The Renaissance

     The Renaissance started in 1350, Business was doing very well this lead to art becoming a popular merchandise in Italy. One of the residence of Italy in the Renaissance was Francesco Petrarch, He was often called "Father Of Humanisim" He was a scholar and poet and his ideas inspired many across Europe as the Renaissance spread. New ideas quickly spread hence starting the Renaissance. A popular painting subject was the human body. A famous painter and inventor from that time was Leonardo De Vinci, He was accepted into Painters Guild Of Florence at twenty years of age.

The Turks and Caicos

      Turks and Caicos are a string of islands in the Atlantic Ocean near Cuba, the islands were inhabited by the Taino and Lucayan Indians for roughly seven hundred years. They were known for their farming skills and colorful culture. When the natives daily work was finished the villagers would gather in teams of twenty to thirty people and play a game commonly known as 'batey'. Batey was hosted in the middle of the village where there was a court with stone walls and petroglyphs painted on them. The game was very similar to soccer but instead of just a game batey was used to help tribes resolve disputes. Occasionally, there would be a game between the married and singles, the married team would wear a cloak while the singles played nude!  Lucayan villages were very beautiful, they had circular huts surrounded by greenery, semi-accurate models have been recreated in Cuba. The natives Maipurean language originated words such as; Caicos, meaning string of islands and the word 'canoe'.  

      Turks and Caicos have forty islands, only eight of which are inhabited. The current population is 33,098 people. The capital city is Cockburn Town. The motto is "Beautiful by nature". The Flag is the British flag with the Turks and Caicos coat of arms which contains a conch shell, lobster and cactus. The government is controlled by the British after they took leadership from Jamaica in 1959. Salt farming, conch exportation and tourism make up most of the economy for the residence and they are a zero tax community!
         A few unique facts about the islands are: They are home to the one and only conch farm in the world. In 1962, after orbiting the earth three times in his space capsule John Glen landed in the ocean and was retrieved at Grand Turks Island. Also, there is a shipwreck from the 1500's that was found in the Molasses Reef that was thought to have been the Pinta. It was later discovered that it was a lesser known ship, but also the oldest shipwreck find in the western hemisphere.

       
  I have recently traveled to the islands and I must say it certainly lives up to it's motto (see second paragraph) I stayed at Beaches Resort along with fifteen other family members. The sand at the beach was white as snow and the ocean was a light sapphire blue. I was luckily able to go horse riding on the beach through Provo Ponies and it was very fun and memorable. My horses' name was Limbo, he was dark colored and was the leader of the herd. I distinctly remember going through a narrow path which I found exotic, it had all types of tropical plants along the sides and the trail was dusted with sand, when we finally got to the ocean I realized that it was very different from the beach at the resort, the water wasn't as clear and there was seaweed everywhere, none the less, it was still very beautiful. We went fairly deep about three feet in the water. it was a bit of a bumpy ride on the way back to the corral. Afterwards, we headed in a taxi back to the resort and left for the airport the next day.

Reasons Black Friday Isn't Worth it

 
   I have never been 'Black Friday' shopping but from watching Youtube videos and hearing stories I can already tell that these 'great deals' are not worth your time. You would not believe what people do to keep their place in line! A woman at a Best Buy was waiting, oh so patiently, in line to purchase her items. An employee received a complaint of a pile of feces in a dryer which was proven to be the incoherent woman who supposedly was waiting patiently in line. Another exploit was made by a man that left his girlfriends two year old child in the car in search for a swanky TV only to be called by the police from home to pick up the infant. This next story is pure expediency. A woman shopping at Toys-R-Us when the original Furby came out deliberately pushed a worker to the ground, jumped on a pile of people proceeded to kick one of them in the face, grabbing the coveted Furby, stuffed it down her shirt and walked out the door in hopes of taking the merchandise home for free.
      Only once have I heard of a good outcome happening on this widely treasured day. A woman standing in a line outside of Best Buy was asked by the store staff what she would like to purchase so a hold could be placed by her name. She asked for a two hundred ninety-nine dollar laptop and the clerk explains they only have the four hundred ninety-nine dollar laptops left. The lady begins to cry because she is starting night school and cannot afford the more expensive laptop, then a man walks up to her and says, "I knew I brought so much cash for a reason," and gave her two hundred dollars and walked away.
        Sadly, the last story was an anomaly if more people had the same mindset as the the anonymous man, Black Friday would be a more reasonable holiday shopping experience, but for now it will remain a mob mentality, nut-case packed holiday for average and below average Americans to enjoy.

The Artful Tree

The Artful tree 

By: Alexandra Brown

To change an atmosphere 

The branches as your canvas 

and twinkling ornaments as an artistic tool

along with strands of lights and ribbon on a spool

In the midst of transformation

The room shimmers and twinkles

Wrapping paper is spread about

A mess has been made 

The lights have been laid

But a masterpiece awaits

The presents have been stowed

The tree Glimmers

The stockings are up

You take a sip from your hot cocoa cup 

Your work here is done...

Anger

Anger

By: Alexandra Brown

Anger is a loud roar across the world that turns the heart to flames and spreads to others

It's not all fun and games

The most foul of language is spat 

A storm of hate progresses 

A verbal army in the midst of attack which angers you so you strike back

An endless fight it may be 

I hope it does not take over me

Woof, Meow

Woof, Meow

By: Alexandra Brown

Dogs are full of love and play

Cats would rather stay away

Dogs love to be pet

When petting cats, their claws you fret

Dogs run up to greet you 

Cats would rather not meet you

Dogs do tricks for treats

Cats only want to eat

In the yard doggy doo gets spread on your socks

But cats prefer to go in a box

Dogs like to jump and bark

A cats purr comforts you in the dark

While dogs chase pheasants 

Cats bring you presents

Cats knead you and you need them 

Which furry friend will you choose?

I can't decide can you?

The Fairy Land Of Science Lecture 3

      In this lecture the author compared humans and the earth we live on to fish in the sea. If we were to be taken up to space we would gasp and die as a fish out of water would do. Referred to as the aerial ocean in which we live, the earth and it's atmosphere are also described. The book also depicts some interesting experiments such as the following: Take a piece of paper or a card, fill a cup with water and put the card on top, then firmly hold the card on top and turn the cup over, then gently remove your hand from the card. The card will not fall as you would expect but, it will stay in the air with the cup and water.