Alex’s Awesome Anecdotes

I really admire Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He accomplished a lot as president, and won in dominant landslide in 4 elections. He funded an eventual polio vaccine, and had polio himself. He had a custom car he could drive, with only his arms. During speeches, Roosevelt would stand up the entire time, being held up by a cane. Imagine having to talk for at least 10 minutes straight, while barely being able to stand. He also had his fireside chats, where he talked on the radio 31 times throughout his presidency. The fact he was also related to Teddy Roosevelt, another president is also shocking, they were both strong guys, and Teddy Roosevelt walked off a chest shot. He also had a short naval career, he was a really strong and passionate guy. He is my favorite president, but the most admirable is what he did with the country. During maybe the hardest time in America, FDR brought back the economy from the Great Depression, and held office throughout WWII. He had to make wartime, and major economical decisions that most presidents didn’t have to do. It also worked well. America survived the Great Depression after maybe 9 years. Mainly thanks to FDR’s decisions in government projects and workers, social security, and the rest of the new deal. He had to militarily plan as well. He advocated for the D-Day invasion, and the entire Manhattan project. He helped the USA win the war.

This year I am going to focus on the word normality. The last few years have been crazy, with politics and everything pandemic related. The first reason I chose the word normality, was because this year is mostly gonna be recovery. Recovery from the virus, or any deaths. There’s been a lot of tragedies the last couple years from deaths and things, so this word is a year of going back to normal from the last few years. The second reason I chose this word, is because we are also normalizing life after the pandemic. We now are mask free mostly, and are not in quarantine. So we have new freedoms, parties, and just kinda unrestricted life. We will be getting used to our future life after these almost taken years from us. The third reason I chose the word normality is because this year is gonna better then the last around 3 years. A lot of time has been really weird recently, and this is gonna be going back to a more casual, pre-covid life. This year is pretty much the groundwork for the next five years or so. A lot of depression and other things has been more common recently due to being lonely and restricted, so a lot of people need a happier, normal future.

This week I read the book Birdie and Me by J. M. M. Nuanzes. This book is about 2 siblings – Jack and Birdie adapting to a life without parents. They never had a dad, and their mom died in a car crash due to ice. They first live with Uncle Carl, a sweat and nice, but irresponsible guardian. They then live with Uncle Patrick, who doesn’t really show emotions, or smile. They have to live with Patrick, who they don’t really want to live with.

I loved the plot of the book, it’s very logical. I can see them trying to go to Uncle Carl’s and supporting him, while also trying to avoid and get along with Uncle Patrick. My favorite character is uncle Patrick, I like how he feels uncomfortable with adapting to living with people, and it’s so natural. He also gets way too much disrespect by the kids, and I sympathize with him. One of his character traits is bottled up. He finally releases his anger, “Just like Carl now-that fire should not have happened. He screws up and now there are pieces to pick up, problems to fix. Neither of them ever seemed to care that I’m the one who has to deal with it.” (251) He bottled up his anger, and remained calm, even though he has to help and fix everyone’s problems. He helped Rosie, and helped Carl by taken them in.

My favorite quote is, “Hey Uncle Carl. You have a plan for your next proposal to Rosie?” (145) This quote seems very absurd to me out of context, and that’s why I like it. It’s weird that Uncle Carl tries proposing to Rosie each week, but also kinda sweet at the same time.

I have been told I am to be the principal of my school for the day. The first order of business is to cancel classes. I wouldn’t cancel school, because some kids would have no way home due to living far, being picked up by parents or other things. By canceling classes for the day, it would pretty much be a break day. People could play games in the PE area, do homework, or even play games on the iPads. The 2nd thing I’d do is to start trying to get lockers back. I personally think we don’t really need lockers that much, but we should try it for a semester, or at least a quarter. If it seems like we don’t need them then afterwards we could remove the locker system. I would then extend break by five minutes. I feel like break feels short some days. You might have to give something to a different teacher across the school, and it gives time to people who eat at snack. I notice a lot of trash after break, and I believe that after finishing the snack, more people throw it away. After that I would extend lunch and passing periods. An extended lunch period also would leave more periods for clubs. I also feel uncomfortable peeing in passing periods because you have to run to your next class. So I feel like five minutes is perfect. My final act as principal is to make two days for tutorial. I would have the last thirty minutes of Tuesday and Thursday to be tutorial. Sometimes you can miss two tests in one day, and it would give time to go to two classes, meaning you can retake two tests. You also could have shorter assemblies in one tutorial. I feel like having 2 smaller tutorial periods would be better than 1 longer period.

The autumn wind blew into my face, a sign to migrate south. I am a pigeon, named vanilla for my poop color. In New York City, there is so much to poop and eat! Although normal pigeons don’t migrate, I don’t really like the cold winters in the north east. So I use “migration,” as an excuse to travel south. This year, I decided to travel to Atlanta. I stretched my wings, and as the wind started, I flew with the wind. As colorful leaves soared through the air, I did the best to dodge them. As a bird, you can get blinded by one if you get hit perfectly. Some of my friends have died because of this, tragedies. Today my goal was to get to Washington DC. Since I can go 600 miles a day, I can get there within 8 hours. This long fight feels good, going with the wind. But I caught a weather broadcast in New York. The winds would switch making this easy journey, hard and dangerous. As I neared Philadelphia, the wind roared, I decided to stop here, as going against the wind would tire me. I flew down to land, as I saw leaves in the wind, I tried to go faster, but I was too late. The autumn leaves soared through the wind, one piercing my beak and covering my eyes. I fluttered my wings in panic, terrified at falling. I span around in the air, not knowing which direction I was going, most likely down. I did a flurry of flaps, screaming for my life. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t see anything behind the leaf. I wiggled my head up and down trying to see anything. I saw that I was nearing the ground, I froze for a second, bracing for death. I saw my friends in my situation, flailing helplessly. I did the same, flapping around. I closed my eyes for impact, and landed. The luck of the draw. I tried to get the leaf off in disbelief of this landing. I landed on my feet on top of a bench. I looked up, somehow surviving.

