The Value of Choice

By the end of the year i would like to be prepared to go off to college. So id like to focus on maybe some more college orientated stuff. Now because i havnt been to college. i dont know what i need. so I think that doing what you think will better prepare us is the best :P and as for skills. id like to become a better writer and to be able to think outside of the box. as well as extend my Open Source Learning networks and meet more people.

Freedom of Choice

Is it beter if you can make your own decision? Or if someone made them for you? Well to me, it all depends on the person. If that person is a type A personality where they get things done on time and can make good decisions then i think its better to make you own decision. But if it is someone who is lazy then definityly not, they would never get anything done, and if they did it would be only stuff that they wanted to do. Now for me, i think i belong somewhere inbetween. I think that i should be able to make my own choices, but still have a little guidence or help just because well i get lazy i have a very busy life and if it wasnt for someone saying "oh you have to get this done" then id prolly end up taking a couple hour nap and then slacking off a little bit.

Tech stuff, apple iOS7

So this has nothing to do with my class. But apple's iOS7 has just been released today and it is amazing. it has a whole new layout nothing is the same it makes everything look simple yet so modern and just futuristic with a new lock code layout. Messaging and facetime upgrades and also making updates 100 times easier in my opinion. It also has a new auto update for you apps. But one thing that really stands out to me is iTunes radio. now ive only been on for like 30 minutes. But its like pandora, except.. well its better the music is like only the stuff i like for the station that i chose. It just seems to seperate music genres better than Pandora. so that was my little ramble about my new phone update. Hopefully saturday morning i can get my iphone 5S

Vocab fall #5

Adroit: clever ir skillful in using the hands or mind
Amicable: having a spirit of friendliness
Averse: strong feeling of opposition. or dislike
Belligerent: hostile.
Benevolent: kindl
Cursory: hasty, rapid
Duplicity: deceitful
Extol: to praise highly
Feasible: capable of being done
Grimace: facial expression show disgust or pain
Holocaust: complete devistation or destruction
Impervious: not permitting penetration
Impetus: a moving force
Jeopardy: hazard or risk to exposure to loss
Meticulous: showing extreme attention to detail
Nostalgia: wistfull desire to return in thought
Quintessence: the most perfect. a pure example
Retrogress: go backward to earlier/worse conditions
Scrutinize: examine in detail
Tepid: moderately warm

A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity. By Bill O'Reilley

In this book Bill O'Reilly does some self-searching of his experiences and how they  have formed him into the man that he is today. He talks his family, the schools he attended, his teaching career and his career as a news talk show host, relating all of this with humor, and a bold fresh view.
   I think Bill wrote this book so people can just see how he came to be the fiery Republican talk show host that he is today. From his upbrining and trublemaking teens he learned some great life lessons and also he wrote this book beacuase so many people just wanted to know more about his early life.
 Now ive skimmed through this book YEARS ago when it first came out and it just didnt intrest me but ive always had it in my room. So when i found out that we had to read a nonfiction book for English class i jumped on the book. Also now that im 18 and more into politics from 5 years ago i think its just really interesting, even though the book shys away from most political views. The first time i heard about the book was actually when i was watching Mr. O'Reilly's show on foxnews. My parents bought it and ive had it ever since.
 I find this book very realistic and i think that me and Bill have almost the same mindset of just questioning why things are done the way that theyve been done for so long. Although i wasnt a big trouble maker like Bill was when he was my age i still feel a connection.
 I think Bills ideas on some people are very subjected. Some people from their descriptions seem very nice and intelligent, but bill just doesnt like them. One person that really stands out in this book is Sister Mary Laurana who help bill captive in the third grade, as cruel and unusual punishment if there ever was one.
Sister Mary was very short on parience, and quick on the draw. She uttered the words that named this book one day when Bill made a quick remark she said "William, you are a bold fresh piece of humanity" and she was dead on. Some other friends were Joe Spencer, Jeff Cohen and Lou Spoto. They were bills three best guy friends, every couple of years they would go on trips to cut loose and spend time in places like hawii, na pali coast, or dive the waters of the british virgin islands.
One thing that stood out was his persistance and tenacity in journalism. Which fueled his talent and made him the famous news host that he is today. One of my favorite parts of the book is the very back outside cover from the book. I used a quote from it earlier but it just sets the tone for the entire book. it says.

"The year was 1957, the month September, and i had just turned eight years old. Dwight eisenhower was President but in my life it was the diminitive, intense Sister Mary Laurana who ruled, at least in the third-grade class where i was help captive. For reasons you will soon understand, my parents had remanded me to the penal institution of St. Brigid's School in Westbury, New York, a cruel and unusal punishment if there ever was one.
Already, i had barely survived my first two years at St Brigids because i was, well, a little nitwit. Not satisifed with memorizing the Baltimre Catechism's final prose, which featured passaged like "god made me to show his goodness abd to make me hapy with him in heaven" i was constantly annoying my classmates, and of course, the no-nonsense Sister Lurana. With over sixty active students in her class, she was understandably short on patience. For survival, she had also become quick on the draw.
Then it happened. One day i blurted out some dumb remart, and Sister Lurana was on me like a panther. Her black habit blocked out all distractions and she leaned down, looked me in the eye, and uttered words i have never forgotten: "william, you are a bold fresh piece of humanity" and she was dead-on."

I Really like this because it totally sets the mood to learn about the life of a trouble making news journalist, i highly reccomend this book.

Vocab 4

Accede- agree to demand, assume an office or position
Brandish- Wave or flourish
Comprise- Consist of, be made up of
Deft- Neatly skillfil and quick in action
Destitute- Without the basic necessities of life, poor
Explicit- Stated clearly and in detail
Extripate- Root out and destroy completly
Inopportune- occuring at an inconvient or inappropiate time
Ironic- Signifies the opposite, typically for humorous effect
Musty- Stale, or damp smell
Officious- Proper, formal
Ominous-giving the impression something bad will happen
Pinnacle- at the top. most secessful
premeditated-think out or plan before, typically in a crime
Rampant- Something spreading unchecked
Solace- Comfort or consoltation in time of distress or sadness
Stately- having a dignified unhurried and grand manner
Supple- bending and moving easliy, flexible
Suppress- Forcibly put an end to
Venal- showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery

Hey guys im Back!

So, if youre one of my followers on twitter (@mattrey17) or just followed my blog from last year (http://mreynoldsrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/) you would know that im happily back and ready for more Open Source Learning with Dr. Preston! Last year i got the foundation all set, now its time to work on it! Glad to be in the class, lets kick some butt.