Globe Genie (Personal Addition #11)

This is a very interesting website I came across, while on Stumbleupon. It's called Globe Genie and it is a satellite of the whole world. This is much like google maps, however you can get it to show you a random place in the world by clicking the "teleport" button. As a travel enthusiast, this is quite a cool way to see all the cool places over the whole world. You also have the option to pick specific continents in which you'd like to see. With so many places to travel, this is a really cool way to see every nook and cranny of the world!

http://www.globegenie.com

Dalai Lama Quote (Personal Addition #10)

I was on Stumblupon when I came across this quote and it took me a couple of times before I could connect with it. I understand and agree the whole health/wealth component but its really the future/present part that really intrigues me. At this point in time of my life, with grad and post secondary education, I really am anxious about the future. I'll admit, sometimes I find myself wishing I was at a future time in my life already. This isn't the best thing to do as you cannot simply fast-forward time. It's important to me that I don't constantly want what I can't have and be waiting for the day I have more. I am really going to try to do is just sit tight and enjoy what I have at the moment.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1cGFJO/:GW$4fW.9:bkGUVryQ/cdn.iwastesomuchtime.com/March-02-2012-01-41-35-thedalailamawhenaskedwhatsurprisedhimmostabouthumanityansweredmanbecausehesacrificeshishealthinordertomakemoney.jpeg/

Reading tweets

An Abundance of Katherines

John Green 

Page:170

1. To call or not to call, that is the question #dumpee 

2. Yea, I really shouldn't have called... #lessonslearned 

3. Prodigy; I'd go pry, dopey rig, dog I pry #anagrams #sorrynotsorry 

4. Heartbroken. #alwaysthedumpeeneverthedumper 

5. This is much more difficult than I had anticipated #theorem 

6. Will these fugging roosters ever cease to squawk? #countryliving 

7. I suppose in Gutshot quail and bullets are a delicacy? #ew 

8. So close to fixing my theorem #fromprodigytogenius 

9. This is much more difficult than I had anticipated... #relationshiptheorem 

10. I prefer girls with no makeup. #unpopularopinion  

11. My theorem will honestly be so helpful when it's done #quadraticfunctionsftw 

12. #TBT to when I tutored you in French. #thegooddays 

13. If only you felt the same way #iwish 

14. Did you know in Qatar in 1963 the average person emitted 100 tones of CO2 per year? #fascinating  

15. I suppose I just don't get hunting... 

Quickwrite- Happy Ending

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/image/63427266856

Mother duck had been trying for ages to get her ducklings to learn how to fly. Everyday she would try to teach them, but it was no use. They were too scared. Once day when they went out for their daily waddle, (they had to waddle because they couldn't fly) they passed by a sewer grate. Mother duck didn't realize her ducklings couldn't fly and would slip through the holes of the grate until she was off the grate. She looked down into the grate trying to see if her ducklings were okay, but she heard an answer behind her. Her ducklings had taken the leap of faith and were able to fly over the sewer grate. Now all they ever wanted to do was fly. Sometimes it just takes that moment of fear to accomplish something you never thought you could do.

The end.

Quickwrite- Robot

My future robot servant would teach me how to do anything I wanted to do. It would look like a person, but not too realistic as to confuse anyone. It would only look like a person enough to be able to teach me the things I wanted to learn, other than that, it would look like a robot. The voice it would have would sound digital, like your typical robot, but wouldn't be choppy, because I would need to be able to understand it. My robot would be my go to resource and I would be able to accomplish anything I wanted to do.

CO2 Emissions Throughout the World (Personal Edition #9)

This past Friday, in chemistry class, we were able to have the privilege to have a short presentation by Mr. John Murray, Science Consultant from Kindergarten to grade 12 from Manitoba education. Basically what he showed us was this very interesting thought provoking graph that I felt was very important to share.

