Finally.

In the beginning of this semester, i didnt find myself reading at all unless i had to for class. If i DID read on my own, then i would usually read a love story or a story about a teenagers life, something i could relate to. I would read in my room before bed, i would sit down and make a set time to read every night. I truly wanted to get into reading more. It was easy for me to read because i was strict on myself. Everything that i read i really liked! I chose books that i knew would catch my attention. I like to read anything by jodi picoult or nicholas sparks. Those two authors are some of my favorites, even though they are both really sad to read sometimes. I read in silence most of the time, and i would check my phone occasionally, but it never distracted me enough to not be able to go on with what i was doing and distract me with what i was reading. I would talk about the things i read with my sister because all of the books i read were hers before and she has read them as well. I have changed a lot as a reader. I find myself liking to read now. I havent changed the type of things that i read. But yes, i think that i will read independently a lot more now. I will read more in the summer on my own. I think that i am going to read kathy griffins book next. she is so funny!! And i am loving Tina Feys book, and they have very similar personalites. My mom has her book, so i might as well read it !

i love bossypants

I started reading bossypants from Mr. Hills library, and i love it so much already! Tina Fey is so funny. She has a sarcastic tone mostly with everything that she says, or she is joking about something in her life. I love the way she always herself.

Even as a little girl, Tina Fey always dreamed of being a comedian. Now that her dreams have come true, the creator of 30 Rock and long time Saturday Night Live writer is ready to tell her story. Fey takes the reader on a journey through her childhood and through her career as she details the ups and downs of being a woman in a man’s world. Along with this is her signature witty commentary on motherhood, Hollywood beauty standards, being Sarah Palin, and more.

So much of what Fey says in this book was not only entertaining, but insightful as well. She discussed being a woman in comedy (traditionally a man’s world), being a working mother, and what it was like to impersonate Sarah Palin, as well as many more hilariously funny stories from her life. While I have to admit that I would have been happy with a little more depth to what Fey is discussing, I still enjoy the balance between honesty and humor. Her stories are funny while at the same time actually meaning something. It is a nice balance.

thoughts on dear john

It certainly is a love story as well.... Only, John's love for Savannah is the true beauty of it... Because Savannah breaks his heart by sending him an actual Dear John letter while he's far from home defending his country..

She marries their mutual friend Tim who has an autistic son to help take care of Tim who is dying of cancer and to raise his sweet little boy. I felt that she didn't have to marry Tim to do those things... She could have cared for Tim as a friend and taken care of his son no matter what. But even so, that is the twist the plot took and while John relied on her letters while he was at war, to get him through each day... she stopped writing him for two months before she sent him the letter that broke his heart. After that, John continues to re-enlist until he's shot and while healing discovers that his Father has had a stroke and goes home to see him...
There's this scene that made me cry in the theater, where he reads a letter to his Dad that he wrote...
In the most poetic words, he tells his Dad that when he was shot, his first thought took him back to when he was a little boy and these coins that he and his Dad collected together.. He goes on to tell his Dad that he is a coin in the U.S. Army and describes himself in this way that just grips a hold of your heart and then he tells his Dad through the words in his letter that his Dad was the last thought he had... "It was you.." he said and the tears just fell and fell for me then as his Dad held onto his Son's hand and you knew that they loved each other so much.
His Dad passes away after that and that devastated me too... John goes to see Savannah after the funeral... Only to discover the truth behind her Dear John letter... She is also broke and has no money to bring Tim home from the hospital to spend his last days with his son.. So, after John says goodbye to her... he does the most amazing and selfless, beautiful thing ever. He sells his Dad's coin collection, while keeping the most sentimental coin that he and his Dad shared and gives all of the money in an anonymous donation to bring Tim home so that he can spend his last days with his son and be cared for at home. He had been close to Tim and his son Alan and even though he felt betrayed that the love of his life married Tim... He gave Tim and his son the gift of time.
True, it may not have been the epic romance that I thought it would be... but it was far more and I haven't stopped thinking of the film since. If a film lingers in your mind the way this one has for me, you know it will stay with you always.

currentlyyy.

current books: Dear John (Just Finished)

pages this week: 114

pages this semester: A lot :)

Already Done

I already finished my newest book dear john, by nicholas sparks. i loved it. i love reading about love. i finished it in about 3 or 4 days. i couldnt put it down.

"Dear John," the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever.

 My Thoughts: If I had to sum up my feelings about Dear John in one word, it word be this: Love. I picked this word for obvious reasons: the love between John and Savannah,  the love Savannah seemed to radiate, and the love I have for this book. Dear John was the first Nicholas Sparks novel I've read, and it won't be my last. I admit I didn't expect this one to be anything special, and was pleasantly surprised when I turned out to be wrong. 

