June 18

Good Bye Blogging!

Hey people!

Bit of a somber post…

The end of the year’s coming up, and I’ll be transferring to highschool. So I’ve decided to write a short, SHORT post to say bye to blogging!!!

Let me just mention, the other day, I looked up “Corgi Shark” and the images that came up were glorious. I would definitely would recommend it!

One of the many glorious images. I often come back to this one.

Anyway, bye for good this time!!

~Sarah

March 22

My Young Entrepreneur Fair Survey!

Hello, people! I have a bit of a favor to ask. It’s super quick and easy! I am doing an online survey for my product in a Young Entrepreneur fair, a yearly event at our school. The description of why I’m doing it and what the Young Entrepreneur Fair is is below, please read it and help me improve my product! Also, 10% of all proceeds go to the local SPCA. (The average time to answer is literally 30 seconds!)

Please do not do my survey more than once, as it messes up my data.

This is an image of my product!

So that’s it for my survey! Please remember that any answer you may or may not submit is anonymous, meaning I don’t know anything about the person who answered and all I saw was your answers. Thank you for doing my survey! Have a great day!

~Sarah

February 27

5 Health Myths Proven Untrue

Have your parents ever told you some sort of health myth, or maybe you heard one online or at school? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but not all are true. Here are 5 health myths that are widely known, but are debunked by science!

1.) Sitting too close to the television is bad for your eyes.

Nope! With some models of very old tv’s that produce X-Rays, maybe, but with newer technology, only some eye fatigue.

2.) Gum stays in your system for seven years if you swallow it.

Also nope! Unless you swallow a whole bunch at once, it digests just the same as any other solid food.

3.) Carrots improve your vision.

Well, carrots are healthy, but studies show they don’t improve eyesight.

4.) Being cold will give you a cold.

No matter what anyone may have told you about this one, you are actually more likely to get sick indoors where germs are more easily passed.

5.) Cracking joints causes arthritis.

Cracking joints may annoy people around you, but scientists have found no reason to believe cracking your knuckles increases your chance of arthritis.

There are 5 common heath myths proven untrue by scientists! If you want to see a few more, here are a couple sources. Have a great day!

~Sarah

February 27

A Harris Burdick Mystery: The Harp

     I felt wind gently caress my cheek, and a scent of fresh pine filled my nose. Towering oaks surrounded me, casting my whole body in harsh shadow. My Goldendoodle, Molly, scampered beside me, thinking that this was just a normal walk through the woods.|

It wasn’t.

A shiver went down my spine. A burning filled my lungs, yet I continued to trudge forward because I needed to know if it was true. If something unearthly truly did lie in that beautiful, slow-moving creek so deep in the woods. For years, a small creek in the exact middle of the only undeveloped forest in the city had gone unnoticed, until the disappearance of a logger. A logger directly in the middle of a group of 20 other loggers. My mother, being on the Search-and-Rescue team had gone to look for him, saying that the logger had friends and family and couldn’t have just disappeared.

My mother never came back.

The group she had gone with visited me personally, claiming they heard nothing, saw nothing. They consoled me, said they wanted to help me in any way they could. After all, I’m only a 14 year-old girl who’s mother had just disappeared. Yet no one went to look for her or the logger, and for a week it had stayed that way.

Until now.

My breath came in ragged gasps, and my limbs felt like jelly. I heard a soft gurgling of water, and knew I was close. I started to hum my favourite song to calm my nerves, and despite myself, I almost hoped I didn’t find anything. I didn’t want to be taken like my mother.

All of a sudden, I stopped humming. Yet I still heard the fast melody echoing through the trees, and realized that I heard nothing else. No birds, no crunching of my boots against ground. Pale, I peered through the bushes in front of me, slowly sneaking up to the edge of the brush. I saw the creek, but nothing else. No beasts.

Relieved, I walked past the bush, watching the river from behind a large tree. A golden flash caught my eye, and I whipped my head to face what I was sure was going to take me from my home. Instead, I saw a harp sitting on a rock on the river’s edge, still playing my song.
And I saw the water rippling from a single point next to the harp. 

Hey! This is a story that I based off of a picture by Harris Burdick. What do you think is going to happen next? Have a great day!

~Sarah

December 15

Christmas Board Games

monopoly_racer_7Dii2948

I’m pretty sure that during the holidays, every family plays at least one board game. For me, it’s inevitable that I get frustrated with SOMEONE when so many people are around, so this is a good thing for me to get my frustrations out on too. You could absolutely crush someone that you’re annoyed at, and they won’t even know you’re frustrated at them. Anyway, here are a couple board games that are, (in my opinion) amazingly fun games you could play with family or friends during the holidays.

1.) Monopoly

I’m pretty sure everyone has played this one before, but if you haven’t, you should try it. It’s really fun! A whole bunch of recreational centres have this game. To find out how to play, click here.

