Reminder!

Hello all!

Just a reminder! We have our first meeting of the year! Come one, come all!

See you tomorrow in room 105!!

Mrs. Gaboury

Welcome back!

Hi!
I hope everyone had a wonderful break from SCHOOL! AHHH! :-)

Well, we are back to it! How 'bout a meeting next Thursday??

Anyone up to making some interest posters? If so, show me your ideas and you can create and post around the school.

Hope all is good and that everyone feels good a creative!

Love,
Mrs. Gaboury

Summer and the Poor

Happy Summer everyone!

I hope everyone has been having a marvelous Summer, doing whatever your heart desires. I have been having quite a good one myself, although more and more I am wishing there were more time in a day. A few parties, tennis matches, and nights out to eat and... Wow, it is still June! Weeeeee!

I'm assuming that most of the people here are not like the many who shut down intellectually over the Summer, or my sister, who says she doesn't have to think when it is Summer, Saturday, Sunday, Friday, a holiday, mornings, and nights.

I thought I'd share with you my thoughts on a particular topic, and see what all of you thought about it as well.

I was recently thinking about the poor. There is a quote that goes "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."(Dom Helder Camara, Brazilian archbishop) So, from this quote, I am gathering that it is a good thing to give to the poor, but it is a bad thing to ask why people are poor. Why he picked Communist in particular, for those unfamiliar with the concept, is because under Communism there would be no poor people.

From this question stems some of the questions I'd like to impose:

1. Is capitalism really the way to go? Is Communism a possible solution to the poor?

2. We give food and money via charity to poor people all the time. How should one determine what poor people get what kind of food or money, and how much? How does one pick the poor who have to starve while picking others that live by the donation? Is it better to give to some poor or no poor? Is one poor person to be more privileged than another?

3. And finally, let's help the good archbishop with his question by getting to the root of the problem. Why are there poor people?


Here are my thoughts.

1. Communism is a possible solution that has yet to be tried in its fullest. Anarcho-communism would be the ultimate communism and it would eliminate poor people. As a reference, let me point out that there are no poor bees. They all work together to achieve group sustenance. Perhaps if it were tried in small steps, like having a colony practice Communism for a while. Capitalism works well, but it is only the dominant economic system on the premise that humans can not work together or efficiently with no incentive to climb higher in the bureaucracy and earn more money. Perhaps this is true, but that can be fixed.

2. This is the main question I had been pondering. As a throwback to OAFK (sorry) and Lionel, why did Sir Colgreivance and the hermit have to die while he lived? Why should some poor people die while others survive? By giving food to the poor, we are Gods. We are controlling the fates of people. We pick who lives, who dies. Personally, that makes me feel sick and powerful at the same time. The earth seems to have been a free for all, where countries competed for power and now the richest most powerful countries have prosperous citizens and the other countries have people who are dieing of starvation. If no one was poor, this problem would not exist. I honestly have no answer for this question. If only there were no poor... Which brings me to my next answer.

3. Why are people poor? Well, people are starving because of unequal food distribution. Food is thrown away in the US and Europe while Africans are dieing of starvation. Perhaps a thousand extra helicopters to make trips to Africa... Oh wait, oil is limited. Well maybe we can just go to war for more... Wait a minute, that would also be against what clearly more than half the country wants... Well maybe if we paid more for oil and gas... Wait, we're already complaining about the prices. Gosh darnit, sorry poor people. In any case, there are poor people for a much simpler reason than what this paragraph has amounted to. There are poor people because there are rich people. There has to be a certain medium of wealth per person. If certain people horde massive amounts of money, others will have to suffer for it. So equality, such as under Communism, would be the way to get rid of the poor because everyone becomes equal. Part of Communism involves a classless society, mainly economically classless. So perhaps Communism is the solution

Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts I've been having. I thought I'd share and see what everyone else thought about the poor. Maybe someone has better solutions to the problem than I do (probably).

~Tyler

Great Job!

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for a great year to the whole Undefined team. Although, we only got one issue out; we still got an issue out! And, a good issue at that. Anyway, thanks again, and I can't wait to see your future issues! Have a good summer.

Peace,

Stephen Roff

P.S. - Has anyone read their copy of the Poetry magazine? I'm reading it right now, and there are some really good stuff in there, especially Yves Bonnefoy's San Biagio, at Montepulciano. I would love to discuss some of these poems; keep in touch.

Time to Copy & Print!!!!

