Gabriela

WELCOME TO GABI'S PAGE!!
1. Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there. 2. Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. 3. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma. 4. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times. 5. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes. 6. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television. 7. The Civil War was the bloodiest war fought in the USA. 8. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum. 9. The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache. 10. A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight. 11. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class. 12. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. 13. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning. 14. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets. 15. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin. 16. The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. 17. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined. 18. Marilyn Monroe had six toes. (rumor) 19. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn't like being seen wearing them in public. 20. Walt Disney was afraid of mice. 21. Pearls melt in vinegar 22. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married. 23. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order. 24. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs. 25. A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why. (Or does it? http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_world/duck/duck.htm) 26. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases. 27. Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word 'criminal.' The second was William Jefferson Clinton. 28. Turtles can breathe through their butts. 29. Butterflies taste with their feet. 30. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined. 31. On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year. 32. On average people fear spiders more than they do death. 33. Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants. 34. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump. 35. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older. 36. Women blink nearly twice as much as men. 37. It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow. (or can you? http://www.uvm.edu/~dfisher1/random/elbow.jpg http://www.uvm.edu/~dfisher1/random/elbow2.jpg) 38. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building. 39. A snail can sleep for three years. 40. No word in the English language rhymes with 'MONTH.' 41. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches. 42. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. SCARY!!! 43. The electric chair was invented by a dentist. 44. All polar bears are left handed. 45. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies,. including their eyebrows and eyelashes. 46. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. 47. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. 48. 'Go', is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. 49. If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. 50. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. 51. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. 52. Almost everyone who reads this will try to lick their elbow.

__**New Years Resolution**__

1. Become better at math. 2. Be cooler than I ever was before. 3. Have orange juice in the morning at least once. 4. Read more than twenty books. 5. Have a REAL snowball fight with my dad (if there even is snow). 6. Become a master at laughing contests. 7. BE AWESOME!

THIS IS JUST A BIT ABOUT ME: Favorite Color: Blue-green-light blue, I also like other dark colors and mixed colors too. Favorite food: apple slices with whipped cream and occasionally a little bit of chocolate sauce. Favorite movie: AVATAR (the one with the "blue alien monkey" people), the Blind Side and Anaconda (Anaconda is so scary, but good). Hobbies: Reading, playing on my DS, exploring something new, trying to do something fun. Favorite thing to do while cramped up in an airplane seat for five hours: create an imaginary movie in my head Favorite subject: Language Arts Favorite thing to do while in my room: lay down and read a book after I pull up the shades (I like to save energy Favorite books: //The Hunger Games, The Wee Free Men, Three Cups of Tea, Marley and Me and The Blind Side (there's also a movie based on The Blind Side)//

This a link to a Chanukah comic I made:

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=11195685C366535

This is just a description of a cherry. I wrote it while I was at sleepaway camp.


 * A blade of green grass stretching from a red sea.**


 * In the middle, the orb floats, under a thick blanket of still water.**


 * Soon it will vanish.**


 * Very nice. Thank you for being the first one to share your work. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work. Morah Gannon**

Morah Gannon's the best! Go Morah Gannon!
Student Council Speech

To make things clear, I am Gabi, a fifth grade student at our school. I am running, and hoping, to become the president of the Student Council and I understand the responsibilities involved in this job. As the person I am, I would work closely with everyone on the Student Council and see what he or she think is best, so we can come up with a plan that we can brainstorm about together. I would work with the Treasurer to create a good budget that we think is fair, so everyone can have a good time and not need to worry. If I were to be elected president of the Student Council, my main goal would be to have fun and still do our best, I think fun is very important if you really want this year to be a blast. I was thinking about doing a food drive for the homeless pets, it would really warm my heart if we did that, or maybe a book sale for Pennies for Peace, which is an orinization helping to build schools all around the world. I want this to be the best year ever, don’t you? So I’d really be a good president because I know how to think from different people’s perspectives, from their point of view. I would try and make everyone feel comftorable with their job, so they won’t be sweating the seven seas all day worrying about how stressed they are. <span style="color: #ff0059; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Lastly, I think I would be a good president because I always try to see if I can go the extra mile, I would try and come up with a plan that would make us one of the best Student Councils the HDS had ever had. So why not vote for me? A frizzball headed, gum-loving, creative genius?

