Which School?

Wow, hasn’t the year gone by fast? For being the new, leaders and having a lot of weight on all of our shoulders, I think that I have done very well. We had sixteen kids in our class at the beginning of the year, but ended with seventeen, with the great addition of Fabian. We are going to be the last grade 8 class in middle school because of the new changes, making our grad a last too. I have also experienced personal changes, like getting ready to move to a new school.

Now from my experiences at both of the schools I’ve been at this year, Waterloo Collegiate Institute and St. John’s-Kilmarnock School, I’m not sure what I want to do, stay here with all of my friends or go to a school with the highest ranking in Waterloo and Wellington District School Boards. Of course I would love to stay at SJK because there a lot of my friends are there, but at WCI there will be a lot of kids that I already know from hockey, lacrosse or other sports so they are even there. In academics, WCI is very highly ranked and rated also have full AP and pre-AP programs in math, science and English while having pre-AP at grade 10 and 11 and AP at 12 in French. They have an English learners program and a magnet strings program bringing kids from across Waterloo and Wellington Regions. SJK has the distinction of being a private school and having very low teacher to student ratios, except that there aren’t that many kids here, not letting them offer more full-time programs like technology, media and wood shop. But there are some perks to having a small class: more teacher-to-student time and there is less potential to have distractions.

Now I know that I have already made the choice to go to WCI, but what would you have done if you where in my position and could go to any school you wanted to go to? Would you have stayed at SJK or left? Why? But I know that I already made mine but your life may be completely different than mine so its your choice.

Please leave your answer in the comment boxes below, and this week I commented on Andrew’s Blog.

The Social Network 'Take-Over'

Now usually, I go home, after track or soccer practice, and have dinner and get going usually to a sporting event, game, practice or dry land, so when you asked me how much I use social-networking sites, I would have to say that I probably use them the least out of class. So, as you may have already noticed, I don’t go on Skype, Facebook or MSN much, considering that I don’t have a Twitter account (yes Cassie I’m telling the truth!!). This week’s topic is on how social-networking has ‘taken over people’s lives, and they’re face-to-face social skills are diminishing.’ NOT! Mine is the opposite.

But when you think about other kids using these sites more than I do the one problem that comes to my mind is that I cannot communicate with other kids unless I go on to Skype or MSN. Well calling or texting works too. So this can create another problem, kids with parents that won’t let them have these accounts can only call or find them face-to-face and talk that way. But this problem has the same outcome as the first point I mentioned, face-to-face social skills are diminishing.

So, is the real problem the kids with the accounts or is it the parents that will not let their kids have the accounts. I think it’s the parents because it doesn’t matter if any one person has a Facebook, Twitter, Skype or MSN account both of the problems above will occur. So parents should just let their children have a MSN account so they can communicate with everybody.

I commented on Aureon's Blog this week.

Field vs. Box Lacrosse

This year is will be my third year of playing lacrosse, but when I say lacrosse most of you think of in an arena, short stick lacrosse with cross-checks and no-slashing. But there is this other thing called field lacrosse where some people of the field have 6 foot long stick and you can slash like crazy if the ball is 9 feet away from you. But I still don’t know all the tips and tricks of field yet, because this is my first year. So from two years of experience in box and four weeks of field experience, I’m going to try to compare the two sports.
Now when I first started field lacrosse, I didn’t know a thing about it other than thinking it was the same rules, basically, as box. But was I wrong! There are ten guys on the field versus the six on the floor and if you’re within nine feet of the ball, you can do pretty much anything to the person your beside. Now, being a big kid, I love the rule of pretty much cranking anybody, even without the ball, but some little kids are dirty so its not very pleasant, and I like having a full football field to run around on. So there are some of the differences between box and field lacrosse.
But box I think box is still much better and more awesome than field because… ah because… I don’t know but its just more fun, I guess its because it has that hockey atmosphere and you guys know how much I love hockey so there! And stop bugging me about it! Sheeeesh!
This week I commented on The Answer: 42's Blog on Xbox Failure.

A Blog on Blogs!

Back in grade 6, we had to write five journals each term, and I was struggling to get two paragraphs done on a ten-paragraph assignment. Now I’m in grade 8, although I do think blogs are a better idea than journals, but the problem is you need a lot of ideas! And I’m out of them! I’ve written about poverty, different quotes, about life, YouTube videos and all the way to funny bones and the NHL playoffs (which by the way are in full swing each night!). So, without further ado, I’ll start on my blog on blogs.

The definition of blogs, on Dictionary.com, is an online diary; a personal chronological log of thought published on a web page. But what I think a blog’s definition should be much simpler, a way to express what you like, what you don’t like and the things in between. If you have read most of my past blogs, they either relate to those things or, they are an assigned one that didn’t go so well (sorry!). But if you look at any blog on the web, read the first blog and the newest blog, you will see major improvements in the writing. So blogs can trash things, blogs can praise things, but sometimes they can be both, traisers (or is it prashers?? I don’t know you comment on the better one).