Hey guys,

Thanks to all who could make flat night last Friday; we've successfully put together the first undefined manuscript for this year (and although it will most likely be our only), it is now time to send them to print make our voices heard! Mrs. Gaboury is swamped with copying this 30-some-odd manuscript to make official copies. Thus, if you have ANY free time to help her out, please do so. A lunch, afterschool, a study-hall; whatever, we can't get our issue out there until we have copies to give out. So time to copy!

-Stephen Roff

Flat Night

WE ARE PUBLISHING THIS FRIDAY. ALL MEMBERS MUST BE AT MRS. GABOURY'S ROOM THIS FRIDAY. WE WILL MEET AT 2:30 IN MRS. GABOURY'S ROOM AND WILL MOST LIKELY BE USING THE COMPUTER LAB TO EDIT AND PRINT FINAL DRAFTS OF OUR FIRST UNDEFINED LITERARY PUBLICATION. WE WILL MOST LIKELY BE ORDERING PIZZA SO BRING A COUPLE BUCKS. I'LL SEE YOU THERE!!!


-S. Roff

Deadline

Ok busy busy people. Tomorrow is the last day Editor S Roff is accepting submissions for his editing for this issue. Please send him anything and everything you want published. Or send it to me and I will fwd it to him if you don't have his email address (forgot to ask him if I could post it!).

So some of you have been working on pieces on the blog--submit those to him! And anything else--like pieces of writing exercises you really enjoyed . . .children's/self written stories/ territory papers gone crazy.

Enjoy! Keep writing!

V Gaboury :-)

A meeting?!

Hello! Remember me? Just goshing yas. Especially since many of you see me every other day. (g)

Anyway--how about a meeting on Wed in my room after school?

VG

Newly Written Poem

Hey, hey, people. As some of you may or may not know, I write poetry occasionally in my free time. Basically, I get an idea in my head, and I am just sort of thinking about it for a while. Keep in mind that I don't know I'm going to have a poem while I'm thinking about this stuff. Then, I'll describe the event in some way and it will come across in my head as something poetic. Then I'll find a type of poem I feel up to writing and write it.

In any case, I've recently written another poem, in this case, a haiku, and I thought I would share it with you all.

EDIT: Thanks to you two who responded (Matt and Kit) and you both were right, I do have 6 syllables in the first line. The revised poem is now above the original. Thanks again.

Non-Reciprocated Love

The love is one-way
I love her and she shuns me
My mistress is sleep

I left my blunder on the original if you were curious to know what it was.

Non-Reciprocated Love

With her love is one-way

I love her and she shuns me

My mistress is sleep

I'm also posting it here to get some feedback on it. I mean, the idea that I'm trying to get across in the poem is simply that I don't sleep well. How well did that come across? Also, how did you think the subtlety of the last line was? My mom thought it was a little to direct, but I don't know, I think the direct approach somehow fits.

I'll think on it.

~Tyler

Testing #2

Ok--I am testing again--email me at gabouryv@averillpark.k12.ny.us if you get this! ;-)

testing

If you get this, email me at vsgaboury@aol.com

TUESDAY

Hello busy, busy people!
Let's have a meeting Tuesday the 13th. Brng anything you are working on, wanting to submit, works from friends and so on.
I'll bring baked goods!
Mrs. Gaboury

READ Stephen's Post

Hi!! Time to get back to it!

I am posting this to check and see if the email notification works--please post a comment to let me known if you received notification of a new post.

Read Stephen's wonderful idea in the post below.

Enjoy your writing!
Mrs. Gaboury

The Real Deal!

So...my long lost team, there will be an uber-important meeting concerning everyone in the group and the future of Undefined going down in Mrs. Gaboury's room on May 7th, Wednesday. It is super important that you're there! As we will be discussing four upcoming projects: one, getting together a spring and summer issue of our collective Undefined work (including outside submissions as well); the introduction of a new, radical, and hopefully fun, Undefined meeting called *Flat Nights; and third, planning a couple days to discuss the poetry magazine we all received (if you didn't receive your copy, see Mrs. Gaboury), and spending a week or two to discuss our thoughts and maybe do something with the book, Bird by Bird. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or Mrs. Gaboury during the day or by email. My email address is NrSlik@Yahoo.com. Mrs. Gaboury's is Vsgaboury@aol.com.