There isn't anything bad I can say about Dear John. I loved the writing, the plot, the characters, the emotion...everything. Which is why this review is so short;  my words can't describe how lovely this book was. Its a perfect example of why I love to read. If you're a fan of love stories and haven't read it already, go out and buy Dear John soon. You won't regret it.

Theme of Dear John & Quotes

The theme (in my opinion) is about the love between two people and the sacrifices they make. Eg. Extending the army contract, being separated for years, falling in love with someone else, etc. It is also about the relationship between a father and son. Eg. How the father raised his son so well, considering he has Asberger's

Quotes--

“I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”
“Part of me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable, but her story and mine are different now. It wasn't easy for me to accept this simple truth, because there was a time when our stories were the same, but that was six years and two lifetimes ago.”

“There are memories for both of us, of course, but I've learned that memories can have a physical, almost living presence, and in this, Savannah and I are different as well.If hers are stars in the nighttime sky, mine are the haunted empty spaces in beetween...”

“I think my dad was happy. I phrase it like this because he seldom showed much emotion. Hugs and kisses wwere a rarity for me growing up, and when they did happen, they often struck me as lifeless, something he did because he felt he was supposed to, not because he wanted to.”
I finished this book in about 3 days. i couldnt put it down!

Ending 19 Minutes

Bullying can hurt inside and out, Abuse can hurt just as much. Possibly even more because the suffering is showing on the outside where people can see, where the words pass from one mouth to another, which then spills out all over the floor. The floor that which everyone has laid eyes on but never really realized that other peoples hurt is the only thing holding them up. They think it's their stable ground, but little did they know that it's not their ground to even be near. The pain that kids inflict on each other makes love seem terrifying and not real. “When I was little I used to pour salt on slugs. I liked watching them dissolve before my eyes. Cruelty is always sort of fun until you realize that something's getting hurt. It would be one thing to be a loser if it meant no one paid attention to you, but in school, it means your actively sought out. You're the slug, and they're holding all the salt. And they haven't developed a conscience.” There are so many kids that are lost and insecure because of the cruel things that occur way to many times in their lives. Young adults never really get to experience or feel love from another person because they are already wallowing in self-doubt or hate.


“I think a persons life is supposed to be like a DVD. You can see the version everyone else sees, or you can choose the director's cut- the way he wanted you to see it, before everything got in the way. There are menus, probably, so that you can start at the good spots and not have to relive the bad ones. You can measure your life by the number of scenes you've survived, or the minutes you've been stuck there. Probably, though, life is more like one of those dumb video surveillance tape. Grainy, no matter how hard you stare at it. And looped: the same thing, over and over.” Some people think themes are inutile, meaning they have no useful purpose; this is just because they aren't looking at the intricate parts. Or people are just being plain lazy and are not thinking about the details they were offered. Until the day they come to a halt, they have ran to a dead end only realizing then that a mile ago they should have listened to the directions they so dearly needed. Themes are convenient and beneficial in life and we, as people need to take advantage of these lessons more often.


Nineteen Minutes, the novel of which has taught me so much, through the relationships, the unheard thoughts, the themes and the setting where it was truly needed the most. It was a surreal wake-up call when I and the rest of the world severely needed it the most. It is in my best interest to recommend this book to young and mature adults, it will be sure to leave you with the impact of sympathy and compassion for those families that were caused great pain. Nineteen Minutes will also make you open your eyes way more than the human body will even allow.

Thoughts.

I can understand how kids want to be part of the popular crowd and all that. But how did Josie get from looking down on the popular girls who were fake to wanting to be friends with them? Was it because of the time that she and Courtney were partners for a school project? What about when the popular crowd spoke to Peter and Josie about what happened in class with the girl who came on her period? Maybe it gave her a taste of what being in the "in crowd" was like. I figure that when everyone was throwing tampons at that girl, Josie was just too afraid to go along with Peter and not do it. If she did, then it'll be the first time that the bullying would focus on her, whereas the focus was on Peter while she was generally ignored. Perhaps after that, the "cool kids" gradually started to talk to her and before she knew it she was part of that crowd.

I think overall I couldn't really sympathize with Josie. I understand how hard it must be to wear a mask 24/7 along with bearing the guilt of betraying a friend. I know that she must have been suffering, but.....I don't know, I can't explain it. It seemed like JP was trying to convey Josie's suffering, but it just fell kind of flat to me. For example, Josie's earlier belief that her mother didn't care for her. Personally, I never understood what led her to that conclusion. But then again, it's been a while since I read the book. Also I would have liked more reflection on her part about her betrayal and more remorse, especially near and at the end of the story.