Civil War: The Battle of Bullrun A story about one girl and the deadly war

By Gabi L. Language Arts

Part One

The birds chirped a loud melody as I opened my eyes and stretched my legs. My bed wasn’t the best, being made out of spare wood and scrap wires from an old fence near the Mud Pond. I lived in Splenda Block, a small corner of a huge forest completed with every shade of green you could think of, there were only a few houses here. Two of which were completely abandoned and one that was big and grand and made of the finest wood I’ve ever seen. That was the Simonelder house, Mr. Simonelder and his family lived there. My legs carried me off in my nightgown as I quickly made my way to the kitchen- that only contained a fireplace, chairs and a poorly built table. Ma, Pa and Lulu the white cat sat patiently around the table (Ma and Pa sat in the chairs, Lulu sat on the ground). “Morning,” Pa said, scratching his head and adjusting his brown vest. “Morning,” I replied, sitting down and digging into the eggs that sat in front of me. “Sunny, dear, did you hear?” Ma said, looking at me. “Why no I have not,” I answered. “Mr. Simonelder is going to be in the war.” I raised my eyebrows. “Is not war, well, //bad?// Is not war //evil?// Why must Mr. Simonelder be going to war?” I looked between Ma and Pa. “Complications,” Pa said, waving his hand backwards. “All that rubbish.” Ma stared at him. Lulu meowed and started licking her tail, the room was silent. I turned to face Pa. “What //complications?//” “Northern and Southern states got in a huge hullabaloo, nothing to worry about. We are completely secure, them soldiers will not find us.” Now it was my turn to stare at Pa. “//Soldiers? Find us?// What is your reasoning?” I looked desperately at Ma to say something. “It is not like we will die, correct? //Correct?//” My eyes darted from Pa, to Ma, to Lulu. No one looked back. =Part Two=

The light sprinkle of rain splattered the cracked window, it was as if the sky itself was in a very strange mood, like almost everyone in Splenda Block. It had been just couple hundred seconds ago when Oliver Higgins from next-door came trudging into the kitchen-bringing mud and dirty water from outside inside- saying that Mr. Simonelder had been killed in war on a battlefield people are calling Bullrun. Ma had immediately rushed over to the Simonelder household with a basket of bread and a pot of tea for Mrs. Simonelder, whereas Pa had just grunted and picked at a loose thread on his vest. Pa was a strange person indeed, taking no notice that his next-door neighbor had lost his life. And, now, Mrs. Simonelder was in the kitchen next to the fireplace enjoying biscuits and ham with Ma and Pa, while Ma had sent me to my room after saying, “Sunny, dear, may Mrs. Simonelder and I talk? Why don’t you go up to your room just for the few passing seconds?” Then she just shooed me away with a smile on her face. Just. Like. That.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">//Erase that, Sunny!// I thought to myself. //Ma means her best, it is not easy taking care of yourself in these times with a war playing itself out within the passing days, you know! Just hold your head up high and live life like someone who really means it.// THE BATTLE OF BULLRUN (flashback)

//My sides ached as I used the last of my strength to dodge the speeding bullets that attacked the nearby artillery.. My face was broken in sweat and a hard dirt mask had settled upon it.// //I felt trapped.// //Completely, utterly, trapped.// //I could not just run away, skip away from the ongoing battle. I could not let my side down. I would fight until I was no more, history. Is not that what people do?// //I was here for the Confederate side, I was told to fight for this side. I did not understand what war was.// //Was it the rivalry between two sides? The hatred over something that caused this kind of havoc? I had not a clue.// //Then it hit.// //I was tossed to the ground, a growing ache in my back. A horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was going to be no more.//

<span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">//Nothing. At. All. – Mr. Simonelder’s thoughts from the Battle of Bullrun.//

Part Three (back in Sunny’s room after Mrs. Simonelder came to dinner)

I heard my door swing open as Ma walked in wearing a brown dress and a white shawl. “Sunny…” she started to say. I looked at her. “Yes?” “Would you be able to walk over to the Simonelder household in the morning after the first pool of sunlight spreads across the floor? I wanted to deliver her a loaf of bread and my finest ham. Are you willing to do the job?” Ma looked at the peeling paint on the wall. I nodded and fluffed the pillow on my bed. Ma walked out and shut the door.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">She also did not give me any dinner.

