from, have you ever wondered?
WELL......

Halloween's origins date back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts lived 2000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the UK and northern France. They celebrated their new year on November 1st, a day often associated with death. They believed that on Oct. 31, the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the ceremony they dressed in costumes typically consisting of animal heads and skins.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
And now you know the origins of Halloween. :D

Position paper

Humanity has a decision to make; it needs to decide how to balance the rights of the inhabitants of cultural-heritage sites with the international interest of preserving the sites for future generations.

This is my thesis for my position paper, what I mean by this is that cultural and historical sites that are being preserved, need to be preserved for the sake of saving what these buildings and sites once stood, and not be changed in a way that only keeps the facade of the site. Take the "Old City" in Damascus, Syria, for example, it is the oldest inhabited city in the world, but the natives who live there are being pushed out to make way for shopping malls, boutiques, and fancy five-star hotels in what was once historically significant buildings. Not only are people losing their homes, but the history behind these old and beautiful sites is being lost.

This is a decision not to be made lightly or for the sake of making a few more dollars. Preserving these sites with future generations in mind has to be carefully considered so the site is not ruined in its renovation or preservation. A choice has to be made, however, and soon, because some of these sites will not be around for future generations to even see.

A somewhat memorable birthday

On Oct. 18, last Sunday, I turned 19. It wasn't as exciting as my 18th birthday, but it was all right as birthdays go. My family came up from Greenfield, IN, about a 45 min drive, and took my boyfriend and I out to lunch at Scotty's Brewhouse.

My family had never been there before, though Emery and I had. It was great, we got wings as an appetizer. Probably the best wings I've ever had has been at Scotty's. Like no joke, better even than B-dubs. I'd recommend it to anyone. Most everyone got a burger for an entree, which turned out being absolutely delicious. I'd have to say, that just about any food you get at Scotty's will probably be the best you've had in a really long time, and all for quite a reasonable price too.

They had three football games on, and the atmosphere was quite loud and exuberant for a Sunday afternoon. Probably the best game was the Giants vs. the Saints. Two great teams, quite evenly matched, making for a very exciting game.

All-in-all it was a great lunch, and a great day because after they left, I spent the remainder of the day occupied with my favorite past time, laying on my futon reading a good romance book. =D

Article Analysis

EGYPT: A MOVE TO CLEAR HOMES NEAR PHARAONIC TOMBS
Section: WORLD

Increasing tourism and appreciation of ancient heritage sparks preservation effort

Dateline: LUXOR, EGYPT

In the valley below lies the shattered visage of Pharaoh Ramses II, whose "frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command," inspired one of the most famous poems of the Romantic era in British literature.

"Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" wrote Percy Shelley, imagining the words of the dead Pharaoh after visiting the site in 1817. The poem is a cautionary reminder of the fleeting nature of both authority and art.

Now, in order to save what is left of other magnificent works in the Valleys of the Kings, Queens, and Nobles, Egyptian officials have vowed to cleanse a tribe of former Bedouins from homes and hovels perched atop the tombs of Ramses' relatives.

The plight of the 10,000 Qurnawi highlights a growing international dilemma: How can modern man balance the rights of the inhabitants of cultural-heritage sites with the world's interest in preserving them for generations to come? From middle-class North American suburbs set on top of Indian burial grounds to Bedouins who live atop Queen Nefertiti's tomb, the problems are similar, say archaeologists and human rights activists.

"Our priority has to be to preserve the treasures in the ground below, but, at the same time, respect the citizens who live above them," says American archaeologist and Egyptologist Kent Weeks.

The Pharaonic tombs contain wall paintings that tell us much about ancient Egyptian life as well as human nature.

The government, in its campaign to clear the hills, is accusing the tribesmen of burrowing for hidden treasures, harassing tourists, and dumping human waste into the tombs.

But the tribesmen, who used stone chisels and kitchen knives to help corner a band of Islamic terrorists after the brutal massacre of 58 foreign tourists in 1997, are pleading with the international community to save their ancestral homes.

They deny the charges and accuse the local police of brutal tactics, including using bulldozers to demolish their homes in the early morning hours.

