Thanks

11/16/2012

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There are many things that I'm thankful for, but one of the main things is my friends and family. My friends and family give me people to be with, talk to, and go to for help. My family supports me with all of my activities that I do, and always makes time for me. My friends are great people to talk to and be with. I am also thankful for music. Music is one of my favorite things to do. I can play three instruments and sing officially, and many others badly. Music, whether composing, or playing, is a way to express things that we are unable to express otherwise. The strings player Suzuki once said something along the lines of "Strings are empty pieces of metal. But if you but your heart and soul into them, they will sing." Music is much more than a pastime to me and is the way I express myself, as artist express themselves in their work.

The final thing I am thankful for is my education. I have always been interested in school, and the great teachers and staff workers at all of my schools have made that possible. From my fith grade teacher introducing the factorial, to Mr. Erickson teaching inequalities and linear fuctions, to Mr. Pearson with the Pythagoran Theorum, math has been one of my main interests.
 
The griots of the West African empires were story-tellers who advised the king. While they told legends, they also recounted historical facts and helped the king in his decisions. Without griots, much of the knowledge about West Africa would have been forgotten, as books and historical records were much less common back then. The griots were mostly older men, who helped a potential griot learn stories and the griot's ways of thinking. One story told by many griots over and over is the story of Sundiata. The legend of Sundiata tells how the African prince overcomes his diabilities to walk and speak, along with the malicious wishes of his father's other wife. 

This story is still known today, and is recorded in many places, but when it happened, the only record was Sundiata's griot  passing along the story that miraculously survived through time, along with many other African legends and fables.

Fall

11/1/2012

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Although there are many good things about fall, the best part for me is Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, my family and I get to go to our grandparents' house in Wonder Valley and see our great-aunts and uncles, along with my great-grandma Bettie and my second cousins. I don't get to see them that often, especially my great-aunts, uncles, and second cousins and that makes Thanksgiving a really fun time. I also enjoy the great food, and my family makes our own Thanksgiving feast at our house so we can eat all of the "leftovers." Besides Thanksgiving, the weather usually begins to cool down, and I think is finally starting too, about now. Halloween is also fun, too, and I enjoy carving pumpkins (this year I did a cannibal pumpkin) and dressing up in a costume.

One thing I don't like about fall, is that my allergies start acting up, and I have a stuffy nose for at least a month. Also, this year, the weather has been either cold or hot, and barely any in between weather that usuallly comes around this time of year. Besides allergies and the single week only of middle range weather, there is almost nothing bad about fall, which leads to my favorite season, winter. Winter is my favorite because of fireplaces, Christmas, hot chocolate, and my birthday.