The Amazing Mind of a Young Child

10 Reasons to get a Landline

2014-01-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

1. In case you really need to call someone and your cell-phones dead.

2. In case your cell-phone is broken.

3. In case the cellular communication tower has fallen down.

4. In case someone needs to reach you while your doing something on your phone.

5. In case weirdos start calling you on your cell-phone. (unless the weirdos are your friends)

6. In case of really bad, cell-phone-connection-disrupting weather conditions.

7. In case you decide you want to be old-fashioned for a change.

8. In case someone you really need (or want) to call has caller I.D. :)

9. So you can slam the phone down to hang up.

10. In case you have shared minutes plan and your only allowed to talk to your friend for fifteen minutes a day.

Buma Days Pt. 8 Leaving

2013-12-18T09:50:00.003-08:00

Today (Monday the sixteenth) we had to get up at 6-6:30 to be ready on-time. Last night I watched Titanic. It started at 9:30. It's a three or four hour movie. Up late, up early. But it wasn't to bad, I don't think. After we left Myanmar, we had a several hour lay-over in Tapei, Taiwan, and mom andI went to a very popular tourist attraction. Here are some pictures:

( Because of technical difficulties, we can show no pictures at this time. Have a nice day.)

After that we went back to the airport and (after a room change and a delay) boarded our flight. It took eleven and a half hours. and now we are in Los Angeles. We are about to leave for Boston. so, I have heard it is a good idea to end with a bang, so here goes:

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Bang!

(heh heh heh)

Burma Days Pt. 7 Kyaikami

2013-12-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

After we got to Moulmien, we stayed in a hotel, and then we went to Kyaikami! ( pronounced Jackamay) It took an hour and a half to go the thirty miles. It was fast driving , like on the way to Moulmien. While we avoided all of the people, and most of the animals, we did hit a dog. Most animals got out of the way, and we slowed down anyway, this one dog was walking across the street, and it didn't run away when we came barreling towards it, and we didn't slow down (don't ask me why), and we ran into it at probably at least fifty miles per hour. We heard the thump it made when we hit it. we didn't even stop to see if it was all right. I didn't even turn around until I thought it would be out of sight. I didn't see it, and if I did, I didn't notice it. But one of the people in the car, May Oo, saw the dog get up and walk away, so at least it didn't die, that we know of. When we got to Kyaikami, we went to the Ann H. Judson memorial

commemerating her life and death. Next to it was the First Baptist Church of Amherst. It was founded by Adoniram Judson, but it has the corner-stone from the original Ann H. Judson memorial church, which is no more. Then we went to the beach, on the shore of the Indian ocean, and had our lunch at a resturaunt there. They had the option for a hamburger, and also for potato crisps (chips), but they said it wasn't what we think of as a hamburger, and they seemingly had no potato crisps. (I didn't understand what they were saying, since they spoke in their language) On the way back we stopped at a really big Bhudda,

and tried to find a memorial pagoda to a Christian missionary. (the missionary was witnessing Christ's love to who-ever came to her for medical care. She was a nurse, and she gave the best medical care in her area, so when the government got thugs to arrest her, everyone in the village, including the Bhuddists, rebelled against her capture, and there was a fight. Eventually she died, and the Bhuddists built a memorial pagoda in her honor)

A Moosician!!!

Burma Days Pt. 6 Mawlamyine

2013-12-10T07:25:00.001-08:00

Today we came to Mawlamyine, a 160-something mile trip. It took about 6 hours. It didn't really feel like it, though. They drive seventy or eighty miles per hour, generally, and if you want to pass the cars in front of you, you just blow your horn drive past them on the other side of the road. You also blow your horn to help avoid pedestrians. The drive on the right side, as in America, but most of there cars are shipped from Japan, and their steering wheel is on the right side, unlike ours, so sometimes when you try to pass a car, you find yourself facing a car coming at you. Dogs and people walking in the road are common, and so are bikes and motorcycles. There are also some carts.

What do you call a cow that plays the guitar?

Burma Days Pt. 5 Prison: Secrets revealed

2013-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

The prison is not a fullscale replica. It is not made of logs, but it does have a real thatch roof. The walls, which were something like plywood, were hand-painted. It was inside a building, with a replica of the stone at the site where the prison was commemorating the site right outside. here are some pictures:

Pretty detailed, huh?

