Week 12

I finished recording clips of me telling the story, which took longer than expected. i was a bit camera shy, but hopefully I can scrap together some view-able clips. Now I realized being on camera isn't as easy as it seems. During the project, I've worn many caps such as a character animator, script writer, film editor, and now, I'm in front of the camera. It was a bit reassuring to be in the behind the scenes making the magic happens, but when there is a face attached to the project, more things are at stake. Hopefully, I can finish this project without anymore problems .Happy New Year!

Reflection Week 12

Merry Christmas everybody! Now on to what I did this week in terms of my workouts. I didn't do much this week because I was visiting family this Christmas, but I tried my best. On Monday, I did Cardio and ran. On Tuesday i did some strength training and I did the same for Saturday. Sunday I decided to do some flexibility training, and I skipped Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday because I was preparing for Christmas. Well that was my reflection this week because I didn't change anything this week.

Reflection 12

I am actually quite happy the progress I've made over the past week. I finished up the basic look, and design for my website and now i just have to input the writing in different sections. This week I don't think i will get much done because of a huge presentation/project for English and History. Hopefully over break I can add more and complete the unfinished parts of my code. I will continue to do lessons on CodeAcademy to learn anything else that may help make my website more polished.

REFLECTION DOCE

Last week I made the promise to cook jollof rice independently; therefore this week I followed through with my promise. I followed the same procedure explained in the previous week and the jollof rice turned out fine. The rice was not horrible .... neither was it good. Personally, if I had not cooked it and I could opt out of eating of it, I would retain from eating it. I understand that this quality was expected because I do not have a lot of experience cooking jollof rice. However, I will not give up and I will seek my mother's guidance to determine what went wrong and how I can fix this error because I am at lost for the exact cause of the lack of taste. Hopefully, I can have this problem ironed out in the coming weeks.

Week 12

Sometimes I sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. This is an album I've been recently listening to, and it perfectly describes where I am with this project. Sometimes I do things and sometimes I don't. It's just a thing at this point that I play around with at this point. It's not very much enjoyable if I'm being honest. If I'm not working and not napping, I'd prefer to spend my leisure time playing video games or listening to music or watching a documentary or something else. Because of the nature of making a beat, I have to put my entire focus and effort towards this singular goal. probably worst of all, I can't have any other music on in the background. Regardless, I'm still doing it, because it's a commitment I have to make. I don't know what else to say. I mess around with things on the software and make sounds that sound pleasurable.

Reflection 12

This week was a bit more productive than last week. I played the guitar a few times but I'm still slowly progressing through the song. For Christmas, I even asked my mom for my own guitar so I can return my friend's guitar. It'll be exciting to have my own. Even though I was able to practice, my entire weekend was packed with Christmas shopping so I wasn't able to devote as much time to practice as I had hoped. Over Christmas break, I'm hoping I'll be able to practice but I'm not so sure because I'm going to California. I think my cousin there has a guitar but I'll see. Wish me luck!

Reflection week 12

      This week for my 20% project I did not really incorporate any new techniques. Instead, I just kept using what i had previously learned. What is the best way to learn how to do something? Putting in Practice! So that is exactly what I decided to do with my scrapbook this week. I want to strengthen what I have learned. What good is it to only put a technique into use once or twice? So I added some more cool backgrounds, sewed in some more pictures, attached some objects and kept everything going. I do realize that it is crunch time which is definitely stressing me out a bit but, I can handle the pressure. I have like a month left so that should be plenty of time and this winter break that is coming up is definitely going to help me out time wise.

Reflection Week 12

This marks week 12 with our 20% time. I can say I enjoyed everything I did so far. Thinking back I did a lot. I enjoyed the Pink Run the most probably. I enjoyed running and donating for beating cancer. This week however, i stuck to my diet plan and did a few more workouts. After working out i have had a great attitude and my behavior in schoolwork has increased greatly.

Reflection #12

This week, I did a complete review over a range of subjects that I have already learned over the past weeks. I learned that the majority of the things I learned I had retained most of them. I could recall the things I would use in a daily conversation like introductions, greetings, expressions, and emotions. But it was harder to remember things not typically said like sports references, certain objects, or parts of a home. So now I know what I need practice on and will continue to do so.

Week 12

Almost there !! I'm happy to say I reached 12 miles. Honestly, at this point adding on miles is somewhat easy. After 5 miles I feel like I can go on forever and now that i can do 10 and up, after the 10th it really does feel like since I've been running for so long I can continue running. My breathing at that point is stable and has a rhythm. The only thing is I get slower and more reluctant to continue.

Today I ran to my friends house in Scotch Plains (about 8 miles) and then ran back after hanging out with her. So I did 16 miles today in 2 intervals. I'm very proud of myself for that. I ran every other day this week, 6-7 miles each time. This week is the last week for the program I found online but I haven't been following it exactly. I just used it as a base to come up with something that works for me. Next week, since I have more time, I'll reach the halfway point hopefully, 13.1. And after that I'll work on speed.

Diet. Pretty okay until today. My mom baked pizza and I couldn't resist. But it was loaded with spinach and other veggies.

Reflection 12

So I believe that I am done with the animation part of the video. I have decided to enhance my story line by including myself in the video, inspired by Swoozie. I will work on it during winter break because I will have time to film. The rest of the 20% time will be dedicated to editing the parts together to create a smooth flow. I'm very excited to see the final product. Right now it does not seem like a lot, but hopefully by decision to include myself in the video can improve the current circumstance.

Reflection Week 12

I will be putting together my video soon, as the deadline for C-SPAN's StudentCam 2016 competition is January 20, 2016. I organized my notes on articles that were on Citizens United v. FEC and also legal documents pertaining to the case. Doing this made me realize just how dynamic the problem is and how there are so many ways to investigate the corrupt political process; this may be hard for me to put into a mere five to seven minute video, trying to express my position and backing up my assertions with evidence. It is unfortunately not in C-SPAN's library of videos, but I watched "Citizen Koch" on Netflix, the documentary explained the relationship between "big money" and democracy. Obviously the documentary was against money in politics, but it showed how the vast majority of Americans are against the current system, regardless of their political ideologies.

