Hmph. What a Coincidence.

Ever had that moment when you learn something on your own and then the next day when you go to school, you just so happen to learn the same thing? Well, that was the case with me last week. On Monday, Cindy and I went back to MMS to visit our teachers on team Fusion. Our first stop was Mr. Grayer. As we chatted about how high school was going, the topic of Romeo and Juliet came up. He taught us about Tybalt being the "Prince of Cats" and such and how when he killed Mercutio, he said that his, meaning Mercutio's, injuries, were but a "scratch". I felt so knowledgeable during class when we read that scene! Anyway, on to the important stuff... I thought that it was really interesting that in the play, when Romeo was in Friar Lawrence 's cell,Shakespeare didn't really talk about how Romeo was bawling on the ground, whereas in the movie, Romeo is portrayed by the director as a childish, immature, whiny, and girly. The movie also showed the anger and frustration of Nurse and Friar Lawrence more clearly because in the play, you only see the character's emotions through their words. This is why I don't really prefer one form of the play over the other. If you only read the play, you don't get the emotions of the characters, but the movie alone doesn't contain all of the lines/information. The movie does make Romeo and Juliet seem more "real" though, as opposed to words on paper.

Musical Exercise?

Over the weekend, I read another National Geographic article, only this particular one was about the effect that music has on you while you're working out. Interestingly enough, research that has been done reveals that listening to any type of rhythmic tune will lessen your body's perception of exhaustion and increase the physical output from your body. Of course after a prolonged workout period, your muscles will feel spent, but listening to music and moving with the beat increases your endurance. I found this interesting because when I run around my neighborhood, I will occasionally listen to my iPod, and I actually run less than I usually would in the same amount of time when not listening to music. I do know that in the research, about 1/6 of the volunteers didn't experience this phenomena. Maybe I'm just in that 1/6..... I half wish that it actually did boost my performance. I'm curious about why the boost even occurs. I'm guessing that it may be psychological, but I will definitely look into that and post what I find!

What If We Were All Cats...

I'm sure most of us have heard the phrase, "A cat always lands on its feet", but why is that so? I was really interested in this after an *incident* that occurred on Friday. I was walking from the high school to the middle school and for some bizarre reason, I fell. Flat on my face. I mean, why can humans be as consistent as cats? I was simply walking and I was specifically looking at the ground so I wouldn't fall, and I still boo-booed up my face. In this video, the host drops his cat at completely random times, and the cat lands on its feet every. Single. Time. Not fair at all. I was kind of reminded of a Charlie Chaplin video where Chaplin falls flat on his face that I'd seen a while back, but unfortunately, I couldn't find a YouTube version of it. Just a warning, I might come into class tomorrow looking like a zombie of some sorts. Be prepared.

SUgAr hIGh!!!

How much sugar do you think you down in a day? 7 teaspoons? 12 teaspoons? 15 teaspoons? How about 22.7 teaspoons? Yes, that is the amount of sugar the typical American consumes in a day according to the National Geographic magazine. To put that in perspective, the American Heart Association's recommended daily maximum for men, 9 teaspoons, and for women, 6 tsp. Let's just allow that to settle in. If you use 7.5 as the average of 9 and 6, the average American consumes 3 times the recommended limit. In fact, a single can of cola, which is 12 ounces, contains 7.93 teaspoons of sugar. What about those kids who drink about 3+ cans of Mountain Dew per day? Why are we even hooked on sugar? Well, as I continued in the magazine, I discovered that the entering of sugar into the blood causes the same brain centers to react as heroine and cocaine do. Yup. We're hooked on sugar. What's funny though, is that as I'm typing this post, at this very moment, I'm chewing on a Twizzler. What a coincidence.

Time-Out! Reality CHeck!

It's time to be TORChed! That is Time Out Reality CHecked. (I stole the terminology from Where'd You Go Bernadette ....Romeo and Juliet. Ok. I'm not entirely sure that I like Romeo. He's chasing after all these girls because they're pretty, but he doesn't talk with them, and frankly, he doesn't know them. At. All. For real. What would you think if your friend is heartbroken because their crush is moving Jupiter and all of a sudden, he sees a "beautiful maiden" strolling through the mall and decides that he's deeply in love with her? Ok. Maybe that would be a bit creepy, but still... I wonder what would've happened in the story had Juliet not given into Romeo. I'm almost certain that Romeo would find some other girl to "watch". The entire relationship between Romeo and Juliet is dependent upon Juliet's "love" for Romeo. If Juliet didn't love Romeo, then Romeo would end up as either a stalker-ly love-struck boy, or heart-broken, love-struck boy who is going to find another girl. Ok, I probably sound like I'm going in circles, but you do see what I mean right? I thought that the picture above fit the connection perfectly! XD Heheh...

Another Winner, Perhaps?

Remember that one movie that came out last year? The one that prompted everyone to read the book?
The one with a tiger and a kid stuck in a boat? Maybe? If you don't recall what I'm talking about, the movie and book were each called "Life of Pi". Like many others, I decided to read the book because I had wanted to see the movie. My older brother had read it before and I had read part of it a long time ago, but I wanted to finish the entire book before watching the modified and shortened cinema version. I absolutely loved both the book and the movie, so for no apparent reason, I picked up another book at the library today by the same author(Yann Martel), called "Beatrice and Virgil".

I'm currently on page 25, and frankly, I'm lost. Like out in the middle of a desert lost. Like I'm Piscine Molitor Patel lost. Like I'm floating in the middle of the ocean-.... Ok. You get the point. So far, all I've got is that there's an author who goes under the pseudonym "Henry" and he's been called by a taxidermist to go somewhere. As you might imagine, I have a few questions. Maybe a couple more.....

1. What on earth is "Henry"s real name? 

2. Will I ever find out?

3. What's this got to do with a donkey and a monkey?

4. How long is the boring part going to continue for?

Yippeee!!!

Yes! I did it! I *finally* did it! I finished No Man's Land! It wasn't a long book, but I only read it before bed and most nights, I'm too drained to even pack my backpack, much less read a depressing book. No Man's Land was really interesting to me because it gave me some insight into the stressful lives of military families. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would have given it 5 stars, but the author has too many plot lines going on and some of them are a little bit choppy. Otherwise, I loved this novel! I would certainly recommend it to people who are interested in psychology. A major influence in the story had to do with emotions and the effects life can have on different people. It also explores the toll that war takes on our nation's soldiers, including PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Syndrome occurs when one is involved in a terrifying situation that may result in physical harm or threat of physical harm. This can lead to flashbacks, avoidance, and hyper-arousal or "jumpiness". After researching the author, I also found out that she is a neuro-psychologist. I found this interesting because several characters in this novel go to a psychologist of some sorts.