Photo Prompts

If you had to do any board game in real life which would you choose?
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If I had to do a board game in real life I would choose Candy Land. I think it would be fun to race people on a land with a bunch of candy. You could start at the begining with your friends and then go through the chocolate pond, through the candy caine fields, and the gumdrop moutains. Who doesnt like candy? Candy land would have every type of candy in the world and you could just walk through and eat it. The point of the game Candyland is to beat your oppenents and get to the end first. So maybe if this was real life, people could race through candyland and cant eat it and only the winner can go through and get candy. I think it would be fun. Its not very realistic but most board games arent.

If Candyland didnt work I would do Monopoly. They give you money in the beginning of the game so you wouldnt have to use your own! Then you could buy places and invest your money. The only bad part is if you get sent to jail or run out of money which usually happens to me when I play Monopoly because I'm terrible at it. But I think it would be fun to go around and buy different places and if someone lands on your property then they owe you money. I think that we should make a real life boardgame. Not Monopoly or Candyland but something really cool. They could put it in Disney World or some amusement park. I know I would go!

Celebrate

In my opnion I thought this video was terrible. The only thing it taught me about life is theres a picture behind everything. There's beauty within everything. The video is about a man named Dewitt Jones and the story of his life. How he grew up reading National Geographic and now works for it and is a photographer. There were six images that I could apply to my life. One picture is of a grandpa smiling and Dewitt says, "life doesnt shine on us, but within us." This is something I could apply to my life. Light isnt given to us, we create our own. The second picture/pictures is of the woman in the end of the video. Dewitt speaks about how he asked to take pictures of her for National Geographic and how she explained to him that her brother was dieing upstairs. He didnt understand that the lady still said that she would do it. Dewitt took photos of the woman weaving and making yarn. He spoke about how he didnt understand why someone would give up their time to someone when somebody was dieing. At the end she made him biscuits and tea and was a very sweet old woman. What I could apply from this to my life is patience is important and Dewitt makes a good point that, do the things you do everyday with meaning. He says "Theres no use walking anywhere to preach, unless your walking while your preaching." The third picture I chose was the man throwing the weight. Dewitts words of wisdom and the picture taught me to do what you love and take pride in your talent. The fourth picture is the landscape of the farm, the moutains, the forest, and all of the land photos of Dewitts. They taught me that there is beauty behind everything. My fifth picture is the bright dandelion picture. Dewitt says, "Woah, it was there. I was lucky enough to see it." I think he trys to make a point that we look beyond whats around us and what we were given(a beautiful earth) and we take things for granted. Sometimes its important to take the time to look deeper into things, becasue beauty is within everything created on earth. My last picture is the picture of the desert. Dewitt says that, "No matter how bleak and desalate, no matter how dry and devoid of posibilities the situation might seem. But if I was open to it I could always find a perspective. A perspective that would transform the ordinary, into the exstrodinary." I learned that you can always find something good out of something that seems bad.

52.Have you ever been to a public Memorial Day celebration? What was the atmosphere like?

52. Have you ever been to a public Memorial Day celebration? What was the atmosphere like?

On Memorial day last year I spent the day at my neighbors house because they had a Memorial Day celebration. They had one because their son participated in war. It was alot of fun and there was alot of great foods. One of my neighbors made red white and blue cupcakes. The atmosphere was very patriotic. There were flags everywhere and everything from the napkins to the tableclothes were red white and blue. They even had balloons that were patriotic. I think Memorial Day is important and people see it more as just a day off than a day to thank and remember our troops. The celebration was a good way to thank all of the people for their work and remembering our loved ones who died. The party was patriotic and lifted alot of peoples spirits. The party was a great success and my family goes every year now to honor the troops and their families. At one point of the party my neighbor read a thankyou to the veterans and their families and they had a toast and took a moment of silence for those who died.

               Another time I went on vacation, I dont remember where but I think it was Maryland and there was this big show for Memorial day. They had troops come out and march and people played music. The troops had guns that they flipped in the air and twirled. It was a really cool show and you could see what they do to train and how hard some of the things they do are. Overall, it was a great show and the marching was great. My favorite part was when a line of troops carried the flag in and the troops all followed and were in sync. It looked like it took a lot of practice.

