Sword in the Stone II

    I finished the Sword in the Stone and I must say that I didn't really get all the hype about it. Maybe it gets better as he grows older, but in this book when he's a child he wasn't much of a likable character. The Wart was a good name for him. I think I'll try to read the sequel--the lady in the lake?--but finding it might be more work than I'm willing to put in.
    To put it in perspective, I suppose I have to realize that the writing style was quite drab in that time period, so I should be happy I could get through a chapter of it. I'm looking forward to The Wizard of Earthsea a little more. I hope it has more interesting magic than what was shown in King Author, where Merilyn just turned Art into different animals. I used to be a rabid fantasy reader, so I look forward to seeing the classic and comparing it to other, more modern, fantasy I've read.

The Sword in the Stone

T.H. White wrote The Sword in the Stone, the first King Arthur story. I first picked this novel up because my mother mentioned that I should read some Arthurian legend because it's a allusion found in literature often. I've found it slower going than usual, there being less dialog and more description than I'm used to. Despite the pace, its a interesting book. The characters are engaging and complicated, both their bad and their good sides shown to the reader.
     One thing about it is that it's really really corny. It's written as a classical fantasy, which are cony to begin with, but this takes it a little farther. Especially the scene with Robin Wood, which takes place about three-fourths of the way through the book. If I were to make a request to the author, I would ask that he or she write the scene about the sword already! It's the title for gods sake!

Name all the Animals III

We finished Name all the Animals over the weekend and are supposed to report on it. My report is on the characters, namely Alison, Roy and Terri. The author(and main character) makes the characters very realistic since they are real people and all the things they said were said in real life, giving them a very down to earth feel. They might jave been real, but I didn't really like them.
Alison, who is the main character, I found annoyingly non-productive. She never really grew as a character, simply going from normal to depressed to normal again. She was also horny as hell which I found somewhat uncomfortable. She didn't really do anything for me.
    Roy, who is dead, is a complicated character because you never really get to know him. He lives only in her memories and those memories are usually about good times, so he strikes you as a good guy. I'm sure he was a good guy, but it was odd having a character that you never heard anything bad about. 
   Terri, Alison's girlfriend was a main character, but you didn't really see into her head. Most of the scenes with her were riddled with Alison's insecurities. She isn't very insecure like most girls her age and she feels very new age to me(not that that's a bad thing). I found myself being disappointed with her when she got a new girlfriend out of the blue like she did, though. All in all, I wasn't a huge fan of the characters but I didn't hate them either.

Name all the Animals II

We were asked to be specific in this post, to write about the writing instead of the plot. Well, I like the writing, it's very personalized and not as sad as The Bell Jar. She uses a lot of details for her scenes and she really describes everything, which seems impossible, since it was years ago. She also uses pretty vivid images to descibe how she's feeling or how Roy is feeling. The way she wrote about Roy, like he was still alive, yet not, was interesting and I liked it a lot.

Name all the Animals

     So, this isn't an awful book, but I'm not loving it either. Part of it's my fault, I'm sick of sad stories, but I don't really enjoy memoirs all that much. The character is annoying and her family is even worse. I also ruined the book for myself by reading the author interview and realizing that(spoiler alert!) she falls in love with a woman. When ever a female character entered the story I was wondering if it would be her. I was also disgusted with her when she has sex in a nun's room. What is she thinking?
     It is kind of interesting in that it takes place in Rochester and I know all the land marks she mentions. It gives an interesting account of Mercy life, one I'll never be able to experience myself but will always wonder about.
    All in all, it's not a bad book but I don't really like it.

Sylvia Plath's Poetry

The swarm- I don't really understand her poetry, it's too deep for me, but this one was about people in the country that shoot thing. It's written in lines of four--quartets?--and had a few fragmented line brakes. The swarm is referring to a swarm of bees that get higher and higher and eventually get shot down by the gray faced men.
Resolve-this poem is all about images, cats and roses bushes and sneering winds. It had a few one word lines and funky line brakes that probably mean something. I liked it better than The swarm because it was short and simple. I didn't understand what she was resolved about, but maybe it was to live.
Years-this poem, as far as I can tell, is about how she's tired of life. She mentions that she never wanted eternity, and that God isn't high on her favorite people list.
Stillborn-I actually liked this one, it's about how poems are similar to stillborn baby's. I got the comparison, and appreciated that I didn't feel stupid reading it. It was also a sad poem, surprise, surprise, but it wasn't all weepy. 

