We are the Knights (that’s pronounced phonetically - cuh-nig-its - as of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Who Say Cyclic, a group of High School students, all of whom attended 6thgrade at Challenger School. At Challenger, we each gained not only a respect of the English language but also the want to change the world. Our noble mission is to improve America, one step at a time – primarily by improving the U.S.’s tongue and correcting false ideas about how its government functions. To learn more, please visit our website at www.cuhnigits.org.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Long time no... nothing!!!
HELLO FELLOW KNIGHTS!!!! IT HAS BEEN AGES, AND I MISS YOU ALL! >.<
Hahaha.
It really has been too long. How are you all doing? How is life? Is anything hard for you to handle? Are you happy? What is your favorite food?
I've decided to take up blogging again because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. ^_^ I've started posting on my other blog, Where the Wind Blows, too. You guys should come and play. I'm hoping it will turn into a place where friends can connect with and support each other.
I hope you are all doing amazingly, amazingly awesome (I am older now, so I must add another "amazingly" to make the phrase sound more mature), and please post back soon! Love,
Sunflower/Mira/The Illogical Jester
Hahaha.
It really has been too long. How are you all doing? How is life? Is anything hard for you to handle? Are you happy? What is your favorite food?
I've decided to take up blogging again because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. ^_^ I've started posting on my other blog, Where the Wind Blows, too. You guys should come and play. I'm hoping it will turn into a place where friends can connect with and support each other.
I hope you are all doing amazingly, amazingly awesome (I am older now, so I must add another "amazingly" to make the phrase sound more mature), and please post back soon! Love,
Sunflower/Mira/The Illogical Jester
Sunday, June 9, 2013
My Inner Author.
I just finished reading a writing reference book called You Can Write a Novel by James V. Smith, Jr. and it is the single most useful book about writing that I have ever read. In case you are just as in love with writing as I am, I want to share this cool feature Word has that this book told me about. If you go to Word --> Options --> Proofing, there should be a category called "When correcting spelling and grammar in Word" and there will be an unchecked check box at the bottom of the list called "Show readability statistics." Click it, and click Okay. Then, while viewing your document, go to the "Review" tab and find "Spelling and Grammar." When you click that, it will check your writing for fragments and other annoying things, and at the end it will come up with a window with your readability stats. It will look something like this:
Got it? Cool. It's cool. If you check these stats for some bestselling books, you will see low numbers for all the averages and readability except the penultimate stat (that one's out of 100 and you want it to be high - aim for at least 80. I need to work on that one for this piece.). The last one is out of 12 and you want it to be below six, so mine's okay right there.
Anyway, it's a great tool for all kinds of writing. I'm working on my essay for the Common Application and it looks like this:
Eek. Lots of work to be done. :) So what do you do to get better stats? Short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. That should help. Try it and see if your stats improve. If they don't... then read You Can Write a Novel.
Look, here are the readability stats for this post! (Can you tell how much I love this feature?!?)
Anyway, yeah. :)
Ciao for now,
Sol
Friday, April 26, 2013
Long Time No Blog.
*Pfpwoooff*
*Blows metaphorical dust off of this old blog*
Hey y'all.
Life.
And colors! My newly discovered favorite blogging tool. :)
So... life.
I basically haven't been on this blog since the beginning of junior year, and now the year's almost over!! Crazy. So, AP exams are coming up... I believe we're all in APUSH? Good luck all :)
Guess what? In September of NEXT YEAR we will all be freshmen in COLLEGE.
COLLEGE.
Waah. In-SANE.
Umm, that's all I can think of to say right now. Anyway, KBO and be amazing!!!
Banana cream pie,
Sol
PS. MIRA! I totally forgot to wish you happy birthday on your birthday! Well, happy late birthday and happy being an "adult minus one" as one of my Maeser friends puts it :) or "one year til you can go to jail!" as another puts it. :) :) :) You're really the cat's meow!!
