Post 2 New Guide to Skiing

Now that you have learned the first six steps of skiing it's now time to take the next level of mastering the sport.

#1 Find the sweet spot on the skis. When you find that "sweet spot" you'll now it immediately it feels comfortable and you feel that you make any movements that you need to make it down the hill.

#2 Learn to skate. Just like you're ice skating but you're on skis. This will help you keep speed when moving on a flat.

#3 Start to bring your feet together. Get in an athletic position with your knees bent and your hands on your front part of the hips. "Lock" your knees together this will help keep your legs tight and together. The tighter your parallel the easier it will be to grow in your skills as you get better.

 

North Pole Cupcakes- Kids in the Kitchen

For Christmas this year I decided that I wanted to make some delicious  cupcakes. An option that was available to me through my cookbook was North Pole Cupcakes. "The ingredient that makes the cupcake taste delicious is too use a smaller proportion of flour and a higher concentration of milk." (Baird 80) You use the creaming method which is basically what it says. cream the butter before using it. I learned how to do this in Creative Cooking class this year which has really helped me in this project.

The Cupcakes ended up turning out delicious and they where a big hit with my family.

Post 2 - Irregular Verbs

In French, there are regular and irregular verbs.  Irregular verbs have "...special conjugation patterns"(Rodchester) that differ from the patterns of the regular verbs.
An example of one of these irregular verbs is être, which means to be.
You would conjugate this verb by first turning the verb to it's infinitive form; in this case, it is already in the infinite (être). 
(Infinitives "do not include a noun subject or a subject pronoun" (Rodchester).)
Then, depending on the person and whether it is singular or plural, you add the appropriate ending (shown below) to the given infinitive.

An example of a conjugation of être: 

"I am tall." translates to "Je suis grande."

"We are in the living room." translates to "Nous sommes dans la salon."

Question: Do you see any connections between the English and French present tenses? (Is the spelling similar? Are the two completely different?)

Rochester, Myrna Bell. Easy French Step-by-step: Master High-frequency Grammar for French Proficiency--fast! New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

The Theater Audition

 - - - (Powell 204-5)

This past month I had auditions for the spring production at our school, Hairspray. The section helped me prepare for this audition, although I still wish I did a few things differently.

The first thing this section starts off saying is that an audition is a job interview. Your chances can be ruined if you are unprepared, or even if you're having a off day. The first thing suggested to prepare for your audition is to do background research about your chosen monolog. For this audition we didn't have monologs. Instead, we had to sing a cut from a song, so I did background research on my song instead. The song I chose, My Strongest Suit, was from the musical Aida, and was sung by Princess Amneris of Egypt. At the beginning of the musical, there were a man and woman touring the Egyptian wing of a museum, when they were transported back in time to Ancient Egypt, where the story takes place. All of this gave me perspective on the song, and some of the lyrics popped out as making more sense. For example, the lyric "I ensure that every stitch is stitched in time" is not just saying that everything needs to be done on time, but is also a reference to how the characters went back in time.

This section of my book also advises to avoid dressing up on costumes or bringing a bunch of props, because that seems amateur. Instead, it advises to dress like yourself in order to express your personality. However, you have to make an effort. Don't dress in sloppy clothes or anything that shows you're unprofessional. Dress like yourself, only the best version of yourself.

Finally, this section reminds you that even if you do an amazing job, there are many factors that go into whether or not you get a part besides your skill as an actor. A director might just not be able to imagine you playing the part that they're looking for. It reminds the reader that the more audition opportunities you get, the greater the chance is that you'll be cast!

For those of you reading this who auditioned for Hairspray, how was your audition? What do you think you could've improved on?

Kanzashi in Bloom: Petals

Round Kanzashi Petal


The round petal has a lovely teardrop shape that lends itself well to all kinds of flower designs. The book states, "It is the simplest petal design in the book" (22). For beginners who want something easier to start off with, I would suggest making this petal. It is easy to make in large and small sizes, and this particular petal can be crafted with thicker materials such as leather and vinyl.

1. Begin with a square of fabric of your choice.

2. Fold the square diagonally, with the right and left side of the fabric hanging out.

3.  Take both the right and left corners and fold them down to meet the bottom corner.

 

4. Flip over the whole piece so you're now looking at the back.

5. Fold the left corner to meet the center. Repeat with the right corner. The two corners should meet, but not overlap.

6. Fold the whole piece in half towards you. (This will be the back of your petal)

7. Turn the Petal over and this will be the front of your petal.

8. When you're ready to incorporate this petal into a flower, you will need to trim the base of the excess fabric.


There are many uses for these petals. The book states, "When you mix and match this petal design with the Pointed or Pleated petals, you can create an endless array of flowers" (22). There are many shape and sizes of petals you can make. Which ones will you make? What fabrics do you prefer to use?