The Bell Jar

We are now reading The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath fro Mr. Craddock. Personally I don't like it at all. I realize that she's depressed, that she's going crazy, that she's going to kill herself, but really, she can stop whining already. It's all, this sucks, that sucks, woe is me. Suck it up!
   I also don't really enjoy this writing style. I can't wait to be finished with it.

Unsettling America-three poems

Three poems from this book were read today with a substitute teacher. Before I report my analogize of these works, first I'd like to mention that the substitute thought we were stupid and it kind of ruined the experience for me.
Moving on...The first poem was mnemonic by Li-Young Lee. I enjoyed it because I understood it, unlike most poems. It was basically about a girl's memories of her father, both good and bad.
The second poem was Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez. This one I connected with because, first, I also run when I'm upset, and two, it reminds me of one of my favorite songs, Easier to Run by Linkin Park. I think most of the symbloizem of that poem went over my head though.
The third poem was Improvisation for Piano by Michael S. Weaver which just annoyed me, for mutable reasons. First, he's all scared about his son going out in the world cause he's no naive...well you should have taught him better! Duh! Second, he kills himself at the end(I think), hows that going to help your son, huh? Third, I didn't get the title, which just made me feel stupid.
The fourth  poem was English-Speaking Persons Will Find Translations by Micheal S. Glaser, which I liked a lot. For one thing, it was simple language, for another it made sense. It was sad, but moving. Three thumbs up for that one. I would have perfered for Ms. Gamzon to teach it, because the sub just kind of said "where is he?" and stupid questions like that, Gamzon would have explained the content a little deeper.

Betsy Brown III

   Again, I'll be discussing Betsy Brown. I finished it and it wasn't really that bad. You grew to like the character a little more, though you did want to slap her mother. Her mother, Jane, was quite foolish in the last part of the book. She leaves her house and children to go who knows where and leaves them a mess. A woman named Carrie comes to take her place, and she was a much less selfish character than Jane. The children loved her and when Jane came back she acted all high and mighty towards Carrie, even though she's the one that left in the first place.
   Betsy did seem more mature at the end, though all the woman talks went right over her head. The book ended on somewhat of a sad note when Carrie goes to jail, but it had a thread of hope in it too. All in all, it wasn't a book I'd choose for myself but I don't think it was a waste of time to read it. 

Betsy Brown II

   This is my second post about Betsy Brown, as promised, since I've read more of it. Frankly, I don't much like the main character(Betsy Brown) or really, her family. Betsy's reactions to events that happen are somewhat unrealistic. For example, when she is faced with the boy she likes, she says she already has a boyfriend, which doesn't make any sense. Why would you tell someone you want to be your boyfriend that you already have one?
    She also seems to believe that he'd be willing to marry her, even though he's never really hinted at that, only that he wants to get into her pants. She's also racist against white people, which is understandable, but leaves a bad taste in your mouth. She also runs away for reasons that make sense to her, but not really to anyone else, character or reader. Anyway, I'm hoping it'll get better and the climax will be satisfactory. I'll update latter on my opinion of the ending. Good day.

Betsey Brown

We're reading Betsey Brown for Craddock now. I guess it's okay, though being only one chapter in, I have no idea where it's going. The grammar is somewhat irritating but not unbearable. I think I like the character, though she seems to give up quite easily and her mother is a whore. I don't really have anything else to say since I have only read one and a half chapters so I'll write again when I've read more.   

My Thumbdrive

So, I'm just writing this because I'm having a really bad day. So, I wrote five pages of my historical fiction story, but it was all saved on my thumdrive which is now missing. Me, being the irresponsible person that I am, lost it sometime between sixth and seventh period. So now I don't know if I should try to rewrite all five pages, or if I should wait and hope that I find my storage system. If I do find it though, I would have wasted a day retyping it, same with if I don't than I wasted a day not typing it. I don't know what to do anymore. So I think I'll just take a nap. Good-night all.

The Good Theif

Recently we've been reading The Good Thief in class for Ms. Gamzon. Personally, I didn't think it was a bad book, but I didn't think it was so amazing that it should have won all the awards it did. I found the characters somewhat unlikable. Ren was constantly doing things that you wanted to slap him for, Benjamin was just a jerk, Tom was self-pitying, annoyingly so, though well deserved. The landlady that talked in caps was hard to read and Ren's uncle had an accent that took away from what he was saying.
   It wasn't a bad book, don't get me wrong, it just didn't intrigue me as much as it seemed to do for others.