Burma Days Pt. 4 Prison: real or fake? You decide.

2013-12-06T09:29:00.001-08:00

There is an exibhition at the seminary compound, and part of that exibition is a prison. The prison is made of wood. What I want you to do is decide for your-self: Is it outside or inside, Logs or plywood, Fullscale replica or detailed model.

Real thatch roof

Watch out for the guards!

Poor prisoners

Well, what do you think?

Burma Days Pt. 3 You'll see

2013-12-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

Lights...

Camera...

CHICKENS!!!!!

Burma Days Pt. 2 Shwe Dagon Pagoda

2013-12-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

Burma days Pt. 1: First Day

2013-12-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

Our flight landed four hours and eleven minutes (when I started typing eleven) ago. Of course, we had to go through customs and immigration, get our luggage, and convert a substantial sum of money into Burmese currency, before we could leave the airport. Then (in the airport) we met with the leaders of the pwo Kayin Seminary, and they drove us to our guest house, where we am now. So far I like Myanmar. It's a place where palm trees and other such plants grow. It's a tropical climate, with a low of sixty-four in the cool season. The leader of the seminary gave us dinner at the school, and today he gave us a tour of the seminary. He also gave us lunch and brought us to the national village, a museum of different tribal areas, with shops and houses and such. Then they took us to the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, and we stayed there for an hour and a half to two hours. There is one interesting thing in particular about this trip: a lot of people, mostly girls have wanted to take their picture with me. POOOTAAAATOOOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After we went to the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, They brought us back to the seminary for supper. It was a nice supper, with rice and shrimp (a delicacy) and vegetables with a garlic sauce, as well as soup, and some other things. Then we came back to the guest house and have been there since. Today we also went down and payed for our tickets to the celebrations. Well, it's about midnight here, and 12:22 were you are (eleven and a half hour time difference), so I should probably stop. Bye for now!

Photo blog of Los Angeles

2013-11-30T18:52:00.002-08:00

Hi Guys!, Jordan here. In L.A., that is. Thats right, I'm in California! Unfortunately I will be leaving in

only a few hours. :( But then I'll be on my way to Burma! :) But I can't tell you about that now, because

it hasn't happened yet. :( I can, however, tell you about my stay L.A. When we got here last night, we

basically checked and went straight to our rooms. Mom and I did look and see if they had a hot-tub, but

they didn't. :( Then I watched a show on T.V. about the secrets of the earth that I thought was pretty

cool. Who knew the Weather Channel could be that interesting. :) Then we went to bed, and I woke up

early, early for here, that is, it was about ten for you guys, and didn't really leave my room (I might

have gone out into the hall) until about 8:30 (here), around an hour and a half after I woke up. I had a

nice breakfast (buffet style) at the hotels resturant, had a few scares with the elevators, had mom try to

locate Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasly), and Emma Watsons (Hermione

Grangers) handprints, footprints, and wandprints on the walk of fame. Then we went on a very nice

V.I.P. tour of Los Angeles, with a very nice driver, and the chance to take a lot of pictures. And here

they are (some of them, anyway):

Harry Houdini's star!

We fight for Justice, Order, and Coupons!

Ready for anything!

Expensive pictures with characters

The Manns Chinese Theater

Star Wars prints!

Welcome to Erebor!

Preview trailer for "The Desolation of Smaug"

The Harry Potter stars hand, feet, and wand prints!

I have (or had) the same size handprint as Daniel Radcliffe! (Harry Potter)

A really expensive car. Somewhere in the millions

Well, thats enough for now! I may come back later and add more photos and captions, but I don't have much time and I shouldn't keep you to long, but check this post every once in awhile.

Bye for now!

Jordan

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

2012-12-20T12:33:00.001-08:00

I went to see the Hobbit with some friends on Saturday. The friends were called the "Geek Fellowship." Going with 23 friends was kinda fun. The movie was AWESOME! It was one of the best (if not the best) movie(s) I have ever seen. And it fit perfectly with "The Lord of the Rings." And besides that, it shows why dwarves dislike elves, what Bilbo looked like 60 years ago, and that "Biffer, Boffer, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Orie, Norie, Oin, Gloin, Bombur, and Thorin Oakenshield should meet "the Fellowship of the Ring." I am going to interveiw one of the people who saw it with me.

