For only one year at Mariner, I know tons of the students and teachers here. But, one such teacher really stands out to me so much that I don’t think I could survive the school year without her. That teacher happens to be Mrs. Albanese. She is the only teacher here at Mariner that gets all of the students into the technology of the future. Blogs (such as this one), Wikis, and Protopages are the main thing we focus on, and I get a kick out of helping out with it all. Lately, Mrs. Albanese’s cause for technology in classrooms has traveled all around the state with different field trips and relations on the internet. Mrs. Albanese works hard to keep up with the current learning technologies, so that’s why she earns my deep appreciation.

Bram Stoker
By William

Bram Stoker, one of the greatest novelists of all time, because of his all-time famous character “Dracula”. He wrote fantastic stories that filled people’s heads with pure wonder. However, Bram Stoker was not a writer his whole life. It turns out he had many other occupations before writing. However, before I delve into Bram’s jobs, books, and other details, allow me to tell you about his childhood.

Abraham “Bram” Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 in Clontarf, Ireland. His parents were Abraham and Charlotte Stoker and he turned out to be the third out of seven brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, for Bram, he had an unidentified illness when he was young and he was unable to walk or move. As it turned out, Bram outgrew the illness and became an athlete during his adolescence. Bram was also the “bookish” type of child, so he was a little bit shy. Throughout his childhood, Bram wanted to become a writer. What he didn’t know was that his wish would come true.

Bram went to Trinity College in Dublin as a great athlete, and graduated with honors in mathematics. Then he was an Auditor of the College Historical Society and he was the President of the University Philosophical Society. While he was a Civil Servant in Dublin, he wrote many theater reviews for a small newspaper known as “The Dublin Mail”. Bram’s interest in theater led him to meet an actor by the name of Henry Irving. Their friendship lasted for their whole lives, so Henry became one of Bram’s biggest influences in writing.

In 1878, Bram married the beautiful Florence Balcombe. The couple later moved to London where Stoker had the position of Business Manager for 27 years at Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theater. Through Henry, Bram was in the “High Society” class in London. Bram and Florence both had one son that went by the name of Irving Noel Stoker.

After eight years of studying vampires, Bram finally wrote the famous sensational epistolary novel known as Dracula which was published in 1897. Dracula inspired many things like the modern vampire and the movie Nosferatu. Nosferatu was made after Bram’s death, but because his widow had no royalties or permission, Florence filed a law suit against them. Other than Dracula, Bram also wrote other books and short stories such as “The Crystal Cup,” and “Dracula’s Guest.”

Bram later died on April 20, 1912 from a disease that is still unknown. Some medical researchers say that he had contracted syphilis. But on his death certificate, it says that he died from a disease known as Locomotor Ataxy which basically meant paralysis for the insane. Bram’s novels have changed the way people think about vampires and started new trends in the modern world. His legacy will live throughout others for years to come because of his writing genius, which had shown through the novel Dracula.

Works Cited

“Bram Stoker.” online-literature.com. The Online Literature Network. 20 Feb 2007 <http://www.online-literature.com/stoker></A>.

“Bram Stoker.” Wikipedia. 20 Feb 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker>.

“Bram Stoker.” classic-literature.co.uk. Classic Literature Library. 20 Feb 2007 <http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/bram-stoker></A>.

Here is my contrast poem for one of Mrs. Albaneses assignments.

Internet
Slow
Sports
Injuries

Mcdonalds
Fat
People
Mean

Books
Boring
Flowers
Allergies

Internet
Slow
Sports
Injuries

Mcdonalds
Fat
People
Mean

Books
Boring
Flowers
Allergies

Here is my poem that I wrote for my mom (She burst out laughing once she read the last line…).

Her hands, soft but

not what they seem to be.

Swish, vroom, clack!

She’s cleaning with them again…

The house is sparkling clean from

all her efforts while dinner is cooking.

Her face is stern as she reminisces the times

 from her childhood in the Philippines

when she cooked extravagant

 feasts with her family.

All of a sudden, her flowers in her

garden begins to sprout and bloom,

Just like her heart

(which does not match with her grey

 sweatpants and blinding green crocs).