Speaking of the ending, I thought that it could've been more fleshed out. It seemed too abrupt to me. Maybe I'm asking too much, but I would have liked to see some responses to Peter's death, especially from his parents and Josie. Maybe even a funeral; like a final chapter to the whole tradegy. It could've been a chance to see the community's reaction to what Peter had been through.

Thoughts on Alex.

Alex had difficulties after the school shooting as like all parents she did not know if her daughter was injuried or killed. After she discovered that Josie had survived, she felt guilty because she felt that she had not being giving Josie enough time and attention.She also felt that she was not there enough for Josie. Alex made more effort to spend more time with Josie and to be a better mother to her daughter.At the end of the book I believe that Alex has grown and developed as a character. Her priorities have changed and she is no longer so career orientated and gives up being a judge and goes back to being a public defender. Her new life with Patrick and being a better mother to her new baby and not making the same mistakes that she made with Josie becomes a more important priority. She also makes an effort to spend more time with Josie and tries to repair their relationship. I feel her lowest point in the novel was when she finally discovers what a flawed character her daughter Josie really is. She discovers that Josie lied and deceived her, that Josie had betrayed and hurt Peter and was capable of murder, as she shot her boyfriend Matt Royston. Josie's testimony is really Alex's lowest point because she finally learns the awful truth about Josie. There is a lot of symbolism in the novel. For example numbers are an important symbol in the novel. Numbers are symbolic of the fact that so much damage can occur in only 19 minutes, that Peter has been trapped in a terrible situation for too long and that time is running out for him. It is also significant that Peter's math teacher Mr McCabe is the only character in the entire novel that makes any effort to help Peter. Guns are also an important symbol in the novel. The incident when Peter and Josie are only 5 years old and Alex caught them playing with guns foreshadows the future incident of the school shooting at Sterling High. Guns are a symbol of violence in the novel.

Close Reading Bingo

#1. As the passage goes on, the author uses phrases like "He's got a lot of dough" and "they're also touchy as hell" to make it feel as though the narrator is just another regular kid who is telling you a story.
The error is underlined from rule number 6: http://jimmehftw.blogspot.com/


#2. Holden started by saying that while he knows the reader would like to know about his background, he is not going to provide any information on his origins.
The error is underlines from rule number 7: http://academiczengerine.blogspot.com/


#3. "Turned toward the escalators, carrying a black Penguin paperback and a small white CVS bag, its receipt stapled over the top," describes the harsh clattering of the setting."
The error is underlined from rule number 2: http://t-rex-howdini.blogspot.com/


#4 Baker describes his surroundings as "towering volumes of marble and glass" and "long glossy highlights to each of the black rubber handrails".
The error is highlighted from rule number 8: http://skullandglossbones3.blogspot.com/


WINNER:

J.D. Salinger masters the voice of his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, in the first page of his novel Catcher in the Rye, using direct, colloquial, and bluntly offensive diction. Holden starts by saying that while he knows the reader would like to know about his background, he is not going to provide any information on his origins. His gruff, devil-may-care attitude exudes from the page, as he says he can’t be bothered with “all that David Copperfield kind of crap.” Holden’s trademark sense of superiority reverberates within the passage. While Holden’s language is neither profound nor particularly beautiful, it is representative of how a disenchanted teenager speaks. Holden complains that he won’t give his “whole goddam autobiography” and that his prother is far away from “this crummy place.” He has no objection to cursing, a sign of rebellion against the norm through language. Salinger breathes life into Holden by rambling and cussing, providing literature’s favorite teenage antihero with an identifiably meandering and rude voice.

FROM : http://academiczengerine.blogspot.com/

Close Reading: Diction

The slightly elevated diction of Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine describes the unusual feelings and tolerance the narrator feels for escaltors in his everyday work place. His clincally suggestive admiration is expressed through metaphors like "the free-standing kind: a pair of integral signs swooping upward" and "a temporary, steeper escalator of daylight" make the paragragh slightly a straightforward connotative buisnesslike description of the way the narrator sees escaltors. Baker's rifind, scholarly yet straightforward lexicon describes the escalator through a simile to express the smooth and gracefulness "like the radians of black luster that ride the undulating outer edge." The author uses a unique and different technique to convey the seen surroundings of a typical place like where he works.

Currently Week 1 .. Again.

Book this week: 19 Minutes , Jodie Picoult
Pages this week: 111
Pages this semester: 1217


TheyCallMeFreshMoney:
The words on the pages create a  language of denotative tone and sound almost journalistic as if I was reading a two hundred page newpapers article


Eddie:
It has a high elevation with elegant and fancy diction.


Notoriously MoFulla:
Picoult's use of straightforward language gives off a sense that she doesn't care about the norm of our society and what they will think.



For the lack of a better name:
First, giving a well painted vignette,  then introducing the main character, not directly though, simply through descriptive language with great indirectness.