Reflection Week 12

This was another bad week for me. Projects, tests, and practices really restrained me this week, and I'm hoping to make up the time I've lost next week. This week, I've decided to have two workout days, two aerobic days, and one flexibility day. My flexibility day was Saturday, My Cardio days were Sunday and Wednesday, and My strength training days were Monday and Thursday.

Reflection Week 12

This week, I didn't create any new blog posts. I had a lot of projects to complete and quizzes and tests to study for. Also on Saturday I went somewhere with my famly since my birthday is Monday. Since we have a big break this week, I know I can make two blog posts out of the week.

Reflection 12

This week I actually found a lot of time to work on my scarf. I used up all of the yarn in the first package, so I had to learn how to attach more yarn of the same yarn so that I could continue with the scarf. My mom showed me how to tie it so that the knot would be in the middle of the scarf, where it isn't so visible. I would say that I am just about halfway done with it so far. I have a feeling that I'll have a lot of time to work on it over winter break so I might even finish it during that time. It's really soft and thick but I'm still not sure about how its going to look when I wear it. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm done with it to find out.

Reflction #11 12/17

Kamryn
Intro to Humanities
17 December 2015

Reflection #11

          My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. Honestly, I did nothing new this week. I am still trying to perfect my braiding technique and braid faster. I practice braiding pretty much everywhere and on anyone who will let me do it. The other day in Human Body Design I gave my classmate a few cornrows and she loved them. I am definitely getting faster and my braiding is becoming neater. In class, I continue braiding my doll's head. At home, I took out my sister's weave and it showed me basically everything backwards. I can count that as a lesson for this week. I already knew how to take the hair out, but this time I did it with a new approach. I attempted to learn from it. Next week is Christmas so I most likely will not bring my hair doll home to braid. Maybe my parents will get me a new one. You never know....

Reflection Week 12

Christian

This week has been very busy so far. With all of the tests, quizzes, and projects being crammed in before winter break, I wasn’t able to get out of the house very much, but I still wanted to take some pictures when I was able to find the time. I used the bedside lamp in my room for artificial light and placed the light in the background of the shot. I took pictures of objects in my hand, on my bed, and even tried to throw an object up to capture a still in midair. It ends up that the best shot I got was of one of the shoes I own resting on my bed. The heel of the shoe and the light, blurred out, in the background are the main two components of the shot, while the wall of my room is even deeper in the background.

Reflection 11

Well this week was too hectic for my own good, and since I have time, I decided to kick back a bit. I only ran 3-5 miles, but I ran 6 days a week instead of the 4-5 I usually do. Sunday, my long run day, I ran 6 and that was it. I took it easy to give my body a break and prepare for the upcoming long runs I'll have to take. I also found this interesting website which gives me good breathing practice techniques. I started doing them in my spare time. It teaches you to focus on the rhythmic breathing and establish patterns so that when I run, the pattern will come naturally and it won't be as tiring.

My diet, not so great this week. I threw my entire schedule off with work. I ate one meat a day, a huge unhealthy one, at midnight for 3 days in a row (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). It's hard to find the time to eat during the day let alone cook a healthy meal!

On a brighter note, nothing to do with running BUT I got into the Rutgers School of Pharmacy (my number one choice) SO this weekend I plan on taking two days off from running and celebrating with junk food. But I'll be back on track on Monday.

REFLECTION ONCE

Given that my mother came back from Ghana about a week ago and so she has a week a rest me and her continued our apprentice-master relationship. Therefore, as promised I learned how to cook jollof rice, a famous western African dish. We began by filling a pot with oil and seasoning it with onions, tomato paste, spices, and other various things. Once this seasoning was done we proceeded by adding rice to the mixture and for more taste we added turkey broth. Afterwards we cooked the rice as if we we were cooking plain white rice, therefore we steamed the rice and followed the other white rice cooking steps. Overall, the rice turned out fantastic, however I do not think I would be able to cook the rice this well independently. In order to sharpen up I will practice cooking it by myself next week or some other time.

Reflection #11

       This week for my 20% project I had to go print out some more pictures. I cut them up and made some more little flip books within the book. It is coming along nicely. We do not have much time left for this project so this is definitely crunch time for me. There is so much to do in so little time. I am hoping i will be able to finish it in time but i do not think that i will be able to. I want to add something to the hard inside covers so lets see if this week i can get some kind of textured material or fabric to put on those areas.

Reflection #11

This week, I learned how to speak about the classroom and the objects inside. I didn't learn more than the basic stuff such as the Klassenzimmer, Stift, Bleistift, Tafel, und Radiergummi. Or they are better known as a classroom, pen, pencil, chalkboard and eraser. I also learned in order to learn more advanced vocabulary and phrases on Babeel I would need to pay for it. I never really realized or noticed this because I haven't a need to know more advanced language. I only intend to learn basic conversation. So I have no intention of paying the extra fee.

Reflection 11

This week I stumbled across one of my favorite Youtuber, Swoozie, who similarly made a video about types of drivers. I was really fascinated with his storytelling and the way he incorporated real footage of himself with inserted clips of his animation. I'm not sure if I want to include the clips of myself in the cartoon, but it will progress the story and offer the flow I am currently facing. This will change the perspective of my 20% time to focus more on the storytelling than the actual animation, but I think finding the balance is answer. I can already imagine the story being told in my voice with my experiences blended into the voiceover and I'm leaning towards that direction. After I complete my animation I will update you guys about what's to come!

