Ian's Writing

OCtober 31, 2016

The machine sputtered and failed. Cursing, Connor kicked his transport. Of course it had to break down now, the one moment after several years of work that he would need it operational. He ran a gloved hand through his tangled sand-brown hair, trying to think on how he would fix his way home. ‘At least it worked,’ He thought to himself. ‘I’m in the future.’

Connor tore his eyes from the wreckage of his time craft and gazed up at a cluster of massive skyscrapers, towering so high that clouds were dwarfed in comparison. He whistled in awe, smiling to himself at the beautiful skyline. The time machine had landed somewhere in the twenty-third century, judging by his instruments. A little off his mark, but close enough to where Connor considered the trip a success. 

The machine was the size of a small car, oblong towards the front yet angular towards the back. It was covered in a brass-colored metallic shielding that glinted in the sun, and it rested on two long, thin tracks that were reminiscent of skis; the underbelly was a mess of tubes and cables of varying sizes and colors. He flipped a few switches on the console of the machine and it whirred, disappearing with a ripple of light. He extended his hand into midair, feeling something solid. Sure enough, the machine was still there, simply invisible. A light on Connor’s overly large wristwatch blinked, signaling that the machine’s stealth mode had been engaged properly. He tugged on his blue overcoat and meddled with the goggles positioned on his forehead, hoping to make a good impression to the future folk; surely, he must be famous, as his exploits would be known throughout history as the first time-traveler. Connor smiled at the thought of this, and how far he had come in just five years… Connor had begun developing the time travel theory during his early years at college. He wished to be able to travel forward in time, then return by travelling back. Building off the existing theory that time travel to the future could be achieved with incredible speeds (very close to the speed of light), he believed that time travel to the past could be achieved by reversing the magnetic flow of a gravitational pole and THEN moving close to the speed of light. His first experiments went awry, but after several months of fine-tuning the formula, he finally achieved the short-term goal of sending a toy car four months into the future. He continued work, trying to send the car backwards in time. Nothing he tried worked, and in a frustrated slump, he gave up. However, one night, at his apartment, a toy car appeared out of nowhere, charred like a lump of coal, with a jumble of letters carved into it. Once he had deciphered the lettering, he read – 

SNT FRM FUTR USE MGNTC MDULTR E=My^2/4y5x After he decoded the message, Connor was excited beyond anything. It was a message from his future self who had figured out the formula! Connor knew exactly what to do. The formula was meant to be administered to a magnetic modulator, a device Connor had created to manipulate magnetic waves on a gravitational scale. After a year, the machine was finally finished. Since it was now complete, and Connor had memorized the formula, he remembered how he had received the message from his future self. He carved the message into his toy car, an abbreviated version of the words SENT FROM FUTURE USE MAGNETIC MODULATOR And then the formula, E=My^2/4y5x He put the car inside the modulator and fired it back through time for his past self to read. Then, he clambered into the machine himself and fired it up. He was travelling to the future. Back to the twenty-third century, Connor hiked up a small weedy path that lead to the cityscape. He expected a warm welcome, considering his breakthrough. As he reached the city, he noticed something was off. There seemed to be no signs of life anywhere, no movement, no noise, nothing. Connor frowned as he walked up from the path and onto a paved highway, which was also barren excepting several stains of what appeared to be oil. He hoped it was oil. Connor gazed upwards at the skyline, now noticing thin trails of smoke rising up from the near distance. His walk turned into a trot, then a sprint as he ran down the highway to the city. There were great holes in most of the buildings, debris and litter patterned the ground like some sort of sick art collage. Some buildings were missing their tops entirely, and from these the smoke billowed. A large fountain sat in the city square, maybe half a mile from where a shocked Connor stood, and it was in shambles, no longer producing water. As Connor gazed upon this Apocalyptic scene, he jumped at the sound of a thunderclap. 

‘Rain, great. The last thing I need.’ He thought to himself. Connor decided to wait out the storm in his machine, and as he turned around to head back, his watch beeped. The stealth mode alert was blinking again, which meant… Connor’s eyes widened and he dashed back towards where he parked the machine. If the alert was reactivating, then it meant the stealth mode had been disengaged. Someone – or something – was tampering with it! He reached the edge of the highway and peered down the path to the area that he parked the machine, gasping in horror. A large plane-like vehicle was hovering over the exact spot he had parked, a strange glow emanating from its bottom. A glint of copper could be seen rising up into the light, then disappearing. Connor shook himself out of shock and yelled, “HEY!” 

The ship ignored him, and flew away at breakneck speed. Connor ran down the highway to try and follow its path, but it was already far out of sight. He then realized what that meant. Connor was in a post-apocalyptic future world. And he was trapped.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Dr. William Beaumont

As a part of Ian's homeschooling he will be studying History and those who played a part.  Here he will share what he has learned.  We will start with...

Dr. William Beaumont

-Written by Ian Hall

William Beaumont was born in Lebanon, Connecticut on November 21, 1785. His family moved from England in 1635. William was the second born out of nine children. His parents were named Samuel and Lucretia Beaumont. In 1807, William left for Champlain. There, he became the schoolmaster and secretary for the local debating society.

On September 13, 1812, when he was 26, William went into the army as a surgeon’s mate, and was paid $30 a month. In 1813, The British army retreated, blowing up the main magazine in the process. The explosion caused lots of injuries. Beaumont was treating injuries, some that included using a cylindrical saw to cut off pieces of bone, to relieve pressure on the brain. (ouch!)