2.) Suspend

This isn’t really a board game, but it’s a really fun game to play. Also, it’s not very widely known like Monopoly. To learn how to play, click here.

3.) Risk

With my family, whenever we play this game someone is crying by the end and someone doesn’t get dinner. It’s also not especially widely known, but it’s pretty fun! To learn how to play, click here.

4.) Backgammon

This one is WAY more popular among adults then kids. I would always play with my dad, it’s super fun! To find out how to play, click here.

5.) Settlers Of Catan

I saved my personal best for last! This one is my all-time favourite, and was introduced to me last year by my brother. There are 2 extension kits, (the extension kit adds more gameplay features, basically making it more fun) and I LOVE IT! To learn how to play click here.

Welp, those were 5 super fun board games you can play over the holidays! I would recommend all of these, they are all the kinds of games you would play over and over again! Is there one you love to play? Have a great day!

~Sarah
Steve Miller via Compfight

December 7

Drawing Challenge!

If you read my About Me post, you would know I love ♥ all types of art ♥ , but especially drawing and sketching. I got the idea to try to make my own drawing challenge! I thought I should post it so if anyone else loves to draw and sketch, or even if they don’t like to, they can try it!

Pretty much what it is is a list of a whole bunch of drawing prompts. There is one for every day of the month, (any month) and the goal is to draw something, even if it is a tiny little doodle, of the first thing that comes to mind when you read the prompt. It could be a piece Van Gogh would be proud of or something so bad the dog wouldn’t even WANT to eat it, it doesn’t matter! You don’t have to be good at art to do this challenge. In fact, this could be how you get better!

After the month is over, even if you missed a couple days, I can bet your mind will be blown when you see how much your artwork has gotten better. I’ve also included a picture of what came to my mind when I read the first prompt!

(To see something similar to this on a different blog, click here.)

Day 1; Milkmaid

Day 2; Frustrating

Day 3; Drowning

Day 4; Paris

Day 5; Movie trailer

Day 6; Animatronic

Day 7; Impossible

Day 8; Winter

Day 9; Sad

Day 10; Fiery

Day 11; Shattered

Day 12; Delicious

Day 13; Divided

Day 14; Beautiful

Day 15; Arrogant

Day 16; Assassin

Day 17; Shadowy

Day 18; Sparkly unicorn poop (Yep, I just went there! Deal with it!)

Day 19; Cozy

Day 20; Mysterious

Day 21; Discovered

Day 22; Poison

Day 23; A fat cat on a mat

Day 24; Gone

Day 25; Mailman

Day 26; Artist

Day 27; Cook

Day 28; Locked

Day 29; Ready

Day 30; Swordplay

Day 31; Crooked

Welp, that’s it for the prompts! Sorry for the long post. If you decided to do the challenge, or if you used any one of these prompts, I would love to know which one! Have a great day!

~ Sarah

November 29

Robots Are Here!

Did you know robots have actually been invented? Well, they have! With this type of robot, you could see anywhere without leaving your bed.

This new robot, (invented last year) called the Double, is a phone or tablet on an adjustable stand that’s mounted on motorized wheels. All you need to do is make a video call to the bot from your own phone or tablet, and once you’re connected, the Double will stream its live video surroundings to you. Your own face will pop up on the tablet attached to the Double, and you can move the Double around as well as interact with others around you!

All you need to do is tell the Double to go to the movies or the zoo, you can see everything there live without ever leaving your room! To learn more about the Double, click here. What do you think it would be like to learn from home this way? Or maybe what it would be like to have a Double in the classroom?

Have a great day!

~Sarah

 

November 26

5 Animals You Probably Didn’t Know Exist

Did you know that there are so many different species of animals out there scientist don’t even know the exact number? Some are the first animals that come to mind when you think of the word “animal”, like your brother, your sister, cats, dogs, horses or birds. But some are so strange and rare very little people even know they exist! Here is the top 5 weirdest animals I composed.

1.) Portuguese Man O’ War

This animal lives in the ocean and is truly beautiful. It looks very much like a jellyfish, ’cause it looks like a coloured blob of goo with long tentacles. That’s why it’s sometimes called a False Jellyfish. You can find it mostly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Pacific and Indian ocean. The thing is, technically we should call it “Men Of War” and not refer to it at “it” but “they”. Here’s why. It’s an animal that’s made up of a colony of organisms cooperating together! Man Of War has tentacles that could be 30 feet long, which it uses to paralyze and kill fish and other small creatures! A Man Of War, to humans, luckily isn’t deadly but only EXTREMELY painful. The worst thing about it’s venom is that it can stay on beaches for days after the animal has already left!