Officials have long accused the Qurnawi of squatting above the tombs and stealing precious cultural heirlooms. Beginning in the 18th century, European archaeologists as well as corrupt antiquities dealers employed the tribesman to plunder the tombs and their artifacts. But despite constant tensions between tribesmen and central authorities, tenacious villagers held onto their valuable hillside plots. Frenchman Vivant Denon, a writer present during the 18th century Napoleonic conquest of the tombs, described a clash with the Qurnawi as akin to a "war against gnomes."

But increasing European tourism and the world's growing appreciation of the tombs beneath the homes of the Qurnawi have sparked a fresh call for their ouster.

"Egypt is working with the entire international community to preserve these sites," says Ahmed Nouby, a government official coordinating efforts to persuade the Qurnawi to leave peacefully. "They say they inherited the land from their forefathers but their forefathers, were squatting on public property."

Mr. Nouby praised the Qurnawi for helping the government in its battle against Islamic terrorists in 1997. He also says that he had personally protested against the government's brutal tactics two years ago when he witnessed a local policeman gun down four unarmed Qurnawi in a dispute over building rights. But he said that the relocation of the village two miles north of the valley is "for their own good."

"Their constant harassment of foreigners with phony artifacts and petitions to 'buy, buy, buy' is not good for the image of Egypt," he insists. "Besides, they dig in the ground for artifacts like moles at night when nobody is keeping an eye on them."

The Egyptian government has already built a modern village, a new mosque, and a tourist bazaar for the villagers farther up the Nile River where tests have shown there are no Pharaonic tombs. Nouby claimed that, despite continued vows by Qurnawi elders that they will not leave, 48 families signed contracts to move last month.

Foreign archaeologists and long-time residents of Luxor are split on how best to save the tombs and help the Qurnawi.

Dr. Weeks, who surprised the archaeological world in 1995 with discoveries of the tomb of the sons of Ramses, says, "They should be moved as long as they are given decent homes and amenities." Several of Weeks's loyal tomb excavators are Qurnawi, who, he says, comprise four clans of Yemeni and Saudi Bedouins who used Luxor, better known as Thebes, as a camp on their caravan route between Africa and the Mideast.

"It is really only a question of money and proper plumbing," says French Egyptologist Alain Fouquet Abrial. "If you build a system that protects the tombs, you've also got to pay to maintain it."

For centuries, the inhabitants here used donkeys to transport water to their homes. That water, when used up, seeps into the soil and down into the tombs, destroying precious paintings that have survived thousands of years. Efforts by sympathetic foreigners to push through government projects that would provide proper sewage systems have been cold-shouldered by Egyptian antiquities officials.

A spokesman for the Qurnawi, Mohamed Abdel Salam Ahamed, defended his tribe's right to live and work in the hills. "We are the guardians of these tombs, and the proof of that is how we hunted down the terrorists who attacked foreign tourists in 1997'Ķ" says Mr. Ahamed. "What would the police have done without us? Now they say they have no use for us."

Ahamed, whose grandfather worked as a laborer with the British Egyptologist Howard Carter when he uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, looks warily down the hill at the ruins of the temple of Ramses II and sighs: "We have every reason to defend these tombs since they are our livelihood."