After the war, Beaumont left the army and began private practice in June, 1815, in Plattsburgh, NY.

There he met Deborah Green Platt. In December, 1819, William went back to the army as a post surgeon. He was sent to Fort Mackinac in Lake Huron. The hospital was in a storehouse. They had little supplies, and no thermometer.

In August, 1821, Beaumont left to go back to Plattsburgh, and married Deborah. They moved to Fort Mackinac, and brought Melancton Smith, Deborah’s 11-year-old step-nephew. Melancton’s father was Colonel Melancton Smith who died in 1818.

On June 6, 1822, Alexis St. Martin was shot  by an accidental discharge of a shotgun in the upper left of his abdomen.  He was shot less than three feet away from the gun. This was at the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island. St. Martin was brought to Dr. Beaumont, leaving the doctor to find the man’s latest meal gushing out of the wound. Beaumont cleaned the hole, but could not keep the contents of his stomach from falling out unless it was bandaged.

On August 1, 1825, Beaumont began to experiment on St. Martin’s stomach. Those experiments included tying string to a piece of food and lowering it into St. Martin’s stomach. After a few hours, Beaumont would take it out to see the extent of digestion. In one experiment, the food was removed after five hours for Alexis had a severe stomachache. The next day, St. Martin still had stomach problems, and Beaumont helped. Six days later, St. Martin didn’t eat for 17 hours (on Doctor’s orders!) so Beaumont could find the temperature of the stomach, which was 100 degrees.

A month later in September, Alexis went back to Canada, got married and had kids, so Beaumont had to wait to experiment on him.

In June, 1829, St. Martin came back to the doctor, but he brought his family this time. However, the doctor was busy and could not continue work until December. When he observed St. Martin on dry days, he saw that the temperature of the stomach increased, and vice versa on humid days. Beaumont would have St. Martin eat a meal, and then would later take out samples of the food and put them in separate vials of water, and gastric juice.  He observed that cold stomach acid does nothing, so digestion needs heat.  He also learned that when Alexis showed anger, it slowed the digestion process.

Near the end of 1832, Beaumont left the army to experiment on Alexis more. Beaumont tried a variety of different foods again, this time including sausage, raw oysters, and mutton. He saw that exercise helped the digestion. In April, 1833, Beaumont published his work and findings in a book called: Experiments and observations on the gastric juice and the physiology of digestion.  A month or so later Alexis left for Canada, and Beaumont went into private medical practice.

Dr. William Beaumont kept up the private practice in St. Louis. In March, 1853, Beaumont was leaving a patient when he slipped on the icy steps and hit his head. He died a month later on April 25, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Samuel Clemens

October 2, 2012

Samuel Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens  was born In a two-room house in Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He was the sixth living child of his  Father and Mother, John and Jane Clemens. John was a Farmer, a lawyer a merchant, and a speculator. Sam apprenticed at a printer’s shop and learned the printing trade. At the age of fifteen, Sam and his friends saw a steamboat coming down the river, thus giving him the wish to pilot one. But the dreaming came to a halt when his Father died on March 24, 1847.

In 1859, Sam became a riverboat pilot. One day, he heard a man yell the depths: Mark twain was one of them. Sam heard it, and in his later years, used it as his pen-name.  He carried on the job for 2 years until The outbreak of the Civil war. Sam left for Nevada and discovered the mining business, which he entered. But, alas, he eventually ran out of money.

Several years later, Twain started writing for a newspaper, and after a few years, wrote his first book: “Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog.” He fell in love with a woman named Olivia “Livy” Langdon, and married her after proposing twice. They moved to hartford and in 1870, he had his first child, who died at the age of two. He had three more children years later, Clara, Susie and Jean. Twain lectured throughout his life, which earned much of his money.  Twain Wrote the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in the house in Hartford, where he said those years spent in that house where the happiest years of his life.

Mark Twain’s house in Hartford, CT.

The Clemens family moved to England, because finances were better there. Several years later, they moved back to Hartford. He continued lecturing and writing, yet his writing showed more anger and emotion. Livy died in 1903 because she had heart problems. Mark Twain died seven years later.

By Ian Hall

Mark Twain House/Museum

Hi! I'm Ian! I'm new to this blog. I just got an i-pad! I haven't used it yet, though. I go on a site, Zimmer twins. I'm that person, harryhall. Zimmer twins is a site where you can make movies. We are going on a HUGE trip. Actually, my dad and I are going to pick up the camper on the 14th. My little bro and sis are turning 4 yrs. old in 5 days. We got Brendan a spaceman suit (dress-up).

I am SO looking forward to the trip, except that we're selling the house. We are going to cousin Jimmy's first, then, who knows? Anyway, when I go with my dad on his and my little trip, we're going to Indiana. We're going to Niagara Falls on the way home! Oh, I almost forgot, the Hoover Dam is on the list  for the big trip.

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8/19\10.

well, the trip is in full gear, and we're bedding down as I speak. From Ian's journal: day one: Aug. 19, Thursday
Entry 1
A pair of boots are hanging off an electricity line!

Entry 2.
Well, the cb raidio works. (chatter box trucker!)

Hotel: country inn suites

Sunday, August 22, 2010

stuck at RR Crossing heading to Notre Dame and Amish Country

Well, school has started, Hershey was fun, and we're back to routine. Same old, same old. My teacher, Miss Dulude, is supposed to  be strict, but instead, she's nice (so far).










1\3\12      Sorry I haven't been on for a while. As of right now we are in Aces High RV park in CT....... gettin' chilly! It's seeming more like home.  Peace!