Drops of Water that Makes up the Ocean-Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Noble Peace Prize winner, had been recently she was released from her house arrest. She had lived for 65 years and stil believe in freedom after all the setbacks in her life. She is a Oxford graduate and has two children when she visited her mother in Burma. At that time, the military has taken over and she was persuaded into leading the pro-democracy group. Suu Kyi overwhelmingly won many elections, but the military dictatorship placed her under house arrest and only let her out for a year before re-arresting her again.

She believes that fear currupts, no power and wanted the killing to come to an end. Suu Kyi was released in 1995 for a while, then got re-arrested. She was supported by many of her father's friends because she was influenced and motivated by her father which was assinated when Suu Kyi was two. She never saw her own sufferings and has strong will. During the time of her release in 1995, she has to face a difficult dilema. Suu Kyi found out that her husband was dying of cancer and knew if she leaves, she will never be allowed back in Burma. In the end, she sacrificed herself and stayed in Burma.

Internet had created a global campaign for democracy in Burma and her fame began to spread world wide. I had first learned about Aung San Suu Kyi in fith grade when she was still under house arrest. Some say this has been the longest ethnic conflict in history.Aung San Suu Kyi is a hero because she spoke for justice and have a strong believe in human rights. The reason I chose this image is because it looks like the person is giving hope(Lighthouse) and the ocean that is made up of hope/drops of water. In her book that she published, Suu kyi said that nothing is too small and it is the tiny drops of water that makes up the ocean.

Believe, Identity and Variation-Jesus Colon and Poem

Jesus Colon sees himself as a failure, a offerer, a negro and a journalist. He believed that little things are big and courtesy is a big part of what he is. When he ran from the white lady carrying a suitcase with 3 children, Colon felt he had failed himself and lost his identity. Now looking back, he deeply regrets his choice and decided if he ever faced with any familiar situation again, he will offer a hand no matter the consequences. The incident had influenced and shaped his identity. At that time he was afraid of what might happen if he tried to help the white lady because of his race. Colon was worried that the lady might be racist and thinks that he was trying to rob her or worse.

The victims in this story are the himself, the lady and the society. The society suffered because if everyone in the society are like this, then the place would become lonely and friendless. I have read The Giver by Lois Lowry and it talks about having a utopian society but all the people are lonely and doesn't help anyone. This connects with the poem No Man Is An Island by John Donne because in the poem, Donne hinted that we are all connected and therefore, have a duty to help each other with difficulties which Colon failed. Colon regrets his choice and lives the knowledge that he had ignored the white lady and ran away.

James Berry's Poem What Do We Do With A Variation? talks about what we do with a difference. Standing and discuss the oddity of it refers to The Island by Armin Greder, the town discuss and creates rumor that makes fear. Ignoring the Variation links to Jesus Colon and how he ignored and ran. Shutting our eyes to it connects to Mankind Is No Island by Jason Van Genderen, everyone in the world are not seeing the homeless people around us. Moving around it in rage and enrage others refers to The Island by Armin Greder again, they spread rumors which makes rage and fear. The Blokes work for it to disappear becasue they are racist and only believes that they are the best. Changing route links to Jesus Colon because he ran from the white lady instead of offering a hand. The reason of why I chose this image is that you can see that the perosn has lost face/identity and is trying to find her identity amonst others.

Man, Island and Connections-Poem and Video

John Donne's Poem of No Man Is An Island suggests the idea of everyone makes the world whole. Without some people, the world isn't whole. In his poem, Donne said that if we broke one little part of Europe off, Europe is the less. Every death in the globe pains him because Donne wrote that he is involved in mankind. Every man is a piece of the world and every man is never an island because of their religion, country, race, etc. Therefore Donne feels connected to every one like Matt Harding and his dancing video. Harding and Donne has made a point of connected and not being a island or trapped in a jail-like state.

