Accepting Responsibility

Lethal injection is a cruel and unusual form of punishment. Unfortunately, the United States still employs the death penalty. Capital punishment has been abolished in 40 countries since 1990. In 2004, America, China, Iran, and Vietnam accounted for ninety-seven percent of executions worldwide. There are several objections to the death penalty, one, the killing of innocents, two, the discovery that the death penalty is not, in fact, a crime deterrent, and the abolition of such punishment does not harmfully influence the crime rate, and three, that lethal injection is a cruel and unusual punishment. The death sentence is unconstitutional, and it does not belong in a modern, “civilized” society like ours.
The first concern is the needless extinguishments of innocent lives. Police misconduct, unreliable witnesses, physical evidence, or confessions, and poor defense can all contribute to the incarceration and subsequent execution of innocent people. Amnesty International reveals that 123 death row inmates have been set free in the U.S. since 1973, “after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death.” In 2004, there were six releases, and at least three in 2005. On average, the U.S. schedules the execution of sixty-eight people every year; if approximately fourteen percent of those sixty-eight individuals are released, then one must question how many innocents have been executed without sufficient evidence their guilt. As long as we continue to execute individuals as punishment for their crimes, we will always run the risk of killing innocent men and women. Are we willing-should we be willing- to accept that responsibility?
Although many claim that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent, this not true. The abolition of capital punishment has been shown to have no negative effects upon the crime rate. In fact, when Canada abolished their death penalty for murder, homicide rates in Canada went down forty-four percent in the twenty-seven years after the condemnation of the death penalty. The homicide rate fell from 3.09 per 100,000 population in 1975, the year before the ban, to 1.73 in 2003, the lowest rate in thirty years, according to Amnesty International. A study was conducted for the United Nations in 1988, and it was updated again in 2002. The study concluded, “The fact that the statistics continue to point in the same direction is persuasive evidence that countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty”. If the abolition of the death sentence can actually help reduce crime, then why has the United States not realized this and attempted to enforce a ban so as to curb our atrocious crime rate?
Lastly, evidence continues to surface leading to the conclusion that lethal injection can actually be a form of torture that is excruciatingly painful. Complications often arise that make the execution agonizingly slow and painful. If the drugs are not administered correctly, if a tube is kinked, or the straps too tight, or even if a vein large enough for the intravenous needle cannot be found, the execution can take longer than an hour and can end up being extremely brutal for the condemned. Inmates are assured that their executions will be swift and painless, are they being deceived? Tommie Smith’s 1996 Indiana lethal injection took a total of one hour and nine minutes. Small veins were the main cause of trouble. Sixteen minutes were spent sticking needles into Smith, attempting to find an adequate vein. A physician was called, a local anesthetic employed, and the doctor tried twice to apply the tube to Smith’s neck. After this failed, an angio-catheter was inserted into Smith’s foot. The drugs at last began to flow into Smith’s body forty-nine minutes after the first attempt to insert a needle. Twenty minutes later, Smith was pronounced dead.
Strange reactions to the drugs used in lethal injection have been observed. For example, the 1992 Oklahoma execution by lethal injection of Robyn Parks went terribly awry. After the drugs were administered, Parks’ jaw, neck, and abdomen muscles began to spasm for about forty-five seconds. Parks gasped and gagged violently before finally dying eleven minutes later. One reporter, who witnessed the execution, called it “ugly”, “scary”, and “disturbing”. Other executions match this description exactly; the same writhing, choking, and convulsions have been witnessed before. At last doctors have discovered the cause of this. The second of the three drugs used in lethal injection is pancuronium bromide. Pancuronium bromide is a chemical compound that works as a muscle relaxant. However, pancuronium bromide does not have sedative or analgesic effects, which means that it acts only as a paralytic agent, not to reduce pain of any kind.
Pancuronium bromide was banned by the American Veterinary Medical Association in animal euthanasia on the grounds that it was inhumane. Dogs, cats, and even reptiles that are being put to sleep are excused from this horror, and yet humans are subjected to the kind of pain even animals are spared. Pancuronium bromide is used in lethal injection to paralyze the body’s muscles while not affecting the brain or nerves, as well as to collapse the lungs. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) states that, “the chemical pancuronium bromide, a commonly used lethal injection drug, could leave a wide-awake inmate unable to speak or cry out as he slowly suffocates.” Protestation of this drug is nothing new; Amnesty International has avidly worked to ban the drug and bring awareness about its effects, saying that it “may mask the condemned prisoner’s suffering during the execution” and lead witnesses to believe that inmates feel nothing, and therefore lethal injection is less brutal than other forms of the death penalty.
Side effects of the drugs easily explain death row inmate’s reactions. Pancuronium bromide causes the patient to experience a raised heart rate, extreme salivation, and respiratory depression. The results of pancuronium bromide account for the choking and gasping; the inmate begins to salivate excessively, but since his muscles have been paralyzed, he cannot swallow, and begins to choke. The prisoner’s collapsing lungs cause him to gasp for air. As the third drug enters the condemned’s system, he can actually feel his heart stop before he dies. All throughout the execution, the dying man cannot make any facial expression to display his agony. The DCIP asked Dr. Mark Heath of Columbia University what death row prisoners would experience if the first short-term anesthesia drug was not utilized correctly and the two remaining drugs, including pancuronium bromide, were administered. Dr. Heath replied, “It would basically deliver the maximum amount of amount of pain the veins can deliver, which is a lot.”
All of these examples point to the fact that lethal injection is a means of torture. If we cannot find a painless way to enforce the death penalty, then we must not use it. The whole point of lethal injection is that it is supposedly fast, safe, and gentle. However, executions gone wrong continue to illustrate the cruelty of lethal injection. Capital punishment ought to be outlawed on the grounds that it is unconstitutional because it violates the eight amendment. Life in prison is punishment enough, plus, the inmate has a chance to better himself. In prison, an inmate has the opportunity to receive a good education, perhaps for the first time; prisoners have a chance to redeem themselves by helping others. Although nothing can ever change what these men and women may have done, inmates may receive counseling, and have a chance to regain some of their self-esteem. Many prisoners will gain the respect of fellow inmates and even guards because of their penitent actions. People do change, hearts are softened, and even the most hardened killer may have something to offer to society.
Total words: 1,292

