The Wonderful World of Cartoons

Author's note: After watching a cartoon with my friends little brother I decided to further investigate why they find such simple, unrealistic ideas as intriguing as much as they do. Every time someone would fall, Nick, Cassie's little brother, would burst out laughing and I didn't really understand what was so funny. In my piece I worked on using techniques such as metaphors.

Inside a kids cartoon you can do anything. Most likely nothing can truly harm you. Falling off a cliff will only give you some cuts and bruises, and when you are covered in filth, you can be sparkling clean by the shake of a head. You are indestructible.

Why do kids enjoy cartoons? It's simple. They love how the characters have fun and adventure, and they enjoy pretending cartoons are their world. Wishing that one day they could be like SpongeBob. Children enjoy going on silly and unrealistic adventures too. Or, they could be like Dora and be able to fend off evil by the key words, "No swiping!" Who wouldn't want to be able to discover treasures in less than thirty minutes?

How can a little kid watch the same exact episode repeatedly over and over and still have interest? The theme song of Wow Wow Wubzy gets nailed into my head after two times. The lines of the characters start coming to me at three and four times. Yet the kids seem surprised at every turn in the plot and are still intrigued when Wubzy played basketball for the seventh time that day.

Some of the younger audience actually looks up to these characters. However many of them adore the cartoon characters just because of their pink hair or funny tail. Would they still like Mickey Mouse if he were just a regular human being with mouse ears? Think it through. Would you still enjoy the shows if only the lessons and adventures were the same? I doubt it.

Stage one of their T.V. favorites. Adventure and silly characters, what will be next? Will they still love their old favorites? Or will they move on, and discover that the shows they used to love, are not as entertaining as they used to be?

McDonald's Persuasive Essay

Author's note: I'm doing a project on McDonald's and had to do a persuasive writing piece for the week so I decided to write about the different types of McDonald's consumers. My main purpose was to follow the 5 paragraph essay format.

We all know that McDonald’s isn’t good for you. That’s a well known fact. However, could McDonald’s be healthy if you eat it in moderation? Some people believe that dieting and exercising are key if they want to eat at McDonald’s about once a week. Others, mostly kids, assume that they won’t get overweight from eating there 2-3 times a week. Nothing bad can happen to them, right? Then there’s the third type of McDonald’s consumer. The one who knows that having McDonald’s maybe once or twice a month isn’t so bad if they consider it as a treat. Which one are you?

The first type of person is the dieting and exercising person. It’s true that staying in physical shape by working out allows for minor faults like having a weakness for McDonald’s salty fries. They are so addicting, to some more than others. A diet plan also helps if you crave the greasy but delicious burgers for a treat after a long week. All these types of people just have to remember is that even though diets and exercise are great ways to stay healthy, McDonald’s once a week is still a little much. Maybe try swapping every other trip going to a sub place instead.

The second type of person is completely different. They don’t try to make a healthy life style; they just assume that nothing bad will ever happen to them. For most kids, and a lot of adults, this describes them perfectly. Kids are the ones who use the “I play a sport and I have a high metabolism anyway” excuse. Adults are more likely to use the “I don’t have time for anything else” excuse. There’s plenty of time to eat healthy if you find other fast service places.

Lastly, there’s the type of person who knows how much is too much. They realize that once a week is just not a smart choice. Maybe one to three times a month, counting it as a treat, instead of just a substitute for a home-made meal. These people tend to be healthier, cooking more at home or eating sandwiches instead of burgers, fries, and shakes. They have control over their food intake. These are the people that other people envy.

There are three types of people, those who think they have control, those who don’t care, and those who do have control. Which one do you want to be? Or more importantly, which one are you?

The Pier People, the Youth, and the Frogs.

Authors note: I wrote this piece because it came up in one of my brainstorming lists. If you are unfamiliar with this concept, you may want to try it. What you do is have someone give you a word and tell you when to stop. You write/ type a word that links to the first word in a way others may not be able to understand- but that's okay- and just keep branching off from there. You could end up with 30 words, or just 7. It's pretty funny to read some other peoples lists. Give it a try sometime. Anyway, this was a memory from when I was about seven and spring weather was starting to set in.


I think back to the time when I was about seven. The joy of the lake unfreezing and the pier building people coming back to reassemble our pier. This meant warmth. This meant adventures lying ahead. This meant memories will be made.

My friends Ally and Sammy had come over that day. When we saw the builders doing their job outside our window, we thought they could use some entertainment. So, being the six, seven and eight year olds we were, we decided they could use some music.