The New Zealander:
Some predictable repetition of words occurs, creating neither a harsh, coarse sound, nor a melodious one.


I think the winner is for the lack of a better name, they use well descriptive words and have a great sentence overall.

THEME

I got into a discussion with my mother about this book, and we had extremely opposing views.

She thought this was a depressing novel (i can't disagree with her there), and she thought it was morbid and weird how Josie ended up serving 5 years, Peter ended up committing suicide, and Alex had to step down.

I thought it was more of a second chance by the end of the novel, Josie's putting her life back together even though she's in prison (she's no longer being abused and has come clean about her life), Peter's finally free of torment, Alex is having a new child and while it won't replace Josie, it's a new start, and finally I felt as though when Peter's father met the bullied student named Peter, it was symbolizing a second chance. 

"If you spent you life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask…with nothing beneath it?"

"A gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it. "

But, the theme which resonates the strongest in Nineteen Minutes is that of expectations – those for ourselves as well as those entertained by parents for children and children for parents – and how those expectations shape our lives. Is it fair to judge someone? Should we expect the world to accept us as we are, and if not, is it ever okay to strike back?

Favorite Character

Without a doubt, Alex is my favorite character... for a number of reasons.

NUMBER 1: She is the only character in my opinion that stays true to herself, yeah she has flaws but she admitted them and was willing to make up for them, which I feel can't be said for all the characters, if Josie hadn't been asked to testify, would the truth have come out? I doubt it. Alex was different.

NUMBER 2: Alex never shys away from the truth; she admitted to Lacy from day one that she didn't want her baby, her career was what was important to her and she was scared of becoming a mom. I liked Alex because of her determination, she admitted at the very beginning that her dad was unaffectionate and instead she got good grades in order to make him love her etc Josie I feel criticises her mum for never having time for her, and I think some would say Alex is like her dad and is very unfeeling towards Josie but I think it'd be wrong to say that. Alex, shows that as a mother love really is unconditional and all she wants Josie to do is tell the truth regardless. I felt that Alex came the furthest because she was willing to admit to her previous mistakes.

NUMBER 3: Alex is cold to begin with but who can blame her if she never experienced affection from her father, this story comes full circle, she treats Josie like this originally because of the way she is treat by her own father. To add to this Logan Rourke does the exact same thing and just drops Alex which I feel only serves to make Alex stronger.

Sytle Mapping !

The narrator of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian demonstrates a thorough understanding of picturesque, and formally sophitcated Diction. The words could be described as connotative with a harmonious sound. The expressive adjectives such as "endless," "gnashing," "bitter," "hobbled," "pinewood,"  "oblique" portrays a lustrous description and creates an experience of the dark mood of the passage.The passage from "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman is describing a town called Wall and is straightforward and common. The diction falls into the category of being very denotative with a high and elevated tone wtih a light use of figurative language. The narrator uses only common adjectives such as "old" and "square." The narrator describes the houses of Wall with conversational, blunt language. The epigraph of the novel My Sister's Keeper could be described as denotative as everything is straightforward and set for the novel. The opening epigraph immediately sets a dark and dramatic tone for the novel by using lofty language to speak of war and the aims of war. The choice of epigraph implies that a battle of some sort will ensue in the novel, in at least a figurative sense, and the stakes will be life and death.

Quarterly :)

The books I have read this semester so far have been AWESOME! i love reading about teen life and the things that people have to go through. i like reading about people going through hardships and getting through them and growing as a person after everything is over with.
My book The perks of being a wallflower was probably the most graphic and vivid to read because there were so many sexual references to it, but i still enjoyed reading it. I mostly connected with its kind of a funny story because the main character had an anxiety disorder as well as depression. I have the same anxiety and i could relate to the things he would describe sometimes. people dont understand how you feel unless they have experienced the same thing for themself. i understood completey how he thought that no one was like him and no one could understand him. its a very hard thing to go through and its hard to explain to someone who has never had a mind disorder like that. The book i am reading now is really good as well. Its sad and can sometimes be frustrating...you wonder why some of the characters do the things that they do...it can also be frustrating because of some of the things that happen. The school shooting was really sad to read about and couldve been prevented. I believe that bullying is a very big deal in school these days. people dont realize how much words really do hurt.

a new favorite.

Before reading Nineteen Minutes, I had read four books by Jodi Picoult, my favorite being My Sister's Keeper. Now, I have a new favorite. As in most of her books, Picoult takes a contreversial issue and shows you all side of the equation. But this time, Picoult takes an issue that isn't thought of as one of the most conterversial issues in our society, and makes you think about the situation in a whole new light.

 

This book looks into what being in the ‘popular group’ can mean for some people, and what it can mean for those that don’t fit in. It also made me almost understand what made the shooter, a teenage boy, do what he did, because it explains his past. This shows the worst thing that can happen as a result of bullying over many years.

