2010 :)
Junior Year for me was an interesting year. I learned a lot about myself I had never known before, and that can either be really good, or extremely bad. Since I moved back here from Fayetteville, I met new people in Batesville I have never known, and I also got in touch with some of my old friends. The teachers I had this year were understanding and caring people, which is always a plus. I feel like I could have tried harder on homework, and done better on tests but I cannot go back and change the past, so I will try way harder next year.
I won an award at Lyon College for my history day paper which made me happy! I went on to state, but did not place. Even if I did not get to go to Washington D.C., I am still proud of my effort.
Over Christmas, I got a puppy named Gus and we are definitely the best of friends. He has lots of wrinkles and he drools every where but I love him to death.
I got my first job a few weeks ago! It's a little draining, but I love making money. I get my first pay check this Friday.
I started driving a few days before my birthday on May 15. I turned 17 that Friday!
A lot has changed my junior year. Independence is finally gleaming through the window, and I could not be happier about that.
Hopefully 2010 will be just as amazing.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wrestling Match Book Review
The Wrestling Match by Buchi Emecheta did not do as much for me as I thought it would. While I read this book, I found it worded awkwardly and I did not remember key points so as I would pick up reading where I left off, I would get confused. The names were extrememly hard to remember, and so the characters did not stick with me very well.
I am usually never picky about books, but I honestly did not like this story. I feel like the characters were not developed as much as they should have been. Okei seemed to change his attitude every chapter. One chapter, he would be angry, and the next he would be defending the girls that he so often talked down on. I understand that Okei wanted to be viewed as an adult, but I do not understand what a wrestling match had to do with it. Maybe I did not read it as thorougly as I should have, but maybe the writer should have been more clear. The theme was not even clear to me. So many random events happened that I was confused on the point. I feel strange talking so negatively about a book like this, but I cannot praise a book I found poorly written and confusing.
I am usually never picky about books, but I honestly did not like this story. I feel like the characters were not developed as much as they should have been. Okei seemed to change his attitude every chapter. One chapter, he would be angry, and the next he would be defending the girls that he so often talked down on. I understand that Okei wanted to be viewed as an adult, but I do not understand what a wrestling match had to do with it. Maybe I did not read it as thorougly as I should have, but maybe the writer should have been more clear. The theme was not even clear to me. So many random events happened that I was confused on the point. I feel strange talking so negatively about a book like this, but I cannot praise a book I found poorly written and confusing.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Perfect Chemistry Book Review
As I read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, the whole story basically hypnotized me. At times it was a little cliche, but I LOVED this book. I would say the book is 300 and somewhat pages, and I finished it in one day, during school.
While reading this book, I came across so many themes and universal problems teenagers and families face in today's society. On one side, you have the "rich kids", the kids who's lives are picture perfect. Big houses, nice cars, good grades and the works. On the the other side, you have the problem kids. The gang members, drug users, run down houses, etc. If you were to take all that away, there would be kids with feelings, hopes, and dreams standing in front of you. What happens when a "rich girl" gets paired up with a gang member in Chemistry class? Well, the two find out they are not so different than they think. The main theme I found was accepting people for who they are on the inside. Just because someone is considered a rich snob, does not mean that is actually who they are on the inside, when every thing is stripped away. Just because someone is in a gang does not automatically make them a horrible person. Every one has their reasons for why they choose the things they choose. Every one has a story to tell, and sometimes the good people can be bad, and the bad people can be good. Yet, the good people can really be good, and the bad people can really be bad too.
I loved the different characters in Perfect Chemistry. Brittany, who is one of the main characters has friends that she cannot really trust. She's the "rich girl" that gets paired up with Alejandro or Alex in chemistry. He is the gang member that has a good heart. Brittany lives a harder life than people can see from only going to school with her. Her mom is always stressed, her dad is never around, and her 20 year old sister is confined to a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy. As Brittany and Alex find out more about each other, their perceptions of people begin to really change. I think later in the book the whole school starts to think differently about some things.
