11/21/2008

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the garbage out

WOW! Check out this cool poem our adorable Palmerita gave us to read today! Anyway, I doubt wether someone really read it, 'cause everyone was so focused on not doing anything, for we just have one week of calsses left!
Well, this is the poem, though you may already know it...


Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the garbage out

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloopy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts…
The garbage rolled on down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall…
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk and crusts of pie,
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold French fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
“OK, I’ll take the garbage out!”
But then, of course, it was too late…
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!

11/18/2008

A.M.O.R.

This is a short story I had to write for my Spanish class... We had to write about a science-fiction invent and describe its aim.
The story was written in Spanish, but I'm leaving both English and Spanish versions.

A.M.O.R.
De chico, siempre me dijeron 'feo'. Cada vez que me cruzaba a una chica, ésta me daba la espalda deliberadamente y se alejaba de mí. Debo admitir que mi soledad, más que nada, se debía a mi preferencia por los libros de ciencia a las personas. No sabía nada de relaciones con los demás, pero era un experto en inventos, matemáticas y sobre todo, ciencia. De modo que por doce días y doce noches, me encerré en mi laboratorio, dispuesto a crear la máquina que me librara de mi situación.
Reconozco que al principio no tenía mucha idea de qué hacer con tantos tubos y palanquitas, pero luego ordené mis pensamientos y pude llevar a cabo la invención de mi salvación: una máquina extraordinaria, parecida a una radio, que me diría qué hacer.
Así que llamé a mi vecina de al lado, de quien había estado siempre secretamente enamorado, para probar mi creación. Me coloqué el auricular inalámbrico y golpeé a su puerta. Luego de varios intentos, y gracias a mi hermano, a quien había telefoneado previamente, logré invitarla a cenar, llevando siempre conmigo a mi fiel A.M.O.R., como lo había llamado (Aparato Multifunción Organizador de Relaciones). De más está decir que la cita fue un total fracaso. En ese momento no contaba con el conocimiento de lo que ahora sé: el amor no es ni racional ni una ciencia, por lo tanto, es una batalla en la que no se puede contar con más armas que la propia personalidad.
En cuanto a Romina, mi vecina de al lado, ya no conserva su apellido de soltera, sino que lleva el mío. Y todo se lo debo a mi querido A.M.O.R., quien me hizo darme cuenta de que para el verdadero amor no hay que ser un experto, sólo ser uno mismo.

L.O.V.E.
When I was a kid, they used to call me 'ugly'. Everytime I came across a girl, she would deliberately give me her back and walk away. I have to admit that my loneliness, more that anything, was due to my preference for Science books to people. I knew nothing about realting to others, but I was an expert about inventions, Maths, and, above all, Science. So for twelve days and twelve nights I locked myself up in my laboratory, longing to create the machine that would free me from my situation.
I admit that when I started, I didn't have know exaclty what to do with so many tubes and bars, but then I organised my thoughts and could carry out the invention of my salvation: an extraordinary machine, similar to a radio, that would tell me what to do.
So I called my nextdoor neighbour, with whom I had always been secretly in love, to try my creation. I placed my wireless earphone on my ear and knocked on her door. After various attemps, and with my brother's help, whom I had previously phoned, I could aks her out, always taking my faithful L.O.V.E., how I had called it (Logic Ornament Visible in Ear). There's no need to say the date was a total frustration. In that moment I didn't know what I know now: love is neither rational nor a science, therefore, it's a battle in which you count with no weapons but the own personality.
In regards to Romina, my next-door neighbour, she doesn't have her maiden name anymore, she has mine. And I owe everything to my beloved L.O.V.E., that made me realise that for true love you don't need to be an expert, just to be yourself.


Note from the author: The story is kinda silly, but as I had it already typed on the computer, I decided to post it.
Sorry if there are too many mistakes, translating isn't as easy as writing. However, I tried to translate it the best I could, following very carefully every word and looking for the ones I didn't know... I tried to put the exact words in English, but I did what I could do...
Hope you've liked it!

11/16/2008

Complaining letter

Task for June 9th:
Write in pairs a short letter complaining about something (a holiday, a product, etc.).