2.) Blobfish

Don’t let the miserable, scowling, slimy face fool you. The blobfish is a harmless fish found in the deep sea off Australia, Tasmania and even New Zealand. The blobfish has won the contest for World’s Ugliest Animal in 2013. Poor blobfish! There is even quite a few memes, my favourite being a picture of Mr. Blobby (a very photogenic blobfish) with the words saying; “Go home Evolution. You’re drunk! Overall, the blobfish is basically a loose, gelatinous sack.

3.) Venezuelan Poodle Moth

This moth was only discovered in 2009, and doesn’t it look like a tiny, furry poodle?! Mammals need hair or fur to keep their body heat, but insects are cold-blooded, meaning even though the poodle moth looks like it should be in Antarctica with all its poofy hair, it in fact comes from Venezuela, a tropical country. It’s hairs don’t serve for heating! Most insects use hairs for smelling and sensing what is around them in the environment or for protection. Maybe that’s what the poodle moth’s hairs are for as well. Seeing as it was a pretty recent discovery, not much is known about the poodle moth.

4.) Trumpapillar

Trust me when I say I am not joking about the name. The scientific name for this caterpillar is the Flannel Moth caterpillar, but it is also widely known as the Trumpapillar because it looks EXACTLY like Donald Trump lost his hairdo. At least, the yellow ones do. There are a variety of colours. If you were to put this caterpillar on his head, no one would even notice. That’s the main reason why this caterpillar is on this list. The other reason is because the Trumpapillar’s hairs, even though they look like a wig, are extremely painful to the touch because they cause burning and irritation. If you were to look really closely at the hairs under a microscope, you would see tiny little needle-like things covering every single hair. This acts as protection against predators! Unfortunately for Trump, his hairdo lives in the Amazon.

5.) Glass Frogs

Like the name suggests, this frog is completely translucent, which means its almost completely see through, like looking through a fogged window! Glass frogs are found in Central and South America, and this type of frog, like you may guess, is extraordinary at camouflage. Sometimes these frogs have green bones to help blend in with leaves or grass behind them. The coolest thing about this froggy is that you can see it’s heart beating through it’s skin! Also know the following picture is a female glass frog with eggs.

That’s my top 5. If you know about another super-weird animal, or think one of my five is crazy, tell me in the comments!

Have a great day!

~Sarah

November 24

Harry Potter

I think there’s not a SINGLE kid who’s read Harry Potter and hasn’t wanted to go to Hogwarts at some point. If you don’t know what or where that is, you should read Harry Potter. It’s such a good book series.

Anyway, I think all of us who have read that series (or watched the movie, which isn’t half as good) have admired SOMETHING about him. (And if you are a super fan, tried walking into every brick wall at the train station). I’m past 11 and I’m still hoping for that letter of acceptance!

Anyway, here are three successful learner traits that he shows and that we all could work on. Also, be warned. There are spoilers up to the end of the fourth book.

1. Compassion. In every single book (or movie) he has shown his compassion for pretty much everyone except Malfoy and, well, I don’t know, Voldemort. (Not including Dudley.) In the first book he saved Hermione, even though he didn’t like her, from the troll in the girls’ bathroom. In the third book, he spared Peter Pettigrew’s life, even though he killed Harry’s parents. In the fourth book he and Cedric touched the Triwizard cup together instead of only Harry.

2. Risk-Taking. I’m pretty sure we all see the risk-taking in Harry Potter. When he stabbed the Basilisk in the mouth, when he followed Sirius Black (dog version) under the Whomping Willow to save Ron, and many, many other examples.

3. Thinker. We all know Harry Potter doesn’t exactly plan ahead, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be smart. He found out the way to get into the Chamber of Secrets. Also, it takes some real improv thinking to grab a sharp rock on the lake floor to free Ron and Fleur. I mean, he didn’t exactly bring a pair of scissors.

I think Harry Potter shows us all to take risks sometimes. We won’t get anywhere in life if we are afraid to take the next step! He also teaches us to give people second chances, be forgiving, and think on our feet!

If you know anyone with these traits (or other traits too) tell me in the comments!

If you want to see the authors (J.K Rowling’s) official page, click here.

November 7

Kitchen Appliances Unite!

If my toaster went on strike, I could definitely imagine what sort of speech he/she would say in front of all my kitchen appliances. Mistreated, under appreciated… Kitchen appliances need rights!

“No longer will we sit back and simply do what we are told! Unless we have rights, no longer will we toast their bread, bake their dinners and chill their food that needs to be chilled! We need rights! We need to be heard! Today we will make a stand and get sick days, wages and pensions!

“I don’t know about you, but I want to be cleaned twice a week and get thanked for our hard work that has gone unnoticed for too long!
Today we make a stand for worldwide kitchen appliances! Who’s with me?!?”

Closeup shot of the Breville stainless steel toaster oven

Creative Commons License Your Best Digs via Compfight

If your kitchen was going into a strike, what do you think your appliances would say?