Letters to the editor

I read a series of letters to the editor on www.nytimes.com. These letters argue about whether or not we should have a tax on soft drinks. These letters provide both sides of the argument. Some support the tax saying that they would be more than happy to pay such a tax in order to help the obesity problem in America. Others say that a tax on soft drinks would be ridiculous and that in moderation, soft drinks don't cause any problems.

Personally I would have to disagree with this idea of taxing soft drinks. I truly don't believe that increasing taxes will stop people from wanting to drink sodas. Anything in moderation is fine, including sodas. If somebody drinks sodas out of moderation then it is their own fault. Same with everything else. Food should be consumed in moderation, exercise should be done in moderation, sleep should be done in moderation. Anything overdone will usually end in negative results. If you are going to tax something like sodas then why not tax overeating? This tax just simply doesn't make sense to me. Anyway read more about it at the link above.

My writing process

When I write, I usually start with a very rough free write to get all my ideas down on the paper. After all my ideas are down I read over it to make sure I didn't leave anything out. Then I start a new paper that is structured better and still presenting all of my ideas. This is usually the rough draft. Next step is to proofread the rough draft. I read over to check for things that don't make sense or things that aren't clear. I also use this time to check for grammatical and punctuational errors. Once this is done I will read over my paper once again to see if I covered everything I wanted to cover. If not, I will add more into it at this point. Then once again I will read through it to make sure everything makes sense and it flows well. Do another quick proofread, then I'm done.

Superstitions

Superstitions are beliefs that some people have about certain things. They can be both positive and negative. A positive example of a superstition would be things like Santa Clause, and a negative example would be things like ghosts or curses. I'm not superstitious. I don't believe in any of them. I like to look at things from a logical point of view. I used to believe in the normal kids superstitions when I was in elementary school but I grew out of that pretty quick. But now, I like to look at everything from a scientific point of view.

I don't think my parents did Santa Clause right when I was little. I remember when I believed in him but I always wondered why I never actually got any gifts from him. I guess my mom didn't really know what she was doing. I wondered to myself why I never got any gifts from Santa. I thought, maybe he just picks up the presents from my family then delivers it under the tree. I don't remember why I stopped believing in him but that's irrelevant.

First Essay

For my first essay I think that I'm going to describe a scene/community that I know very well. The scene/community I am going to write about is the World of Warcraft community while in Ironforge. As this is a gamer blog it would only be natural for the essay to be about a video game. This place should fit the requirements perfectly. It is a place where hundreds of people gather to trade and converse with other people in the warcraft community.

The 6 stages of Gamer skill level

I have thought up 6 different stages of gamer skill level. This means that there are 6 different levels of skill you can obtain as a gamer.

Stage 1: You are just beginning and learning all the basics. You have a grasp on most of the concepts but still have not quite mastered them yet. At this point you can beat some people but still loose most of the time.

Stage 2: You have mastered all of the basic concepts and you have vast knowledge of the game you are playing. At this point you are able to beat most people you come against.

Stage 3: This stage comes after years of practice. You have become so attuned to the game and other players that you are now able to pinpoint exactly when the opponent gives you an opening and you are able to take it. By this stage you are considered semi-pro.

Stage 4: This stage comes with even more years of practice. Up until this point you have only been able to see your opponent's openings. Upon reaching stage 4, you are now able to recognize your own openings and you prevent them from happening. By this stage you are considered Pro.

Stage 5: Very very few people ever reach this stage. This stage will come from practicing for decades. By this stage, you are able to predict all enemy movements. You have seen and played this game for so long that you are now able to clearly see what the opponent is going to do next. You are pretty much able to predict the entire match by this point. Very few Pro's actually reach stage 5. Most Pro's usually stop at stage 4.

Stage 6: This stage takes almost half a lifetime to obtain. Maybe one or two people per generation might reach this stage. By stage 6 you have been playing for so long that you can not only predict what your enemy will do, but you can actually manipulate them. When you start the game you can actually control exactly what the enemy will do and force them to make mistakes. By this stage you are unstoppable. The only way you would loose a match is if luck was completely against you. You are godly by this point.

Blended Families

A blended family is a family in which a couple both have kids which are from when they were with a different person. Living in this situation is usually pretty tough on everybody. All the kids have to start living together, and the parents have to start taking care of more kids, unless the kids are old enough to be living on their own.

My roommate actually comes from a mixed family. He has one older sister, and his dad married his step mom who had a son of her own. It wasn't so bad for my roommate because this marriage happened when he was a senior in high school. Otherwise it would have been really tough living with new people. Its almost like having permanent guests at your house.

My friend doesn't get along with his new step mom very well. Their personalities clash all the time and they can never seem to agree on anything. This is probably due to the fact that they were living in different types of environments and when they are forced to live together, its not surprising that they don't get along. Luckily he gets along very well with his step brother. His step brother is much older. He is about 5 years older than my roommate.

I wouldn't be surprised if many blended families have problems with the children getting along. I could see the kids always getting in fights with each other over little things that normally wouldn't be an issue in the house, such as rules set by their previous parents or different things like that.

Well anyway thanks for taking the time to read this post.