I like the way that the book was set out... Starting out with the shooting, it switches between past and present, starting with when the parents of the two main characters, Josie and Peter met, and ending with the first anniversary of the shooting. This meant that the background to the event, as well as the consequences of it were shown throughout the book.

shootings in school

While i was reading i figured out something about this book that is HUGE. Every day kids head off to school for to learn valuable lessons.....both academic and social. In a perfect world, a child’s biggest worry should be the homework they forgot to do, or the gym shorts they left at home. But the reality is that these days, kids have a lot more to deal with, and this sometimes includes extreme violence in schools. 19 Minutes comes across the subject of what happens when a child is pushed beyond their limit, and embarks on a shooting spree at school. A mere 19 minutes is all it takes for Peter Houghton’s life – and the lives of his victims – to change forever.

While Jodi Picoult’s novel is fictional, there are haunting similarities to real-life incidents that have become more and more common over the recent years. It brings to mind horrifying events such as the Columbine school massacre and the Virginia Tech. massacre. In Picoult’s version, however, the young gunman is captured alive, allowing the author to probe the reason behind the teen’s violent escapade. What follow’s is a heart-wrenching look into the years of bullying leading up to the fateful day when Peter walks into school and opens fire on fellow pupils. I was torn between shock and pity. Shock at the cold and calculated manner in which the massacre takes place, and pity or perhaps more appropriately, empathy – towards the shooter, who endures constant bullying and humiliation at the hands of his peers. Did the real-life perpetrators of school shootings undergo the same treatment? What leads to such an awful crossroad at which a teenager hopes for a sure death after going on a shooting spree? And what can we as students do to make sure it never happens again?

currently week 7 :)

Books Im Reading: 19 minutes my Jodi Picoult
Pages This Week: 164
Pages this semester: 964

Quotes of the week :

“So much of the language of love was like that: you devoured someone with your eyes, you drank in the sight of him, you swallowed him whole. Love was substance, broken down and beating through your bloodstream.”

“When you don't fit in, you become superhuman. You can feel everyone else's eyes on you, stuck like Velcro. You can hear a whisper about you from a mile away. You can disappear, even when it looks like you're still standing right there. You can scream, and nobody hears a sound.
You become the mutant who fell into the vat of acid, the Joker who can't remove his mask, the bionic man who's missing all his limbs and none of his heart.
You are the thing that used to be normal, but that was so long ago, you can't even remember what it was like. ”
“A mathematical formula for happiness:Reality divided by Expectations.There were two ways to be happy:improve your reality or lower your expectations.”

i think i found a theme!

The characters in the book...Jodi, Alex, and Peter all hide various parts of themselves from others. this, I think is probably the theme of the story. The consequences of Jodi’s false persona is a crushing feeling of sadness, because she felt in the beginning that none of her friends would care about her if she showed them the real her, and after a while, she feels like there is no more REAL HER. Her mother, on the other hand, had to keep up a constant appearance of the respectful judge. Otherwise who would trust her to be fair in court? Lastly, Peter, hides his pain and anger from is parents until it overflows, and he looses control, and murders ten people.

Beware of teen angst, it kills, literally.

“In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five."

"In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it.”

 

19 minutes..

I have been reading 19 minutes my jodie picoult , my sister owns this book and i was going through her stuff and it looked really good. So far i have only read Chapter one and the majority of Chapter 2. And so far, THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! The first chapter just swept me away and convinced me that I had definately not made a mistake by choosing this book. I’m glad I picked it and I hope it only gets better as i read.

i found this picture, it is so sad because its true..i thought it went well with the events happening in my book..

I was completely taken by surprise when the school shooting happened. At first I was like, “why is this jumping from person to person?” and at the end of Zoe’s description, I probably read the last sentence 5 or more times to make sure I read the right thing. didn’t see THAT one coming!! I’m pretty sure im getting addicted to this book and can’t wait to see what happens next!

Currently week 6

This week I finished my book "Its kind of a funny story" and started reading "19 minutes" by Jodi Picoult


Pages this week: 112
Pages this semester: 800


Quotes of the week:


"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game."
This is the opening sentence and i think it makes the book really powerful to begin with.


"If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn't be filled?”


"You don't need water to feel like youre drowning, do you?"
THIS IS SO TRUE!!!!

just some thoughts...

-im going to make my parents buy and read "its kind of a funny story" and then they might just know how teenagers work and the stress they go through. sometimes i just dont think they understand.

 

-I liked the change of pace as far as “problems” go. Craig is an overachiever but he’s not nerdy.

-I loved that Craig took charge and checked himself in. Too many people don’t ever get the help they really need.

-Never having been around psych patients, I thought the author did a very good job of writing about and depicting psych problems.