MAP: LUXOR, EGYPT: Valley of the Kings

PHOTO (COLOR): ROYAL NEIGHBORHOOD: Qurnawi elder Mohamed Abdel Salam Ahamed at work with a stone carver in the Valley of the Kings. In the distance are their ancestral homes. The Qurnawi are resisting a government plan to relocate them.

~~~~~~~~

BY: Philip Smucker, Special to The Christian Science Monitor
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&bk=1&hid=113&sid=86185c78-ad3e-4cc1-a3d7-daf2bfa8508b%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=4013756#db=aph&AN=4013756

This article is from a newspaper posted to a website. Written by Phillip Smucker for the Christian Science Monitor in 2001, had the purpose of explaining both sides on what shouldbe done about Bedouins living on ancient tomb sites in Egypt. Smucker explains the dilemma of what could happen to these sacred ancient sites if these nomadic people are allowed to live here, but it also explains that these places are the homes of these tribes, how they've been guarding these sites for hundreds of years. The intended audience is most likely citizens of Egypt and their government. He wants these people to be aware of the problem and do something about it. Evidence comes from history, "Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair' wronte Percy Shelley... the poem is a cautionary reminder of the fleeting nature of both authority and art," (Smucker). The writer presents himself as knowledgeable about the situation and aware of both sides.

Article, "Iraq's once-vibrant arts scene looks for revival"

Iraq's once-vibrant arts scene looks for revival

Supporters see positive signs after years of fear

Section: News, Pg. 13a

BAGHDAD --The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra wrapped up its performance after 10 p.m. -- a bit later than most functions these days in the capital. But most of the audience stuck around to hear the conductor's short speech celebrating the cultural triumph.

It's no small thing to hold a concert in these difficult times, conductor Karim Wasfi told the nearly 200 people.

Despite a recent spike in violence after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas at the end of June, Wasfi urged Iraqis to continue to support the arts if they want their country to regain a sense of normalcy.

"What the symphonic orchestra is doing ... is meritorious and deserves attention," he said. It demonstrates "there are also positive things happening in the country."

Iraq's once-vibrant arts culture has been slowly coming back to life in recent months, after years of sectarian fighting and a fierce insurgency made the notion of enjoying a concert or visiting an art gallery unthinkable.

"There is more than bombings and sandstorms in Baghdad," says Safiya al-Suhail, a member of Iraq's parliament. "There is hope that Baghdad's artist will experience a renaissance."

Hopeful signs of resurgence

Signs of Baghdad's re-emerging artsscene are visible throughout the city:

*The orchestra is performing more concerts than at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2003, including the concert last month at the posh Alwiya Club. The show featured classical Iraqi music as well as Beethoven's Prometheus Overture and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The concert even had a corporate underwriter: telecom firm Asiacell.

*On Abu Nawas Street, once a hub for Baghdad's best art dealers, most of the galleries have been closed since the worst days of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007. But several galleries reopened in recent months, and a few have held shows to highlight new artists.

*Al-Suhail now holds "salons," or social gatherings, that she describes as her own small effort to push Iraqis toward recapturing their rich, artistic history.

Over the last several months, the member of parliament has invited various Baghdad artists to display their work or lead discussions, as her guests munch finger foods and drink sodas in her backyard.

About 60 people attended one of al-Suhail's gatherings to view the work of several Iraqi photographers and their pictures of Baghdad. A few weeks before that, she had people over to discuss women's poetry with an Iraqi writer.

War hard on arts, artists

Despite harsh sanctions against the Iraqi government and the despotic rule of Saddam Hussein, Iraq had a vibrant arts scene in the years leading up to the war. Private galleries along the Tigris River regularly displayed artists' works, and the famous Mutanabi Street filled with booksellers did a brisk business.

After the U.S. invasion in March 2003, Iraq's cultural identity also came under fierce attack. When Saddam fell, looters raided the Iraqi National Museum, stealing thousands of precious artifacts -- some dating back thousands of years.

By the end of 2006, most of the galleries along the Tigris were shuttered, and gallery owners put their most valuable work in storage. In March 2007, the stretch of bookstores on Mutanabi Street was destroyed by a massive truck bomb that killed 38 people. It took nearly two years to rebuild the shops.

Qasim Sabti, 56, a well-regarded Iraqi painter, says the situation has improved, but Iraq's arts scene remains in disarray. Many of his colleagues fled to Europe and elsewhere in the Middle East during the worst of the fighting. Few have returned.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has urged Iraqi refugees to return home, but Sabti says there is little reason to come back to Baghdad.