Jason Van Genderen's short film called Mankind is no Island was inspired by the poem John Donne wrote. Van Genderen promotes the idea of helping homeless people with his short film using words on 2 streets. It shows how they are also the same specie as us and how they are being ignored and treated unfairly. Van Genderen strengthened the loneliness of the beggars/hermits by telling us that they don't have a family to go or a home to stay when they are faced with difficulties in life or terrible weather.

The message Van Genderen, Harding and Donne is trying to communicate is we are connected to each other and we should start helping now. I have helped and have donated to charity. Donating to charity helps me to become a better person and also helps other with crisis, health, finational, etc. The reason for why I added the picture of a star like wall surrounding a communilty on a Island is this connected with The Island book. In the end the community built a large wall like this one so they are forever isolated. Van Genderen, Harding and Donne's overall idea is no man is an island and ignorance makes one less human.

Theseus and the Minotaur:Medea and Minotaur 2 voice poem

Click here to view the poem:https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/document/d/1aWadIm7Nmza4gxl04Sk_-1biPfrcrZSMPLwqrs7RHr0/edit?hl=en#

The main character of this 2 voice poem is, of course, Medea and the Minotaur from the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Medea in this story is the same Medea from the Jason and the argonauts. Medea has a tragic life which caused her to have bitter conflicts with everyone around her, that is one of the reasons I chose Medea. The Minotaur has a interesting background, he has been brought up in captivity and has never experienced freedom. The only kind of food he has are humans which forced him to become savage and bloodthirsty.

Meaning of a name(Draft)

We all have different names and that partially makes up what we are. My name is Brandon Lien and I think my name is average and normal. That was before I discovered the meaning of my name. Brandon means broom hill, hill covered with broom in Old English and prince in Celtic. It was most popular in 1985 which 1.524 of baby boys were name Brandon.(See below) Lien means Connected in Mandarin.

My parents chose the name because they looked in a book of names and chose it mainly becasue it has no negative meanings. Back in 5th grade someone started with a nickname of Branflakes and has been calling me Branflakes until 6th grade which they stopped, because it was getting old. I really hated when they call me Branflakes because it made no sense of why they call me Branflakes. Branflakes is a cereal for old people which I don't eat. The positive facts about my name is that it's not really easy to create a nickname unless you're super creative at nicknames and it's easy to remember. On the opposite side, the negative thing is that people often get mixed up with other similar names, like Brendan, or Brendon. I like my name because this is the name that my parents gave me, so I should respect them and not dislike my name. I use to think my name was average and normal, now I think it as meaningful and exciting.

Interest? Hobbies? Sports?