We grabbed some white lawn chairs and set them up near the sea wall so we were within hearing range of the workers. Next, we grabbed the musical wooden frogs you stroke with a stick and climbed on top of the chairs. Beginning with just the beat of the wooden frogs croaking, we built up our show from there.

My parents reminded me of this day when I looked at the picture -- Only the picture helps me bring back a slight recollection of doing this-- of us singing to them. Only, I wouldn't call it singing. More like chanting. "Go pier people! Go pier people" Croak. Croak. Croak. "Go pier people! Go pier people!" Croak. Croak. Croak.

The only barrier that kept us in the adorable category and away from crazy was our youth. Youth is a great thing that keeps your imagination wide open. The youth doesn't have to be lost on everybody once they become "old". They shouldn't be considered crazy if they can have a fun perspective on the world. Try to keep your mind open. You'll never know what you'll find.

Green Chrismas

Author’s note: After writing my free verse poem about a snowless Christmas, I found myself wanting to write more than just a short poem about Christmas 2011. I write this piece as I hear the rain on my window. Isn’t there supposed to be snow on December 30? Feel free to express your opinion about a “Green Christmas” as opposed to a “White Christmas”.

A slight smile appears on my face as I dream of the perfect Christmas: Seeing the tree, presents, snow, and not seeing the beer and cookies I left out for Santa the night before. But then, I woke up and realized that one thing was missing. What happened to “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas?” A pinch of anger spreads throughout my body as I can still see the grass. “Merry Christmas….” I mumbled to myself as I got out of bed and walked down the stairs.

If I block out the leafless trees, it very well could be a rainy summer day. With the incredibly green grass and my snowless driveway, I feel as if fall is never ending, and winter just got up and walked away. We live in Wisconsin! How has it not snowed yet?! It’s almost New Year’s Day, and besides the pointless snow that melts away in an hour, there’s nothing…nada…zip.

I don’t need a blizzard to please me. I just can’t leave 2011 behind with only the snow from 10 months ago. Maybe just a reassuring three inches would be nice. It’s not that hard to shovel either. Just barely enough to play in, it’s the perfect amount. That’d be a great way to end the year.

The green feeling loses its effect when the leaves have fallen and have been swept away. It’s too late for a White Christmas, but is it too much to ask for a white New Year’s?

Coral Reefs

Author’s note: I am writing this piece to go along with my Coral Reefs Project, which is posted on my wiki, but I am also trying to improve my writing scores. The main category that I’m trying to improve on is my introduction techniques. Also, my conclusions aren’t all that great so I’m trying to improve my score or level of proficiency as well.

You’re scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Waves crash above you, but as you dive deeper the water becomes still. You see thousands of fish swimming above and below you and you wonder, why here? Why did they all decide to live here? They have the entire ocean to spread out, yet the reef is completely packed with all kinds of species. Each has a special feature or look to it. Rainbows of fins twirl around you. They’re all so unique, so different, yet they all share the same home.
Why do they all come here?

The reason each and every single one of them decided to live here is a simple answer. Coral. Most live in crammed living conditions so that they can have just a little bit of coral. The coral can provide many things for fish and other underwater species. Coral can be used for safety, food source, and shelter.

The shelter and safety that coral creates is truly amazing. Not only do its cracks and crevices provide homes and shelter for several animals on the reef, but its foundation allows other plants to grow on top of it which supply the fish with both homes and food. A good example is the anemone. The anemone is a plant that grows on coral that provides for the clown fish. The clown fish is the only fish that is immune from the stings of the anemone. Also, the clown fish’s main food source is the leftover food that the anemone doesn’t eat.

Unlike the clown fish, almost all other fish have to find food on their own. Luckily, because the coral is so packed with fish, the bigger fish have it easy hunting wise. The little fish, well….. Not so lucky. Little fish rely on the coral for safety. Whether it’s blending in with the coral or simply hiding in the cracks, the smaller fish would we dinner if it weren’t for the coral.

Coral reefs are marvelous natural wonders. I hope it is understood why they play such a huge role in the underwater ecosystem.

Hot Air Ballooning

Author’s note: I wrote this after my very first hot air ballooning trip on vacation in Arizona. I figured while I’m on a 4 hour drive to the Grand Canyon I might as well make good progress on my writing. As I’m writing this I’m staring out at the mountains that are so massive, the clouds touch their peeks. Also I’m watching a creature that looks like a crossbreed of a bunny and a squirrel run across the road in front of us. (We nicknamed it the bunsqui). I love traveling. You never know what you’ll see. (I plan on making an animoto of my vacation so keep checking my blog for that).

