Final Blog Assignment

Literature as a whole is significant because it allows you to experience different cultures and environments, that you otherwise may not be able to ever experience. I think that's why its so important to never judge a book by its cover. The words inside are what really matters, and if you judge it before reading, you may miss out on a learning experience or enjoyable experience. For example, two of my novels PERFECT CHEMISTRY and THE FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY, each show an insightful perspective from not only gang members, but poor kids, and the effects of racism, gang violence, and drugs on a community. In PERFECT CHEMISTRY, Alex Fuentes is a perfect example of a Latino in a well-known gang Latino Blood. Most people would assume that a gang member chooses his/her lifestyle because it's what he/she wants or cause it's fun to them. In reading this novel, i experienced the hardships that Alex and his family were put through and how the reason he entered the gang was to protect his family. Most people would also assume that a gang member can't be a good person AND a gang member at the same time. This novel goes to show that some gang members actually are great people who just sacrifice alot to protect their loved ones. Also, in alot of cases, a gang member cannot quit his/her gang- it becomes his/her life. If a gang member decides he/she wants to quit they have to face a test- surving being beaten to death by all of the gang members. So that being said, even though i didn't personally experience it, i did in a way experience alot of this tragedy which is real life to alot of people just by reading these novels.
An example of experimenting, i think was me going to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream", because i had never seen a play before and to be honest, didn't really have any plans on ever seeing one. But thanks to Stephanie for forcing us to experiment with new things, i developed a sense of appreciation for the art of acting and the literature behind it. They say that you need to become a better reader to become a better writer and i think by experimenting with flash fiction, drama, and poetry, i have definitely been taken out of my comfort zone and gained (or found) more creativity within me. I also learned a few interesting things about literature/poetry in general. I learned that some poems may not necessarily have one significant meaning. Some may be very powerful, some may be able to be interpreted in many different ways, and some may be just as simple as a fortune cookie poem. Also that many short stories and flash fiction have no real purpose, some are just written for fun.
I think the awesome part of the literature and poetry that we have read in class this half-semester is that so much of it can be interpreted in different ways. Someone may tie it in with personal experience because they can relate to it, while another person may view it as a metaphor or something completely different. Alot of writers will use certain words in a different context than you would be used to. This is a really poor example but still similar- you can use the word FOR as in (i bought i gift FOR you) or (in the place of because- i love you FOR i have never felt like this before) Overall, this class has expanded my knowledge of literature and actually made me quite a bit more interested in it.

Cultural Op- Shakespeare In Love

I decided to watch Shakespeare In Love mainly because i recognized a few of the actors and there's a poster of it in our Lit class room. I finally rented it yesterday and sat down to watch it with some food, not expecting much out of it. After watching the first ten to fifteen minutes i was hooked. I really liked this movie alot- like to the point where i would probably buy if i saw it reasonably priced. It's pretty much (in my words) about a writer who for awhile just feels like he is useless and can't seem to write anything new and good. He referred to this as feeling like his quill was broken. He then holds auditions for the play that he secretly hasn't written yet and discovers an actor who is actually an actress but he doesn't know this. He is immediately impressed with this "actor" and sensing that it might be a woman, he asks the "actor" to remove "his" hat. This is when she takes off running and Shakespeare takes off after her and follows her across the lake or river (Some body of water) and arrives at a house where some sort of party is going on. The lady disappears from his sight and dresses up to attend the party/dance. Shakespeare attends too, and is immediately entranced when he sees her (not knowing she's the "actor" he was chasing) and dances with her until her husband wannabe removes him, telling him off pretty much. Blah, blah, blah, she ends up showing back up to his auditions with fake mustache and beard and wins the part of Romeo (This is when Shakespeare is in the process of writing Romeo and Juliet). Eventually Shakespeare discovers who she is, blah, blah, blah, they fall in love (or lust) and the tragedy begins when she is forced to marry Lord Somethingorother. Anyways its an awesome film - romantic, funny, fun, etc. I think i liked it so much cause i could relate to parts of it. Like when he can't write and feels like his quill is broken, until Viola (his Juliet who actually plays as Romeo in his play) becomes his source of inspiration. For me i can't write without inspriration, sometimes i stare at the paper for hours trying to come up with something but when inspired it flows out like a river. I would highly recommend watching this, especially if you enjoyed A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Cultural Op- A Midsummer Night's Dream

This play definitely ranked as one of my favorite things we did in our Lit class this summer. I think the whole area was the perfect environment for the play. And the beautiful weather that day definitely added to it. This was a completely new experience for me because the only play sort of thing i've ever seen was "Cats" which is a musical that i saw performed when i was in like fourth grade. I was amazed by the actors. I thought they did an amazing job with their parts and truly made you feel as though this was their world and you were watching it on a screen. I saw bits and pieces of this before in "Dead Poets Society" (an awesome Robin Williams movie) and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (awesome show), so some of it was familiar. I thought it was a very enjoyable and creative mix of humor and romance. At first i was wondering if they were just faking the kissing but i'm pretty sure they actually did. It's a good thing we didnt have to for real act out our plays that Stephanie assigned us :) I think there woulda been quite a few counts of public indecency. I enjoyed the play most though when it was actually dark outside because it actually gave the feel of a real theater aside from the gradually cooling temperature. If i had another opportunity to see this performed, i am sure i would probably take it.

