POST ANY QUESTIONS HERE

If you have any questions regarding your Midterm Extravaganza!, post them here and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

MIDTERM EXTRAVAGANZA!

Now that the Midterm is over**, what are your thoughts?

Please be thorough. I do change assignments year to year from the comments students give! (That does not mean you can say, "Make it longer and harder so they have to suffer!") =)

**Well, it is almost over. You still have to present when we get back from Regents break.

By the way, have a great break. While you are sleeping in, I will be grading essays after essays after essays after...

Throwin' It Out There

I like the idea of having "Guest Post-ers" post on our Blog. (You will notice one already; EmiliyBemily has posted her thoughts on "Imperfection" earlier in the week.)

I want you to consider what you will write about (because all of you will eventually write one). There is no choice in the matter. I am toying with the idea that on the week you write your post -and I post it- you can waiver your journal assignment for the week.

Respond if you have questions, comments, concerns.

I've Lost My Senses!!

If you could get rid of one of your five senses, which one would you get rid of?

Sight? Taste? Touch? Smell? Hearing?

I have no idea which one I would give up. I think I would get give up Taste. I love food waaay too much so I think that would be the healthiest option. Hmmm, or maybe Smell. (Have you ever gotten a whiff of something absolutely terrible that your only reaction is to gag?)

Who Needs Electricity?--Seriously

Honestly, if a bum from off the streets of Munich asked me to marry him and live there, I would. If a poor haberdasher asked me to move to Pittsburgh and help him sell his goods, I would. (Now that I think about it, those are two very opposite places.)

My dream home in Munich or Pittsburgh would be fully solar-funtional, it would be 100% natural (electricity? overrated), I would have my own garden complete with organic vegetables (as my neighbors would provide the free-range cattle and poultry), and I would not own a vehicle.

Where would you live? Describe your dream home and what it would be like.

ENGLISH IS LIKE A(N)...

...SWEATER VEST because it keeps a person warm and is oh-so-trendy.

Imperfection--by EmilyBemily

It seems to me that everybody these days attempts to be perfect. Perfection is merely a word, but in my opinion, it never exists. Everybody has opinions, and because of this nothing can ever be perfect (but of course, that is only my opinion). While you may think something is perfect, the person next to you may think otherwise, and therefore nothing can be perfect - right?
Tell me this:
- Do you strive to be perfect? It is not a crime if you do!

- Who do you consider perfect in your life? Why?

Give me your views on perfection and imperfection. Just remember, if you are not perfect, then you are perfect in the world of imperfection. =] Think about that!

Characters

Discuss the main character of your novel. What characteristics and qualities does this person possess? What makes him or her real? Is s/he realistic?

Talk about your character. What does s/he have to go through?

Interesting Thought

When is it okay to give up? Is it ever okay?

Talk to me. Give me some examples. I expect some rather good discussion here.

Movie Madness

Recently I have seen a slew of movies. Before P.S. I Love You came out, my friend got some free tickets to see the film before it was released to the public. (Sneak Previews are great because if the movie is terrible, the show was free anyway.) She sobbed through the entire movie while I was trying not to drown in the ocean of sappy clichés. (For those of you that are going to go see it, watch out for the flashback scene where they first meet. It's hysterical and yet poorly edited.) I would not recommend it.

I saw Sweeney Todd and being a huge Tim Burton fan, this movie was great. It is a musical (and yes, Johnny Depp does sing--quite well, actually) so do not get up and walk out because it was not what you thought it was. I really enjoyed it.

I do not know why I was dragged to see the sequel to National Treasure, but I was. The only redeeming factor in the entire movie is Nicholas Cage's quirky (and ever-so-adorable) sidekick, Reilly.

Your post should be a bit on the longer side. What movies have you seen lately that you would recommend? What movie(s) are your favorite? What movies have you seen and hated (and wanted to stab out your eyes after seeing)?

Geist's Top 5s

Here are my lists of Top 5:

MOVIES
1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Beetlejuice
3. Labyrinth
4. Boondock Saints
5. Shrek

BANDS
1. Beatles of course!!
2. Our Lady Peace
3. Modest Mouse/The White Stripes
4. LCD Soundsystem
5. Feist

FOODS
1. Pizza
2. Mashed potatos and meatloaf
3. Piragi
4. Ambrosia
5. Orange Jello

NOVELS
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Anything by Shakespeare or Hemingway
3. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
4. Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
5. Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien

COLORS
1. Black
2. Sage Green
3. Cappaccino
4. Caribbean water blue
5. black

WORST MOVIES**
1. The Notebook
2. Encino Man
3. Gramma's Boy
4. Anchor Man
5. Eragon
**Here is no less than 12 hours of my life I will NEVER get back.

Respond/comment against my Top 5, make your own list, you know, whatever. Just comment. Make it a long one.

I am trying to come up with a list of what I say the most...any suggestions?

Discussion For-Ummmm?

What I am gathering is that (mostly) everyone enjoyed the debates. Is this something that you would like incorporated into class more often? (Obviously we would not spend as much time on it, as it was rather time consuming, but would you be interested?)

