Yes

Quote by Stephanie Johnson

Here is a quote that I think ties into The Glory Field.

"If we do not come together, right now on this field, we too, will be destroyed."

-Remember the Titans movie

This is the part where they go to Gettysburg and see all of the tombstones in the graveyard that was once a battlefield. Denzel Washington is the one who says this quote.

Mystery by Taylor Tomlinson

Unlike most, I have actually been watching the blog for more stuff to come out, but sadly, I've been disappointed. Here is a little poem I wrote in one of my bursts of inspiration.

A trick of the eye
Was it a passerby?
Or a ghostly hand
Reaching desperately for land?

Was it what I thought?
Something no one would've have sought?
Something so black and dangerous,
So dark and treacherous

I might faint from the fear
Of that very slight smear
Or was it just a passerby,
A mere trick of the eye?

Hello! -Alison Carter

I'm so glad that school's almost over and that CRT's are over! 8th graders still have a chance to go to Raging Waters! Wahoo! :)

a few words spoken by people:

"One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness, for it is usually returned."
-Mark Ortman

"Hey, this little kid gets roller skates. She puts them on. She stands up and almost flops over backwards. She sticks out a foot like she's going somewhere and falls down and smacks her hand. She grabs hold of a step to get up and sticks out the other foot and slides about six inches and falls and skins her knee. And then, you know what? She brushes off the dirt and the blood and puts some spit on it and then sticks out the other foot again."-Myra Con Livingston

Daddy- A poem by Jasmine Crespo

Okay people of Honors 8! We are getting LAZY! So stop whatever you are doing and BLOG!!!! School is almost over! We aren't going to be eighth graders anymore! So take advantage of the few days you have left! In the spirit of that, here is a poem:

"Daddy"- By Jasmine Crespo

Daddy would you be proud of me?

Of all the things I've done?

Daddy would you be proud of me?

Of your daughter who misses you a ton?

Would you clap at all the things I've done?

Cheer me on while I perform?

Sit in the front row?

Oh why did you have to go...

Daddy would you scare away?

All the boys who come to play?

They're just friends, but you'd tease.

Made me laugh with your joyful ease.

Daddy would you tell me?

The things I want to hear?

If only you were here.

Daddy would you be proud of me?

I did the thing I dreamed!

It was more spectacular then in my wildest dreams!

Daddy you were proud of me.

If I would only know it.

Because when you were around me,

I was too blind to see you show it.

Daddy are you proud of me?

Of how I asked you ,

If you were proud of me?

Daddy I ask this for I know the answer.

If you were here you would be proud.

You would tell me not to listen to the crowd.

To be the girl I want to be.

The girl inside who's really me.

Daddy why did I feel you there?

With others instead of you warm stare?

I'm not afraid of my dreams anymore.

I just wish you were here to say,

Daughter I'm so proud of you.

You turned out better than I dreamed.

I wish too that I could be there with you.

Daughter how did you turn out so good?

When I was oh so bad.

Why did I never say more how I was proud.

So daughter I'm so proud but saddened for you to say aloud.

Daddy are you proud of me?

Daddy are you proud of me?

Jokes by Dallas Anderson

Hey guys,

I was reading Stephanie's joke (which by the way is hilarious) and I started looking for other funny jokes. Here are some I've heard or that I got online:

A sincere marriage gift
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really pissed.She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!" The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house.She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.Bob has been missing since Friday.


Only three doors
An airline captain was breaking in a new blonde stewardess. The route they were flying had a lay over in another city. Upon their arrival, the captain showed the stewardess the best place for airline personnel to eat, shop and stay overnight. The next morning, as the pilot was preparing the crew for the day's route, he noticed the new stewardess was missing. He knew which room she was in at the hotel and called her up wondering what happened. She answered the phone, crying, and said she couldn't get out of her room. "You can't get out of your room?" the captain asked, "Why not?"The stewardess replied: "There are only three doors in here," she sobbed, "one is the bathroom, one is the closet, and one has a sign on it that says 'Do Not Disturb'!"


