AIMS?

My AIMS experience was nonexistent since I'm a senior and I already passed AIMS my sophomore year. Yesterday, I didn't even go to school at all because I only had two classes and I didn't think it was important enough to go. So, I did what I always do when I stay home: I slept. Today I needed to go to school, my later classes are a little more important and I'm in hot water in my 7th period for too many absences. I did get to sleep in until 10:30ish today, which was really nice. I like sleeping in and going to school late, it's better than going to school at frickin' 7:30 in the morning. Anyway, yeah, I didn't take the AIMS test or anything. Just slept a few more hours.
Mason Augustus Wheeler

Weekend.

Over the weekend I kinda just chilled and hung out. On Saturday, I slept in and then we took my grandpa out for lunch at Red Robin, which was delicious. I love Red Robin. On Sunday, we caught up with some old friends and went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, which was also delicious. After lunch, we went to The Brass Armadillo, which is an antique mall my mom and her friend like to go to to look at junk and stuff. After walking around there we went to Dairy Queen. Overall, this weekend was nice, relaxing and fun.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Propaganda Image.

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda, by dictionary definition, is information or ideas spread intentionally to help or harm a particular person or group. Propaganda is most commonly used in politics, when politicians spread and endorce advertisments that bash their competitors and make themselves look good in order to get people to vote for them. This isn't the cleanest way to compete in politics and is considered foul play by many, though it has been used by politicians for centuries.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

News Studio Background.

Electronic Device?

If I could buy any electronic device, it would probably be some kind of camcorder. I used to have one along time ago that recorded on tape, I got rid of it when things like Flip Cams and Small Wonders started coming out. Since these were just being made, the quality of their recordings was not very good. I haven't been able to get around to buying a new video camera yet, so if I could get any device, it would definitely be one of those. I'm not exactly sure which kind, I know Flips have sort of died out and that there are newer and slimmer digital recording devices. I'd have to do my research, but I would definitely love to get a new video recorder.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

News Studio Background Experience.

At first, I wasn't quite sure how we were supposed to create these news studio backgrounds, since you weren't here to explain it to us the day we started. With the substitute here, we kind of just figured we were supposed to take images of various news elements from the Internet and put the together to create a studio. Once you got back and explained what we were really supposed to do I though it was going to be very hard to create an entire news studio from scratch. Then, remembering perspective and all the other Photoshop techniques I've learned over the year, I started to make it and it actually started to come together into something that looks great. I was extra happy when you told me that I was doing such excellent work and when you used my work as an example of what the other students should be doing. All and all, this project has been one of my favorite so far and it was a really fun experience.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Better.

So, I'm getting a little better at school now. I'm actually coming to school more and more instead of giving in to my exhaustion and sleeping all day. My grades have improved. I had an F in my English class early last week and by Friday it went up to a B because I got a 95% on an essay that I wrote. I'm doing and turning in more and more work, because I'm actually here to do it. It's not just doing the work either, I'm actually doing it well. I'm producing excellent work in almost all of my classes. I'm really happy with myself, but there's still a lot more to go. If I keep going at this rate, I can clean myself up entirely by graduation.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Music.

As of right now, my favorite music performer is probably Nicki Minaj, because of how strong of a force she's become from her last studio album and because of all the hype surrounding her upcoming album. I loved her debut record when it came out two years ago and even her mixtapes before that. I'm really excited for her new album to come out, even with all this negative buzz she's gotten over her Grammy performance and her music video for "Stupid Hoe." She's my favorite right now just because of what an amazing force she is at the moment.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Best Friend.

My best friend would probably have to be Saveria Fritsch, because she's the only person I can really talk to and say what's on my mind to. We relate to each other a lot and have really good conversations. She can be really mean at times, but when it comes down to it I still consider her to be my best friend.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Coming to School.

This is nice, we haven't gotten to do a good journal entry in a while.

