Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Our Scar

Back with more poems, this time not just from me. Being the huge Harry Potter fan I am, it wasn't long before I wrote one about the books.

Our Scar


One day Harry Potter roamed round the world,
dropping eyeglasses for others to own.
J.K. Rowling pushed the glasses into our view,
And started something exciting and new.

The day I stumbled on my own pair of glasses,
I wasn’t sure what to see or to go.
When I tentatively put them onto my nose,
From the paper magical things arose.

I began to see different than ever before,
I truly saw past the end of my nose,
I saw past what things seemed to be,
And saw the true world in front of me.

I saw people that could be my friend,
Who would always lend me more than one hand.
I saw places I could travel to,
When things were wrong and I needed things new.

From Harry I learned how to be brave,
Hermione taught me all knowledge could save.
Ron told me it is ok to go back,
Ginny showed me kindness’ path.

Luna told me its good to be different,
 Neville showed me everyone’s stars
Malfoy told me how to make the most of my chances,
Dumbledore showed me the weapon of Love.

Sirius taught us to see past misconceptions,
 Lupin showed us how to live through the pain
Pettigrew betrayed and showed me I need to be loyal,
 Lily and James say nothings in vain.

McGonagall straightens out young Potter,
Slughorn learned how to live things out.
Snape shows how hard it is to let your love show,
And we thank Hagrid for leaving his open door.  

Trelawney, Flitwick, Sprout, and Ms. Pomfrey,
Umbrage, Lockhart, and Filch entertain us for hours.
Quittach, House Cups, competitions, and parties
Makes Hogwarts the best hope we know.

Gryffindor shows me to be brave to the test,
Ravenclaw says being clever’s the best.
Slytherin teaches that it’s good to have ambition,
And mine, Hufflepuff is kind and takes all the rest.

Voldemort shows us how he took the wrong path,
The Death Eaters follow his lead,
Of course we all cry when to help others succeed,
Dobby gives up his own life.

Tonks, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, The Weasley’s ,
Fudge, Bellatrix, and Scrimegour
I know I’m forgetting some,
But they all help me go forward today.

We cry at their deaths,
We laugh at their jokes,
We scream for their triumphs,
From our hearts we are thankful.

I want to cry when I take off the glasses,
But I put them in my pocket for another time.
When they aren’t on my eyes,
Harry is always in the back of my mind. 

Harry Potter gave us a scar, our scar
So we know the glasses will always somewhere be there, 
Let’s all stand up and give a round of applause,
For we are proud to hold the key- to Harry Potter.

It's still being revised, so tell me If something sounds bad. Now Emily decided to write two poems with her ideas. You can see she is a true Slytherin, and me being a Hufflepuff I don't always agree with her, but they are good poems. It's pretty good for her having put it together in 5 minutes.

Draco Malfoy
So misunderstood
But I really get you
As no one else could

I know you did it all
To help save your folks
But all other people
Think you’re a horrid bloke

Everyone thinks
You’re a cold-hearted person
But it was in self-defence
That Harry you were cursing

All the fans hate you
Because of some stuff you did
But I understand why
Even though I’m just a kid

You saw your mistakes
And you wished there were zero
You made the best of your chances
And that’s why you’re my hero.

Here is another one. This one is good too. I need her to think of titles though. I like her long words.

I’d like to start off by saying
That I don’t mean to offend
I’m just stating my opinions
So please read to the end!

Gryffindor, the well-loved house
Is stereotypically perfect
But I think they’re obnoxious jocks
And full of disrespect

They are the known as the “good” house
Which is perhaps why I dislike them
Everyone has flaws, but theirs aren’t shown
Are they really such true gems?

Hufflepuff, so loyal and true
I feel bad saying things against
Really, though, they’re so pathetic
And should hardly be commenced

But I suppose they have good hearts
And for that reason I’m proud
To read about the Hufflepuffs
That make our world go round

Ravenclaw, the braniacs
Are really nerds at heart
But I think it’s commendable
For them to be so smart

I am, of course, part Ravenclaw
So I do have a soft spot
For those bookworms rarely mentioned
We owe them quite a lot

Slytherin, the so-called “evil”
I feel a certain love for
Because really, I fit right in
A Slytherin to my core

They aren’t evil, just misunderstood
And never show their feelings
Because they don’t want other people
To help them in their dealings

I’ll wrap it up, thanks for your time
I hoped you liked my thoughts
And if you didn’t, well I warned you
That with controversy this was fraught!