Interest, hobbies, sports, instruments all in 10 things that represents me. A mystery book, Ping Pong paddle, mini playing cards, Scrabble,badminton birdie, magnetic piano, clarinet reed, spot the difference book, Wii sports game disc and a robot. A mystery book represent me because I like to read mystery. Mystery books challenges your brain to guess who the culprit is by using the evidence. The first mystery book I ever read is a Scooby-Doo book when I was about 3 years old. I can feel questions forming in my head as I read the books. Each mystery book is different and unique, just like people. The reason that I like ping pong and badminton is that I’m really enjoy doing it and is a sport that everyone in my family participates. I started badminton when I started 5th grade; I was really doing poorly at first, then I practiced every weekend and I got better and better. During the weekends, my family goes to KDE to practice badminton and Ping Pong. I collect playing cards, from classic to each kind. I have enormous ones and tiny ones. This collection started from second grade. I collect them from all around the world, like from Oceania to Malaysia. The reason I collect them is because it makes me feel connected to other places , like Matt Harding when he shared his video of dancing. Another thing I enjoy doing is playing Scrabble and other similar games with my family. Scrabble is a great game because it challenges you to make up words only in your hands. I often lose because my mom always gets more points than I, but I still enjoy the game. Mainly because of the excitement as you spell out a word hoping to get more points. Other games that I also enjoy are Uno and Monopoly. I first played Monopoly was when I was at Taiwan. I have different kinds of Monopoly. Taiwan version and London version, paper money and electronic banking. My favorite Monopoly is the London version,because it is electronic banking. I also have different styles of Uno, normal Uno, Uno spin and Uno Attack. My favorite Uno is Uno Attack because you'll never know when the cards will shoot out. For the magnetic piano and the clarinet reed, I play both of the instruments. I take clarinet at school and piano at home. My little sister, Phoebe used to play piano, but she quit because she keeps falling asleep on the piano. The reason I play piano is because of the music it makes when I press the keys on it. When I'm sad or frustrated, I play piano to calm me down. The magnetic piano shown in the picture was given to me by my mom and I'm learning piano, so she gave it to me as a present.I take band in period 1 which is right after Humanities. The clarinet is made out of mainly 5 parts. There's the mouthpiece where I wet the reed and fasten it to the mouthpiece. The bell at the bottom, the two body where I press the keys to make sound and the part that connects the mouthpiece and the body together. In order to make sound to come out of the clarinet, I have to blow into the instruments and make the reed vibrate and the air will pass through the body and out from the bell. To control the sound, I have to press the keys and blow at the same time. The hardest of the notes are the high notes because I have to use the register key which makes the high notes. It took me about a few months to be able to play a high note. On the other hand, the easiest note is G, which I don't have to press any keys at all. Clarinet is the second easiest instruments to play in band. There is a Wii at my house and everyone in our family plays it to exercise and workout when it rains outside. We have a lot of game disc, but most of them are pirated. My mom says you sweat and exercise more when you do the real sport, not the graphic. Even through with Wii, you can actually move with the person inside. After the game, we feel sore when we play sports and not sore at all when we play something else, like Mario. The robot represent that I like technology and that’s why I took Robotics as a elective this trimester. Starting from 6th grade, I took Information Technology as a elective in trimester one and has been interested in technology ever since. Since we're talking about technology, I also have a Mp3 and a Ipod touch. The robot shown on the picture can walk on windows because it has pads on it's feet. I discovered computers in 1st grade, but I'm not very interested until 6th grade. Another proof that I'm into technology is the electronic banking in Monopoly that I mentioned before. The last thing that represent me is a Spot the difference book, seeing the difference can help me in real life, like seeing the things that are missing and locating objects. The first spot the difference book I ever read was a sticker spot the difference book, you have to see what's different, then stick a circle sticker over the difference. Overall, I am like mystery books and plays Ping Pong and Badminton. I also play Scrabble, spot the difference and Wii as entertainment. My interest is collecting playing cards. Piano and clarinet are instruments that I do when I’m bored. I am also into technology, that’s why I have a toy robot.

The Journey within

The only journey is the one within.-Rainer Maria Rilke

The reason of why I chose this quote is that this year, the main topic is the journey within and what I believe in. I believe a way to journey within is to meditate. Lots of religions believe that meditation is the key to achieve enlightenment. A word in the sentence caught my eye, it said the only journey is the one within. Rainer Rilke is trying to say that vacations and holiday trips are not as important as the spiritual journey to go within yourself and understanding yourself. The whole main idea of this year in 7th grade is the journey. Believing something is the soul inside everyone, if he/she believes in revenge. Probably she/he is not a peaceful person. A video on YouTube call The Journey Within gave me some inspiration on the paragraph. It also has some wonderful photos and quotes.

I chose this image by Bridgette Guerzon Mills because the oval shape must be our soul and the bird represent us trying to go within. Inside the oval, there are some trees meaning heaven. My opinion is that once you make the journey within, you'll find inner peace.

This poem by Connifer is talks about the idea of a heart's oasis.

It mentions a bird's song which connects back to the painting. The last phrase talks about even when your sad, the song of solitude will always in your heart. In the third verse, it mentions a bird perching on a tree which means that Connifer also thinks that trees is heaven inside the soul. I think Bridgette and Connifer both mentioned a bird because they believe that the bird can fly and make the journey. Connifer also mentioned a bird because of it's song which is kind of relaxing to hear it.