This month,I read the book Alicia: My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman. Alicia is an autobiography about the Holocaust. Alicia tries to survive with her family. The book involves German and Russian occupation, ghetto, and after the war going to Israel. Alicia had to feed her family, sell soap for money, spend time in jail, survive disease, and deal with grief from her family. She lives in a small town in Poland. When Poland is taken over by Germany and Russia, Alicia has to live in a ghetto. Her brother Brunio and her father both are killed by the Russians and Germans. Her family is slowly killed with her final 2 brothers dying to the germans. Alicia also gets sick with a disease the germans give Jews, and escapes from a train. Alicia has to survive the Germans and Russians.
I loved the constant risk, having the character and reader not knowing what happens next. You fear for the characters lives. My favorite character was Zachary. He is very realistic, treating Alicia above her age. He says, “‘It could have been thunder, sweetheart, but I didn’t think so then. I think… … We should start preparing for the worst.” (19). This proves that Zachary is informing Alicia what is going on, being realistic.
My favorite quote on pages 299 and 300 is, “‘All right, Bronia, calm down now and tell me the whole story. Next time they question me, they will not be so polite. I have to know!” This is my favorite, quote because it is the perfect combination of polite, angry, understanding, and stressed. It also continues the story, explaining the situation.

I am so very thankful for three things. The 1st thing I’m thankful for is my parents. My parents have been there for my whole life, since birth. They are providing me with all of the necessities such as water, food, and a place to stay. I am thankful for all of these things, and for loving me. Another thing I’m thankful for are my friends. My friends have been playing with me and entertaining me this entire year. It makes school slightly bearable, and makes lunch and break 10 times more fun. They make me laugh once every 20 jokes. I’ve had so much fun with them, even though they can be annoying. The final thing I’m most thankful for is YouTube. YouTube kept me entertained during quarantine, and I even started my own channel. Although I practically stopped, it still was fun. I was on YouTube an unhealthy amount, and I learned many educational things as well such as chess, how the world works, and general school related stuff like math and science. I also learned a lot about history and geography. YouTube taught me much of what I know today.

A genie has given me 3 wishes. There is one rule: you can’t wish for more wishes. My 3 wishes would be for money, for happiness, and another genie. My first wish is for money. I could use money for anything I want. I could get an anonymous 500 billion dollars, and give billions away. I wouldn’t be a target with a lot of money because it was anonymous. I would give money to my family, friends, and anyone who needs it. This wish would make the world a better place. My second wish is for a happy, long life. I would specify to live for 90 years. 90 years would be a nice length, there’s a good chance that some of your friends will live on, and you can live an exciting life for the first 89 years. The happy part would also make me healthy, because I wouldn’t be happy if I was unhealthy. This prevents any literal meanings that would hurt me. The 2nd wish was used for me. The 3rd wish for a new genie that would hopefully get me 3 wishes. The first 2 wishes would be enough if I didn’t get it, but if I got the 3 wishes, I could get an infinite amount of wishes. I could do many things, such as end disease, kill all mosquitoes, stop climate change, and even end world hunger. These things are threats to everyone, and aren’t necessary to anybody.

This month I read the book Legacy which is the 8th book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. This book continues off about Sophie, the protagonist. She has to deal with being the leader of team Valiant, the group with many friends, and deal with personal problems such as being unmatchable, which is scorned upon by the people of the lost cities. She also wants to investigate her friend Keefe’s mother and father’s doings. I loved the drama about what the never seen has planned, and the chemistry between Sophie and her friends with Stina.
My favorite character in this book is Keefe. He is funny, to cover for all the problems which are underneath, which I feel is relatable since everyone has problems underneath. One character trait chat Keefe has is that Keefe is confident in Sophie. In the book, he says “But, um… you realize there are more ways to find out who your biological parents are than just asking Forkle, right? I mean, you’re Sophie Freaking Foster. Where’s the stubborn steak we all know and fear a little? You’ve told the Councillors where they could shove their rules how many times?” (200). This shows that Keefe is confident in Sophie to fine who her biological parents are.

My favorite quote is, “‘You needed to wait for Keefe to arrive,’ Sophie said, certain Lady Gisela was nearby listening. ‘So you let King Enki play hostage.’” (1431) This quote is my favorite because it’s just a moment of realization that King Enki betrayed them. It’s a moment of reflection, and let’s us understand what happened.

If I could trade places with a famous person for the day, I would trade places with Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a billionaire who made Microsoft, a software/computer company. He used to be the richest man in the world. I could have 1 day as a billionaire. I could also donate money to people I know. I could give money to my parents, school, friends, and anyone who I want. I could pay and clear places out, donate to charity, and so many other things. I would have fun myself, and improve the lives of many people. Bill Gates most likely has a butler, so I would have service. Bill Gates also has a cook. I could spend time in an 130 million dollar house, and just enjoy the day. I could go almost anywhere with 4 private jets, if I wanted to leave Seattle.