Saturday, December 4, 2010

Our House

The most exciting time,
in the longest of days,
is when Pooh and his friends,
come out to play.

They come from the woods,
and walk down to my house,
Pooh leads the parade,
they all scream and shout.

The journey's not long,
but its of a different sort.
You can't take a train,
or a car or a boat.

Even though they live really quite far,
they can be here in the blink of an eye.
But why do they come to be and not you?
It's only because I chose for them too..

Like Poetry and Hums there not things to find,
They are things that come when you are around.
The only thing you can possibly do,
Is go to a place were they are bound to pass through.

I built my house on Pooh corner the other day,
And now they come by and tell me all they can say.
If you move to the corner called Pooh
You will be visited by Kanga and Roo.

Pooh will stop by because he can't miss a party,
And then you'll be visited by Piglet, Eeyore and Rabbit.
Owl and Tigger will stop by real soon,
And then you will have enough guests to fill every room.

What I am telling you is really quite true,
As long as you live at the corner called Pooh.
You will have friends through the whole day,
As long as you can listen to what they can say.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving to All

Charlie Brown- We've got another holiday to worry about! It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.
Sally Brown- I haven't even finished eating all my Halloween candy!

So it seems that Thanksgiving Day is now upon us. Tomorrow we will be sitting down and feasting and giving thanks. I'm glad. Thanksgiving is a good day. But how did it really start? From my Social Studies teacher, and the book "The Mayflower and the Pilgrims New World" by Nathaniel Philbrick, (a kids version of his bestseller, "Mayflower" I know a little more than I did last year about the subject. It seems we have been hoodwinked! Is everything we know about Thanksgiving really true?


Here are some things about the First Thanksgiving, Native Americans, and Pilgrims you might not know, but you might know. Just to get the facts straight.

1. Before the Pilgrims came to America, the Native Americans had already been in contact with European people (and their diseases.) The "European Epidemic" had wiped out Natives from the Kennebec River to Cape Cod by 50-70%.

2. Europeans back then often thought the Natives had no religion because they had nothing that Europeans thought were religious. They didn't have churches or priests. This made the Europeans think they were "savages" or "barbarians".

3. The Native Americans of this region did not live in tepees. They lived in wigwams, rounded structures. They also did not wear headdresses, or ride horses.

4. Pilgrims did not wear all white and black with big belts and tall hats. They were a bit more colorful then that.

5. The Wompanoags were actually Pokanokets. The Wampanoags were a large group of people, and the Pokanokets was the head tribe. Massasoit was the sachem of the Pokanokets, but was the most powerful leader of the Wampanoags.

6. The Pilgims were not really all Pilgrims. About half of the people on the Mayflower were "Strangers" or other people who wanted to go to the New World, often they wanted to make money. The other half were the Pilgrim Sepresists looking for religious freedom. Some of these Strangers had ties to the Pilgrims, like Captain Miles Standish, but others, like Christopher Martin, just caused trouble.

7. The Pilgrims were originally from England. But they then went to Holland for religious freedom. Some of the congregation from Holland decided to go to the New World, but not all. They had to stop many times before they finally left without the Speedwell. The last port they stopped in was Plymouth, England, which is where Plymouth got its name.

8.The Pilgrims started out with two boats. They had bought one called the Speedwell to take with them to the new world, as well as the Mayflower. The Speedwell was definitely not speedy, and the boat sprung a lot of leaks, so they had to abandon the boat.

9. The first place that the Pilgrims landed was not where they settled. They first landed on the tip of Cape Cod and the Mayflower was docked in Providencetown Harbor.

10. That brings us to Plymouth rock. Its a myth. Most people know that, but I thought I would mention it all the same. Do you really think they all stepped off the boat in an orderly fashion? Not really. It was a good spot for a boat to stop, so people may have stepped on it, but there is no written record of any rock.


11. Jamestown actually had a Thanksgiving celebration on 9\8\1565, but no one mentions that because it ruins the spirit of the "First Thanksgiving". Just pretend I never told you that.