My Haiku

I'd like to say before I right some here, that not only am I really bad at haiku, but my journal, which has all my haiku in it, is still in my suitcase from when I took it to Honduras with me. So, not only am I bad athaiku, but this isn't even my best haiku, simply the only one's I remember. Please keep that in mind when you read the following poems:

Waived paradise
yacht parking lot
joni mitchell

American's reputations
once again
slammed

Birthing nuts
and shade
palms

High in a tree
a nest
begins

Sandy winds
the shady  terrence
crowded with tourists

Yeah, I know there bad...please forgive me.

Haiku Guy

   I found Haiku Guy to be interesting but somewhat random. The book reminded me of stream of continues rambling on about whatever came to the authors mind. I also had some doubts about whether the author in the book was really the author that wrote the book. Did he really go to Japan? Did his writing group really exist? Or were all those people simply more characters that he created for his story?
   The haiku itself was good, though I'm not much of a haiku reader so I don't really know how good, and I'm sure most of the hidden meanings went straight over my head. If asked what the book was about, or even what it's genre was, I would probably respond with a blank stare and shrugged shoulders.
   I was extremely disappointed with the ending, though I suppose it went with the somewhat careless feel of the rest of the book. It also confused me though, on why his ex-girlfriend would have sex with him, then, when he called, gush about her boyfriend. It seems pointless and wishy-washy to me.
   My mother also read this book over break and it set her on a week of haiku writing. I was somewhat disappointing to find that her haiku were very good, better than mine. We were in Honduras at the time and most of the short poems featured sand, palms and beaches. We also had a long revision conference about a haiku we composed together that went
Waived paradise
yacht parking lot
Joni Mitchell
Not great but we liked it.

Last Post

Well, I suppose this is good-bye. Would you like fries with that?

Honduras on Thursday!

   I'm leaving for Honduras on Thursday to spend my February brake. If I can find a computer, I'll update this blog about what's going on, but I don't think where I'm going has one. The resort is called Las Rocas, which means 'the rocks'. It's on Roatan, an island off the north coast of Honduras. I've been there before, but it was a different resort and it was before the coup. I'm really exited, obviously.
   I'm going to try to update pictures from the trip, but I have a new camera, so it might not happen.

Ouch! Favorie Funny Sports Pictures

Funny pictures that have to do with sports. This is my favorite, I think.

Haha! You've got to love the odd man out! Love the hair...and the socks

Oops! Looks like his golf club's having a bad hair day.

 Don't look up!

Is it just me, or does he look like he wants to eat that bird?

Moo!

Yes! He is a manly man.

No comment.

Well, that's original.

Questions

1. If you found a wallet with a hundred dollars in it, what would you do with it?

2. What's the most interesting Halloween costume you've ever seen?

3. What's your oppinion of Valentine's day?

4. How do you think Obama's doing?

5. Your favorite song that means something and your favorite song that really doesn't mean anything.

6. Your idea of the worst summer vaction ever.

7. Which sex has it the worst? (male or female), which race? (white, black, hispanic, ect.) Which age? (teenagers, kids, adults, old people?) Who has it the best?

8. If you could change your, sex, race and age, what would you become?

9. Whats your dream future, even if you know it'll never happen?

10. What do you think your real future will be like?

Obama at the Pep Rally of Charlotte High School

I want our pep rallys to be like this! Which would be easier if we actually had one...

Watch it!
The 'obama' is one of their science teachers and the dancing guards are students.

Our Future

An interesting concept, the future. Did you know that what makes human unique is that we think about our future? No other animals do. So what do I think will happen in our future? I think we'll be more technologically advanced and we'll look at the technology of 2011 and laugh at it.  Can you imagine hundreds of years ago when they listened to live music and someone said that they could take that sound and put it in a metal disk and they could here the performance over and over again. The people in the crowd would probably laugh and say that it would make no sense to make something like that. No, they would say, the future would have horses that could run faster, houses that stand better, medicine that works better. Some of those things have happened, but they probably predicted the advancement of things they had. We think of better computers and better cars and better weapons. Who says the thinks we use now will have any relation to the things they use in the future?