Freedom for Females

It is completely absurd to tell women that they may be allowed into the military, but only to be carrier pigeons and secretaries. However it’s downright shameful to tell a woman that if she wants to defend her country, she’ll have to do so by maintaining a low position with low pay. Some would use the term “unfair”, which would then be countered with the old “life isn’t fair” cliché. Maybe life isn’t fair, but hasn’t America tried its best to make life for everyone more equal pertaining to race, religion, and gender, more “fair”? We have freedom of speech, of religion, the freedom to say whatever we want about the government. We have the right to a fair trial, the right to a lawyer, the right to justice. How hypocritical to say that women must be restricted in the military.
It is most often men who make the argument that women are not at all fit for military service. Why? There are dozens of excuses, only a few of which I will mention, including, “women are too weak”, “too emotional”, “women are too irresponsible and will only end up getting pregnant”, and even, “women aren’t meant for war, they don’t have that killer instinct”. If a woman is fully qualified and able to do the job, then she could do just as well or even better than many men if given the chance. Of my family of six, I am the only one to hold a pro-women opinion on this subject. One of my brothers made the excuse, “Women just can’t be in the military.” I aim to use this paper to defend my position and speak out about a disgraceful injustice
Firstly, strength is no longer the concern. There are now an abundance of jobs that don’t require super-human strength. Just as piloting a jet for the Air Force doesn’t require one to be able to climb hand-over-hand up a 25-foot rope, taking over control of an airport so that military planes can land doesn’t involve the navigation of an obstacle course. Women, under the Constitution ought to be allowed to perform the same duties as men. It is true that the average woman doesn’t have as much upper body strength as a man, but that doesn’t mean that her job will be affected because she can’t bench 150 pounds as easily as a Navy SEAL. Complaints that women are incapable of throwing a grenade, or that their bones are weaker, are both feeble excuses. Anyone can be taught to throw a baseball or a grenade; there isn’t any distinction, gender-wise. As to women’s bones being weaker, Johns Hopkins University bone specialist, Thomas Beck commented in an article in Journal of Women’s Health that, "Relative to the demands put on them, they [women’s bones] may be stronger than men." According to a paper by reporter, Randy Dotinga, these are findings from 1994 when Congress ordered $40 million spent on biomedical research on women in the military. Colonel Karl Friedl, who is in charge of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine “examined the results of more than 130 studies” Dotinga says that “the findings, reported in the Journal of Women’s Health don’t change the fact that women, on the whole, are smaller and less powerful than men. Still, they suggest that ‘human physiology is more consisten than would be suggested by the social ebellishments.” The key phrase there is “social embellishments”; the debate that women are weaker than men has been blown way out of proportion by the sexist society we live in. America needs to come to terms with the truth-women are just as intelligent, just as able as men are, and it should be our choice, the women’s, not the men’s, as to whether or not we should be allowed complete military freedom.
The claim that female training differs from men’s is true, but still is an invalid point. The GAO (General Accounting Office) reported that, "There is a widespread perception that the existence of lower physical fitness standards for women amounts to a "double standard." However, the physical fitness program is actually intended only to maintain the general fitness and health of military members and fitness testing is not aimed at assessing the ability to perform specific missions or military jobs. Consequently, Department of Defense officials and experts agree that it is appropriate to adjust the standards for physiological differences among service members by age and gender." In short, physical fitness courses are designed to be age and gender specific only to keep soldiers in relatively good shape, not to evaluate their value to the military.If a woman is able to pass the required physical and psychological courses and completes the necessary training, I see no reason why she should not be allowed to fight with respect equal to the men.
Secondly, although it is generally agreed that women are more emotionally charged than men, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be able to fight in ground combat. If a woman were allowed military freedom, and entered the military knowing full well that she was likely to be killing people, I’d theorize that such a woman would be more emotionally composed than others. Women have been proving themselves to be able soldiers throughout history, but the U.S. has chosen not to acknowledge this. In other countries around the world, women take part in combat roles and are a great asset to their militaries. North Vietnam and Israel are both great examples of this principle, the Vietnam War was the only war that America lost, and take a look at Israel’s record; they’ve never lost a war, ever. Apparently, these two remarkably different countries have no problem allowing women into their militaries and permitting them to hold combat positions.
However I’ve forgotten a certain “time of the month”. What about women’s monthly menstrual period, don’t women’s hormone levels skyrocket during this time, causing moodiness and emotional outbursts? Of course this is a monthly occurrence, but it is also true that women athletes have a tendency to eventually stop having these menstrual periods. The termination of a woman’s period does not hurt her physically or sexually at all whatsoever. Women military combatants are athletes and if they were allowed in combat roles, the constant activity would result in the cessation of this inconvenience.
Thirdly, the claim that “women just aren’t responsible enough for the military, and will only end up getting themselves pregnant” is one of the most ridiculous arguments I’ve ever heard. First of all, it’s needless to say that there aren’t too many virgin births these days; it takes two to make a baby. So that places irresponsibility on the male as well as female. A popular debate is to claim that pregnancies cause the military lose money and time. This is a lie. According to Linda Bird Franck, author of Ground Zero, almost twice as much time is lost because of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, than pregnancies. Continue reading her report and you will find that “the average cost of the early returns for men was $7,174, while the average cost for women due to pregnancy was $2,045. Among medical evacuations, AIDS and substance abuse accounted for up to 8 percent, pregnancy for barely one percent.” This tells me that women are not any more irresponsible than men, and again, this argument must be discarded.
Why not create gender-segregated camps, aircraft carriers, and submarines? The men and women would be separated; there would be no sexual harassment, no pregnancies, and better unification of the battalions. The close quarters on aircraft carriers and submarines are one of the major concerns of integrating women into the system, but on a ship of all women or all men, the tight living space would not be a problem.
Lastly, there remains the preposterous idea that women simply aren’t made for war. It is a “guy thing”, a macho thing, this killing business, and men take naturally to shooting people. However, women don’t. Think about it, that’s a good thing. The woman holding a gun would be more likely to keep a cool head, more likely to be cautious, and therefore certainly less likely to endanger her fellow soldiers. Perhaps in some branches of the military, being aggressive is encouraged and even sought after, but just because females aren’t violent does not mean that they can’t get the job done better than men. The natural response for a male, if offended or angered, is to strike out and use force to get his way. Women are more likely to respond with non-violent action. Killer instinct is not necessary in the Armed Forces. It is foolish to let reckless, irresponsible men into the military simply because they have an “instinct” that tells them to squish bugs and shoot people. Personally, if I were in the military, the person I would want watching my back would be a calm and collected woman rather than a trigger-happy male.
The military needs more soldiers right now because of the Iraq War, and neither cost nor strength nor women’s supposed irresponsibility is the issue. I am hearing more and more about our military being stretched thin across the globe. Look at the WASPs, Women Air Force Service Pilots, of World War II. Women were needed in that time of war to transport planes. Now women are needed to take their place in the front ranks. It is unreasonable to tell us that we can’t protect our country, or that it is men, not women, who are meant for war.
The same “they aren’t meant for war” claim was used to keep Blacks out of the military. In the Civil War, Blacks were allowed to fight, during which, they proved themselves to be proficient soldiers. It is now an undeniable fact that African Americans are just as intelligent and able to be military combatants as white Americans. Race isn’t an issue, why is gender? Female frontline combatants are inevitable, so accept it now or accept it later, but eventually women will be allowed full military freedom. Why put this off any longer? Make the necessary changes, and let’s get on with our lives.
Prejudice based on gender, whether domestically or militarily, is outrageous. Women should not be restricted in the military simply because they are females. This is wrong and inexcusable, the situation in which women now find themselves isn’t just unfair, but it is a form of injustice that must be righted. Besides, the issue is no longer about gender or brawn or anything remotely close, it is about the competency of the women who have chosen to enter the military and have proven themselves; it’s about brains and intellectual capability. When I hear men talking about how weak women are, how incapable of warfare, it makes my blood boil. One of my brothers told me, “Women should be thankful that they don’t have to go into combat.” He has never seen combat, he is not enlisted, and he doesn’t plan to be, and yet he speaks as though he had been there. I’ve never been to war, I’m not hoping to be in the military, but I want to fight for what every woman deserves, an equal chance. Every woman has the right to a combat position with the same amount of freedom and respect as men. A woman is capable of being a qualified Special Operative, a valuable infantryman, an intelligent commander, and an able seaman aboard an aircraft carrier or submarine, if only given the chance.

