Christmas!

This year's holiday break has been very fun! I've gotten to ski at Snow Basin frequently, play with my cousins, go to the Mormon Tabernacle choir's Christmas concert with David Archuleta, and just enjoy the holiday cheer that comes with this most joyous time of the year.

One of my most favorite things about winter is the skiing. I have a season pass to Snow Basin, one of the best ski resorts in the world. So when school is out, I try to get on the slopes as much as possible. I have an awesome grandpa that also has a season pass, so I catch rides up to the resort with him and ski the rest of the day. Skiing is such a fun sport because of the freedom it provides, there are no rules or out of boundaries lines, so you can make your own way down the mountain. I also like to pretend I'm cool and know what I'm doing by going off the jumps. I don't like to go in the park, but I think it is really fun to go sailing of a ledge. But to be cool, you've got to yell something like "airtime" as you go off the jump, then your jump will be a lot more "sick".One new development in my ski life is that I got a new ski coat for Christmas, once again, I have to say that it is pretty "sick". It's a patterned brown sort of color, and it has a special pocket on the sleeve to put your season pass into.
My cousins usually come up during the holidays and it is always fun. Over the course of their  stay we have gotten pretty amazing at Mario Kart and Just Dance 2, we go skiing and have air soft wars. In these awesome air soft wars, we get all our high tech gear together and then head over to my grandma's back yard, she has a big yard with a lot of things to hide in, like the tree house or the barn. Today we had an airsoft war that ended with us dropping our guns and resorting to snow ball fights.
Another holiday tradition my family has is to go to the  Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert every year. They are always enjoyable and fun. This year David Archuleta came to sing with the choir, which was nice. He has a really great voice and sounded great with the choir. This concert always helps me get into this wonderful season a little but more. After the concert, my family and I went to Crown Burger, which was also fun.
I am blessed with a great family that is very musically talented. So every year on Christmas eve, we have a party where we have a musical program and do the nativity scene. This year I was the narrator. This party is also fun because of the time spent with my family. Christmas is a great time, and that combined with a great family, makes the holiday season one of my most favorite times of the year.

The Quest for the Golden Fleece Research Report

                                                                                                                                                            

                Did you ever wish that you had the help of Athena while doing your math test? How about having Zeus helping you make that shot in your basketball game? Many Heroes including Jason got this kind of assistance from the gods. The myth of Jason and The Quest for the Golden Fleece is the story of a Hero named Jason. This man was kept from his rightful throne in Iolcus, and, in order to gain it back, he must retrieve the Golden Fleece. After going on a long and hard journey on the sea, he finally returned to take what was his. The myth of Jason and The Quest for the Golden Fleece is similar to other myths in many ways. They are similar in that in these myths, people try to escape Oracles’ prophecies and can’t, monsters play prominent roles in both stories, and the Gods help our heroes on the way to victory.

                The myth of the Quest for the Golden Fleece is similar to other myths in that people try to escape the events foretold in prophecies, but cannot. When Jason was young, the evil ruler of Jason’s rightful throne, King Pelias, received a prophecy that someone in his court would kill him. In reaction to this, he killed everyone in his palace. Luckily, Jason was smuggled away and lived (Malam 6-7). At the end of the story, Jason ends up taking back his rightful throne from Pelias, who is killed by his own daughters (Malam 10 - 29). The same theme is followed in the myth of Persesus. In this myth, baby Perseus is also sent away to die due to a prophecy that he would kill his own grandfather. Perseus lives, but unfortunately, later in life, accidentally hits his grandfather with a discuss blown amiss by the wind and kills him (Skidmore “Perseus”). Thus we see that no mater how hard one tries, he cannot escape an Oracles’ Prophecy.  The myths of Jason and Perseus are also alike in that both heroes had to deal with ferocious monsters.

                Another way the myth of the Quest for the Golden Fleece is similar to other myths is the common theme of heroes, dripping in testosterone, taming or killing huge, ferocious monsters. In his quest for the Golden Fleece, Jason and his crew had to tame not only fire breathing bulls, but harpies, dragons, and an army of warriors sprouted out of the ground (Limke 28-29). Of course, every evil beast Jason and his men battle is sorely defeated. Heracles kills the one thousand headed hydra (Skidmore “Hercules”), Thesus defeats the half man-half bull Minotaur (Skidmore “Thesus”), and Odysseus stabs the one-eyed Cyclops in the eye with a fiery spear. One can always count on his ancient Greek heroes to come out on top. But without the help of some Gods or goddesses, these heroes could not have done what they did.

