Quote

"Don't throw away your old shoes until you have got new ones."
                -Dutch Proverb

The meaning of this quote is to not get rid of something until you know you have a replacement, or another one to use. I agree with this quote, because you may think you don't need something, and then you get rid of it. But later on you are wishing you had kept it, because you don't have another. You should always think ahead, and make sure you absolutely don't need the item or items anymore before getting rid of them.

I don't recall having read something involving this quote, but I can relate to it (literally; it has to do with shoes). Last year I got new shoes, because my old ones were getting dirty. I threw the old ones away, because now I had new ones. But one day I forgot my new shoes in my gym locker, and I had volleyball practice after school. I suddenly found myself wishing I had kept my other shoes, no matter how dirty they had been. My mom finally decided to take me shopping for another pair of shoes to keep at home. True story.

This is an important thing to remember, because it will definitely help you sometime in life.

School Already?

It seems like it was just a few days ago that June 10th announced the end of the 2011-2012 school year. Us 7th graders were excited that we would rule the school as 8th graders, and the former 8th graders shivered at the thought of starting high school on September 4th. Now that summer has come and gone, it is time to get back into learning mode. September 4th has passed, and I, as an 8th grader, feel that it is nothing special that we are the oldest in the school.

Pandas

Author's Note: Don't even ask how I came up with the topic of pandas, because I have absolutely no idea. So....yeah.

Pandas
are fluffy
black and white
like a penguin
or a zebra
or a newspaper
which makes
me think
of a joke:

What's black
and white
and read
all over?
A newspaper!

Wait....
I thought
I was
talking about
pandas....
that just
shows you
how off topic
I can get
sometimes...
like right now.

Dark River

Dark, murky waters wash over me as I weep, clinging onto a fallen tree. I weep for all the things I loved that had been ripped from me and thrown into another world. My warm, salty tears feel like fire on my face as they fall into the black hole of the river.

Somewhere inside that black hole are all my childhood memories.

Somewhere inside that black hole lies all my happiness.

Now all that remains is an empty chasm of sorrow and hate.

I let myself be swept into the raging whirlpool of death, knowing that there is no more hope for me. I will be lost forever, but I do not care. I no longer have anything to live for.

Churros

 I love churros
because they are
so sweet and
chewy and sugary
with their doughy
centers and
crunchy outsides
They are heavenly

Love story

Author's Note: Mrs. Reagles made us write in the point of view of a person of the opposite gender. Even worse, she picked the age of the person, and we have to write about them falling in love. So I have to write from an eighteen year old guy's perspective.

      I slammed my locker shut and raced to French class, which was on the opposite side of the school. Glancing at one of the many clocks on the wall, I saw that it was only forty two seconds till the late bell rang. Picking up the pace, I ran the whole way to French.
      When I pulled open the door, I saw her staring at me. Her. The one girl I would die for. Aimee. With her beautiful, silky brown hair. Her funny, girly laugh. And those eyes. Hazel with just a little more blue than green.
     "Brian!" Madame Duval's voice snapped me back to reality. "Peux vous répondre à la question?" She asked (that means "Can you answer the question").
     "Umm....what was the question again?" I asked. She repeated whatever the question was, and I answered. For the rest of the class, I zoned out and thought about Aimee. I really have a huge crush on her, if you haven't already noticed. I can't wait to ask her out to prom, but I keep wondering if she might already have someone else in mind. Oh well, prom's like three months away so Aimee has that long to choose me to go to prom with her.

Poe Theme Essay

 Author's Note: This is a theme essay, about 2 of Poe's stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Masque of the Red Death.

     All of Edgar Allen Poe's stories have a similar theme: Death, blood, killing. A lot seem to take place in a dark room at midnight, and have something to do with hiding. These include The Tell-Tale Heart and The Masque of the Red Death.

      In The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator kills a man who haunts him with his "evil eye" while the man is sleeping. The narrator does this at midnight, which is a common theme, and is careful to leave no evidence. The room is dark, as usual. He hides all the body parts, which is another common theme, and tells the police that he is innocent. But after the police have done a thorough inspection, he gets a weird sensation in his chest, and he fesses up to the crime.

     The Masque of the Red Death is about a prince who holds a masquerade ball, and he decorates the rooms of his palace with different colors. The last room is painted black, to represent death, just like in the Tell-Tale Heart, where the narrator kills a man. Also in the last room, there is an ebony clock, and when it rings at midnight, a victim of the Red Death appears. The prince chases him to the black room, and when he finally catches up to him, he dies. The other guests come to investigate, and they, too die.

     As indicated by the summaries of these two stories, murdering and things happening at midnight are common in Poe's stories. Most have similar themes, and the narrator is usually the one who is murdered or the one who murders.