"Online Poker's Biggest Winner"

When I picture a millionaire, I picture a person in their fifties or sixties, dressed very nicely and retired from their long, hardworking life, but Daniel Cates changed that image for me. Daniel Cates is twenty one years old and is a multimillionaire from playing online poker. I think Daniel has become so accustomed to living with millions of dollars that he doesn't realize exactly how insane that is. After winning another $30,000 from playing, Cates apologized to Jay Kang by saying that he "would be playing bigger, but it's been a rough week". Cates is so used to playing with high prices that he feels bad if watching him win only $30,000 is "boring". Growing up, Cates played video games nonstop, which is why he is such a talented online poker player in his early twenties.

Even though the world makes being rich such a dream for most people, I think being that rich deteriorates a person's life, rather than builds it up. Having millions of dollars makes people selfish and their motives for anything they do in life are for their own self-seeking desires. Daniel Cates' case is very unusual because he hasn't won all of this money by working hard, or by figuring out a new creation in the science world, it is simply from being talented in an online game. Also, from making all of his money on an online game that he plays all day, what is he using that money for? His whole life is consumed with online poker; therefore, he has no time to have an actual life.

"High School Seniors Predict Their Future"

Seniors in high school have a lot to think about for their future; I find it interesting how some of the seniors view themselves ten years from now. One senior named Damion Dumas sees himself being a school counselor because he always shows people care. I think think it's nice how he still wants to go back to school after he will finally graduate from it! That seems crazy to me, to want to go back to school after being there for twelve years, but I guess that's how all teacher must be if they're willing to come back and work with students. I think it's kind of inronic how Jeremy Land wants to be an emergency medical technician, but he comes off as a very layed-back person who doesn't deal with emergency situations often. There is a wide variety of motives driving these senior high school students to their goals. Tri Li's motivation is fame and fortune to become a docter, whereas Tudel Riek just wants to make his parents proud of him. I think I identify with Andrew Benedict-Pillipp in that we are both undecided on where we will be in ten years. But for the motives behind their goal I side more with Zach Peterson because we both want to help people in whatever the career.
To be honnest I don't know where I will be in ten years. My hope is that I will be graduated from high school and college and I will have a job that I genuinely enjoy. Where ever I end up I want to make sure I don't become so consumed with the ways of the world and forget who I am and what I'm living for. I do enjoy working with kids so that is a possibility for my future career, but who knows.

Doctrine pages 305-345

Total for week: 100 pages

This chapter is called "Church: God Sends" and it's picture is a white dove flying in the air with rays shining off of it. The Bible verse that is quoted at the beginning of this chapter is from Ephesians 5:25 and it says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." I find this interesting that he refers to the church as a her. I found out a while ago that even though God is repetedly refered to as a him, he has no gender; therefore, he is neither a male nor a female. This clears some arguments that men are superior to women.

The very famous verse from Matthew 28:19-20 says that Jesus commanded us to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Song and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Many Christians kind of overlook this Bible verse and think that as long as they have a relationship with Jesus and that they're going to heaven, they don't have to worry about telling other people about it. The Bible clearly states that we have to live out our faith and bring others to know him so that his kindgom would be filled with people.

This chapter provided a long list of sins that Christians repetitively commit. This list included when a Christian refuses to obey civil laws, when a Christian sins against another Christian and it cannot be overlooked in love. This list also included when a Christian leaves the church to pursue sin or heresy, or when a Christian has repeatedly rejected counsel by a church leader. The list goes on and on of sins that many Christians tend to commit to.

Doctrine pages 279-304

This chapter is called "Resurrection: God Saves" and this is the nineth chapter in this book. I don't really understand what the picture at the beginning of this chapter is of. It looks like a dark cave with something wrapped up outside of it, but I'm not sure what it actually is.

It is very bluntly said that if Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead, and if Jesus is alive then Christianity is alive. If Christ was never risen from the dead by God then there would be no Christianity, but since God did raise him Christianity is in full effect.

