Blog Assignment #1

My name is Laura. I was born at Our Lady of the Lake. I have two brothers and one sister. I played volleyball third grade through eleventh grade. I have an amazing pup named Kaylee May. My summer was spectacular.

Family is a big deal. My oldest brother, Steven, and I are alike in many ways. We make the same exact facial expressions and we're on the same page with a lot of issues. My other brother, David, and I have the love for outdoors in common. Most of the time he can be pretty cool. My one and only sister, Leanne, is the best sister in the world. She's fun and all my friends love her. Her kids, Jamie and Micah, are my niece and nephew that I love to death.

One of the most important things I'll be missing this year is volleyball. Towards the beginning of summer it was on my mind constantly. Usually in the month of June we'd play summer volleyball games at Denham Springs High School. My desire to play only grew stronger towards the end of summer when school was about to start. Today, it felt really weird and different walking into the gym after not seeing the court for so long. Something's missing.

Kaylee May is the best dog in the world. She is so obedient and is easy to take places. She's very protective but she gets along with everybody. Most of my friends that come over to my house are used to her barking like crazy because they know she's just trying to be big and bad. Seriously though, she could lose some weight. Actually, she could lose a lot of weight. Trying to hold her is like working out.

This summer was amazing. Lauren, Lauryn, and I started it off right with a beach trip to Panama. One night Lauryn and I decided to lay on the beach until the sunrise. After we got home, I did a lot of swimming, tanning, and hanging out with family and friends. At the end of June my car was totaled but I managed to still get through the summer pretty well. A couple weeks ago my family took a really fun trip to Tennessee. First we stopped in Memphis, then Nashville, and then to our final destination in Gatlinburg. My favorite part about the trip was the white water rafting. It was so much fun!

It's weird being back in school but I'm glad to get it started. I'm excited to finally be a senior. I'm really happy that a lot of my good friends are still here. I think we'll make this year the best we possibly can.

Exam

How to ask for a girl's phone number.
Take chances. Keep it simple. Continue the conversation. Hint about your interest. Ask for the number.

How to bring a pet into a home with different pets.
Hold the new pet in your arms. Let them smell each other. Release the family pet first. Feed them in separate places for a few days.

How to remove a poop stain.
Clean off excess poop. Rinse the clothing. Use Tide. If stain is still there, repeat steps.

How to tell a funny story.
Use arm motions and facial expressions. Don't be obvious about the ending. Tell the funniest part at the climax. Don't laugh at your own story unless others are laughing with you.

How to deal with awkward silence
Relax and accept the awkward silence. Ask a question. Propose to do something fun or tell a joke.

How to stop your toddler from farting on people
Examine your toddler's diet. Catch him in the act. Do not laugh. Educate him. Save the victim. Make the toddler apologize.

How to know when to shut up.
accept that it takes two people to cause tension in a conversation. If you notice the other person's voice getting faster or high pitched, back off. If it continues, shut up. Wait for the other person to calm down.

How to skip school.
Learn to forge your parents name. Get up for school as normal. Instead of school, let the mall or movies be your destination. Hang out with friends after school.

How to be cool.
Just breathe. Look the part. Don't let people get to you. Be confident. Pick your friends wisely. Laugh at yourself.

How to do the Mexican hat dance.
Wear the right costume. Do a sequence of tapping and stamping. throw the hat to the ground. March in unison to a military tune.

How to kill the person sitting next to you.
Out of the corner of your eye, glance over at your prey. Take a couple deep breaths. Say, "Hey Caleb." As he turns your way jab the close pin into his heart. Run away.

The advice I'd give would be do give it your all. Choose stories that you think will be exciting to the people reading the newspaper. Don't just pick easy stories. Ask people what they would like to be in the paper. Always do your blogging. Since Ms. Melancon likes to assign 5 everyday, stay on top of it :)

Have fun with the rest of the newspaper staff. Get to know them and don't be shy. By the end of the year y'all will be like a little family. Always laugh at yourself. Don't take this class too seriously, it should be fun. But make sure to get all your work done right. Badger Ms. Melancon about her boo.

This summer I might be going to Florida. I might go with Lauryn and her family to a nice beach in Florida, like Destin or Panama City. We're supposed to go the soon after school lets out. During the last week of June, I'm going to Orange Beach with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, mom, and Lauryn. I'm really excited about that.

Two weeks after school lets out I'm having a crawfish boil for some of the juniors. Hopefully I'll have a few pool parties at my sisters for all my friends. I definitely plan on tanning and swimming a lot. I need to get a couple swimsuits before the weekend because I'm probably going swimming at a friend's house.

I plan on fishing this summer. I know I'll be sleeping in late. It'll be nice not having to wake up for school every morning or worry about the next test that's coming up. I definitely will be riding four wheelers with my friends. We might all bring ours to the Comite River by my house. I hope this summer is the best one yet!

Ode.

Sarah - First off, you da bomb! I've never met someone quite like you. You're very individualistic. Everything you wear works. I use the word "works" because some things you wear others couldn't pull off. I admire your sense of style :) The best thing about you though is your personality. Your humor is on a level far wittier than most. Sarah, you're awesome!

Tina - Tina Tina Tina. Just the thought of your face is refreshing hehe :) You're so sweet. That's probably something I should learn from you. You're funny and love to laugh. You always seem to be in a great mood. Sometimes you may have not noticed, but if I would be having a bad day I could just notice your way of being happy and it really made a difference. Tina, thanks for the smilesss.