Me: Did you like the movie?

Elijah: Yes, I did.

Me: did you think it was close to the book?

Elijah: Not very, but in some parts.

Me: Did you like the things they added to the movie?

Elijah: Yes.

Me: Did you like the cliff-hanger ending?

Elijah: It was a good way to end the movie.

Me: Did you think it fit the "Lord of the Rings" storyline?

Elijah: It did.

Me: Okay! Thank you for your time!

Elijah: You're welcome.

That is the Interview of Elijah, I hope you find it helpful. All in all, I think they did a very good job on "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." The sets and stuff (costumes, c.g.i., etc., etc., etc....) were very good, especially the dwarf kingdom of Erebor. And a lot of it (I thought) was similar to the books, though there were some differences. The End.

Mad Scientist

2011-06-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to learn to fly because I am a mad scientist. Do you have any suggestions for things I might try?

I have already tried flying a rocket, which didn't succeed. The remote controlled lawnmower, that was one of the only ones that worked. The potato-powered laser cannon, that worked pretty well, too. Did you know that if you could ever get electricity out of a potato it would only be 1.6 volts?

More pictures in some other blog.

Signed,
Jordan

The Asking for Jokes Blog

2011-06-08T12:47:00.001-07:00

Please write down your favorite jokes as comments and I will possibly use them in a later blog. Thank you and I hope you participate.

Signed,
Jordan

Dance, CYC and Other Stuff

2011-06-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is a guest blog by a good friend of mine. Her name is Hannah. She is a twelve year old girl who loves to dance. She finds me and her brother Elijah weird, strange, crazy, etc., etc., etc, which we are, but more on that never. Hope you enjoy Hannah's post.

The introduction is accurate. Let me tell you a little bit about my family. My brother's a goof ball. My Mom makes good soup and pies, as we all know well. My dog Judson is very fast and he's a nut ball. My Dad is totally embarassing, but kinda nice. And his dancing is terrible.

As Jordan said in the introduction I do love to dance. I have a new video game called Just Dance 2. It's my favorite video game that we have. It's kind of like video exercise except that you hold the remote and mirror the person on the screen. I also have dance classes three to four days a week. I have nine dances for my recital this year, which is on June 18. Before the recital on Wednesday and Thursday we have regular rehearsals, then on Friday we have a dress rehearsal. On Saturday we have two shows, one at 2:00 and one at 7:00. I am doing one tap dance, one ballet dance, three jazz dances, three lyrical dances and one modern. My little brother is in modern class with me. He is doing the recital with me as well.

This is my seventh year dancing and I am used to having so many dances. Last year I had eight. The most dances I had to learn in a short time was 10 dances in 4 days. Nine were at dance camp and one was for Chapel at the Christian Youth Conference which my Dad is the Dean of, but which I can't go to til I am 15. Now I am a staff brat.

I am not technically a brat that's just a name that we have. Jordan, Elijah, my friend Christina and I are all staff brats. The beach there is the best I have ever been to and I can boogie board there which I can't do anywhere else. They also have a great library which has a lot of Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes, which I love. This year we get one of the most adorable cabins I have ever seen. The room that my brother and I sleep in is purple, which I am very excited about. I love purple. We get to bring our WII, our laptops, all our WII games and my new Ipod Touch which I got for my birthday this year. We can also go almost anywhere we want within our boundaries, as long as we ask a parent, without supervision.

I am homeschooled. I am so glad I do not have to get up 6:00 in the morning to get dressed, eat breakfast and go to school. My two favorite cartoon movies are Up and The Incredibles My favorite non-cartoon movies are Stomp, The Lord of the Rings movies and Pirates of the Carribean.

Good-bye and I enjoyed doing this blog. I hope you enjoy it, too.

God bless,

Hannah

Ed. Note:
Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park is a two week ecumenical conference for high school students held in August on the beautiful southern coast of Maine. The theme for the 2011 conference is "Face to Face" and will look at restoring relationships between God and individuals, and amongst people. Click here for more information.