Week 11

Honestly, this is just more of the same stuff. I don't have much to tell you. Sometimes I mess around with the software, sometimes I don't. I'm still making my trap influenced beat. I'm still listening to occasional tutorials on this stuff on youtube. I'm still listening to way too much music on a daily basis. I really don't know what to say. At this point, I just want Winter Break to be here. I need winter break. I like cupcakes.

Reflection Week 11

This marks week 11. This whole week I wasn't feeling well at all due to a stomach sickness I got from eating a bad meal at lunch. I wasn't moving around much and I was in and out of the doctors office. My body and I weren't on the same page this week so absolutely no workouts were done. I drunk lots of water though. I plan to recover and get back on track.

Reflection Week 11

This week, I rewatched the 100 basic signs  video and a few more Lifeprint videos. I did watch one thedailysign video, but I think I need a break from those because I have been doing them a lot lately. I realized that I forgot a lot of the pattern for numbers, so I started doing that again too. I was kind of overwhelmed this week. I feel like I was making a lot of progress and now I am just stuck. I think I need to work on tutorials and practice at home more often than I do; I definitely need more reinforcement. This is especially true with winter break coming up. I do not want to undo the progress I have made.

Reflection Week 11

Before I say anything, I want to state that my idea of creating this month long schedule was a total bust. I wrote it up, and for about one week, I was following it. All of sudden, things popped out of nowhere in my schedule, and I would have no choice but to skip my workout day. So I've decided I'll simply workout whenever I have time, rather than making a schedule. Now on to what I did this week. This week wasn't very productive. I only got to workout Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and a little bit on Saturday. I did Aerobic Cardio and workout on Saturday at practice. I had strength training Monday and Friday, and I had Anaerobic Cardio on Wednesday. I still continue to do Ab Workout 5 times a week.

Reflection 11

To be honest, I didn't get much done this week. I was really busy with school work and had no time on the weekend because of semi-formal, clubs, and a Sweet 16 I had to attend. Overall, it was a busy week but an unproductive one for my guitar. I feel bad that I wasn't able to practice much because of the time constraint that I'm on. If I keep this up, I won't be able to learn my song and perfect it. I was only able to practice the intro a bit and I'm planning to maybe practice tonight and learn more. I don't really have much to say because of my lack of practice, but I hope that I will get back on track this week.

Reflection Week 11

Christian 
            I’m actually happy that I decided to wait until Sunday to write my reflection. On Saturday, I went to work with my dad. He is the project manager of a construction company that works in northern New Jersey and builds houses for the richest people in New Jersey. He took me to one of his jobsites in Weehawken. The property overlooks New York City and the Weehawken High School football field. The view was awesome and it was a great experience being there and being able to see New York City from a different perspective. I can only imagine what it’s like living there!

Reflection #10 12/12

Kamryn
Intro to Humanities
12 December 2015

Reflection #10

          My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. This week I have been playing around with different braiding techniques and in class, I started doing the full circle I have talking about for a while now. The hardest part about this braiding is the size. I am getting better at keeping them neat, but I braid very slow and very big braids. I think this problem has something to do with how the hair doll is set up. I am beginning to hate my hair doll more and more as I keep going and have thought about asking Santa for a real hair doll. I did not watch any videos this week because they are all starting to become redundant. I am looking forward to finally sewing the hair in and styling. I really like to curl hair and straightening is fun too. Next week, I plan on practicing styling one of my sister's hair.

Reflection 11

I'm kind of upset that I forgot to bring my scarf to school today because I wanted to work on it during class. Oh well. I was just thinking about how cool it would have been if I took progress pictures every week, but its a little too late for that because I can't just go back and start over. I have like one picture from before, and I'll probably try to take one every time I make significant progress. I'm surprised that I haven't really made any big mistakes on my scarf so far. I'm glad I did a practice one before because I think that really helped. Anyway, this past week was pretty similar to the one before. I worked on my scarf a little bit. I haven't been working on it a whole lot, but I still feel like I can definitely get the entire scarf done at the rate I am going. Another thing that I noticed was that my yarn sheds a lot. I find little tiny yarn hairs all over my clothes and sometimes even my couch after knitting. I hope that doesn't keep happening once the scarf is done because I want to be able to actually wear it. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Reflection Week 11

I got back on track this week and made two posts this week, both of them being on mixed identities. The post I created today was actually my tenth post, and I got a notification for it. WordPress last alerted me when I created 5 posts, so I'm assuming they will tell me when I created my fifteenth.

I haven't been telling my friends and family when I have been posting for a while, so I'll try to tell them today so they can catch up.

Website: https://malinasite.wordpress.com/

REFLECTION 9

This week was all about short runs to maintain my stamina, but not over work my body and focus on my long run on Sunday.
I did 3-5 mile intervals every day, stuck to my diet (except for sunday, but I'll explain that).
Saturday into Sunday I made the mistake of pulling an allnighter with my friend. Netflix got the best of us. And Sunday morning at 7 am, I had work. After work, I decided it'd be a good idea to go on a run, seeing as I did not feel any fatigue. So I went for a run, and somehow, I managed 10.5 miles! Insane, I know. But I managed it and felt so happy and proud of myself. So I went home, and since it was my sister's birthday, I ate a whole ton of cake (there was 3 different cakes and I had to try them all) and then, being a very rude hostess, proceeded to taking a 7 hour nap on the couch.
But I reached 10.5 and could not be more happy. However, I can only hope that my stamina continues to increase.
As for my diet, I've come to terms with the fact that weekends will simply be cheat days. My main concern is that I will not be so motivated once Christmas break comes around.

Reflection 10

This week I have just continued adding more to my code. I still have A LOT to do and I honestly do not know how soon I can finish this up. My school workload is increasing and I need to manage my time better. This past week wasn't very productive, and I am a little disappointed that my code isn't as complete as I expected it to be at this point. For this future week it will be a high priority to get as much done on my code as possible.