My eyes adjusted to the poor sunlight as I jumped out of bed, pulled a blue dress over my head and wrapped myself in my favorite blue shawl with the little white flowers engraved on the sides. I rushed to the kitchen and started working on placing Ma’s bread and the fried ham from last night into a basket. My hands quickly laid a cloth over the food and I hurried out the door to the Simonelder house. The Simonelder house was big. Very, very, //very// big. And very brown too. The outside was made of polished wood that was a dark, mysterious color. The doors were a shiny caramel marble color, but were made of a strange, smooth stone. The handles were wooden, but were painted golden-brown. I gapped at the roof, which was made of wooden tiles painted a deep cherry color with a tint of brown. I knocked on the doors and shivered, it was cold outside. “Come in,” a voice said. I opened the doors; they slid open with ease. Sitting in wooden chair in the middle of a dusty room was Mrs. Simonelder. Her eyes were red and seemed to puff up a bit. Her cheeks were a light pink, the only other color than her sickly pale face and puffy red eyes. I handed her the basket without a word. “Thank you…” she mumbled. “You are welcome,” I replied. I turned on my heel and walked quickly to the door. “Wait,” she said. “Do you mind looking out for a brown hound and a girl with long black hair? Jane has run away, she took the family hound with her. Look for the name Jane Simonelder in all the papers you find, and listen hard to what people say. You may leave.” She shooed her hand in the direction of the doors.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">I nodded and walked out into the cold.

It was almost dinnertime when I began to wonder: Why is the Simonelder household so grand? It took Pa twenty-four months to completely build the house that I stand in today. And he is still fixing the roof. And why is the Simonelder household so dusty? It is as if no more then two people had ever set foot in there. And why is the Simonelder household made of the finest wood I’ve ever seen? It would take a long time to get a scrap of wood polished and sanded down to perfection. I sighed, looking out the window when I heard a loud boom. And yelling too. It was more screaming than yelling and it grew louder and louder until I heard the words “war” “down” “with” and “Union”. Then it stopped and I heard a loud chant: “War is here! Down with the Union! Down with the Union! Down with the Union!” I peered out the window to find a group of soldiers, dressed in rags and what seemed like spare clothing. Guns were slung over their shoulders with a leather strap and they had the most haggard faces I have ever seen. Their hair was shaggy and looked wet and soggy with oil. Mr. Alabaster from around the corner walked up to the closest soldier. He said something and the soldier replied. Mrs. Alabaster walked towards the soldier and shook her head and said something. The soldier yelled something to them and a few other soldiers moved back. Mr. Alabaster yelled at them and shook his fist, clearly angered. Other neighbors started to walk up to the soldiers, including Mrs. Simonelder who was yelling so loudly that I could clearly here it: “What do you mean by this? You cannot tell us where to go! We are free to do as pleased….” Mr. Alabaster put a hand on her shoulder, shook his head and said something to the soldiers. The soldiers seemed to mumble something then they marched off in the direction they came from.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;">Pa flew open the door to my room. “Did you //hear// that?” he said. “The soldiers just told us that we have to evacuate due to the war. Of course, we said no… Dinner is almost ready, come down in a few.” He closed the door and hurried to the kitchen. The soldier coughed and drank more of his tea. His shoulder had been broken in the battle people call Bullrun. He said his name was Mr. George Pinky. He was from a little town on the border of Virginia. He said that the war had carried on somewhere else, but many had been injured from the Bullrun Battle, as Mr. Alabaster called it. A few of the injured soldiers had come to the Simonelder household for treatment. Several of the ladies and gentlemen, including me, from the other houses came to help the soldiers. Ma said the war would eventually end. Pa said there would be no end. And Lulu, well, she did not say anything. She is a cat. And for me, I cannot truly believe all the rumors going around, but I will try my best to be useful to the war, maybe I will help the soldiers. Or, possibly, I will do my best to support them. Who knows?