Simone Elkeles wrote with a very believable teenage tone. In the book, Brittany is the voice of every other chapter, while Alex is the voice of the other chapters. Brittany and Alex had two very different tones, so I was impressed with the way a woman could portray a teenage boy so well. Elkeles described things with so much detail, so much enthusiasm. I could not believe I finished this book in one day! I could not put it down. Each chapter left you wondering what would happen next. This book was an extremely easy read, but the story was great I think! It was a perfect story for teenagers, in my eyes.
This book took place in Illinois, very close to Chicago. I love big cities, and I love reading stories that take place in Urban areas. These stories take me away to something I have never really gotten to experience except when I am on vacation. Even though the story takes place in a big city, school is not that much different in small towns.
There were so many connections in this novel that connected to my life and other stories I have read and movies I have seen. When I lived in Fayetteville, I dated a guy that no one ever thought I would date. He was out of school, he was not rich, he ran with some bad people, but he was utterly and most definitely the nicest, most down to earth, honest person I have ever known. To this day, no one but me understands how much our relationship affected me in a positive way. While every one told me I was too good for him, I experienced a relationship where I did not have to pretend I was something I was not. He understood the obstacles going on in my life, and I was able to find out he was better than most rich people I knew. Even though he was not in school, he was so smart, and had so much going for him. I hope he knows that, and I hope no one ever brings him down. What most people do not know or care to realize is status has nothing to do with character. Rich people can be evil, and poor people can be gold hearted people. It is what is on the inside that truly counts. When our day comes, I am positive that our money in the bank will not be of value any longer. What is in our hearts will matter the most. The characters in this book find this out, and I hope people in real life find this out as well.
I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with their status in school, and in life. I recommend it to any one who cares about someone that other people look down on. I recommend this to people who feel like they could never be with that girl because she is rich, or that boy because he is popular, or who feel like they could never be with that boy because he is the "bad boy." Stereotypes should be broken, and this book breaks them. This would be an awesome summer read as well!
While reading this book, I came across so many themes and universal problems teenagers and families face in today's society. On one side, you have the "rich kids", the kids who's lives are picture perfect. Big houses, nice cars, good grades and the works. On the the other side, you have the problem kids. The gang members, drug users, run down houses, etc. If you were to take all that away, there would be kids with feelings, hopes, and dreams standing in front of you. What happens when a "rich girl" gets paired up with a gang member in Chemistry class? Well, the two find out they are not so different than they think. The main theme I found was accepting people for who they are on the inside. Just because someone is considered a rich snob, does not mean that is actually who they are on the inside, when every thing is stripped away. Just because someone is in a gang does not automatically make them a horrible person. Every one has their reasons for why they choose the things they choose. Every one has a story to tell, and sometimes the good people can be bad, and the bad people can be good. Yet, the good people can really be good, and the bad people can really be bad too.
I loved the different characters in Perfect Chemistry. Brittany, who is one of the main characters has friends that she cannot really trust. She's the "rich girl" that gets paired up with Alejandro or Alex in chemistry. He is the gang member that has a good heart. Brittany lives a harder life than people can see from only going to school with her. Her mom is always stressed, her dad is never around, and her 20 year old sister is confined to a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy. As Brittany and Alex find out more about each other, their perceptions of people begin to really change. I think later in the book the whole school starts to think differently about some things.
Simone Elkeles wrote with a very believable teenage tone. In the book, Brittany is the voice of every other chapter, while Alex is the voice of the other chapters. Brittany and Alex had two very different tones, so I was impressed with the way a woman could portray a teenage boy so well. Elkeles described things with so much detail, so much enthusiasm. I could not believe I finished this book in one day! I could not put it down. Each chapter left you wondering what would happen next. This book was an extremely easy read, but the story was great I think! It was a perfect story for teenagers, in my eyes.
This book took place in Illinois, very close to Chicago. I love big cities, and I love reading stories that take place in Urban areas. These stories take me away to something I have never really gotten to experience except when I am on vacation. Even though the story takes place in a big city, school is not that much different in small towns.
