Metacog what?

Metacognitive: Thinking about your thinking

-Mrs. knapp

Metacognition:  Awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes

-merriam-webster.com

Metacognitive: Catching your self wondering off while you are reading.  Then getting mad at your self for wondering off.  Furthermore, you get mad at your self for noticing that you have notice your self wondering .

-Kevin Tran

I have been feeling under the weather for last three days.  You name it I have it; headache, running nose, sore throat, coughing, body aching and snezzing.  I have tried  all of today over the counter drugs.  Nyquil (awesome until you wake up) Dayquil and Theraflu. Days like this I wish I still lived at home with my mom.   The worst part is that I had to work two out of the three days when the symptoms first began. 

 From when I can remember, I had a difficult time with reading and writing.  Maybe its because my mom never graduate college or fully assimilate with the America culture.  Or even due the reason that I was never good at reading or writing and eventually I stop trying completely.  However, it could be that I have ADHD or dyslexia.  I never wanted to get diagnosis by a professional.  I might be in denial or even scary to hear the result. I just don’t want to be told that I am dyslexic or have a disability for reading and writing.  I do not want to be known to have a handicap.  The would is tough enough to be an individual these days.   I do not need any more ammunition for people to use against me.  That might sound egocentric but that who I am.  My ego is arbitrary heavy to carry around sometime. 

What help me comprehend and acknowledge the marital I study for school or work purpose; is to plan out a time and a place in which I will be doing my studying.  For my English 1B class, I would plan to do my reading assignment on Saturday night after I get home from work.  Than the following day, I would catch up on my footballs games. When I get my fix on Sunday's  football games. I would take about an hour or two and work on the weekly writing assignment.  Occasionally, if I feel up to the task, I will make meidorcre comments or wise crack on other people post.   More offend than not, I read most of the my classmate posted and have to reread them.  I’ll zonk out or daydream all the time while I am reading.  But, when I am in the zone. I am like Pablo Picasso with a paint bush and the world(my laptop) is my blank canvas.

Action is the foundational key to all success.

Pablo Picasso

War! what it is good for? Absolutely Nothing!

"I've suffered so much, I raised my five kids with the water of my tears, now they want to trade this key for my oldest son..."

"All my life, I've been faithful to the religion if its come to this ... well , cant believed in anything anymore" 

This is one powerful statement that only a mother can make.  The though of her eldest son, her first creation will leave her side and head into combat for a war that contradict their family belief. Its so apaulling thats she is loosing on senses with reality.  She does not know what to believed in anymore.  She is toured at the price she have to pay for her family freedom and for the islamic revolution.  The hardship she had to endure to rise her five kids “with the water from my tears.”  Its a condemnable attribute that a mother can rise her five kids and still have all of her marble is besieging.  With these quotes the writer wanted to emphasized that she didn't want to abandoned her religious beliefs but when her families is involved, she knows that blood is thinker than water.

War is not always right and not always wrong.  War is tough for everyone through in through. When you hear about it and see it on TV or even listen to it on the radio is one type of animal.   But when it hit close to home and one of your family member will be sent of to war.  It a whole different ordeal.  It will take much more than a strong willed woman to hold back tear or a hardworking father who rise his kids on his owe in small farm to let their son/daughter become a hero. If my littles sister wanted to enlist to the milliary I would be proud but at the same time scary that I might lose her. She is the only person in my immediate family that I really do care about. I would try to talk her out of it.

I for one do not agree with going to war over race, territory or religious purposes.  If it came down to it.  I would strap on my boots, put on my hard helmet, kiss my mom good bye and face the pie piper head on.  I am not pro war but when the time come for me to fight or run.  I will not turn my back.  Maybe  “Saving Private ryan” , “Black Hawk Down”and “Band of Brother ” had a big influences on the way I intermit war.  But, Ive always wanted a military back round or become part of the services . I guess the brotherhood of  military and fighting for the greater good of something other than your self appealed to me. I feel the can military can gratified mind, body and soul.  Plus I always wanted to travel the world.  

Better late than never, but never late is better

This post was due last Sunday.  I will probably not get any credit for this but I owe it to my self and Mrs Knapps to attemp  to write this post.  Procrastination has become second nature to me.  Waiting until the last minute to get done thing  is my signature way of life.  But I would like to blame this late post to my dear friends Joe Clarke and Lenny Fong.  My friends Joe Clarke recently move to southern California due to getting new job as wine brokerage.  Congratulations Joe Clarke. He was in compeititon with 500 other candidate for one position.  He had the interview on Wednesday and got the job on Thursdays. He had to started the job that up coming Monday.  I had to say our farewell that Saturday night which was my HW night.  Then there was my friend Lenny Fong who was also going back to school in southern California this past Wednesday.   I  had to say goodbye to him twice once on Friday night and the on Sunday afternoon.  Both those days was dedicated for HW. Thanks guys your are the best.