Hurrah!

Well I am pleased to announce that my website is now officially online! It is up, running, and fuctioning perfectly! I'd love for anyone who reads this to check it out! The address is www.katyg777.thebradplace.net
Vote on the polls, sign my guestbook (bottom of the homepage), check out the totally sweet links, drool over the awesome pictures : ) and then comment on this blog and let me know what you think!

On a slightly different note, my brother's website is hosting, not just me, but Joe Wilka's-yes, the Joe Wilka-new Movie Spoof 3 trailer. Go to theforce.net for the URL.

Again, my brother is hosting me too. His website is www.thebradplace.net. You've got to see the video my brothers and sister helped me make for an English project on lightning (don't even ask). It's definately hilarious, with my brother, Pete, playing Ron Burgundy. Trust me, you don't want to miss it! Go to his site by clicking on the link above, click on "downloads" and then on "videos" and under "Movies" will be my movie. It should say something like "My little sister's English project: An Anchorman fanfilm". Click on the pictureto watch the video. Hope you like it! Comment on the video here too!

hearts n hugs to all my friends and fam out there!

Katy

I Have a Dream

“I have a dream…” These words were once spoken by the renowned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Well I have a dream. This dream of mine is that someday, sooner, rather than later, our country, the United States of America, would come to realize that she is not all-powerful.
I have a dream that we would look beyond ourselves to the others who need our help. There is enough food in America to feed everyone in the world one square meal a day. Everyone in the world! 6 billion of us! And yet what is it that we do with our food? We feed it to ourselves, our cows, we dump our food into compost piles to rot. Does this tell you what it tells me-that we care immeasurably more about our fat cows than the 10 people who just died of starvation this very second? Whatever happened to “Do unto others…” or “Love your neighbor as yourself”? It’s unthinkable these days- “Do something for someone else? Put someone else before myself?! That’s completely idiotic!” It’s idiotically ridiculous for those who say stuff like this, not to realize that by helping others you help yourself anyway!
The vast resources of America aren’t for us to waste on ourselves, they’re for us to bless our neighbors with. How is it that we can be so selfish, so self-centered to not be able to look past our noses, stuck straight up, to see the real world around us? People really are starving in China; there really are children in the Philippines who sell other people’s garbage for money, and kids in Africa really would love to eat your dinner.
In the Dominican Republic I saw hundreds of people living in barrios, whose homes are fashioned from flattened out tin barrels of fish oil. Those barrio villagers used the same dirty river with garbage floating in it to bathe, wash dishes and clothes and urinate in. This is the same river that they drink out of. Injuries that would seem terrible to us, are but a daily occurrence to these people. One Dominican man had been in a machete fight, and in shielding his face with his hand, ended up with only two whole fingers on one hand.
One my first medical mission trip, I remember a young girl name Julita, who was playing outside of our makeshift clinic with her friends. One of the nurses finally noticed her, and in horror, told her to go get her mother and return quickly to see the doctor. Julita came back and showed us all her hand. The girl had been turning on a light in her house, when a current of electricity so strong surged through her body, that she couldn’t let go of the switch. When the electricity was finally finished channeling through her, the top half of her middle finger was nothing but a blackened stump of bone, and her index and ring fingers were badly burned and had open sores. By the time we found her, two months later, her fingers had become infected, and gangrene was already spreading through her hand. If nothing was done, the gangrene would take over her entire arm and then consume her body, killing her. Luckily, we were able to help little Julita; her hand was amputated, and she recovered and is now doing well. And yet, there were so many others who were beyond help, so many others to whose aid we weren’t able to come. This story is but a taste of the horrific lives others lead while we are oblivious to it all.
I have a dream. I dream, I hope, I pray that America would realize that we have been so blessed to be able to gorge ourselves three times a day, oftentimes more. Pity and compassion are not rare, we have them all the time, and yet we do nothing. Who cares if we have those feelings if we do nothing about it? Compassion, pity, love, none of these are worth a flick of my finger if no action accompanies them. Observe how, in the past few months, we descended on New Orleans like a flock of angels from heaven after Hurricane Katrina. We help ourselves, but we do not help our neighbors. Even in the case of the tsunami, the only reason we went to help the devastated was because our own people were there. We went to recover our rich, vacationing Americans.
This American attitude of superiority, of “I’m better than you are”, sickens me. It leaves a foul taste on my tongue. We can’t see past our own fat bellies to see the little people down by our toes, whom we tred upon and don’t even care, let alone notice.
I have a dream. That one day, someday, we would wake up from this dream of the utopian society we seem to think we live in. I have a dream that Americans would realize that there are much better things to live for than food or money. I have a dream that America as a whole would reach out to the countries of the world and lend them a hand. I have a dream that we would begin to live as God meant for us to live, with love, with compassion, with integrity in action towards everyone.

Happy New Year!

Wow! It's been a while since I last blogged! The season has been really busy! Three of our friends from Washington flew down here to see us, and they've been here for like a week, but they left today. We went skiing with them up at Heavenly, Lake Tahoe, and that was awesome-the snow was great! Although the lift lines and the gondola line were really long. For a full update look me up on myspace by my first and last name, which are listed as Katy and Joy. Now I'm going back to school, and my first day back has been pretty good so far. This afternoon I'm going back to work. I guess somehow my employer "forgot" to pay me last month. Yeah. whatever. Oh well, the banks were't open anyway. LIsten, the bell just rang, so I gotta go. But hearts and hugs to all my fans out there! ; )

Katy

Untitled

Hello all my peoples, well life right now is basically....boring. Incredibly so. It's just the same old, same old. My site is going to be updated again, hopefully this Friday, and now I have three randomly rotating polls, a guestbook, and a hit counter all hosted by bravenet. Which, by the way, likes to put popup ads everywhere. Sorry about that. And then our new assignment is to use JavaScript stuff. The thing is, we aren't learning JavaScript at all, we're just going to JS sites and copying the codes off their stuff. So the new assignment is to put three java script things on your site. This is really annoying because the only things you can get are these stupid games, or really annoying cursor things, or buttons that say click me and stuff like that. It's been really frustrating because some of the sites copy/paste codes don't work, and it was seriously messing with my computer and my site, and now I'm really mad a java script stuff and all those people out there who put copy/paste codes on the internet for other people to use that don't work(!) So anyway, now I have a really annoying cursor trail of words that says "Welcome to Katy's Website!", except the words are black and since I can't change that, you can't really see it against my dark background. And there's also this little thing down on the grey in the left hand bottom corner that says "Welcome to Katy's site" and stuff.
My research paper's coming along okay. It had better start coming along great soon, because it's due tomorrow. I'll post it somewhere so y'all peoples can read it after I'm done, k? Don't worry, it's not as long as my story. Okay, well I'm on the clock now, so I gotta go!

