In the middle of devastating wildfires in California, one man’s generosity lifts hearts in the town of Paradise and beyond. Paradise was hit hard by the recent fires, their high school was spared, but has been closed a majority of November. Many students and teachers lost their homes. Bob Wilson took $1,000 checks to the school and handed them out to the teacher and students, totaling 1,085 checks.
Month: November 2018
Trade Talks Evolve to Action
by Vwala •
The Group 20 summit in Argentina started November 30th. NAFTA 2.0, the trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico designed to replace NAFTA was signed Friday at the summit. It will now go to Congress for approval. Analysts and others writing about the event believe this will not be a short and simple process. POLITICO released an article Friday morning titled “NAFTA 2.0 is signed – but it’s far from finished[.]” The Trump administration spent 15 months on talks with Mexico and Canada before the signing.
Boat Decends into Lake Victoria
by Vwala •
A boat sunk into Lake Victoria on Saturday around 7 pm. It was carrying too many passengers, estimates reaching 100. Attempts to stop the boat failed in part because there were local princes on board according to a police officer. Most passengers were supposedly young people and women. The boat started from Uganda, and there are now people nationwide talking about making prevention for simular accidents in the future. The boat was out of commision for a while but then patched up and began sailing again without a license. The owners would be charged for criminal actions, but they are not thought to have survived.
Week 14, I’m Snorting
by Vwala •
I took Monday off from school.
11/13/18
I didn’t have the best day. Mom’s sick. Adi and Reed are kinda sick. We did watch a movie, Mom, Adi, and I-but still. They were sick.
I had to write a mini-essay today. No warning or prep, just “write this today.” I should be used to it by now, but it still jiggles my nerves. At least I moderately like essay writing.
11/14/18
Blah blah blah. I don’t know what to write so I’m literally writing blah blah blah rather than the conceptual version. Blah blah blah.
We went to the library today. I browsed–read the inside cover and/or back of books with interesting titles. I checked out three books; a school book, a book of short stories by Louisa May Alcott I’ve been meaning to get and one I picked up by a publishing house I know that’s decent.
I didn’t do school on Thursday.
11/16/18
Today we went to our rental house. I had about 15 minutes of warning before we left. I had to pack all my school and stuff for a sleepover before we left.
I didn’t exactly do school at our rental house. We hung out and I couldn’t do everything because I needed internet or a notebook I had left or a computer with certain software. I decided not to do math today. If I don’t finish it by the end of the year; I have to do the work.
Not A Hero
by Vwala •
A man in Australia pounded a shopping cart into a man wielding a knife. The man killed one person and hurt two more before being killed by the police. Michael Rogers, the man with a shopping cart, is homeless in Melbourne. He said that he wasn’t a hero for his actions. Michael Rogers is 46.
The Outlaws of Sherwood
by Vwala •
The Outlaws of Sherwood
By Vella Karman
Robin Hood is a much-told tale, I remember watching an old TV series of the bold hero who never missed a target and got away with any daring thing he set out to do. Although Robin Mckinley’s The Outlaws of Sherwood is starkly different, I enjoyed it immensely. It is a blazingly written novel and a natural specimen of writing expertise. I especially found the points of view used in The Outlaws of Sherwood sublimely effective and immensely satisfying without intruding into the storyline.
Robin Mckinley uses the omniscient point of view in this piece-the story is told by an outside presence, not a character but a viewer. In this case, the narrator knows a lot of what the characters think and feel, but does not tell it all the time. This narrative distance gives him the ability to tell several different character’s thoughts and follow one when they separate -bouncing back right before they return. I know this technique is widely used, but I found this a very good example of it used wisely, keeping it less predictable. This also makes it easier for Mckinley to skip long periods of time; only telling the most important events. I found this is very fitting to the story and enjoyed that it saved added material that wasn’t important- but attempted to make the time passing read smoother.
In one part the point of view is switched to Marian. This confused me at first, but it also came at a fitting time as I was wondering how she felt about Robin. Later on, however, this point of view also showed what happened in a scene before Robin showed up, as well as giving a peep into Marrian’s head; which built her character in a way that explains her actions in a future scene. It also made me less surprised when the point of view switched into another character’s head for a long period later in the book.
At another point, Mckinley follows a minor character, Cecily, to the fair. I was again, put off. It turned out that it was important because it revealed her love for her companion- as well as giving a first-hand account of an important scene and adding confusion to the appearance of another character. It also gave a few minor explanations that I appreciated.
During the main battle scene, the point of view is switched often; almost every paragraph for a page or two. After that McKinley stays with a character who is not fighting for a period; which let me catch my breath, as I am not a big fan of fighting. This character also, though slightly implausibly, runs into several characters, showing the action. We leave this character when he gives a weapon to another character, and end up following the weapon as it is passed from hand to hand. This is still implausible, but it delighted me and was an effective way to tell the story.
