Mina's blog

Right now as I am typing there is space garbage floating around causing satellites & astronauts danger. Rockets, broken satellites, astronauts' gloves, and other junk is polluting space. There is a ring of space trash surrounding Earth. Sometimes, junk falls from outer space into Earth and, one time it hit someone. Once, part of a Russian rocket fell back to Earth. Scientists are thinking of fixing this problem.

One idea is to shoot lasers at litter. Except, gravity would pull it back. Another idea is that space garbage trucks would have a net, catch the garbage in the net, then dump it in Earth's atmosphere. But it will burn up before it reaches the ground. We are still finding a way to get rid of this pollution.

Even today there is more than 300,000 pieces of litter cluttering space! Some interesting facts is that astronaut, Edward White, lost his glove in space and it sped around Earth at 28 thousand kilometers per hour before burning up! Also, the 1958 Vanguard 1 satellite is still orbiting Earth as the oldest piece of space junk. I think we need to be a bit more careful.

Most of the time after S.S.R., we read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is about Greek Gods. Percy is the son of Poseidon also known as, the Water God. What happened so far is that Percy got suspended from his school, and his mom is hiding the secret from Percy. Grover is his protector from evil-doers.

Every Friday at around five, we go out of town to visit Grandma. Her house is built out of logs and is huge, so there's a lot of places to hide during hide and seek.

What we usually do is read or play for an hour, waiting for the dinner to be done. Then, we have a big feast and afterwards we have dessert.

After dessert we play hide and seek, or just lay around the living room, reading. And that sums it up to three hours. At last, we drive back into Fairbanks at around eight. That's what I call a good Friday.

This is the first time I got highlights. It was at my Grandma's house, on Friday. First, you put this weird cap thing on your head with lots of holes all over it. The pack came with a little pick to pull the hair through the holes. Also, it came with this blue gooey stuff that I think was the color. It took like thirty minutes to get the top layer of my hair out of the holes. Then, she spread the blue gooey cream all over my hair. While I waited for the color to dye, I watched "Twister" with my family.

Finally, we washed it off in the sink. It was bright blond! The shade used to be my original color when I was four, five, and six. But, when I got older it turned more of a dirty blond. At first, I was going to dye it pink, but it would appear red if I didn't lighten my blond color. So we did blond first. Now, I think I'll just dye all my hair blond, not just the top layer.

We finished watching "Twister" while Grandma combed my hair. After the movie, we left. I think it was fun and a great experience.

If I got a free airline ticket, Japan would be my destination! I think it is a great place because of the food they serve there! Also, it's the place where they create anime! I'm learning Japanese right now so I'll be prepared. The only bad thing is if you're a tourist the Japanese citizens will think less of you.

I think their culture is fascinating. I only know a few words and sentences. For example, "Watashi ai anata" means "I love you" in English. "Watashi ai inu" means, "I love dogs." Japanese is a complicated language!

I wonder what their hotels would look like. I imagine a lot of pottery & art, if they even have any hotels.

There would be a lot of anime in video stores. Japan is where they create anime. I would be excited for anime because I watch a lot of it, such as Naruto, Naruto Shippuuden, Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2,& Bleach.

I also think their food is great! Mayflower is the only Asian buffet I went to in Alaska, and I love it. I prefer Asian food over American food. My favorite part about Asian food is the sushi, & ramen! Salmon,& shrimp are my favorite sushi. I guess I like shrimp for the ramen, maybe chicken.

Charlie was my black pug spaniel mix dog. He has a curly black tail, yellow paws, floppy ears, and was medium sized. In 2008 he ran away in California. My brother had him as a surprise present for his 10th birthday! He was just a puppy at the time with frisky, blue eyes. When he ran away, he was old and had wise, brown eyes!

During the Goldpanner's baseball season, he was the mascot! He was because my dad is the General Manager of the Goldpanners. One time during a game, he ran into the field! The baseball players ran after him. I think he was a great, intelligent dog! We all love him, & will remember him. No dog could replace Charlie.