There were so many connections in this novel that connected to my life and other stories I have read and movies I have seen. When I lived in Fayetteville, I dated a guy that no one ever thought I would date. He was out of school, he was not rich, he ran with some bad people, but he was utterly and most definitely the nicest, most down to earth, honest person I have ever known. To this day, no one but me understands how much our relationship affected me in a positive way. While every one told me I was too good for him, I experienced a relationship where I did not have to pretend I was something I was not. He understood the obstacles going on in my life, and I was able to find out he was better than most rich people I knew. Even though he was not in school, he was so smart, and had so much going for him. I hope he knows that, and I hope no one ever brings him down. What most people do not know or care to realize is status has nothing to do with character. Rich people can be evil, and poor people can be gold hearted people. It is what is on the inside that truly counts. When our day comes, I am positive that our money in the bank will not be of value any longer. What is in our hearts will matter the most. The characters in this book find this out, and I hope people in real life find this out as well.
I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with their status in school, and in life. I recommend it to any one who cares about someone that other people look down on. I recommend this to people who feel like they could never be with that girl because she is rich, or that boy because he is popular, or who feel like they could never be with that boy because he is the "bad boy." Stereotypes should be broken, and this book breaks them. This would be an awesome summer read as well!
Holocaust Research
Since I do not have to write this Holocaust aper, I do not have a focused topic. I cannot pick one most interesting or most disturbing piece of information about the holocaust because it is all interesting and disturbing.
A few things I have read have stuck in my mind, and still haunt me. In the camps, the Nazis would have a row of dead bodies that were hung, and they would make the other Jews in the camp walk very slowly past them. Sometimes, the Nazis would tell the prisoners they were getting a shower, but instead they led them to the gas chambers or the ovens. The Jews were sometimes beaten to death, they were starved, hung, worked to death, etc.
The Nazis were horrible people and the way they treated the Jewish people was gruesome and terrible. I honestly do not think something as deadly and horrible like the Holocaust could ever happen again. People are more educated these days and hopefully a leader will never become as powerful and controlling as Hitler became. These days, people accept people a little bit better than they did back then.
Hopefully, something like the Holocaust will never be repeated. In the world today, there are other horrid things taking place that do remind me of the holocaust in ways. Animal cruelty reminds me of the holocaust in ways. Animals, like the Jews in the past do not have a voice, and they are abused and killed in large numbers. It is not as big of a nightmare as the holocaust, but it is still a huge problem. So, say no to furs and other things like that!
A few things I have read have stuck in my mind, and still haunt me. In the camps, the Nazis would have a row of dead bodies that were hung, and they would make the other Jews in the camp walk very slowly past them. Sometimes, the Nazis would tell the prisoners they were getting a shower, but instead they led them to the gas chambers or the ovens. The Jews were sometimes beaten to death, they were starved, hung, worked to death, etc.
The Nazis were horrible people and the way they treated the Jewish people was gruesome and terrible. I honestly do not think something as deadly and horrible like the Holocaust could ever happen again. People are more educated these days and hopefully a leader will never become as powerful and controlling as Hitler became. These days, people accept people a little bit better than they did back then.
Hopefully, something like the Holocaust will never be repeated. In the world today, there are other horrid things taking place that do remind me of the holocaust in ways. Animal cruelty reminds me of the holocaust in ways. Animals, like the Jews in the past do not have a voice, and they are abused and killed in large numbers. It is not as big of a nightmare as the holocaust, but it is still a huge problem. So, say no to furs and other things like that!
I Love My Blog
Favorite web based tech tool.
My favorite web based tech tool would have to be the blog. Writing is one of my favorite things. Having a place to write my thoughts, ideas, and dreams is such a nice thing for me. Blogger is a huge online community and there are so many talented people on blogger. As I sift through all the great writing blogs, I've stumbled on arts and crafts blogs, blogs about being a new parent, blogs about traveling, and so many more. Blogging joins people from all around the world. My mind expands as I read blogs. All of the different points of view feeds the person inside of me that wants to know everything. I feel at home on my blog since it's like a personal website. I feel as if I can really make it mine. Without blogging, I do not know what I would do. I would not trade my little view of the world for anything!