Reflection Week 10

This marks week 10 with my mile run improvements. I wasn't able to run indoor track this year due to the stress and the multiple things I have to do for college and personal things at home. I was kind of disappointed because indoor track could've helped me out greatly for this final project. Anyway,I am still keeping up with my diet plan and constant workouts. I actually enjoy it now because I fell like I am deleting stress off my mind when I'm working and/or working out. It feels good.

Week 10

     
       This week for my 20% project I was not able to accomplish as much as I would have liked to. I only finished one page. I hope I will be able to finish it on time. I thought of some new things to put in there like old jewelry that I don't wear anymore . It makes the scrap book look even cooler . I have gotten spammy little necklaces and bracelets from my sister when wee were younger that started to rust that I can now use in a creative way. It's one of my favorite parts of the scrap book now and I still can't wait to see how the final product is going to turn out!

Week 10 Reflection

To start off, nothing changed in my schedule this week. I'm still doing ab workouts everyday, and I'm still checking my schedule everyday to see what I have to do. Tuesday and Friday were days to workout at the gym, so I went during Co-Curricular. On Saturday I had a competition in Baltimore, so I decided t count that day as high intensity cardio. Wednesday was a Flexibility training day, and Sunday and Monday were low intensity cardio days. Thursday was my day off, so I gave myself a break. This week's blog was short, because I didn't have much to say about improvements.

Reflection 10

I've been really indecisive on the song I'm going to play, and so that's been a big setback on my progress. I went from Creep, to A Thousand Years, and now I want to play Wonderwall. Creep didn't sound right on an acoustic guitar, so I tried A Thousand Years, but that song seems too simple. I think I've come to the conclusion that I will play Wonderwall by Oasis. To tell you the truth, I didn't have much time to practice during the week, so I only got to practice today. I was playing Wonderwall and I've already learned the intro and first verse. Although I was unfamiliar with the chord transitions at first, I improved by continuing to practice. I think this song's level is just about right for a beginner like me. The strumming pattern is a bit more tricky than a lot of other songs, and it is what a lot of other people struggle with. However, I am starting to get used to it, because I practiced it over and over again. I'm hoping to at least manage to squeeze in a 10-15 minute practice each day (or maybe every other day) so I can finish learning the song as soon as possible to brush up on my skills during the rest of the time I have. I can't wait to see how this turns out. It can either be successful or a complete failure. Hopefully successful though! :D

Reflection Week 10

In our Twenty Percent class time this week, I decided to return the the Lifeprint channel that I used in the very beginning of this project. Specifically, I watched the 100 Basic Signs video, which I found helpful. The signs were broken up into groups: like time, family, colors, etc. At the end of each group was a little review which was nice so I didn't have to keep rewinding. The only minor problem I have with this video is that the captions didn't always work, so when the people in the video were covering I could not always tell what they were saying. However more importantly, the words being taught were displayed in the video so it didn't matter for most of the video anyway.
Today, I rewatched the 100 Basic Signs video, because I really liked the selection of words in it. A good amount of things I already knew from the other resources I have been doing, and some I remembered from the class time. The rest came back pretty quickly once I got into the video, which I think is good.

Reflection 10

I've hit a problem that I can't seem to solve. Last week I've said that I would try to make the scenes smoother. However, no matter how many scenes I put in between for transitions, the cartoon still seems a bit jumpy to me. I also think that I would like to add a voice over to include emotions in the video. By taking a rest from working on this project, I am able to have a fresh perspective to the cartoon. The little break allowed me to forget the script of the cartoon and when I went back to work on it, I've noticed that the storytelling aspects were not as prominent to what I expected. I'm excited that I am able to wear another hat in this project as a character voice actor. After I am satisfied with the cartoon, I will work on the voice over addition.

REFLECTION DIEZ

This week I did not get to learn any new meals because my mother who acts as my mentor was out of the country. She returned on Sunday morning however I insisted that she rest and overcome her jet lag before we continue our lessons. Therefore, all I got to do this week was practice cooking what I already know. Regardless I felt as though I was still able to grow as a cook through practicing cooking rice, turkey, egg, and cheeseburgers. I attempted to add variation to the turkey by adding new spices and now there is a good idea in my head which spices works well with turkey and which don't. Although no new dishes was learned the experience I gained this week was incredibly valuable to me.  Next week I plan to learn one of my favorite dishes and a very, very popular dish in Western Africa, Jollof Rice.

Reflection #10

This week, I learned how to express my emotions. I can't articulate myself but I can say the simple emotions that everyone expresses each day. Happiness, sadness, anger, love, and hate are the simplest emotions to say: glucklich, traurig, wutend, liebe, und hass. Other words would include joy, to feel, disgust, and fear. Typical phrases using some of these words would be consider more advanced vocabulary so I shall learn those later on. The core emotions are used first so they can be expand upon.

Reflection 10

This week was simple. Nothing new happened. I only worked on my scarf a little bit last night because I didn't have much time during the week. I learned a lot about knitting in these past few weeks, and I feel like the rest of my time is going to be spent on completing my scarf. I still have a lot to do because I want it to be pretty long. I've already gotten some compliments on it, so I'm really excited to finish it so that I can actually wear it. I might work on the short powerpoint I started a while ago. I think I'd like to have some slides about the basics of knitting, different types of stitches, and pictures of my progress. Anyway, I hope next week is a little more productive.

Reflection 10

This week I sat around and cried. No, just kidding. I feel like I never do anything productive in a week. This is actually depressing and sobering. Anyway...

That's right, music producing. I dabble it in from time to time. At this point, it's sort of a little thing I do if I have free time and the will to want to create. There's just a ton of things you can do to edit sounds and the such, it becomes a bit overwhelming. My focus is coming up with something I can perhaps show in a presentation for a midterm. Still, the last...few months, wow, they've been a ride with this stuff. I've learned a lot, especially about what the sounds I would hear in the past actually were. I listen to music differently as well now; sometimes, I'll tune out lyrics to focus on instrumentation, and it's fascinating, trying to imagine how the sound is created on a computer. That's probably the major thing I'll carry with myself going forward from this; being conscience of all the sounds in the music we love.

