February Puzzle

In honor of Black History Month...

Birds and Vocal Cords

Some birds have the ability to mimic human speech. while some are only capable of saying a few words and phrases, budgerigars have been noted to have a vocabulary of up to 2,000 words! Some are even taught to sing.


Vocabulary

Budgerigars - are small, long tailed, seed eating parrots nicknamed "budgie".

                                                                                                              


DID YOU KNOW........

• In 1995, a budgerigar named Puck had a vocabulary of 1,000 words?
• Many people have said that Hill Mynas are the best talking birds. This bird is a common pet.
• Many species of Amazon parrots are skilled talkers.  

I'm probably allergic to these animals because when they fly around, their dander gets into the air, the furniture, and onto the carpet. Also, I have asthma, which is just great.

I wonder of there is any cute pet that is legal in America that I am not allergic to.
And I don't want a turtle.

Okay...

So, since I have no school tomorrow, and I'm still kind of sick (horrible cough that interferes with my breathing) I'm happy!

Riddles

Theme
(ANSWERS HIDDEN IN RIDDLES)

Ira went to three of these places to complain after getting stung by a bee, getting scraped, and felt the need to make an impression.













City Hall



Answers  More Hints


Lets review the first sentence, shall we?


Ira went to three of these places to complain after getting stung by a bee, got scraped, and felt the need to make an impression.


Get it now?


If you don't, I'm not going to give away the answer. Here's some more hints.

1. When Ira was 12, she wanted to pursue a career in a meadow.
2. Ira LOVES pointy things.
3. Ira doesn't care what people think of her. (HINT: This clue illuminates "and felt the need to make an impression." If she doesn't care what people think of her, then we are not talking popularity, are we? What another meaning of "impression?") 

I found this funny video online.

Sammy Keyes And The Sisters Of Mercy: Book Review

Date: February 16th, 2012


Title: Sammy Keyes And The Sisters Of Mercy


Author: Wendelin Van Draanen


Genre: Realistic Fiction



Plot


Sammy Keyes, a thirteen-year-old junior high seventh grader, is working at St. Mary Church to work off 20 hours of detention time for  misusing the school PA System. She likes the pastor, Father Mayhew, and his dog Gregory. 

To Sammy, painting Father Mayhew's office walls and the churches glass windows are kind of fun, and it does not feel like actual work. But soon, after Sammy meets three traveling gospel-singing nuns, in Mayhew's office his ivory cross is stolen... and Sammy is the prime suspect. Now, with a mystery on her hands, Sammy must also work at the soup kitchen, deal with school and softball problems, and investigate why a mysterious girl comes to the soup kitchen everyday... with no parents.

Main Characters

Sammy Keyes: A smart thirteen-year-old girl who speaks her mind a little too much, sometimes getting her into trouble. Sammy plays softball and uses her dad's old mitt. She has a cat named Dorito, whom she feeds food from her dinner plate (fish mostly). Sammy has two best friends named Marissa and Dot, who are also on Sammy's softball team and help her with some things at the church. Sammy illegally lives in an apartment that doesn't allow kids.


Sister Mary Margaret: One of the nuns who does not belong to the singing group. She and Sister Josephine are constantly planning a trip to Las Vegas. She has red hair.


Sister Josephine: An old and grouchy-cane carrying nun. Josephine doesn't like working with Father Mayhew (or his dog) and is constantly trying to put Brother Philip, who works at the soup kitchen too, in his place. She used to be a school teacher.


Father Mayhew: The calm and holy pastor of St. Mary Church. Father Mayhew never raises his voice or acts crazy. He likes Sammy a lot but wrongly accuses her of stealing his ivory cross.


Gregory: is Father Mayhew's small Welsh Terrier with a love for carrots. He likes Sammy, and repeatably tries to get her to play fetch with him and his chewed, slobbery, carrots. Most of the nuns are afraid of him because he growls at them.


What Happens In The Story


After Father Mayhew's ivory cross is stolen, Sammy Keyes is accused of stealing it. So, to prove she's innocent, Sammy Keyes tries to figure out who really stole the cross. She has a list of suspects, ranging from a homeless girl in high-tops, to a stubborn soup kitchen worker. Meanwhile, Sammy's baseball glove is missing, and with the big softball game coming up, Sammy is unsure of what to do. 


A series of objects get stolen from Father Mayhew's safe, and as Sammy gets closer and closer to the culprit, she realizes, (with the help of a neighbor in her grandmother's apartment building who knows a thing or two about safes), that the answer is right in front of her. 




This was a good book. Perfect score of five stars.

Artemis Fowl and The Opal Deception Book Review

Date: February 12th, 2012


Title: Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception


Author: Eoin Colfer


Genre: Fantasy


Plot


This book begins with a pixie named Opal Koboi who is locked up in a asylum faking a coma. She puts a brain dead clone in her place to fool the employees. The clone is brain dead, but can take pictures with it's eyes. Opal plots revenge on the rest of her nemesis, Foaly, Holly Short, and Julius Root. Meanwhile, Artemis Fowl and his bodyguard Butler, are on a class trip to London with Artemis's class, and Artemis and Butler try to rob a painting stored in a bank because Artemis wants to be the youngest criminal to steal a legendary painting called The Fairy Thief.


