I only need 83 more words in order to finish my blogging this week; the last week we will ever need to blog. 51 words left now and my blogging is done; I will never have to log onto this website again (except for the comments). 39 more words now; the end is almost near, so close I can taste it but still a far way away (not really). 17 words and I am about one more sentence away. 8 words and I am finished. I am done with Inkaus.
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver started a couple weeks ago, and we have had a wonderful start to them. As of yesterday, we were leading the overall medal count with 26 medals. We have 7 gold, 9 silver, and 10 bronze medals. Germany is in second with 23 medals (7 gold, 9 silver, and 7 bronze), but they could pass us soon because the bobsled events are beginning and the Germans are amazing at bobsled. In third is Norway with 17 medals (6 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze.) Hometown Canada has recently had an abysmal performance at the Olympics. They have only pulled in 11 medals so far (6 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze), however they are the favorites in both men’s and women’s ice hockey. The U.S men’s and women’s ice hockey has been putting on a show in these Olympic games. The men’s team finished the round robin with and undefeated record of 3-0, with convincing victories against Norway and gold medal favorite Canada in a 5-3 thriller. Goalie Ryan Miller had a sensational game, besting even hockey great Martin Brodeur of Canada. They are the number one team going into the elimination round, and people are talking about another gold medal in men’s hockey, their first since the 1980 Olympics (miracle on ice). The women’s hockey team has been a real powerhouse in the olympics, as they always are. The U.S. and Canadian women’s hockey teams were the only true contenders for the gold medal throughout the tournament, and, after a 9-1 win over Sweden for the Americans and a 5-0 win over Finland for the Canadians, they will meet in the gold medal game. One of the most popular stories of these olympics has been Lindsay Vonn, American alpine skier. Vonn, who was injured a few weeks before the opening ceremony, took home the gold medal in downhill and a bronze medal in the Super G, but crashed in the super-combined. Julia Mancuso won silver in both the downhill and the super-combined. Bode Miller has returned after a disastrous 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy, where he didn’t medal in any of his 5 events. This time he has a gold in the super-combined, a silver in the Super-G, and a bronze in downhill. He did not finish in the men’s final slalom and his final event is the men’s slalom. The women’s freestyle moguls featured to Americans, gold medalist Hannah Kearney, and bronze medalist, Shannon Bahrke, winning medals. In the men’s, American Bryon Wilson won the bronze medal. U.S. has dominated the snowboard world at the olympics. Shaun White was the premier competitor in the men’s halfpipe. After his first run, White had a score of a 46.8. Before he even made his second run, he had already clinched a victory. In his second run, he unveiled his signature double cork and the Double McTwist 1260 (newly dubbed the Tomahawk) to up his score to 48.4. Another American, Scott Lagocame in third with a 42.8. In the women’s halfpipe, Hannah Teter got the silver with a score of 42.4 and Kelly Clark won bronze with a score of 42.2. In men’s snowboard cross, 2006 gold medalist, Seth Westcott, won the gold medal again. American Nate Holland made it to the final race, but did not medal as he came in fourth. American favorite in women’s snowboard cross, Lindsey Jacobellis, did not make it to the finals after she fell after one of the jumps. In speed skating, Apollo Anton Ohno won the silver medal and olympic rookie J.R. Celski won the bronze in the men’s short track 1500 meters. Ohno and Celski would have finished fourth and fifth, but on the final turn, two of the three Koreans in front of them crashed, allowing Ohno and Celski to medal. This was Ohno’s sixth olympic medal, tying him for most in American history. He broke that record with a bronze medal in the men’s short track 1000 meters. Shani Davis won a gold medal in the men’s 1000 meter speedskating and a silver in the men’s 1500. American Chad Hedrick finished third in the men’s 1000 meters. Last but not least (maybe), was American figure skater, Evan Lysacek, won the gold medal in men’s singles, beating the Russian favorite, Evgeni Plushenko.
Every single time there is a chance for snow or sleet or freezing rain, and there is a chance to get off of school, people start to talk about the elusive snow day. Everyone gets excited about the possibility of getting a school day off, being able to relax and sleep in, and most importantly a break from work. Most of the time, we are disappointed when we wake up in the morning only to find out that there is still school today; Mother Nature continues to tease us. I think that the main reason that we don’t get the snow days is that we build up so much hype about them. It seems that the snow knows we’re talking about it, and decides not to come. Teachers aren’t any help; they are always one of the first people who bring up the possibility of a snow day. If they didn’t tell us, we would be in for a happy surprise when we wake up one morning, look outside, and see a couple of inches of snow blocking the roads. But since they bring it up every time there is even a slightest chance of snow, we build up all this “snow hype” (thus the name for the title). As you know, the weather is constantly changing, and almost always it changes into something that we do not want. I really want snow days and enjoy talking about them, but it seems to me that snow knows when it is wanted most and decides to stay home that day.