sighs from your favorite blogger who's just a little mad a frustrated right now,

Katy

Sequels, prequels, and sequels to sequels of prequels

Well now that Hollywood has moved on-we can only hope-beyond making movies out of video games, and since making remakes is starting to get old, they've decided to fall back on the old "lets-make-a-sequel! strategy. It all started with Star Wars. Or was it Indiana Jones? ...not important! Let me begin again, it all began with Steven Spielburg. Before Stevey-boy there weren't too many "two movies" around. I mean, Did any of you ever see "Gone With the Wind II" or "The Witch of Oz"? Until Steven Spielburg, Hollywood actually had to keep coming up with new ideas for movies. Now, now, don't panic, I know it's hard to imagine...Hollywood thinking up something new? I mean, it's just not possible! Moving on...Star Wars and Indiana Jones were the first trilogies. Now they aren't trilogies, instead Star Wars is a trilogy with three prequels, and Indiana Jones is about to become a quadruplogy. That's right, Indiana Jones 4 is coming out, so that we can all watch 50-year-old Harrison Ford run around and yell, "I'm too old for this!" In fact, the Die Hard series is about to become a quadruplogy as well. This time it's so that we can watch a bald Bruce Willis run around and yell, "I'm too old for this!" and cuss his head off. X-men III is also coming out, so that we can watch the second one, which was a copy of the first, be retooled into a third. Not that I despise X-men or anything, I mean the FX were pretty good, and hey, Hugh Jackman's pretty cool too. Oh, and don't forget the new Bond movie coming out with that one guy in it who hates guns and is going to be the first blond bond ever. And someday Pete Jackson'll make the Hobbit, so that'll last us awhile. But eventually, I expect Hollywood is going to run out of movies that are possible to make sequels or even prequels to and they'll start making stupid ones like, "Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship gets back together" or "Spiderman 1 1/2, what happened in between the 1st and 2nd movies" or maybe even, "King Kong II" I mean hey, they made like what? Five godzilla movies? King Kong is next. Well you guys, keep your eyes open and let me of any more "two movies". And don't forget POTC II and III and Star Wars VII-yes indeed it is coming in another 10 or fifteen years. So so long all you movie fans out there! Keep your eyes peeled and if you hear of any new two movies, lemme know.
Merry Christmas from your favorite blogger,

Katy

PS: KING KONG COMES TO TOWN ON WEDNESDAY! I'm SOOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOO EXCITED! It's gonna be so amazing and awesomness!

Hmmm...

10:35 am

I'm in my web design class right now, and I'm working on my site. really. Well actually the server is down and so Microsoft Frontpage doesn't work at all. You open it up, and then once you ask it to open your site that isn't even there, 'cause the server's down, it goes to "Not Responding" mode. So today is surf the internet and set up a Bravenet account day. Just so everyone knows, MY SITE HAS BEEN UPDATED!!! YAY! So now War of the Worlds has been added to my favorite movies. I've been trying to add it, but never got the time. So now it's on there, and my links page is waaaay better than before, and my pictures page is sweet. Also, there is now an "About Me" page and a "My Fav. Blogs" page.
Eeeeeeeeeeeee! Me just saw the new X-men trailer! YAAAAY! New X-men trailer coming out, me excited!!!! There's this blue guy-I think beast-who looks just like Hellboy only blue. Jean comes back, and Storm has short hair and Wolverine has more hair, and Magneto is being a poo again, and that Pyro kid is still hangin' with Magneto, and Rogue has more white hair, and Cyclops still hasn't figured out that he should find some way to stick his plastic glasses to his face so that no random peoples can just take em off and make him shoot lasers everywhere. Jean is like, scary. I think she's like, more powerful that Professor X dude, and she's got like serious telekinetic powers now. I can't figure out if she's good or bad in the 3rd one. Hey I gots to go, so Rock rock on dudes!
From you fav. blogger,

Katy

Work and Math class and Me, Kole, David, Justin, Sean, Christian, Tony, and our epithets Buzz, George, Henry, Bill, and Charlotte

Okay, here's another update! Ummm...working at my dad's office is so awesome, because Pam and Monica and Debi are just so fun and nice and I love working with them! Monica is such a joker, and Debi is too. Pam is so sweet, and she has candy stashed in her drawers that she has announced is for everyone to sneak whenever they feel the need for chocolate. I work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes on Wednesdays. I mostly just file, but I also do whatever else anyone tells me to do. Like sort papers or pull charts or run down to the hospital's cafeteria to grab someone a soda. Working at "Granath Family Medicine" (GFM) gives me a chance to blog when I get a break. I usually eat lunch while I work to make up time, since I don't work mornings and only one other day for the rest of the week. Anyway, I'm glad that everyone liked my story!
In geometry, there're more guys than girls, so even when we get a new seating chart, I'm almost always surrounded by guys! So Justin sits right behind me, and then Cody right after him and then that's the end of our row. To my left, Christian is right next to me, and then David behind him and in fron of Christian is Sean Brown. I know his last name because Mrs. Knight is always saying, "Sean Brooown!" *very high pitched* In front of me sits Tony and then to my right, Sage is right across from me and Kole is in front of her, and Adam Anderson is behind her. So anyway, for some reason, Justin decided to start calling me George. So then I was like, "Okay, well then now you can be Henry." And that's what started the whole thing. So now David is Buzz and David/Buzz calls me Charlotte even though I'm George to Justin/Henry whose name is Bill to Buzz/David. yes. It's complicated. But funny. David is funny, he's just so...I dunno. Kinda cynical, but in a funny way. Justin is funny too and-okay suffice it to say that everyone is funny. Basically. Except Christian, who's more serious-although I might just have that impression because he's also shy. He kinda reminds me of Zack McCone, but different. I don't really know Sage at all. Adam Anderson is a senior and drives Mrs. Knight crazy. Kole is hilarious, he comes up with the most hilariousest things! Mostly I know that because we're in the same English class, and his presentations are always great. Anyway, 'nuf said, I'll try to write again on Thursday!!!

have some luv and hugs from me, your favorite blogger,

Katy

A Short Story by Me, Katy

Hey everyone, this is the story I wrote for AP English class. I was one of ummmm...about 4 people who didn't write a grisly murder story or a romantic love story about one of the lovers dying. I sent this story to like, almost everyone I know, which is like, a lot, and since they all liked it soooo much, I'm finally giving in, so I'm gonna post my eight-page story. YAY! Anyway, here's my story. It's titled, "The Secret of Sherwood". Enjoy!