So there it is, a blog on blogs. Now that can be a confusing title, but trust me wasn’t it a good, successful, entertai… ah never mind, was it good or not. Just comment, Wyatt!

This week I commented on Will's Blog.

So yes this may be a bit late to predict the second half of the Conference Quarterfinals, but I’m going to do it and make it just worthy of all of the series going on already (although all the series were 1-1 after two games). But the Western Conference is just as wacky, wild and weird as the Eastern, maybe even worse. But you’ll find out in the next one to two months. Thus here are my picks for this week/round.

First with the disappointing first placed San Jose Sharks playing the usually eight placed Colorado Avalanche, I think that the Avs will win in six games because I don’t think that San Jose has a playoff worthy team, yet. They need tougher, more physical, third line type guys because in the playoffs those guy get a lot more minutes.

Next with a divisional rivalry seeing the second placed Chicago Blackhawks facing off against the seventh place Nashville Predators, in this one I see the Hawks winning in six. I think that the Hawks will win because of the opposite reason above, they have gritty, tough and physical third liners that will sit the whole season to play twenty plus minutes of ice time a night. Also, I don’t think the Preds will win this series because they are inexperienced in the playoffs and are a very young team.

Thirdly, we have third place Vancouver Canucks team playing the sixth place LA Kings team that was supposed to be bidding for Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin’s rights at the end of June. I think that the Canucks will win this series in six because they dominated the Kings this past season going 3-1-0 against Wayne Gretzky’s former team. Same as above in the Preds, the Kings are very young, example Drew Doughty, just twenty-one years of age.

Lastly, the Cinderella story Phoenix Coyotes facing the team underneath them the fifth placed Detroit ‘Beast’ Red Wings and in my opinion the most exciting and exhilarating series in the first round. I could see either of these teams taking it in seven, but I’m choosing the Yotes over the Wings because they have gone thru a lot, bankruptcy, maybe a new home, and still come close to the first place team in the Conference and I think they can keep going. And I think the Red Wings are a bit old and lacking in youthfulness (is that even a word?).

So in conclusion, I do believe that these series will be long be they may just kick the youth back in you when the team your rooting for scores in triple overtime, game seven.

I commented on Lizzie's Blog.

Every single April 16 NHL teams start out hoping for a chance to win the Stanley Cup, or for some teams just win a series. This year both of my teams that I usually cheer for, Toronto and Calgary, are out. So in this blog I’m going to predict what is going to happen in the playoffs, that’s right all the way thru to the Finals.

So let’s start in the East. The President Trophy (most points in the Regular Season) winning Washington Capitals are facing the 8^th placed Montreal Canadiens, I think that even thou with a 2-1-1 record each, Washington will come out on top in five or six games. I think this mainly because of their finess, intensity and all around, they are probably the most exciting team to watch. Oh ya, they’ve also got the Alexander Ovechkin.

For the 2^nd vs. 7^th Matchup, I believe that the New Jersey Devils will get upset by the Philadelphia Flyers in a six game series. I think that the Flyers will win because they have dominated the Devils every time they played them in the season ending with a 5-1-0 record against them.

In the 3 vs. 6, I think that the Boston Bruins will win a couple of early games, because of being hot coming into the playoffs, but then the Sabers will win it in a weird and wacky seven game series.

Now for the final series in the Eastern Conference First Round, I think that the 4^th seeded Pittsburgh Penguins will take the series in six games from the Ottawa Senators, falling behind at first but winning four straight quickly like the Bruins vs. Sabers series.

So there are my first round Eastern Conference Series picks for me, next week I will predict the Western Conference first rounds. I’m just going to come out and say it, I think that although the Eastern Conference will be cool to watch, I think that they will not win the Stanley Cup. Now I won’t reveal my winner just yet. Comment at the bottom please about my picks.

I commented on Brendan’s Blog this week.

Funny Bones

If you could please take two seconds of your day and do this simple experiment it would make my day. So roll up your sleeve and keep your arm strait while touching your elbow. Now feel that nerve? That is called your ‘funny bone’. Now technically that’s called your ulna nerve, but a lot of people think that it’s an actual bone. So I want to interest you in some interesting facts about it.

When you put your arm down on the table and have a feeling like pins and needles are getting stabbed into your fingers, what actual just happened is that your ulna is trapped between your bone and the overlying skin, pinching the nerve ending the blood flow to your fingers. But don’t you think that it’s funny that a nerve with a funny name is nicknamed a funny name while the bone right below it is the humerus (humorous). But that isn’t the only pun that is used almost every day. If it’s raining someday, somebody in the world will say, it’s raining cats and dogs outside.

So what I want people to remember most from my blog, is that no matter whether it’s raining cats and dogs, or you hit your funny bone, that those technically can’t happen (although it would be pretty cool to see dogs falling from the sky), they are pretty awesome sayings and you should use at least 10 everyday7 this week. Ya know what that’s a dare. I dare you to use 10 puns every day this week.

This week I commented on I Like Cake (aka Will's) Blog.