If you’ve ever been hot air ballooning, and you’re not afraid of heights, you probably found the adventure to be very enjoyable and calming. Unless you had a poor pilot, I think it would be a shame if you didn’t have a good time with it. I was fortunate enough to experience the wonderful views, perfect weather, safe landing and great people to share the fun with. My experience was probably slightly different than yours however, because I don't think you woke up as early as I did on that particularly warm Monday.

In order to get on our flight on time, we had to wake up at 4:30 am Arizona time! Luckily I hadn’t fully adapted to Mountain Time, so it still felt somewhat like 5:30 am. We took off so early that you couldn’t even use the reference; “Bright and early”, because it was still very dark when we were in the car. The car ride was a little on the long side, because Phoenix is a very large city, and it takes about an hour to pass through.

We arrived at the Skunk Creek Flats restaurant at 6:30 am, which is where our hot air ballooning group met before we took off. Once the tourist group of 9, including my parents and me, were all there, we took off in the Rainbow Ryders van to find a take-off location.

To find out where to take off when hot air ballooning, it usually helps to set a helium balloon off at different locations, and see where the wind takes it. In our case, we only had to try one spot before we found the perfect area for a set up spot. The second balloon we set up flew away in just the right spot. This was where we started setting up, and completing all tasks that were necessary in order to send us flying.

After the basket was ready, a giant stuff sack was pulled out of the chasing van and we unraveled the balloon that was inside. After pulling the balloon completely out of the van, they set up fans and turned them on full blast in order to inflate the massive balloon. Seeing the balloon inflate, and then slowly lift up, was truly a sight to see. Once we were aboard, our pilot Brooke sent a little heat up into the balloon and we set off. Not knowing what to expect, I was amazed at what I saw.

Science Expirement Gone Bad

Author’s note: I wrote this after a science experiment that went bad in so many ways. I’m really just trying to express how it felt going through that chaotic process. Also I just wanted to thank Sydney K., Quinn, Andrew and Mr. Johnson for stepping us and helping with this disaster.

If you like a story that involves bugs, chunky milk and mold, then read on. However, if you believe that these items may gross you out, that might not be the best idea.

It all started when Mr. Roehl gave us an assignment to do a science experiment. The goal was to get us to use the scientific process. This goal wasn’t very well achieved.

After the project was assigned, Tien came up to me and asked what I was going to do for the experiment. I had no clue what I was going to do and I’m glad she had an idea. She came up with the idea of planting seeds and recording the plant growth with different liquids. We decided to do our experiment with water, milk and Orange Juice.

The next week, we came in with all of our supplies, not knowing that the “fun” had just begun.

In the first couple of days we notice that something white was growing on the milk watered plant. It was mold growing in splotches over the soil. Unfortunately, the water one hadn’t grown at all in this process. In the next day or two we went to water the OJ plant, when we saw little orange and black bugs crawling over it. This is when we questioned ending our experiment.

Neither Tien nor I wanted to water the plants anymore because of the disgusting bugs crawling over the top. A couple days after the bugs appeared, a wasp flew into the OJ cup and Mr. Roehl had to set it free out the window.

The next week, (While Mr. Roehl was on vacation, of course) we went to get the milk and OJ so we could end the science experiment once and for all. Unfortunately this is when we found out that the fridge had been unplugged and that the milk spoiled and the OJ was looking a little funky.

I guess we weren’t thinking when we dumped the milk down the sink, because it clogged and made the room stink a little. This started the major chaos. First we tried running water as long as possible so we could mask the smell. Then, after the water reached the top of the sink, we sprayed perfume over it while we were taking care of the plants and the water bottles full of rotten liquids.

Once Tien and I got back from the bathroom, we realized the water had drained and that only chunky milk remained. This is where Mr. Johnson stepped in and took it out with paper towels and dumped it into a plastic bag. After throwing everything away in the outside garbage can, most everything that needed to be done had been done.

We finished up everything else including rinsing the water bottles, spraying the fridge with perfume to mask the moldy smell, and rinsing the sink. There are three major life lessons to be learned from this experience; One, NEVER unplug a fridge. It can result in major chaos. Two, if you do not listen to number one, DO NOT dump chunky milk down the sink. Lastly, three, when you are asked to do a science experiment, I would recommend doing something not involving foods and/or beverages. They can attract bugs, mold, expire and smell really bad.