Currently

Sentences of the week:
1. Yessir.
2. You catch the snowflake but when you look in your hand you don't have it no more.
3. But ther aint but one reason... It's that their word's no good. That's the only reason there ever was or ever will be.

Pages: 159 this week

BOoks BoOks booKS

This week I finished my book High Fidelity? It was very interesting as he ends up proposing to his girlfriend, Laura, after an intense funeral and a weird get together. They start up his old club, called The Groucho, which is basically just an old people's throwback retro-club. He is interviewed for the start up of his club by a cute, sophisticated reporter whom he is immediately infatuated with. He plans to meet up with her for a drink although he has just reunited with Laura. When he realizes what has occured he has an epiphany. The next page he is sitting at a bar, with butterflies flittering through his stomach, he proposes to Laura. He sees that by getting married he is opening his wife, When your thirty something and not married thats all you can think about, being single or in a relationship, but when you get married it opens you up to pursue whatever you want. He realizes that he is completely dependant on Laura, his friends, social life, habits, money, all includes her but she is not dependant on him. She has taken time to pursue other aspects of her life so that she has something to fall back on while he can't progress until he gets married. This was an interesting turn of events in the book because, personally, I didn't know what Rob was going to do and I'm pretty sure he didn't have an idea of what he was going to do. High Fidelity was a good book and I would recomend it but its definately not for everyone. Rob is a hard character to like if you dont understand his relationship to music and if you dont like music, you wont get it.

I also am reading The Crossing which is getting good already. Billy is just a kid who traps a wolf. Right now he is walking around with the wolf muzzled and he is trying to take it back to Mexico. The most interesting part so far, which included heavy foreshadowing, was his meeting with an old man. McCarthy uses spanish during their small talk but when he wants to emphasize the important parts he lets them talk in English so that the reader understands the importance of their words. McCarthy uses this to make it clear to the reader the unimportance of the surroundings but the importance of the words. Basically the man says that once you have caught the wolf everything will change. I'm excited to read Billy through his quest.

Sentences of the Month

1. I have to say that it was the best milkshake I ever had in my life. It was so delicious, it almost scared me.

This is one of my favorite sentences ever. It makes me want to go to Steak and Shake and buy every type of milkshake they have; or possible, go to the  store and buy supplies to make a million, malty, mingling, mixalicious, milkshakes. Thats what I want, a scary delicious milkshake.

2.Step on a crack, and you'll soon be eaten by the bears that congregate at street corners.

I like this because you never know what awaits simple decisions or seemingly, unimportant actions. Sometimes the smallest decisions make the biggest difference, like being eaten by bears. Awwwwwwwsome.

3. "There is a shabby nobilitiy in failing all by yourself."






CURRENTLY
Books:
Pages:

High Fidelity

This book that i'm reading, High Fidelity, is really interesting? The guy, Rob, is basically a bum. he owns his own record shop in London, but its not doing to hot. He has had to borrow money to keep from going under, his girlfriend (who was living with him) left him for the guy who lived in the apartment above him, and he has this weird desire; he feels that to bring closure to his past, he has to meet up with all of his his top five worst break-ups and ask them why they rejected him.His struggles are really interesting and funny.

Throughout his journey, mid-life crisis, rediscovery, whatever tickles your fancy, he compares his problems to the one bearing in his life, music. His life becomes this endless playlist of different genres and melodies. At soon as his most recent girlfriend, Laura, leaves him, he re-organizes his whole record collection. His music is his life, therefore, by reorganizing it, he is reorganizing himself. He does it chronologically to how he bought the records, instilling in himself a purpose to get to the bottom of his problems by looking at where they started, chronologically. While Rob is trying to sort through his mess of a life, he meets this American singer, Marie. He has always wanted to get with a recording artist, which Marie is, and with an American, which she also is. He finds himself disoriented and, often times, off-guard by her frankness and classic American attitude.

The way Rob narrates his story, relating everything through albums and different songs, made me wonder what if we all do this, which to a point we do. Its like when school is hard or there is a girl you like that you don't know how to ask out, you put your problems into terms you understand. Everyone has something their good at and I feel like that's where your problems go. For me I can put stuff in wrestling terms and its funny to think about your problems in such terms, but it works because its all relative. Relating your problems like this puts the seemingly unsolvable in the simplest terms to yourself.

New Books?

Lately now, I've been reading alot of easy, breezy books? I've decided, after reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, that I want to read more substantial literature that has deeper meanings, metaphors, and qualities.

Thus my selection of new novels is High Fidelity which is a book by Nick Hornby that is similar in style and characteristics as wallflower. It is a story of a man, Rob, who owns a music shop in England that isn't doing so hot. He tells some of his story in flashbacks and lists and discusses everything that comes up in his life. I'm near the beginning and he has talked about his past girlfriends who hurt him the most when they broke up because recently, his girlfriend Laura, has moved out to be with someone else. I wanted to read it because its similar to wallflower and both remind me of a book I really liked, Catcher in the Rye.