“The Secret of Sherwood”

I moved through the woods stealthily, I didn’t know if any of the King’s Men might be about. I didn’t want to be caught now after I’d evaded them for this long. I laughed inwardly as I realized that I had become much like my favorite hero, Robin Hood. Was I becoming an outlaw, hiding out in the woods, stealing from the overly wealthy to help the poor and destitute? I hadn’t quite come so far as to steal from any nobles yet, though I had held up a rather haughty coach driver, who had handed over a few silver coins willingly when my blade reinforced my persuading voice. I was seven when I first learned of Robin Hood’s death. Rumors persisted for a few years, but after ten years and no more heard of him, I gave up hoping. The news shocked me. Dead? How? Why? Did he fall heroically? Perhaps fighting many hundreds of men? When I discovered that it was a prioress who had betrayed him, I was enraged and disappointed- Enraged at the prioress, disappointed in the manner of my hero’s death. How had Robin Hood let himself be deceived so easily?
I was jolted out of my reminiscing by the snapping of a twig. I held still and looked around, but there was no one, only myself. It was probably just some animal. I fought my way through a few more clumps of bushes, and then burst out unexpectedly into a hidden clearing. I was surprised that even my sharp eyes hadn’t spotted it before I tumbled into it. There, in the middle of the concealed clearing there stood a small cabin, made from logs, and cunningly disguised with branches and so covered with creeping ivy that I could barely discern it from its surroundings. A river ran through the clearing, not large or very deep, but clean and crystal clear.
The door creaked a little as I cautiously pushed it open.
“Hello?” I called, “Is there anyone here?” I walked a little farther into the room and let the door swing shut behind me. The cabin was quite nice, with a fireplace-though no fire, a small, oak table and a stool. There were two windows, in two of the walls of the little lodge, and another door was set straight in front of me, behind the table. The floor was not dirt, but oak planks. My soft-soled leather boots, though, made no sound as I walked toward the door, carefully skirting the table. The small lodge conjured up memories of the home I had left not three days ago.
A female in the house of such thieving men as my father and brothers wasn’t welcome, at least, not at first. I was only a burden, I could be no help at all, just another mouth to feed. Nevertheless, I was determined to prove them wrong. So I did. When I put on my soft-soled leather boots, black buckskin breeches, to blend into the night and the too-big, billowy shirt that disguised my sex, also black, I became a different person. I became Jack Brit, the youth who had officially joined the band a year ago. With my hair tied back and the addition of the black mask that I habitually wore to hide my girlish features, I looked like any other male thief. I was the nimblest, the supplest, the best in our band of thieves.
One night, however, three days back, I made a grave mistake. I made the mistake of believing that the guard was in a drunken stupor here on the floor, when he was not. I didn’t stop to check. Instead I walked right over him and into a trap. I suppose the lord of the house must have been angry at our frequenting his house so much, but it was really his own fault as he insisted on displaying his valuables instead of locking them up. As I took one more step, the guard’s hand shot out and clamped around my ankle like a steel vice. I struggled, but he would not let go. I made not a sound, for fear my voice would betray me to be a woman. He shouted for help, and knowing I hadn’t much time, I stomped down hard on his face with my unrestrained foot. He bellowed, but still refused to let me go, so I pounded on his wrist with my heel, and then he had to let go. I darted to the window, pulled myself up onto the flat roof, and fled. I raced over the rooftops, leaping across the wide gaps of streets until I reached the city wall where I borrowed a piece of rope from the sentry after knocking him out, and, after securely fastening it to an iron ring that appeared to be there for no other purpose than to tie a rope to, I climbed down the wall.
That was three days ago, and I was still on the run. It wasn’t hard though, I knew my way around Sherwood Forest pretty well, and food wasn’t a problem, seeing as there were many kinds of berries ripe for the picking. Since the incident when I’d come so close to being caught, everything had worked out well for me. I had escaped the Guard, the King’s Men, managed to climb safely over the city wall, I had plenty to eat, and had found comfortable places to sleep each night. For three days I had eluded capture, even close as I was to the city, and now this cabin. The owner had left it for me in perfect condition, and I was sure it would prove a snug, warm place to spend the night.
My fingers had closed on the knob to the door behind the table, and I had just begun to twist it when a steel blade was placed flat across my bared neck.
“Don’t open that.” came a low voice. Instinctively, at the touch of cold steel, I went for the sword at my hip. The sword pressed harder against my throat. I froze.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” His voice was deep, resonant. I looked up, slowly, as I raised my hands, palms outward in the traditional gesture of peace. It was a rather old man who stood in front of me, his sword at my throat. He was dressed in Lincoln green, with the same boots that I, myself wore, though his were of superior craftsmanship. Soft-soled leather boots aren’t much good for traveling over rough terrain, because their main purpose is to help the wearer remain silent and undetected. Hooded, dark brown eyes, with flecks of green and gold in them, looked me up and down contemptuously. I drew myself up to my insubstantial height; I was no beauty, but nor was I ugly- I didn’t appreciate the scornful look. His hair and beard were silvery white, and deep lines were etched into his face. Not just frown lines, there were crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. He finally spoke.
“What does tha’ want here and what be tha name?” I remained silent. ”Come! Speak now,” He said, “or I shall have to trounce tha’ and give thee a good ducking in yonder river!” I laughed at that, for he was old, and I young. His sword did not waver, his hand did not shake, nor he was not unsteady on his feet, on the contrary, his weight was forward on the balls of his feet, ready for anything. However I had no doubt that in a fight, it would be I, the quicker, faster one, who would trounce him, not the other way around. He scowled when I laughed, and said a bit grumpily, “What? Does tha’ think that tha’ could best me in a fight? I think not, young one, and tha’ wouldst be well warned not to try it.” I stopped laughing and voiced my thoughts aloud,
“Ah, but tha forgets, Old One, that I am young and you old.” He winced at the words, “Old One”.
“Well,” He cried, suddenly much more cheerful, “Let us fight, eh? It’s been quite a long time, actually since I’ve had any good practice, or given a body a good thrashing that seemed to need it so! First though, give us tha name.” I didn’t want to reveal that I was a woman just yet, so I replied,
“Jack Brit, what did that say tha name be good sir?”
“I didn’t,” He said, “and tha doesn’t want to know anyway. Now come on.” His blade sheathed without a whisper. “Oh, and by the way, we’ll be fighting with quarterstaffs, not swords. Ye might decide to behead thaself.” His jab wiped the smirk off my face. I followed him as we headed back outside. He stopped by the door to grab two oaken quarterstaffs from the corner. “Huh.” He said, thinking aloud, “Jack…that’s not a name I’ve often heard bestowed on a lass.” Raising an eyebrow, he looked at me. I wasn’t thrilled that he had discovered me so quickly. I glowered at him and said,
“All right then, my name be Sophie if it please ye, Old One.” I smiled inwardly when he flinched. Apparently satisfied with my name, he led the way out into the grass between his cabin and the river, and tossed me a quarterstaff. The throw caught me off guard, and I fumbled to catch it. “Don’t hurt thaself with that.” He muttered loudly. I scowled at him, but he just grinned and said, “Prepare thaself, lass, for a good trouncing- and believe me,” He said, moving toward me, twirling his stick menacingly above his head, “tha needs it!”
Assuming the “guard” position, I swung my stick experimentally. He was already there. Parrying my attack, he advanced upon me, raining down blow after blow. I couldn’t even block his attacks; they came too fast, and too thick. I was astounded by his strength; he looked so old, yet now it was literally painfully obvious that he was in perfect physical condition. Losing ground, I retreated rapidly backward toward the river. Then, with a kind of twist I couldn’t quite catch, he sent my staff sailing over my head and into the river. I watched it splash into the river, and then turned back to face the old man, who stood there, barely even breathing hard. He gave me a toothy smile that revealed a mouthful of pearly whites, chuckled, then shoved me hard with the butt of his staff. It was over so quickly I could hardly believe it. Pulling myself, soaking wet, out of the river, I wondered absently about who this hermit might be.
“Well,” I said, my pride injured, and not in a small way, “Tha beat me, be tha happy now?”
“Aye!” He laughed, “That I be.” I flopped down onto the grass to dry, but he caught my outstretched hand and pulled me to my feet. “Come on lass, care for some supper and perhaps a warm bed?” I was bewildered at how fast his moods changed. Surprised, maybe a little confused, I accepted and he led the way back indoors. Supper was simple, but delicious. Bread, cheese, and apples stuffed with dried fruit roasted over the fire, along with some watered down wine. I ate until I was stuffed, and it felt magnificent to eat something more substantial than berries. I can’t be sure about how the subject first came up, but we spent a good deal of time sharing stories about Robin Hood’ adventures with his band of Merry Men. I told him that Robin Hood had always been my hero, and how disappointed I’d been that he’d passed on before I’d had a chance to meet him. He chuckled when I’d finished and I asked him why he thought Robin Hood dying was funny.
“Oh, I don’t really believe that he’s dead, that’s all.” He said. I was astonished.
“Not dead?” I asked, “What can tha mean by that?”
“There’s never been any hard evidence.” He explained, “Robin Hood’s band were my heroes as well, but I’m not so inclined to let them go just yet.” I smiled, a thought like that was comforting. I fell asleep there, on my pallet in front of the fire, with a smile on my face.
Early the next morning, the old man gave me a hearty breakfast, a rather wrinkly dress and a horse that he said he’d “borrowed” from a noble’s wife awhile back. He said that if I rode back to the city as I was with a basket of berries, no one would look twice at me since the Guard was looking for a boy not a girl. I thanked him, leaped onto the horse, and urged it into a trot. I looked back but once to see his cleverly hidden cabin disappearing into the forest. He stood just outside the door, waving to me, an enigmatic smile on his face. The trees soon swallowed up the idyllic scene, river and all. I began to really wonder.
I got back to the city, to my home, to my band of brothers safe and sound, without incident. I lay low for a while, then after about a fortnight I got back to work, but this time, this time I didn’t just steal for myself. One gold coin makes 12 coppers, and 12 coppers could feed an entire poor family for a month. Each item we stole, when we gave it to the smithy to melt down and make into coins, made about 15 gold coins, give or take a few. 14 gold coins were much, much more than enough for our little band, so every month I took one gold coin and, in the dead of night, slid it under a door. I felt that I was a modern Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It amused me to think that the old man would’ve been pleased by my actions.
Many times I’ve looked for that old man, the hidden cabin, that secret clearing, the river too, but they are nowhere to be found. I know I couldn’t have wandered far from the city, and yet…and yet though I’ve searched and searched it is as though it was all a vision or a dream. So I wondered, I wonder. Who was the old man in the forest, so adept with his staff and sword; the hermit in green who could best me, the nimblest, the fastest, the most agile? What was in that room the old man was so keen to protect? Who could this old man be, who so easily disappeared into the forest, who knew so much of Robin Hood, and told me himself that he did not believe my hero to be dead? Was he, could it be…Robin Hood? I know my beliefs, but it’s up to you to decide for yourself.

