The OPEN PAGE is a blog written by teens in Mariposa County, located in the Western Sierra Mountains of Central California. Please include your full name and age with your submission.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Join the Teen Summer Reading Program

By Phil Vigil

If you're between the ages of 12 and 19, then you're eligible to join the Teen Summer Reading Program, sponsored by the Mariposa County Library. If you like to read, imagine getting prizes for reading any book that is at your reading level. Every 200 pages, you get to pick out your favorite prize, and every 1000 pages, you get to choose from an assortment of new paperbacks to take home. The program will start June 21 and end August 16. Sign up at the Mariposa Library front desk.

Katie Hertfelder, young adult librarian, encouraged teens to take part by stating, "You get free stuff, and what else do you have to do?"

Picture-Perfect Pictures (Replacing Whatzis!)

Photos by Jesse Exum

Really Close-Ups

Try and guess what these close-up photos are of! The answers will be posted next week, along with these photos. NOTE: This is replacing Whatzis! (although it's really the same thing. There isn't any change after all.) The answers will be posted in the next Picture-Perfect Pictures instead of in Whatzeez Are.

































Thursday, April 20, 2006

Library Annual Spring Book Sale on May 5-7

By Paul Wilson (avid reader and library patron)

The Mariposa County Friends of the Library Annual Spring Book Sale is coming up on May 5-7. On Friday the 5th only members of the Mariposa Friends of the Library are admitted to the sale from 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Individual memberships to the Friends cost $5 and are available at the door on Friday for those that would like to support the Library and get first access to the materials for sale.


The general public is admitted to the sale on Saturday the 6th from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Sunday the 7th from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.


Most books are $1 and on Friday and Saturday if you buy one book at any price you get one $1 book free. On Sunday, buying one book gets you two $1 books free. Rare and higher quality books are individually priced.

Photo by Paul Wilson


Whatzeez Are 7: The "Whatzis 7" Answers plus a Special Announcement!

Photos by Jesse Exum

These are the answers to the previous post "Whatzis 7!"

This...















...is a...















...gourd in dim light.

This...















...is an...















...alarm clock.

This...















...is a...















...small waterfall in blue light. (Actually, both photos were taken in normal light, but the camera made them blue for some reason.)

The Special Announcement:
Whatzis will be changed next week, so be sure to check back then! It will be retitled Picture-Perfect Pictures: Really Close-Ups.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Teen Express Poetry Anthology

By Phil Vigil
Art by Patrick Edwards

For those who did not know that April was poetry month, well... it is! If you want to get into the spirit of poetry, there is no better way than submitting a poem to the Teen Express Poetry Anthology.

The anthology is for anyone ages 12-19. Just e-mail your poem(s) to katie.hertfelder@sjvls.org or bring them to the library. The first 10 people who submit poems get a Barnes & Noble gift certificate. All poems will be accepted as long as they don't contain any objectional material (must be appropriate for all ages). This is not a contest! You must submit your poem(s) by May 1st.

The poems will be displayed in the library and the participants will recieve a book containing all the submissions. If you would like your poem(s) to be posted on the The Open Page teen blog, then just let Katie know submit them.

Look below for more poems already posted on the blog.

Video on the Go!

by Jesse Exum

MY APOLOGIES. SOME OF THE ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE, AND ALL ARE HARD TO FIND!

Are you about to buy a portable video game system but having trouble deciding between a Nintendo DS and a Sony PSP? Do you like the Nintendo-exclusive Mario, Metroid, Pokémon and Zelda series but also want to be able to watch video on the go (a prominent feature of the PSP)? Then get a DS! Although the video quality isn’t as good as that of Universal Media Discs on a PSP, Game Boy Advance Video Paks let you watch video on your GBA, GBA SP, GBA micro, or DS! You can’t watch them on your TV using a Nintendo GameCube with a Game Boy Player accessory, but even if you could, the video quality would be terrible. You also can’t save video to the system like you can with UMDs on a PSP, but a lot more TV shows are available on GBA Video than on UMD. (However, a lot more movies are available on UMD than on GBA Video, so it kind of evens out.)

More than 20 different TV shows (all of them cartoons, except for one computer-animated show) have at least one episode available on GBA Video, and some of them aren’t even available on DVD or VHS! TV shows available on GBA Video Paks include The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius; All Grown Up; Brandy & Mr. Whiskers; Codename: Kids Next Door; Courage the Cowardly Dog; Danny Phantom; Dora the Explorer; Dragon Ball GT; Ed, Edd n' Eddy; The Fairly OddParents; The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy; Johnny Bravo; Kim Possible; Lilo & Stitch: The Series; Pokémon; The Proud Family; Rocket Power; Sonic X; SpongeBob SquarePants; Strawberry Shortcake; Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Yu-Gi-Oh; and even three feature-length computer-animated movies (all rated PG): Shark Tale, Shrek and Shrek 2! Can’t pick just one? Some GBA Video Paks contain episodes from multiple TV shows! In fact, some of the shows listed above are ONLY available on GBA Video Paks with episodes from multiple TV shows on them!

There are more than 30 different GBA Video Paks. They usually cost $10 or $20 each. If you look for GBA Video Paks online, note that some websites (including the official GBA Video website and even Nintendo.com) don’t list all of the GBA Video Paks. So if you don’t see any you like, try searching somewhere else!

Whatzis 7!

Photos by Jesse Exum

Try and guess what these are close-up photos of! The answers will be posted next week, along with these photos.





























Untitled

By Nita Vigil

You ask where I am now.
I am here right by your side.
Had I been anywhere else
Your screams would be justified.

You say I do not care,
And over and over you cry:
That you’ve been left alone
To suffer until you die.

Those voices are not your thoughts,
But the whispers of darkest hell.
Despite what your friends may think,
You’re alive, but you’re not well.

I gave my life for you.
I know that you do not believe.
I see what you hold in your hand;
I feel the pain you’ll try to relieve.

Every time I reach for you-
Heal your wounds with my touch
You never can accept
That One could love you this much.

And here I stand right now,
And I hold you as you cry.
Though you do not love your life
I will not let you die.

Eternally Faithful,
~God

Whatzeez Are 6: The "Whatzis 6" Answers!

Photos by Jesse Exum

These are the answers to the previous post "Whatzis 6!"

This...















...is a...















VCR.

This...















...is a...















... shriveled-up old kelp (seaweed) bulb in blue light.

This...















...is a...















...balancing metal sculpture.

This...















...is a...















...speaker.

One Time Visitor

By Phil Vigil

I do not favor the weak,
Or pity the rich or poor.

I come unexpectedly,
In a quiet passing or a scream of pain.

I’m feared more than life itself,
But some long for me.

I’m praised when I touch the old,
But loathed when I find the young.

I can end relationships,
That were never meant to end.


Who am I?

I am Death.


See you next week.

 
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