Q's Characteristics

Q often goes back and forth between prideful arrogance and shame.

Q feels good when he accomplishes things such as winning a fight. By this time in the story of The Dinosaur by Italo Calvino, The species of dinosaurs which Q is has become extinct besides him. Q goes to live with a new species the New Ones. The New Ones do not treat Q fairly. Zahn tries to question or confront Q.

In summary, Q and one of the New Ones named Zahn. They fought over how Q was different from them. Q stood up to him because he was tired of people talking about him in bad ways. So Q challenged Zahn and won the fight and then Q was respected and looked more upon. Q then felt stronger and better.

This summary shows that after Q is prideful about winning the fight and proving to everyone else that he is capable of many things. I think that proving himself to the New Ones is a big step for Q. He is also full of proud because he is more respected now. This is important because as he gets more respect, he might turn more arrogant or will change.

Q is also sometimes shameful. In the story The Aquatic Uncle by Italo Calvino, Q feels embarrassed of his great uncle N’ba N’ga. Meanwhile in the story, Q introduces Lll to his great uncle. Lll is a female that Q likes. N’ba N’ga lives in the water while the others of the family live on the land. Q takes Lll to go meet his great uncle. In the following quote N’ba N’ga and Lll were conversating,

“I thought he would never stop.I huffed impatiently, I tried to interrupt him. But what did saucy Lll do? She encouraged him! ... I could have sunk into the ground from shame.”This quote shows that Q is embarrassed about his great uncle because he still lives in the water. Living in the water in that time was basically considered old school and Q does not like that N’ba N’ga is old school. This is important because he feels even more ashamed introducing him to someone he likes, and who would think his family are some losers including him just because his great uncle is old school.

Q in a few times is ashamed about being a dinosaur (or last dinosaur of his species). By this time into the story, Q’s species have all died out from battles, he is the only dinosaur of his kind left. The New Ones is a new kind of species that arises from somewhere else.  In this quote, one of the New Ones is drinking from a pond and Q drinks water next to her. They spoke for a while,

“...And as one does, when one doesn’t want to be observed, I kept my eyes lowered and coiled my tail, as if to hide it. It was such a strain that when, still smiling, she said good-bye and went on her way.” Also here is another quote, “They gave me a nickname: The Ugly One, because I was different from them, for no other reason.”

This quote shows that Q was embarrassed about being different from the New Ones because he wants to fit in with others, not to be made fun of. When they labeled him as Ugly One he felt even  worse than before because the New Ones are admitting that he is different which is not nice. This is important because Q now feels shameful he does not belong because they are different species.

If I Ruled The World

Today I remembered about a song that made me think about it a while back ago. The song is "If I Ruled The World" by Nas. This made me think about how everyone would have different rules or laws if they ruled the world. I think that this is an important subject because it is interesting to hear what others think, and to debate on what laws or rules they picked. For example, Nas stated in his first verse, 

Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassing 

Imagine going to court with no trial

Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters

No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters

Days are shorter, nights are colder

Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra

The world's hot my son got knocked evidentaly

It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually

Trooping out of state for a plate knowledge

of coke was cooked without the garbage we'd all have the top dollars

Imagine everybody flashing, fashion

Designer clothes, lacing your click up with diamond vogues

Your people holding dough, no parole

No rubbers, go in raw imagine law with no undercovers

Just some thoughts for the mind

I take a glimpse into time 

watch the blimp read "The World Is Mine"

This verse made think about many things. The main point in this verse is that Nas is stating how life would be different if he ruled the world. He wants others to visualize how life would be. In the first line he indicates that he would legalize marijuana so the police would not even bother to control that. I sort of agree with this because he brings up some good points. Like when he said,"It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually." This made me think about how some people do not want others here because of how they are. If it is either skin color, religion, personality, personal preferences.


If I ruled the world, I would make many different laws. One law that I would add is that graffiti is allowed, but not on private property that is being used. I am unsure about many other rules but I am sure about the graffiti. I know it is almost impossible to stop racism or violence, but if I could take that of others minds I would. I would also make sure that everyone has an equal chance of qualifying for something but I do not know how i would do that. This song is awesome, if you read this post you should check that song out.