My favorite web based tech tool would have to be the blog. Writing is one of my favorite things. Having a place to write my thoughts, ideas, and dreams is such a nice thing for me. Blogger is a huge online community and there are so many talented people on blogger. As I sift through all the great writing blogs, I've stumbled on arts and crafts blogs, blogs about being a new parent, blogs about traveling, and so many more. Blogging joins people from all around the world. My mind expands as I read blogs. All of the different points of view feeds the person inside of me that wants to know everything. I feel at home on my blog since it's like a personal website. I feel as if I can really make it mine. Without blogging, I do not know what I would do. I would not trade my little view of the world for anything!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Ruins of California Review
I want to be a rich hippie.
The Ruins of California, by Martha Sherrill boarded me on the plane of my mind and flew me all the way to the Westcoast in California during the 1970's. Parts of California at this time were extremely glamorous and flawed, but the main character, Inez was fascinated with her father's life in the fast lane, or slow lane if you count the Marijuana. Reading this book submerged me into the culture of Westcoastians during the 70's, and I was not disappointed. I love culture, and family saga's. A few tears are good, and handfuls of laughs help as well.
Inez's parents divorce in the 60's, so Inez spends summers with her father in San Francisco, California. Her father is anything but bland and boring. He is a math genius, while being stylish and blessed in the looks department. Women come in and out of her father, Paul's life, which at times bothers Inez. In this book, I found so much love, but so much static between father and daughter. Paul loves Inez, and that was evident as I read Ruins of California, but just like any relationship there are rocky places, and misunderstandings. Feelings are hurt, and ego's are bruised. Just like any human being, Paul is not perfect, and neither is Inez. As I read this book, I thought of me and my dad's relationship and realized we have a really good one. Even if we fight sometimes, and even if we have let each other down, we still love each other.
The theme in this book popped right out of the pages, and that was family. Family is there no matter what circumstance, and they might not always be the people you would have chosen, but they are all you have. Being in a family is hard work. People are alway's getting their feelings hurt because when you love someone, you allow that person to break down all your barriers, all your walls. Family is on every page of this book.
Sherill's writing style could get a little boring at times, but over all, I really enjoyed it. The story was believable and meaningful. The characters were very different, very new. The traits of these characters was unlike any character I've ever ..."met."
I reccomend this book to someone who is having trouble understanding their family life. Someone who loves their father, but does not always agree with his decisions. This book is for a teenage girl who is growing into a woman, and needs help discovering who she is.
The Ruins of California, by Martha Sherrill boarded me on the plane of my mind and flew me all the way to the Westcoast in California during the 1970's. Parts of California at this time were extremely glamorous and flawed, but the main character, Inez was fascinated with her father's life in the fast lane, or slow lane if you count the Marijuana. Reading this book submerged me into the culture of Westcoastians during the 70's, and I was not disappointed. I love culture, and family saga's. A few tears are good, and handfuls of laughs help as well.
Inez's parents divorce in the 60's, so Inez spends summers with her father in San Francisco, California. Her father is anything but bland and boring. He is a math genius, while being stylish and blessed in the looks department. Women come in and out of her father, Paul's life, which at times bothers Inez. In this book, I found so much love, but so much static between father and daughter. Paul loves Inez, and that was evident as I read Ruins of California, but just like any relationship there are rocky places, and misunderstandings. Feelings are hurt, and ego's are bruised. Just like any human being, Paul is not perfect, and neither is Inez. As I read this book, I thought of me and my dad's relationship and realized we have a really good one. Even if we fight sometimes, and even if we have let each other down, we still love each other.
The theme in this book popped right out of the pages, and that was family. Family is there no matter what circumstance, and they might not always be the people you would have chosen, but they are all you have. Being in a family is hard work. People are alway's getting their feelings hurt because when you love someone, you allow that person to break down all your barriers, all your walls. Family is on every page of this book.