The Greek gods vs. the evil Christians (??!!!)

So for AP English class, we have to write a research paper on the gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology. This Friday we had to watch a 30 minute video from the History channel on the Greek gods, and oh...my....gosh. It was the weirdest, strangest, most offending video I've ever seen. First the narrarator went on and on about all of the gods' love affairs, and how, even though he was married to the goddess of the family and marriage, Zeus (Zoos) went out and had sex with every mortal girl he met. And then there was Ares and a whole bunch of other ones, and then...then they went on about how Aphrodite (A-fro-die-tee) was the love goddess and she became the goddess of prostitution, and she wasn't really born, but instead sprang from the bleeding testicles of some god, and it was like, "What...the heck." It was really, really weird. And then we heard about Aesculapius (Es-Klee-Pee-Us), god of healing, who had this temple and people came from all over to be healed there, and scientists found this tablet of people who had been healed miraculously of all kinds of stuff, such as the woman who'd been pregnant for FIVE YEARS and then gave birth to a five year-old boy at the temple of Aesculapius. Ummm...y'know, that's just not physically possible. At all. Whatsoever. And then the narrarator started telling about how the evil Christians came and built churches over the Greek temple, and dedicated them to healing saints, but it was basically the same thing. The SAME THING?! THE SAME THING?! They sacrificed pigs to Aesculapius, who do they think they're kidding?! This one guy was like, "Yeah, I don't think there's that much difference between the gods the Greeks worshipped and the God of Christianity." And I was like, "Excuse me?!" Not that much difference? Okay, the gods of Greek mythology went around having sex with everybody, I'd say that's a pretty big difference, not to mention that they also fought wars and killed each other, and they sacrificed pigs, bulls, and people to the Greek gods. In Old Testament times the Hebrews did sacrifice bulls and stuff, but since that practice is no longer a practice the Christians, but one of the Jews, then that's irrelevant. Anyway, it was really weird and really crude and gross, and I was seriously offended because it was supposed to be about Greek mythology, but they kept talking about "Is it really true? Were these myths based on realy events?", and they kept picking on Christians throughout the whole thing. If they wanna have a weird gross movie about Greek mythology then whatever, but then what the heck does Christianity have to do with it?! 'Nuf ranting for now.
Your so-angry/offended-she's-boiling-over-blogger,

Katy

Yullo!

Today I just have Web Design class because it's a block day. Thursdays are odd periods and Fridays are even periods. Block days are the same length as regular days, however, because all of the classes are twice as long. So today, I had an opportunity to catch up on all of my Web Design work. YAY! And since I'm completely finished with Project 3, fifteen minutes before the bell rang, I'm going to blog. Which is what I'm doing now. Tomorrow (Friday, in case you forgot or...something) I have English (2nd per.) and Geometry (4h per.). It's kinda poopy though, because even though I get to sleep in on Thursdays since my class doesn't start till 10, on Fridays, since there isn't a 1st period class, my 2nd period class starts at 8. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! poop. sooo...yeah. must get good sleep tonight!
English is kinda strange right now. We're studying/learning about the Oddyssey, so for extra credit we're supposed to like, draw and color and then laminate some paper vase thing. And then our big paper of the quarter is a research paper. But our research paper is supposed to be on "greek god or goddess of your choice" I think doing a research paper on a mythological figure, is kinda weird. Hey, I gotta go, cuz the bell is gonna ring in five...four...three..two...one! Bye!

Your favorite blogger who's blogging from school,

Katy

Update

Hey everyone! Okay, it's time for an update, so here ya go!