The graph is of CO₂ emissions throughout the world from 1820-2011. On the x axis it shows average income per person per year and the y axis shows the average amount of tonnes of CO₂ emitted by each person per year. The size of the circles is showing the relative size of the population and they are colour coordinated by their geographical region.

Before Mr. Murray showed us the graph, he talked about where would be the ideal place would be on the graph. The entire class agreed that it was the bottom right hand corner, where income was high and CO₂ emissions are low. However we learned once we saw the graph that this ideal isn't a reality.

What is really cool about this graph, (I think so, at least) is that you can select which countries you want to see, and try the graph again with as many countries as you like. Another interesting aspect of this graph is that you watch the span of 190 years over 30 seconds. This allows you to watch for the significant events in history that were related to CO₂ emissions. For example, there was a significant drop in CO₂ emissions in Canada and the United States from the years 1928-1935 during the great depression. And then throughout the 60's a significant increase in CO₂ emissions as this was the Baby Boom years.

This is an example of a graph:

http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=21;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=2011$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1gkNuUEXOGag;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1NHPC9MyZ9SQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;iid=pyj6tScZqmEfbZyl0qjbiRQ;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=294;dataMax=76977$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=-1.2196;dataMax=26$map_s;sma=58;smi=1$cd;bd=0$inds=i37_t001800,,,,;i44_t001899,,,,;i212_t001950,,,,;i76_t001802,,,,;i104_t001927,,,,;i114_t001950,,,,;i239_t001800,,,,;modified=6

In this graph I chose to view the following countries:

•               Canada (yellow)

•               United States (yellow)

•               China (red)

•               France (orange)

•               Kenya (navy blue)

•               Iraq (green)

•               Sri Lanka (teal)

What we noticed on the graph is that there is a pretty direct relationship between income and CO₂ emissions, which makes sense, as the more money we make, the more we buy, which increases CO₂ emissions.

What is really important to learn from this, is what were seeing on these graphs are very much non-sustainable. Mr. Murray explained to us that in 50-75 years,mhumans could notice some serious repercussions from this global warming. It's very important that we start to change our habits and start moving our country to the ideal bottom right hand corner of the graph.

There are very simple, easy ways to do this such as:

•               Drive less or take public transportation

•               Buy your food from local growers

•               Limit your purchases (don't buy useless things)

•               Recycle and Re-use

Find these and more ideas at: http://bravenewclimate.com/2008/08/29/top-10-ways-to-reduce-your-co2-emissions-footprint/

I found this graph very fascinating and really appreciated the presentation that Mr. Murray did for us. Hopefully this can help raise awareness and then eventually leads to change!

Discover the CO₂ emissions throughout the world and more graphs at: http://www.gapminder.org/

6 word memoirs: debrief

What did I learn about storytelling?

The last time I was asked to write 500 word story, I was not able to explain all I wanted to say in so little words. I ended up handing in a story that was 1300 words. For that particular assignment my teacher was more than happy that I wrote double the amount of words, however for this assignment, that wasn't the case. One my be able to sense my frustration at the beginning of this project when I had to communicate a story using only six words. However, through this assignment, I was able to learn and appreciate the other ways of storytelling, whether it be with visuals or the importance of punctuation. It's not always the amount of words that communicates a story.


Where did I show my knowledge on storytelling?

My knowledge in storytelling was shown with the links I made from my text to the image. Not all of my pictures had a literal sense to my six words but I was still able to communicate my idea clearly. I was also able to show my knowledge in storytelling through my images with the way I edited them. The filters, colours and focal points I used had meaning and helped present my story. The punctuation I used was also a way to show the tone towards the subject I was talking about. All of these aspects were things that I did deliberately to help transmit my ideas through my memoirs.

What did I learn as a reader, writer, thinker or storyteller?