12. The Pilgrims Thanksgiving Day was actually celebrated in late September or early October. The Pilgrims did not use the term "Thanksgiving" themselves. They were having an english style Harvest Festival.

13. Thanksgiving was instead of very English, a very Native American celebration. There were almost double the amount of Natives at the celebration than Pilgrims. They didn't sit around a table with a table cloth clasping hands. There were games and races and it was a jolly time.

14. For our last thought, I would like to say that Squanto was not as big of a super hero as we think he is. I mean, he has a lot going for him. He was captured and brought to Europe for a ton of years, and when he finally came back, almost his whole tribe had been wiped out by disease. He had it pretty rough. But that does not mean he was the kind, generous, Pilgrim-helping soul we all assume him to be. (By the way, he was not the only Native who could speak English, there were others, like Samoset, who was the first person to speak to the Pilgrims.) He tried to undermine the Pokanokets by telling the other Wampanoags that he alone had the ear and trust of the Pilgrims and they should abandon Massasoits leadership for his one. And Massosiott had done a lot for him. Also, he attempted to mislead the English by telling them that Massosiot was conspiring against them. Eventually all the lies came out, but because Squanto had helped the Pilgrims so much, they protected him. "Squanto sought his own ends and played his own game." -William Bradford. Squanto struck a fever and died a few weeks later. Woah, thats some harsh karma.

Well, no need to remember any of this information. You can go back to thinking of the tall-hatted pilgrims English tablecloth celebration. It's not doing you any harm.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Here are some things to think about-

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin


Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.

— Robert Caspar Lintner


But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown.

— Marcie Johnson in 1973


Thanksgiving is possible only for those who take time to remember; no one can give thanks who has a short memory. ~Author Unknown

Friday, November 12, 2010

Peak into My Life

Here are two videos-

Maggie's Jeep Play



and the Seaside Inn Mystery Movie that we made




Monday, October 25, 2010

Two Sides

The problem with the world, and also one of it's greatest virtues, is that everyone is different. If everyone was the same, it would be bad and uninteresting, everyone knows that. But there are problems with being different too, because it creates problems.

Along with every story, there are many sides, but none of them are right. Everything is just misunderstanding. You think your right, but the other person thinks they are right. When you hear out the other persons side of the story, you can understand their point, but it makes you sound bad, so you usually dismiss it, because you believe yourself more than other people.But really, can you trust yourself? You don't know how other people are feeling.

This is one giant game that the world is playing with you, a game of perspective. You see some things, other people see something else. Nobody can win, nobody can lose. Unless, that is, you decide to tie. The only way to solve things is by both people admitting they were wrong. That doesn't happen a lot of the time, because who wants to be wrong? But hopefully if you admit that your wrong, the other person will too. If not, well, you've been the bigger person, so you've truly won.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Throwing Caution

"We are afraid of things we do not know, just because we do not know them." -Linda Sue Park A Single Shard

As a whole, we human beings are very quick to stereotype. We tend to assume things before we need to, which leads us to go into new things with a less than positive attitude. One lesson we all need to learn is that new doesn't necessarily mean bad, it only means unfamiliar. You need to get used to something before you judge it, don't judge a book by its cover. I'm not saying throw caution into the wind and go skipping into every new thing without a second thought, but you can throw caution around a little bit, as long as it is always within your grasp.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Columbus Day, or not?

Today if you ask any American kid who discovered America, most likely the vast majority of them would say Christopher Columbus. In school, we spend a lot of time learning about Christpher Columbus and his voyage. In Kindergarton, we even put on a play about him. They rarely give credit to the Vikings or the Chinese, who evidence says was there long before Columbus. But they almost never give credit to the real discoverers of America, the native Americans.

Almost every written document of people who ventured to America mention the natives. The natives had already created themselves a civilization long before any European set eyes on the Americas. They were there when all the explorers came, but they are never given credit. They are the true discoverers of America, and should be given credit for that.

Americans always give the credit to Europeans, even when the credit is not due. Americans are never truthful, especially when it comes to Native Americans\Europeans, and they should be. There is a federal holiday that we get the day off from school for. It is named after not the true discoverers of America, or even the first explorers to go there. It is named after the European who wasn't even one of the first ones to go there. I though we were supposed to learn the truth in school? I guess not.