"I wonder what it is the artists would be coming back for," Sabti says in an interview at Hiwar Gallery in Baghdad. "Will they come back for the unemployment? Or death? Or for the lack ... of general services, such as electricity and water?"

Samir Basim Youssef, 26, a musician who plays contrabass with the national orchestra, disagrees. He says there are plenty of reasons to believe Iraq can have a cultural revival.

"Iraq has been attacked by many enemies and has lived through lots of hard circumstances, but it continued its march," he says. "We will certainly continue our cultural life in spite of all these circumstances.

"We are determined."

Contributing: Aamer Madhani

(c) USA TODAY, 2009



War has always been an excuse to steal valuable artifacts from the invaded country or destroy their culture. The United States' war with Iraq has been no different. The article above describes how Iraq's cultural arts center has been destroyed and is just now getting back on its feet after almost 7 years in the dirt. '"Iraq has been attacked by many enemies and has lived through lots of hard circumstances, but it continued its march," he says. "We will certainly continue our cultural life in spite of all these circumstances," (Nadeem).

It is truly admirable that after so much heartache and loss, this country is still willing to get back on its feet and be an even bigger center for the arts than it was before. The work now is in rebuilding the museums and art shops that were destroyed, as well as getting back precious artifacts that were stolen. "When Saddam fell, looters raided the Iraqi National Museum, stealing thousands of precious artifacts -- some dating back thousands of years," (Nadeem).


Nadeem, Majeed "Iraq's once-vibrant arts scene looks for revival." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.

Peer Review

Does the first paragraph end with a thesis? Rewrite it below. Does the thesis make an argument about the significance of a literary element at work in the song? What is that literary element? In your own words, how is this literary element important to the writer’s interpretation of the song’s “hidden” meaning?
I believe that this question will be the most helpful from the peer review in my revision. I know in my old thesis, I did not mention a literary element and did not connect a literary element in other paragraphs. So I really think by fixing this problem, I'll get a better grade.

Sex in the Dark

If anyone lives on the 8th or 4th floor of Woody Hall in Lafollete you'll know what I'm talking about. Sex in the Dark happened last night when the 8th floor girls and the 4th floor guys went up to the 9th floor lounge together. The lights were turned off and with the girls on one side of the room, and guys on the other, our two RA's, Natalie and Edric asked the questions we'd written down. These questions consisted of things the opposite sex wanted to know about the other in regards to sex. All-in-all, it was a pretty hilarious time. One of the questions, this one asked by the guys to the girls, is probably the one I remember the most. It's, "What is your fantasy, where would you most like to have sex?" At first the girls were just kind of like um...., and then someone shouted out, "In the elevator!" We all started chuckling a little bit, but then one of the girls shouted out, "Oh ya, we all get off on the sixth floor!" At which point, the chuckling turned into outright hysterical laughter. If you know anything about Woody Hall you know the elevator only lets you on or off at the first and sixth floor. That's why that comment was so funny.

Fun Facts you probably didn't know

The animal responsible for the most human deaths worldwide is the mosquito.

The name for Oz in “The Wizard of Oz” was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence “Oz.”

China has about $1 trillion in personal savings and a savings rate of close to 50%. The US has about $158 billion in personal savings and an average savings rate of only about 2%.

The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen in the
distance.

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed
the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which
stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take
more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space
because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them. Not to mention the other
drawback.

"Dreamt" is the only word in the English language that ends in "mt".

When a person shakes their head from side to side, he is saying "yes" in Sri Lanka.

Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking Countries because Colgate translates into the command "go hang Yourself."

Riddles, see if you can solve them

1. From the beginning of eternity To the end of time and space To the beginning of every end And the end of every place. What am I?

2. Pronounced as one letter, And written with three, Two letters there are, And two only in me. I'm double, I'm single, I'm black, blue, and gray, I'm read from both ends, And the same either way. What am I?

3. What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years?

4. I have a little house in which I live all alone. It has no doors or windows, and if I want to go out I must break through the wall.

5. I am the beginning of sorrow, and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me, yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk, yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness.

Answers found under comments

Spiders