Peace,

Stephen Roff

*So what are Flat Nights...well Flat Nights kind of work like this. Some day on a given week during every other month, our team stays and works at the high school (most likely the computer lab) finishing up and editing articles, poems, stories, artwork, what have you, for the upcoming publication of our literary magazine. We'll most likely buy pizza for dinner at the high school and we probably work until 7:30ish; however, this is just an estimate, as the point nobody leaves until the manuscript for publication is ready to be sent off for publication the next day. It should be a lot of fun and this is something we will discuss further at our May 7th meeting.

Meeting? Submissions?

As happy as I am that you like blogging . . .I don't see many updates. I am also not real sure you are writing, so I am going to bug you. Where's your writing???

My guys--we are doing creative writing in class . . .why not double dip? Submit your work here.

I would like to get some feedback on something I am working on if anyone has time.

Mrs. Gaboury

An Undefined Meeting!

Hey,

So...sometime ago, I contacted the poetry foundation about a high school program they were doing--they were giving away free April issues of their poetry magazine to high school groups interested in using their material for reading and discussion. Exhilarated by the perfect chance for our group I sent a saccharine email asking if they would be nice enough to donate this upcoming month's magazine issue to our group and they sent me 9 copies for our group. So how about a meeting April 1st/2nd (whichever day Mrs. Gaboury is after)? What do you guys think? Hit me up...and enjoy your break!

Peace,

Stephen Roff

Hello and Sorry and a DEADLINE

Hey guys.
Sorry I have been so absent. As many of you know-life got crazier than me.

I would like to get us to print. I am wondering if it is possible to actually start getting it going during break. What do you think? Can you email me the pieces you want published?--Or hand me a disk tomorrow?

Including that great cover????

Thoughts?


On another note==I thought maybe this would be a good time to get our book club going. Do you want to read a writing book like Bird By Bird or does anyone have any other ideas?

miss you all.

Mrs. Gaboury

Ok, so about the dreaded deadline--how about Tuesday next week everyone contacts me with their stuff?

Rules v. Situational Ethics

Write down everything you'd like to do in a day; you don't have any obligations, just write down everything...a trip to the mall, waking up and brushing your teeth, taking your dog for a walk; whatever it is you do, just jot it down.
And so I began to make what would become a foundation for my life, a fundamental anchor for the day, holding me steady through the angry white caps and the calm ripples. She called it, "Your Perfect Day", and it sounded great. You could do whatever you wanted for that entire day, time and money binding, yet this day was absolutely yours.
I couldn't help but smile, because this was awesome. The freedom to do everything that you want to do in your grasp. Of course this was eighth grade home and career skills, so nobody took the teacher or the assignment seriously, but a couple years down the line, I found myself coming back to this idea. It was different, it was radical (at least organizationally) for me. I created a daily schedule, "My Daily Schedule", and I intended to follow it to the t. I incorporated everything that was mandatory: breakfast, school, dinner, homework, sleep, waking up; and then I took what I considered important to me: practicing my sax, reading, etc. and thus created a master schedule. It made perfect sense; just follow the schedule and you get everything that you need or want done in your day. Just follow it to the t...well, that didn't go over so well.
Theoretically, my schedule was perfect, but realistically it had some faults. Some mornings I woke up late, or it was simply raining out so I couldn't go out for a run, or I had a rehearsal; whatever, something always came up or messed with things. Thus, with Murphy's law in full effect, these new situations provided obstacles for my daily schedule. In order to undertake my "Most Efficient Day" (My Master Schedule), I would almost always have to change or adapt my schedule to the new circumstances. However, this proved a breach of moral: in order to adapt to my situation at hand (which after adapting to, would prove most efficient) I would have to go against my word set in stone.
So let's step back to examine the bigger question: At what point does it become okay to change/ignore/bend the rules for certain situations, or is it even okay to sway from the rules? This is a tough question because it in itself poses a concrete law, and laws are meant to be all encompassing, unless otherwise noted. I believe that regardless of circumstances, rules are meant to be set in stone. And by setting these laws in stone one ensures the best, if not, most efficient, means of ensuring the intended outcome of a certain rule. Granted there will be victims of circumstance, but aren't there always? This should be no determent from those who wish to secure the good for their fellow man through a set of concrete rules and laws. Because ultimately, rules pose a necessary and irreplaceable means of obtaining a just (to the greatest extent feasible), orderly, and good society.

Book Recommendations!!!