Teacher's answer: 10 Too funny! : )


To whom it may concern:
We are writing this letter to you in order to let you know the conditions of your holiday neighbourhood.
First of all, the house you showed in the catalog didn't fit the real one at all: half of the roof was missing, three or four windows were broken and the door was out of its frame. As if that weren't enough, it was infested of rats, and we found some cockroaches.
As well as this, in the description of the village, you mentioned the friendly neighbours and the beautiful view. The day we arrived, the family next to us broke into our house and stole our car. We called the police, but they didn't want to help us; they argued that they had something more important to do. The 'beautiful view' was the only true description, but we couldn't enjoy it due to our worries about the neighbours.
In conclusion, we want a refund, because our dreamt holidays weren't as good as you guaranteed them.


Note from the author: I wrote this with my friend/classmate Valu, with whom I sit at our English class and always work with. = )

Answer to "Just 4 fun" on Allison's blog.

Hey! I've just come across something really cool! It's a kind of game posted by Allison in http://www.allymaureen.blogspot.com/ in which you have a number of questions you have to answer by putting your Ipod or MPwhatever in shuffle and writing the name of the song as an answer... Its' so cool!

Here are my answers to the questions:

. If someone asks 'is this ok?', you say
'Give it to me' - Madonna

. What would best describe your personality?
'My heart will go on' - Celine Dion

. What do you like in a guy/girl?
'Dancing cheek to cheek' - Frank Sinatra [ This makes sense! ]

. What is your life's purpose?
'I say a little prayer for you' - Aretha Franklin

. What is your motto?

'Mamma, I'm a big girl now' - Hairspray

. What do your friends think of you?

'Good morning Baltimore' - Hairspray

. What do you think about very often?
'4 minutes to save the world' - Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake [ This makes sense and is true too! ]

. What is 2 + 2?
'Life's what you make it' - Miley Cyrus

. What do you think of your best friend?
'Speed of sound' - Coldplay

. What do you think about the person you like?
'A little less conversation' - Elvis Presley

. What is your life story?
'Dancing cheek to cheek' - Frank Sinatra

. What do you want to be when you grow up?
'Last train to London' - ELO

. What do you think when you see the person you like?
'Mamma, I'm a big girl now' - Hairspray [ This makes suuuuper sense! ]

. What do your parents think of you?
'Sorry' - Madonna

. What will you dance at your wedding?
'Hollywood' - Madonna

. What will they play at your funeral?
'Take me away' - Lilliz ft. Lindsay Lohan [ Hehe, this makes sense too. ]

. What is your hobby/interest?
'The way' - Fastball

. What is your biggest secret?
'Don' - Miranda

. What do you think of your friends?
'Eres' - Cafe Tacuba

. What's the worst thing that could happen?
'I've got you under my skin' - Frank Sinatra

. How will you die?
'Let's get loud' - Jennifer Lopez [ That's soooooooo true! ]

. What's the 1 thing you regret?
'Pump up the jam' - Florrfillers Club Classics

. What makes you laugh?
'Come fly with me' - Frank Sinatra

. What makes you cry?
'Ladies' choice' - Hairspray (Zac Efron)

. Will you get married?
'Beautiful stranger' - Madonna

. What scares you the most?
'Somewhere beyond the sea' - Frank Sinatra

. Does anyone like you?
'Hola' - Miranda

. If you could go back in time, what would you change?
'Tainted love' - The Cure

. What hurts right now?
'Mask the knife' - Frank Sinatra & Jimmy Buffet

. What will you post this as?
'Dirty Pop' - N'sync

Horoscope

Task for June 6th:
Read the text about your horoscope that extplains how you are according to your date of birth.


Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Who you are to you.
Paragraph 3: Who you are according to your horoscope.
Paragraph 4: Compare and contrast what is true and what isn't.
Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Teacher's answer: 9.5 Excellent! Great Intro!