Something I found very interesting as a storyteller was that more words does not make a story is better. I have an issue with saying things that may not be relevant when I am telling a story. This assignment has helped me realize that less is more sometimes while telling a story. Even though lots of the stories I will tell in the future will exceed six words, I will still keep this in mind. As far as what I learned as a writer, with the criteria of six words, I learned where the places were that I could get away with less words and still communicate an idea. That, and also being able to realize where two words could be combined into one, or which words would describe what I was trying to say best. It was all a balancing act when it came to the exact number of words you had to present your story.

Rent (Personal Touch #8)

I think at this point in my blog, it is very clear that I like musicals. However I have yet to show my all time favourite musical, so this is what this post is about.

To me, Rent is the best musical out there. As it won four Tony awards in 1996 including best musical, many would agree. The story is about eight friends all from different backgrounds, living in New York city. The story follows their lives throughout the course of a year. It deals with sexuality, drugs, poverty and aids. The story is based on the opera la vie boheme. It is a musical filled with hope, laughter and tears and most importantly, love.

This show is a must see, however if you don't get a chance to see it live, there's a movie! Six of the eights leads are from the original broadway cast so it makes the movie that much better.

Rent trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRnh2u1UtSM

http://www.picstopin.com/183/rent-cast-on-tumblr/http:%7C%7C24*media*tumblr*com%7Ctumblr_mbo96aOIAl1rdiofvo1_r1_500*png/

"No day but today"- Rent

Marilyn Monroe (Personal Touch #7)

I have a small obsession with Marilyn Monroe. Quite frankly I am not sure why. I am not really educated on the details of her life story, just the main ideas. This all started when I started watching Smash.

Smash is a show that just got cancelled this year. The main plot in the show was people creating a musical about Marilyn Monroe. (There were many sub plots along the series) The musical that they were writing in the t.v. show was called Bombshell.

Perhaps the reason I love Marilyn Monroe so much is because I love the songs from Bombshell. They are very catchy and show Marilyn from behind the camera. For example Let's be Bad, from Bombshell, which shows Marilyn when she was quite under the influence while filming her movies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loKIhKIIeGY

For whatever the reason is, Marilyn Monroe is definitely someone I find very intriguing as well as entertaining. I have a black and white picture of her in my room and I am also starting to read some biographies on her life. Her death is a very controversial topic to this day. I am really looking forward to getting to know the kind of person Marilyn was and why it is that people adore so much about her.

https://weheartit.com/tag/marilyn%20monroe%20gif

“To all the girls that think you’re fat because you’re not a size zero, you’re the beautiful one, its society who’s ugly.” -Marilyn Monroe

Character iPhone Case

Book: An Abundance of Katherines           

Author: John Green

Pages Read: 138

Colin Singleton’s iPhone

Applications

1.     FunFacts: This app is full of interesting and random facts. One may set the timer so at certain times a day it will send your phone a text of a new fact. You may also read the continuous feed. Colin probably knows many of these facts already, but one can never stop learning.

2.     Scrabble: This is an iPhone version of the classic board game. Colin is new to this game but is very proficient due to his anagramming skills.

3.     GraphCalc: Math may not be as interesting to Colin as language, but this graphic calculator is essential for Colin to work on his Theorem.  

4.     Wordrefrence: This app is ideal for Colin to look up words (if he doesn’t already know) in all of the languages he studies.

5.     Colin’sTheories: With all Colin’s theories on a variety of subjects, this app is a perfect place to display them. He can update and add theories he has and are posted directly to this app for anyone to see.

6.     KContacts: After dating 19 Katherines, it is hard for one to keep track. This app is for contacts; specifically ones who’s name is Katherine. This keeps Colin organized from Katherine I to Katherine XIX.

7.     HowToCountry: After living in Chicago all of his life, Colin can use this app to learn everything about country living from lingo to how to shoot a gun.

8.     LibraryGo: Read any book from the Chicago Public Library on this app. This is perfect for Colin as he can read as much as he wants, wherever, even in Gutshot, Tennessee.

