Matt's Blog

I am currently reading a book called Snake.  In the beginning, it has a scene where Seh, a human with snake-like powers is spying on his Grandmaster to get some more information about himself.  Then, a guy named Ngung, a human with caterpiller-like powers comes out and sees that Seh is spying on his Grandmaster and came up with as game called One New Thing you Learn for Every Solid Blow.  Seh kept knocking Ngung over, so then Ngung gave up and told Seh everything he wanted to know.  Ngung gave Seh a reward for beating him in a game that he has never been beaten in before.  The prize was a blue uniform, because Seh’s old green one was getting too small for him.  Then, Grandmaster died and some evil people, including a snake, took his severed head, and dropped it in to a big pot to boil.  Then, Seh went for a walk and during his walk he ran across a crane trying to beat up a snake.  Seh scared the crane away and then tried to heal the snake, he tended it and massaged it.  He decided to bring it with him.  Then he started to walk farther, and eventually ran in to the monks village.  He was very surprised when he saw the monks lying on the ground with holes in their chests.  Then somewhere distant he heard two familiar voices arguing.  It was his brothers!  That’s all I’ve reads so far.  My inference for what’s going to happen next is that the snake that Seh took along with him is the evil snake that dropped Grandmaster’s head in to the giant pot and that it poisoned Seh.  I infer that because at one point in the book the snake crawled underneath Seh’s clothes, and during that time it could have poisoned him.

I am currently reading a book called Snake.  In the beginning, it has a scene where Seh, a human with snake-like powers is spying on his Grandmaster to get some more information about himself.  Then, a guy named Ngung, a human with caterpiller-like powers comes out and sees that Seh is spying on his Grandmaster and came up with as game called One New Thing you Learn for Every Solid Blow.  Seh kept knocking Ngung over, so then Ngung gave up and told Seh everything he wanted to know.  Then, Grandmaster died and some evil people, including a snake, took his severed head, and dropped it in to a big pot to boil.  Then, Seh went for a walk and during his walk he ran across a crane trying to beat up a snake.  Seh scared the crane away and then tried to heal the snake, he tended it and massaged it.  He decided to bring it with him.  Then he started to walk farther, and eventually ran in to the monks village.  He was very surprised when he saw the monks lying on the ground with holes in their chests.  Then somewhere distant he heard two familiar voices arguing.  It was his brothers!  That’s all I’ve reads so far.  My inference for what’s going to happen next is that the snake that Seh took along with him is the evil snake that dropped Grandmaster’s head in to the giant pot.

I like Ark Angel because it has a lot of action in it.  For example, A man had a phone in his hand, talking to someone, when suddenly it exploded in his hand.  Another example would be when four bad guys walked in a hospital at 1:00 in the morning and threatened to kill the receptionist if he didn’t tell them what room Paul Drevin was in, so the receptionist told them and they killed him anyway.  And one time Alex knocked out a guy named silver tooth by shocking him with a three hundred defibrillator, then he knocked out a guy named spectacles by crushing him with a twenty pound oxygen cylinder, then he knocked out a guy named combat jacket by slinging a medicine ball right in his chest, and then he killed a guy named steel watch by pushing him into a Magnetic Resonance Imaging system.  Last, Alex got kidnapped and mistaken for Paul Drevin and they were about to stab a knife in his fingers, but then they understood that they had the wrong boy.  I don’t like this book because it was boring at some times.  For example, one time there was a guy talking on a phone, and it was talking about him talking on the phone for about 5 pages.  Another example would be when there was a nurse, and the whole chapter was about the nurse taking care of Alex.  And one time Alex was hiding from bad guys and it talked about him hiding behind a desk for about 10 pages.  Last, they were deciding whether or not to kill Alex for a long time.

I just listened to a speech by Adora Svitak.  She is a part of TED.  It was about how children could grow up to be better adults than some of them now by learning more things.  Adora Svitak didn’t listen to baby books when she was young, she listened to books about the army, fighting, pioneers, etc.  She also wrote books her first was about learning how to type fast.  It was published when she was 7.  She was 12 when she gave this speech, and she talked about all the important things that happened in her life.  She also was really funny in some parts.  She was performing in front of a lot of people, even very famous ones like Bill Gates, and she didn’t even look nervous.  Adora said a lot of lines that might become famous lines for a long time like “Children could become in charge of adults and they could teach teachers.” Adora started using Microsoft Word to type stories when she was 6.  She also mentioned a lot of people in the crowd.  Once she said “Thanks to Bill Gates and my mom, I can use Microsoft Word.” That also proves my stance that she was sometimes really funny.  She also mentioned that if children used their imagination they could do anything.  Like at the Washington Museum of Glass Blowing, nobody thought that kids could actually blow glass, because it was too dangerous, but some kids attempted and they actually turned out really good.  There  was a broken hearted snake and a bacon boy that came out beautiful.  It was her first time speaking in front of a large crowd of famous people, she usually just shared her speeches with her class and her parents.  Below is a picture of Adora Svitak after giving a school speech.