Africa

2011-05-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

I went to Africa, and here is a little bit about Africa. Technically it was specifically Kenya and in Kenya it was specifically in Kisumu. It took three planes to get there. One to London where we had a 14 hour layover with my Dad's family. I slept through most of it though because I didn't sleep on the plane. Then one to Nairobi and then one to Kisumu. It is a very hot part of the world because it is very near the Equator. And when I was there I went over the Equator twice. I also went camping. I would have gone on a Safari but I was sick that day and a few days more so I missed out on the Safari but I saw some other stuff. The weird thing about the camping place was that you slept in a tent but there was a wooden outhouse and a pingpong table. You could also play darts with actual spiky darts you don't want to get hit by. You could also play Twister and other games I think. I'm not sure though. It's been a while. Four years approximately. But I know definitely we had a barbecue in a big stone thing about 20 feet from the tents and I believe there was a big wire elephant.

We went to Africa because we have some friends there who are missionaries and we were going to stay with them. I forgot to mention I went to a school for street boys there. It was an experience. Mostly I stayed home while Mom and Dad were on the streets with real street boys. But sometimes there were exceptions. Like sometimes the Dad of the missionary kids took me to swimming pools but a lot of the time I was on the computer playing games with him.

While we were there one of the missionary kids lost a molar. There was lots and lots of blood. In the sink mostly.

We also rode a boda-boda and before that we saw a chameleon in the road and we met some soapstone carvers who carved some soapstone for us.

Kwa heri

Have you ever been to Africa? Please let me know.

Jordan

Moving

2011-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

We moved yesterday. It was a rather exciting experience. There are some things I miss about the apartment. The view, the parking lot to play in which was actually rather fun playing soccer and frisbee with my Dad, riding my bike around, playing in the laundry room with (a) friend(s) of mine and playing with a friend of mine on the porch of his apartment, technically it wasn't his apartment it was all the apartments in that segment, but who cares?

Then there was the move. That was just crazy. Of course, I was downstairs playing with some friends of mine but I am pretty sure it was crazy or something like it.

Then there was the new house. It's a very nice house which used to be my grandmother's. We inherited it. It has a bonus or two. A backyard to play in, lots of space inside the house, a garage, a basement and an attic that are actually ours. There are kids next door and it's a dead end street but that's like having friends in the same apartment building and having a big parking lot. The parking lot was actually better so the dead end street isn't as good. But it's good.

Jordan

P.S. How many times have you moved? Or have you moved at all?

Ze Red Sox Game

2011-05-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Fenway Park to see ze Red Sox Game. It was a lot of fun. I made this giant sign that said "GO SOX" and me and a friend of mine who came held it up and according to a lot of people it changed ze game because when we started to hold ze sign up more they changed the score from 3-3 to 3-4 and won the game at ze same time. We also saw David Ortiz get a homerun. There was a homerun just before David Ortiz' homerun but I didn't see that one because we were in the concession area buying cotton candy.

Have you ever been to see ze Red Sox at Fenway? Tell me here!

Our Collaborative Post about the King James Bible

2011-05-17T11:37:00.001-07:00

(This is a collaborative post, written by Jordan and Melinda together.)

The King James Bible is 400 years old this year. To celebrate that, our Bible study watched a movie about the making of the KJV. It was a good movie. It was called KJV: The Making of the King James Bible

Here are some interesting facts about the King James Bible from the movie and other places.

* It is considered one of the greatest works of prose in the English language.

* The first one was entirely handwritten.

* It was based on a lot of different Bibles, such as William Tyndale's English translation and various Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts.

* One of the first printed editions missed out the word "not" in the seventh commandment, making it "Thou shalt commit adultery." Only 11 copies of that edition remain and they are priceless collector's items.

* It was authorized by King James I, who wanted a newer, more accurate translation to replace all the other English versions available at the time. Puritans however stuck with the Geneva translation. Actually, the KJV was mostly despised by everyone early on.

* Common phrases such as "salt of the earth," "a man after his own heart," "broken heart," "a drop in the bucket" and "a labor of love" were coined in the King James Bible.

* It's still a best seller after 400 years

I love the language of the KJV for devotional reading although I prefer a more modern translation for study. The KJV with it's "thees" and "thous" makes Bible reading feel special to me. --Melinda

I liked learning about the KJV. -- Jordan

Signed,

Jordan and Melinda

Photos from the Revolution's Game at Gillette Stadium

2011-05-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

These photos are taken from a luxury box and from the sidelines Revolution vs. Whitecaps, Revolution in blue, Whitecaps in white, Revolution won, enjoy!