Below I have put the first couple of paragraphs for my research project in History. Please do not feel compelled to read it; I am only posting it because I am having trouble deciding what to write about in order to get the 800 words needed for blogging on Inkaus. If you do happen to read it and actually think it is interesting, good for you. If you don’t think it is interesting, please tell me why you don’t think it is interesting.
Most people have heard about Genghis Khan, the military leader that lead the Mongolian Empire’s to its conquest of Eastern Asia. He led the vicious Mongol warriors into a savage attack against those in Eastern Asia, including China, on his way to taking control of the largest empire the world has ever seen. Not very people, however, know that he would not have been able to conquer Asia without the help of the composite bow. With its unique size and strength, the composite bow was the greatest weapon in the Mongolian arsenal. The composite bow is one of the greatest military innovations of all time, and to understand why one must know the construction of the bow, the advantages the bow had, and its use in the Mongolian Empire.
The composite bow is an amazing innovation all on its own. Compared to the English longbow, the composite bow was much smaller. Its frame has a total length of 150 to 160 cm. However, it was “vastly more powerful” (Oestmoen). The English bow could only shoot to distances up to 250 yards or 228 meters, while the composite bow was able to hit targets from 350 yards or 320 meters, and, if used by a skilled archer, was capable of shooting beyond that (Oestmoen). Also, because of its size, the composite bow could be wielded on horseback. Even though it is smaller than other bows at the time, the composite bow took over a year to build. It could be made from wood, sinew, or horn, any of which were acceptable (Aronson 40). Most bows were made of birch because it is resilient and also readily available at the time.
My group was going to be one of the best at the Bulldog’s Plaza. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about because they are not in Introduction to Business and Marketing, the Bulldog Plaza is where Intro students start their own “company” and sell their products to the students who come on in. Most of the “business people” there are setting up food stands. Our group was going to make omeletes and pancakes and waffles and stuff like that. One of the people in our group can really cook, and we were going to sell about a million omeletes alone. We were going to make a serious haul. But of course, right before the date for the Bulldog Plaza, the only one in our group who could cook gets suspended for the rest of the semester. We go from having one of the best groups in the entire school and swimming in pools of money to having to buy pop-tarts and cover up the Pop-Tarts logo. The only good that could come from this is that the Bulldog Plaza doesn’t really affect our grade as much as the written part does. So I won’t totally fail. I’ll just fail on the inside.
You are above us, infinite and eternal,
Your arms wrap around us wide,
Your eye, bright and strong,
Moves from side to side.
To us, it seems you are the end,
But others know there is more.
Beyond your grasp and your clutch,
That most of us ignore.
As you close your eye, your brother comes,
And he is bleaker than you,
He is vast and mysterious,
but provides a wonderful view.
In the midst of the morning, you return,
To make sure we awake,
Your smile is warm and welcoming,
We enjoy you, make no mistake.
I really don’t like research papers. I hate them. It’s not that they’re hard or they’re not interesting (although some of them are), it’s just that they are so complicated. You need to know all of this information about your sources that you will never need to know for the rest of your life. The MLA citation rules are so complicated. Why can’t we just say we got the information from, say, our history book? No, instead we need to need to write down everything about the book, from the title of the book, to the publisher, from the publishing city, to the author. I’m surprised we don’t need to put down the names of the people who used the book before I did. Research papers are really frustrating.
I really hope my team can beat Broad Run tonight. I mean were cross-town rivals and if they beat us, all of the people I know at Broad Run would never let me hear the end of it. I can’t imagine what this game means to Emad. He went to Farmwell last year, but he went to Stone Bridge, so he knows everyone on the Broad Run team. I just really want to win this game. I want to win every game, but this game would be just a little more meaningful.
Most of us have probably experienced a time when no matter how long you sit and think, you still can’t think of any subject to write about. It is one of the worst things that can happen to you. I hate when I’m sitting at home trying to write something for my English class (i.e. blogging), and I just come up blank. I end up sitting in front of my computer for an hour, constantly starting, stopping, and deleting, story after story, until eventually I just give up and go watch TV. Why is it sometimes so hard to write a simple story or blog? I mean it seems pretty easy to come up with a new idea in your head, but I just can’t seem to do it when I need to. It’s like there is an on/off switch in my brain that can control my creativity level. I think I’ll have to have that removed.
Drops of water cling,
Stretched as far as the eye can see,
Smelling of nature.
bubba