Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ASD, Autism, Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, autism treatments, CBS, Democracy, Democracy In Action, Spectrum, Spectrum Magazine, statistics, Sue Rubin, treatments
AUTISM. AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE!!
Let me explain: we have this lovely project (and no I’m not being sarcastic!) that my teacher thought up a couple years back. She calls it Democracy In Action (DIA), and I’m proud to say that I think there’s only one other school that copied us. Well, DIA is the big thing that all the 8th graders do. The 8th graders freak the seventh graders out mostly by complaining about it, and saying how hard you’ll work, the lack of sleep you’ll get… but I digress.. The point is this: I chose to do autism as my DIA topic. I didn’t have to think about for long; I hate how the opted “weird” kids always get attacked at school. Middle School is, as we all know, the struggle to “fit in” by basically crushing other people’s lives into tiny little pieces of pain and sorrow. Seriously. For those lucky few who manage to look good, attack others, etc, they’re (kind of) safe. The truth is, no one can be 100% safe ever, but anyway. For those many people who aren’t so fortunate, life is hard. For thefew who actually struggle with behavioral problems, etc, it’s even harder. Possibly more than anyone can imagine, I know I can’t really wrap my mind around it. Anyway, for those (now not so rare) people with autism, being surrounded by their peers who aren’t autistic like themselves, I can assure you, is tough. Obviously, I’m not autistic, but let me just tell you a little bit about this disorder.
I believe the first time autism was really looked at, or reported was in the late ’40s. In that time, however, no one seemed to understand it, and the few who were actually studying it wouldn’t have been able to tell you much. Today, more and more people are starting to take an interest in autism. There are lots of organizations (headed/started mostly by mothers, or fathers of autistic people) that offer aid to families affected by autism. (I’ll put some helpful links below, if you’re interested.)
Autism itself, and for many autistics out there, is a battle, and a struggle to stay in control of their emotions, etc. Today, every 1 in 100 or 110 (1 in about 70 boys) children are autistic. Over the years, the rates of autism have increased greatly, and no one knows exactly why. Of course there’s the theories, and all that, but there’s no known and/or proven cause of autism. Along with that, there’s no cure. There’s treatments, of course; now there are schools for autistic children, (my mom works at a school where they have a classroom with autistic children. The kids interact with other, non-autistic students, but have their own classroom where everything is organized, taught, etc specifically for them) and if a child is diagnosed early enough, and there is time, and money, they can be placed in (hopefully) a good school where their autism can not necessarily be cured, but dealt with, and handled properly. If done soon enough, the child’s autism might not be as bad as those who don’t receive some kind of treatment until they’re, say around the age of 8.
Autism begins to be noticeable in children around the ages of two and three. It’s a shame when some autistic children aren’t realized to be autistic until they’re much older. By then, they’re further into their own world, and their own kind of mental prison, one that becomes harder and harder to control and escape from. Still, you need to know, and remember this: they aren’t stupid, and they are most definitely not unaware of the world around them. I was reading an article that had a kind of interview with , Sue Rubin an inspiring autistic woman who is learning to really cope with her autism. Here’s a little excerpt that really made me think (taken from “What Are They Thinking“, a CBS online article)
When asked about what it was like to be locked in silence, inside her body without any way to communicate non-verbally, Rubin is blunt.
“Nightmare,” she types.
So I hope that hits home with you guys, like it did for me. It really made me think about how easy life is for all of us, and how often we take it for granted. I think I’ll add more to this in a while, because right now as I go over this, all of it sounds bad. I don’t usually write so horrendously… Anyway, here are some links that you should really check out:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: animal cruelty, bad laughs, fish, fishes, gears of war, generations, video games, violence, violent video games
Hey, guys! Sorry for being such a sloth and not doing anything for months and months and months. This blog, right now, could technically be compared to a sluggish old person trying to watch some 5 hour long movie, but falling asleep, and then starting it over. Ick. I know, crappy example. Haha. Anyway. I must explain: I have two ideas, and I really didn’t want to put them in the same post, mainly because they’re opposites, and have nothing to do with one another. Yeah. I need order. (: Alright. So, topic no.1:
WHAT HAS BECOME OF MY GENERATION?