*Blows metaphorical dust off of this old blog*
Hey y'all.
Life.
And colors! My newly discovered favorite blogging tool. :)
So... life.
I basically haven't been on this blog since the beginning of junior year, and now the year's almost over!! Crazy. So, AP exams are coming up... I believe we're all in APUSH? Good luck all :)
Guess what? In September of NEXT YEAR we will all be freshmen in COLLEGE.
COLLEGE.
Waah. In-SANE.
Umm, that's all I can think of to say right now. Anyway, KBO and be amazing!!!
Banana cream pie,
Sol
PS. MIRA! I totally forgot to wish you happy birthday on your birthday! Well, happy late birthday and happy being an "adult minus one" as one of my Maeser friends puts it :) or "one year til you can go to jail!" as another puts it. :) :) :) You're really the cat's meow!!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Colleges.
So. I did a lot of college-checking-out on My Trip, it was pretty intense! Here I'll give my best description of the five I toured. If you are still interested in any of them, I recommend College Board for some great information. Just so you know, all of these are small liberal arts colleges (all around 1700 undergrads).
COLBY COLLEGE
Location, if this is important to you: It's kind of in the middle of nowhere up in Maine. No big cities around. Isolated, for better or for worse. But it's in the middle of Maine, which means lots of outdoor opportunities like hiking and skiing.
Campus, if this is important to you: The campus isn't huge and it's open. I found it kinda sparse, not a whole lot of trees or anything. The buildings are all old - pretty, but you know.
Academics, I hope this is important to you :): The structure of their schoolyear is 4:1:4, which means you take four classes in the fall and four in the spring with January interrupting it with one short term (aka, Winterim. They call it "Jan Plan." It's pretty much exactly the same.). There are lots of requirements for classes you need to take, but this is because they want you being open to all disciplines. So they'll have you, say, take any one Visual Arts class and any one Physical Sciences class in addition to whatever requirements you need for your major. As with every college I visited, classes are writing and discussion based. On my tour, the guide emphasized the support system at Colby- from the time you get there, you are surrounded by counselors and advisers and whatnot who are there to help you make your schedule and deal with the transition to college life and all that.
Student body (This is kinda my pet peeve on summer college tours - there aren't actually students on campus so you don't know what they're like. I always try to get a feel for it though... and it's hard.): Colby is a bad example because it's one of the ones I'm least clear on as far as student body goes. I guess they're just your typical students. :/ Yeah sorry.
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Location: It's about an hour south of Colby, in the awesome town of Brunswick. It's also about ten minutes away from my uncle's house, which is important to me, because it would be nice to have a support network while I'm 2500 miles from home! It's also practically right on the ocean, which is awesome. Of all the colleges I visited, this one has the best location for me. And again, it's Maine - lots of hiking and biking and stuff.
Campus: The campus is gorgeous! Lots of trees, some old buildings and some new buildings. Plus an underground tunnel under the library :) The campus is a bit bigger than Colby's. Plus since it's on the ocean (and owns some islands) there are ample opportunities for marine biology study, if that's your kind of thing. Plus their athletics building has a huge indoor rock climbing wall.
Academics: It has a normal semester calendar - no Winterim - and, as usual, the classes are small, writing-intensive, and discussion based. Bowdoin's claim to fame, I guess, is its principle of "The Common Good" which means that Bowdoin tries to maintain a good relationship with its community and constantly has students involved in volunteer work and anything else that benefits the community. They've also go the "Bowdoin Outing Club" that gives students the opportunity to do stuff in the wilderness whenever they want. Hiking, biking, rock-climbing, kayaking, etc.
Student body: Oh yeah, and a disclaimer: when you go to tour a college, their job is to sell it to you. Which means they shower upon you booklets with glossy pictures of happy students and whatnot. Bowdoin did a better job of this than Colby, so I have a better - but maybe more idealistic - view of their students. One of their booklets had a list "50 things to do before you graduate" that helped me find out what it might be like there. The list included things like "Eat at a professor's house" and I thought that was pretty cool. So my general impression of Bowdoin students: they care about academics but they don't let them get in the way of experiencing the outdoors. They want to give back to their community. Etc. Yep.
