While working on my 20% project this week I learned about different techniques for color blending. After searching up tips on how to color blend, I started to practice for a little bit. While I didn’t get as much as I would like to have gotten done, I still made progress which is good. The only problem I faced was that I was sick, and wasn’t able to make it to school. However, this might have actually been a good thing because it meant that I had all my supplies with me, and as much time as I needed. Like I predicted last week, I did end up practicing while I learned as I just find it easier to do that. Other than that, everything went as planned and I was able to stay on track. Next week, I will spend all of my time practicing, and possibly finish the other half of the drawing I started in week two to see if I have improved.

My favorite room in my house is my bedroom. Firstly, my room is upstairs in the top right corner of my house, away from the chaos. In my old house, my room was downstairs and I often felt that it was too close to the guests when they came over. Now that it is upstairs, there is a sense of privacy. When we throw parties or invite people to our house, it is nice knowing that people will not just randomly walk in. I also like that almost everything I need is in or nearby my bedroom. If you exit my room and make a left, you will run into our upstairs bathroom. I also have a desk in the corner of my room to work and study, a trash can underneath it, a bed to sleep on, and a T.V. across from that. As long as I bring snacks into my bedroom, I will have to leave very few times. This was especially helpful when I had Covid because I was able to quarantine myself from my family quite effectively. Finally, I get to design my room the way I like it. My bedroom has several different posters such as a basketball poster, football poster, and a Weezer poster. As well as wall decorations, I also have a beanbag chair which makes for a comfortable place to sit. While my parents get to decorate the rest of the rooms in our house, I have control of what decorations are put up in my bedroom.

While working on my 20% project this week, I finished the first half of my drawing to mark my progress. I drew an orange and shaded half of it, leaving the other half for sometime between week three and four. My only struggle was forgetting to bring my art supplies from home which meant that I had to use a regular pencil. However, this ended up working out because these two weeks have been focused on shading which means that I didn’t really need anything other than a pencil. I didn’t have to change my schedule because the orange half ended up taking me the entire time, so I am where I should be according to my calendar. Next week I will be starting a different unit, and focusing completely on color blending. I am supposed to just research, but I will probably end up practicing if there is time.

I sat on the uncomfortably small plane seat livid. The two annoying little kids continued to bicker and whine as I mocked them before receiving a “we’re all annoyed, so take your mind off of it” look from my mother. My veins nearly popped out of my arms as I clenched my fists to keep me from walking right over and throwing them both off the plane. My mom jabbed at me again, so I reached into my bag and pulled out my AirPods. While it did calm me down for a minute, “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourn could only bring me peace for so long. Eventually, it came back. “Mommy I’m hungry!” The younger brother shouted while the older one started to have a meltdown because his ears hurt. I glared at the mom from my spot on the plane as she continued to do absolutely nothing to discipline her kids. I sat in the middle seat, smashed between my mom and a random lady. When will those two kids just shut up! I thought to myself. We hadn’t even started moving and I was already close to having a breakdown. I hadn’t realized it yet, but this was going to be a long three hours.

Hi my name is Jeremy and for my 20% project I am trying to become a better artist and drawer. This week I focused my attention on shading. Week one went well, with me being able to successfully draw and shade an apple. After researching some different shading methods, I was able to practice them and get the hang of these different techniques. This week was fairly simple and I was met with zero struggles along the way. My original plan was to spend the time solely researching, but I had to adjust that. Instead I ended up practicing as I researched, as I felt this was the best use of my time. Soon I will be starting a drawing to mark my skills at this point in time, which I will later finish to see if I’ve improved. Next Friday I will continue to practice the shading techniques I learned in week one, and maybe attempt to shade on more difficult shapes.

There are so many people I would want to invite to dinner, but these would be my top three. Firstly, I would invite Nate Bargatze. Nate Bargatze is a clean comedian from Tennessee who also appeared on Saturday Night Live. He would make for great company as well as tell hilarious jokes at the dinner table. My second choice would be Rivers Cuomo. Rivers is the lead singer and composer of the alternative rock band, Weezer. Weezer is one of my favorite bands and I would find it really interesting to talk about the band and its backstory. Finally, I would invite defensive superstar, Nick Bosa. In case you didn’t know, Nick Bosa is a defensive end for the NFL football team the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are my favorite football team and I would absolutely love to meet a player, let alone have dinner with them. For dinner we would have the best sushi money could buy, since that is my favorite food.

In March I read the book Code of Honor by Alan Gratz. Code of Honor is a realistic fiction book about a kid named Kamran Smith, a senior and star running back of East Phoenix High School. For Kamran, life until now has been going great. He played a great football game, he is the prom king, and his best friend got them tickets to the Super Bowl. However, at the prom Kamran is accused of being a terrorist since him and his brother are half Iranian. This escalates into a large fight which results in Kamran’s mother coming to pick him up from the school. This is when she drops the news about Kamran’s brother, Darius, claiming to be a terrorist in a video he posted. Suddenly, all of Phoenix is against Kamran and his family, but Kamran refuses to believe his brother is a terrorist, and tries to find anyone who believes the same.

