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So, this three day weekend, I didn't really even do too much. Except for 4th of July. But I didn't watch the fireworks that day. Instead, I went to go to Edna's Ichiban Library. It's a place located somewhere in Daly City. It's a medium sized karaoke/restuarant type of place. I went there this weekend to watch my sister compete in the karaoke's competition called Ichiban Idol. It is a Filipino singing competition. I don't really know much about it, but anyways, I went there with my Grandma, Mom, Sister (obviously), and her boyfriend. The part of the competition we went to was just the preliminary round. There were two other contenders, Catherine, and Ryan. All three of the contenders had different genres. Catherine was the type to reach high notes and suicidal songs. Ryan was the ballad type singer. And my sister was the acoustic singer and can sing songs by Heart.

Each contender had to sing 1 song, but can warm-up and show what they got before-hand. When Catherine sang her warm-up songs first, I did not like her voice. I'm not being mean, it is just my own opinion. I didn't like her because her voice was not nice sounding. She looks like she thinks she can sing, but her voice is scratchy, so while she can REACH the high notes, she cannot make the notes sound nice. Now Ryan, he has the ability to sing, but his stage presence is not very great. He can sing, but he isn't really the type you want to see put on the show. Now my sister, she sings with control. I'm saying this outside the box, not just saying it because I'm her brother. Sure she gets her mind blocks from time to time, but that only happened once. Other than that, from one of the people there, I heard her say my sister has voice control.

After the contenders sang, the judges had to vote of course. But to pass the time, people had to sing some karaoke. Our host, Jessie, sang some songs herself. Then some other guests from Texas, to Santa Clara, sang. They had cool voices too. When the tallying finished, it ended with all three contestants winning. I kind of expected this since all of them had such diverse genres. But in truth, I only expected Ryan and my sister to win mostly because they had such better voices than Catherine. But to let the other two win, and leave her behind, I guess that would make Catherine feel really, really, bad.

Now that was what happened in my 4th of July weekend. It was a nice night, but I only got home until like 1:47 and couldn't sleep until about 3:17. But it was a really good night and the host was a barrel of laughs.

Summer School Experience

Summer school... not a very fun place to be. I did not change while I was here. I am still the same as I entered, as the way I went out. I learned nothing from what I already knew. Instead, it solidified in the way I thought about the world. I may not have learned anything, but it helped improve in the things I already knew. I will be a very 'green' person in the future. I would also wish to start places that will bring people together and teach them the meaning of 'equality.' Many families still believe in racism and their races are far superior than others. Other families still think of 'terrorists' among citizens of the U.S even though they still wear their ceremonial garbs and sashes, and hats (I don't know its name). I will use the things I learned from the Freedom Writers in my own future. In the end of the book, it said that Ms. Gruwell passed the baton of everything they did in their 4 years. They now pass their baton to us. And they wish for us to do what they did, and at least think about what we will do in our future. I will take the baton, and when the time comes, I will pass it on to another. No shout-outs here. Maybe just Mae, and "Jose" but meh, no shout-outs whatsover.

Reflecting on what I did this Summer Term... I think I did an adequate job of trying to work as hard as I could this summer class. I definitely worked harder than I did in my regular Lit class. I'm not really sure what grade I should get this class. I guess I might get a B+. I mean, my journal entries were just babbles and rants most of the time but I still got perfect scores on it. My blog entries usually came in late, maybe down-grading the points. I also set the bar-down for my personality by never volunteering to read (but believe me, I wanted to) and by keeping as quiet and low as I can in the class though I don't think that should be reflected in the grade. Just, putting the statement out there. So yeah, I believe this Summer I think I should get at least a B+. If it gets to an A, woot, great, should try to get that for Soph year. If I get a C. Well, crap, did I do worst than I thought? Anything lower than that, I must be really, really, REALLY, terrible at this.

Freedom Writer's Diary #4

Acceptance: The acceptance of his sister's leaving is for him to believe and to admit.

Bias: His biased understanding of the defendant's plea helped him to be proven not guilty.

Diversity: The diverse separation of the students during lunch is highly seen due to the fact of one group keeps to their own.

