T1B22, 23, 24, 25, 26

I COMPLETELY ran out of time to blog for the past few days. X(

So here is my resultant SCRP

Situation: I ran out of time to blog each day
Cause: I had extracurriculars and was not able to do my homework early
Effect: I completely neglected blogging
Principle: Prioritizing things is important and also remembering to be consistent is important and also balancing homework with other things is important

And now for a deceptively simple riddle that's actually best presented orally.

You are the driver of a bus. At your starting stop, you start out with 20 people. On your first stop, 13 get off and 6 get on. At your second stop, 2 get off and 17 get on. On your third stop, 9 get off and 24 get on. At your fourth stop, EVERYONE gets off and 26 get back on. At your last stop, 15 get off and 3 get on. What colour are the bus driver's eyes?

I don't even need to write the answer for this one, because its so simple. And it probably is easier on paper. But I'll post the answer anyway... tomorrow.

:D

T1B20

Situation: I had an avalanche of homework today
Cause: I didn't complete all my homework yesterday
Effect: It snowballed and made me get a lot of homework today
Principle: As Hermione's annoying homework planner says, "Do it today or later you'll pay!" (=don't procrastinate, and also that time management is very important)

Simple.

T1B19

A random riddle from a good riddle site, http://solution-dailybrainteaser.blogspot.ca:

In the kingdom of Skull, King Norse did not allow any citizen to visit the world outside. Also only a person with a proper paperwork was allowed to enter or he was sent back. A wooden bridge was what connected the kingdom to the world. The king had appointed a sharpshooter who would check every five minutes on the bridge to check. After checking, he would go back to his hut and return exactly after five minutes again. The bridge took 9 minutes to cross. 

A merchant was able to escape the kingdom without harming the shooter. 

How?

The answer is somewhat irregular, but still valid:

The merchant walked across the bridge for almost five minutes when the shooter was inside the bridge. Then he turned and started walking back to the kingdom of skull. On approaching the kingdom, he was asked of papers which he never had. Thus he was sent back.

I had completely interpreted the question wrong--I thought he had said how could he enter the kingdom for the first time, instead of how could he exit the kingdom.

This is a really good one, I've never heard of it before. 

T1B17 & B18

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

-William Shakespeare

I love this quote. I just love it. It is so true, because the reason one is a fool is because one does not know it, and does not try to improve it, but when you are wise, then you know you are foolish sometimes and you try to change. Also, in the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen, the main character is witty, and is extremely smart (Nielsen uses foreshadowing and hints very well, and often Jaron surprises us with a sudden insight that he does not tell us, but that we should have assumed by the descriptions he gives us, e.g. This boy has very well fit shoes, which are the only thing that fit him, then later on, he puts himself in a trap and reveals to us then that he KNEW that the boy had powerful friends, because he had assumed--and was right--that they boy was a runner based on this fact about his shoes) but he says that as opposed to the foolish who don't admit they are foolish, he knows and readily admits that was he is doing is foolish yet he does it anyway because he has no choice (and somehow, he always pulls it off).

The Ascendance Trilogy consists of The False Prince, The Runaway King, and the third book which has yet to be published. They are actually really easy, but the plots are SOOOOO SOOOOO GOOD! They are set in a fictional country, Carthya, with surrounding countries Avenia and... a country that begins with B, whose name I forgot. It is set in a monarchy-style 14th century kind of atmosphere.

T1B15 and B16

I missed yesterday...

Well, this will be my short profound thought of the day (2 days).

It is really hard to wake up early in the morning when you sleep late, because you are missing several hours of sleep. Therefore, wake up late if you sleep late, and if you sleep early, congratulations, you can wake up early. NEVER try sleeping late and waking up early! It. Never. Works.

T1B14

It's quote day! (Yay!)

Featured quote from Dictionary.com:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press On", has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race. "

-Calvin Coolidge

"Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder." 

-Mason Cooley

Last year, the most recent time I went to Bard on the Beach, we watched As You Like It, and so I include a famous monologue from that play:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Because, on top of everything else...

I like Shakespeare.

I have many favourite quotes, and these are just a few. The one about procrastination was one I remembered several times during my previous school year...

T1B13

High school is so LARGE. There are so many sports teams, clubs, extracurricular activities that you can be involved in, I don't know what to choose. Like the complete overachiever I am, I scouted out last year's list of clubs, and the ones that I was REALLY interested in, were clashing on the dates. Of course, one can hope that they will change the dates, but that is a rather futile thought.

It is only about two weeks in, and I'm already worrying that I might be stretching myself too thin. In my old school, in my last year, and in my old-old school, during ALL my years there, I would try to volunteer too much, do too much, and try to achieve too much, that my teachers would often say, "Cindy, slow down. You can't do all that at once."

For some reason, since I was a little child, I've always wanted to do the most, experience the most, achieve the most. I wanted to do so much, and accomplish things early so I could "get an advantage in life", as the saying goes. I feel that maybe my whole life I've been striving too hard, so I want to check that in high school, and make sure I don't do so much I fall behind on my work.

T1B12

Once again I am in the mood for a good riddle!

A farmer has a pear tree that has six large branches. On each large branch are six smaller branches. On each smaller branch are six twigs. On each twig is a pear. Now if a nearby farmer's market wants all of the fruits that are on that farmer's tree, how many plums will they get?

Some people may say 216, but that is wrong. How will a pear tree produce plums?

I find that most riddles work on diversion. IQ test questions ("The Moron Test" for iPhone, iPod, and iPad) work on the same principle. For example:

Mary's father has 5 daughters--Nana, Nene, Nini, and Nono. Who was the fifth daughter?