10 words

integration
parameter
fundamental
entity
implication
derive
regulation
regime
revenue
validity

Response to Nawara's post

Here is a qoute that i can relate to from Nawara's blog,

When I think about school, I imagine homework, quizzes, breaks, gossip, etc. When I came to Alameda Science and Technology Institute, I learned that I was in a smaller environment and in an area that is full time work, work, work. When it was my first day of school, all I was thinking about was college. I felt like I was not in a high school where they have rallies, dances, and football games. I was in a community where we succeed in higher educational standards. As a freshman, I was scared. I felt like I was not going to succeed even though I was accepted, I did not feel like I was ready. While the year went on, I became to fully understand the requirements and expectations to succeed as an ASTI student. I felt more relaxed. As a result, teachers should console the students about future classes so they can arrange themselves to be successful.

I can really relate to this quote on the freshmen year. The first two weeks of high school were hard. The first days were about expectations from ASTI and the rules of ASTI. The hardest part of high school is it is very different from middle school, different teaching styles and more work. For example, my Modern World History class is very different from my History class from last year. High school also gives a lot of work. Compared to middle school it is a lot. Last year I only took about 1 hour for all my homework, and now I take about 3 hours or more to finish homework. It is hard to adapt to ASTI's ways, but I have to at least try.

My first month in ASTI has been pretty good. Like I said before, the first two weeks of school were for adapting. I am still trying to adapt, but after two weeks, I think that I have adapted a little. The work is a lot but I can keep up with it. One think about having a lot of homework, is that I am really busy on weekends which is why I do not turn in quality work that is assigned on weekends. Overall, ASTI is a good school with high expectations which iI will meet later on.

College Ready

“College ready” can be a complicated thing. For me, “college ready” means many things. It means to be responsible, independent, be able to work with others, and being tolerant (ethnicity, religion, etc.). Out of these, I think my main strength is being tolerant and accept others ways. I work very well with others; working with someone is my preferred thing. Accepting others is easy for me unless they disrespect my culture or me. Tolerance is important because in college there is a lot of diversity, and if you accept a person you will have a more peaceful time in college. In my opinion, I think I need to work on being more responsible and independence. I am sometimes responsible but mainly when there are possible consequences. I also need to learn how to be independent because I usually work with others. Being responsible is very important for college because no professor or parent is going to be watching over you. Independence is also important because in college you will have to manage your time and take care of yourself. “College ready” will clearly be understood in senior year of high school.

I believe that college is a very important step in life. College is really necessary for many things. If you want a great paying career or job, you need to go to college. In college you can see and experiment many classes to see in what class you want to major in. The college years really will change your life and give you many perspectives of different classes. For example, maybe in high school you hated Biology. In college you can easily change your mind. In college you get to learn more depending on what class you’re in. Some great things about college are that you only have classes some days and you get to choose what classes and what time. Another great thing about college is that you only have to apply for about 2 semesters which is half a year compared to high school and middle school which are about three fourths of a year. College is a necessary step or stage to be successful in life. 

Graffiti?

            Some people might say that urban art or “graffiti” is bad for the community and for people. I do not think that urban art is bad for any reason. Urban art is not necessarily destruction of property, I think of it as more of coloring or decorating the city. Most of the property being painted is not even being used. I agree that urban art should not be done on important places such as religious places, cemeteries, and so on.  In urban art, there are some rules.  Some rules are like: no tagging on churches or places of worship; no tagging cars or houses; no going over someone who is a lot better than you unless its beef; do not tag your personal property (except of course black books and such); no tagging over murals or memorials; and do not tag on schools.  The people who do not follow these rules are not considered writers, and those are the people that give urban art a bad name.

            Writers are in risk of many things. They could be arrested, jumped, robbed, or killed, but they still pursue to do what they like to do, paint. I think that is pretty determined to do what they do. Most people also say, “ Oh, what about gangs and violence in graffiti.”  In my opinion, urban art has nothing to do with gangs and violence. Gangs and violence should not even be under the category of urban art. As I said before, this is what gives urban art a bad name. For example, have you ever seen a mural with a gang sign or name on it drawn by the original writer, I don’t think so. Murals are about politics, comedy, nature, and so on, not about gangs or encouraging violence.

            Overall, urban art should not be seemed to be a bad thing for the community and for people. Of course urban art sometimes has its flaws for decisions of others, but not all urban art should be assumed to be bad. Finally, when you are on the freeway in traffic and you sight urban art, it catches your eye. It keeps you entertained, which is another reason for urban art. It is not only for the writers’ eyes, it is for everyone else to enjoy and appreciate urban art.