Two nights ago I came into my room after enjoying a nice long shower after a long day of going to class and working a four hour shift at The Atrium to find a spider on my desk. Normally I'm not afraid of spiders, but this one was bigger than a quarter! Once they get that big, I kind of start to freak out a little bit. Especially if they're in the place where I sleep.
So here I am, my hair is soaking wet and the only thing I have on is this extremely short bath robe, and I am down on my hands and knees searching for this spider who had just crawled down the back of my desk. My roommate is on the other side of the room playing her x-box laughing at me. "HEY BRITTANY IT'S YOUR ROOM TOO, ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME FIND THIS HUMONGOUS SPIDER?????....." guess what, she didn't help me.
In the end, I never did find that spider. I have no idea where it went. That night I went to sleep with a pillow over my ear because my good ol' roomie, Brittany, yelled up to me before I went to sleep, "Hey, better be careful, the spider might lay eggs in your ear."
"Gee thanks, just what I wanted to imagine Brittany," I thought sarcastically.

Leaky windows

Leaky windows are not fun, especially when it just keeps leaking. This is what happened,
I was asleep on my futon in my dorm room, which is on the eighth floor of lafolette. My roomie was on her x-box playing some game, when all of the sudden the room gets noticeably darker. The wind begins to blow, and that's when the rain started. One minute is was hot and humid, not raining, and the next minute it's like we have a hurricane going on outside our window. The rain is coming down at an angle, and hitting our side of the building. Meanwhile, i'm still asleep on the couch and Brittany is still on her xbox. She looks up, notices the hurricane and runs over to shut the open window. (My desk is in front of the window, I have my printer and my computer on it. Thankfully, only the back of my printer got a little wet.) She yelled my name when she ran over to the window, so that's what I got to wake up to; a hurricane and the possibility that my computer got rained on.
Once the window was shut, Brittany grabbed a towel to dry up the rain that had come in before the window was shut. That's when we noticed that it was still coming in, even though the window was closed. We completely soaked one of Brittany's large bath towels, I had a smaller one in my hand that I probably rang out in the trash can four times. This was a serious amount of water, and I wasn't at all happy.
In the end, we grabbed another dry towel and pushed it down in the window seal to soak up any more water that decided to come in. Hopefully the "Fix my room," come to fix our room soon.

9

I just got back from seeing the movie 9, and since I'm finding it hard to come up with another topic to write about, I'm going to write about the movie:
9 is based on a futuristic end of the world scenario, in which there are no humans left alive. It is similar to Terminator in that the Machines are trying to take over the world and only a few are left to try and save it. The few left to try and save the world, however, are actually machines themselves....with a human soul.
The scientist who created the machine that is taking over the world in the first place also built the 9. He realized what a mistake he had made and tried to correct it by giving his own life by splitting his soul into 9 pieces ( I know kind of Harry Potterish), and creating a new human kind I guess you would say.
Most of the 9 are split between wanting to stop the machines and hiding from them. 1 seems to be the ruler, and all he wants to do is hide from the machines. In the end though he comes through and saves the others.
In my opinion the end kind of leaves you wanting more, but overall it was a pretty good movie. I mean who doesn't like Tim Burton?

Ishmael Beah

Music had a huge impact on Ishmael Beah, one could even argue the fact that it was his saving grace while he was caught up in the conflict in Siera Leon. On Tuesday, although he did not talk much about his experiences as a boy soldier, he did talk about the impact music had on him. From O.P.P in the book, to Maroon 5 at the speech, music is such a big part of his life.
Ishmael also talked about the decline of rap music, how in today's society rappers just really string words together, with almost no meaning at all. Back during the early '90s, rap music had a meaning. For example, some of Bob Marley's best music, although his is Reggae a form of rap, has a deeper hidden meaning in his words.
Ishmael Beah went through a terrible experience, but what he went through made him who he is today. It's obvious from seeing and hearing him speak on Tuesday that although he may not be totally over his experiences, he has learned to accept what happened to him, and through his acceptance help others understand how horrible war can be.

Color Guard

If you've ever watched a half-time show at a football game, you've probably noticed the people who spin the flags and toss the rifles and any other sort of the numerous available equipment, well those girls are part of the Color Guard. In high school that was my sport. I loved it and miss it very much. Colorguard is the kind of sport where lifelong friends are made, but it's more than that, you really discover yourself. Before I joined colorguard I never imagined I would be able to get up in front of hundreds of people and perform. During my first competition I was terrified, but by my senior year, I was the one comforting the Freshmen who had never done it before. You learn so many things, and probably the most important is teamwork and how to be a leader. A colorguard will not do well if they aren't together. Just imagine how that would look; ten flags get tossed and then two seconds later another one gets tossed. That really doesn't look good, and that's why teamwork is so important. The best part of being in the colorguard though is the uniforms we get to wear and the equipment we get to use.So much cooler than the band =D.