This book clearly states that resurrection does not mean that everyone avoids hellish punishment in the end. Resurrection means that those who have a personal relationship with Christ will be accepted into heaven through God.

The object of worship changed after the resurrection because people are now worshiping Jesus for making a way for us to be in relation with God through him. Since one of the ten commandments forbids the worship of false Gods, it is impossible for Jews to simply worship Jesus as the one true God without the proof of Jesus' resurrection that they don't believe in.

Doctrine pages 245-278

This chapter was called "God Dies", and the picture at the beginning of this chapter is of Jesus hanging on the cross. A quote from the Bible from Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Even though every human sins God still sent his sinless son down to earth to die a brutal death for us. The fact that God did that on top of creating us and providing grace and forgiveness and countless other things to us completely blows me away.

When people hear of the Christian faith most people automatically think of Jesus and that he died for our sins, but a lot of people don't understand why a man dying is a good thing. This chapter provides good counterarguements and explainations to people who don't understand the goodness of Jesus's death.

This chapter had a very helpful chart to show the different beliefs of some Christians on unlimited and limited atonement. It showed that some people believe that we are born sinful, but guilty for our sins, and not Adams. Others believe that we are born sinless, but chose to follow Adam's poor example. Unlimited limited atonement and limited atonement both believe that we are born sinners guilty in Adam.

There are also debates about who Jesus died for. Some believe that Jesus took all the sin and pain of the world onto himself, but others believe Jesus lived only as an example for sinners. Some believe that Jesus died to provide payment for all, but only in a saving way for the elect. The elect are the people who will believe in him and who will eventually live in heaven with the father.

Another section of the chart was about heaven and hell. Some Christians believe that everyone will be saved and will go to heaven and that there is no eternal hell. Others believe taht those who live a Christlike life will be saved and go to heaven and those who reject goodness will go to hell. Most believe that God does not need to save anyone from hell, but chooses to save some.

I do

Recently my brother Christopher was married to my now sister-in-law Emily. The wedding took place in Durham, North Carolina at Duke college. Christopher and Emily both graduated from Duke so that place is very close to their hearts. The wedding was in the Duke chapel so it was very big. I thought this wedding was interesting because it was a Catholic wedding and I've never been to one before. I was a bridesmaid along with nine other girls, and we got to stand up front and watch the ceremony. Emily's dress was absolutely beautiful. I love brides on their wedding day because they are just so overflowing with joy and happiness and they look beautiful. After the wedding the reception was held at a museum just ten minutes away from the church. It was gorgeous in the museum; tables were set up to eat at and there was a buffet of food to choose from. Instead of a cake there was a variety of mini cupcakes to choose from, they were delicious. I am so happy for my brother and Emily, they will have a wonderful life together.

Let kids rule the school

The school that the students would create had some interesting ideas, but also had some ideas that would fail. One idea that the kids had for their school, Independent Project, was the idea that there would be no grades, only an evaluation of their classmates at the end of each semester. I think this idea would not work very well because some students might just make a pact that they would only say good things about eachother so that they would both succeed in that class, even if they didn't deserve it. They would also split the term between September and January in half and in the first term they would learn about the natural social world and they would answer questions about it. During the second half they would choose eight books to read in eight weeks. This sounds a little bit like what we do in etymology except it only has to be one hundred to one hundred and fifty pages, but we also have to blog every week. Throughout the course of the year students would learn certain math skills and also learn how to cook or play piano. Then at the end of the year all of the students would perform their skill that they learned for the entire school. I think if this were a real school it would work effectively for a while, but sooner or later the students would start taking advantage of the fact that they can have the power to help other succeed through cheating on their evaluations. On the other hand I do like the idea that learning a certain skill would be incorporated in the school ciriculum. Some students learn how to play the piano or learn another skill outside of school, but if more students were able to learn in school then more students would figure out if they have an aficionado for a certain activity. Overall I think most aspects of the school would be a success and would help students make it through their high school career, but I think that some parts of the ciriculum would be taken advantage of.