ZooZoo is a performance with neon clothes and animals. Plus, it had people dressed as animals doing acts. They dressed as frogs, polar bears, penguins, anteaters, & rabbits. First, they performed as anteaters.

During the anteater act, a anteater was at a restaurant and the waiter was also an anteater, so they started eating ants. Then, they came down into the audience! They started..."licking" everyone. But, it was just near the first row.

For the second act, it was green frogs. What happened was the frogs were jumping up and down, looking around, and then stacked on each other. I thought it was kind of dull.

Next, was the polar bears. They stood on their hind legs and roared! They were four bears at first; then when they brought out a big blue balloon, one left. A bear laid down in-between two bears, kicking up the balloon. The bear in the middle kicked it to the one on the right, then the right bear nudged it to the one on the left. They juggled it around a bit until it went to the ceiling. One bear left when the two other went into the crowd. That was my favorite performance!

Greece is located in Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. Greece is the country that we are making a map of. The first map we made was the Nile River. I think the Nile River map is easier than the Greece map. There's not as much things we have to include in the Greece map, but it was tough to copy it from an official map.

Right now I'm behind. I was absent for two days so I was not able to complete as much as my classmates. I'm coloring it in right now while they are finishing up! We also have to read the chapter of Greece in our Social Studies, and then write three facts about each topic, and draw a small picture describing the facts. I think this project will be fun!

This Wednesday I went to Barnes & Noble with my friend, Arianna. Barnes & Noble is a big bookstore with all types of books! Her grandpa drives us.What we did was..

We finished our Wendy's then looked for Garfield books.For about 15 minutes we read Garfield comic strips.At first, we moved in a little area with benches and mini chairs for kids. It wasn't comfy. So we moved to bigger chairs. There was 3 chairs so we moved them to make it look like a triangle, she was sitting on one, I was sitting on one, and our feet was on the other one. Much better. After reading,we did our homework.

We went to a table with brown, and green chairs around it. I grabbed my backpack and took out our homework. It was "Drops in the Bucket"; simple 5th grade questions that you could finish quickly. I handed one to her. I helped her on the fractions and measurement, when she helped me on the word problem. After we finished she called her grandpa to take me home. It was fun going to Barnes & Noble with my friend. :)

Yesterday, November 7th 2009, I went swimming with my older sister, Suzy. We went swimming at Hamme Pool right next to Ryan Middle School.

What we did first was we swam to the bottom of the 12 ft pool. At first I didn't know how to swim really deep without losing all my of oxygen. Suzy knew how to because her gym time is at Hamme pool and she practices retrieving heavy objects. She asked me, "Do you want to race to the bottom of the pool?"

"I don't know how to," I replied.

"It's really simple. You just shape your arms and legs as a pencil,"she explained as she formed her body to look like a pencil. She continued, "Then as you're going down in the water, you let out some air, but not too much."

I looked at her funny. Why would you let out air? I thought you were suppose to hold it in. "Do you want to try?" she said interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. So,I put on my goggles, straightened out like a sharp pencil, inhaled a mouthful of air, and dove underwater. My sister did the same. I let out a few bubbles of air then, felt the bottom of the 12 ft pool. I was so excited! I never did that before! I smiled underwater. :)

Today,November 20th 2009, we read about avalanches. What I learned was that a man named Ed Adams is studying avalanches with computers. What he studied was a avalanche can start with the slope being steeper than 25 degrees! When the snow slides it can speed up to 60-80 mph. Plus, it can weigh up to 100,000 tons!

Ed studies the weight, speed, temperature, & angle of an avalanche. They place sensors on the outside of their cabin to test the avalanches. You don't want to be caught in one!

I think Ed Adams is trying to explain to snowboarders & skiers that it's dangerous & risky to be on mountains with snow. I heard before that a dog sniffed out two people underneath a avalanche!

It's dangerous to hang out on snow mountains! So, be cautious!