I also thought we could have discussion days. On Fridays (or on whichever said day) we could spend 15 minutes or so discussing topics that range from capital punishment to pop culture to the next presidential campaign.

Any takers?

Make sure you scroll to the bottom of the screen to find more posts. Respond so that you are writing roughly a paragraph--one that allows people to respond back to you in a detailed manner! =)

Also, there are some posts in December (on the right side of your screen) to which I would like you to respond!

How Is Your Novel Going?

Give the name of your book (and the author if you remember). Italicize the title.

Talk a little bit about what is going on in the novel. Would you recommend it?

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This old writer is dying. She is a recluse and refuses to tell reporters anything truthful about her life. (So far she has a running total of no less than 19 birth stories--all conflicting.) She employs the owner (another observer rather than participator in life) of a book store to stay with her in her house in the English countryside where she begins the tale of her life.

I would absolutely recommend it. It is riveting. I know I am not doing it justice with this little blurb here, but in all honesty, I hate going to sleep because I want to read it all night!

Happy New Year 2008!!

I guess I fall into the category of "I make resolutions and then never follow through with them." I will be gung-ho about starting off the year in a great way and then January 2nd rolls around and I am asking, "What's the special at Burger King?" (Not really, but you get the point.)

Do you have any resolutions for the New Year? Do you follow through with them? And why is it, that it is so easy to "fall off the wagon"?

Debate--Your Thoughts

First I want to tell you that everyone did an amazing job with the debate. Though I did not expect it to go on for as long as it did, I was impressed.

I would like to hear your thoughts.

How do you feel the debate went? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?

Operation: Loner

So you all know me and my -sometimes- obssessive nature regarding the environment. (Like that? My "nature" and the "environment"? Nevermind.) I believe we should live symbiotically with Nature as she will win, eventually. Instead of being wasteful, we should lessen our impact and take care of the world in which we live. Okay, you have heard this all before. I will get to my point.

Often there are times when many of you disagree with me and think, "Why bother? Our kids can clean up our mess." (That hurts me to even write that.) Well, I feel alone but I still adamantly stand behind what I belive in.

My question to you is: Think about a time when you did not agree with your friends. Did you decide to go with the majority or stick to your guns? What was the topic? Do you think a majority of people would rather just "go with the flow" or be like a salmon and "swim upstream"? Why?

Talk to Your Peeps

Question 1: So, how are you feelin' about the novel so far?

Question 2: Put yourself in Charlie's place. How would you feel about what he is going through? In some sense, you are still going through new experiences. How do your experiences and how you deal with them differ from Charlie's experiences and the way he deals with them?

Are You Happy?

What does it mean to be happy? Are you happy?

Are there different kinds of happiness? Do possessions make us more or less happy? How intelligent does one have to be to realize unhappiness?

Give a definition of what you think happiness is and talk about it. (I mean really talk about it.)

A DUPLICATE GEIST?!

I do not know if you have ever done this, but one day I was just surfing the web and I decided to see what our ambiguous Big Brother had on me on the internet. (I am not one of those tinfoil-wearing, disguise-my-identity, hide-in-the-woods, over-the-top people who tries to avoid the government, but I was sincerely curious as to what kind of information was on the web about me.)

Well, I went to Google and typed in "Andrea Geist" (thinking the search would yield the infamous "Did you mean..."). Wouldn't you know it, there is another Andrea Geist out there!!! A love for the written word must come with the name, but she is apparently a romance writer and has her own website, http://www.andreageist.com . ("Sparkle This" is her blog title.) Not only that, but apparently there is another Andrea Geist who is a member of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association and is in charge of the software for the machines. Unbelievable!

At the news of this, I actually went through a myriad of emotions simultaneously. My complete and utter shock at there being another me quickly dissipated into ever-so-slight anger and a pinch of annoyance, but then turned into a bit of disappointment: "NO WAY! I'M NOT ORIGINAL!"

What I want you to do first is tell me how you would feel if you weren't "an only." (Am I over-reacting? I know I tend to do that.) Then I want you to Google your name and see if you have any doubles...

NOMINATE A FELLOW STUDENT!

Geist's Groovy Go-Getters is far overdue!!!!

Nominate a fellow classmate who you believe should be honored with this award. Take into consideration participation, work ethic and attitude.

What Do You Want To Do?

I am wondering what kinds of activities you would like to do during this unit. If YOU were the teacher, what would you want to do? Reading Circles? Group Projects? Presentations? I am pretty open about it, so give some suggestions!

We will be having a debate--I cannot wait for that!

All I Want for Christmas Is...

Hmmm. Here is an easy and fun post for you. Talk about what you want for Christmas.

(I asked Santa for a Mac Notebook, a vacuum, a vegetable steamer and oh, yeah--I want a compost bin.) =)

Go Green!

I Want an IQ of 200!

As we begin reading about Charlie and his desire to learn, we must take into account other factors that are very real today. If we had the technology to make everyone intelligent (as in an IQ of at least 150), do you think we should take it upon ourselves to create a new race of superhumans?

What I am asking you is this: What do you think the ramifications are of making everyone intelligent? Is it good for science? On the other side of the same coin, if we had the ability to get rid of those that are handicapped or mentally retarded, should we? What do you think would happen to the world?