College Plan

Well the plan that i have now is to go to shasta to get my prerequisites done
for court reporting. Then possibly a Legal arts school, most likely somewhere in california.
I've heard there are many good schools, and i'm hoping chico will have some classes
to offer too. But after that i plan to get settled as a court reporter for awhile, save up some
money and then go back to a school i can afford and become a psychologist.
Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, i realize that this is my life and i really only get one
chance to do it right. It's been hard getting my butt in gear, considering high school has
flown by for me.
I chose court reporting as a base because i had to have a solid career path before i go
into something that takes so much time and money. Court reporting doesn't take very long,
and i'm also a very quick typist. I type 85 to 90 on average, and i can hyperfocus on listening to people very well. So i thought it fit. I'm going to job shadow eventually and see whether or not
i would like it. Court reporting earns decent wages, and its something i feel i would be good at.
They start out at about $50,000 a year and can go all the way up to $140,000, which Isn't bad.


I really like Oregon:
http://www.collegeoflegalarts.edu/court_reporting.htm

so i'm considering portland.

http://www.humphreys.edu/divisions/ug/cr/
I think this one would really fit, its in stockton which isn't
far away from cottonwood at all

http://www.sagecollege.edu/contactus.htm
this one looks good

http://www.westvalley.edu/
i really like this one!!!

Wall Street Bail Out

In all honesty, i think that theres seriously something wrong with our country.
Its so easy for our government to make decisions like those, especially when the
civilians are going to be paying for it. Our taxes are going to go through the roof and
its because we have a leader who doesnt know how to handle an economy,
whether it's in shambles or running fine.
It makes me sick to think that all these decisions are easily made by government officials,
i haven't trusted the government for the longest time. How is this decision going to help?
Sure 700 billion dollars will help, but not when it's all borrowed money.
I mostly disagree, but on the same token, what will happen if we don't do anything?
What will happen to our economy if we dont take action now?
I guess what i want to say is that I think i'm glad we took action but i think we might have taken the wrong action.

Drinking Age to 18

I'm a bit confused with this. I have two seperate sides to this,
i think its both okay, and not okay.
Firstly, If we lower the drinking age to 18, there will most likely be alot more drunk driving accidents, and more immature people getting priviledges that they will most likely take advantage of. Possibly more instances of date rape, with more people being introduced to drinking legally, being able to get into night clubs and bars. Also, the lower the drinking age,
the younger the kids that try drinking illegally. Since many high school students already
drink despite the laws, what's to say for our Middle schoolers?
If you think about it, that will most likely add to the already high number of alcoholics we have in our country. There will be immature people trying things that they're not ready mentally to handle, let alone physically. I think all in all, we're really just asking if we want to add to more deaths due to liver cancer.
Not only that, but it would make high school very confusing, considering that alot of high schoolers turn 18 before they graduate. It would lower the drinking standard down to cigarette standards, and thats something we can't afford to do.
Cigarettes only relax you, whereas Alcochol actually distorts your state of mind.
My other reasoning though, is that since 18 year olds are allowed to serve in the military,
who's keeping them from being able to have a beer once in awhile? If an 18 year old can fight and die for our country, they should be able to have a shot of tequila after a hard day too.
Maybe it should be only 18 year olds in the military should get the priviledge of drinking at a younger age, considering that by the time they get out, usually they're old enough to drink anyway. I dont really know, i have two different points of view for this.

Crude Oil Article

I dont believe that anyone has tried anything for an alternate energy plan.
There are many who talk about it, especially politicians, but most of them wont take
action unless they're elected, and even then it really seems to just be a ploy to get them
elected. I think that America is filled with optimists, who are furiously trying to ignore
our economic problems, especially something like oil.
Our number one plan has always been to just take as much as we can, like
going to war with other countires pretty much for their oil, although the media
tries to make it look like the "bad guys" had it comin' to 'em anyway.
I really hope we figure out something before the government starts turning nasty
on us, and uses our oil crisis as an excuse to inflict more control. There's so many brilliant people
that have so many good ideas, and yet it seems since we're so self-centered, we dont really care about our country until it starts affecting us.
It makes me sad that good old hot rods and big pickup trucks really have lost all of their value
over something like this. My dad has a 1 ton dodge diesel and it costs him SO much money every week to fill it up. We usually use a diesel stove but now thats even somewhat quesitionable.
I think the best alternative would be all kinds of different things. Instead of focusing on one alternate fuel source, lets focus on many and make them all available, instead of having to just use one. That way if we somehow have to get rid of one of our energy sources, we'll have alternatives that we produce more of instead.
I think that drilling for oil here in the US for awhile wont hurt, just as long as we make sure we're
trying our hardest to find other resources, and that we can slowly let go of our addiction.
After we find alternates, i dont think the oil should ever be touched again.

LHC Risks

Is the potential downside worth the risk with the LHC?
Should scientists contniue with turning it on?