I am reading the book Ark Angel in the Alex Rider Series right now for my independent book.  There were a lot of things that surprised me in one event. First, bad guys walked in to Dominic’s Hospital at 1:00 in th morning.  Second, The bad guys wanted to kill a Russian named Paul Drevin instead of Alex.  Last, the bad guys threatened to kill the receptionist if he didn’t tell them what room Paul Drevin was in, so the receptionist told them, and they killed the receptionist anyway.  These events all surprised me, because at 1:00 in the morning hospitals usually have their doors locked, so the bad guys must have broke in somehow.  It surprised me that the bad guys didn’t want to kill Alex, because Alex is a teenage spy for m16, one of the best spy groups, and he’s being watched by a bunch of terrorist groups.  And they must be really bad guys, because  in most Alex Rider books the bad guys let people go if they tell them good information, but these ones trick people into telling them information, and then they kill them.  This is all I’ve read so far.  I’ll update you when I get farther.

I just finished a story called Dragon Wars-Firebark’s Beginning.  It is about a dragon who saves his mountain from war.  click here to view the story.

So far in this book I’ve read about Zeus god of air, Hera one of Zeus’s wives, Hephaestus god of smiths and fire, Aphrodite goddess of love, Ares god of war, Athena goddess of wisdom, Poseidon god of the sea, Apollo one of the sons of Zeus, Artemis one of the daughters of Zeus, Hermes god of the Shepherds, Hades god of the dead, Persephone daughter of Demeter, and Dionysus god of wine, Zeus was the most important god he created Olympus and he had the biggest throne. Hera didn’t want to marry Zeus, but she was forced to. Hephaestus was a son of Zeus, and one time he got thrown off Olympus. Aphrodite was the only Olympian that didn’t have a mother or father, she got married to Hephaestus who couldn’t believe his luck. Ares always wanted to start wars, but he could only do it once in a while. Athena met a girl named Arachne who wove a peace that was making fun of Zeus and his many wives, so Athena turned her into a spider. Poseidon was Zeus’s brother he also had a big throne and he married the daughter of Nereus, who used to rule the sea. Apollo was very mean, he killed his sister’s true love. Artemis never wanted to marry anybody until she met a man named Orion, but her mean brother Apollo killed him. Hermes was a troublemaker, one time he stole Apollo’s cows, and when Apollo figured out that Hermes stole his cows he told Hermes’ mother and Hermes was grounded for a very long time. Hades was evil, he was desperate, so he caused the ground to split open and the beautiful goddess Persephone, fell down into the underworld and Hades forced her to marry him. Persephone married Hades. She was starved, so she ate food. Hermes came down to save her, but she had to come back every other month for one month, because she ate the food of the dead. Dionysus was a daughter of Zeus. Hera hated her mother Semele, so she tricked her into looking at Zeus, and Semele died. Dionysus became one of the twelve great gods, so Zeus sent Hermes to go get Semele from the underworld and bring her up to Olympus, so she could celebrate with her daughter. Semele had to go back to the underworld of course, because she was dead and she had eaten the food of the dead.The bad part was a goddess named Hestia had to give up her seat, but actually she didn’t throw a fit or anything, she was just willing to give up her seat, because for some reason she liked sitting on the ground better than sitting on a throne.

So far in the book I’ve read about Mother Gaea Earth, Cronus, Rhea, Zeus, Hera, and HephaestusRhea was Cronus’s wife, and whenever she gave birth Cronus swallowed the baby. So she had another baby and Mother Gaea Earth tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, instead of the baby. That baby just turned out to be the most powerful God ever. Hera was one of Zeus’s many wives. He wanted a lot of wives because if he had more wives he could have more babies and it would become a stronger family. Hephaestus is one of Zeus’s sons. One time Zeus and Hera were in a big fight, so Hephaestus tried to stop them, but Zeus grabbed him and threw him out of Olympus.

I think that Mr.Maxwell, Mark, and Jason relate because Mr.Maxwell teaches Mark and Jason. I also think they relate to each other because Mark went into the woods and Jason and Mr.Maxwell went to find him. Mr.Maxwell and Jason finally found him, but then all of them got lost. Then all of them somehow found their ways back. They reunited with their whole group and everybody was happy. Jason is also Mark’s best friend. Mr.Maxwell thinks that Mark is a spoiled rich kid because he gets everything he wants to have and he thinks that Jason is a troublemaker because he carries around a knife a lot, but he still wants to help them. Mark and Jason think of Mr.Maxwell as a lonely man because he was engaged, but then the girl that he engaged started working for a company that chops down trees, so he decided to break the engagement, so Mark and Jason want to help him.

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