As I was born in February 26th, I am Piscean, and when I read my horoscope, it said how I am meant to be. I am going to compare and contrast my opinion of myself with how the Piscean horoscope says I am.
In my opinion, I am a very honest person, and a very loyal one, because I respect my friends, and always tell them the truth. I am also very sympathetic, in fact, I find hard not placing myself at others' places. I never care about material things and I think that if you are a good person and have people who love you, you ought to be happy (although I love buying things for myself now and again).
According to my horoscope, I am supposed to readily adapt to changes, and to identify with others' feelings. I am also meant to be compassionate and fair-minded, and to make an excellent judge.
I agree with all this, except for being adaptable: it takes me a long time to accept any change. As the horoscope said, I make an excellent judge, because whenever I meet a person, I figure out his or her personality, and I am often right. It also said that I have personal power over those I understand so well. I am conscious of this, beacuse I've discovered it, but I think doing that is unfair and I try to avoid turning it into my own advantage the best that I can.
Rounding off, half of the 'predictions' the horoscope made were true, although it didn't mention my honesty, loyalty and truthfulness. Anyway, I don't believe in horoscopes at all, but some of the facts this one said were surprisingly true.

Note from the author: Wow! It's so short! It looked so long on the sheet of paper, almost a complete one!
It's so true, now that I'm reading it, most of the facts it said where exactly as me... Nevertheless I DON'T believe in horoscopes, I think they're pure garbage someone invents once a month in order to earn an average income... I apologise to the ones who do that, but that's my opinion (I'm just talking about the ones who write for teenager's magazines, who write only nonsensical and boring "sillinesses").

Dear Diary

Task for May 28th:
Write a diary entry as though you or your girlfriend were pregnant.

Teacher's answer: 10 Excellent!


Dear Diary:
I am so depressed! I can't believe it, but yesterday I discovered I am pregnant. John and I were very irresponsible and didn't use protection, and look at what has happened.
When mum found out, she started crying, and I couldn't help doing the same. The worst moment was when she spoke, because she didn't sound angry but sad and disappointed.
I feel overwhelmed, because I'll probably have to get a job, and I won't be able to go to school anymore: they became aware and kicked me out.
Another thing, I won't go out with my friends anymore, mum says it's harmful for my baby. In regards to it, I've decided I am not going to have an abortion. If I have been irresponsible, I have to be responsible and fix what I have done.
I hope I can feel better,

Makita > Jazzqueen

Note from the author: Now that I'm reading it, it's kind of short!

11/15/2008

My dream job

Task for June 2nd:
. 10 years in future you have your dream job.

First paragraph: Introduction (Last sentence: thesis, which is the point of the paragraph, is creative and gets the reader's attention)
Second paragraph: What did you have to do to attain your dream job?
Third Paragraph: Qualities need to fulfill. Responsibilities - Challenges.
Forth paragraph: Where will this job lead you? What will you have to give up?
Fifth paragraph: Conclusion (Sum up - Restate, say again).

. Use linking expressions you find on the course book, such as "as you can see", "rounding off", etc.

Teacher's answer: 10



For eleven years I have been longing to be this age. That is because I have always wanted to be an English teahcer, and finally I achieved it!
In order to reach the heaven I'm living in, I had to go through five thoroughly exhausting years at the UCA university, where I studied US and UK history, literature and grammar, among others. I also had a subject called "Communication Psychology", where my mum was my teacher. That was rather awkward! In addition to that, I went abroad to the UK one year ago, to fulfill my English studies. Imagine my happiness when I realized I could travel, I had been looking forward to that trip for half of my life!
To correctly do my job, I have to be very organized. My responsibility is to plan every single class and correct the homework I give my students, and I must arrive at school on time. Another thing is that I have to be very creative, and that's one of the reasons why I like this profession: my everyday challenge is to be enthusiastic and imaginative, I have to create new methods and activities for my students, so that they learn but they don't get bored.
I think that my job will probably lead me to acquire more experience and knowledge, in order to transmit that wisdom to my class. I am also thinking of starting the traslator career in the UCA university, but I'm not very sure, because Law is one of the subjects, and I find it very boring.
In conclusion, it was hard, but I finally could achieve my whishes and now I have the job I've always wanted. In regards to my future, it remains unclear concerning another career, but I am hoping to be a wiser and more experienced person, so that I can make my students more knowledgeable people.


Note from the author: This is the first actual essay of the year, the other one was just a story.
This essay was written as though I was 24 years old, that's why it is written in past and present tense, not in future tense.
I partycularly liked this essay because it gave me the opportunity to write about what I'm always daydreaming about, and to let people know some of the gratest desires of my life.

Prepositions story

Task for May 23rd:
Write a short story using at least 40 of the prepositions of the list.