My other selection was going to be Suttree a Cormac McCarthy story until I got my hands on The Crossing, the second part of The Border Trilogy, also written by McCarthy. The Crossing is really interesting. I'm not very far into it but Billy, the main character, has already met an Indian, who I think will come up sometime in the future to either help or hinder him, and set off on an adventure. He is with his dad tracking a she-wolf, who they hope to capture. She has started to prey upon cattle of the ranchers near by and so Billy and his dad take it upon themselves to track her down. I look forward to reading it because I really enjoyed All the Pretty Horses and I like to read McCarthy. His writing style forces me to focus on what I'm reading and to "participate" in the novel, instead of mindlessly going through it. It should be a good one?

Claims of the day

XC Hoosier 3366: In the music video “The Adventure,” by the band Angels and Airwaves, resonant and alive music, roaming and adventurous surroundings, and powerful, real energy convey that a man’s life should be lived with passion and adventure, as long as his true love is by his side.

Swimstrong:
In Versace's purple ruffled gown, his fading colors, smooth lines, and rough and fragile textures along with a flowing and clean shape create a complimentary and whimsical sense of beauty in fashion-art.

Less Than Three: The interior decorator's use of strange, modern furniture, simple color, a careful use of space, and distinct, quirky architecture express an energetic confidence and absurd frivolousness of the inhabitant. 

hipsteroku: In this creepily strange video, the innocent looking girl becomes prey to the dark, unusual looking guy, who then follows her into the dark with disturbing intentions, until the shocking climax in which the now evil seeming girl attacks the man with a strange force and ends with an ironic, twisted ending you wouldnt expect in a thousand years.

Case

The majestic, distinctive color with the deep, wild detail add to the heavy contrast and proud focus of this lion, a dignified and appreciative beast who hunted his prey out of resigned necessity, and for a disgruntled, hungry family.

4 Subjects:

1. Color- Defined, Majestic, Distinctive, Alive

2. Focus- Captivating, Proud, Stands-Out, Inevitable

3. Contrast- Heavy, Current, Polar, Numb

4. Detail- Gleaming, Vivacious, Deep, Wild

“Tournez, Tournez, Bon Chevaux De Bois”

By Edith Sitwell 

 

Turn, turn again,

Ape’s blood in each vein!

The people that pass

Seem castles of glass,

The old and the good

Giraffes of the blue wood,

The soldier, the nurse,

Wooden-face and a curse,

Are shadowed with plumage

Like birds, by the gloomage.

Blond hair like a clown’s

The music floats—drowns

The creaking of ropes,

The breaking of hopes,

The wheezing, the old,

Like harmoniums scold;

Go to Babylon, Rome,

The brain-cells called home,

The grave, new Jerusalem—

Wrinkled Methusalem!

From our floating hair

Derived the first fair

And queer inspiration

Of music, the nation

Of bright-plumed trees

And harpy-shrill breeze . . .

     *  *  *  *

Turn, turn again,

Ape’s blood in each vein!

 

I think this is about the fragility of men and the primal instincts that drive us. How we just happen on good ideas sometimes and how its best to just go through life sometimes and try not to break.

Currently...

pages: 464
Books 1.5

I read Mockingjay which was good and started onto "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" which is solid.

Sentences of the Week:
1. I love Twinkies, and the reason that I am saying this is because we are all supposed to think of reasons to live.
2. I have to say that it was the best milkshake I ever had in my life. It was so delicious, it almost scared me.
3. I let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be.

My favorite is the second one because milkshakes are soooo good. they are the nectar of the gods. A good milkshake makes any day a good day, and a great milkshake is occasionally the high light of my week.

Wall flower

First things first, I finished Mockingjay? The ending wasn't at all what I expected. While I was reading it I was getting extremely mad and frustrated because: one, I couldn't tell if what was happening was real or not, two It was moving slow and Katniss was on morphling alot of the time, and three, because its not how I wanted it to end. I wanted a ending that wrapped up the book but wasn't too fairy-taleish. The explosion with Prim just sent things into a whirlwind, which are the pages that I don't like. Eventually, I began to like the end though as soon as Katniss shot the President. She began to have a sense of normalcy, slowly coming of the morphling and depressing state she was in, and hunting. She returned to District Twelve without her family which I appreciated because it was one last emphasis that no matter how hard you fight not everything will go your way. It truly added to the Hunger Games because her family was her life and struggle. Her promise to Prim kept her going in the first book, and kept sustaining her through some of her hardest times. Prim dying was probably the most unexpected twist that happened. I think her death was meant to be a symbol of the loss of innocence. No matter how hard she tried, Katniss could not stop Prim from growing up and maturing. There was alot of foreshadowing, with Prim's voice sounding thousands of times older and with her looking like she had changed, but even through that she still symbolized the innocence and love of the world. It was ironic that this innocence was taken away by the people who were supposed to be trying to protect it. Overall I liked the ending and was glad I could read the Hunger Games Series.

