I'm Not Ready...

It's ending.





My best school year. My favorite school year. My first year of high school. Over.


I have loved every minute of this year. From my classes to my friends, everything has flowed smoothly.

I am going to miss the seniors this year. My boyfriend is a senior. He is going to West Point. One of my best friends, Clare, is a senior. She is going to the local private college so I'll still get to see her. But it's not the same. I hate change.

I am ready for the end and a new beginning. But I like the old, and haven't had new yet. I don't know what to expect. I am determined to have a good summer, even with all the goodbyes.


See ya next year, BHS.

Book Review - Of Mice and Men

I just finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, yesterday. Although I did not enjoy the ending, the story was very intriguing.

George Milton and Lennie Smalls are an interesting pair. George is a smart-mouth, clever man while Lennie can remember nothing and cannot grasp the smallest concept.

When both get run out of Weed for a misunderstanding with Lennie, George finds the men work on a farm. George makes many new friends right away. Lennie, on the other hand, prefers to be by himself with his new dog.

Another misunderstanding causes the boys to go on the run, but only one ever catches his breath.

Book Review - The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was a very inspiring story about a little girl living in the slums. She did not want to identify herself with the other peasant neighbors on her street.


When Esperanza and her friends are given three pairs of high-heeled shoes, they play dress-up and imagine they are beautiful, rich ladies going to a party. The girls love being thought of as beautiful even though they are only children.


Esperanza begins to feel as if she is trapped on Mango Street. But in the end, she realizes she "will always be Mango Street." "She cannot forget where she came from or who she knew." Esperanza vows to herself if she gets out of Mango Street, she will come back for the others who are not strong enough to leave by themselves.

Independence

"So much depends

upon

A red wheel

barrow

Glazed with rain

water

Beside the white

chickens"

- William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams was a very well-known poet and a practicing pediatrician. When he wrote "The Red Wheelbarrow" he was with a dying girl and this poem comprised of what he saw out the window.

A way to look at the poem...

On the outside of the window is utter utopia, but on the inside is death.

My version of "The Red Wheelbarrow":

So much depends upon

Independence

Responsibility, Freedom, Self - Sufficiency

In one's mind but not always performed.

An Ode to Thesaurus.com

Hmmmm. My favorite techy-tool would have to be the good old online thesaurus. That's right, thesaurus.com wins! As a teenager writer I do get stuck on one adjective or adverb throughout my papers. Thesaurus.com helps me out. I really love the easy-to-use format of this website. First of all, if i type in a word, I must know what part of speech I'm using which requires me to think just a little! A big plus for this website are the links to other websites about a word. It has been very handy for some of my papers. So thank you thesaurus.com for making my papers extravagant!

Book Review - The Book Thief

(552 pages)

Where do I start? This book was an inspiring tribute to a girl's trying life.

As a young girl in Nazi Germany, Liesel Meminger is brought to foster parents because her mother can no longer care for her. This news is hard to grasp for Liesel. When she arrives at 33 Himmel Street, she is greeted by a squat woman named Rosa Hubermann, or Mama as Liesel is to address her. Liesel learns the ways of her new mama shortly. Her affection is shown by calling Liesel names. Liesel looks past this and loves her mama for who she is.

Hans Hubermann. Liesel's role model, teacher, hero, friend, and most importantly the father she never had. When Liesel continues to have wakening nightmares about her brother, her papa is there when she awakes and into the wee hours of the morning, he teaches her to read and write.

When a Jew needs a place to rest and hide, Hans and Rosa welcome Max Vandenburg into their already crowded and poor life. With their love for words and scary nightmares, Max and Liesel soon realize they have much in common.

Surviving in Nazi Germany is hard enough without the secret harboring of a Jew.

Liesel learns from her life with the Hubermanns and Max. She learns to love unconditionally, to read and write, and the most important, to stand up for herself and her beliefs.

Book Review - Animal Farm

"During the times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

-George Orwell

George Orwell's book Animal Farm is parallel to the idealistic totalitarianism in Russia. The characters compare with the political leaders in Stalinist Russia.



After Manor Farm is taken over by the overworked, underfed animals, an animal rights revolution evolves.



Old Major, the flame to this fire of angry animals, explains that all animals are treated unfairly, and the revolution begins! All is well after the overthrow of Manor Farm until the pigs decide they are the smartest, most valuable animals on now, Animal Farm.



Soon the other animals start to realize the pigs are changing some of the founding commandments. What used to be "No animal shall sleep in a bed" was edited to "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets". The animals continue to be treated unfairly throughout the story.


My favorite parallelism is the pigs to humans. In the end the pigs invite the humans over for a game of cards and as the other animals look through the farmhouse windows they cannot tell which is human and which is a pig.

Book Review - Wuthering Heights

A Classic

Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights, puts the weight of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw's romance on your shoulders.

As children, Catherine and Heathcliff were the best of friends, but as the couple grew older the friendship turned into undying love...literally.

When Heathcliff leaves home, Catherine is left behind and she soon marries her neighbor Edgar Linton. Of course Heathcliff returns and an age of raging jealousy begins.

To strike back, Heathcliff steals Isabella Linton and forces her to marry him.

A shocking death leaves Edgar and now Catherine Linton with the Earnshaws child, a twelve-year-old boy named Linton.

Catherine becomes ill after she bores her only child, Cathy. After her untimely death, Edgar is left to raise two children with the help of Ellen "Nelly" Dean. Some drastic living arrangements are sure to come...