Hey, Ali here! Just wanted to let you guys know about a great book I'm reading right now. That's right, I haven't even finished it, and yet I'm recommending it to you. Ya know it's gotta be good. The book is "Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You" by Hanna Jansen. It's based on the true story of a girl named Jeanne whose entire family was killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when she was only 8 years old. The book is written by her German foster mother, and translated into English by, umm....some translator whose identity I am not sure of. I'm about halfway through, and it's really great so far - a horrible event told through the eyes of a young girl who really isn't sure what it's all about. It's also really well written...translated...whatever. Anyway, I really suggest this book to anyone who likes reading true stories....or just reading in general.

Lotsa love,
Ali

Undefined Cover

Let me cut to the chase...I made a cover for the Undefined magazine...here it is...

So...How do ya like it? Post comments PLEASE!

-BO

Yes!

Good question! (See below) Anybody know? Could someone who has Mrs. Gaboury for English please ask her.

Peace,

Stephen Roff

Question: when we were thinking that writings would be due/first issue would be going out?

please inform.

~kit

Eduardo and the Room of Doom - Chapter 2

Well, here's chapter 2! if you haven't read Chapter 1, scroll down a bit. It's there.

Mrs. Gaboury - I know I have about 3 blogs waaaaay overdue! I'm sorry! I'll have them finished by the end of this week! I promise I promise I promise I promise!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Two – MachoChibi Floofypants II
Eduardo stood at the door of his parent’s house, shifting nervously from foot to foot. 何をしますか？何を言いますか？ he thought. He liked to try out different languages from time to time, so that he didn’t get too rusty. Even the perfect must practice. Reverting back to English, he wondered, What will I do? What will I say?
He moved his pack from his right shoulder to his left and kicked a pebble lying several miles away. He nervously glanced up at his mother. She smiled and gave him a hug. His father handed him some of his best homemade cheese bread and said, “Good luck, son. I’m sure that you’ll find some way to get the things you want. Whatever they were again…”
Eduardo grinned and waved to his parents. Maybe this will be okay after all, he thought. After all, I can just send them a letter whenever I want to. I can do anything.
Sauntering down the lane, Eduardo blew a kiss to Melinda and air-fived Felipe. Suddenly realizing that he didn’t have to walk, he bounded over the great green mountains surrounding their little valley and vanished into the distance. At the same instant, a bouquet of brightly-colored and fake-looking flowers appeared in Melinda’s hand. “What a lovely boy,” she said. “He turned out wonderfully.”
“I still think we should have named him Pancho,” sighed his father.


Skipping down the lane, Eduardo came upon a sudden forest.

Was it the same lane that he was sauntering down earlier?

No, no, you silly twit. He bounded away over the mountains, remember? This is an entirely different lane in an entirely different place. Now back to our hero.
Skipping down the lane, Eduardo came upon a sudden forest. Surprised, he skipped right into a tree. (Hardy har har – physical comedy. Told you this was an absurd story, didn’t I? ) Seeing as he had nothing else to do and seeing as the narrator says he did, Eduardo walked into the forest. It was certainly a very odd forest. There were lots of very odd noises and shadows that were there but really, really shouldn’t be.
As Eduardo could do anything, this made him very brave and rather conceited, so he kept on going into the very odd and sudden forest. He kept on going and going and going for so long that if I were to describe it all, why, I wouldn’t receive a grade at all because poor Mrs. Gaboury would have fallen asleep and dropped this comedic adventure epic on her face. But eventually (thank goodness for the poor bored narrator), something that was not boring happened to Eduardo. It was actually quite a downright interesting thing.
Eduardo was walking along, same as before, when a chinchilla dropped out of the nearest elm tree and onto his forehead. “HEY, BUDDY!” it squeaked, “GOT ANY SEVENS?”

Sevens? What in the world?

Shut up. Please, shut up. It’s my story, so let me tell it.

“Eh, sevens of what?” Eduardo replied.
“Cards, you idiot! I'm playing Go Fish. Got any sevens?”
“Um, no, unfortunately. But may I ask you who you are?”
“My name is MachoChibi Floofypants II, I’m a chinchilla, and my hair is better than yours!”
It was then that Eduardo noticed that the chinchilla had a pink mohawk.

------------------------
ooooooh...a cliffhanger :)
Anyway, the thing about Mrs. Gaboury grading me on this is in there because I wrote this story for my Territory #2 paper. If you were wondering.

Also, if some random boxes happen to appear on your screen at the beginning of the chapter instead of words, that's because I typed in Japanese there. Just letting you know, in case Blogger or your computer can't read Japanese characters.