I really enjoyed this book because of the way that Alan Gratz worded it so that Kamran actually sounded like a high schooler. Often times authors make the children in books sound too mature for their age, but Alan does a great job of writing like a high schooler. There is great description throughout the book, however, some of the fighting in the beginning can get repetitive leaving me to feel as if I read the same thing twice.

My favorite character was Kamran’s down to earth friend, Adam because of how impartial he is. The text states on page 31, “‘That part’s stupid,’ Adam admitted. ‘But, Kamran, you have to understand how everybody else sees your brother. He basically went on TV and said ‘I’m a terrorist.’” This shows that he is able to see both perspectives of this situation, and he is trying to help his friend Kamran do the same. He doesn’t think that Darius is a terrorist, but he knows that other people might because of the evidence given.

My favorite quote is on page 39, “1) Be the strongest of the strong. 2) Be the bravest of the brave. 3) Help the helpless. 4) Always tell the truth. 5) Be loyal. 6) Never give up. 7) Kill all monsters. We were big on killing monsters. Darius and I had solemnly signed the bottom of the paper in our grade school cursive. If we could have signed it in blood, we would have.” I like this quote because throughout the book I was hoping that Darius wasn’t actually a terrorist, and when I came across this quote, I felt as if it was proof of him being innocent.

If I could have any job in the world, I would be an architect. Firstly, being an architect pays well. The average salary for an architect in California is around 100 thousand dollars a year. Assuming that I continue to get better, my annual salary will increase. While I won’t be the next Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, this salary is enough for me to live a great life and take care of myself. Secondly, this job allows me to be creative. I don’t think I would enjoy working at a job that gives me no creative freedom. As an architect, I would be allowed to design buildings and structures however I wanted to as well as giving them my own creative twists. The final reason would be to see the final results of my projects. I don’t think I would be able to even fathom seeing my drawings come to life. The amount of happiness I would have knowing that something I drew and created made it into the real world and is now helping someone out there would be unreal.

This month I read the realistic fiction book Two Degrees, by Alan Gratz. Two Degrees has three different stories inside of it. The first one is about a thirteen year old girl named Akira who lives in the Sierra Nevada, California. While out on her regular Saturday morning horseback riding, Akira and her dad notice smoke. However, they think nothing of it and continue on with their day. This later comes back to bite them as Akira, her father, and some strangers they recently met find themselves in the midst of the flames which quickly spread. They are forced to let their horses go, and try to survive. The second story is about two best friends in eighth grade named George and Owen which takes place in Churchill, Manitoba. Owen and George were going to spend their weekend in George’s family’s cabin. However, this vacation is cut short after an angry mother polar bear mauls Owen and George before they can even reach the cabin. Injured, weak, and lost, George and Owen must use all of their senses to survive and hopefully make it back to town. The last story is about a seventh grade girl named Natalie Torres who lives in Miami, Florida. As Hurricane Rueben builds up, so does Natalie’s anxiety despite her mom telling her to calm down. She and her mother, try to hide from the storm in their house, but when the waters flood her house, Natalie is left outside and forced to compete with the elements and survive.

I really enjoyed this book because of the humor. Despite these being fairly serious topics, Alan Gratz found a way to keep it funny and entertaining. Instead of feeling sad while reading, Alan kept it upbeat and I even found myself laughing at some of the jokes. The author did a great job at making the characters come to life in this book, and I definitely recommend it.

My favorite character in the book was George because of how loyal he is to Owen. I can prove this with a quote from page 96 which reads, “The booming sound startled Owen awake and made Momma Bear flinch. She looked back over her shoulder, and Owen looked with her. It was George!” This quote proves Georges loyalty because despite being seriously injured, he still gets up to save his friend from being killed. George had been swatted in the head by the mother polar bear which was now attacking Owen, but he put Owen’s life first and he saved him.

My favorite quote is on page 16 which states, “Akira’s dad grabbed her and lifted her off Dodger, and she sobbed guiltily. ‘No! Dodger! She cried, reaching out for him.” I like this quote because it shows just how much of a bond Akira and her horse have. Even though Akira knows leaving Dodger is the right move, she just can’t part with him without feeling guilty.

The Possibilities are endless when you are invisible for twenty-four hours. If I had the ability to become invisible, there would be many things that I would do. One of these things would be eavesdropping. I am a very nosy person, and always want to know what’s going on even if it doesn’t involve me. If I could go invisible, I would be able to closely listen in on conversations without getting caught. I would also use this super power to mess with my friends. If I could become invisible, I would not be able to resist scaring people. While it sounds immature, and it definitely is, think about how funny people’s reactions would be if I popped out of nowhere and scared the life out of them. Lastly, I would use this ability to sneak into places. For example, if I wanted to see a movie, I would just walk right into the theater without paying or getting caught. I could get into various places such as concerts, sporting events, and amusement parks without any fees. Since these places tend to be very expensive, I would save myself a ton of money.