I honestly wonder who gave these people the right to do this.
How fair is it for any country, including the Swiss and French, to risk
being sucked into a black hole and all life as we know it to end?
Although i think the adavancement of science is vital to our existence on earth,
shouldn't these scientists be looking at the big picture with the risks they're taking?
So we find out about anti-matter, so what? As much as there may be a very small chance
of anything happening, there still is a CHANCE and i dont think that we should be taking risks like that. I dont believe scientists should be continuing.
Because by experimenting you are learning new information, which means
you aren't prepared for any of the consequences of your actions.
This experiment isn't like anything we've ever done before,
so how do we know the chances and percentages?
How do we know everything and everyone will be safe?
It makes me very angry that everyone is just "okay" with us being in danger like this.
I guess that there are risks in everything, for god's sake they say you can get Cancer by eating pretty much anything. But the only person you're risking is yourself when you do things like that.
You're not endangering other countries and even the entire world.
All i can say is that i enjoy my existence on earth, and i dont feel that it is the right of ANYONE to have a say in whether or not i get to live to be 40.
Something about this reminds me of the teenagers that have gotten in car accidents in our area.
Although sad, it is true that they had no idea their lives would end. Part of that is because most
people have no real idea of mortality. No one seems to realize that yes, we can die at any moment. Any given second there could be something that could kill us, and that doesn't register until we're faced with it. My dad told me the first day i started driving that i was driving a loaded weapon, and he's 100% right.

So what in the world were they thinking when they built this?

King Pellinore - Character Assignment

King Pellinore is the father of Sir Aglovale of the Knights of the Round Table.

He is known to be Arthur's enemy and friend in the tale of King Arthur.

He breaks the sword that Arthur pulled from the sword, and although Pellinore beats

Arthur within an inch of his life, they become friends afterward because of Arthur's respect for his skill. Arthur invited Pellinore to join the Knights of the Round Table, and Pellinore contributed to the search for the Holy Grail.

He constantly is pursuing the "Questing beast" which apparently has the feet of a deer, the haunches of a lion, the body of a leopard and the head of a snake.

Pellinore is eventually dubbed "The Maimed King" after being struck with a Holy Speer after doubting the Grail.

My 3 Heroes

Who are 3 of my Heroes?

My first hero would probably be my mom. For a long time i've always known her as my unhappy, tired, and impatient mom. We always got along, i've always been alot like her,
but the difference was that I was a happy version of her. I've come to realize, after she divorced
my dad and started living out her own life the way that she wanted, She's become more at peace with herself, and the things that bothered me about her really weren't character traits, just
the effects of unhappiness. She took the incentive to change her life, even though she is older and
may have not had the drive to make such a big change. She didn't compromise, and i pray to God that if i am faced with a situation like hers, that I will be wise and make the right choice, without compromising.
Another hero of mine is my grandmother. I lost her in June, she was 72. Before then she probably wouldn't have been one of my choices for an essay such as this one. I probably would have picked someone like John Wayne or JFK or something, but you dont know what you have until you lose it, right? Right. I loved her, and i always will. The things i realized that i had learned from her only help me to go on in this life, only make me feel better with every step i take. She taught me that the most wonderous thing about life is that you will never quit learning, never cease to gain knowledge and wisdom, and that is what makes it so beautiful. She also taught me to find the joy in simplicity. Little things made her laugh and it had nothing to do with her intelligence, for my grandmother was extremely wise, it was just that she knew. She knew that it was okay to laugh at the little things because the big things were just that much more enjoyable.
Last but not least, I'd have to say another hero of mine is my cousin Caleb. Although he is young, and makes mistakes just like me, he seems to not care about messing up. He's extremely talented with a gift that not many people are blessed with. My cousin can pick up almost any instrument and learn to play it beautifully. He has such an appreciation for all music without judgement. He's a skilled artist, I'm sure if he took some college classes he could very easily get an amazing career as a comic book artist, book illustrator, or even just an artist. I think the reason why i appreciate him so much is because we are the closest in our family. I grew up with him, saw him almost every day of my life from the time i was born until about 7th grade. My grandma babysat us after school and when i think about her, i think about the times we used to have together, the three of us. Because no matter how much we argued, we still loved each other, and honestly i see him more as a brother than my cousin. I appreciate how much we're alike and how he seeks me for someone to talk to, despite our 3 year difference.
Those are my 3 heroes.

Beowulf Entry #1

"Beowulf is the first Engilsh hero. What does he learn from his battles with Grendel and Grendel's Mother?"

I believe that Beowulf learned that no amount of gold or treasure could top the qualities added to his character after each battle. I noticed that in both battles, he really didnt care about anything accept proof that he, himself, fought the beasts and put an end to their lives.
That need to add to his already amazing reputation, to grow more respected and trusted
to all of his people, made him a very admirable character.
Beowulf also learned how to utilize all of his resources. He used a sword, like many of
our common fairytale heroes, but also used his bare hands to kill grendel. He tried his hardest
with whatever enchanted weapons he had, and pushed himself to the very limits with all of the strength he could muster.
Another thing I believe Beowulf did well was continuing to fight for his people, not just himself. He analyzed the situations he was given, seeing both advantages of winning and seeming to not care about the costs. He realized that not only would he grow in character and status, but his people and many others around the world would be safe. I think that if anything, he never thought about losing because for Beowulf, it wasn't an option.