A few days ago, Bella told me a gruesome story, one that I won’t tell you, I’ll only give you a few main points, and details. A girl basically killed an animal (one that I suppose wasn’t cute, and furry because she basically stabbed it to death), laughed about it and took pictures of it. I’ll spare you the rest of the story, and get on to my main point. Has this generation lost all feeling, and sense of right versus wrong? I mean that is just inhumane (inanimane?), and it just made me wonder how anyone gets around to that, and getting some kind of joy out of it too. I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s all of us kids (starting from like the tender age/s of 6-8) playing violent video games and all that. (For instance, a credible source told me of some 8 yr olds he knew who played games like GEARS OF WAR. I mean seriously, 8 year olds?? I think that’s going to maybe mess them up a bit..) Now, I’m sure some of you may be like: “Well, teenagers can handle it. They’re mature enough to shoot at animated people, and not go out and shoot other people.” I mean, I’m not talking about violence, so much as… just insensitivity, and inhumane-ness(?). (I still like those games, but I guess I’m just lucky that I know how gross, and more importantly awful, and cruel, it is to kill little animals for no apparent reason.)
Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is this: people change, generations change. I’m sure my generation, in comparison to one 12 years ago is going to be vastly different…But it would be nice if every generation kept a sense of right and wrong, had some morals, and knew what a life–even a little fishy’s– means: definitely more than a few laughs.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Actually, I’d love to re-word that to: The Quandary That I Find My Generation In. First and foremost: music. I know that music changes through the years, but there are some songs, and artists that are timeless, and probably will remain timeless for years and years and years. The point is, folks, I think that my generation is in need of a wake-up call. I do appreciate a lot of songs that kids my age listen to, however, they just aren’t my style. That’s not a crime, definitely not, but sometimes I wish that I could enjoy that kind of music a lot more than I actually do. Still, no matter how hard I try, I really can’t. A lot of people think I’m weird (but I know that already), and the music I listen to (categorized as “crappy old music”) is… for lack of a better word, strange. So. I am assigning you Children an assignment that must be completed ASAP. (:
There are some amazing songs out there, and I’m only going to give you about three or four. I want you to cultivate your music tastes haha. Yeah. Don’t I sound so professional? Anyway… Here are some songs that I love. (: Hope you enjoy. If you don’t I don’t want to hear about it. Haha just kidding! O:
“Rock and Roll Suicide” – David Bowie <3
“Last Nite” – The Strokes
“Bullets” – Tunng
“I go Crazy” – Paul Davis (no that’s kind of a joke.. but still…)
Now. Go ENJOY yourselves, my tan-faced children. (Bonus points if you know where i got that quote.) There is more to come, my darlings (quote), and expect a follow up to this in a few days, yess?
Alright, so you’ve all been hearing/reading about this new addition to our family. Thankfully this new addition’ can’t write/type, so you’ll be spared at least that much; you won’t have to read THAT much pointless stuff. Yeah. Anyway, Merry is amazing. I like to think that we named Merry for my favorite hobbit in The Lord Of The Rings. hah. But nope, actually (as Siena explained in the worm’s meat post–>) Merry is short for Mercutio. This doesn’t quite work since, after quick, but well-reasoned guessing, Merry is a girl. (Mercutio’s a guy’s name, btw if you didn’t read Siena’s post.) So it’s Merry, whether or not her full name is Mercutio, Merry seems a lot cuter and specialer than Marry. But then, who knows? Merry could in fact be a Mercutio and we don’t even know it. We’ll have to wait and see.
If you haven’t figured out exactly what Merry is, I guess I’ll have to tell you right now, before we move on with this post. Merry is a bird, a cockatiel to be exact. I’ll post up some pictures in a little while once merry gets used to our house. For now, I’ll describe her as best I can.
