Journal 25

To give someone something is the best thing one can do in the world. I really enjoy giving people things, and it excites me to see the look on somebody's  face when they see what I have given them. This happened this year during Christmas. This year I got my brother Michael the DVD of the Disney movie Hercules. When he unwrapped the present, I loved the look of happiness on his face as he looked at the movie he had loved in his childhood. For Christmas I also got a movie for my brother Danny. Even though he kind of knew what I was going to get him, he was still happy to receive it. I also enjoyed watching my dad opened the present that I got him. This year for Christmas I got him a piggy bank. I laughed as I watched the confusion grow on his face. He had no idea why I got him a piggy bank! Almost everyday my brother sneaks in and steals my Dad's quarters. I got my dad the piggy bank, so my brother could no longer take his quarters. After I explained all of this to him, he laughed and was glad to have it. Not only do I like to give gifts, but I also like to receive gifts from people. I hope not to sound materialistic  but it makes me feel good that someone thought of me and wanted to give me something. This happened in eighth grade when my wonderful friend Jenni gave me a snow globe for Christmas. I was so touched that she thought to get me something and was so generous to give me something. To this very day I still have that snow globe that my dear friend Jenni gave me. Every time that I look at it I feel good inside and remember the happy feeling that I felt when Jenni gave me that snow globe.Giving is very important.

Journal 26

In my particular area in which I reside, we have many local customs and traditions. One such specialty in the area in which I live is a delicious food called a Horseshoe. Horseshoes can only be found in the place I live and honestly that is a sad thing for the whole world. A Horseshoe is first made with a toasted piece of bread. Next, you put a piece of meat on the bread. A hamburger patty is traditionally used for this part of the Horseshoe. Some people like to use chicken or Italian beef. After adding meat, french fries in all their golden deliciousness is added to said Horseshoe. After the french fries comes a cheese sauce that varies on the place where you order your horseshoe. I like to then add ketchup and voila you have a hot and yummy dish in front of you. Do you want to know what is not a specialty to the area in which I live? Egg rolls are not specific to where I live, but they are so good that I thought they should be written about. Today at lunch I had an egg roll. It was so delicious but it was also a little bit on the greasy side. I am really excited to get home tonight. I am so excited because a book that I ordered from the Internet. I have been  waiting for this book because it is part of a series that I have read for a very long time. I have been waiting eight long months for this book to come out and I can barely contain my excitement as I write this blog. I cannot wait for this weekend, so I will have a lot of time to read my book. At the same time I feel really sad because the next book in the series does not come out until November and I will have to wait all over again.

Journal 31

Gossip is information being passed from person to person that is discussing another, usually in a way that slanders their reputation  Gossip is usually viewed as a negative thing. When gossiped about, people can get hurt emotionally and be damaged. Gossip can even isolate some of its victims from their friends and acquaintances  This is why gossip is so terrible. I have seen gossip in action and the way it hurts both the person gossiping and the person being gossiped about. I have personally seen people that gossip all the time and they eventually become outcasts for their excessive gossip. No one wants to be friends with someone that they do not trust. The next thing you know, they may stab you in the back and start saying bad things about you. The gossiper is to be sympathised with despite their hurtful deeds because no one should be friendless. Yet, the person gossiped about then has a tarnished reputation and that is not fair to them because the gossip may be a lie. This is also very hurtful to their confidence and self esteem. It could even affect someone and the way that they think and act for the rest of their life. This complex social disaster is one reason that people should watch what they say and stop gossip, not spread it. Gossip hurts everyone. While many people may claim that gossip is just part of the human nature, I think that we can learn to control ourselves and hold our tongues when it comes to talking about other people. Just look at the celebrities in our society today. They are constantly chased by the paparazzi and lied about in tabloids. I do not think that they all deserve this just because they are well known in society. Many of these celebrities lives start to spin out of control and this may be in part to the stress of people constantly gossiping and lying about them.

