This crew of five took off for some immediate shopping upon arrival in London :) 

Heading back to the LCHS campus after a long day in London! 

Music, Mayhem, Murder by Tommy Udo

Manson's belief system, incoherent at best, was constantly changing, depending on whom he was talking to or what frame of mind he was in. The guts of his philosophy - that we are living in the 'end times' and part of the 'chosen' - is actually rather commonplace for apocalyptic sects that even pre-date Christianity. Groups like the Essenes, dissident Jews who lived out in the desert in Qumrann, believed that the world was about to end and that we lived in the 'last days' and that they alone would be spared. Even the Jesus of the Gospel of Mark - the earliest of the four Gospels and the one that retains most of the 'source book' known as Q - portrays a Jesus proclaiming that the kingdom (or reign) of God was at hand; he expected the world to change drastically in his own lifetime. Early Christian sects belived that the return of Christ was imminent, not an event that would take place in a distant, unknowable future.
This thread runs through some of the most destructive and revolutionary sects and cults, such as Anabaptists in 16th-century Germany and the Free Spirit Movement, or Ranters, in revolutionary England. The flowering of fundamentalist Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries produced a bewildering variety of 'end times' groups, from the comparatively harmless Jehovah's Witnesses (whose prophecies for the end have come and gone several times over) to much more dangerous and murderous groups like Manson's.

Hello from Germany

Hey guys- Hello from snowy Germany! I guess it's been snowing here since Monday. We hit the snow on our way up. In fact, the Brenner pass was closed and we had to make a detour. It's absolutely gorgeous here, with inches and inches of new snow.
I am the "dean of women" for the FEA conference, which is just a nice way of saying that I'm in charge of discipline. That basically means that I need to make sure everyone stays in bed after curfew. I did a lot of reading in the hallway last night. See you soon.

Book sharing

Hey everybody- I just wanted to check in with you! I hope you're having a great holiday. So far I've finished two books- silly murder mysteries- otherwise known as brain candy! After Christmas I'll be ready for something that requires a bit more thought :)
I'm excited today because the first journal entry on a book I released was posted!!! If you forgot what that website is called, it's bookcrossing.com
See you in the new year...

My test

This is my test to see how long it takes to post a message.

By Popular Demand...

By popular demand, I've decided to move the Brave New World test until Tuesday. Be sure you are reading something else over the weekend. Make sure you have your poems selected for Tuesday as well. Some time over the weekend, take the time to further comment on the idea of beauty/truth vs. comfort/happiness that we discussed in class on Tuesday.
I have to say that I was really impressed that you seem to understand the choice that modern people are being forced to make. The thing that I find so interesting is that Huxley predicted it- that he saw so early on that it was dangerous to make things too easy for people- at least dangerous for the survival of beauty and truth.

Tuesday, September 14th Review

Class started today with our first blog activity. I shared the assignment with the class, and we discussed how the whole thing is going to work. My sample of quality was from The Secret Life of Bees, a great book. After that I passed out the David Copperfield tests, reminding the class to make sure they take the time to plan their essays. Everyone turned their tests in by the end of the period. Homework: finish posters for tomorrow's presentation. Evin volunteered to do the next blog.
Oh- I found a website you might like: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/
There are free Cliff's notes there for a number of books.