Two zebras pondering
Two zebras are talking and one asks the other, "Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" The other replies, "Well I don't know. You should pray to God about that and ask him." So that night he did and God replied, "You are what you are." The next day he said to the other zebra, "I still don't understand what I am because God just said, You are what you are." The second zebra responds, "You must be white with black stripes or else God would have said, Yo is what yo is."

MY ALL TIME FAVORITE JOKES
http://www.coolfunnyjokes.com/Funny-Jokes/Misc-Jokes/101-Ways-To-Annoy-People.html (if you have time, read them all. They are soooooo funny!)

http://www.rinkworks.com/brick/ (read all of them)

The average person laughs about 127 times a day. Unfortunately, I can say that I don't. Thankfully, though, there are solutions to these problems. These websites can get your daily laughter in within two minutes. By the way, laughter can add up to seven years of life.

Dallas Anderson

More and More Quotes by Taylor Tomlinson

Ah the wonderful quotes I find.

"Friends are Gods way of apologizing for your family."
Wayne D. Dyer

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the ARK. A large group of professionals built the Titanic." Dave Barry

"I don't care if my glass of water is half empty or half full. I'm just glad there's water in it!"
-Taylor Tomlinson

"A stranger stabs you in the front; a friend stabs you in the back; a boyfriend stabs you in the heart, but best friends only poke each other with straws." Unkown.

Together You are Strong and Wise

O Me! Oh Life!
Period 4 – Class Poem

The answer is easy – without quakes there isn’t stability –without pain there is no peace
Don’t be an empty thought in another’s head
I tried to obey, but it is all around me
Everyone gets knocked down a lot in life, what matters is the number of times you get back up

You cannot prepare what is coming next, but here are some words of encouragement
“prepare to be surprised”
Keep holding on
We need to live

Finding a line between being rash and being fair, cannot always be easy
The words help me understand
To know that I can live is knowledge enough for me to keep on trying
Lift the dark veil, open your eyes, look around you and you will find all that you need

Soon a bright glow shall pierce its way through the unborn sight
And then you may finally call life your life
This mighty ride has just begun
Have someone remember you for your good and your life will have been for the better


Living is not existing
Grow family bonds so strong they’ll never break
Reach out and spread sunshine into your heart
Now at this time, this fake love shall never die
The sun will never die and the stars will never fall

The list of those with the potential to succeed is endless
Pain can be solved
Somethings in the world will never be done if you’re not the person to do them
Living is not existing

Together You are Strong and Wise

O Me! Oh Life!
Period 3 – Class Poem

Going to a place where there is no reason to hide
The pain I go through still has a purpose; it causes me to come and rejoice
The point is not just being one, but working as a whole
But it’s life

When are we going to accept that we are different, but the same
Let’s have an impact on others
Don’t leave your mark in the sand, leave your own marks in the rocks where it will stay forever
Life is like a stream, twisting and turning, rising and falling

We all must learn to love this life, because it’s the only one we’ve got
Do more for people you meet, and help those you haven’t met
Do we let others decide for us, because we are too busy judging ourselves?
For in the end it’s all for naught, for the little time on stage you’ve got

We are all drops, but together we make scenery
Too miraculous to describe, the feeling of belonging, of knowing someone cares
Residing in our hearts forever more
Yet it is not just they who do this, for we too give them something to grasp in life
A reason to hold on

They’ll teach you as you teach them, and better all will be
What are we to be, anything we want
Don’t be a wanderer, floating through life with no purpose, no meaning, no self-respect
Showing care and respect will soon make a domino effect

Life may seem hard, but the outlook is better
Some might seem weak, but then, who’s strong
Yet who am I to say nothing is right and nothing is wrong?
But it’s life

Funny Mayan Joke by Stephanie Johnson

For those of you who are completely paranoid about 2012 being the end of the world, here's a good cartoon I love! Enjoy!

Magnet Poetry Contest!

For National Poetry Month, Salt Lake County Libraries are having a poetry contest.

Click here for more details.