Journal 30

Civil rights are the rights that people are given from birth and have as citizens of a certain country. An example of this is freedom of speech given to the citizens of the United States from birth. Yet, at one time not all people received the civil rights that they deserved. For many years in the United States of America, African Americans were denied some of their civil rights. In many places of the United States, African Americans were discouraged from voting due to racism. This is terrible because under the amendments of the Constitution everyone over the age of eighteen has the right to vote. African Americans were also segregated from white people in public institutions. Everything from buses to water fountains were separate for the races under the doctrine "separate but equal". I cannot even imagine a society that would do this. It seems awful and very degrading, and I am glad that there were people like Martin Luther King Jr. to take a stand against "separate but equal". Without him and people like him, society could still be segregated. They fought for a society in which everyone would have the same rights and the same opportunity. I find this to be very admirable because they helped make society what it is today. Today people of every race have the same civil rights and are not segregated but integrated. Civil rights are very important because they give everyone equal rights and opportunity. In my opinion a society that has civil rights is much better than a society that does not. Despite the fact that civil rights have been achieved in the United States, we cannot rest. We must continue the  tough fight that people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks started because people may try to take away our civil rights at any time. We must be careful and alert of those that seek to limit the civil rights of anyone, and make sure that our society continues to grant civil rights to all.

Journal 29

Many humans believe that they are in control of the world, but then Mother Nature will strike and remind us who really is in charge. This can be seen in the hurricanes that affect the coast to the earthquakes that shakes the earth. An example of this is the storm that occurred several years ago. I was very young and was frightened by this storm. Lightening flashed in the night sky and thunder rumbled around my home. I recall the hail that beat upon the roof of my house and my growing sense of unease. After the storm started, my parents turned on the television to find out what was going on with the weather. I watched with fear as the news anchors begged the audience to not go out in the weather unless absolutely necessary. They reported that funnel clouds had been spotted in the area and the weather was right for one of the worst natural disasters:a tornado. Soon, the storm began to get worse and worse. Before long the electricity began to flicker before going completely out. I sat in the dark, unable to look out and see what exactly was going on in the world around me. My family had to get out the flashlights and the battery run radio. Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning the power was still out, but now I could look and see the destruction the storm had brought. Tree branches lay across the highway near my home and around my yard. Later, I would find out that a tornado had touched down, not twenty miles from my house. For weeks after that I would see bits and pieces of the destruction that the tornado had brought upon my environment. A building would have damage here and there, and the power lines took several days to get back up and running. The destruction was great and I saw for one of the first times in my life the strength of nature.

Journal 27

Sometimes life does not work out the way you expected. Sometimes it ends up being for the good, but sometimes you also can be disappointed by the outcome. For example, I was just watching a basketball game. The team that I was rooting for was down several points, and I expected my team to lose the game. The other team was also known to be very good and was ranked number one in the whole conference, while the team I supported was known to be kind of bad because they had lost several of their last couple games. I was not really invested in the game until I saw that the underdog was not that many points behind. Unfortunately, the other team was able to get a lot of points and I thought the game was over. Little did I know how wrong I would end up being. In an amazing comeback my team was able to score many points and the game became almost tied. At this point the game was almost over. Before I knew it, my team had tied with the very good team. My heart was beating hard in my chest as I watched the clock quickly wind down. The other team was in possession of the ball and they had a very good offense. I thought that they were going to score and therefore win the game. Suddenly,  a player on the underdog team was able to steal the ball and run down the court to his basket. A player from the other team swatted the ball away in the air, and it went out of bounds. At this point, there was less than a second left and my team now had possession. When the other team went to guard the player with the ball, they neglected to see one guy was not guarded. That guy was passed the ball and he did a perfect layup right as the buzzer went off! The underdog had won!

Journal 28

One summer I went on a trip to Spain. While it had some similar customs that I was used to, some I was unprepared for. I experienced a lot of culture shock. For example, when I would go to a restaurant to eat, I noticed that the server would only hand the males at the table a menu. They must have expected the males to order for us. Where I live this has never happened to me before and I was confused. Another difference that I noticed was that when you ordered a drink it would always come in a glass bottle. The server would also bring a glass of ice with a lemon. You were expected then to fill the glass with the soda instead of drinking straight from the bottle, like I would have if I was at home. Probably the biggest culture shock was the difference in language. I knew of course when going to Spain that Spanish would be the language spoken, but I was not quite prepared for it. It was strange but in a unique way to be in surrounded by people that I could not understand. This forced me out of my comfort zone, and I had to stumble through my interactions with other people there. Surprisingly, I found that I was able to adapt quickly and would use what little Spanish I knew to help me communicate. I was greatly helped by many of the friendly people who were patient with me as I tried my best to communicate with them. Also, many signs were first in Spanish and then in English, which also helped me immensely. Overall, I loved my trip to Spain and I even kind of liked the culture shock. I enjoyed getting out in the world and learning about people in different places and their culture. It made me discover how big the world is and that I want to get out and see as much of it that I can.