Reflection Week 10

This week I was back on track and created two blogs this week. I wrote about the suffrage movement and the savior complex about Africa. I didn't get many views on my posts this week, but I am okay with that. Although it's nice to get views on my posts, my main focus is just to have a space where I can freely express my opinions. Having other people read and enjoy my posts is just a plus.

Reflection #9 12/3

Kamryn
Intro to Humanities

3 December 2015

Reflection #9

          My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. I am very proud of myself this week, I tried to braid a foundation for weave to sew into and it looks nice. In the pictures, the big braids are for the hair that will be left out to give the style a more natural look. There was no need to start a circle on the left side of her head, but I wanted to challenge myself and it was kind of hard. Using this child hair doll is very annoying and kind of unrealistic, but real haired hair dolls are out of my budget at the moment while I still have to apply to college. I did not take a final picture because I forgot my hair doll in my locker when I realized I would only be in class for 30 minutes. My braiding skills have improved and I am getting more excited. Also, my sister asked me to curl her hair so I got some practice curling a short weave. So far, styling hair is my favorite but it is very tedious. Every curl must be perfect and bouncy for the perfect look. If you have one saggy curl, then the whole style is ruined and it is hard to correct a bad curl so it is easier to just do it right the first time. Typically, I use a wand, but my sister brought a new curling iron so I learned something new. Next week, I will try a new braiding pattern to see which works best and try to braid faster.

Reflection Week 10

Christian

            Yesterday was my 17^th Birthday, and I got my driver’s license! I have a 2006 BMW 325xi that I bought myself and now I don’t have to just take pictures of settings within walking distance. Sometimes I’d ask one of my parents to drive me somewhere to take pictures, like the Watchung Reservation, but sometimes they’re just too busy to take me there, wait for me to take a picture, then drive me back. Now I don’t have to worry about scheduling that into their already busy days. All I have to do is find the time in my day to head out and take some pictures, which shouldn’t be too hard considering football is coming to an end this weekend.

Reflection 9

With thanksgiving in the middle of the week, I happened to do less workouts than I usually do. This week I decided to put it on hold so I can hang out with my family I haven't seen in a long time. I plan to get back on my usual workouts however.

REFLECTION NUEVE

This week I baked turkey with my uncle for Thanksgiving. I would have cooked with my mother, however she is still on a business trip with my father. Cooking this turkey was essentially the equivalent of cooking a whole chicken; the only difference is a turkey is a lot bigger than a chicken. Therefore, while I was cooking I noticed the similarities between the two which made it easier for me to cook because I had experience. We began by taking taking the turkey out the freezer for two days in order to let it thaw; once the turkey became soft we cut the fat off of it. Afterwards, proceeded to seasoning it; we spread the seasoning all over the perimeter of the turkey and eventually inside of the turkey. Then we put the turkey inside the oven and let it cook, however we occasionally checked the turkey to make sure everything was running smoothly. We repeated this process in order to make another turkey and in addition to cooking turkey, I also cooked white rice. Overall the turkeys were fantastic and the rice well done, therefore it was a successful week.

Reflection #9

             This week for my 20% project I was able to pick up some more things for my scrapbook. I wanted to do something different because I felt like my designs needed to be a little bit more interesting since I kept tying in some old ideas. So now I found some new themes and decided to tie them in. It adds a little more life to my scrapbook and I think it just makes it feel more complete. I added in some more funky pictures and everything is starting to come along. I even layered some pictures to flip up vertically as if a book was being opened sideways. It is a really cool feature and makes my scrapbook feel unique. I cannot wait to see the final product!

Reflection Week 9

This week was mostly uneventful for me just because I spent it looking for videos/resources for my own video for CSPAN's StudentCam 2016. I made a MyC-SPAN account to gain access to all of their videos. CSPAN offered me a wide variety of videos to choose from. I watched "Impact of Citeizens United v. FEC" in parts, in the video law professors and political commentators commented on the Court's decision. I also enjoyed "Supreme Court Argument on Campaign Finance" with Adam Liptak. Liptak is a journalist at the New York Times and does a great job at explaining what goes in the Supreme Court and how the Justices' decisions affect us all. I plan on watching a video later with Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV) on campaign finance. In the video, Senator Reid proposes an amendment in response to the Court's decision, to grant states the right to control campaign finance.

Reflection 9

Okay so last week I talked about how I got new yarn and needles and started knitting my scarf. Well, I quickly realized that the scarf I was knitting was very tight and heavy. My mom suggested that I get even bigger needles, so that's what I did. I went to AC Moore and got myself some size 19 needles. They're honestly huge, but when I started over on my scarf (for like the millionth time) it actually came out exactly how I wanted it to. The stitches are very loose which makes the scarf very light and comfortable. I knit a little bit in class on Wednesday, and I'm going to try to bring my scarf in more often to work on it during 20% time. Everything's been going really well and I'm really happy about it.

Week 9 Reflection

To start off the week, I've decided my change for this week was for more ab workouts. I've decided last week that I would do ab workouts 5-6 times a week, if not the entire week. I've also made my December schedule, so I will be ready for anything that I need to do. Other than that, I'll get on to this weeks schedule. I did ab workouts from Tuesday to Sunday, only missing Monday. Monday and Wednesday I worked out in the gym, Tuesday and Saturday I did Cardio exercises, and Sunday was a flexibility training day. This was a quick blog because I feel i'm beginning to get used to this process of workout out either at home or in school, whether it be running or going to the Magnet gym.