Back to the literature at hand.  I don't remember the last time i read a book or even a magazine. But, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was intriguing from pages 1 to 50.  She was so coy as little girl. Marjane is also very smart for her age and lucky to have parent that are so understandable and reasonable.  She has the makeup of being  something great one day.
In the near future of this book it will have her going through her teen year struggling to cope with society and what her parents stand for.  We will get to see her making choices that her parent will disagreed with like the type of friends she going to have and the people she will date.  This will  invoke the belief of the righteousness of the islamic race and  religion.  She will discover her grandpa past and become intuitive in his passion for fighting for his people.  She will also follow in his footsteps and live for the people.  Maybe she will become a prophet and god will speck to her in what we know as dreams.

To bad I found out the other day that this is a fictional book.  I just felt that I knew this girl somehow.  She was somehow relatable.  Most of thing she went through was not the typical life style that a normal American kids live through.  The way I grew up was not like your  hollywood movie or favorite TV show ether.  Marjane did had her ups and her down. So has every Vietnamese american  kids that went to school in america.  Our value, ethic and morals had septurated us from the american born ideal philosophy.  The way we look, the way we spell our name, and the way we talked with an accent.  All these thing had aliened us early in American schooling.  Marjane had also went to simular situation when she was going to school.  Hopefully, as in today era we are more accepted she will be accepted for her family belief and life style.

 Till next time live long and prosperous!

Who am I?

"I am whatever you say I am. If I wasn't then why would I say I am"  A quote from one of today modern pioneer of hip hop Eminem. 

*Spoiler alert*

First I like to start off by saying that English is my worst subject and grammer is my number one flaws.  Please be kind. 

Bonjour mon ami I am Minh The Tran.  But my friends call me Kevin.  From what I was told.  My mother at the age of 19, she had two different choices to make.  Choice 1:  Stay in a third world country (Vietnam) with a man she like and was dating (he was mildly well off).  Choice 2:  Is to which she follower her heart and run away with a  man she hardly knew, to the free world in what they called America.  Can you guess what my mother did?  She pack whats is needed in two small breifcases  and escapes during the midnight sky.  Without leaving a note or explain why or where she was going.   She chase down love through a refugie ship heading to the  "land of opportunity".  My parent  had to detour throughout China for two years.  Once they reach the Golden State of America. They started their new fresh beginning in good old San Francisco of California.  Two years later that had there first child.  On December 12th 198? @ 2:43am. Weight in at 8lbs and 3ozs Tran T Minh( that how they pronounces my name in Vietnamese, last name first) was cast as their first natural american born child at St. Mary hospital.


Now here I stand 20's something years laters, a young lad still searching for what the worlds has to offer  him.   Honestly, I am still discover "Who I really am".  I don't think that search will ever end, until I laying on my death bed.  But, for now Its seem that I am a adrenaline junkie.  Ever since I can remember extreme sports was a part of my lives.  I am not saying I was good at any of those sports( skateboarding, Inline roller-blazing , BMX bikes ects). But I can hold my own and enjoy the time trying to be great at them. These day I am  snowboarding, wake boarding and skydiving. I am also a huge Oakland Raider, Golden State Warrior , San Francisco Giants and San Jose sharks fans.  I loves going to the actual game.  There is so much electrical emotion in the atmosphere at each and everyone of those event. Its such a indescribable feeling.  One must be there to understand type of emotion that ignite thought the crowd, when your team score a touch down or when someone hits a walk off or even making a game winning shot. 

Its seem that I am skating on thin ice at work these day and my focus  should shift to school.  So, I am currently working on my AS in fire sciences.  I have one last class to survive in order to received my AS.  An A.S degree is mediocre at best in today society and economy.  Moreover, I am taking my National Register Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT) at the beginning of next month.  Once I have pass my NREMT and become a EMT for six month or have 960 hours under my belt.  I can applied for Paramedic school. Once I graduate from paramedic school I will enroll to ASU for my Bachelor degree in Health science.  When I gain enough  experiences as a paramedic and received my Bachelor degree in H.S.  Then this will be the time I will applied for a  Firefighter position.  If I do ever become a Firefighter.  My dream would to become a Smoke Jumper firefighter. Those are the ones that jump out of planes to fight wildfire and forest fire. One of the baddest firefighter of them all.


That was little of Kevin Tran past, present and future.  


"Live life today as not your last but live as if you just been awaking"  

The best advice I got
Was keep writing
And keep living
And keep loving
And when the ink dries
And the pages turn to dust
So will we
Turn to dust

-Frank Ocean