Betsy Dye. Aunt, role model, and friend. Betsy is my father’s only sister, who constantly helps me out here in Delaware even though… she lives all the way on the other side of the U.S. in California! Fortunately, she finds ways to communicate with my sister and me via the internet and phone. She wears glasses and a nice T-shirt every time I see her. Her voice is very high and a bit shrill; probably from a throat problem when she was born (nobody could hear her cry!).

 Betsy entered my life when I was born. Being my dad’s sister, she was there the day I was born. For the years to come, I enjoyed her company by visiting her about once every week. Finally, when my Grandmother died, Betsy lived in her house which was conveniently located a few houses away from mine! Instead of visiting her every week, I began to visit her every day. Her lifestyle began to grow on mine and I loved being at her house more and more (despite all the dreadful chores she gave me…).

 Because Betsy worked in the huge city of San Francisco, we visited her a few times and had lunch with her there if I happened to be off of school. Every visit she would show us different buildings and structures. We walked around the Embarcadero and shopped at the outdoor markets. She would try to take us to new places each time to liven up our short visits. Aside from San Francisco, she took me to church every Sunday and to an “Improv” group (a group of people who get together and play acting games) every Thursday.

 The way that Betsy helps me out the most is when she gives me encouragement to do my best in everything. She taught me how to appreciate simple things and ways to logically think things through when I’m feeling down. The slight road bump is the way I have to communicate with her because I can’t go to California whenever I want. Every time I get the chance to talk to her, I quickly rise to the occasion. Another way she helps me out is when she brings laughter into my life. Sometimes she can make the worst situations seem funny, even though some others don’t appreciate that as much as I do.

 In short, Betsy is one of my most unique and cherished role models. She encourages me, makes me think things through, and one thing I didn’t add is the fact that she treats me like an adult (unlike some people). All of these qualities are definitely something that nobody else can have all at the same time.

May 2^nd, 2007… Mrs. Albanese and our whole Wiki team traveled up to Dover to speak to speak to the House of Representatives and the Senate to talk about the importance of technology in schools. First, we showed off our poster (which looks really nice), then we went to the Delaware archives to look at old documents, and finally, my speech partner Danielle and I spoke to the House and Senate. All of these experiences were very exciting and memorable to me. When we arrived, we walked upstairs and set up our equipment on the table that was placed for us. I scanned the area and quickly realized that we weren’t alone. Many other schools were also present at the Legislative Hall. With my stomach rumbling and my paper clenched in my hand, we went downstairs to a lunch, comprising of a hot dog, two cookies, and a bottle of water. Shortly after, Ms. Roe came in and everyone walked towards the Delaware Archive Center, where we began our tour of Delaware’s ancient archives.

 The first room in the archives was the research room, where people could read archives and trace past events. Then we went to what I consider the main part of the tour, the archive room. In the archive room, it was a little chilly, but not deathly cold. We learned how they preserve documents and saw some ancient documents that dated back to the 1800’s! When we walked to the next room, we saw a man sitting at a desk, looking at some photos. It turns out his job is to look at the pictures and sort them out into time, date, and place. The following room was a larger, colder version of the second room. The temperature was only 60 degrees Fahrenheit! The final room was a small museum where people could actually put their names on their own personal copy of the Bill of Rights.

 It was speech time. Danielle and I in pure desperation put together our essays and made one big essay. Danielle read some of hers, while I read some of mine. The first group we had to speak to was the House of Representatives. During the beginning of our speech, there were small conversations being whispered, but when we stated our business, the murmuring stopped. When the speech was over, Danielle and I realized that we were too far away from the microphone! But the Representatives still congratulated us. Once we talked to the Senate (after a light snack at Wawa) we were comfortable and everyone was silent the whole time. We spoke closer to the microphone and the whole thing was a huge success. That day I spoke, one of the Senators gave me a pin that made me feel very proud of myself. It was definitely, appreciation in its prime.

Name a time when you were proud of yourself or when you deeply appreciated somthing.

This is my new blog so far… How do you like it? Any Suggestions???