Because humans learn at an early age to look for patterns, we might think that the answer is Nunu. WRONG! It's Mary!

Mary's father has 5 daughters--Nana, Nene, Nini, and Nono. Who was the fifth daughter?

1. Mary

2. Nana

3. Nene

4. Nini

5. Nono

Another one might be, 

If a person digs a 6ft by 6ft by 6ft hole, how many square feet of dirt are in it?

There is 216ft of air in it, but no dirt--it's a hole!

By deception and distraction, these IQ test questions are only hard when you don't know what to expect, and instead of paying attention to the facts, you follow the pattern or do the seemingly obvious math, instead of paying attention to the careful wording of the facts. Once you do a lot of riddles, you find that they become much easier because you are paying attention. Most of the time, we are not "dumb", we are simply careless.

T1B10 &B11

I find that when a person has a lot of work to do, and is quite anxious, they accomplish things more slowly and less efficiently, and also they get cranky. When you are working late at night with many things to accomplish, and you are rushed and have done a little bit of everything, instead of solidly finishing one task, you get really cranky and not want to do anything.

However, if you get a good night's sleep, and wake up the following morning, your efficiency will be increased. Therefore it is always a good idea to rest when you have been working so hard you can no longer work efficiently.

That was my profound thought for the day.

T1B9

We got a lot of homework today...

Reflecting on it, I don't believe that it was a lot of homework, it was just because I locked my agenda in my French binder yesterday, so the whole time I was panicking about forgetting an assignment, like I always do when I do not have time to write an assignment in my agenda. Overall, though, I have already tackled about 2 assignments, and we only had 6.

This may sound weird, but I am TOTALLY looking forward to the tests. We have a safety quiz for Science, and we had a pop quiz in Social Studies, so I got a chance to see what pop quizzes were like (I've never had one before). It was a really busy day, though, I panicked in the Student Council meeting. I realized that I was only about halfway done my profile, but the earlier we handed in our profile the earlier our introduction to the school community is. I thought Mr. Bailey or Student Council would put up all the papers together, but apparently I was wrong, so I will try to submit my things as soon as possible. I am REALLY looking forward to the election, though, because I ran for Spirit Leader in Grade 4 (at my old school) and I really appreciated the election system, the democracy of voting. I REALLY hope I'll be elected as a grade rep, because I've been looking forward to Student Council since I read about it in a novel when I was really little.

Also, today I've learned that the "Crash Course" videos on YouTube are both really long and informative. And succinct. And incredibly useful for subjects you are completely ignorant about (I think I watched a few on the plane once, and I LOVED it!)

T1B8

The answer is YES! YOU SHOULD SWITCH!

The reason? Here it is.

You might think that with the probability of getting a goat, 2/3, by removing a goat the chance is now 1/2. So you get the same deal either way.

Well, after looking at the answers and doing a bit of math on my part, the problem is laid out like this:

Goat       Goat       Car

Say you pick door one

-> Goat       Goat       Car

Monty is forced to show you door 2--so he doesn't reveal the car and your door.

Therefore, assuming your door is a goat (which in this situation it is) you switch.

If:

Goat       Car       Goat

You still pick door one:

-> Goat       Car       Goat

Monty is forced to show you door 3--so you switch.

If:

Car       Goat       Goat

You pick door one:

-> Car       Goat       Goat

Monty can show you any door, and you shouldn't switch. If you do switch, however, you get a goat.

Assuming that he shows you door two, you assume you currently have a goat and switch. You miss the care. Assuming he shows you door three, you assume you currently have a goat and switch. You miss the car. There is a fifty-fifty chance of getting the car if you switch in both the door 2 and 3 instances.

HOWEVER:

You will find that if you switch, you have a higher probability of getting the car because two times out of three you will get the car. There is only one possibility in which you get the goat, and that is if your original door is the car.

Took me a while to wrap my head around the first time, then I came back to it later and it was a lot easier. The first time I read the answer the only word I took in was "2/3" and that didn't help at all. I drew a diagram to solve this question.

I really like this riddle.

T1B5, B6, and B7 (I forgot the last two days....)

I really like riddles. So I've decided that every day, or maybe not every day but occasionally, I will post a riddle.

Because I did a riddle last time, I will do a riddle today. 

The Monty Hall problem is a really good one. Although it isn't technically a riddle, it's still a puzzle and I still love it. It's based on the old show, Let's Make A Deal (I've never heard of it, and the problem says its old, so I will just assume it is old.)

The host, Monty Hall, offers you a choice between three doors, behind two of which are goats, and behind on is a new car. You can pick a door, and then assuming Monty knows which door has the car, reveals a door in which there is a goat. You  may choose to switch, or pursue your original choice. Would you think to switch?

T1B4

What does man love more than life?
Fear more than death or mortal strife?
The poor have; the rich require?
That which contented men desire?
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves?
And all men carry to their graves?
This is a popular riddle, and I was thinking about it today. It's hard in the aspect that it is a negative in a way, and not a physical thing. For example, when you try to think what the poor have that the rich require at the same time, if it was a physical thing you might think it was the other way around. However, if you thought philosophically, it might be, for example, a moral value, perhaps, however, you may not think contented men desire it, for how could they be contented that way? The definition of a miser is a very thrifty person, and the definition of a spendthrift is one who spends a lot of money, so you may think what would the miser spend, yet the spendthrift, who never saves, would save? The answer is nothing, yet we don't realize that because of our determination to find a unique object, and unusual item that is "special". Because it is a riddle, we don't expect it to be simple. But by its simplicity and obvious truth, yet with its descriptions seemingly so diverse, it catches us in a completely unexpected way.