DARTMOUTH
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire-- Which is an excellent little college town, but seriously in the middle of nowhere. Which is probably okay for Dartmouth, since it seemed like academics were the paramount thing. All in all, my least fave location. :/
Campus: It's very nice. Again with the old buildings, a nice quad with huge trees and all that. The library is in-CRED-ible and huge. Disclaimer: I couldn't go on the actual tour for Dartmouth, so we just wandered around with a map so we could hit the main buildings. But they only let official tours go in many of the buildings, so I don't know what the dorms are like or anything. Sorry. I regret it too. The science building looked impressive, and since it's an Ivy League I know the labs and everything will be phenomenal.
Academics: Let me say this again... it's an Ivy League. Lots of funding, they've been the best ever since they were founded, they know how to produce amazing people, and you're around other people for whom academics rule. They have something called "The Dartmouth Plan" that lets you customize your schedule, too - lots of opportunities for study abroad and internships and stuff with actual research companies and all that. Yep, opportunities and resources stood out to me definitely. Also, sophomores have a mandatory summer semester before their junior year. JSYK.
Student body: Focused. Motivated. Outstanding. I read somewhere once that while the workload at Dartmouth is heavy, it's not all-consuming. So I guess they have time for other stuff- I just don't know what that stuff is. Dartmouth, surprisingly, didn't really shower me with propaganda and glossy pictures about how happy their students are. So I don't have even a biased picture of life there. Even their website doesn't have much. So... academics.
NEXT UP, Amherst College. Their tour was the best, and their tour guides were the best! Find out why next time on Colleges.
COLBY COLLEGE
Location, if this is important to you: It's kind of in the middle of nowhere up in Maine. No big cities around. Isolated, for better or for worse. But it's in the middle of Maine, which means lots of outdoor opportunities like hiking and skiing.
Campus, if this is important to you: The campus isn't huge and it's open. I found it kinda sparse, not a whole lot of trees or anything. The buildings are all old - pretty, but you know.
Academics, I hope this is important to you :): The structure of their schoolyear is 4:1:4, which means you take four classes in the fall and four in the spring with January interrupting it with one short term (aka, Winterim. They call it "Jan Plan." It's pretty much exactly the same.). There are lots of requirements for classes you need to take, but this is because they want you being open to all disciplines. So they'll have you, say, take any one Visual Arts class and any one Physical Sciences class in addition to whatever requirements you need for your major. As with every college I visited, classes are writing and discussion based. On my tour, the guide emphasized the support system at Colby- from the time you get there, you are surrounded by counselors and advisers and whatnot who are there to help you make your schedule and deal with the transition to college life and all that.
Student body (This is kinda my pet peeve on summer college tours - there aren't actually students on campus so you don't know what they're like. I always try to get a feel for it though... and it's hard.): Colby is a bad example because it's one of the ones I'm least clear on as far as student body goes. I guess they're just your typical students. :/ Yeah sorry.
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Location: It's about an hour south of Colby, in the awesome town of Brunswick. It's also about ten minutes away from my uncle's house, which is important to me, because it would be nice to have a support network while I'm 2500 miles from home! It's also practically right on the ocean, which is awesome. Of all the colleges I visited, this one has the best location for me. And again, it's Maine - lots of hiking and biking and stuff.
Campus: The campus is gorgeous! Lots of trees, some old buildings and some new buildings. Plus an underground tunnel under the library :) The campus is a bit bigger than Colby's. Plus since it's on the ocean (and owns some islands) there are ample opportunities for marine biology study, if that's your kind of thing. Plus their athletics building has a huge indoor rock climbing wall.