Week 9

The week started out well. I didn't run Monday, but I hit the gym and did some cardio. Tuesday, I ran 5 miles, no big deal, but big enough for me to feel like I pushed myself a little. Wednesday since it was a half day, I had nothing to do until 4 so I though it would be a good idea to go to the gym. I used the treadmill (something I don't like to do) and followed the advice I found from runners on the internet on how to change the incline and speed to stimulate running outside. But I found that I get tired a lot quicker. I only managed to do 2.6 miles and then I walked to make it an even 3. I got off, took a break and then did cardio on the elliptical. Afterwards, I went and did some strength training exercises with weights.

The week started out promising, but Thanksgiving came along on Thursday. I already knew I wasn't going to be productive that day. I just ate on Thursday. An insane amount of food, if I do say so myself. Friday, I was also unproductive, but I didn't have a good excuse. Saturday came and I was running around all day. Running a million and one errands for my mom in preparation for my sister's birthday on Saturday and then work. Sunday was my sister's birthday so more unhealthy food. After a huge serving of homemade pie I decided to go for a run. Bad Idea. I didn't get far. I felt heavy and was worried of the possible repercussions if I pushed myself further.

Reflection #9

This week, I learned about how to speak about sports in German. I also learned that you get no choice in what you learn about through free daily lessons. So I was mostly forced to learn about sports but I didn't mind. Many words for sports in German are similar in other languages. So it did not take long to understand these words. For instance, soccer or futbol is just fusbol in German. Many of the terms are like that so I found it pretty easy to learn. I wish the rest of the language was like that though.

Reflection 9

The cartoon has been coming along quite well. However, as I watch the entire entity of the scenes put together, I've notice some scenes missing that would make the scene smoother. The same as when you write an essay, but not everything is put across because you understand what you want to write, but not what's actually written. I think the well deserve Thanksgiving break has given me separation from this project to look at the cartoon with a fresh perspective. I am able to see the details that a person looking at it for the first time.

Next week I will work on the scene transitions because some people might not understand some context of the script. A few extra seconds including the setting or extra background information can add crucial factors for the viewer to enjoy the cartoon.

Reflection 9

This week I learned more about the aesthetic design of an HTML code. I didn't realize that you had to basically make another file that is a CSS code to make the website more aesthetically pleasing. I always thought that everything was done on the same file. I also added more to my code and continued to do lessons on CodeAcademy.

Reflection #9 :D

Yay! Progress!

It's almost Cyber Monday (tomorrow, actually) and my parents are getting most of their Christmas shopping done then. I've been allowed to make a list of what I want, and I've already exhausted the money my mother's given me, but I'm 95% sure I can swindle a tablet (especially if it's cheap, and on Amazon!) from my father. I've started using my sketchbook like I originally planned, because I am a hot mess and I am terrible at hanging on to loose leaf.

Since this is a reflection, I guess I should reflect and say that I did not anticipate Krita to be this difficult or time-consuming. But I'm still down for this project because I low-key think it would be cool to post my art somewhere. Thar's all. Drizzy out.

Reflection Week 9

This week, I missed the 20 Percent class time for kickoff. So, all of my time spent on sign language was at home. On Friday I spent a lot of time watching my brother, and we ended up going through a few tutorials together. He always used to watch the Goodnight Show on Sprout, which included a new word in sign language every night. He's only four, but he seems to understand at least a little bit what signing is, plus it's really cute to watch him try to mimic the motions. At the beginning of this project, we discussed the difficulties I might face. The main one was that I would not really have anyone to talk to. While that is still a challenge, my siblings have actually been pretty helpful with it. They are all pretty young and none of them are fluent, but they find the language interesting so if they see me practicing they like to jump in. It's not a full conversation, but every little bit helps and teaching them helps me to remember what I already know.

Week...I don't even know anymore

This week, I started working on a trap influenced beat. Trap is a subset or genre of hip hop which arose most prominently out of Atlanta, taking also influences from Houston and the South in general. Trap at the moment is the most popular movement in hip hop by far, spawning superstars such as Migos, Future, and Young Thug. The entire sound of mainstream hip hop has also been influenced by trap music, most notably the deep and dark 808 drums and the synths associated with it. If the song fits the mood of a dark, crowded, live club at 2 A.M. on a Friday, it's trap. On youtube, there are plenty of examples of trap beats and the processes in which they're made, and on Fruity Loops there are tons of plug ins that are trap inspired; trap drums, trap keys, trap synths, etc. Relatively speaking, trap beats can be very barebones and simple. The most important part of a trap beat is creating an often dark, spacey, yet energetic environment. It's going relatively well.

Reflection Week 9

This week I didn't post on my blog. I started sto write about the suffrage movement, but it's still saved in my drafts. I was in Virginia and I had a busy week. On a positive note, I got feedback from my family members and they enjoyed my posts, and that always makes me feel good. I have tests and quizzes this week, but hopefully I can still find the time to create blog posts two days out of the week.

Reflection 9

Oh gosh time is running out and I'm looking at my progress with my song. Originally I was supposed to learn how to play Creep, but now I'm not so sure. I tried playing, but for some reason it didn't sound right on my guitar. I'm not quite sure if the strings are a bit loose, because the sound it made when I played the chords just didn't sound clear. Because of this I was struggling to follow along with the video I was watching and I got a bit frustrated. As a result I tried to play another song, which ended up being A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. I followed along with a video tutorial and I was able to follow along really well. I'm not exactly sure if I should follow up with learning Creep or just continue learning A Thousand Years since I've already learned so much of it and there isn't much time left. The only thing I'm worried about with A Thousand Years is that it might not seem challenging enough when I present it. However, I feel that I might not be able to successfully learn Creep by the end of the semester. Also.. I'm debating whether or not I should sing along.. erm.. I'll see how everything goes.