Teacher's answer: 9.5 + Excellent! See! You know your prepositions!


As the phone rang, I jumped up and hit my head against the ceiling. I jumped into my clothes and raced towards the phone, but by the time I got to the kitchen and picked it up, it stopped ringing. After that, I wanted to take a shower, so I strode out of the kitchen, through the corridor, and reached the bathroom. I looked for a towel and took one from the wardrobe, and when I was about to turn the shower on I remebered I was going to get the pipes repaired and that water couldn't be used till the week after that. In spite of that, I was still in a good mood. Before finding out that my TV wasn't working, I tried to turn it on several times. Apart from that, I realized I had been feeling hungry since I woke up, and because of that, I decided to turn round and go across the living room, into the kitchen. Inside of the fridge, I found an old piece of bread on top of an empty ice-cream box with a little bug in it. By the time I closed the fridge, I was no longer feeling hungry, I was sarting to get bored. I looked around, wondering what to do next, when I saw a picture of my friend, Ben, which was above the cupboard. According to my mom, he is like a brother to me. That's true, we get along so well, we're kind of soul mates. In the picture, he was smiling. In addition to that, he was wearing a brown sweater over his usual blue T-shirt. He was also holding a blue cap between his elbow and hip. I started paying attention to the papers behind the portrait. Under the title "Nutrition pyramid" were the foods mum bought, except for the eggs, which she got from another store. Despite the lack of food in my fridge, I started feeling hungry again. In regards to my breakfast, I get along with Ben so well I decided to have it at his house.

Note from the author: [ Bare in mind this was the second or third actual writing of the year, and I needed -and still need- to learn a lot. Also, English is not my native language, we study it at school and, for those who were wondering, I've been studying English for over 12 years, and I'm 14! ]
Well, I copied it from the actual paper as accurately as I could, it was very hard for me not to fix all the mistakes I found... Like "Oh, this could be written this other way... Better, write this that other way...".
And now that I'm reading it half an year after it was written, it's a rather silly story, but I have an excuse: I didn't like prepositions -still don't like them- and didn't really want to write with them...
I promise the next entries will be a lot better than this one, for my writing style got better as I wrote more frequently.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!

This is my first blog entry (I don't even know if it's called like that), I'm so excited!

For this is the first time I'm writing (the first time for me, not for you), maybe, instead of welcoming you to my blog, I should welcome myself. Lets start again, so.


Welcome to your new blog, Makita > Jazzqueen!

Oh, but that is too short, don't you think? And, will that be all of my greeting? Shouldn't I give a little bit of information, such as "In this blog you will find all of my school essays for my ESL (English as a Second Language) class..."? But that is too boring, nobody will want to read it if I write it that way... So, with that change , my greeting would be something like:

Welcome to my new blog, you, blog-readers, and welcome, Makita > Jazzqueen, to your own blog, which will contain your school essays for your ESL (English as a Second Language) class!

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm looking for, though it is still too short to be a blog entry by itself... What else could it need? Mmm... (After ten minutes thinking) Aha! I know! I forgot to explain the, lets say, format of the blog. How can I explain that? I could explain I'm going to write the task given by the teacher first, and then, the essay I wrote in response. And I should make the readers participate too, encouraging them to write comments on my school essays. Well, I guess that would be:

Welcome to my new blog, you, blog-readers, and welcome, Makita > Jazzqueen, to your own blog, which will contain your school essays for your ESL (English as a Second Language) class! The blog entries will include the task given by the teacher and the essay written in response, so Makita > Jazzqueen hopes you comment back on them, telling her your opinion about them or perhaps giving her advice on how to make her writting style improve.

Now we're writing! That's nice! Now I just need to finish it with a witty last phrase, something to make the reader like it... Maybe an invented word meaning "you'll like it", or, "you'll find it interesting"... (Another ten minutes spent thinking) Or I could finish it wth a classic:

Welcome to my new blog, you, blog-readers, and welcome, Makita > Jazzqueen, to your own blog, which will contain your school essays for your ESL (English as a Second Language) class! The blog entries will include the task given by the teacher and the essay written in response, so Makita > Jazzqueen hopes you comment back on them, telling her your opinion about them or perhaps giving her advice on how to make her writting style improve. Good luck!


Enough with that, Makita, lets get it started!