DAD: Dad's office had an official grand opening a few weeks ago, where Dad cut a red ribbon with this ginormous pair of wooded scissors that said "Humboldt something something" on them. Dad is doing well at his new office, with 34 new OB patients. (Congratulations to all the expecting moms!) He bought himself a teeny tiny motorcycle a few months ago that his 6-foot-2 self looks absolutely ridiculous on, but he insists on roaring around the neighborhood on it. *sigh*

MOM: Mumsie Dahling is just her good ole' self. She's been homeschooling Mary and me, and working in Dad's office as the bookkeeper as well as cleaning, doing the banking at home, and cooking us all ummy yummy food. She got us signed up for CleanFlicks or CleanFilms or one of those, and that's kinda cool since now I can see lots of good movies I've been dying to see, but since they're poopy, I can't. But...since CleanFilms/Flicks cuts out all the swearing, sex, and some violence if it's extreme. It can be kinda weird tho, because someone will walk into the room, and then CleanFilms/Flicks cuts it and in the next scene there's suddenly a dead guy on the floor, and I'm like, "UUUuuuuuh. okaaay." So yeah.

BRAD: Bardypoo is working in my Dad's office as the Insurance biller/coder person and tech guy. He's graduated to wearing a dress shirt and tie to work. *ooooooooooo aaaaaaah ooooooh* Bradford is working on expanding his movie library with widescreen dvds. The widescreen part is very important; he refuses to accept any movies that aren't. He needs a haircut, but has so far eluded one. Brad's pretty excited to see the next Harry Potter movie, hoping that it will prove to be far better than the last three. Check out Brad's website at www.thebradplace.net!

PETE: Peteypoo is working at the Best Western that we were just living in several months ago. He's going to school at Great Basin Community College, and no, I don't know what grades he's getting. Pete's taking Biology *ooooo*, Criminal Justice, and Digital Photography, and probably some others I don't remember. Pete's got several sites on the internet, including a myspace. On his myspace blog you can read some of his many "hotel adventures" which are incredibly funny *cue adorable eyebrow thing* (Me www.orangepie.altpro.net just to let you know, it's not much.

MARY (AKA: MOO): Mary's homeschooling, taking Spanish, math, English, geography, and some others. She just graduated into Saxon Algebra 1 (YAY!) . Moo is taking horseriding lessons and loving it, and um...she's writing more music and recorded an AWESOME song a little while ago. Go to Mary's blog at www.ilovewashington.blogspot.com

ME: Hey, I'm good. We presented our portfolios in English yesterday, and that was cool. Trevor, Kole, Beatrice, and I had to make up for everyone else's silence. There were a couple of people who didn't say anything, they just stood up, flipped through their pages, and sat back down. We're all like, "Okaaay." Beatrice's was funny. We were supposed to have two pages of pictures in our personal section, and so Beatrice is like, "This is the best picture in the world. It's my sister picking her nose..." and the whole class just cracked up. Kole was like, "I have all A's, see my report card?" And that was funny, and then Trevor was all, "Look Kole, I have a 101%. haha" and yeah. Umm...My short story got a 99%, and I was like, "EEEEEEEEeeeeeee!" 'cause I was so happyful, and Mrs. Nachiondo said that mine and Beatrice's were the best of the class. Yes, I'm bragging, get over it. I don't never, hardly ever, brag, so this is a special treat to me. Ahem, as I was saying, my story was soooo cool. I'll have to find some way of posting it some time. We got a new seating chart in English and Geometry, so now all my newfound friends are across the room. Poo. Like Kole, Billy, JR, Terry, and Adrienne. poop. Altho I moved closer to Kole and David in Geometry, so that's good. Aaaaanyway, moving on...wait, there's not much left to move on to, so I guess I'll say "Adieu". Goodbye in French,
Your favorite blogger who is the most amazingest authoress ever,

Katy

PS: check out my movies site at: www.katy777.thebradplace.net, or for a more updated version, www.humboldt.k12.nv.us/respinola/studentpages/granathk or click here.

Adversity and Power

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

-Abraham Lincoln

Adversity, conflict, conflict with another person. What traits does adversity test? One's patience, one's cunning, perhaps one's capacity for how much you can take. It challenges your sense of jealousy, but probably most of all your self-control.

Having power will also test one's self-control, but more so your will. As your power grows, so does its hold over your mind. As power strives to corrupt one; one must fight it with force of will. This concept is perfectly illustrated by the hundreds of powerful, but corrupt men. Think about it-Stalin, Hitler, Nero, Nixon, Saddam Hussain, Alexander the Great, bin Laden, the list goes on. When we look at each one of these individuals, we can see that perhaps in the beginning, these were, if not good, not evil men.

Yet there are other examples of men who have defied poer's corruptibility. Take Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, the Pope, Constantine, and Eleanor Roosevelt for example. All of these people hld an incredible amount of power in their hands, but instead of being corrupted, they used their power to bring about good.

Yes, I agree with Lincoldn's statement, because, as you can see from the examples above, the one's who were corrected were obviously not men of charachter or integrity. However, those who remained uncorrupted were those with strong, right characters. As the Greek philosopher, Hiraclitus, said, "A man's character is his fate." How true.

your most favorite blogger,

Katy

Stress

The mind attempting to override the body's basic desire to choke the crap out of some idiot who desperately deserves it.

So true!

Katy

Self-Control a definition

What is self-control? It's knowing that the good way is hard, and the bad way is easy, and choosing the good over the bad anyway, though it would be so much easier to do the opposite. It's keeping you're mouth shut when someone is bad-mouthing you. It's resisting the urge to slap someone when they venture too far beyond their limits and stray into yours. Self-control is being in control of yourself. It's letting the other person have their say, even when they're obiously wrong, and you're definitely right. It's ignoring those stupid grammar mistakes even though you flinch each time you read them (luv ya Mrs. Nachiondo!). Self-Control is one's heart giving over the governing of one's body to one's mind.