-The author did a great job of getting the reader into Craig’s head with all the pressure. I almost felt like having a panic attack with everything he had to deal with.

-I didn’t know it until after I read the book but the author was in a psych hospital for a while. After getting out, he wrote this book in about a month. Knowing the author has experienced some of the problems adds to his credibility.

-Even though there are a lot of serious issues here in this book, you can't help but laugh. The people Craig encounters in the ward aren't anything like his friends from school. Craig tries to maintain normal ties with his pals while there, but they don't quite work out. His voice is very honest, and he's not afraid to share the details of a high-stress high school life, including sex, drugs and Egyptian popular music. Read it and weep. Or laugh. Maybe both :))))

 

 

this post is OLD.

sooo, i always type my posts into word and then copy and paste into this little box thingy. and i forgot about this one, so .. here it is. it was from...tuesday night.

A good book or movie that will suck me in a whole other world, and out of my own reality. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is one of those stories for me deffinately I HAVE DISCOVERED. I only have about 70 pages , and I am really excited (and sad) to finish the book, and then go rent the movie.

I think that’s what I will do this weekend. Rent the movie.
and then ill watch it this weekend with a friend....im excited. i hope the movie does the book justice.
This book is amazing and I suggest that anyone who loves reading about teenlife struggles and getting through hardships should read it. and its pretty funny in some parts too.

currently...

my current book: its kind of a funny story

pages this week: 159

pages this semester: 688

quotes of the month:

“Things to do today:
1) Breathe in.
2) Breathe out.” 

 

i can really relate to this quote, its my favorite. i relate to this quote because i have a lot of anxiety and i have to tell myself that every single day to get through the day. taking deep breaths really helps.

 

“People are screwed up in this world. I'd rather be with someone screwed up and open about it than somebody perfect and ready to explode.” 

this is so true...

 

"I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning."

this is from perks of being a wallflower, i love how he gives you insight of his life like he does.

stress will do that to you

"It's Kind of a Funny Story" may seem like an odd title for a book with such extreme themes as adolescent depression and suicide, until you recall the last time you burst out laughing at an inappropriate moment in this book. Laughter is one way to cope with pressure, and that's what i think Ned Vizzini's novel is all about i think, the kind of pressure teenagers face in a success-oriented society that values product over process, scores over scholarship and extracurriculars.

Craig becomes dysfunctional and severely depressed after driving himself relentlessly to get accepted into Executive Pre-Professional High School, "set up to create the leaders of tomorrow." Graduates of this pressure cooker "end up being, like, president," if they don't end up on the psych ward first. Once he's admitted to the school, Craig realizes that staying there is the true challenge. Just reading about his assignments is anxiety-producing — nine classes, unbearable reading lists, four hours of homework a night. One class requires reading two hefty daily newspapers and analyses of the stock market. Within months Craig has "stress vomiting for the first time." I CANT EVEN IMAGINE THIS. AND I HAVE ANXIETY JUST LIKE HIM. The more behind he gets, the more paralyzed he is, until he contemplates jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead, he calls 1-800-SUICIDE and checks himself into a nearby hospital. His mom's response when he calls from the E.R. is touching: "I am so proud of you. . . . This is the bravest thing you've ever done."

 

The authors humor is found throughout, focused not only on the comic impact of any given line, but on the role of humor itself, the necessity of laughter and the realization that it's O.K., even necessary, to lighten up when things seem bad. AND I LOVE THAT.... When Craig starts to share a laugh about a fellow patient, he stops himself. "I bite my tongue. I can't help it. I shouldn't be laughing at any of these people . . . but maybe it's O.K., somewhere, somehow, because we're enjoying life?" i think its important to laugh even though things might be going horribly wrong.

 

One of the most disturbing realities present in this novel is the many characters who need meds to cope with getting through school. This is an important book, not only because it will help teenagers recognize unhealthy expectations and know there are alternative choices.

Amazing Claims.

From kims corner

Bérenger's black and white photograph, his dramatic contrast and enticing depth of field draw the viewer into the picture with active negative space that elevates the shadows from the composition to illustrate an ominous and mysterious mood.

From my everyday sticky waffle

In this contemporary dance, choreographed by Mia Michaels, the varied confusion of the movement, pain and romance shown through the emotion, the regret expressed through the dull costume choice, and the dominating and aggressive use of space create a sense of lighthearted passion between the two dancers. 

From The New Zealander

On the album cover of Titus Andronicus's "The Airing of Grievances," the commanding, classic font and layout of the cover, as well as the cluttered and colorful use of space in the photograph convey the band's homely practice environment and admiration for the old-fashioned symbols of history.

