Deniece Williams "Silly" Could Teach My Generation

By Amir Ali Said

Today's the first day that I heard "Silly" by Denise Williams. It's such a beautiful song. The way that Denise Williams sings engages the listener. Even how the song starts off, the vocals don't come in until around the 30 second mark; instead, it's a slow, up-tempo, cool melody to introduce the song. After 30 seconds in, Denise Williams comes in with the vocals in a low pitch tone. She sings her verse and then goes into the change during the hook.

"Silly" is a nice, mood-swinging song. Meaning, however you were just feeling the songs just takes you on a journey. Deniece Williams' singing helps the song move along. The way her voice moves in out of the beat engages the listener more than anything. She easily changes the pitch of her voice, both subtly and aggressively when she needs to.

Even though I'm 13 years old, music like this will always stick with me. Other kids in my generation will listen to Beyonce or Rihanna but I find refuge in listening to Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. I think that if kids in my generation were to listen to the music I listen to they would like it. I also think that would change the way other kids in my generation think, thereby creating offsprings of children who preserve this kind of music. But instead music like this isn't played in rotation over the radio or on Ipod's. Here's a song that could be used as well.
Below is "Silly" - Deniece Williams.

Writing Tips For Teens: Writing Outlines

By Amir Ali Said

When writing, its a good idea to always have an outline for what you're working on. No matter what the writing project is, its a good idea to create an outline for the work you're going to create. Today, I'll discuss how to structure your writing outlines for stories, Blog posts, books, and screenplays. But first let's get into the importance of an outline.

To have an effective writing piece, outlines are the key to success. When writing an outline, you can organize your thoughts about your writing. Then when you’re done you build off of that. When writing an outline for your stories, book ideas and screenplays its a good idea to separate the story into acts.

A couple months ago, Pop and I discussed splitting our stories into four acts. But today, after Pop read, "Selling A Screenplay: The Screenwriter's Guide to Hollywood," by Syd Field, he reconsidered. Pop said that he read in the book that screenwriters in the past didn't write their stories into four acts. Instead; these screenwriters used the three-act system, beginning, middle, and end. After reading, Pop said that we should use that system. We had a discussion and I concluded that this would in fact be the correct way to write our outlines for stories, book ideas, and screenplays. For Blog posts, it's a little bit different.

When writing a solid Blog post its a good idea to also create an outline. However, it's not a book, screenplay, or story so you don't have to jot down so many notes. When writing an outline for a Blog post, a couple sentences with spacing should do. It's a good idea to write down what your post is going to be about and then build from that. Plus, take down some key details that you plan on putting into your article. All of these above-mentioned techniques that I use, are recommended by me for Teens who are in the writing field.

Literary Club: 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'

By Amir Ali Said

Today marks the fourth week I've been in literary club. Today's discussion was very helpful in my comprehension of the first book in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I learned a lot of things I never knew about this book. For one, I never knew that The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was part of pop culture. Until two weeks ago I didn't even know a book existed. Now come to find out The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is quoted and discussed as part of pop culture. I only thought a small group of people knew or read this book.

Number two, I didn't know that Douglas Adams (author) was an atheist. This group of people, Atheist' don't believe in the notion of a god. In the book Adams gives hints to his beliefs. This really comes out in a scene where there is a fish talking to what is suppose to be God. In this scene, the fish says that God can't exist. There I wondered if Adams was an atheist, and during the discussion I realized that he was. Also, I looked him up and found out that he considers himself to be a "radical atheist."

After the discussion at literary club today I came away with a much better understanding of the first book in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. This understanding helped me get a better grasp of book one. It also gave me more fuel to want to read book one again to see if I missed anything. With literary club, I think we all get a better understanding of the books we read.

Writing Tips For Teens: Writing Routine

By Amir Ali Said

Today I want to discuss having a writing routine. When writing, you can't write on and off. You have to dedicate hours and hours at a time on a regular basis. As a writer, you should come up with a writing routine that suits you. For me, I dedicate about 2 hours a day to my writing. Whether it be on short stories, blog posts, or the book I'm working on. That all qualifies as time for your writing routine. Your routine should be based on the amount of time that you have, and the amount of time you want to spend on writing.

To have an effective writing routine you have to do it each day. Meaning, you can't write 3 days out of the week and that's it. Even if you can only squeeze in a half hour, make it your business to write. That's the key to having an effective writing routine, writing each and every day.

With Homeschool, Oppurtunities Keep Coming

By Amir Ali Said

Today was the first day I went to film review class. Just another addition to my homeschooling schedule. The film review class was cool. In class we watch a film, then afterward we have a discussion. The first film we watched was Big Fish. Big Fish is about a father and son reuniting before the father's death. Overall, the movie was cool. But I'll dedicate another post to Big Fish at a later time. Back to the class.

At the film review class, we discussed Big Fish in depth. We went over the writing, cinematography, direction and surrounding themes in the movie. The discussion was helpful, since I do a film log for each movie that I see. The film review class is a new addition to my homeschooling schedule, like literary club. Both are great tools to help me with what I'm interested in, films and writing. Both opportunities only come when you're a homeschooler. And one more thing about film class, I met this cool girl named Delfina.