Your often-unfortunately-UN-self-controlled blogger,

Katy

Fear

Fear is actually a human instinct God fave us to survive. Animals posses this instinct as well. When a tiger jumps out at a gazelle, the gazselle doesn't start running because it was startled by some thing jumping out at it, it runs because it doesn't want to be eaten, it wants to survive.
There are some fears that are just plain ridiculous. Like my sister, Mary for example, has a deathly fear of cats that originated for no apparent reason. And it didn't help shen some cat left a decapitated bird on our doorstep, and Mary, thinking it was one of our dog's chew toys because it was dark, picked it up. And subsequently screamed bloody murder are washed her hands for about a half hour.
But thats not really on topic, so here's a story of a somewhat ridiculous fear.
While we were on a ski vacation in Squaw Valley, my brother Brad, took me, Mary, and my other brother, Peter, up to the top of the mountain to ski a blue (intermediate) run. He'd just skiied it yesterday and it was great. And since it was a blue, we were all perfectly capable of skiing it easily.
Unbeknownst to Brad, and unfortuantely for the rest of us, the weather had changed overnight, and the great hill he'd told us about was now a sheet of ice. Now normally I don't pay too much attention to icey runs, or even hills, but this was the mother of all hills, the monster, the hill people ski down when they want to die, and it was now a sheet of...ice.
The only option was down, I mean obviously we couldn't go all the way back up, but how to get down? There are several techniques of getting yourself down this sort of hill. Firrst, you can sideslip down, turning your skiis parallel to the slope, and stepping down sideways step-by--step. It's called slideslipping because usually you take a step and slip down a foot and step down and slide and step and slide and step and slide.
On a hill like this, such a technique would be perfect, but now that it was just ice, and no snow, most likely you'd take one step and slide 20 feet before fallind over and sliding down the hill on your face.
The second technique is to take off your skies, yell, "Look out beloooow!", throuw them down first and then follow, sliding down on your butt, praying that there aren't any sharp rocks that you imght slide over.
This technique might actually work on this hill, so it was an option to keep in mind.
The third technique is to just point your skies straight down the hill and go for it. You'll hurtle down the slope at speeds that leave a trail of melted snow behind you. The people you pass will only hear the cry of terror ripping from your throat, "AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....!!!!!" To stop yourself, you might have to throw yourself into a dsnowdrift or you might have to try to fall over without seriously injuring yourself, OR you might get luck and at the bottom of your gigantic, insane, suicidal hill, there might just be a nice, long runout. Guess what? We had a runout. Guess what else? I wasn't suicidal enough to try it.
Peter, of course, yelled, "Coowabuuungaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!" and threw himself down the side of the mountain. He made it down okay, and proceeded to fashion himself a chair out of snow to wait for the rest of uus in.
Brad, I'm sure, would've done exactly the same thing, had he not been so concerned about my and Mary's safety.
After laboring for about twenty minutes I was halfway down and thoroughly sick of that hill. Mary too, was halfway, but she looked much more terrified than sick. I had stayed with her for this long, but I was starting to get frustrated and tired of trying to convince Mary to take one more step down. Yes, were were attempted to sideslip down the mountain.
I finally became fed up with both Mary and the hill, and I pointed my skies down the mountain before my brain could scream "Waaait! You're not suicidaaaal! Remember!?" I would've been too busy screaming to hear it anyway. I actually made it down great, and it wasn't too bad. Actually it was almost fun. Almost.
Mary however, was not having as much fun. Brad, who had been below her, watched her inch-literally- down the hill for about five minutes before he hiked back up to her. By the time he reached her, She'd moved oh, about a foot and a half down the cliff. Then she froze. Not literally from cold, but she might as well have been. She was frozen from fear. Mary doesn't like heights in the first place, so being stuck waaaaaay up on an 89 degree hill, wasn't exactly fun for her.
Peter and I waited for Brad and Mary aas Brad was slowly able to coax her down another few feet. Pete and I had a snowball fight, built an igloo complete with snow furniture, dug to china, and discovered an Eskimo living several hundred feet under the snow when Brad handed Mary his helmet and began to attempt to convince her that sliding down the hill would be..."fun". Then we sat there while Mary sloooowly took off one ski, and then the other and handed them to Brad. Then she pulled out her fingers from the ice where she had clawed to stay in one place...and let go. I swear she screamed louder than me on the way down. rad skied calmly down after Mary, her skies over his shoulder. All in all, Mary sat on that hill for an hour and a half.

Your ski-maniac blogger who loves steep hills, just not icey ones,

Katy

Newsflash!

Hey guys, I got a newsflash for ya. My intenet time has been cut considerably, so I won't be able to email, or post nearly as much. Sorry! I'm writing this from Web Design class, and since the bell is going to ring in a fraction of a second, I gots to go. But luv and hugs from me, your fav blogger, right?

Katy

The Legend of Zorro vs. Serenity

Well, as you know there are only three things to do in this town. Go to Wal-mart, watch stop-lights change colors, and go to the movie theater. I don't know about you, but personally, I prefer watching movies to watching stop-lights. As does the rest of the family, so consequently we go to see a lot of movies. In case you didn't know already, the theater here only has two screens, and the movies come into town quite a long time after they've been released everywhere else in the world. So last week we trooped out to go see Serenity, and this last weekend we saw Zorro II. What a contrast, lemme tell ya!
On the one hand, Serenity was amazing! Pretty good special effects, a pretty original plot, good acting, some cool fight scenes, and this really funny guy named Jayne who has the hilariousest lines!
On the other hand we have Zorro II, the needlessly resurrected movie with Antonia Banderas (+) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (-). There seems to be a recent trend in movies to have the Americans be the amazing, wonderful, sovereign people who just want to help everyone else, and the evil European group/guild/league/club who wants to blow up, destroy, ruin, steal from, etc America. Take National Treasure, Batman, and this movie, Zorro II, for example (Not to mention an annoying number of Two Movies; Zorro II, Shrek 2, The Mask II, Ocean's 12, Italian Job II is coming out, along with a number of others. Can't they come up with something new?). Zorro II, The Legend of Zorro, is about Zorro helping the Mexican people to become Americans, which has always been their life-long dream. Riiight. That's just plain stupid. They're trying to make out like the Mexicans actually wanted to become Americans instead of us forcing them to. So in that area, it's off historically, not to mention that they go on and on about the Confederacy and the Confederates 11 years before the Civil War. The brick wall in the middle of nowhere was also very convenient for Zorro when there's a giant explosion. Zorro's son is also present in this movie, altho he doesn't know his father is actually Zorro. Who wants to be the next movie will be Son of Zorro? Okay, enough about Zorro. It was cheesy, ridiculous, had some funny parts, and the horse was cool, but as a whole, I didn't like it too much. Let's go back to the first hand. Serenity.
Serenity is about this girl named River who's a psychic, mentally unstable, seriously cool karate girl who is being sheltered by the ship Serenity's inhabitants, a group of smugglers. Mal (short for Malcolm, not Malerie. It took me a while to figure that one out), who is uncannily like Han Solo, and his colorful crew, have taken River Tam and her brother, Simon in, but they are ruthless pursued by the evil Empire-I mean Alliance. I said it was somewhat original. So Mal has to make a choice about whether or not to continue protecting them, or for the sake of practical self-preservation, to dump them. Plenty of action, and shoot-em-up scenes, and River has two very cool fight scenes where she fights like, a bazillion guys all at once. I looked the actress who play River up on IMDB, and I found out she's a ballerina, which explains all the cool moves and the incredible amount of grace and agility. Summer Glau, the girl who plays River, did an uncannily good job at playing a psycho person. The Reavers were..umm...weird and sick and gross and that's all I'm going to say about them. Moving on...I liked the twist at the end, I wasn't expecting it. I love movies with unexpected twists. And the jump scenes! Hoo boy, the JUMP SCENES! They were amazing! I wasn't expecting any of them! Anyway, as a whole, I enjoyed Serenity very much. It was entertaining, funny, and the director kept the plot moving. Of course it can't measure up to movies like Lord of the Rings or War of the Worlds, but then again, no movie ever could-to me at least. The verdict on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being high:

Serenity: 4
Zorro: 2

Your ever-the-movie-critic blogger,

Katy

The Funny Cat Video

Check out this hilarious video at themooseisloose.net!

Click here to watch video

My personal fav. episode is the toddler and the cat, altho the cat squeezing under the door is pretty amazing. : )

your cat-loving blogger who loves to laugh,

Katy