TU Tuesday - Commencement Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyDo5vFD2R8   --Denzel Washingtons speech

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmTuesdaysWithMorrie16.asp  -Tuesdays with Morrie

The commencement speech I chose was Denzel Washingtons speech to the University of Pennsylvania. Denzel shared with the graduates about becoming an actor and how he failed many times. He told them, "nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks." I believe this is true. If you want something or want to do something you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed and take risks in life. Denzel refers to a famous quote by Nelson Mandela where he says, "There is no passion to be found playing small and settling for a life thats less than the one your capable of living." I think every human being is capable of doing something spectacular in their life. We cant settle for a small job that makes minimum wage. We need to work hard and do something we are passionate about. In his speech he says that failing is a good thing. He believes it leads to great things. "Thomas Edison conducted 1000 failed experiments. On his 1001 it was the light bulb. Every failed experiment is a step closer to success." No matter how much we fail in life, we will get better at things and will learn from our mistakes to be smarter than we once were before. Denzel said, "If you dont fail, your not even trying." I agree, because everyone is bad at something. We dont know unless we try. Denzel created this theory that when we go to sleep there are ghosts that stand by us and they are our talent. Its up to us, whether or not we use that talent. It can either be used or be put to the graveyard and go unused. Denzel asks the graduates, "How many ghosts are going to be around you?" I think that was a good part of his speech because hes telling the graduates that everyone has talent, and its up to them to use it. People should use all of their talent in their lifetime and not waste it. I thought it was a great message. He then said, "To get somehting you never had you have to do something you never did." Life is full of mysteries and there is so much to do in life. If we take the  time to try new things, we can develop great skills and talents at the things we do in life. Morrie Shwartz once said,  "So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." This connects to what Denzel was saying in his speech. We need to find what gives us purpose and meaning and life and then chase our dreams. We need to take risks and take chances, because you never know what will happen. For all you know, on your 1001 try you could create something astonishing.

The Music of My Life

The two songs I chose were "Why" by Secondhand Serenade and "Happy" by Leona Lewis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faf9FwlYs4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1l3JbBRpA8

The songs I chose represent my grandmother passing away and then myself moving on from her death. My grandmas death was very sudden and after she died I felt crushed and I asked "why" she had to be taken away from me. The two songs "Why" and "Happy" compare because "Why" is a song about grieving, wondering and hurting and "Happy" is about wanting to be happy and move on. They are completly different songs. "Why" by Secondhand Serenade is the genre of rock and "Happy" by Leona Lewis is in the genre of Pop. The song by Secondhand Serenade is dark and sad. The lyrics, "Why do you do this to me? Why do you do this so easily? You make it hard to smile because, You make it hard to breathe." The reason I picked this song and these lyrics is because it shows how I didnt understand why my grandmother had to be taken away from me so quickly and that after her death it was hard to smile and live life normaly. "Happy" represents me moving on from her death. "So what if it hurts me?
So what if I break down? So what if this world just throws me off the edge. My feet run out of ground?
I gotta find my place, I wanna hear my sound. Don't care about all the pain in front of me. 'Cause I'm just trying to be happy, oh, happy, oh." After someone dies its hard to move on and not think about what you lost. You have to tell your self its ok and try to be happy. These are two of my favorite songs. One of them is my favorite because it helped me get through my grandmothers death. Music is a wonderful thing that can heal pain and let out your emotions. These two songs have taught me to let go from the past, and look towards the future.

14. Should cigarette smoking be banned?

Should cigarette smoking be banned?

I think cigarette smoking should be banned. Although I dont think many would follow it or agree, I think it should.
1.Smoking is a bad habit and can cause serious health problems. It is not beneficial to our bodies what so ever so whats the point of having it? People say its important because it relaxes them or calms there nerves. There are plenty of alternatives.
2. People that smoke aren't only affecting their own bodies, but everyone around them. If we ban cigarette smoking then we can be healthier human beings, and for one lower the amount of people that get cancer. Many people get various types of cancer from smoking especially lung cancer. By banning smoking, we can lower our chances of getting these diseases. Also, we can lower asthma attacks and Pneumonia.
3.By banning cigarette smoking, we can help get a cleaner environment! Have you ever walked down a street and seen cigarette butts everywhere? I know I have and its disgusting. Some people dont dispose of their cigarettes when their finished and they are left on the floor to collect and create trash that is bad for our earth. Think about how much cleaner places will be. If we ban smoking we wont have to pay for cleaning and the places we visit everyday will look twenty times nicer than before.
4. This point may sound weird but by banning cigarette smoking, our society will be better. There are people that smoke at very young ages and it influences young kids to do the same. People get into smoking and it leads to other things and problems. So by banning smoking we can clean up our society too.

Conversation Starters

Food/Drink Topics

What is your favorite drink?                                             Dr.Pepper

What is your favorite food?                                              Pizza

What is your favorite meal of the day?                              Salad and soup

Are there any foods that you dislike or will not eat?           I will not eat onions or spinach

Are there any foods that you would like to try?                 Something extreme like shark or duck

What is your favorite restaurant?                                       Panera

What is your favorite pizza topping?                                  Pepperoni

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?                              Friendlys chocolate ice cream with oreos in it.

What did you have for dinner last night?                            Steak, potatoes, and broccoli

What is the signature dish that you cook?                          Chicken stir fry with rice