Famous Fudge

Need to bake a quick and easy holiday treat for your family and friends? No need to worry, fudge is always a delicious and fun holiday treat to make that'll leave you're guests wanting more! Although it is a simple recipe that you can do by yourself, it can also be a family activity. Let's get started with this scrumptious fudge recipe from the book, Cooking In Style The Costco Way & under "Desserts."

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup (5 ounce can) Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows (optional)
1 1/2 cup (9 ounces) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract




Steps:
1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil.
2. Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and salt in a medium heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil stirring constantly, for 45 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. "Stir in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute, or until marshmallows are melted." (Casey 184).
4. Pour into prepared baking pan and refrigerate.
*Remember to leave it in the fridge for two hours or longer, even overnight, until it is firm* (184).
5. Lift fudge from the pan and remove foil. Cut into pieces. Makes 49 pieces.


I left my fudge in the fridge overnight and it turned out perfectly and very delicious.

If you were to remake this recipe, would you choose to add pecans, walnuts, marshmallows? What other ingredients will you substitute or include that make this recipe better?

Post #2 Correct Posture

Post #2 Proper Posture "Karate Pose"

Primer Level - Technique and Artistry

Book: Piano Adventures

By: Nancy Faber and Randall Faber 

     After practicing the skill and technique of proper hand evaluation, next comes good posture.

A proper posture technique allows the individual full access to the keyboard, as well as prevents the hands, arms, and wrists from locking up when playing a lengthy piece of music. In other words, it creates a good "flow" when playing.

The posture that allows for the best mobility and endurance is known as the "Karate Pose".

Proper/Correct Posture:

  

1. Sit straight and tall on the front part of the bench (I have a broken desk chair. Don't judge me.) "Your body should be centered to the middle of the keyboard." (4) As I mentioned earlier, one main reason that posture is so important is that it allows full access to the keyboard. 

2. Check your distance. You should be positioned so that your arms are straight out in front of you, with your hands perfectly aligned with corresponding keys. "Both arms should be straight out in front of you, forming a 90 degree angle"(4). Same applies for the legs. They should be positioned underneath the piano, so that each foot is resting lightly on the pedals.

Incorrect/lazy posture:

As you can probably see, the distance between me and the keyboard is too much. I'm having to stretch my arms, which causes my muscles to lock and get tired after around 20 minutes of playing. I'm having to shift my weight from the left and right arm in order to reach the keys needed. In other words, it's uncomfortable, non-beneficial, and looks plain silly.

Do you happen to know a famous musician who altered this technique to accommodate his own playing style? Do you think that's the right choice? 

Post 2--Watercolor Color Wheel

The color wheel is something that any artist, regardless of medium, needs to know and understand. It's basically a circle that shows the relationships between colors. It's important to know and understand the relationships between colors because colors, like values, "can set the mood of a painting" (Robertson 18).
The materials I used to create my color wheel were my set of Prang watercolor paints, Loew-Cornell's #8 brush, and dry watercolor paper.

#8 brush

I began by placing a brushstroke of red paint on the paper, creating the top vertex of a triangle. Then I placed a brushstroke of yellow about an inch away from that, creating a second vertex of a triangle. Finally, I placed a brushstroke of blue an inch away from the yellow, creating the third and final vertex of a triangle. Red, blue, and yellow are primary colors, meaning that any color can be created from a combination of these three.

Next, I started creating color combinations, beginning with a base of red and adding two brushstrokes of yellow to it. This created red-orange. I continued adding more yellow to the mixture until I got a true orange, and then a yellow-orange.
I continued doing this with yellow and blue to create the secondary color green and tertiary shades of green (such as blue-green and yellow-green) and then did this with red and blue to create shades of purple.

Finished color wheel

After I had completed my color wheel, I labeled it so I could use it for future reference when painting. One of the biggest things to keep in mind when painting is how specific color combinations can come together to create themes and moods; for example, red and green are complementary colors (meaning that they are opposites on the color wheel) commonly thought of as Christmas colors, and evoke a certain emotion because they are connected to Christmas (Robertson 20). Another important type of relationship shown on color wheels is that of analogous colors, which are colors next to each other on the color wheel. For example, "if you have red, then the analogous colors would be red-violet and red-orange" (Robertson 19).

What are other complementary color pairs that you can think of? What emotions do they evoke for you, personally?


Robertson, Jeanette. Watercolor 101: Techniques for the Absolute Beginner. New York: Sterling Pub., 2007. Print.