Titantic Exhibit

By Amir Ali Said

Its two in the morning and I’m on the phone. Once I get off, I come out my room and run to the fridge to get some ice-cold orange Gatorade. On my way back to my room, I see Pop’s playing Madden and he informs me that I’ll be going to the Titanic exhibit later that day; as if my weekend couldn’t get any better. So I'm in my room falling fast asleep wondering what's going to happen at the exhibit.

Later on, my mom and I are at the exhibit. The titanic exhibit is dope! A really cool touch is when you first enter, a group of tour guides gives you a boarding pass. This boarding pass has information on a random passenger that was aboard the Titantic. But by the end, you get to see if the person on your pass survived or not. Plus, once you’re inside the exhibit gets even better.

At the exhibit, you really feel like you're on the boat. You get to view cabins based on a passenger's class. One thing that I found fascinating was how many items were recovered in the titanic shipwreck. Also, the amount of items displayed at the exhibit weren't minimal at all. I wonder if the exhibit has some kind of partnership with White Star Line, (the company that created the Titanic.) Coming towards the end of the exhibit your mood begins to decline. You feel sympathetic for the people who were aboard the Titantic. Especially those passengers who didn't survive. I learned a lot about the historic ship at this exhibit. I think you will today,

Best Batting In Awhile!

By Amir Ali Said

Yesterday, Pop and I went to the batting cages at Chelsea Piers. We went because we thought that they might use real baseballs in their batting cages. Come to find out they use the same plastic balls like 3rd Avenue Sportscenter. We soon realized that the current bat I have would just have to be used for practice. Since, I'm not suppose to use my bat at batting cages because it'll get dented. But I could always get another one, and I need the practice. Back to the batting cage session.

During my batting practice I started getting my groove back. I was doing much better than my last session. Plus, Pop inspired me once he got into the batting cages and hit some good solid shots. After Pop was finished, I jumped back in and had my best ten pitch session yet. It felt great! I'm starting to get my bat speed and timing back, plus now I have more strength. I certainly look forward to the next time Pop and I go to the batting cages.

With Homeschool, the Good Days Keep On Coming

By Amir Ali Said

A couple years ago, probably around the 6th grade when I got my first iPod—the iPod shuffle, I would listen to, "Today Was A Good Day" by Ice Cube. I don't know why at that time I liked that song so much, but I listened to it a lot. Sometimes, even on the train ride to school. The song just kept me moving and focused. But anyway, "Today Was A Good Day", for the right reasons.

I woke up at around 11:30 A.M. today after a good sleep. Man was I tired. After waking up I walked over to my desk and sat down. Wiped my face a little bit and begun reading Pop's article on BeatTips.com. It was good. You've got to check out that article. Then I began my first component of reading, A Tale Of Two Cities of course. Did it get any better? No, it got much better. Back to my day, after reading about 15 pages of A Tale of Two Cities I took a slight brake and headed over to SI.com (Sports Illustrated), I read a couple articles over there, especially the one about Pete Carrol's impact on recruiting for the 2010 college football season. After reading that article, I began reading again, yea its hard to put A Tale of Two Cities down.

After reading some more of A Tale of Two Cities I went and had lunch. While I ate Pop and I watched "Test Pilot," another great classic movie from Turner Classic Movies. Crazy thing is that we missed one hour of the movie and it was still great. One line from the movie was funnier and better than "The Hangover." But I'll devote another article to both films. After the movie, I had my screening. Today I watched "Vertigo," a Alfred Hitchcock classic starring James Stewart. Another article. What's the article count now? Anyway, after my screening Pop went and got a very delectable dinner, steak fajitas. That food was realll good (3 l's needed.) Only problem was Pop got these humongous tortillas, I could only have one and half. But that should hold me for about 10 hours, not including when I'm sleeping. So as you can see I had a good day. Now that I'm homeschooling, there will be a lot more like it.

Ongoing Learning's Right For Me

By Amir Ali Said

Yesterday was jam-packed. But it was a great day. Yesterday, Pop and I went to get batting gear for the batting cages, and got enchilada ingredients. Here’s a breakdown of how the day went.

At around two PM, Pop and I went to Modell's. At Modell's we searched for a bat. Finally, we settled on a Nike, black and red Keystone bat. My bat was 32 inches by 21 ounces. Afterwards, we looked for a helmet. We got a Nike helmet. Then it was time to get cleats. You might ask what company this time? Nike of course, would be my answer. Lastly, it was time to get batting gloves, and we went with Nike. Once we left Modell's we went home and started watching a movie on TCM (Turner Classic Movies), we watched "The Baron Of Arizona." That movie truly deserves another post.

At the batting cages, (3rd Avenue Sportscenter,) Pop bought a handful of video game tokens, by mistake. Once we realized, we went to the batting cages. I started and ended at 45 mph. It was just for warm-up anyway, but man was it a work out. I hadn't hit a baseball for a year. It was a great experience, getting my stroke back. But it took about two rounds of Batting practice to hit one ball. My mechanics and stance were off, but eventually I got it together. I felt good about my Batting practice.

After batting practice, Pop and I went on a journey to find enchilada ingredients. Eventually, we just stopped off at Pathmark. They had everything we needed for a delicious meal. Once we got home, Pop made the enchiladas. Those enchiladas Pop made may very well be the best dinner he's ever made. It was so good. It was such a full day, to have a meal like that, just capped off a wonderful day. This is the kind of stuff I look forward to doing while in homeschool. Learning never stops!