*don't forget to submit it to our class as well:)

The End of The Scarlet Pimpernel: Masquerade 2010

Enjoy some pictures from our class masquerade. Your duel identities and masks were oh so convincing. Can you tell who is who? You all made charming party attenders.

Prophecy by Taylor Tomlinson

Hey guys, I haven't posted anything for a while so I just thought I'd post a quick poem that sounded like a prophecy to me. (Yes, it is written by me.)

The night flies by
As dreams go by
Through tears untold
He stands alone
With hardships great
He tempts fate
The line thin and thinner still
How long before the fine string breaks?

Alice in Wonderland By Ellie Dow

As we all know, the new Alice in Wonderland movie is coming out. But the real question is, is it a new version of the same story? (This summary is from google)

Alice Kingsley, now 19, attends a party at a Victorian estate shortly after the death of her beloved father. Alice spots a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch. In shock and confusion, she runs off into a maze and follows the White Rabbit through it. She eventually tumbles down a rabbit hole into Underland, more commonly referred to as "Wonderland" by its inhabitants. She had visited this place 10 years earlier, but had entirely forgotten about it. She is also told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, the dragon who terrorizes the inhabitants of Wonderland under the rule of the Red Queen.

Wow! I really want to see that.

Just for more fun, here's a quote from the book:

Alice
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?

How we relate to The Scarlet Pimpernel's masks

Have you ever realized that we all have masks too? Especially in jr. high. Example, say that you are in love with someone, I'm not saying anyone is, we're a little too young, your day is horrible when they are gone, even for a day, then when you finally see them, they lift your spirts and brighten your day. Even if they didn't mean to. You're in love with that person but you wish to tell them how you feel, but it might change the future, you could be friends in the future but your one slip of the tongue ruins your would be future? So you wear a mask, it hides you and your real self. Does anyone ever realize that there's a hopless sap waiting inside your soul for a brief second that you believe the one you can't live without loves you back? Deep inside we all live for that and we all wear that mask. But who would be the one to change that for every one in the world? No one.

What is in the future for our world?

As we begin "The Scarlett Pimpernel" I cant help but think of the Holocaust. As a race, we have an embarrassing record for killing. We kill animals, destroy countries and cities, take out entire rain forests, and we kill each other. Why do we keep repeating this cycle? How can it be stopped? We have had wars, and we have killed. We have had the Holocaust, and we have killed. We are hurting each other. We are destroying the world. Look back on all the times you have made someone feel unwanted, or forgotten. They will never forget the pain you have inflicted upon them. The survivors of the Holocaust will never forget. The families of dead soldiers will never forget. It is time we figure out who the enemy really is, instead of fighting with each other. We must unite, we must build each other up instead of tearing each other down. I hope that you will think of these words, and you will strive to make the world, community, family, a better place.

Sincerely,

The Yellow Iris

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The scarlet pimpernel is actually a flower known as "the blood red flower". Why would the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel choose such a flower as their symbol? Pay attention to the possible meanings and symbolism behind this choice as we begin to read!

Versailles

Click on the picture of the courtyard of Versailles for the amazing interior views!

*Remember this is where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette last resided.

History of Versailles: PALACE OF VERSAILLES The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV beginning in 1669. He used it as a little lodge as a secret refuge for his amorous trysts with the lovely Louise de la Valliere and built a fairy tale park around it. Jules Hardouin Mansart, the king's principal architect, drew the plans to enlarge what was turning more and more into a palace from A Thousand and One Nights. The terrace that overlooked the gardens was removed to make way for the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the Galarie de Glaces. It is here from which the king radiated his power and where the destiny of Europe was decided over a century. The French classical architecture was complemented by extensive gardens (information found here).
Click here to see what the 8th graders thought about this place last year (read the comments).

Viva la Republique!

Get ready for a swashbuckling classic....The Scarlet Pimpernel!

As we read and study this novel together, you will encounter many words foreign to you and your understanding. The following phrase book (see link below) has helped many students understand those "huh?" type of words. Use and enjoy. Printing out the phrase book is encouraged.

http://www.blakeneymanor.com/phrase.html

Part of the Process: Altered Books 2010