Reflection #9 11/25

Kamryn
Intro to Humanities

25 November 2015

Reflection #9

          My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. So, my coach did not allow me to install her weave, but it is okay after I finish this project she will beg me to do it. This past week, I began braiding the circle and it is very time consuming since I am not the best braider and I have to spin my hair doll every few seconds. I know it must be ten times harder braiding on a human being. In class, I researched the vixen weave installation process and I found it very interesting. Basically, the vixen sew in allows the hair to be more versatile. Regular sew ins do not allow high ponytails and buns. The stylist leaves a path in between the cross-section of the hair and installs the hair in four separate quadrants. By leaving hair out in the middle, it allows space for parts in the hair and helps the hair move more freely. The video I watched that taught me some of this information is "

The BEST EVER Vixen Weave Installation with Sassy Mitchell Hair" on youtube. I actually really like this style and might do this one for my end project. Researching this style makes me want to get this weave, but I feel as if this weave is not a good protective style because of the amount of hair still left out that will still need to be continuously styled. Next week, I will continue my circle braiding and look into more techniques. 

 this picture shows new hairstyles the vixen style creates this picture shows the braiding technique used.

Reflection Week 9

Christian

            I just realized that we are now more than halfway done with the 20 Percent Time Project. I feel as if I have improved my knowledge of the camera and its functions greatly. As far as the actual pictures go, I see small improvement, but I know that the actual pictures are something that is developed, not learned. You can read yourself to your grave on how to capture the perfect shot, but from what I experienced, it’s a gut feeling. The photographer has to feel the shot and be able to use their knowledge on the functions of the camera to get that perfect shot. Nature photographers are the most interesting photographers because they actually interact with the elements in order to get that perfect shot. They camouflage themselves, hide themselves, or camp out in a specific place for a few days, waiting for something special to happen, and photograph it.

Reflection 8

This week was amazing. I went up to 9.5 miles on my long run on Sunday. After a long shift doing nothing but sitting down , my legs were ready. I ran and ran and ran. After 5 miles I feel like I could go on forever. But I decided to stop at 9.5 because I knew the problem isn't WHILE running. It's the after effects of stopping the run. As expected, the cold air hit me and I was left gasping with an uncomfortable taste in my mouth but nonetheless it was a success. The rest of the week I took it somewhat easy. An average of 6 miles about. I run every other day now so as to not overwork my body. One thing I'm not proud of is my eating schedule. I've had little to no appetite but I know I need calories if I'm running this much. Being on the go isn't helping. When I do eat, it's healthy things (whole grain sandwiches loaded with vegetables). I also started making my own juices again that I drink throughout the day (loaded with fruits and vegetables). One thing I'm reluctant to let go of is coffee and energy drinks. I know they're not beneficial but I've become accustomed to them to help me get through the morning. But I'm slowly beginning to exchange coffee and energy drinks for green tea.
I have high hopes for the upcoming week. I hope to hit 11 miles. However, I have time so I won't be disappointed if I don't.

Reflection #8

This week, I practiced using daily challenges again. I mostly learned about the different expressions to describe wine and other food. These might not be everyday topics of discussion but I still found them to be very useful anyway. Now, I would be able to describe what I had for lunch and speak proper table manners as well in German. Next, I plan to tackle how to pronounce how someone would prepare these foods. There are many words in the German language that have parts of another word integrated in them. So hope not to confuse myself as I continue to learn.

Reflection 8:+ tips for fellow 20% timers

I am currently very happy with how the production is going. My deadlines have been met and I'm excited as I see the pieces come together and the final picture is forming. I have finished scene 2 which is the part where i describe the characteristics of drivers in the middle lane on the highway. i won't give away too much, but it will be quite relatable.

Some tips for focusing that I've learned the past few weeks is to set a playlist full of songs, which motivates me. I am able to keep working because I have my jam blasting and I'm singing along making work more enjoyable. Also, I've added certain relaxing music that signals for a break from the computer. Instead of being pumped with electronic music for four hours straight, I've added one 5 minute acoustic song where I allow myself to close my eyes and relax before I starting drawing away.

Whatever 20% you're doing, make sure to allow your brain to relax before doing a 5 hour project. Being active or switching topics can help the mind.

Good luck to all :)

check out my cartoon as of this week's updates:

https://www.animatron.com/project/c6e9455604ce7e241b7aea58

Reflection #8 :D

This week, fortunately, in terms of this project has been going along a lot smoother. Since Cyber Monday is coming up, my parents said they might be able to purchase a few items that I've been longing for, including a drawing tablet! That will help me make significant progress in my project.

I still draw at least once a week, I don't have time for it everyday, I've realized that with my schedule that it is unrealistic to have those expectations.

And! My mother found her iPad, so I can take pictures of what I draw and post them online that way. Since this weekend we have off from school for Thanksgiving, I can focus more on Krita this week.

Drizzy out.

Reflection 8

This week I honestly did not get to do much work on my code. I joined a website called Code Academy to learn more about the actual design and aesthetic of my future website. They have a variety of lessons and activities to help teach HTML coding. I did a few of the lessons and they are helpful, but I did not feel the need to include them in my code just yet. I still have a lot to do, so this week I will try to add as much to my code as possible on my days off.

Reflection Week 8

To start off, I would normally discuss what I've changed or improved, but this week I've haven't really had anything to improve. So now I'll go directly to my schedule for this week, and It was quite a weird week. Tuesday and Sunday were Cardio days,Thursday and Monday were strength training days, and compared to what I normally, Saturday was quite different. On Saturday I was at a competition from the morning to about 7:45 at night, so I felt I could count this as a exercise day, simply because f the amount of time and energy I spent at the tournament. So far I feel that my exercise has really helped me in tournaments. At this tournament, I felt that I could endure much more than I could after I came back from summer. That's about all I did for this week, and I feel that my improvements really have been shown in my performances this tournament.