I should really start coming to school. After everything changed for the worse from last semester I just figured nothing mattered and that I didn't need to limit my absences. After having so many absences, I realize that was a bad idea. I'm not doing too hot in school right now. I'm not applying myself or trying hard and my excuse is that life sucks and nothing matters. I really need to change this way of thinking. My grades have slipped and I'm in danger of being dropped from some classes. I need to step it up, otherwise I'll be SOL.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Cray Cray.

I don't really do anything crazy, because I'm really boring. I've been witness to the crazy things that other people do around me, but I've never actually participated in anything crazy. All I really do is sleep, eat and watch television and I haven't really broken from that routine...ever. So, yeah, maybe sometime soon it would be nice to actually live a little and do something crazy, but as of now I don't have anything super crazy under my belt.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Ted Talk: Extra Credit.

The talk I watched this time was given by Stephen Coleman on the moral dangers of non-lethal weapons. This talk was basically saying that with all the non-lethal weaponry out there becoming so common, such as pepper spray, tasers and even heat rays on the rise, there could very well and most likely be unexpected consequences. For example, using a less lethal weapon on somebody using a gun, knife or any other lethal weapon who intends to do you harm would not be a good idea. The talk doesn't change how I see the world, but reinforces it. This is something I already believe. Substitution of lethal weapons for non-lethal weapons just for moral reason could be a very bad and very consequential thing.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Ted Talk 8.

I watched a talk given by Neil Burgess on how your brain knows where you are and where you're going. He gave the example of a rat in a maze looking for food. Whenever the rat had been a certain place in its environment, its neurons would send an electrical spike signal telling the brain it has been there before. All of the different neuron signals put together actually form a map for your brain, telling it where it is in its environment and where it can go. The talk definitely changed how I see the world, because in everyday life there are times where it seems your brain automatically knows where to go, such as remembering where you parked your car or knowing you're moving in the right direction.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Green Screen Test.

Me on the beach.

B-day Memories.

My favorite birthday memory comes from my eighth birthday ten years ago. They just re-released my favorite movie E.T. in the theaters for its 20th anniversary and my dad took me and all of my friends to see it. We had the whole theater to ourselves and it was totally awesome. We got to all just hang out and watch the movie and have a good time, then afterwards, we went home and had delicious cake and ice cream. That's my favorite birthday memory.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Superbowl.

I didn't watch the entire Superbowl, but I did see the halftime show and I caught a few commercials. I think Madonna did a good job, even though everybody's all mad at her for lip syncing or whatever. The commercials were really funny, particularly the M&M one and the Audi one with the vampires. Overall though, I'm not really phased by who won since I wasn't rooting for the Giants or the Patriots.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Ted 7.

The talk I watched was given by Lisa Harouni and was about the future of printing. Soon, a technology will become available that will let people print in 3D. People will be able to print anything they want, including intricate objects that were once impossible to create. 2012 just might be the year that this technology becomes accessible and even commonplace. If this happens it would be a huge change on how we obtain items and, ultimately, how we live our lives.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Day Off.

My day off this week came after another day off because I was absent. Pretty much both days, I just slept all day and didn't do anything. That's usually what I like to do with my days off, since I never get any sleep when I have to wake up and go to school at the crack of dawn.

Mason Augustus Wheeler

Important Beliefs.

An important thing I believe is that you shouldn't make assumptions about people, and you especially shouldn't use those assumptions to judge another person. People can be doing anything at anytime and you have no idea why they're doing it or how they got there. Why should you assume that you do and start judging them like you know everything about them? For example, I'm in the library right now because I don't have a first hour. I go to sign in and the lady is like, "Do you have a pass to be here?" all rude like. I'm like, "Umm, no. I don't have a first hour." I mean, jeeze! I've only been in here for the whole year during first hour, maybe she could've figured it out by now? I don't know. Things like that just annoy me and most of the staff here do the same thing. You know, they really shouldn't work here if they don't like talking to or dealing with kids. That's another important thing I believe.