Frankenstein pages 43-76

Total for week: 102

The letter that Elizabeth writes to Victor expressed her concern for his sickness and attempted to encourage him to write to his family. She also says that Justine Moritz who is a girl who used to live with victor's family, came back to his house after the death of his mother. Later Victor introduces Henry to the professors, which is painful for him because it brings baack symptoms of his illness. Victor then decides to return to Geneva and wait for his father's letter to reveal the date he is leaving. At the end of this chapter, Victor and Henry wander around the country and enjoy the beauties of nature.

In the next chapter, Victor recieves a letter from his father that says his younger brother, William, was murdered. After hearing this news Victor rushed to Geneva, but when he got there he found that the gates were shut so he decided to roam the woods and outskirts of the town. He wandered around where his brother was murdered and found his monster that he created creeping around; Victor was positive that his monster killed his brother. When Victor returns home the next day he finds out that Justine has been accussed of the murdering of his brother. A servant found a picture of Caroline Frankenstein in Justine's pocket which was last seen in William's possession.

In hopes to gain salvation, Justine confesses to the crime. After her confession she tells Elizabeth and Victor that she is innocent. They kept quiet about the secret, but sadly Justine was excecuted for her confession of crime. Victor becomes extremely guilty because his creation killed two of his family members now.

I can't even imagine the guild Victor must feel that his creationn killed his own family members. I'm wondering if he is going to admit this fact to other people or if he is just going to keep it quiet and live with the guilt.

Frankenstein pages 17-42

This reading includes chapters 1 through 5 of "Frankenstein". Robert Walton finds out that the stranger's name is victor Frankenstein, and he tells his life story, which includes his background, birth, early childhood, and his father and mother. Walton then goes ahead and describes his childhood and life to Victor, feeling a connection with his stories. Then the novel flashs back to Victor's childhood and we see a look at his early life.

Victor grew up with a close grew of friends and was very happy with his life. Then as he became a teenager he became fascinated by nature and the mysteries of it. He witnessed a terrible storm where lightening struck a tree near his house. He was blown away by how the strange light force in the sky was able to destroy a tree. Then a natural philosepher helps his family describe to him the nature of electricity.

When Victor was seventeen he left his family to attend the University at Inglostadt. Just before he leaves, his mother catches the scarlet fever and while on her deathbed begs that Victor marry one of his good friends named Elizabeth. He still went with his original plan to attend the university and while studying there was convinced that he wants to keep studying sciences. Victor is fascinated with the creation of life and the destruction of it. He spends all of his time to focus on his studies and forgets about his social life and his family back home. Secretly, Victor begins building this creature in the privacy of his own apartment. He soon becomes lonely and obsessed with the creating of his new creature. Later on he finally finishes his creation and brings it to life. He is horrified with the disgusting look of the creature. He finds himself having nightmares about his dead mother and Elizabeth. The monster of a creature came into his room when Victor was trying to sleep, and hovered over his bed. Victor ran outside pacing back and forth when he sees his old friend Henry Clerval. Seeing his old friend was a breath of fresh air for Victor, but he was still weakened by his months of hard work creating the creature that he developed a nervous fever that lasted for months. Henry nursed him back to health and then Victor recieved a letter from Elizabeth.

I think it's so crazy how someone can go from being a social and family fun guy to completely isolating himself from everything except for his creation of a monster. It shows that anyone can become so obsessed with something that they forget what the other part of their lives are about. I'm really interested to find out what the letter from Elizabeth says and how it will affect Victor and his creature he created.

Spellbound

It's very interesting to observe how the participants in the spelling bee prepare and act during their spelling bees, but rather it's more interesting to me to see how the parents of the students act. Some of the parents were very set on their child winning and doing well in the competition, and other parents were more relaxed about their child's preparations for the bee.