Reflection week #8

         Wow time is really winding down! I have a long way to go with this scrapbook and I am hoping that it will be done in time. One thing that I have really learned from scrapbooking is that it really is a stress reliever; especially for me. In my hectic life, It feels nice to set aside some time and just be creative. It feels nice to express myself freely and it blows my mind how many different things you can put into a book that you really didn't think was possible. This week I just kept trying to tie the techniques that I have learned together. I have sown in some precious memories and my project is coming together very nicely. I really cannot wait to see the final product!

Reflection Week 8

This week, I continued learning colors and also started with some emotions. I am still watching thedailysign's videos, which I still think are very helpful. For colors and emotions, though, I have been using Spreadthesign. Since Spreadthesign is kind of like an online dictionary, it is good for learning specific words. Thedailysign's videos are better for putting those words into context. The website has some phrases but most of them are not that common. Also, it is really helpful for when I am watching the videos and cannot tell what the girl is doing for a certain word or something. I rewatched the numbers tutorial because I was starting to forget it, but once I got back into the pattern everything was fine. I decided I need to spend a little bit more time at home reinforcing what I learn in my time in class. It is very easy to mix things up; signs are very specific and two completely different words could have signs that are almost exactly the same. So I definitely need to dedicate more time to this. Overall, I am proud of my progress from this first marking period.

Reflection 8

I can't believe we're already halfway done with the 20% Time Project. Now that I look back at it, I feel like I've learned nothing so far except a few chords and techniques here and there. I'm starting to feel as if I'm obliged to learn the guitar and not out of my own enjoyment. However since I just started learning the song, I'm sure that It'll be a lot more fun to put what I've learned to good use. I think I'll feel a lot more motivated learning an actual song now. Now I need to actually focus and work hard in learning the song successfully. I've decided on the song Creep by Radiohead, because I really like the song and I feel like it will be a challenging enough song for me. Though it probably doesn't look hard, learning the guitar in this limited amount of time is a lot more difficult than I originally thought. I've started learning the song and getting familiar with the chord transitions, and I hope I will be able to complete it by the end of the next 8 weeks. Wish me luck!

REFLECTION OCHO

This week I did not learn to cook any new foods however, I did practice cooking foods I already knew how to cook. The foods that were practiced are white rice and egg. I cooked without supervision and there were no real conundrums therefore everything went perfectly fine. In addition, I began preparation for next week by researching tips on cooking turkey because Thanksgiving is approaching. Also, my parents left to go to Ghana on for ten days, therefore my mother won't be assisting me next week when I cook turkey. However, my uncle promised to feel the gap by assisting me in her place. Even though, this week was pretty boring because I did not learn any dishes, I am really excited for next week where I will cook turkey.

8th Reflection

Fallout 4 ain't so bad anymore. Still, other things have been getting in the way of life. It seems all my teachers decided to assign big group projects right before thanksgiving! :) And I'm finishing writing supplements for colleges that said they didn't need writing supplements! You see, what they do is hide the mandatory 250-500 word essay under questions, and leave the writing supplement tab blank! Aren't they great? So, a surprising amount of work kinda leaped out at me this weekend, not leaving much time for my side project. If it seems like a reoccurring theme, well...it's because it is. I look forward to at least having Thanksgiving break, unless teachers assign projects over it and slate all their tests to be on the Monday and Tuesday we come back. Whatever, I'll get on this, because I need to. Truthfully, making beats isn't as exciting as I thought it'd be either. Not saying regrets, because I haven't gone far enough for that yet, but...well, it's a bit of a drag.

Reflection 8

I made a lot of progress this week. I finally got a chance to go to AC Moore and buy some new yarn and needles. The yarn I bought was a lot thicker than he one I practiced with at home so I had to purchase some thicker needles. The size of the needles depends on the number indicated on the packaging of the yarn. When I got home I was really excited to start my scarf. I cast on the stitches and began working on it right away using a rib stitch. Since the yarn and needles are a lot thicker and bigger, it was more difficult to work with. It took a couple of rows before I got used to the feel of the needles. Its starting to look so nice and I can't wait until I can finally wear it.

Reflection Week 8

I had another successful week of creating two blog posts out of the week. I decided to write about the attacks in Paris and the controversy behind letting Syrian refugees into America.

I recently comment by a person who I didn't know personally, and it made me feel really good about my writing. They commented on my post about Missouri, and they said that I made valid points and should keep up the good work.

I have recently been told by Mrs. Roy that more people might be viewing my blog since she is going to share it with her friends, and I'm excited that more people will have access to my writing, something I really appreciate to do.

Reflection #8 11/20

Kamryn
Intro to Humanities

20 November 2015

Reflection #8

 My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. I was not as busy this week, but I did not braid as much as I planned on. I did watch videos at home and in school though. I watched "Best Braid Patter For A Sew in Weave," "Basic Sew in Start to Finish," and "Braid pattern for sew in with invisible part." In the last video it brings up the invisible part, which is a weave "closure" and none of the person's real hair is out. In the invisible part, the weave is lined up to appear as the part itself. I also read about weave being a protective style. So, some women do not get weave because they do not think their hair is long enough or nice enough, some get it to protect their already long or nice hair. Others use weave as a way to grow out their hair. For example, my sister got a perm when she was 12 and it broke her hair and it became damaged. Last year, at age 20, she decided to cut her hair, go natural, and grow it out. As a way to protect her hair, she got weaves. With weave, one does not have to continuously put heat on their own hair, but the hair they purchased. On the other hand, if a person does not have a "closure" or "invisible part", they will have to still style their leave out (hair left out of the weave) in order to blend it with the weave. Hair that is not blended looks absolutely horrible!!! That is actually one of my biggest pet peeves!!! I also hate when people's tracks (the track of weave sewed into the hair) show!! Tonight, I am going to do the circle and try and convince my cheer coach to let me install her weave because yesterday she was telling me she bought new hair and needs someone to install it. 

This picture shows an invisible part sew in weave. This picture shows hair that is not blended. This one has her hair tracks showing.