I was planning on working on this project over Thanksgiving break, however, my whole family got sick, and that is why I am writing this apology.
... I'm sorry! I was too busy coughing, eating chicken soup, and feeling miserable to complete my goal. I will have to extend it to sometime before Christmas break.

Hey guys! (haha, talking to myself)
       As the days pass and this project continues, I have come across an issue. That issue is that I don't have a goal, or a end product. This is one of the requirements of the project, so it is therefore necessary that I have a goal.
       If you are working toward a long term goal, you need to have short term goals to keep you on track toward that original goal. So, I have decided to set a short term goal: to publish my first article by December 1st. Along with this one goal, I have decided to publish an article on the first of each month, totaling six articles in all.
      Also, I need something to connect these articles together, something that I can think about as I write each one, a central question. This I will determine in my next post. 
   See you guys later!(talking to myself again)

         Today I learned that your passion may not exactly be a fun, pleasurable thing to do. Although I didn't get to actually writing about a current event today, (yes, I decided to go with blasting my opinions to the world) I was however, able to learn an important lesson today anyways. 
         Though my love of theatre has inspired many monologues and one-person-mini-productions, it does not affect me the way a good friendly debate does. I have also decided that it will not affect others in the best way either. My online discussions on the other hand, may inspire action from real people. (if anyone actually reads this, ha ha)
           Anyways, back to passions... my thoughts on passions started when Mrs. Browning decided out of the blue to work on our projects today. For the first couple minutes I sat there and stared at my computer screen. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it at all since Friday, and I still hadn't made my decision. Mrs. Browning pointed out that writing would probably help me advance as a student more than theatre technique. But she said I could combine the two by adding a little theatre fun fact at the end. I realized that I could put a lot of feeling into my work even though it may not be the most exciting thing to do.
           Signing off, Maggie

My 20% time project

        Our eighth grade English class is doing a yearlong project, called a 20% time or Genius hour. Very successful companies such as Google and Apple have their workers complete one, and some of the greatest inventions have been created as a result. The basic idea is to give the workers 20 percent of their time to work on something they are passionate about.
        So, for our class, Mrs. Browning has adapted this project to where we work on our project for an hour in class every Friday. For my Project, I was originally planning to research local or world news story, then write my own opinion about it, a lot like Joel Stein's monthly article in Time.
        But then my dance teacher announced that we would be playing the part of the dancers in Opelika High School's production of The Phantom of the Opera, and my mind turned over to my other passion, which is acting.
        So now I am deliberating whether to follow through with my original idea, or to learn more about the musical (and the theatrical field in general) that I will be performing in.
        To be continued...