                The last way the myth of the Quest for the Golden Fleece is similar to other myths is the theme of heroes getting help from certain gods or goddesses. When Jason kindly helps an old woman cross a fast flowing river, he then finds out that the woman is actually the goddess Hera in disguise (Skidmore “Jason”). Luckily for Jason, Hera helps him throughout his quest. She even partners up with Aphrodite to make Medea, a beautiful enchantress, fall in love with Jason (Skidmore “Jason”). This proves to be very useful, as Medea helps Jason get the Golden Fleece from a huge dragon. This theme is also illustrated in the myth of the Odyssey, when Odysseus gets help from Athena throughout his voyages. Athena also helped Perseus by giving him her shield. Perseus used this shield to look at the reflection of Medusa, instead of looking directly at her (Skidmore “Perseus”). If he would’ve looked directly at Medusa, he would have been turned to stone. And, as all myths have an end, so must this essay. This brings us to the conclusion.

                Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece bears many similarities to other myths. Some of these similarities include, when characters try to stop prophecies from happening and fail, the theme of the taming of monstrous beasts, and stories of divine intervention in the lives of heroes. The epic story of Jason’s voyage will live on in the hearts of many a man. The question is, will that man remember how this myth fits into the massive web of mythology? We live in hope.

Letters About Literature Entry

Dear Mr. Potok,

             When I was first assigned to read The Chosen, I was somewhat skeptical about reading about two Jewish boys growing up in New York City.  However, after finishing the novel, my opinions are different from what they were before I read the book.  While turning the pages, I found many similarities between the characters and myself.  It also helped me understand more the meaning of true friendship and sacrifice.

             My family and I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as did many of my ancestors.  Where I live, the majority of people are of the same faith.  With so many good people, I am blessed with a great community. But elsewhere, there are many misconceptions about the Mormon faith.  Too many people in the world think that we are not Christian, or that we practice polygamy.  Both of these things are not true. While reading the chosen I found that Danny and I lived in similar conditions.  He lived in a family strong in their church, a church that is misunderstood worldwide.  He and I are also alike in that we are under a ton of pressure to follow the ways of our own religion.  If I were to chose to not to be a Mormon anymore, it would bring a lot of heartbreak to my family.  I love my religion and have a strong testimony of it, just like Danny and Reuven.

One thing that I have always liked to do is read to learn more about the world around me.  I enjoy reading material such as encyclopedias and atlases.  I found that Danny and I liked the same things.  I think it would be super fun to sit down with him and talk.

            While reading The Chosen, I understood more things about friendship than I had before.  I have some great friends that at one point in time I didn’t know very well; I have friends that I even once disliked.  The Chosen helped me feel more grateful for these friends and for friendship in general.  But then, when I read the ending of the book when Danny and Reuven have a parting of the ways, it left me with a lot to think about.  When I grow up I realize that some of my friends now might be too cool for me and pretend that they don’t know me.  This will be sad, but it will also bring new opportunities for me to make new friends.  It’s also sad how choices can break up a friendship.  If one of my friends started to do drugs or alcohol I wouldn’t want to be very good friends with him anymore.  I would still be nice to him, but if I kept hanging out with him, I might get into situations that I wouldn’t want to be in.  These are the reasons why I want to create great friendships now that I can keep forever.

            Thank you, Mr. Potok, for writing a great book that helped me not only understand more about the world around me, but about myself.

Sincerely,

                        J.R. Oldham 

           

Spies, Basketball, Tests, and Ebenezer Scrooge

This week was a pretty eventful week. I got to go to three different Junior High Basketball games three days in a row, I had some pretty hard tests in school, and I went to Hale Centre Theatre's production of  The Christmas Carol on Saturday.

One of the most fun things about being an SBO is the chance to go to all the sports games to cheer on our very own falcons. When you go to the away games, it can sometimes be more fun than home games because you can be crazier without anybody you know  seeing you. One thing that was super fun was a thing my fellow officer and I invented to pass the time before away games began. We hide our officer jackets in the bleachers and then, dressed in our street clothes, we wander the halls like we actually go to the school we are in. We say hello to people and pretend to try to open "our" locker. It's also very enjoyable to pretend that you are lost and are counting the numbers above the rooms. One girl asked us who we were and we told her we were new to the school and she believed us. To complete the disguise, we invented new names for ourselves, which I can't tell you because I'd have to kill you. And finally, after messing around in the halls, we go to the gym and sit on the opposing teams side and cheer for them for a while. I guess you could say that we're pretty amazing at blending in with the crowd and therefore awesome spies. Once we're back to our own side of the gym we cheer on our team to victory. And I say that truthfully because this week our falcons beat Kaysville Junior High for the first time in over a decade!! We even won it in a dramatic fashion, as big man Elijah Kletzli scored a buzzer beater layup that won the game! We won every game this week, and are going into the first round of the playoffs with a bye.

I was kind of stressed this week because I had several quizzes in several different classes. For instance, I had a hard test in math, a quiz in Geography on memorizing over 50 countries in Europe, and a mythology test in English class. Although all of these tests were hard I had fun on each and every one of them.

For my Christmas present from my grandpa and grandma they took me and a few of my more grown up cousins to see The Christmas Carol at Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake City. It was very enjoyable. All of the acting was superb. And the man who played scrooge was especially funny.

That's all for now! Thank you, goodnight!