From Underwater

The Ground Zero Memorial in New York, where the Twin Towers once stood, is a sincere and gorgeous memorial for all the ones who died on 9/11. The beautiful waterfall is a wonderful and memorable idea to fill the empty spot where the towers once stood. People visit this touching, unique and magnificent memorial from all over the world.

From Hog Smog Blog
This picture displays a blaring, earthshaking sound as the up-tempo crowd yells and roars while Beason shows great excitement and aggressiveness as he takes the field very authoritative and intensely out of a tunnel where the panther is posing viciously and wrathfully.

My favorite was from my everyday sticky waffle, i feel like some things are complete oppisites of eachother, but at the same time it works. This was also the most interesting to me, i really love to watch people express themselves through dance, and liked her claim as well. She really explained what was happening throughout the dance.
 

claim assignment

I used a So You Think You Can Dance Video for this assignment , here is the link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_48OKZqYzHM

What I observed:

Posture - loose, strong, real, curved

Space - useful, busy, open

Sound - quiet, smooth, soft, tender

Facial expression - passionate, fragil, concentrated

choreography - beautiful, graceful, powerful

What I Inferred: compassion, intense, gentle, formal, romantic, sincere, confident, intimate

My Claim:
[In this video from so you think you can dance, the dancers busy use of space, passionate facial expressions, and graceful, powerful choreography] expresses [a sense of compassionate intamacy and sincere confidence]

its currently friday

Book: its kind of a funny story

pages this week: 215

pages this semester: 529

Quotes of the week:

My Favorite One!! --

“Things to do today:
1) Breathe in.
2) Breathe out.” 

Its kind of funny..the main character in the story suffers from depression and anxiety disorder. I dont suffer from depression but i do have anxiety severely. This quote is something that i have to say to myself almost everyday to make it through without having an attack. Some people may not notice that i have it because i hide it pretty well, but its there.

Other quotes that stood out...

“Its so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That's above and beyond everything else, and it's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing, like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don't come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people's words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed-ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet.” 

“People are screwed up in this world. I'd rather be with someone screwed up and open about it than somebody perfect and ready to explode.” 

“I'm done with those; regrets are an excuse for people who have failed.” 

its kind of a funny story..

I started reading it's kind of a funny story this week and I really like it already!! ive gotten pretty far into it already. about 200 pages or so. I would recommend this book to an older, high school-aged audience because of the sexuality, and the mature issues discussed in the book. The narrative voice of Craig sounds very genuine and real; but it can be a bit difficult to read the raw details of his depression.

The book was a bit was too slow paced for my liking at the beginning...i like to read something that is exciting in the beginning as well, it is slow when he was describing his depression and childhood. The action didn’t start until about halfway through the book when he checked himself into an adult psychiatric hospital

The author uses humor to ease into the deep, painful issues of the novel. I think it makes it less scary to read and more enjoyable to read.

 

Bobby, the former drug-addict whom Craig meets on the tour around the psychiatric ward, is a fascinating character. The description of him painted a perfect picture in my mind: i loved the description

“…a gaunt, hollow man with big circles under his eyes and a nose that looks like it’s been broken in about three places. In contrast to the floor policy, scruff lines his chin. He’s older but still has all his hair, a stately gray mop, combed half-heartedly. And he carries himself a little weird, leaning back as if he were on a headrest.” I thought that this was an awesome description to put a picture in your mind of what this character looks like.

Currently From Last Week .....

pages read this week:94 (finished my book)
pages this semester: 314

Quotes of the week :

"I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning."

"So, I looked up, and we were in this giant dome like a glass snowball, and Mark said that the amazing white stars were really only holes in the black glass of the dome, and when you went to heaven, the glass broke away, and there was nothing but a whole sheet of star white, which is brighter than anything but doesn't hurt your eyes. It was vast and open and thinly quiet, and I felt so small."

“This is not a time for heroes because nobody will let that happen.”

"Things change. And friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody."

"Please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough."

I finished this book last thursday (im a little late on this post) but overall, i loved reading this book! The format made it not so boring and very interesting. I loved how Charlie grew as a character, and wrote about everything that he thought. i would reccomend this book to anyone who likes reading about real life, and the things that teenagers go through.

i really just loved it.

I just really loved reading this book.



Charlie first appears to be a quiet, strange and unpopular boy. He is left friendless as a result of his best friend committing suicide a year earlier. One day he befriends two seniors called Sam and Patrick and they, along with their friends, introduce him to a whole new life. They expose him to new music, true friendship, drugs, sex and more complicated relationships.

This story is told through a series of letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous person...and i think that this helps us really see his way of thinking..he isnt afraid to say anything that is on his mind.This is a coming of age story, however it is unlike any I've ever read. I believe this is because Charlie seems so real, so likable and I think he is also really sweet..even though he tells every other character how it is.