Dancing for Globalization

I think Matt Harding's video of him dancing changed the world because his weird dance moves in different countries connects people together. This is a lot like the compliment guys, the compliment guys compliment other people to make other's life better. Matt Harding's video is a entertainment, but also connects people together. Starting from 0:52 in the video, other people from all the different countries joined in.
The painting by Marc Chagall, the Juggler supports the fact that dancing can bring people together. In the top right of the painting, there is a blue dress woman dancing with the juggler.
When I first saw the video, I laughed at Matt's hilarious dance moves. Laughing helps to heal more faster and can reduce the pain. It can also reduce food cravings and relieve stress.
Rabindranath Tagore's poem about dancing also supports the fact dancing can cause connect the world together. Rabindranath's last sentence in the poem says that there are no age limit in dancing, everyone is welcome. The first sentence says that a special stream of life connects the world together and dances rhythmically. I'm guessing that the stream of life is nature, because in the second sentence in the poem says that the steam of life gives the dust of the earth grass and flowers.
The image above shows people holding each other's hands around the earth. A extra detail I found about the image is that the people in the video all have cancer, but survived.
Resource:http://www.cancersurvivors.org.uk/mission.html

Feeling of Compliment

The last time I received a compliment was when I scored an average A, my mom said a compliment to me. It made me feel warm and happy, just like those other people that the compliment guys complimented. We all want to be complimented by other people and I think the compliment guys would really make other people's day better. Everyone likes to hear positive things, especially about themselves.

On the other hand, the last time I complimented someone was when I complimented my friend on finishing a robotics project. I think my friend the same way as I did when someone else compliments me, all warm and happy. The more you compliment someone, the more he or her wants to be friends with you. I believe that compliments can make a difference and will improve world peace and globalization. I also believe this compliment thing can cause other people to compliment each other or at least try not to hurt other peers by saying negative things, like you will fail.

Teesha Moore tries to get the message of believe the thing and it will happen by combining the words and graphics together in her art. Speaking of art, this image I posted shows that if someone compliments you, you'll feel happy The person who got this image said that all you need is a little compliment to make up your day.

Resources:http://www3.whig.com/whig/blogs/aliveandwell/?p=389

The White Mountains Post#5

I predict that in the next book, Will, Henry and Beanpole are going to continue to fight against the Tripods, using more advanced weapons than grenades. They might also make new friends, Will might goes into where the Tripods live and destroy the city and rescue Eloise from the Tripods. Will, Henry and Beanpole might become the top leaders of the resistant against the Tripods. The boys might send spies in to the city where the Tripods live to spy on them. I think later on in the story, Will, Henry and Beanpole might discover that there are aliens or not in the Tripod. If there is, then they will capture it and analyze it.

Will changed during the course of the journey, he found his true love but was forced to leave because of his decision. He became more independent and stopped whining for a bit. Will became a bit smarter after he left Eloise, because he started thinking and making decisions became easier for him after he left. For example, he didn't hesitate or whine when Beanpole started to cut off the small cap under his armpit. When he tried to make a decision to go or not to go, it was only the thought of being free encouraged him to go to the White Mountains.

Dear Beanpole,
Why do you use a knife to separate the cap from Will's armpit, when you could have just smash it with a rock or a hammer? You were really smart to invent glasses when there wern't any around you. How many inventions have you made and when have you decided not to be capped? A example that shows you are smart is that you decided to keep the grenades when the others decided it was dangerous and should not touch it. It came handy when you, Will and Henry faced the Tripods even through only one of them have affect on it.
Sincerely,
Brandon L

The White Mountains Post#4

The quote on page 111 relates to the theme by saying that if you have courage but gets capped, what is the meaning of courage without a free mind? The rest of the chapter also talks about freedom. When Will found out that Eloise is also capped and has no freedom, he abandons his love and escaped after Eloise left in the next chapter. The people of the red castle also thinks that capping ceremony is a way of growing up, like from a boy to a knight or a girl to a lady. Will said in the passage that all good things are wasted when they are capped. I think the reason he said that because Eloise is capped and Will loves Eloise so when he learns that she is capped, he felt that she is wasted.