Sometimes me and my friend go to Wendy's and the Public Library. What we do at Wendy's is we eat and do our homework. We are in the same math class so we have the same homework. I do my homework in between eating, but she finishes hers after. It mainly costs $7.00 to get two burgers, and a Root-Beer Float. When the food gets here I grab the Root-Beer Float and swiftly eat some ice-cream. Also, she always exclaims,"Hey!" and snatches it from me.

Sometimes we also we go to the Library. The Library has a lot of Garfield comic books, and we like those, so we check those out. The Library computers aren't very fast but it's better than nothing. I read while she plays the computer. I can tell we do different things. There's also vending machines in the lobby so we get some snacks. Snacks aren't allowed near the books so we eat them in the lobby.

I like going to places with my friends because you can have a lot of fun! :)

Recently, the class read a book by Lowis Lowry called Number the Stars. What it's about is a girl named Annemarie and her family who live in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is in the time when the Nazis took over Denmark in the year 1943. Ellen is Annemarie's best friend, who lives next door to them in the apartment building. Ellen and her parents are Jewish, and is in danger. So, Annemarie's family and Peter help them escape to Sweden.

The plan is, they are going to use Uncle Henrik's boat to sail to Sweden, but the Nazis have dogs to sniff out the Jews hidden in the boats. They used a hankerchief with a smell that wards off dogs. Ellen and her family got away. Two years later, the war ended! There were flags and celebration everywhere! Annemarie still had Ellen's necklace so she decided that she would wear it until she found Ellen.

What I think of the book was it was great and well-written! My favorite chapter was the fifteenth,"My Dogs Smell Meat!" when Annemarie ran into Nazi soldiers.

Lowis Lowry is a great author. I recommend this book to everyone.

The book I'm reading right now is called May Bird and the Ever After. It's about a girl named May Ellen Bird who has no friends, but loves to explore. She explores a old Post Office and finds a letter addressed to HER from 1983!

The next day, she goes into the forest and finds a lake. She feels hands pulling her down into the water but her cat, Somber Kitty, saves her. Her curiosity got the best of her the next day. She decided to go back in the lake and find out what was pulling her.

As a result, she ends up in a world where there is a strict rule. The rule is, living people are not allowed in the Ever After (The Ever After is a place for spirits who died in the past). There are portals at the corners of the Ever After which is guarded by Water Spirits. Water Spirits guard the portals from Living Ones (that's what living people were called in the book).

Bo Cleevil is the villain (He controls the Ever After). At the end, May makes it back to her home by reading the Book of the Dead. (The Book of the Dead tells how to accomplish your goal).

I read a story about junk food, and an experiment having to do with rats eating junk food & your pleasure centers.There were two groups of rats. One group ate junk food and the other ate nutritious food. What they fed the junk food rats was cheesecake, bacon, and Ho Ho's (I don't know what those are). The junk food rats ate more and more than the other group. The story is called Junk Food Junkies.

I realized how junk food addiction is close to drug addiction! Plus, you eat bad things for your body just so you could feel good. I would prefer an apple over a burger.

Fly on the Wall is a process of sitting somewhere you've been assigned to sit, being really quiet, and writing down what you hear and see! Its really fun. The place you're at could be quiet, or busy.

The places I was at during Fly on the Wall were the office, near the staircase at the back of the school, and in the hallway. While I was in the office I saw that Ms. Laiti decorates her computer monitor with butterflys! I thought it was cool and pretty. It was so noisy! I wonder what it's like for Mr.Doran to be in his room, five feet from the office! Plus, I noticed kids kept coming and going every two minutes.

Near the staircase at the back of the school was another destination I was placed. I thought it was very quiet & non-busy. One thing I didn't write down was outside. I only saw three people through the whole thirty minutes, Mr. Noon, and two students!