A Recipe for some Really Good Cookies

Hellodollies, or seven layer bars however you want to call them (I prefer the latter)

Ingredients:
1 Stick Butter
1 c. Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 c. Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 c. Butterscotch Chips
1/4 c. Coconut
1/4 c. Chopped Walnuts
1 Can Eagle Brand condensed Milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Melt the butter completely and pour into the bottom of a 9x9" pan
3. Spread graham cracker crumbs evenly over butter, add more crumbs if butter shows
4. Sprinkle Chocolate and Butterscotch chips over graham cracker crumbs mixing evenly
5. Using your fingers, sprinkle coconut and walnuts over the chips using however much you wish.
6. Pour the condensed milk SLOWLY over the other ingredients, cover almost completely
(NOTE: you will not use the entire can)
7. Place in oven and bake for 14-17 min. Take out when edges are slightly brown and let cool for 1 hour before cutting.
8. Enjoy!

This has been one of my favorite deserts for as long as I can remember. If you don't like coconuts or walnuts don't use them, it tastes just as great without them. Hint: put them in the fridge and they taste even better.

My Top 15 Favorite Songs

I grew up listening to classic rock stations, it was all that I'd hear if I got in the car. My dad's crazy about it, though recently he has started listening to the recent alternative music that's come out which I find completely surprising. For my Top 15 I have a mix of some of the old, and a lot of the new:
1. "Come Together," Aerosmith version
2. "Burn it to the Ground," Nickelback
3. "Pretty Handsome Awkward," The Used
4. "There She Goes," Sixpence None the Richer
5. "21 Guns," Green Day
6. "New Divide," Linkin Park
7. "Life is a Highway," Audioslave
8. "Shot Thru the Heart," Bon Jovi
9. "Eye of the TIger," Survivor
10. "Piano Man," Billy Joel
11. "Summer of 69," Brian Adams
12. "All the Small Things," Blink 182
13. "School's Out," Alice Cooper
14. "Hey there Deliah," Plain White T's
15. "Beautiful Day," U2

Memoir

My great-grandma has been around my entire life, telling me stories and making “Mamaw’s Noodles” as everyone in our family calls it. In the last six or seven years, although she’s been there….her mind hasn’t. Alzheimer’s is a disease that destroys a person, they become someone totally different because they can’t remember who they were or anything about themselves or their family. It is so hard watching someone you love go thru those phases, and even worse when the day comes when they do not even know your name. Alzheimer's does not have a cure, and although the effects can be slowed down, sooner or later your loved one will not even be able to remember conversations you just had with them. My memories, however, are intact, and I am still able to remember those times before, the good times when my Mamaw used to scare us with stories of "The Big Thumb" and having to, "When I was a little girl..." go outside at night to go to the bathroom. These are the things I remember, what I want to write down before they too fade from my memory or God forbid are lost because of the disease known as Alzheimer's.

How is that for my first paragraph for my memoir paper? Does it need anything else? Should I take some of it out? Am I giving too much away in the first paragraph? Would you want to read the rest of my paper?

Why choose art for my major?

It all started about 2 years ago when I went to Europe with a small group of students from my school. Our chaperon's were Liz Clark, our school's art teacher and my favorite teacher ever, as well as two other teachers who taught European history and Spanish. We went to London and Canterbury in England, both extremely historical and artsy places. From there we took a boat to Calais in France where we traveled by bus to Paris. In Paris we visited Versailles where I got to see that Hall of Mirrors, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and of course the Eiffel Tower. After three days in Paris we took a night train down to Madrid. In Spain we saw a great many things and basically drove all over the country for a week. It would be impossible to tell all of what I saw in just one blog, but seeing all of the art that has survived countless wars, takeovers by different countries, and time itself amazed me. I wanted to learn more about these things, why and how they were made, what were their influences, and all the other mysteries that surrounded the art that I saw. Most people think of history as having to do with the political and social aspects of a culture. They overlook the arts most of the time, but the art is what has survived, not the wars or political issues, and definitely not the people. The art gives you a look into what life was like at that time, because it was made during that time. That's what I love about art, it's a slice of history still preserved from the time that it was made. I want to be able to preserve our history that's happening right now through my art so that future generations can look at it know what happened during my life.