The next book I have started on is, "the perks of being a wallflower," a series of letters from an anonymous boy, nicknamed Charlie, to an anonymous reader. It is extremely funny, well pointed, and fun to read. In an off-handed, casual way Charlie introduces the topics of high school. He talks about drugs, dreams, parties, friends, and every topic under the sun. The way Charlie writes is interesting and funny and I'm looking forward to seeing his adventures and the wisdom he gains by going through high school?

Mockingjay

I'm currently reading Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy? The book has been captivating and extremely hard to put down. I'll be sitting in class and the only thing I can think about is taking it out of my backpack and reading it. The whole idea behind District 13 is really interesting and conflicting. Their whole purpose is to dethrone the authoritarian system of the Capitol. They want to do away with their extremist regime yet district 13 is extreme itself. There are so many similarities between both governments, its appalling. They are basically claiming that to get rid of the tyrants they have to be tyrants themselves. I understand it would be hard for them to do anything else in the given situation but it is still interesting how both parties use control over the media, strict regimes, and regulations to wage their side of the war. Even though both are doing the same thing one is viewed as good and one as bad just because it was already in power. I continue to appreciate the way the author, Collins, displays Katniss. She is just as confused as me because she sees some of the same problems. She realizes that the District 13 uses people and are just as manipulative as the Capitol. She's not even sure if they will do as they plan, releasing their power into a republic. The book is extremely interesting so far and I want to finish it to see how everything works out?

Step on a Crack?

This book is a crime/mystery novel by James Patterson. Detective Mike Bennett is the man of the NYPD. He's their go to guy for Homicides, but his world is turned upside down after First Lady Caroline Hopkin's assassination. Her funeral is being held in St. Patty's cathedral in New York and is in the middle of the procession when it is held up. Hijackers hold hundreds of people hostage within the cathedral including a former president, and many celebrities. "Jack" the main bad guy on the inside is an arrogant but careful man. Almost all of the problems he encounters are pre-thought out and he has a plan in place for all of them. Most of this planning is on account of his head accomplice, the "Neat Man," a guy who is on the outside and helps them by warning them of cop movement. They hold up the scheme and eventually get away, raking in anywhere from 2 to 3 million dollars from each rich, celebrity hostage. The sum is around 70 million dollars. They only lose a couple people on the way, which is where they get caught. Although they had been extremely careful, burning off their fingerprints, cutting off identifiable parts on their dead companions, and planning every detail, the criminals don't get away with it. On one of their dead companions, the forensic scientists uses acid to take off the first layer of dead skin. This enables him to get a partial print off the under layer and identify them with a twist at the end. I wont ruin the ending but after you read it you'll understand the overlying message of the book. The message being that those who are closes to you are the most dangerous. Your friends and family are the ones who know the most about you and can hurt you the worst if they would betray you. They know, like the criminals, how you function because they've been around you the most and have grown close to you. Luckily mmost of them would never do anyting to hurt their own family but if it were to happen they could do the worst damage.

I've also started Catching Fire and it is gripping so far. I'm interested to see how things turn out with Katniss and how she will handle her inevitable fate. It seems, so far, that eating the raspberries, which really was not eating them, has been a fait accompli for her, her family, and her friends.

Currently?

I read The Giver and The Chronicles of Nania: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I also started reading Step on a Crack, a crime novel by James Patterson if you've heard of him. Should be epic.

Giver?

Finished reading The Giver and I forgot how good of a book it is? I forgot that the ending was happy too. It just reminded me how much better I can read now that i'm in high school and how much more I understand when I read, thanks to Jankow for destroying our class last year. I found it interesting that the Giver and Jonas had to break the rules and completely  undermine the whole society just to show them their weak points. It goes to show that change comes from change and that when nothing changes life just goes on. The society never experienced real joy or real sorrow, they just went through the motions. The inception of emotions was bred into them with precision, they never actually got to experience it. I also finished Narnia. Narnia had a slight variation from the movie and the book especially at the end but overall I enjoyed the book. It was like being told a story. It brought back some good memories when people read books to me, man those were the times. My next read is a book called, Step On a Crack, by James Patterson. I've read some of his novels before (Worst Case  being one of my favorites) and they are amazing. They have the most ridiculous hidden messages and plot twists, along with them being detective novels. It makes the books amazing because, like the main character, you try and figure out what the psychopathic killer is going to do next. Most of the time I end up just figuring it out as the main character does because it tells you but its still fun to be a part of the case. I'm also looking forward to reading Catching Fire soon, I just need to have a couple of days freed up so I know I will just be able to read?