Judgmental: His judgmental attitude leaded him to separate himself from truth and everyone around him.

Symbolize: To symbolize her royalty, she wore a great golden lion on all her jewelries for her position in the castle.

Affiliation: The woman's affiliation to her work was quite clear when she denied the man's continuous offer to her for a new job.

Cliche: I shall save you your embarrassment that the outcome of a Hollywood cliche won't help you in your current situation.

Analogy: His analogy of the left and right sides of the brain did not make huge sense to the small children.

Credo: The man's credo revolved around himeself and his own decisions.

Anonymous: The anonymous benefactor who donated money to the children's charity should have left his name and be praised.

Motto: His "motto" stated that he is the one being that controls himself and guide his life.

Inconspicous: That inconspicuous man must be up to something with that strange little bag.

Validate: The Speaker of The House did a complete validation for his informers well being.

Subjective: His subjective thoughts led him to believe he would be able to do anything he wanted to, as he pleased.

Tolerance: The act of tolerance is a hard concept for those who grew up with their own personal beliefs, and will not care for who they need to tolerate.

Exterior: The house's exterior is much smaller than the huge interior of the house.

Synonymous: Their synonymous objective is clearly shown by their excitement to finish the project.

Personify: Lewis Carroll personified the Cheshire Cat by giving it the ability to speak.

Collaborative: Her collaborative ability gave her a huge benefit in making friends.

Inclusive: Her inclusive attitude gives her the great ability to hear secrets and start many rumors and gossip.

Witness: The witnesses failed to see what the culprit's face looked like, but knew the plate number of his vehicle.

Interior: The interior of the human body is almost identical to every other human's interior structure.

Aspiration: The young boy's aspiration is the goal of becoming as great as his father was in the family business.

Distinct: The boy's distinct personality stands out when all the other kids are enjoying themselves, but he sits and stares at everyone else.

Chris "Alexander Super Tramp" McCandless

My first impressions of Chris were actually very bright and high. He looked to me as a special, unique, and a very intriguing individual. My impressions did not change as the movie progressed. He was as I thought he was, until he ate that poisonous seed thing. Poor guy misread the book's drawing due to his hunger already. Anyways, I think he is doing what he is doing to prove that we don't need all these buildings and cars, and roads, and all this money to live. He was able to survive in the wild without any of those things for a whole 100 days. That is why I believe he burned the money, and why he left his home, his car, and chose to live in the wild for awhile. All he needed was tools and his own will, to keep him alive (of course, until the point with the root, and well, yeah). He proved society that they don't need all those buildings, you just need some faith in yourself, tools, and happiness. Then maybe you might survive everything thrown at you.

Backpacking  Trip To The Sierra Nevada Mountain List:
1 Sleeping Bag 3lbs
2  Canisters of Water 4lbs
1 Set of Cooking Tools 5lbs
1 Book on Wild Plants 0.5lbs
1 Book on Wild Animals 0.5lbs
1 Topographic Map 0.1Lbs
1 Geographical Map 0.1Lbs
1 Map 0.1Lbs
2 Flashlights 4lbs
6 Sets of AA Batteries 2.5lbs
2 Sets of Emergency Foods 8.2lbs
1 Tent 2lbs
1 Knife 3lbs
5 Sets of Clothing 7lbs
1 Jacket 1lbs
1 Knife Sharpener 1.5lbs

Slang Dictionary

Bloke (n.) - a male; (adj.) - someone who is drunk

Bloody (n.) - A strong oath; (adj.) - extremely hateable

Brock (adj.) - describing someone as a badger; emotionless

Dip (adv.) - RUN AWAY REALLY QUICKLY

Git (n.) - British Slang for a foolish, contempible person; (adj.) - foolish, contempible