Sherill's writing style could get a little boring at times, but over all, I really enjoyed it. The story was believable and meaningful. The characters were very different, very new. The traits of these characters was unlike any character I've ever ..."met."
I reccomend this book to someone who is having trouble understanding their family life. Someone who loves their father, but does not always agree with his decisions. This book is for a teenage girl who is growing into a woman, and needs help discovering who she is.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Fried Green Tomatoes Review
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg took me on a southern fried, hilarious, exhilarating ride into the little town of Whistle Stop, Mississippi. I laughed so hard I cried, I cried just because it was sad, and I also just really lost myself in this book.
The stories of two friendships plays out in these pages, and one day I hope to discover a friend ship like these two. Ruth and Idgie ran the Whistle Stop Cafe, and every one left their restaurant full as a tick. Idgie never let any one leave hungry, and she would feed ANY ONE who came in her doors. In this novel, African American's were still treated poorly, and were not equal. If the police had seen Idgie giving them any food, she would be in trouble and so would they. She always gave them food any way. Idgie was able to get along with any one, no matter what their race was.
Ninny Threadgoode is the amazing story teller for most of the book. She lives in a nursing home and Evelyn Couch, a regular woman with many insecurities and worries finds herself sitting next to her most days while her mother in law swims in her own negativity.
As Ninny unthreads the story, Evelyn finds her own strength locked deep inside, and her life starts to drastically change. Ruth and Idgie become her idols, and life seems to have a purpose, seems to be worth living. Every character in this story have a meaning, no matter who they are. No matter their status, their color, their sexual orientation, they matter. The normalcies of people are switched up, and women can be risque but still be very important to people. Two women can have a little boy and be the two most popular women in the town. African Americans in this book still are treated wrongly, but are welcomed by Ruth and Idgie, and the other regulars in the Whistle Stop Cafe. Every one loves each other, and that matters.
This book reminded me that finding your own inner strength is important. Making friends and having fun is a must in life. Standing up for what is right is not wrong, and it should not be looked down upon, even though it is. Having faith, and being your self is something every one should do.
The writing style was simply amazing. I laughed, and I cried. That is very important. I want to feel all kinds of emotions while reading a book. The character's each had an important attribute to the story. They were not there for nothing.
I recommend this book to any girl or boy who has good taste!
The stories of two friendships plays out in these pages, and one day I hope to discover a friend ship like these two. Ruth and Idgie ran the Whistle Stop Cafe, and every one left their restaurant full as a tick. Idgie never let any one leave hungry, and she would feed ANY ONE who came in her doors. In this novel, African American's were still treated poorly, and were not equal. If the police had seen Idgie giving them any food, she would be in trouble and so would they. She always gave them food any way. Idgie was able to get along with any one, no matter what their race was.
Ninny Threadgoode is the amazing story teller for most of the book. She lives in a nursing home and Evelyn Couch, a regular woman with many insecurities and worries finds herself sitting next to her most days while her mother in law swims in her own negativity.
As Ninny unthreads the story, Evelyn finds her own strength locked deep inside, and her life starts to drastically change. Ruth and Idgie become her idols, and life seems to have a purpose, seems to be worth living. Every character in this story have a meaning, no matter who they are. No matter their status, their color, their sexual orientation, they matter. The normalcies of people are switched up, and women can be risque but still be very important to people. Two women can have a little boy and be the two most popular women in the town. African Americans in this book still are treated wrongly, but are welcomed by Ruth and Idgie, and the other regulars in the Whistle Stop Cafe. Every one loves each other, and that matters.
This book reminded me that finding your own inner strength is important. Making friends and having fun is a must in life. Standing up for what is right is not wrong, and it should not be looked down upon, even though it is. Having faith, and being your self is something every one should do.
The writing style was simply amazing. I laughed, and I cried. That is very important. I want to feel all kinds of emotions while reading a book. The character's each had an important attribute to the story. They were not there for nothing.
I recommend this book to any girl or boy who has good taste!
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