9.     GeniusDaily: This app sends Colin a biography of a genius every day. Colin hopes one day he will be on this app.

10.  Peopleskillz: Colin may be talented in many aspects of his life, however dealing with people is not one of them. This app provides tips and tricks for many different categories of people.

iPhone Case:

      The case of Colin's iPhone is rather significant. At the top it says "Katherine" (the name of all of his exes, including the love of his life) and then below is anagrams of the name. Colin loves anagrams and he also loves Katherine, that's why this case is very appropriate for him. The colours are simple as not to take away from the fact that this case includes what Colin loves. However, the name "Katherine" is in a navy blue to show that that is the original word.

Fall Collage (Personal Touch #6)

This past weekend was my parents 23rd wedding anniversary. As they were whipping out the photo books, reliving their wedding amongst all the pretty coloured leaves, I too started to reminisce of the falls of my past. This is why I created this fall collage.

Lots of these pictures are family pictures in the leaves or at corn mazes. (You can probably tell fall is my parent's favourite season!) As I got older, I started to take pictures during the fall with my friends, and I included some of those. The top right hand corner picture and the bottom left hand corner picture where professionally taken by Brian Gould. The top right hand picture was my parents 10th year anniversary and the bottom left hand picture is at their 20th anniversary. It was fun to look through these pictures and to hopefully take some more before this season is over!

Pumpkin Chai Latte (Personal Touch #5)

Fall is in full swing and the the temperature is already starting to drop. But not to worry, this fall treat will keep you warm on the inside as it gets colder outside. 

Here's what you'll need:

~ 1 1/2 cups of milk

~ 1 1/2 tsp of Pumpkin Chai tea (Availible at David's Tea)

~ 1 tsp of brown sugar

~ cinnamon (to taste)

Step 1:

Turn the element on high and pour 1 1/2 cups of milk in a saucepan. Stir continuously with a metal whisk, as to not burn milk on the bottom of the pot. Do this until the milk is hot and there is a layer of frothy bubbles on the top of the milk. 

Step 2:

Turn the heat down to medium an add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Pumpkin chai tea and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to the milk. Continue to stir until the milk is brought to a boil. 

Step 3:

To make a traditional latte, pour the latte into your mug, and use a spoon to separate the frothy top layer from the milk. After you have finished pouring the latte, scoop the froth on top. 

Step 4:

  

Sprinkle some cinnamon on top and Voila! You have the perfect treat for those cold fall days! 

Recipe created by Taryn Wichenko 

6 word memoir #8

We may seem like a friendly bunch, but there is a lot more that goes into living with the Wichenkos. I chose to use this saying for my memoir because I feel that it is appropriate for how my family functions. We may not always get along, and we may have our own set of issues, but we have fun doing it.

I chose to add an effect that brought out the colours. I feel that the vibrant colours emphasize our vibrant personalities that add to the chaos that is the Wichenkos. I chose this font and colour, as they were simple because the colours in the picture are already bright. Since they are simple, it contrasts the colours and is able to be seen clearly without taking away from the picture. The punctuation I chose, the “…” that break up the sentence is effective as it adds humour.  I added the exclamation mark to add to the humour in the expression. We got family pictures taken by Brian Gould two years ago. I decided to use this picture because my brothers and me are climbing the tree. I feel like this contributes to the idea of our family’s craziness.

6 word memoir #7

This memoir involves something that I love very much. Tea. I drink tea when I am cold, sad, hungry, happy, stressed, and just about any other time. It is very comforting to me. I decided to use this picture of a cup from David’s Tea, because it shows very obviously what it is I am drinking. The effect on the picture I used is important to the memoir because it gives it a yellow tint, which is what tea looks like. This further helps show what it is I am drinking if you may not recognize the cup. The punctuation I used for my memoir makes it a simple statement. It also gives it some humour. Obviously one needs more than tea to survive but the punctuation further exaggerates this statement. The font I used I wanted to look like it was potentially hand written to add to the concept of this memoir being simple. The black words I felt were important because it contrasts the white of the cup.