--Ali

P.S. Please take a look at Bo's blog, RANDOM JUNK, to read the round-robin story that he and I are currently writing! It's funny! I love it! But it's full of private jokes that other people might not get....oh well. It was fun to write. High-five, Bo!

Reading #2

Hey! Its me again! A couple of weeks ago I finished a very good book. This book is called Tuesdays with Morrie. It is an inspiring nonfiction story about a professor (Morrie), his student (Mitch), and the heartwarming conversations they share. In this story Morrie is slowly dying from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and with the last few moments he has left, he wants to teach the world about life...from experience. He shares these moments every Tuesday with his former student Mitch and they talk about subjects such as Death, Aging, Money, Marriage, Culture, and Love. This was a very inspiring story, and even though it was 200 pages, it was one of the best books I have ever read. By reading this book you will question your values and realize how precious life is.

Happy Reading

-BO

Youth Politics

Well, I've decided to make a blog dedicated to the discussion of politics among we young folk. Its called Youth Politics, and I invite you to join the discussions.

http://tyler-youthpolitics.blogspot.com/

See you there, hopefully.

~Tyler

If I could switch places with ANYONE (!), I would probably use up all my time and energy trying to decide who it would be . . . kinda like I am right now! Oh good, we're going to lunch now so i have time to think!

2008 Election

Well, I must say. I am in a real confuddlement on the 2008 election. I've never really been this involved. I mean, four years ago, I couldn't tell you most of the beliefs of Kerry or Bush. I have made some efforts to enlighten myself this time around, though. I'll be eightteen next election, so the time for my opinion to mean something is close, and I plan on being ready. But this post is about the 2008 election.

For this election, I have followed some of the leading candidates including Obama, Clinton, Guliani, Thompson, Huckabee, Romney, and partially Edwards. Until recently, I have been 99% behind Obama, for several reasons. For one, I agree with him on many issues, including some of the ones I care about especially (Energy, the Environment, Immigration, the Economy, Stem Cell Research). I also believe that the election of a black president will make a statement about America to the rest of the world, proclaiming its status as a leader in the absence of racial hate and the presence of equality in civil rights. Then again, I suppose that Hilary's election would be a different means to a similar end.

I disagree on some issues with Obama, though. For example, he seems to want to focus on early education (elementary school), where I believe the problems are later on and should be addressed then. Also, his lack of experience is one of his weaknesses. This did not affect my opinion much, though. The real heart breaker has been that I recently found out that not only did he inhale drugs in high school (I knew that for some time), but that he currently smokes cigarettes. I mean, we are thinking of electing someone to lead our country; Don't you think that person should be somewhat of a role model to the children, teens, and people of the States? What kind of role model is someone who has done illegal drugs and currently smokes cigarettes. I know it is hard to stop, but the issue remains at hand. Now, I am not so sure I like Obama all that much anymore, because I can think of other candidates, the like of which I agree with less issues on, but they have more experience and set a better example. Just my little speech on Barack.

In other news, the Iowa Caucus is going on right now. For those who don't know what that is, it is the voting of people in Iowa on who they want for president, but it isn't their official votes. It helps figure out the feelings of a state before the voite, and the state becomes more informed on candidates. My personal prediction is the Obama will be the head of the democratic side and Romney will head the republican side. Some think that Edwards could win the democratic, and alot think that Huckabee will be the republican favorite. What do you think? UPDATE! UPDATE! Obama won the dem and Huckabee won the rep. Find an article on whatever news site and read more.

Now, on to some other stuff. On Hilary Clinton... I believe that her views are a little too left wing/democratic/liberal. There is a fine line between American liberalism and socialism. She is playing on several things, not the least of which are the idea of a woman president and the strong desire of many an American to get out of Iraq. I think she is an extremist, as I mentioned before, and personally, I would not vote for her were I given the chance.

The republican candidates do not appeal to me for the most part. However, I do think that Mitt Romney would make a pretty good president. Unfortunately, I know that many will not vote for him because of his religious denomination (He's a Mormon).

Anyway, that pretty much concludes my post. I'm wondering what other people are thinking on the topic of the 2008 election. Who do you support and why? Who do you not like? What do you think about some of the things I've said?

Well, Happy New Year, everyone.

~Tyler

I feel very left out because I have not been on this blog in soooo long and now I have a lot of catching up to do so...yeah that was all I wanted to say so keep on blogging!