Main Characters


The main characters in this book are:


Artemis Fowl: A fourteen-year-old genius who talks like a grown-up and makes other grown-ups nervous. At the time, he misses his mother and his father, but acts tough anyway. He is the anti-hero.

Butler: The Eurasian bodyguard and best friend of Artemis Fowl. Butler is gigantic, dangerous, and loaded with weapons. Butler has a little sister named Juliet, who attends the same academy as he did.

Holly Short: A sarcastic elf and the granddaughter of Cupid. Holly is eighty years old. She is the first and only female elf in the LEPrecon.

Foaly: A smart centaur who loves to annoy the Commander. Foaly loves to brag and make sure everybody knows he is the smartest creature in Haven City. He is a comic relief character, and a serious rival to Opal Koboi, considering they were both geniuses in college.


Julius Root: The commander of the LEPrecon. He turns red or purple when angry and loves to chew on cigars. He likes to shut Foaly up and he gets angry at Holly repeatably.

Opal Koboi: The main antagonist. Opal Koboi is described as an insane, power-mad, pixie. Her goal is to damage Foaly, Holly Short, and Julius Root. She has two pixie henchmen, Mervall and Descant Brill, two fairly famous twins, know as the Brill Brothers.


What Happens In The Story


Opal Koboi, a smart but crazy pixie wants to try again with her recent failure for world domination. With the Brill Brother's help, she escapes her asylum cell and tries to harm Julius Root and Holly Short. But Artemis Fowl , Opal's main nemesis, gathers his only friends, and together they must stop Opal Koboi before the world becomes hers!

 
I can't go any further. If I do, I'd give away some exciting details, and the book would be wasted. Sorry.



Conclusion


This book was very well written, but some of the content would bore younger kids. Because of the big words and situations only older kids can understand. 

I like how on each page, running along the bottom was a code. Some stuff is kind of disturbing,A but overall, this book would probably satisfy kids 9 and up.

JAKHME RUZ

Two days ago my mother burned her finger taking a cast iron skillet from the hot oven.   Her finger started to blister and a two pus bubbles started to form.  
 They were yellowish, green and gross. She couldn't bend her finger and said she was in a lot of pain. 

 She had the idea to put this pink ointment on it that she got from my aunt who got it from India. The ointment says it's for burns, itches, scabies and piles, boils, wounds, crack skin, scratches, sores, pimples, dandruff, mosquito bites, swelling, bruises, animal skin diseases, bed sores, carbuncles, cuts, and bleeding piles, and everything!!


I wasn't sure what scabies and piles were so I looked it up and all I can say is YUK!



After a using the cream for one day my mother's finger isn't scared from the burn or in pain. She says that cream is amazing. Her finger is completely healed.

Here's a funny ad for it from television in India.

The cream is pink with a slight grainy texture and it smells like chest salve, that stuff my mom puts on my chest when I am wheezing and have a bad cold.

Happy scratching!

The Tooth Chronicles

So I'm up late watching reruns on Netflix.  My mother is being nice and hasn't told me to go to bed yet.  Then I feel my tooth wiggling, yep it's loose.  I go and show my mother and then the next thing I know the tooth comes out.  

Well I probably helped it because I hate that loose tooth feeling.

Then my mother takes the tooth cleans it with alcohol and puts it in this little box I've been saving my other teeth in.  

I wonder if the Tooth Fairy will come tonight.




Hey do you want popcorn? Reach into this picture and grab the popcorn kernel!

Chocolate

In school, we did a reading practice test for the test at the end of the year. It was a story about chocolate. I LOVE chocolate. Most kids do.


According to the prompt story, chocolate may be healthy - if you take out the sugar and fat.
 
The first people to use "chocolate took the powder and mixed it with hot water, forming something like today's "hot chocolate." The Maya and the Aztecs also used cacao as medicine to give to sick people. They called it xocolatl. When the Aztecs gave Hernando Cortes the drink, he quoted something along the lines of, "The drink is bitter, but drinking it will let one go without food for a day."


Back to reality!


A few days ago me and my class went to our school store, run by the sixth-graders in Mr. Jargon's room. I bought a few pens, a camera pencil sharpener, and a piece of chocolate.




Here are some pictures of my items.

HEY YOU!!! DON'T BE A LURKER

Yep I am writing this post to you, "The Lurker".  I know you visit my blog often but you never respond to any of the post.  Why?  Why are you happy with just lurking around.  I wouldn't be.  I never lurk, I have internet etiquette. 

What's a "LURKER"?.  It's usually defined as this:

They have been visiting the blog for a long time. They visit often, read the post, view the videos but never ever respond to what they've seen or read. 

Why do you Lurk?: Well, lack of time could be one of the reasons. But you could return and leave a comment. 

SO this is your official notice de-lurk and start commenting if you like my blog.