Andrea’s Blog

Hello my name is Andrea, for my 20% project I am learning how to knit. So far my experience has been interesting. I had two goals for this week. My first goal was to buy my supplies such as, knitting needles and yard. My second goal was to learn the concept of knitting. Some successes I accomplished were watching many videos on YouTube and understanding how knitting is done. But unfortunately I did not accomplish my first goal, buying my supplies. My mother and I struggled to find the time to go to the arts and crafts store to buy everything. Because purchasing my supplies went badly, I had to make changes and picked the perfect day to go to the store during the weekend. Next week I will be working on learning how to hold the needles correctly and of course going to Hobby Lobby to buy knitting needles and yard.

I’ve always dreamed of being an astronaut for NASA. Growing up, I was fascinated by all the planets and the moon. To add in, my dad and I stay up at night to look up at the stars, and sometimes we can see planets. In sixth grade, two of my friends, Regina and Riley, said I looked like I would be an astronaut when I am older and that made my day. Also, astronauts get paid 104,898 to 161,141 dollars a year, which is lot of money. Flying to the moon would be an amazing adventure. I would bring moon rocks to my cousin, Nayeli. I hope to become an astronaut some day.

There once was a little boy named Joaquin. He always dreamed of meeting his idol, Taylor Swift.

“Mom, can you buy me tickets for the Taylor Swift concert. I’ve always wanted to go.”Joaquin begged his mother.

“Sorry sweetie, I don’t have the money to buy you a ticket at this time. Maybe next month after I get payed,” his mom replied.

“But this is the last concert of the year! We have to go next Monday or never!” he cried.

“Sorry Joaquin. You’re going to be missing out on this one, buddy.” Joaquin walked slowly to his room purposely bumping into the walls to make himself look as miserable as possible. Worse day ever. He thought to himself. Joaquin looked at the clock that read the time 7:45. I’m going to be so late if I don’t hurry up. He thought.

DING! DING! DING! “Let me in! Let me in! Don’t close the gates!” Joaquin shouted from afar to a supervisor closing he front grates of the school.

“Okay I’ll let it slide this time,” she said calmly. Joaquin rushed to his first period.
“Late again..Joaquin,” Ms. Flores rolled her eyes.
“Won’t happen again I promise!” Joaquin chuckled.
“You said that last time. Whatever,” Ms. Flores paused, “Everyone put everything away, we are going to watch Taylor Swift’s, “You Belong With Me” music video. After we are done, you guys will write a CERA graph about the character development in Taylor Swift,” Ms. Flores explained to the class.
“Yess,” Joaquin said to himself.
“Ew you like Taylor Swift..? But you’re a guy,” a short red head named Ruby told Joaquin.

“Who told you her songs were only for girls?I know for a fact Taylor didn’t,” Joaquin snapped back. Ruby started laughing hysterically.
“You’re not a real fan if you’ve never gone to one of her concerts,” Melanie smirked.
“Yeah Joaquin show us proof,” Axel yelled from across the classroom

“Thats enough talking Joaquin,” Ms. Flores ordered.
“You’re so poor you can’t afford the tickets, Huh?” Axel snickered. Joaquin slumped down on his chair and fought the urge not to cry.
That day, Joaquin came back home without saying a word. “Sweetie, what’s wrong,” Joaquin’s mom ran over to him and wiped the tears off his cheeks.He explained everything to her and she was shocked. “Tell you what, we can go to Yogurt Land. But before we go, listen to me. If your “friend” makes you feel down like right now, they are not you real friends,” she rubbed his arm, “I also found this channel that is recording the concert right now. We got Taylor Swift at home! Come one! Let’s party!”

“You’re so right mom! We can have a private concert at our house! Just me and you! But I’d still love to meet T.S.” Joaquin giggled and so did is mom.

In March, I read the book The Mother Goose Diaries by Chris Colfer. The book is about the character, Mother Goose’s (from The Land Of Stories) adventures she had in her life. The book is written in Moose Goose’s point of view. The majority of the book states the places shes been in, the friends she’s made, the creatures she has fought, and the people she has dated. For example, Mother Goose explained how her and Leonardo Da Vinci had been in a long term relationship. She also acknowledged that she was actually the one and only Mona Lisa.

What I love about this book is the connection between the fairytale world and the real world. For instance, Mother Goose had a tea party with Queen Elizabeth I. On page seventy-two, Mother Goose says to Elizabeth, “ ‘Well, I may still be bitter and burned from everything I went through with your father, but I think marriage is the worst!…You’ve got a good thing going here, Lizzie. You don’t want a man coming in here and messing it up for you.’” Saying this makes the reader believe Mother Goose really told Queen Elizabeth not to get married all those years ago, but in reality Mother Goose is just a fictional character.