Academics: It has a normal semester calendar - no Winterim - and, as usual, the classes are small, writing-intensive, and discussion based. Bowdoin's claim to fame, I guess, is its principle of "The Common Good" which means that Bowdoin tries to maintain a good relationship with its community and constantly has students involved in volunteer work and anything else that benefits the community. They've also go the "Bowdoin Outing Club" that gives students the opportunity to do stuff in the wilderness whenever they want. Hiking, biking, rock-climbing, kayaking, etc.
Student body: Oh yeah, and a disclaimer: when you go to tour a college, their job is to sell it to you. Which means they shower upon you booklets with glossy pictures of happy students and whatnot. Bowdoin did a better job of this than Colby, so I have a better - but maybe more idealistic - view of their students. One of their booklets had a list "50 things to do before you graduate" that helped me find out what it might be like there. The list included things like "Eat at a professor's house" and I thought that was pretty cool. So my general impression of Bowdoin students: they care about academics but they don't let them get in the way of experiencing the outdoors. They want to give back to their community. Etc. Yep.
DARTMOUTH
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire-- Which is an excellent little college town, but seriously in the middle of nowhere. Which is probably okay for Dartmouth, since it seemed like academics were the paramount thing. All in all, my least fave location. :/
Campus: It's very nice. Again with the old buildings, a nice quad with huge trees and all that. The library is in-CRED-ible and huge. Disclaimer: I couldn't go on the actual tour for Dartmouth, so we just wandered around with a map so we could hit the main buildings. But they only let official tours go in many of the buildings, so I don't know what the dorms are like or anything. Sorry. I regret it too. The science building looked impressive, and since it's an Ivy League I know the labs and everything will be phenomenal.
Academics: Let me say this again... it's an Ivy League. Lots of funding, they've been the best ever since they were founded, they know how to produce amazing people, and you're around other people for whom academics rule. They have something called "The Dartmouth Plan" that lets you customize your schedule, too - lots of opportunities for study abroad and internships and stuff with actual research companies and all that. Yep, opportunities and resources stood out to me definitely. Also, sophomores have a mandatory summer semester before their junior year. JSYK.
Student body: Focused. Motivated. Outstanding. I read somewhere once that while the workload at Dartmouth is heavy, it's not all-consuming. So I guess they have time for other stuff- I just don't know what that stuff is. Dartmouth, surprisingly, didn't really shower me with propaganda and glossy pictures about how happy their students are. So I don't have even a biased picture of life there. Even their website doesn't have much. So... academics.
NEXT UP, Amherst College. Their tour was the best, and their tour guides were the best! Find out why next time on Colleges.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Heya Chillins.
Life-life-life, am I right? I hope to catch you all before we all dive into the daunting junior year of high school. I know we won't be on the blog much once school starts - and that's only a week from now, for me - so I'm just putting this out here and you can respond to it whenever. Hopefully before long we will have a collection of everyone's answers and we will all be happy keeping in touch! Answer whichever ones you feel like. No pressure. Just want all y'all to say something :)
1. HOW'S LIFE?!??!?! What did you do this summer? What are your plans for the coming year?
2. What classes will you be taking this year? What are you doing outside of school?
3. Any new discoveries for good books/movies/etc.?
4. Newly discovered simple pleasures or things that make you smile?
5. Soap boxes? Rants? Inspirational messages?
6. Goals for the coming school year?
7. What are you excited about? For this year, the next several years, life in general?
I look forward to hearing from you!! :)
Singin' in the rain (metaphorically),
Sol
1. HOW'S LIFE?!??!?! What did you do this summer? What are your plans for the coming year?
2. What classes will you be taking this year? What are you doing outside of school?
3. Any new discoveries for good books/movies/etc.?
4. Newly discovered simple pleasures or things that make you smile?
5. Soap boxes? Rants? Inspirational messages?
6. Goals for the coming school year?
7. What are you excited about? For this year, the next several years, life in general?
I look forward to hearing from you!! :)
Singin' in the rain (metaphorically),
Sol
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Random Poem-Stuff
Hey! So, no one's really posted any writing for a while, and I've kind of been missing the feedback. Anyone interested in starting that up again? I have a couple poems I just wrote; I'd love to hear your thoughts on them!