Nathan - Oh where do I begin, lover? I thoroughly enjoyed our date to the baseball game. It was the best five minutes of my life. Thanks for the changing station. You were a great date! Such a charmer, you. haha :)

Chase - Cousinnn!! You're crazy and funny and inappropriate...and I love it! It's definitely not going to be the same around here next year. Who will look me up and down and whistle as I walk the halls? No one, or atleast no one as good as you. I love you cousinn. Ps - kissing cousins? I meannnn, you're cool bye! ;) hahaha

Lakeisha - Girl, you're silly. You make a lot of funny jokes and statements and I just enjoy laughing from all of them. You're down to earth and really easy to talk to. I liked when you liked the jokes I liked to tell. Hehe :) I'm going to miss making you laugh and vice versa.

Bria - You are a very interesting person. You think deep. You're really witty. You know a lot of stuff I don't. You write well. And all these things I didn't know until this year in journalism. I'm glad you were part of the staff. Stay sweet Bria! :)

Chelsey - Chelshayyy!! My baby! You're an amazing friend! I love our laughs together and we better continue to have them or..I kill you! So this is what you need to know: more double dates, more dates (just me and you =]) and more double dates again. I can't wait for summer! We're gonna make it fun! I love youuu!

Dear Diary

Today has been a pretty good day. Juniors got to check in at 10 so I missed chemistry and math. In American history, we just sat around so I just talked to Lauryn. In English Caleb and I had to write a paper together about our debate. I hope he has food poisoning and not a virus or I might get sick.

After English all the juniors went outside together to the field. Lauryn and I layed out our blankets together by a shady tree. We had a nice chat. I had pineapple, a sandwich, propel, and a cookie for lunch. Everyone else gathered in groups. But not me and Lauryn. We're loners. Haha not really.

Right now I'm writing this feature story. I don't want to be, of course. I want to sleep. I haven't had enough rest lately and I feel worn out. I'll probably sleep like a baby tonight. I need that to be able to be awake for math tomorrow and prepare for the test Wednesday.

I recently discovered you can edit pictures at Walmart. I wasn't sure if you could brighten the picture and change the color and everything but you can. I might log on to walmart.com and pay a little extra money and edit my pictures online. I need to have them done by tomorrow. Hopefully it won't cost much since I only need 2-4 pictures made.

Today after school Lauryn and I are going back to my house. I'm going to change into some comfy clothes and we're headed to the mall. She has to find a gift for Taylor. We might go to Perkins Rowe too if we have time. I need to go to Walgreens and Bass Pro to get Danny something for his birthday.

It's awesome to know that school is almost over. I'll miss a few of the seniors though, especially Chelsey. It's just going to be different not having her here next year. It's also weird knowing next year I'll be a senior, applying to colleges and everything. But for now, I'm just focusing on the end of this year and having an amazing summer.

My Year in Journalism

This year in journalism has been interesting, to say the least. Balancing research and revision for stories with school and um..a life! was rather difficult at first. It seemed a little hectic. But eventually we all got it down pat. Sometimes I had 3 stories and things got a little stressful but we all did what we had to do to present a pretty ay-okay paper.

I enjoyed our guest speakers. Our guest speaker from LSU gave me a bigger view on jounalism and a lot of information on what a student experiences going into a major dealing with journalism. She helped me see that while interesting, it's not for me. I also liked when Andre Moreau talked to us. I thoroughly enjoyed asking him the "crazy" questions. After finding out that he was gay, it made my question about his career helping him talk to the "ladies" even funnier. Hehe

Dear Mrs. Melancon, blogs are of the devil! And since they come from you I in no way am calling you the devil! But I'm just saying, blogs are evil. Without blogs we would have had so much more time to work on our stories. I guess in a way, and I mean a tiny way, I'm grateful for some of the blogs. It helped me learn to write and gather my ideas pretty fast.

The best part about our journalism class is the people. We had a great teacher and really creative writers. We gave the people what they wanted! Well, we tried. I strongly believe the staff really cared about what we put in the paper. Collectively, we were perfectionists and really did our best to be proud of our work. I think that came out in our stories.

The thing I'll miss the most about this class is the fun times. I mean c'mon, as I'm writing this Nathan is in the corner doing the stanky leg! Urban dictionary and Cleverbot made for good times. Although this year in this class I was scarred (Chase Barrett), it was still awesome. Everyone made it interesting and even funnier! I'm gonna miss journalism next year!

Iceland Volcano

Millions of tons of volcanic ash from the Iceland volcano eruption is coming to North America. The same ash that has grounded planes in Europe is heading our way. The cloud of ash has already reached Newfoundland. As of now, it doesn't look like a threat to North America. Some say the ash may only reach the end of Newfoundland.

So far 63,000 flights have been cancelled in Europe. Within the first 3 days the Institute of Earth Sciences rated the ash discharge at 750 tons per second. The ash plume had reached over 6 miles. It's now at about 1 mile. Thousands of people are still stranded at airports. Every once and a while a huge chunk of magma the size of a car will shoot out.

Eyjafjallajokull is the name of the volcano. So far there is no evidence of the volcano reawakening. The plume at its highest was 9 km. Another volcano called Katla may or may not be reawakened by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. Katla was by far more fierce than Eyjafjallajokull. Meteorologists are standing by to make sure neither Katla or Eyjafjallajokull erupt again.

The volcano is located under a glacial ice cap. This makes the magma cool faster. This causes explosions and plumes of grit that could damage plane engines. In Iceland, the winds have blown the ash to farmland. Farmers have been struggling to board up windows and secure cattle. All crops are probably ruined.