I own Rockband 2 on Xbox 360. I bought like twenty extra songs.My favorite band is No Doubt, and they have lots of songs from them!The instrument I play is vocals. I'm good at vocals. Especially the songs I know. Like, "Underneath it All" & "Drain You." Also, my character looks really cool! I also love to play the drums. But, I mainly play the vocals. Plus, I have Beatles Rockband!

The Beatles Rockband came out about two weeks or three weeks ago! I bought it the day it came out because my family have been waiting for it for long time.

Bright.

Reading is fun.

I love animals.

Drawing is my talent.

Good at typing.

Enjoys anime.

Teriffic friend.

The Great White shark is a terrifying predator! This frightening fish is one of the largest animals in the sea! It's twenty feet long and it weighs five thousand pounds! That's a big fish! One of its attributes is how its piercing teeth are facing inward so the prey can't escape. Also, it has rows of teeth that grab onto prey easier. Plus, its sense of smell is so strong, it can smell flesh miles away. It knows where its food is waiting.

A breath-taking fact about this ocean beast is it never runs out of teeth; they keep growing back. The great white shark can grow to about three hundred teeth. Another fact that's not mentioned is they close their eyes before attacking to protect their eyes.

I've loved the great white shark for awhile now. I think the great white shark is an interesting creature!

Alaska is so beautiful! I think its pretty because the trees and plants come out and grow during the Summer! Plus, it's also nice during Fall when the leaves fall and it's like a carpet of orange, brown, and yellow! But, my favorite season is winter because the snow covers the roads, sidewalks, front yards, and forests! And I love the snow! It's so cold, though! Whats your favorite season?

Before, I was horribly horrible at drawing! But then my sister showed me a website called www.iscribble.net and that website lets you draw with your friends! You should really check it out! Now, I'm better at drawing.

How I get better is from inspiration. Still, my sister is better than me. She's great at drawing!

I'm learning Japanese right now! Why I'm learning it is because I love the language, and also I watch Anime. So, most of the anime is Japanese. Japanese is a very complex language.

Some words I know is watashi; that means I. Also ai, which means love, korosu, which means kill, anata, that means you. Kare means he, kami, which means god, inu also means dog, and neko is cat.

I think you should learn Japanese, too!

I had a pug-spaniel mix named Charlie. Hes so cute! Hes black all over, except his paws are yellow, and under his snout is yellow, and under his curly tail is white! He has pointy ears,and a curved tail. Hes really cute when he curls up on the couch and sleeps!

Also, my dad always teases him by blowing in his ear, and holding on to his front paws and making him stand on his hind legs. We had him since my brother turned 10 and that was 5 1/2 years ago! He was an old dog! Once, he was in the Alaska's newspaper!

But he wasn't old for long. When I was in California during 2008 my sister accidentally let go of his leash and he ran away and never came back. We were looking for him for a long time! But he never turned up.No dog can replace Charlie.

When I was about 5, our shower broke, so we hired a plumber to fix it. When he got there, he brought his dog, as well. By the time the plumber started to work, his dog was lying down (His dog was very big). So I walked to it. I started to play with it, but it got irritated! I didn't expect it, but it bit my face on the cheek & right next to my eye!

I started to bleed. A LOT! My mom heard me crying (I was 5 at the time) and rushed into the room. She picked me up and rushed me to the hospital. My dad was gone golfing with a friend.

Years later you can still see the scar on my cheek. You can't see the scar next to my eye anymore. That was one of my childhood injuries.

When I was 6 I moved to California from Alaska, 4 years ago. But now I moved back, 4 years later. Plus, when I moved back to Alaska I got to live in the same house on the same street. The house is white with a bear mailbox. Also, we still have the Christmas lights hanging from the roof! In 2008 it flooded while I was in California! So, they moved out all the water and baseball cards, and rebuilt the downstairs completely different! But, I still think my house is awesome!

When I moved back I got to see and make new friends. I recognized 1 person really...but I still got to make lots of new friends! Also, I got to see my old kindergarten teacher, Ms. Brown. Last but not least, everyone was very welcoming and nice! :D