Merry is small, actually she’s only a few months old since she was born March 15 of this year. She’s very small, completely grey, with only one speckled yellow tail feather. All cockatiels have cute little orange patches on their faces (when they get older, you can tell it is a guy if the orange patches become brighter), and a little bit of feathers on their head (crest). Merry has a cute little green patch of fluff/furry feathers that go up to her crest too.
merry the cockatiel
Name: Merry the cockatiel
Birthdate: March 15, 2009
Age: 4 months old
Filed under: Gabby's Pick, Reviews | Tags: a rush of blood to the head, chris martin, colplay, guy berryman, johnny buckland, will champion
coldplay;; A Rush Of Blood To The Head
I think everyone knows the band coldplay for its very popular song “Viva la Vida”. Though, I love that song, I have to say that it isn’t near my favorite song of this band. Nope. Honestly, my favorite song has to be “politik”, I’m not sure that it’s very popular, but you should check it out; Chris Martin sings beautifully in it. <33
Alright, so my dad was saying how Chris Martin (lead singer) doesn’t have a distinctive voice, but I have to disagree. He has an amazing voice!! His voice is especially beautiful in songs like “politik”, and “the scientist”, as well as ”a whisper” and “warning sign”. The lyrics to all of the Coldplay songs are beautiful too, and the guitar riffs are pretty nice too. C: Anyway, I believe in all honesty that this is one of, or their BEST albums ever. <3
For some background info:
Coldplay, a British rock//alternative band, has been around since… 1996, I think. Chris Martin does the vocals and piano, while the drummer is Will Champion, the guitarist is Johnny Buckland, the bass player is Guy Beryman, and the band is managed by Phil Harvey. [: Apparently, the band started out between Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland. According to my not-so-extensive-research, the two decided to name themselves "Pectoralz" at first0, but later on, when Berryman joined the group, they changed the name again to Starfish. Finally, when they gained their manager, and drummer, Will Champion, they changed their name to Coldplay, which has been kept to this day (obviously).
"saftey" - May '98
"brothers and sisters" - April '98
"blue room -ep" - October '98
"shiver" - March 2000
"yellow" - June 2000
"parachutes" - July 2000
"trouble" - October 2000
"in my place" - August 2002
"a rush of blood to the head" - August 2000
"the scientist" - November 2002
"clocks" - April 2003
"god put a smile upon your face" - July 2003
"live 2003" - November 2003
"speed of sound" - May 2005
"x&y" - June 2005
"fix you" - september 2005
"talk" - December 2005
"the hardest part" - April 2006
"violet hill" - May 2008
"viva la vida or death and all his friends" - june 2008
"viva la vida" - June 2008
"lost! - November 2008
"prospekt's march" - November 2008
"life in technicolor" - February 2009
"leftrightleftrightleft" - May 2009 (available for download on their website)
[x] website
[x] myspace
more of gabby’s favorites:
strawberry swing, the scientist, violet hill
Filed under: Uncategorized
Hey, guys! So right now the three of us are at our grandparents’ house in carlsbad. We’re going to be here for a while, so if anything happens, I’ll update you. [;
Anyway, my aunt is taking us to go see the movie UP. I think everyone knows what movie that is. I honestly can’t wait to see it, it looks super cute. On top of that, “Carl fredrickson’ looks JUST like my grandfather whom I’m visiting. so.. cool, huh? I’m not kidding, btw. Carl looks like a caricature of my grandfather almost.
So, I’ll update later about the movie and how it was and everything, of course for those of you who haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it for you. <3
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: car, San Francisco, San Pablo Dam, SEVEN HOURS
Ahahaha. So, as the title suggests, I went to San Francisco. It was amazing! It was beautiful, and the weather was actually kind of nice, though cold. It was pretty nice, and I got some cool pictures that I might be able to post up here later.
It was, in a word, long. Close to the longest car-ride I’ve ever been in. I haven’t driven very far to many places at all, and so this was kind of hard for me. Being stuck in a mini-van for seven hours may sound frightening, or uncomfortable, but, surprisingly, it really wasn’t all that bad. We stopped a few times, ate a lot of sunflower seeds, all the “usual” for a car-trip, I guess.
We didn’t actually go to San Francisco, we went to a place near it called San Pablo. We also visited Socallito (sp?), and a few other places. It was really nice.
I’m sure someone else can elaborate better. D: I’m kind of at a loss right now, but I’ll edit this later, ja?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: California Adventure, clothes, Disneyland, Fireworks, food
Ah, so we got free tickets to CA Adventures when we went to Disneyland for our birthday/s. Umm… so we went last night. but our fun-tastic (sorry..) day didn’t start there!