Two opposite parents that I noticed were Neil's father and Ashley's mother. The two parents were in the same situation having a child who participates in spelling bees, but they have very different methods in how they coach or react to their child's strategies.

Neil's father is a very driven man. He coaches his son day and night in hopes that he would be the proud father of his successful son. He dresses proper, and shows off his elegant house to show the status of his wealth. There is no doubt that Neil's father is extremely proud of his son's accomplishments, but he always wants more out of his son. He obsessively drills his son while he studies words for his upcoming spelling bees. He shares his method of work to the camera, which shows how motivated he is to keep is son on track for a clean win in the bee. Some of his flaws are his arrogance and his pride. These two traits show through his personaliy even when he isn't talking about the spelling bee.

Ashley's mother on the other hand has a more relaxed outlook on her daughter's activities in the spelling bee. Although Ashley's mother wants her daughter to be succsessful in the spelling bee, she isn't as brainwashed as Neil's father in comsuming her life in the bee. Ashley seems driven enough on her own to study and succeed in the spelling bee so her mother feels that she doesn't need to put even more pressure on her to win.

Frankenstein pages vii-16 (42 pages)

In this reading I read: the introduction, the author's introduction, and the preface. This was a lot of information to take in at once, throughout these pages there was a lot of background information. I'm guessing this information will be important to know through the rest of my reading or else the author probably wouldn't have put this in the book.

The author, Mary Shelley, starts off saying that this novel was started during a vacation in the Swiss Alps. This just gives a little background on the writting of the novel and the setting of what the author was going through during the creation of this book. The actual book starts off with four letters sent from Robert Walton who is on a ship travelling to the north pole. The letters are written to his sister, Margaret Saville. The first letter states that Robert is on a mission to travel to the Pacific Ocean. In the second letter Robert shares his loneliness he feels on his ship. He reveals his "love for the marvellous" as he puts it, which shows his romantic side. The shortest of the four letters is the third letter; in this letter Walton tells his sister that he loves her genuinely and that he has full confidence in his trip ahead of him. In the last of the four letters the ship encounters large sheets of ice as they make their way through the ocean. They spotted a sledge guided by a large creature only a mile and a half away. The next day the men find out that the sledge was being pulled by dogs and led by a man. All but one of the dogs were dead, but the man was barely alive. The ship took care of the man and nursed him back to health, and eventually Robert and the man become friends. The man begins to tell Robert an interesting story.

Robert Walton seems like a very perplexing character to me. The fact that he wasn't as interested in the man at first as the other crew mates were makes me wonder about him. He seems like a layed back person yet at the same time seems very adventurous. Anyone who is willing to travel across the Pacific Ocean is pretty courageous and adenturous to me.

Claim Paragraph

The unadorned, yet seemingly complex style that John Ashbery presents in his writing of, “At North Farm,” helps paint a picture of marvel and uneasiness. In the beginning of this poem Ashbery creates a feeling of anxiety and fear when he says, “Somewhere someone is travelling furiously toward you”. In the next stanza, he moves on and says, “Hardly anything grows here, yet the granaries are bursting with meal”, which is an amusing paradox. It generates a sense of wonder in that if hardly anything grows, then how are the granaries still full? In this dictum the speaker alludes to a force that is greater than ourselves that provides for us. He also gives more examples such as “The sacs of meal piled to the rafters,” and “the streams run with sweetness, fattening fish” to emphasis the fullness of nature. This poem is ends with a puzzling question that could have many possible answers. He asks, “Is it enough that we think of him sometimes”, which is almost trying to make the reader feel guilty in a way, and implies that we must think of “him” more than just sometimes. The most perplexing part of this poem is how the speaker ends that question with “sometimes and always, with mixed feelings”. The speaker’s thought toward other humans is that we are ambivalent and modulated in our feelings.