Good-bye! Au revoir! Hasta luego! Adios! Ciao!

Jordan

The Dad Blog

2011-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

I like to play frisbee, soccer and tennis with my Dad because it's fun. I also like to read with him. Mostly we read Sherlock Holmes and stuff but sometimes we read Stig of the Dump, Swallows and Amazons, and Paddinton.

What do you like to do with your Dad?

Jordan

Mother's Day Quiz Answers

2011-05-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

1. For Mother's Day, my church gives women and girls:

A. Flowers

2. What do pink carnations symbolize?

c. A mother's undying love

3. To celebrate Mother's Day we are taking my mother to a Mexican restaurant called:

B. Border Cafe

4. Sarah was the mother of:

A. Isaac

5. What year did Mother's Day start?

C. 1905

Bonus Question:

What is the title of my mother's Mother's Day blog post?

B. For Mom on Mother's Day

The answer to question five may not be accurate because the website we looked it up on did not give the exact date.

Jordan.

Mother's Day Quiz

2011-05-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

1. For Mother's Day, my church gives women and girls:

A. Flowers
B. A luncheon
C. Their choice of anything they want from a catalog

2. What do pink carnations symbolize?

A. Mother's Day
B. A blog
C. A mother's undying love

3. To celebrate Mother's Day we are taking my mother to a Mexican restaurant called:

A. Mon ami
B. Border Cafe
C. Borders

4. Sarah was the mother of:

A. Isaac
B. Noah
C. Zachariah

5. What year did Mother's Day start?

A. 1976
B. 2006
C. 1905

Bonus Question:

What is the title of my mother's Mother's Day blog post?

A. For Moms
B. For Mom on Mother's Day
C. My Computer

Please put your answers down as comments.

Signed,
Jordan

Homeschooling

2011-05-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

I like being a homeschooler because instead of just sitting at a desk doing boring things in the classroom you can do any school work you want to do anytime, except after 8:30 at night or before 7:00 in the morning. It also gives you a lot of time to read books during the day and use the computer and things like that.

My favorite school subject is Science, or maybe Geography or History. I am not sure which is my favorite. I like all three of them. Probably one of the coolest things I learned in Science is you can make a volcano. An interesting thing I learned in geography was that Greenwich is the place that decides what time it is.

One thing about being a homeschooler I find funny and interesting is that on a snow day you do school work and,then the day after when all the regular school kids are in class, you go sledding or skiing or whatever, or that's my experience anyway.

Well, that's all for now. Bye!

About Sherlock Holmes

2011-05-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

"So, Watson. You don't propose to invest in South African securities?" ~Sherlock Holmes

"How on earth do you know that?" ~Dr. Watson

It is kind of interesting how Sherlock Holmes knows exactly what Dr. Watson is thinking, or at least I think so. To Sherlock Holmes it is so absurdly simple to know what Dr. Watson is thinking that he hardly knows how he does it himself because the train of thought goes through his head so quickly. You'll find it yourself if you read these interesting adventure stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These very exciting stories are filled with mystery, danger, cunning and anything you can think of that goes with adventure. Especially The Adventure of the Devil's Foot, and The Adventure of the Dying Detective, which besides the other things I've mentioned also has anticipation and trickery. I highly recommend these stories for any person above the age of 10.

Here are some quotes I think are interesting and the titles of the stories they come from:

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet:

"Holmes", said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone."

Yesterday I was seated in my office at the bank when a card was brought into me by one of the clerks. ~Mr. Holder

The Adventure of the Dancing Men

"This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case," said he. "You gave me a few particulars in your letter Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but I should be very much obliged if you would kindly go over it all again for the benefit of my friend Dr. Watson". ~Sherlock Holmes

"A good deal Mr. Holmes, I have several fresh dancing-men pictures for you to examine and, what is more important, I have seen the fellow"

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

"You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" ~Sherlcok Holmes

"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than is visible to me." ~Dr. Watson

One closing quote, from several of the stories:

"My dear Holmes!" ~Dr. Watson