Photoshop Lesson #1

See How Easy it is to Fool a King...

      Montesinos was a very smart man.   He was a monk and preached sermons at the church every Sunday.  At one of his sermons, all of a sudden he started talking about how the Indians shouldn't be killed or be made slaves.  Everybody got really angry at him for thinking like that, and came to him and told him to preach another sermon and apologize.  On Sunday, he basically started preaching about the same thing, about why the Indians shouldn't be slaves because they were people just like the Spaniards  and they were starving to death.. 

     Columbus' son sent the King a letter about Montesinos. The King ordered the head of the Dominicans in Spain to come to him.  He wanted Montesinos to be stopped.  Montesinos had fooled the King because in Santo Domingo, he and the other Dominicans were very poor and only had things like old blankets and sparse clothing.  They wanted more, and knew that if they could go back to Spain, they could get that.  So they fooled the King into ordering them to go back to Spain.

Encyclopedia Entries # 3

Yellow:
When I was little, I used to hate the color yellow.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I just didn't like it as much as other colors.  I don't think it looked that good on me either.  Nowadays, I don't hate yellow, but it's just not my favorite.  Maybe someday I will end up loving it, but that day is not today.

Weather:
I love the sun and heat, maybe because I used to live in Texas and got used to it.  It was really nice this summer because it was hot out a lot.  Now it's gonna get colder, foggier, and rainier, though, and I'm not looking forward to it.  I think heat is better than cold almost any day.  I do say almost, though, because when you're in Redding waiting outside the gates of their water park, you wish it could be snowing. The only bad thing about heat is when it's giving you a sunburn.

Spelling:
Spelling is one thing that comes naturally to me.  I don't know why, but it's always been really easy for me to spell.  If I don't know the word, I will probably get it wrong when trying to spell it, but after I look at it for the first time, it's pretty much in my brain from then on.  Sometimes spelling makes me wish I spoke a different language though, because English is the only language with a bunch of exceptions and rules.

A Poem for Two Voices (by Sierra and Harlyn)

Each Other

Morning Girl	Together	Star Boy
I enjoy the early mornings		I enjoy the starry nights
	We both see the beauty in our surroundings
I prefer silence and concentration		I like noise and chaos
	We both like to have time alone
I would like to have a baby sister		I would rather have a baby brother or a parrot
	We both lost a new member of the family
I know who I am and what I want to be		I’m learning about myself and who I am
	We are both true to our names
I wish Star boy would learn the value of silence		I wish Morning girl could learn my kind of fun
	We both want the other to be more like us
I wouldn't be who I am without Star boy		I wouldn't either
	We need each other

Morning Girl Response

     I really enjoyed reading the book Morning Girl, by Michael Dorris.  It was interesting how Dorris was able to describe the Taino's everyday life, and to make it seem like you were one of them, instead of Columbus' point of view like you would usually find when reading a book in that time period.  It made me question Columbus, and his actions. Is it his fault for wanting to take some of the Tainos for slaves and gain control over them, or does he just think that because of the society he was raised in?
     Also, I liked how Dorris came up with the idea of the Taino's spirituality with the tree.  Did they actually have religion, unlike what Columbus claimed?  We don't know, because Columbus was too ignorant and trying to impress the queen to find out.
     My life is sort of similar to the Taino's because I like to go out into the ocean a lot, even though it's not warm,  I help out my family, and I feel like my name is a part of me.

Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life #2

Humor:

I love jokes and all things funny.  Anyone who can make me laugh is a friend.  I also like to solve riddles and puzzles, but if anything funny happens, I’ll probably be in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Homework:
Okay, so of course nobody likes homework, myself included.  My theory is that students should only have to do homework if they need the extra practice, or don't understand the lesson.  It would probably be better, at least for me, because then I could focus on the subjects I don't understand as well.

Books:
I love reading.  Some people don't like it (like my brother) but I do.  My favorite genre is sci-fi because I like to read about things in the future, especially about technology.  I also like fantasy, and realistic fiction.

Movies Made After Books:
I hate how movies don't follow the books they were made after, with few exceptions.  They would be so much better if they followed it.  I just don't like it when it's different, because it's different than what you're expecting so you think "What! This isn't supposed to happen!" I did hear from Harlyn that the movie Mortal Instruments, City of Bones follows the book pretty well though...

Personal Space Response

A Day With My Cats

     I opened the door to the pet’s room, wanting to read while watching my three cats.  I looked over to my left after entering, and saw Sugar on her brown fluffy circular bed, on top of the big grey blanket all of my cats beds were on.  Sugar was a three month old grey tabby, and was really playful when she wasn't tired.  

    Maverick, West’s cat, who was five months old and a black tabby, was sitting on the windowsill, watching the birds outside at the bird feeder on my right.  A cool breeze came from the open window, and felt good in the slightly stuffy room.  I sat down in the purple lawn chair we kept in there by the window, and caught sight of Sunny coming out of the big blue litter box by the opposite wall, which had another window, showing our driveway and silver minivan.

    I pulled Maverick onto my lap and saw Sugar using the scratching post close to her bed.  It acted like their best friend; they loved to use it, especially because when they scratched it, they could smell the sweet, savory smell of catnip which was sprinkled on it.

    Sugar then drank some water from our self filling water bowl, and ate out of her bowl.  She had a blue plastic one, Sunny’s was clear pyrex, and Maverick’s was white with goldfish all over it.  
    I read my book awhile, while my kitties played with their toys and play fought, and then went out and left them to their playing.

My Nature Name

My name, based on my personality, would probably something like Canary.  I really like to listen to music, and canaries sing, which I like to do too.  Canaries are also really colorful, and have a lot of green, which is one of my favorite colors.  Another name could be Sun Girl, because I love the sun and the heat during the summer.  Maybe one other could be just Music Girl?