First, we had a screening//premiere for the animation we did in our art class thing (we did this every monday and wednesday), and Ilan came for that. It was great! Honestly, I think ours was the best–not just because it was ours. We had some amazing people working on it, honestly. Not only were our dolls/puppets/figures nicer looking, we had a plot-line and we did stop-motion/pixilation/live action. In all, the short was, like… a couple minutes, I don’t really remember. 
Any way, I got a CAP T-shirt which was nice, then sometime around four, we left for California Adventure.
The first thing we did was the Rapids. I mean, come on! Doesn’t that sound amazing! Yes! (And plus, it was soo hot out) well. We got SOAKED. I was wearing two shirts, and they were so wet. Anyway, we bought fast passes for Soarin’ Over California for 7:30-8:30, then we went on… a ride called the Mulholland something. It was pretty good, for a wee kiddy ride (I think?). It was a kinda minnie roller-coaster, and there were four seats, so Siena had to sit next to a guy named Jason. I think he was a year or two younger than us. We talked to him. He was pretty nice, if not weirded out by us clones. Hah.
Then we had some pretty good food, my poor mom was freezing still. D: And.. hmm, I know we went on some other rides like the orange… and something else. We went on the Mulholland ride again, then. Oh the BIG ONE. We went on that thing at Paradise Pier, the one that brings you up super fast and drops you down semi-fast-ish. Bella was too scared to go on it, but the three of us (siena, my mom and I) went on it. The view was amazing! And it wasn’t all that bad, too bad for Bella, they closed right after we got off. [:
Last of all, we bought some shirts (I bought a black tank-top w/ mickey, bella bought a red mickey t-shirt) and candy. It was sad though, because we missed the fireworks (they only do them on the weekend D:) because we had to find our way out of the shop (half the doors were already locked) But anyway, it was so much fun!
Filed under: Gabby's Pick, Reviews | Tags: Attack and Release, Blues, Dan Auerbach, Rock, The Black Keys
the black keys;; attack and release
There aren’t many albums that I can listen to repeatedly, for days, and on. Normally, for quite a few artists/bands out there, they’ve got one really popular song and that’s just about it. The Black Keys is an amazing group, and every song is totally addictive. “Attack and Release” isn’t the band’s first album, in fact, it’s one of the many popular albums they’ve released.
The songs are a mix of Blues/Rock, and sound great. The lead singer, Dan Auerbach, has an amazing, distinctive voice. He makes all of the songs so much more fun to listen to. You can listen to each of these songs all day, and not get tired. Each one has its own amazing sound, and different concept. The lyrics to each song are also cleverly, almost poetically written to fit the song.
Some of my personal favorites from TBK are (in order of greatness): So He Won’t Break, Lies, Psychotic Girl, I’ve Got Mine, Remember When (side A) and Strange Times. Whenever I listen to their songs, I break out in a big smile. Some of their songs are kind of chilling, but still really amazing… I guarantee you’ll love them too!
“Attack and Release” – Realeased ’08
“Magic Potion” – Released ’06
“Rubber Factory” – ’04
“The Moan” – Released ’04
“Thickfreakness” – Released ’03
“The Big Come up” – Released ’02
[x] website
[x] band’s myspace
[x] dan auerbach’s myspace
For all grade levels/elementary/middle/high schools, you’ve got the yearly testing thing. Well, at my school, we get to get off at 12:25, beautifully amazing, huh? For my grade, we cram in LA/Math into two days, other grade levels have to do other testing genres too. But anyway, lucky us, we got off early today too.
I didn’t think I’d be all too happy about the testing. But I was wrong. Not only did I feel confident that I did pretty well on the tests, I also got to enjoy almost two hours back at home to myself. Sadly, I don’t think that they do this in any of the other schools in my district, nevertheless, I appreciate it and love it a whole lot. [:
For testing, we were assigned to one class (with various other students, depending on whom you had for your own science class). I had my sister's (Siena's) math teacher, the amazing Mr. S. (who called me Gabriella--like, phonetically: [GAYBREE-ella]) Because we were in only one class for both Monday and Tuesday, we had no homework. Lovely, huh? Sadly today we did have homework, or at least I did. I’ve got a project due on Friday that I don’t even get. D: And I need the points (not extra-credit, but I still need the points) because apparently, we’re getting a LOT of points for this single project, which I need since, like, it’d be awesome if I got straight A’s this quarter. [:
