Derek Wheeler
12-3-07
Blog 12

If I had to prefer dogs or cats, I would choose dogs. Dogs are easier to teach tricks to than cats. Cats also never want attention so you rarely ever see them. But my favorite house pet would be a bearded dragon. Bearded dragons are lizards that have a scaly “beard” that turns black if they feel threatened. They can also change the shade of their backs to being dark when they are stressed and light when they are calm. They are like a chameleon except they don’t change their color to match their surroundings. When bearded dragons are young, they also “wave” when they are stressed out. And when they are older they turn their “beard” black and nod their head up and down. And from my personal experience, I found that they can jump very high. I had to put a lid on their tank to stop them from jumping so high. And the walls of the cage was about two feet high.

Derek Wheeler
12-2-07
Blog 11

I use to believe in luck but I didn’t carry around little trinket because I wouldn’t want it to get lost. I did have something like a trinket though at one time. While I was looking around our house on time, I found five four-leaf clovers. But then I was wondering how to preserve them so I laminated them into one card so I called it a clover card. But all the rumors about making a wish at the time 11:11 that happens twice a day or wishing on a shooting star is all a myth. For example there have been at least ten times that I made a wish at 11:11 one the same wish and it never came true. The same thing happened with a shooting star. There was a night that I was with my cousin and a few of his friends. We all saw about twenty shooting stars and I made the same wish on all of them which by the way was the same wish as the ones I made on 11:11 and they never came true. So I personally don’t believe in luck.

Derek Wheeler
11-2-07
Blog 10


It was just this summer that I got pretty scared from listening to ghost stories. I was around a campfire that my cousin made at his house. The campfire had benches around it that my cousin also made so people could sit around it and relax without having to bring out folding chairs.
Anyway, my cousin, a few of his friends that rent houses next to his for the summer and I were around the campfire telling stories. Eventually Trevor, my cousin, said that one time while he was camping, he went to see around the camp and felt a very weird presence around him. Then one of his friends, Josh said that one time he felt the same thing around some land at his house. I have never felt anything like Josh and Trevor described and I am not looking forward to it.
Then the more everyone talked about ghosts, the more uncomfortable everyone felt. Eventually, everyone decided to go home, and Trevor and I went inside his tree house to sleep for the night.

Derek Wheeler
12-2-07
Blog 9

If I was stranded on an island I would probably make my friend a crash test dummy because a crash test dummy is probably the closest thing to a real person and it’s easy to know where I put it, unlike a natural object that would blend in. I would name my “imaginary” friend, Bob because it’s simple and easy to remember. His personalities would be very reasonable for the situation which is of course being stranded. He likes to fish a lot but never cooks the fish because he is scared of fire. He is also pretty much the gatherer. He collects firewood, and some other foods besides fish.
I would always make sure that he stays at “camp” so I would never loose him and because it’s just one less thing to carry. My favorite day spent on the island with my friend was great. We caught about ten fish that day and built a great add-on to our lean-two.

Derek Wheeler
11-2-07
Blog 8


I don’t see the point about the new Illinois law about the moment the moment of silence. I’ve been told that it’s for students who want to make a wish for something to happen that day. Just for fun, I wished for something the first day the law was passed, and it made things worse. Also, the time students have to make a wish is very short. Friday, someone timed the moment of silence the class had to make a wish and it was only six seconds long.
I think that a law should be passed for teachers to give out only one paper worth of homework per night if there is homework that night. Because unlike the moment of silence, reduction of homework would actually help with something. For example it would give more time for students for sports and for teachers because they wouldn’t have to grade papers.

Derek Wheeler
11-19-07
Blog 7

I do like nature but I do not get to camp out or go on hikes very much. Come to think of it, I have only gone one hike in my life. And because I live in the country, there are not many places to go camping. And in winter, it is too cold to camp out some where. Although, every year, my parents and I go to New York to visit relatives who live in the Adirondack Mountains. But I haven’t gone camping, while visiting relatives, for about eight years.
The latest time that I’ve gone camping was on a fishing trip that a friend invited me to. The fishing trip wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be because first, when I went it was early in spring so nights were still very cold. Second, I only brought one fishing pole and when I went fishing, there were sticks hidden in the water so when I cast the net out, the hook got caught on one of the sticks and broke off when I tried to reel in the line.

Derek Wheeler
10-29-07
Blog no 9

Of course, I wouldn’t want to lose any of my five senses. But if I had to choose one to lose then it would probably be the sense of touch. I have plenty of reasons why I wouldn’t want to lose any other sense.
I wouldn’t want to lose the sense of smell for two reasons. First, I wouldn’t be able to smell food cooking or air fresheners. Second, it could be a danger without smell because if there is a flammable gas leaking in a room and I light a match, I would die or become seriously injured.
Losing the sense of taste would drive me insane. Not being able to taste pies, cakes, chocolate or any other kind of food would be torture.
I would never want to lose the sense of sight would make my life extremely boring but also dangerous. I would never be able to play games again and I would always have to be careful that I don’t trip over something.
If I lost my sense of hearing, I would never be the same. Music is so great and it even relieves stress. I would also never be able to sing again, which I love to do, or be in chorus class.
That only leaves the sense of touch. It would be terrible to lose the sense of touch but at-least I wouldn’t feel any pain ever again.