The White Mountains Post #3

The Tripods were able to control people by capping them using a metal cap. They control thoughts and knowledge but not emotions and feelings. The Comte, Comtesse and Eloise are all capped but they are still kind and wants to help others. Will is comfortable living in the red castle, he is frustrated that the Comte, Comtesse and Eloise has been capped. The evidence or quotation from the novel: "But not Eloise. I had thought her free, like myself. I might even have come to the idea-its beginnings,I think, were in my mind already- that when we set off once more for the White Mountains, there might not be three of us, but four. All this was rendered futile by the sight of her bare head. I had come to think of her as my friend:perhaps more. But now I knew that she belonged, irretrievably,body and soul, to the Enemy." One evidence or quotation of what Will thinks about capping from the novel is:"I was sorry at the thought of leaving her,and my father,and of their unhappiness when they found me gone. The Caps offered no remedy for human grief. but I could not stay, any more than a sheep could walk through a slaughterhouse door, once it knew what lay beyond. And I knew that I would rather die than wear a cap."

The White Mountains Post #2

Beanpole helps Will and Henry on their journey to the White Mountains by making sensible choices since he is the most intelligent person in their group. An example of how he is intelligent is that he read a lot of books and learns English by himself. The reason he wants to go with Will and Henry because Beanpole is smart enough to realize that the Tripods are using caps to control people's mind. With out Beanpole, Will and Henry might not be smart enough to make it to the White Mountains.
Another way Beanpole helps Will and Henry is knowing how to speak french, so he can communicate with the villagers and get them out of trouble. Later on in the story, when they are caught, Beanpole spoke to the people and said Will and Henry is his deaf cousins. If Beanpole weren't there, Will and Henry would be locked up and capped and will have no chance of escaping.

The White Mountains Post 1

Will is like me because we both have friends and it is important to have friends, Will's only friend is Jack(Soon Beanpole)before he was capped. I also have friends except I have more than 1, about 6-7. A few of my main friends are Roemer, Junnmeng and Danniel. Henry and Will might be friends, but sometimes they fight and tease other, in chapter 3 Henry tries to make friends with Will. This is one of the similarities we have.
Another reason that Will is like me is that we both are wanting to discover new things, like Will wants to discover the truth about the Tripods. I want to learn new things as well discovering some. Will discovered some friends he never had on the way to White mountains later on in the story. Learning new things like how to survive far away from Will is a challenge for him, for me the things I need to learn is how to be a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen like the ISKL statement says.

Resolution for the Year

My resolutions for the year is to learn a new skill, get healthier, help other students and improve academically and socially. The new skill I wanted to learn is to be better at writing essays and other writing tasks. Getting healthier is another goal I have for the new year because I sometimes get really sick and have a high fever. Academic and social resolution are another important resolution, I want to improve my grades and have more friends. Helping other students is another thing I need to do.



I want to be better at writing essays because some of my essays are not well structured. Other writing tasks includes narratives and blog posts. The structure of the essays are separated into many parts and that makes it kind of too many paragraphs. This new skill is the one I wanted to learn and it is also important. Learning a new skill is my number 3 on my resolution. The order of the resolution is improve academically and socially ,then get healthier, new skill and the last is help other students.



Improving my grades and make new friends is the most important resolution, it also involves helping other students with things they need help with.In this paragraph number 1 and number 4 is mentioned together, because the socially goal is a bit like helping others.The academic goal is to maintain my grades as A's and the social goal is to make more friends as well helping other students. Helping students is one of my resolutions because I don't help other students a lot. All of my grades are at A's at the moment except Math, which has dropped to B+ because of a test.





Getting healthier is another resolution that I made. Growing taller is made by being healthy, so in order to grow taller I have to be healthier. Exercising is something I need to do more often to be fit. Overall, I made all 4 resolution for the year and here is the order of them:
1.Improve Academically and socially
2. Healthier
3.New skill
4.Help other students