The Utopic Spring Break

Spring break. The most appealing words for a teenager's ears. No school. No homework. Just laziness..
Except in my case.
Spring break started with no big celebration, just a calm weekend. Until Wednesday.
My school band was taking a trip. A trip to Orlando, Florida. A trip for fun in the sun.

We started out at 2:00, and a night on a bus was up ahead. When we finally arrived in Florida it was full speed ahead. Having forty girls get ready in a McDonalds bathroom was tough but the rest of the trip was a breeze..

On the first day we hit up Hollywood Studios, and the next couple of days we visited Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. We were so busy!

Our band was in a competition and we stole the show with our performance.

A long ride on the bus and little sleep concluded our trip, but the first place trophy and the memories were so worth it.

Pursuit of Happiness

Love makes us human. In Equality's world love is...extinct. No longer. Vanished. Gone. Love comes in many forms. From a mother to a best friend, from a favorite color to a favorite food. Equality 7-2521 had no love. When the time came for reproduction, a "mate" was chosen and matched to each brother, and then the couple was made to be separated. Chosen. Matched. Made to be separated. Even Equality's job was chosen for him. Can you imagine working at a job, day in and day out, knowing you could succeed, knowing you could make a difference if just given the chance of doing something you love?

Book Review - Ballet Shoes

Have you ever had to do something that you had no interest in doing? That is exactly how Petrova Fossil feels when she is enrolled in the Academy.

In Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes, the three orphan girls, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil vow to "try and put our names in history books because it's our very own and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers." Right away Pauline and Posy point their toes and lift their heads. They are the talk of the Academy and soon to be the town.

Although all three attend the Academy of Dancing, Petrova has her head in the clouds with her dream of flying an airplane.

The busy nanny has her hands full with this talented trio.

Book Review - Anthem

Anthem is an inspiring story of being yourself. An individual. Equality 7-2521 realized he was different. He wanted to be himself. He knew he did not have a debt to pay for his brothers. When Equality ran away and his love followed him, he found a secret place where he would unravel time's history and dream a dream for himself and the rest of humanity...

Ayn Rand is an inspirational writer. Her tale of the future is sure to put goosebumps on your arms.

Perfection.

Wars? Wars.

Do you agree we can fight violence with..violence? In the prime utopia of this earth, all wars would end. All fighting would cease. No more killing. No more murders of the innocent. Money would be saved. No more spending valuable dollars on weapons and soldiers' paychecks.

Starving? Starving.

No more hungry children thrashing through trash cans in an attempt to search for food. No more helpless babies being left to die in alleys because the single mother could not afford the food. Many countries have so much food to give, yet don't. If the surpluses could be distributed to third world countries, the swollen bellies of starving children would at last be satisfied.

Education.

As President Barack Obama stated: "...[we will] nourish starved bodies and feed the hungry minds." Many nations take a high education for granted, but so many people have the privelege to...learn. In a perfect world, education would be a top priority because so many are willing yet unable to learn.

Utopia? Yes.

Book Review - The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees brought me to tears the first time I read it. A beaten, broken-hearted child, Lily Owens knows there is a better life with answers out there somewhere in South Carolina. Based in the time of Negroe racism, Lily has to save the life of her "stand-in mother" Rosaleen when she spits on the shoes of three white men. Running away to a place scribbled on the back of a picture was the only way to escape for Lily. Her alcoholic father tracks her down, but Lily has finally found a home where she is loved, and refuses to leave. Both Lily and Rosaleen find there is a lot you can learn from bees.

Book Review - Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild by Jack London was an emotionally uplifting story. Being sold into brutal owner's hands, Buck struggles to keep his hope and spirit alive. As one of the biggest dogs in the pack, he quickly rises to power over the weaker animals. Buck's endurance to beat the odds provided an on-the-edge feeling as his story unfolded. When Buck realizes who he is, and what he is meant to be, a wavering relief is felt as he finally feels at home. The Call of the Wild makes dogs even more humanistic than ever before.

Book Review - Antigone

Sophocles' Antigone hit me with the realization, standing up for what is right may not have good consequences. Antigone's character was so magnetic. Her thoughts and feelings drew me into the situation, pulling my own thoughts and beliefs from me. Her uncle, Creon, did not understand her. Antigone's dogmas did not incorporate with Creon's vision of his kingdom. When Antigone refuses to ignore her brother's death and not bury him with the holy sacraments, her death is prominent. Antigone's defensive position was eventually sought out, but it was too late. Sophocle's easy-to-understand writing is straightforward; an entrancing story.

Then You Stand

My uncle is an alcoholic. There. I said it. I have been told all my life, jokingly, "You are just like your uncle!" I was proud at first. He was athletic and a frim believer in God. Truthdaully, I admired him, until he started drinking. I witnessed his harshness with my cousins and aunt. When he got on to McLain, his oldest child, for something she did not do, I jumped to her defense.

"Do not yell at her," I said, calmly.

"Mason," he answered warningly.

"You cannot get on to me," I stated, matter-of-factly.


Right then and there, I realized I am not going to be like my uncle. I am not going to turn out like him. I will never drink, I promised myselp. Not long after that promise, my mom wanted me to taste the tiniest sip of Kahlua, a 'yummy liqueur' as she put it. I knew that sip would not do any real harm, but I stayed true to myself.

"No thank you," I said.

"It's a sip, Mas," Mom answered.

"Mom, you have always said I am just like my uncle. I may be ornery. I may be hard-headed, but I can promise I am NOT going to be a selfish alcoholic."


And that was that. She never said one more word abouth that tiny sip. I knew she was proud that I realized the ugly side of being just alike, and I was standing up against it.