My favorie Picture

 

 http://www.theamericanteenager.com/#/teenagers/ for better quality picture and interview with him. I saw this picture in a book called It's Complicated; the American Teenager which is an photography book with short interviews with each kid's picture. Some of the things these kids say are extremely sad and depressing. This one kid, 18 years old, was raped three times and her first memory was of her mother shoving a heroin needle in her arm as a reminder to pick up her mess.   

The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Goery

 

A is for Amy who fell down the stairs

B is for Basil assaulted by bears.

C is for Clara who wasted away.

D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh.

E is for Ernest who choked on a peach.

F is for Fanny sucked dry by a leech.

G is for George smothered under a rug.

H is for Hector done in by a thug

I is for Ida who drowned in a lake.

J is for James who took lye by mistake

K is for Kate who was struck with an axe.

L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks.

M is for Maud who was swept out to sea.

N is for Neville who died of ennui

O is for Olive run through with an awl

P is for Prue trampled flat in a brawl.

Q is for Quentin who sank on a mire.

R is for Rhoda consumed by a fire.

S is for Susan who perished of fits.

T is for Titus who flew into bits

U is for Una who slipped down a drain.

V is for Victor squashed under a train

W is for Winnie embedded in ice

X is for Xerxes devoured by mice

Y is for Yorick whose head was knocked in

Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin

More Books Please!

Recommendations Please! Comment your favorite book and author! I'm always looking for something else to read and if you liked it I probably will too. Thank you!

Book Review

The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley

   I read this book for English class because my teacher specified that we needed to read a book written by a African-American author. I took a long time browsing through that section of the public library looking for a book that wasn't about hate crimes, racism or slavery. This is what I found.
   To put it simply, it was a good book. To say it in more words, it was thought provoking, somewhat disturbing and kind of addicting. The characters are almost too real, and while you may not especially like them, their very believable. The issues faced in this novel are in no way mainstream. The only complaint I have concerning this novel, is that some questions are never answered. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it keeps one of the characters cloaked in mystery, which fits his personality. Another element in the story that doesn't quiet fit is the main character's popularity with the females, even though he was never popular before the novel started according to the introduction.
Recommendation: It's not for the faint of heart, but if you can handle it, I would recommend it very strongly.  The ending doesn't disappoint.      

Favorite Books and Authors

My favorite book right now is Last Night  I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz.
Favorite science fiction author is Orson Scott Card. Good books by him are;
Ender's Game
Ender's Shadow
Songmaster
Pastwatch
Memory of Earth
Hatrack River
Maps in a Mirror
A good fantasy author is Mercedes Lackey. 
http://www.mercedeslackey.com/
My favorite thriller writer is Iris Johansan.
The play I enjoy best was Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
My guilty pleasure reading is the Mercy Thomson series by Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews.

What reading is to me

Anyone who's ever been in a class with me knows that I read, probably more than what's good for me. I read about a book a day, depending on the book. Last year I read 409 books, everything from biographies to fantasies. I read a variety of genres: Sci-Fi, fantasy, teen-fiction, thrillers, plays and everything in between. To me, reading is an addiction. I come home from school, read manga on the computer, get kicked off, go upstairs and read. I finish one book, put it away, think about it, then pick up another one and start it.
          I read in class, something that's gotten me in trouble more times than I can count. I just can't help it. If I'm bored, I get this feeling that can only be satisfied by picking up a book and escaping into it. When I don't have a book with me in my book bag, something I did on purpose so that I'd interact with people more, I feel empty and edgy. It kind of scares me sometimes.
         Books also affect my mood. If I'm reading a good book, I'm bubbly and energetic and impatient to keep reading. If the book is even slightly sad, it puts me in a slump for a few hours after I finish reading. I also cry extremely easily. If I really like the character and they feel sad, I find myself sobbing along with them.
      Books are kind of like my life. I love them more than any other item I own.

The First of Many

And so it begins. This is the first post of many posts about SOTA writing for Ms. Gamzon and Mr. Craddock. I will do my best to make it as interesting as possible, so stick with me.  We are supposed to be writing about our opinions of writing, which I don't think will go over well. To many people have to many different mind sets about writing and I doubt they want my views shoved down their throats. But that's what I'm going to be doing, so they can live with it. So enjoy...or not. It's up to you.