I believe Robin McKinley’s The Outlaws of Sherwood is an excellent example for writers to try to attain, especially in his use of points of view to effectively and efficiently tell the story. He delicately coerces the points of view in the book to develop characters, relay information, add suspense and confusion, and do anything else he wants them to do. I applaud him, and someday I hope to attain half as much as excellence as he. And though I still fondly remember the black-and-white shows of my childhood-The Outlaws of Sherwood has made a lasting positive impact on Robinhood for me; forever.
Week 13, I’m a Teen!
by Vwala •
Yes, it is true I am a teen-although I have been all this school year. (Why would that matter?) I am in fact, thirteen, but I didn’t think that would be as good. I consider it cheating if you use the same word to rhyme unless it is cleverly done.
11/5/18
Last week our cousins visited and we didn’t do school. Today I started school again. Ugg… I don’t mind school too much-but when you just had a week of vacation? You get that letdown, you know?
I had a few problems with math, but only one major one, and all of them I handled myself. Science only to fifteen minutes or so and I wrote a journal entry of last week during the rest of the period. Mom decided to call an early lunch, so I ate from eleven to twelve and did English from twelve to one.
I started a new book about the Bible; Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey. It wasn’t outstanding, but seemed to have a good subject and wasn’t completely unfollowable. History, Bible reading, and memory were ehhh. I am reading Song of Solomon or Song of Songs-a book written by no-longer-sensible lovers. I wrote a bit more of a story for my elective and it was undeniably fun plus I made progress.
11/6/18
Okay, would be the description of my day. Some disappointments; a bad math score, my camera is starting to break, I only understood half my history, but overall it was ok.
Now, a word on a little bit of everything. Science was less fun than normal. English was a bit confusing, bible book, (a book about the Bible, biblical principles and application, etc…) was short, finished this week’s reading. History I had extra of, Art was grindwork-but by no means boring-and hard, but a new and therefore interesting project. Current events I didn’t dread unimaginably and it was easier. And now we have come to- THE END.
11/7/18
Today would be the word I would use to describe my day. “Neither good nor bad nor happy nor sad.” (In prose.)
Science was smooth-easy and interesting. I learned about lasers, they use real ones in disco balls! (The reason they don’t hurt anyone is that they are constantly moving; in case you were wondering. And yes, if they broke and stayed still; somebody might get hurt.)
11/8/18
I couldn’t seem to stop writing today. I wrote parts of my essay, edited and wrote current events and the most interesting on; wrote logo computer code.
My science experiment, as they call it, was writing pen-and-paper logo programs. I wrote HELLO WORLD, my name and a bunch of letters. It was fun, but tedious work and kept my mind of the tips of its frontal lobe.
11/9/18
I was at our rental house for the afternoon. (And evening.) I did school there, was a gofer, (I got downgraded from painter to gofer now that we are in the throes of detail work. Dramatic sigh.) and worked more on that story. (I also worked on it Monday. It doesn’t exactly have a name currently…)
My essay is finished. (Yes, I’m going to post it.) It took a longer and shorter time than I thought. I thought it would take about 45 min to an hour, (and didn’t finish it) and I thought it would take forever (it didn’t).
Voting Clashes in Afghanistan
by Vwala •
Afghanistan held elections again for the first time in eight years on October 20th. There were threats and violence by the Taliban. The Afghan government has tried to make agreements with the Taliban but have been refused. Voters braved the threats to wait in lines to vote. There was much violence, however, and fifty-six people died. A total of 379 people were hurt, 339 of those being on the election day. Several places had voting prolonged and the forty additional wounded were during that time.
The EU Backs off From Tanzania
by Vwala •
In Tanzania, Paul Makonda, the Commissioner of Dar es Salaam, rallied citizens to spy on possible homosexuals and report their actions. Arresting was the named punishment for offenders. The Tanzanian government announced that the official was endorsing his opinions-not those of the government. Despite this, the European Union withdrew their ambassador and are rethinking their relations with Tanzania. The EU said that human rights in Tanzania are “deteriorating”-an opinion agreed on by Onesmo Olengurumwa at Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, saying the movement destroys privacy rights. Tanzania said they will keep all agreements about human rights they partook of, and will not counter their constitution. Uganda, Tanzania’s neighbor, passed a law on homosexuality in 2014. The law began with the death sentence as punishment but was cast off later, after much disapproval.
Raping Accusation
by Vwala •
A four-year-old in India reported raping. While in the intensive care unit for a snakebite she told her Grandmother she had been raped. Apparently, she was left alone in the ICU and a gang had raped her. India has been facing major reports of raping, gang-raping and violence against women. Due to this, they have taken up the death sentence as punishment for raping children twelve and under. Despite these measures, rape reports have been coming in consistently.