My favorite character is of course, Mother Goose. Mother Goose is unintentionally funny, which makes the situations much more fun to read. On page fifty-four, it says “ I was having a wonderful dream about mud-wresting ogres in a massive sold-out arena when something awoke me. A teenage girl was kneeling in the center of the cathedral, obnoxiously praying aloud… ‘Please, Lord, send me a sign like you did when I was a child,’ she pleaded…Are all teenagers incapable of having internal thoughts? Can’t they just have feelings without letting the whole world know about them?… Her name was Joan something- was it Joan of Snark?” The girl’s name was actually Joan of Arc but Mother Goose mistook it for “Joan of Snark”. This made a funny new nickname for Joan. To add in, Joan never noticed Mother Goose was spying on her in the first place. She also compared Joan to teenagers today. Everything she said was extremely accurate.

My favorite quote from the book is on page 121, where it says, “The truth is, you’ll never know the real differences you’ll make in the world or in someone’s life,” This is very inspirational quote that can be an universal moral. Even the simplest task you’ve done in your life can make a big impact on someone else’s.

In February, I read The Land of Stories a Grimm Warning by Chris Colfer. This book is the third one out of the six book series. The book is about two twins named, Alex and Conner who now live in a fairytale word since their grandma is The Fairy Godmother. After staying in the fairytale world for a while, a lot of dangerous events occur. The whole world gets attacked by an evil villain named, The Mask Man, and his army. The army is so strong that The Fairy Godmother ends up passing. Many secret get unfolded throughout the book, and The Masked Man’s death is still yet to determine.

What I love about this book is how Chris Colfer includes fairytale characters, such as, Little Red Riding hood, Goldilocks, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Bo Peep, Mother Goose, The Fairy Godmother, and many more. I also enjoyed how he made the characters interact with each other share moments together. For example, Jack and Goldilocks fall for one another other and get married. On page sixty-nine and seventy, it says, “ ‘I bumped into Jack and Goldilocks. They had some very exciting news to share with me and wanted to pass it along to you… Apparently they’re getting married!’ Mother Goose said.” In the original stories of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Jack and the Beanstalk, these characters were never mentioned together. But Chris combined their stories and had them get married.

My favorite character is Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Red. Red is such a dramatic character and has never failed to make me laugh. On page 240 the author acknowledges, “ ‘Fellow Hoodians,’ she declared. ‘That has such a nice ring to it, don’t you think? What will you be called if Little Bo sits on the throne – the Peepers? I bet you would dislike that as much as I would dislike it.’” Red and Little Bo were both competing to see who would be the next queen. Red being the brat she is, she completely made fun of Little Bo so she could have more people support her.

My favorite quote from the book is on page 444. On that page, The Fairy Godmother says, “Even when I’m gone I’ll still be with you both Every time you wave a wand, or cast a spell, or use an enchantment, I’ll be watching from afar with enough pride to light the sky,” Hearing this makes me feel comforted that their grandma is always going to be there for Alex and Conner.

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A magician has made me invisible for twenty-four hours. I never believed in magic until this happened. In pe, we have to run the mile today, and I have the perfect plan. When nobody is looking, I can turn invisible and use a shortcut to finish the mile faster. Now, I won’t get a mile score longer than ten minutes. To add in, I can prank my friends! They’re always messing around with me, so I can finally get payback. Since they cannot see me, I can sneak up behind them, whisper something in their ear and tap their shoulder. This will make them turn back and look around for me, but I will be no where to be seen. Even better, they will think a ghost is haunting them! Perfect. Another thing I can do is hold an object in the air. People will think the object is floating and will not believe their eyes. Last but not least, when a teacher is picking a student to call on, I can become invisible so she does not call on me. That way I have more time to be confident in my answers. Let’s hope I don’t get caught!

“Andrea! I got the job!” Bronson shouted while running down the stairs. “What job?” I said looking up from my phone. “I’m a zoo keeper! Yippee!” Bronson started dancing but suddenly stopped. “OH NO! THE ZOO I’M GOING TO BE WORKING AT IS ALL THE WAY IN ARIZONA! HOW DID I NOT REALIZE?” He cried. “Idiot,” I murmured. He ran to his room and slammed the door. Five minutes later, he comes out running towards me with a suitcase half closed. “Start getting in the car I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Bronson informed me. “Huh? Where are we going?” I responded. “Arizona. Keep up.”
“Andrea I’m hungry. I’m craving potato wedges,” Bronson groaned. “Why you telling me? I’m not the one driving.” I shook my head. “Okay? Anyway, I see a Wendy’s. Let’s go eat.” We entered Wendy’s and I immediately spotted a red headed girl cosplaying as Wendy? I looked at Bronson to make sure he was seeing the same thing I was. He smirked. “Nice costume,” he told the girl. The girl looked at both of us confused, “What?” She asked. “You know?,” Bronson point to her hair, “Wendy?” The girl looked completely terrified. “I’m Lily,” she immediately got up and ran out the door. “Oh,” I said. Bronson started laughing out loud. “Oh my god. I’m never going to forget that. And, would you look at that! Free spot in line!”
After nine dreadful hours, we finally made it to Arizona. “So where’s the zoo at?” I asked looking around. “Hold up. Let me find the email,” Bronson said. The smile on Bronson’s face faded. “Andrea..” “Oh no what happened?” I said worryingly. “The email I read was actually an ad. They sent it to everyone who joined the animal club in the sixth grade.” I stared at him. “So, you’re telling me we drove nine hours,” I paused, “for NOTHING?” I cried. “Yeah..” He looked at me with an awkward smile. “I’m so done with you Bronson.”