Grimy (n.) - sticky, unkempt, gross, unattractive

Idjet (n.) - an idiot, or an extreme moron

Mook (n.) - stupid

Prick (n) - a huge jerk

Prune (adj.) - shriveled up, old; (n.) - a dried up fool, an elderly person

Fear

I believe I can be brought to believe we are powerful beyond measure as Coach Carter says, and yes, we are truly inadequate. But mostly because we make ourselves to be. My biggest fear is fear itself, and to fail in something I can do really, really well. What's holding me back is my inability to confront my own securities. And to be overwhelmed by my fear, and underwhelmed by the challenge of my fear. What might bring me to fight this is to be true to what I can do. And fear is nothing but an imagination of one's mind. There is nothing to fear, but then you can also fear yourself. I keep on telling myself this, but I just can't handle my securities and my inabilities. I will make myself powerful beyond measure because I know of my obstacles. I will face them and break them. My mind shall open, and I doubt many will understand it, but at least it has been opened and can be faced and understood by those who choose to understand it. Then, I can be powerful beyond measure, and then even more than that.

Inspiration

Awaken to open your eyes on this new day

Awaken your sore body, and ignore the delay

Awaken your eyes and listen to the song of rain

Awaken your voice, to end the silencing pain

Awaken your ears, for you are not alone

Be free for you have nothing to atone

Lay sleep to those who passed, tell their story

so their names are unmasked

Lay sleep to pressure, tell your story

so to turn it to treasure

Lay sleep the rain, the song is sad

so turn it and make the sun shine again

Lay sleep the journey, it was long

but now you're home, goodbye to life's tourney

Advice Column

Dear Eva,
I can really relate to how you feel about the whole, "I must protect my own" sort of whole ordeal... I can understand that. My, friends, they are practically my own too, I will protect them no matter the cost.. But you must understand this too, "follow yourself." I have had a problem with following the codes or whatever you might call them.. But you have to understand you can't always let other people influence you. Sure, everyone in this world is not completely innocent.. We have all done something, some more than others. Some blinded with the status quo, images, and worst of all, peer-pressure. I have been pressured to do things I wished not to do (all of them ending in failure, mind you), but all the same with the crap about "everybody is doing it", or, "you want to groupies, do what we do". I never joined in on them, but just by the sheer art of looking at them, you will see how much struggle they have. They struggle like me, and you, but unlike them, they are almost too lost to save. You have a guide, a sort of "light" to help you. But you also have to allow yourself to either follow that "light", or follow your own "light", i.e., your own heart. It is a sad truth, I know what it feels to have lost someone.. Or even know someone who was put on a stand like yourself, to defend someone, and struggling with right, and wrong.  But at the end of the day, the person who is always with you, knows you the most, defends you the most, is always just you. Understand yourself, a simple concept that is hard to achieve, and you'll know what will always be right. You will always have people that understand you though, only if you choose to let them in. You forge your own path.

Freedom Writer's Entry #1

I had a really hard lesson for me to have learned was to learn who your true friends are, and people who are just 'friends'. It nearly destroyed me when I had to learn it but I found out that I had 4 friends I can really rely on, and are my true friends. They helped me (one of them was involved in it as well) get through, and we took it all on together. It was a hard lesson to learn, but it was better to learn it, than not learn it at all. I was also lucky to have learned it so early in my life, than later on. Without having learned this lesson, I think I would still be that cocky little, word that rhymes with witch, who thinks everyone can be trusted. Nope, not anymore, I enclose myself, but not completely, unless I feel you truly do want to know me for the better reasons OF knowing me. This lesson is truly a lesson needed to be learned by more people than they should think. I'm glad I was one, who has already learned it.

#3 My Pet Peanut - To Be Judged

"Judging the shell from its soul"
After playing the peanut game, there are numerous objects that are uninviting on the outside, yet can be proven appealing on the inside in my opinion. Mostly near destroyed book covers. These books on the outside may be half-destroyed but the writing and the story in the book shall always stay the same. The words never change and the story never change, they will always be appealing no matter how much it looks on the outside.

"Misunderstood"
I have always been misunderstood. Sometimes when I say one thing, some people think the other. Like people who THINK they know me, but really, all they know is either basic, or a lie. But most of all, some people misunderstand ME. They think I am just another face on the yearbook. Well, I might be, but that doesn't mean I don't have potential. Some people think they are different about how they dress, or how they act. Quoting a part of the song, "I can do it like a brother, do it like a dude", practically, I can act like you, and know what you do, so, why can't you understand how I act, and what I do?

