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.

Derek Wheeler
10-1-07
Blog entry no. 5

If I was deserted on a desert island, I would bring many items for an alternate use than what they’re usually used for. First, for a book, I would make sure I take a large phone book. The phone book would be very useful for a fire so I could cook food. I don’t know what I would bring for a movie because there wouldn’t be any electricity on the island to play the video. But if there was electricity, then I would probably bring the third Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. I don’t have any CDs that I listen to but I do have an MP3 player. Because of this I obviously couldn’t bring a CD. But if an MP3 player would be considered a CD then I would bring that. There are many choices that I could choose from for food but what I would be most focused on is bringing a large amount of food. It also had to be healthy so I would have enough strength to build a shelter or gather food. So the food that I would bring would be salmon. A drink item would be a 12 pack of Gatorade. I wouldn’t bring soda because that would only give me a short sugar rush and wouldn’t benefit me very much. For a piece of clothing, I would choose a sweater to keep warm during the night. The miscellaneous item that I would bring would definitely be a lighter to start a fire.

Derek Wheeler
10-9-07
Blog no. 4

“Good advice usually works best when preceded by a bad scare.” This means that advice given to someone now may seem useless until you have had personal experience. Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way when I visited relatives this summer. Every year, my family visits relatives in the Adirondack mountains in New York. My parents have always told me to not walk around in piles of boards with rusted nails in them. But as I got older and more aware of the dangers from stepping on rusted nails, it seemed impossible to happen to me.
As we were visiting, I was helping my uncle, who is a carpenter, move some scrape would from a house he built. Then we took it back to his house as firewood for my cousin’s fire pit. The next day, I was walking around with my cousin who was talking with some of his friends at his house. Then just so I wouldn’t get bored while walking around on flat ground I walked on top of the small pile of scrap would. As I did this I was watching out for nails sticking out of the wood even though I had shoes on.
Then I realized that that there were nails in some of the wood so I started walking off while watching for nails. It was only three or four steps away until I stepped on a rusted nail that I didn’t notice. Surprisingly, the nail went strain through the two inch thick souls in my shoes and I collapsed to the ground. I immediately took off my shoe and looked at the cut. It was a significantly good sized hole in my foot. Immediately, told my cousin to tell his dad. My foot eventually healed and I had a tetnis shot shot before we visited so I didn’t have to get another.

Time Capsule

Derek Wheeler
9-15-07
Blog Entries no. 3


If I was burying a time capsule in my back yard, I would fill it with many items. First, I would put some American currency in it so future generations could see what histories’ money was like. Next, I would probably put a small can of oil in so future citizens could see what oil is like, since the earth would probably run out by then. After that, I would take a floppy disk to show that that is the most common type of computer memory storage item of the early 21st century. After the floppy disk, I would put in a blank CD to show that that is the most common PC, PS2 and other type of game, software, and music item of the early 21st century. Another thing I would put into the time capsule would be an American flag to show what the country’s flag looked like and how, or if, it changed in 500 hundred years.
There would only be a few things that I would put into the time capsule that would describe me. First, I would put in a few Lego pieces because building Legos is my favorite thing to do. Second, I would place an Airsoft gun into it because I love to play Airsoft. Third, I would put in a Playstation 2 game because I like to play video games. The last thing I would put in the time capsule is a book about North American wildlife to show that I like to watch nature.

Money Matters

Derek Wheeler
Word count
Blog entry no. 2

This summer, I haven’t spent much money on anything. My dad has been telling me to save up for a car since I was about 12 years old. Until yesterday, I had four hundred and nine dollars. I know I will spend money on some items so my goal is to make sure that I always have more than 300 dollars. But then I spent ninety-nine dollars and ninety- eight cents on an airsoft gun. The actual gun was a kit, with a rifle, pistol, laser sight, and two mounted flashlights. I also bought airsoft BBs and a holster. I was going to buy a paintball gun but I decided to wait for one of my friends to come over since they know more about them. By far, that was the best spending decision I’ve made this year. The worst spending decision I’ve made was probably a dollar that I lost when I tried to by a soda from a pop machine.

Welcome to my Blog

Blog Entry no. 1

My name is Derek Wheeler. I am a freshman in high school in English 1 Writing. I will be keeping a blog throughout the second semester as an assignment.
I’m about 6 foot tall and don’t wear glasses or contact lenses. I have about three inch long hair which I think isn’t long or short hair, but in the middle. I never wear shorts unless I have to because I have very pale legs. My favorite T-shirt is brown but the reason it is my favorite is because I wore it when I was in the talent show last year.
I am a Yankees fan but I don’t watch much baseball though. I am also a good artist but I don’t draw as much as I did in grade school. When I was in grade school, I was very worried and skittish but since middle school, I’ve been more calm.
As a hobby, I like to build Legos. Many people think that there only for younger kids but there not. Some Lego sets go up to three hundred dollars and are for ages 16 and up. I am not athletic so I don’t play sports except I was in a bowling league with a friend once.