Life on my abandoned island is stressful. Finding food was so difficult to find since there’s nothing but sand and a bit of trees. This island is very small and there’s nothing to do. I missed my bed dearly. I slept on hard rocks which gave me painful rashes on my back. I guess I’m allergic to lichen on the rocks. This all started when I was taking out the trash one day. I heard noises coming from behind me. I turned around to see my now ex friend, Harmony, staring into my soul. People told me not to be friends with her because everyone thought she was psychopath, I should have listened to them. She put me in a bag and before I knew it, I was in a car that was driving a thousand miles per hour. She put a blindfold over my eyes and duct taped on my mouth shut so I couldn’t yell. Once the car stopped, she put me on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Now I’m here, stranded on a small island. Everyday I look for bushes or coconuts on the floor as a food source. At this point poisonous fruit didn’t scare me, I just wanted to eat. The sun was so hot and I didn’t have sunscreen to protect me from sun burns. I was scared I was going to die soon and no one will ever find me. But suddenly, I came up with the best idea ever. I gave up from trying to shake trees to get coconuts and tried to find sticks. Once I found some, I wrote out, “SOS” to attract any pilots flying over this island. I waited days and days, then finally someone spotted the message and came to the rescue. It’s been a week after this happened and Harmony is in the place she needed to be in, the mental hospital.

“We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy” was once said by the wise man, Albus Dumbledore. This quote can mean different things to different people, but I believe the quote means this. Although just because something is easy doesn’t mean it’s right. For example, cheating on a test makes the test easy but it’s not right. You don’t learn anything from copying. To add in, you can get major consequences for cheating. If students study for tests, they actually be ready and prepared for the test. Plus, after they study for tests, that knowledge will stick with them and help them later on in life. Another example is helping someone out when they are feeling down. It doesn’t hurt to comfort someone rather than just walking passed them and not say anything. The satisfaction of helping someone out is always worth it.

In January, I read one of my favorite books called, The Witches by Roald Dahl. The book is about a young boy named Charlie Hansen who is now an orphanage since his parents died in a car accident. He started living with his sick grandmother. His grandmother warns him about real life witches and teaches him how to spot one. When Charlie encounters a witch for the first time, he is absolutely terrified. Soon, Charlie and his grandma plan to go on a vacation to Norway but the flight gets cancelled due to Charlie’s grandma being too weak to travel that far. Instead they go to a hotel on the south coast of England. Horrible events happen at that hotel. Charlie discovers hundreds of witch’s in a meeting . The witches feed a young boy, named Bruno, chocolate that they casted a spell on to make the poor boy turn into a mouse. Unfortunately, the witches spot Bruno hiding and also turn him into a mouse. Charlie and Bruno go to find Charlie’s grandmother and they all try to find a way to return to their human form and get rid of all the witches.

What I love about this book is how Roald Dahl uses descriptive words so that the reader feels the pain Charlie goes through. For example, on page 114 it says, “Oh, the pain and the fire! It felt as through a kettleful of boiling water had been poured into my mouth. My throat was going up in flames! Then very quickly the frightful burning searing scorching feeling started spreading down into my chest and into my tummy and on into my arms and legs and all over my body!” In this moment, Charlie was getting transformed into a mouse which was extremely scary and painful for Charlie. This makes the reader realize how cruel the witches could be.

My favorite character is Charlie’s grandmother, Agatha. Agatha is the type of person that’s always there whenever you need her help. For instance on page 127 after Charlie and Bruno immediately came to Agatha for help, she says, “‘Of course I’ll look after you…’” Without hesitation, Agatha lets the boys know they are safe. She asks them questions about everything that happened to know exactly what had occurred.

My favorite quote from the book is on page ten where it says , “ She might even-and this will make you jump- she might even be your lovely school-teacher who is reading these words to you at this very moment,” I remember my fourth grader teacher reading this book out loud to the class and thinking she was witch. I could never see her the same again. This quote also makes me laugh and realize that witches can come in any form of women. Teachers, doctors, employees at stores or just ladies walking down the street.

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