"Covers"
Judge me, if you know me,
Read me, if you know me,
For I have read you, you see,
And your book is as boring as me.
So judge all you want, you'll still be the same,
As anyone can be,
But it is you who judge badly, and that's a shame.

"A Cliché"
You judge me from the color of my shell and skin, but why can't you judge me from my soul, and the color of my heart?

Freedom Writer's Diaries #2

In Diary Entry #4, the author blamed all his troubles on his friends. I don't really remember a time I did get "caught up" in something my friends did, but I guess this is closest to one: My friends one day were going to go egg someone's house, I didn't want to go, so I didn't. I guess when they did it they got caught. I got caught up in it because apparently, I "joined in" when I was at home. I cleared it up that I WASN'T there. I didn't get in trouble, but my friends did. They didn't care though, it was, in their words, "Jolly, Good, Fun."

The Author of Diary Entry #5 calls himself "his own gang" due to him not wanting to be in a bigger and easier group to be taken down. I do think it is quite necessary since he will pull the trigger on someone who has their trigger towards him. He also was targeted once already, so he could be in trouble as much as any other gang.

The "War" that the Author of Entry #6 talks about is a war between races. Its a war between two races, and each at are each other's throats. She lost a friend during this war, since he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The Author said that that friend will not be the last friend she will lose in the war. That might mean that this "war" will go on until they feel that one gang has lost all their members, or when it finally ends.

The Author of Diary Entry #7's attitude to me is cocky, overconfident, and a "dead-man-walking" type. I think that this Author will keep getting hurt until he finally drops. Or he might be killed in an unprecedented gang fight and be shot. Or he can acquire a wound that would send him to the hospital for. A rare happening for me, is if he would choose to change his attitude, his "job" and convert to a new side of the leaf. But, really, anything can happen.

Freedom Writer's Diary 1 - Quotes, Zlata Filipovic, A Roadblock

Comment 1:
"To her, I'm sure we're the "below average kids" kids no one told her about when she was getting her credentials." - To me, it's like these kids don't have faith in themselves as much as Ms. Gruwell has faith in them. This to me, is significant because it would show in the future how other students of Ms. Gruwell might think of themselves.
Comment 2:
"The only people I'd have to worry about in that class are the really cool and popular people who think that they're better than everyone else." - Okay, this is important to the story since it is not only the gangs who segregate, even the popular 'white' kids segregate anyone who is not like them. That's important because even though they are all the same 'color' they still act like any other 'gangs'.
Comment 3:
"My P.O hasn't realized yet that schools are just like the city and the city is just like prison." -This a bit reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption. This is so because in the prison, they still have deals as they do in the city, and in the city, what's happening in the prison is happening just the same out there. So the two is more similar than some people usually think. A prison has the same happening as almost any other city. Some want to escape prison, as they want to escape the so-named city.

Zlata Filipovic was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia i Herzegovina, and is the author of "Zlata's Diary". She was also only 10 when she started to write in her diary (in which she named "Mimmy"). Zlata was considered the Anne Frank of Sarajevo.    In "Zlata's Diary", she described what it was like growing up during a war, and what the war was doing to her family, and also mentioned that she knew she was being compared to Anne Frank. The only difference between them was that the members of Zlata's family all survived and fled to Paris in 1993. But both were very young and were surrounded with war around them. Zlata still continues to write about anything related to her stories, but now she also helps non-governmental organizations with her time.

One of the covers to Zlata's Diary

A Roadblock - Malefactors

The biggest roadblock in my life I believe is how I am affected to things that happen to me. When acted on by a malefactor, I usually just feel the need to stop but move towards where I need to go (especially in school, i.e., go to class, stay, but don't feel the energy to do work, bell for next class, go, repeat). I try to not let people's negative actions come towards me, but it is a hard thing to overcome. This is a huge roadblock to me, but little by little, I can get over it. But then, when a malefactor engages again, it brings me all the way back and erases what little progress I have achieved. But I have overcome part of that roadblock with one of the strongest weapons a malefactor uses, words.