Memorable Quotes: 
I love my mom. And this time, I told her I loved her. And she told me she loved me, too. And things were okay for a little while.

"I feel infinite""

A Little Late.

So friday we were on the laptops in class and we were supposed to post about the blogs that we went through. i didnt get to this post until now but i wrote all of the blogs i went to and read. I'm a little late on this because Ive been struggling with some personal problems since then, but in class on friday i visited A Scrap of Parchment,  Hog Smog Blog, BookLover17, RocketGuild, FreshMoney, T-Rex, Stormy Days, Banana Smoothie, and Wolf Spot from third period and then JimmehFTWand Keep it Classy from first period. I commented on RocketGuilds blog, about one of his quotes of the week. The book that he is currently reading sounds really funny.

Real Life.

The book I read this week was "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky


The # of pages this week:117
The # of pages this semester:215


This book as many interesting quotes, i picked three that caught my attention and that i really liked:


"I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And i hope they believe me."


"Do you enjoy the holidays with your family? I don't mean your mom and dad family, but your uncle and aunt and cousin family? Personally, I do. There are several reasons for this.
First, I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other. Second, the fights are always the same."
---this quote is SO true. you love your family always but dont always like them. the main character then starts to talk about how every holiday is the same thing, with the same people.


RANDOM: "i love twinkies, and the reason i am saying that is because in science class we are all supposed to think of reasons to live" -- hahahah

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower- Quotes

I started reading the novel "The perks of being a wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky and i love the format .... it is written as a series of letters from a narrator, Charlie, to an anonymous “friend.” Charlie is a teenager who is about to enter his freshman year of high school and he describes various scenes of his life over the course of one year in these letters. The events Charlie describes in his letters involve a mix of the usual and not-so-typical teenage problems. The letters never get boring, and you can always find yourself relating to something (being around the same age)

Ive been reading this novel for about a week now, and the writing in this novel is unlike anything I've ever read before. I never really get into books but i really love this one. You know when you read a line and you have to go back and re-read it 2 or 3 more times? I usually do that all the time because i get so distracted with everything. But i go back to read it again, not because I didn't understand it, but because I am so taken back by it's beauty that I want to keep experiencing the depth of it's words and aren't quite ready to move on.  I have done this over and over again while reading.  A few lines that really grabbed my attention were:

"So this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

"I put my head under my pillow and let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be."

My Sisters Keeper

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK!!! ...

and dont read this book if you dont want to cry...its guaranteed to happen!!

Ive been sick...so i havent gotten to post anything yet, so i have a very long post about the whole book.

I started reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult this summer and just finished it a couple of days ago. I am going to share what happens and the main story that goes on throughout the entire thing. This book is very sad, especially if you have a sister who is close to your heart.

 

The book focuses on the struggles of the Fitzgerald family as a result of their daughter Kate’s illness – she suffers from APL, a form of Leukaemia. She was diagnosed when she was two, and at sixteen she has undergone many surgeries, transplants and tests.  Her sister Anna is three years younger than her and was a designer baby – she was born specifically to act as spare parts for Kate, and has spent her whole life donating bone marrow, promyelocytes, tissue and more to her sister. Kate needs a kidney and Anna will have to give Kate hers, but she decides that she has had enough and looks for medical emancipation by suing her parents for the rights to her own body. This tears her already-fragile family apart at the seams.

In the novel, each family member is highlighted through their own words, as too are other key characters involved in the case, such as Anna's lawyer Campell Alexander and her guardian ad-litem Julia Romano. The book was written in a format that enabled the reader to get a deep insight into each charaters mind; I could clearly see what each character was thinking, how they felt, their reaction to the case and also their reactions to Kate's illness. Despite the main story of the novel being centred around Kate, none of the story was told from her perspective, except the final chapter, which is written after the case ends and the devastating events that follow have occured. Each chapter was written in the first person from the point of one of the characters, almost like a diary. (This is my favorite)

On the front cover of the book it posed the question; “If you use one of your children to save the life of another, are you being a good mother or a very bad one?” I found while reading the book that this question regularly ran through my mind. It certainly is a very difficult question to answer and a very debatable subject. This makes the novel very interesting and made me want to keep reading. During the court case Sara makes the point very clear that she loves both of her daughters equally. I think Sara's character is probably the most hard to understand as a teenage reader but in the end it was clear that Sara loved her children and was just doing what she believed was in her sick daughter's best interests.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it opened my eyes to some of the most touching, poignant and thought-provoking subjects written about. I thought that it was very inspiring, especially as the novel was partly inspired by a true story. It made me think a lot about what real problems are. I thought the book was very philosophical and I found that the many twists in it (especially the ending!) made it a very interesting, enjoyable and emotional read. Definitely a book I'd recommend; I'd give it 10/10!