Ingredients:

• 2 3⁄4cups flour (all purpose is fine)
• 1 1⁄2teaspoons baking soda
• 1cup butter (softened)
• 1 1⁄2cups sugar
• 1egg (large)
• 1teaspoon vanilla extract

1. heat oven to 375°F In a bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
2. In a larger bowl, cream sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla extract.  Then blend in the dry ingredients slowly until combined.  Roll into balls (teaspoon size) and place on an un-greased cookie sheet. you can roll them into cinnamon and sugar before baking.
3. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

                   

Lucid Dreaming

1. A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. In relation to this phenomenon, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream".

When I was younger I always used to attempt to lucid dream, and I often could.  However as a became older I never tried at it anymore it just faded to the back of my head.  Last night however it happened again it was completely involuntary, and it was amazing.  

I have moved from L.A. a while ago and so i have many friends down there that I don't see often.  So in my dream I was standing in my old friends house and all of my new friends who I had just met a few years ago were there to and we were all just hanging out and it was a cool time nothing crazy happened until, It just clicked in my head that it would be near impossible for all of these people to be in the same place at the same time.  So my friend who I was talking to at the time I told him that I think this is a dream and he said "if its a dream you can fly right?" He then ushered me to his balcony and he just said "jump" at this point I was about 90 percent sure it was a dream and so I jumped and flew (luckily) and so then I flew to my current house and to an old mine near it where I landed on some tailing pile and suddenly a very small little lizard slithered out and sat in the lotus position its very hard to describe so I've found the closest thing I can to it.

 

So anyway this little lizard comes out and sits in the lotus position and I ask him his name and he just sits so I wait and when he finally responds he does so with "ask me a question" well I did and we pondered the existence of other life and as we had this conversation I noticed that our surrounding had faded into a drag purple soil with slight swirly patterns he said "look" gesturing forward to these strange yellow tree-ish objects that were very round and circular, so I observed and up came a tall stocky creature that didn't notice me and walked slowly up to the tree and began to sculpt it like clay he then made a tool and began to peel away the soil and he found water I wanted to explore more but, my alarm went off as always with the most impeccable timing.

Keegan Cook

4/20/2015

Eng 6

Mr.Elkin

To Kill a Mockingbird

by: Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird was written over 50 years ago by Harper Lee.  It is still considered one the most relevant books of all time, and for a good reason.  It’s main issues are gender and racism these things though less common still exist, another reason is that the story itself is interesting, it  has strong characters, brilliant descriptions, and amazing commentary that make the book a well written masterpiece.

To Kill a Mockingbird's strongest plot points are gender issues and racism, these issues are still prevalent today although the latter has been swept under the rug a little bit, which only makes it more interesting to kids and adults alike.  Even if you believe racism died with the last generation To Kill a Mockingbord still can be looked back upon as how things used to be, it can become a piece of history.  Then there are the gender issues which are a little more complex.  Opinions can switch more often for instance Scout is made fun of for being a girl by Jem (her Brother) then later in the novel Jem tells her to act like girl and suddenly acting like a boy is a bad thing.  Also Scouts tough rugged demeanor often acquired by girls with older brothers gets her into fights.  Scout is so tough her own male cousin Francis is afraid of her and even ran away after taunting her.  Scout is so hot headed that she did not know what Francis had said she could just tell by the tone and attacked.

Another reason that To Kill a Mockingbird is still popular today is the simple fact that it is a great story the characters are developed and the main problems of the story are so intriguing.  Tom Robinson A black man accused of raping a white women in the safety of her own home  is proven innocent by Atticus Finch but Tom is still convicted and shot.  This central plot point allows Scout to realize that the peaceful city of Maycomb has a dark side.  This realization aids in her development and growth as a strong young woman.  Another interesting thing is that the whole story is about a boy breaking his arm. Many developments in the story revolve around Tom Robinson leading to Scouts coming of age.  The true problem in Maycomb and tells so much about characters that were otherwise undeveloped and with one a few central actions each of Maycomb's individuals are seen as main characters controlling the story.

To Kill a Mockingbird was an amazing novel and probably will be for a long time.  It is honestly one of the best books I have ever read and I will definitely read it again.

This week I made some chocolate chip cookies and although I didn't personally like them everyone else loved them they were fast simple easy and "tasty" I would recommend these if you are short on time or have little kids.

(pictures soon!)

This week I will be blogging about my teacher Mr. Elkin he is 80% Jesus he is the best English teacher I have ever had! He makes horrible books fun! and he loves giving me good grades on my blogs when i forget to make them.  Mr. Elkin is the best!

Peanut butter chip!

Ingrediants:

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1tsp vannila extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the peanut butter, sugar, and the egg.  Then combine in the sugar baking soda. Then roll the dough into walnut sized balls an cover them in sugar.

These were so good they were chewey and delicious, sorry about the low pocture quality they will be much better next week.

Homemade Shamrock Shakes!

I used to get shamrock shakes every march, but this year they suddenly tasted like shit... So i decided to make my own!

This simple recipe only requires:

A milk shake ( ice cream, milk)

1 tsp mint extract 

And some food coloring

First make your shake then add the mint (make an educated guess on how minty you like you food). Then add your food coloring, The original shake is green, but you can make it a y color you want get creative!

This tasted like a cleaner version of the classic or just more like how they used to taste.  I dont know what they did to this new one but its not good.  So enjoy your very own delicious shamrock shake!