Here is one:
Here is one:
Rainstorm
marbles-
whirling, crashing
onto the metal
sheet
of streets
and circuses.
and
mind won taxies
slosh
through cloud-and-window puddles
and the tremblefog tilts,
considering the whirling dancers
that wrap olive
trees in
silver wire.
above these charging brooders,
cirrus clouds
jostle
impatiently,
the smell of
asphalt-heated rain
waking their stomachs,
salivating and
stretching for
the
warming wet
of morning.
Also, how is everybody? =)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Hello...
Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been around much. I've missed you guys! How is everyone? And does anyone have book recommendations (especially of the Sherlock Holmes variety)? -Laga
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Happy Birthday to ODIN!!
...He's on a plane right now, headed to Pittsburgh for the INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR!!! A-MAZ-ing!!! Good luck Odin and happy 16th!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
College Searches
I don't know if you all are as obsessed with this as I am, but I for one am freaking out about college. Luckily there are resources out for the clueless sophomore! I have tested and loved:
collegeboard.org
collegeprowler.com
unigo.com
The latter two, esp. Unigo, have excellent reviews on each college by actual students. It's great.
Hope this helps you guys as much as it's helped me!!!
collegeboard.org
collegeprowler.com
unigo.com
The latter two, esp. Unigo, have excellent reviews on each college by actual students. It's great.
Hope this helps you guys as much as it's helped me!!!
Dolldelightful: Pink Parade: GIVEAWAY for MAY
Dolldelightful: Pink Parade: GIVEAWAY for MAY: Hi everyone! Here is some exciting news. After an entire month of liking and sharing, we have a winner for the puppy bow. The lucky lady i...
Yummy healthy oatmeal pancakes!
HIII! As you know by now (since I've been blasting it all over the blog... ;) ) I'm quite interested in health food and exercise. Did you know that on the internet, there is not ONE (repeat NOT EVEN ONE) pancake recipe that uses only oat flour!!! I finally decided that if I wanted to eat healthy yummy pancakes I would have to take matters into my own hands. (Mwahahaha...) So, here is a heart healthy, delicious pancake recipe! As a point of interest, oatmeal is amazing because it can be gluten free (gluten free certified oats). It has a great balance of fats, carbohydrates and protein (it's one of the most protein-rich grains known. Quinoa is better for protein, though), has a good amount of fiber, and is low in calories which makes it great for any diet (as in lifestyle, not literal diet). Studies show that it lowers bad blood cholesterol. Because of the low glycemic index, it is absorbed into the body slowly, which keeps your feeling full longer and your blood level steady. I'll end the lecture now. If you're interested, try out the recipe!
1 1/2 cups oat flour (blend oatmeal in a magic bullet/good blender. If you're gluten free, make sure to get gluten free certified oats!)
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon xylitol (or any other natural/healthy sugar sub. You can also just use white sugar if you need to)
1 1/4 cup milk (you can sub water and get yummy results)
1 egg
3 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
Sift together the dry ingredients and then add in the wet ingredients. Mix well, and cook! Turn over the pancakes when you start seeing bubbles on the surface. And then... eat! xD I hope you guys like this recipe!
1 1/2 cups oat flour (blend oatmeal in a magic bullet/good blender. If you're gluten free, make sure to get gluten free certified oats!)
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon xylitol (or any other natural/healthy sugar sub. You can also just use white sugar if you need to)
1 1/4 cup milk (you can sub water and get yummy results)
1 egg
3 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
Sift together the dry ingredients and then add in the wet ingredients. Mix well, and cook! Turn over the pancakes when you start seeing bubbles on the surface. And then... eat! xD I hope you guys like this recipe!
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