Author

I am officially a published author. My grade 10 class decided to create a book filled with some of our best poems, stories and essays. I'm not sure how we published it but my teacher was able to provide everyone with a copy of it. The book is called "Writing by Tens" and it can be purchased online. I am very happy that I have work published and I am very proud of my class.

Market Rage

Dear Market Shoppers,
I wake up at 6. I spent 8 hours at the market for your convenience. Please treat me with respect. I smile, say thank you, do everything you ask all day. I believe that I deserve some respect. I do not like it when you step up the the table and start yelling at me right away. Demanding that you "get service today!" does not make me want to help you. Another thing is please consider the time of day. When it is 9 in the morning I am not going to bargain with you on prices. The prices do not start dropping until the end of the day and everyone knows that. When I am clearly helping someone else or am busy please do not shout at me. Shouting does not ensure that you will be helped immediately.

Love

Many people think that men and women love differently. I don't think that they do. I think that they expect different things. A woman is more compassionate therefore she expects compassion, kindness, and understanding. A man on the other hand doesn't connect with his emotions as much. I am not a man so I can't really say what is going through a man's mind. The difference in how someone loves could also be affected by their definition of love. Love can be seen as an action, a feeling, insanity, and other things. If you have the mind set that it is just an action then you are going to expect different things than someone who thinks it's insanity.

Home

For a while now I have been living in a big city. I must say that I do not like it at all. I miss the small towns in the middle of nowhere. Many of you "city folk" may think I am crazy. Some things I don't like about the big city are:
     - the never ending streets
     - lack of trees
     - all the pollution
     - all the PEOPLE
     - the rush
These are just a few of the many things that I can't stand about the city. The things I love about the country are the exact opposite of the previous list.
     - lack of actual streets
     - knowing everyone because there are so few people
     - abundant trees
     - cleaner air
     - the relaxed atmosphere
Normally you would expect something like this from someone who grew up in the country. But that's not true for me. I only liked in the country for five years. I know that's ridiculous. But when I moved to a small town I fell in love with it. 

Sayings and Phrases

Throughout the day many people use certain sayings and phrases. But did you know that you are probably saying them wrong? Or that they make absolutely no sense at all?

"I could care less." While there are probably a million other things that you could care less about. The saying is actually "I couldn't care less." If you say the first one (the wrong one) you are implying that you do care and that it is possible for you to care less about that specific topic. The second one (the right one) implies that you do not care about the topic at all and that there is no way you could care less.

"With all intensive purposes." Many people say this and if you think about it, this doesn't make sense. The proper way to say it is "with all intents and purposes."

"I did a complete 360, and I turned my life around." This right here is a contradiction. The first half implies that you are in fact facing the same way. While the second part implies that you only turned around.

"On tender hooks." This phrase is very commonly misspelled. First off, what exactly is a tender hook? It doesn’t seem logical does it? Well – that is because it isn’t. The phrase is actually “on tenterhooks”. A tenter was a medieval tool used for making cloth – the tenterhooks were small hooks to which the fabric would be stretched in the manufacturing process. To be on tenterhooks means to be left hanging – or to be in a state of suspense.

"I’ll take a raincheck." This phrase is usually meant to mean “I won’t do it now but I will later”. This is the commonly accepted meaning (and has been for a long time) so it is now considered to be correct. It is included here merely out of interest because its original meaning was slightly different. Initially, a raincheck was offered to people who had tickets to a baseball game that was rained out – they would offered a “raincheck” which was a ticket for a game at a later date to make up for the missed game. This eventually found its way into shopping jargon in general where a raincheck was an offer to sell an out-of-stock good when it arrived back in stock. The meaning has eventually broadened to a point that it is not an offer any longer but a response.

Maybe this is the first time you have heard these sayings. If you are considering on adding them to your vocabulary then use them right!!! And for those of you who are saying them wrong (you know who you are) you're welcome for helping you see the light.

Jenn Murray

Jenn Murray, came to our class to talk to us about her job as an Environmental Professor and stewardess. she spent many years as a stewardess. Being a stewardess allowed her to travel the world and have many vacations. She had a major career change but I believe that she enjoys being a professor. Before she became a professor she had to complete more than 10 additional years of school after high school. She mentioned that it was very expensive. On top of being expensive, the job takes much of your time. She spends hours preparing for class and marking assignments and tests. Talking to her was not the most interesting thing to do. She was very quiet and her children were with her and that was very distracting. I do want to pursue a career in teaching but being a college professor will not be my first choice.

Scott Wahl

The Vice President of RIM came and talked to my careers class. He talked about what it was like to work for RIM. We asked he lots of questions concerning many different aspects of the job and about RIM. When we asked about new products and some problems but he was very brief on both subjects. Scott Wahl was very relaxed and he seemed to have fun talking to our class. One cool anything about his job is that he has the chance to get every new blackberry and software before they hit the market. Working a a place where my job is dependent on products being sold isn't really something that I want to do. I wouldn't like being worried about losing my job because of the stock and sales markets.

Ann Liebau

One of the stranger careers that we have talked about is being a Midwife. Ann Liebau came into our class and she also brought one of her students. They talked about the differences between a doctor and a midwife. The differences are minor but they still count as differences. The job requires you to be on call 24/7 and I would not enjoy that very much. There seems to be a lot of pressure considering that two lives are in your hands. Having a strong stomach is also required for obvious reasons. Normally I do have a strong stomach but when it comes to things that a midwife would deal with does not work well with my stomach. This is not a career that I will pursue but it was nice to learn about being a midwife.