Cultural Op- Live Novel Soundtrack (misread instructions-my bad, gonna re-do it)

I definitely don't really have the time to see a concert, nor have i ever been to a real one unfortunately; so I decided to make the mix of ten songs that are supposed to relate to your life. The first song i chose to put on the cd was "The Sadeness" by Enigma. Kind of an odd choice, yes, because its a New Age piece of music with Gregorian chant in it. However, there's just something about it that really relaxes me, and its kind of neat listening to a practically extinct language. It could be partially because i grew up listening to this when i lived in Florida. I remember my dad would always play this Enigma cd as we were all going to bed and i grew to love it. The second song i chose was "Back 2 Good" by Matchbox Twenty. Part of the reason i chose this song is because Matchbox Twenty was my favorite band back in elementary school and this was my favorite song by them. Another reason i chose it is because i really like the lyrics. I copied the lyrics from all 3 choruses in the song: "Everyone here, knows everyone here is thinking about Somebody else It's best if we all keep it under our heads" "And everyone here, hates everyone here for doing just like They do It's best if we all keep this quiet instead" "Everyone here, is wondering what it's like to be with Somebody else Everyone here's to blame, everyone here Gets caught up in the pleasure of the pain" What i got out of this song is that alot of us are so focused on finding someone that when we finally do, we are wishing it was somebody else, or realizing we had it good beforehand and now we can't "get it back to good" without pain. It's just a nice mellow and thought provoking song. The next song is "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz. Now obviously i do not have a son, nor will i for at least seven years, but i chose this song for a different reason. This is a very powerful song about a father who is praying for his son, because his son is sick and his wife is losing hope. I think that this is one of the most touching songs i have heard in my life. My favorite line is "If you can hear me, let me take his place somehow, cause he's just not anyone, he's my son". This man is willing to give his life, and is begging God to let him take his son's place. If you listen to the song all the way through it is truly moving and tear-jerking. The fourth song i chose is an instrumental called "Never An Absolution" by James Horner (off the Titanic soundtrack). I think this is an incredibly beautiful song, from the vocals of some Swedish woman (forgot the name, and its not Celine Di0n) and the flutes and instruments used throughout the song. It's one of the songs that tells a story without words. And i chose this song because Titanic happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. The next song is "A Different Kind of Pain" by Cold. Its a very relaxing and depressing song which as far as i can tell is about a man who has made mistakes and knows he has to let his love go. Here's a bit of the lyrics. "Before I let you go, give me just one more night to show you just how I feel.I lost all my control, if it takes my whole damn life I'll make this up to you.Kind of like the waves, that roll their whole life towards somewhere crashing on the shoreThat's blown in by the wind that carries the clouds to hide my wish on a fallen starA different kind of pain, is someone there to hold you is someone there to take you away from me". I chose it because it's a beautiful song lyrically and instrumentally and i listened to it alot back in my depressed high school days. This next song is called "Over and Over" by my boys Three Days Grace. I love this song because it reminds me of a few of my stupid high school relationships. Its pretty much about an on and off relationship. The lyrics are emotionally-fury driven about a man who tries his best not to fall back into this on and off pattern but goes against his better judgement. This is my favorite part "i know what's best for me but i want you instead, i'll keep wasting all my time". Reminds me of my high school self :) My next song is called "Pieces" by the new-ish band Red. It's an extremely moving song about a man who feels like nothing until he finds faith in God. "i come to you in pieces so you can make me whole" I chose this because this is who i used to be; i used to try so hard to be/feel accepted until i realized i don't need to go with the crowd as long as i have God by my side. The next song is my favorite 3 Doors Down song "It's the Only One You've Got". I chose this because i think its important to take risks sometimes to achieve success. I would not want to live any other way. If you're too scared to try in life, you're not gonna have a very fulfilling life. The ninth song on the mix is a new song called "You" by Elliott Yamin. It's another depressing relationship song about the girl leaving him without explaining why and its pretty much him spilling his heart out wondering what went wrong and believing she is the only one for him. I chose it because on the 18 day minimester Southwest trip i met a girl who i really liked. We were very close, spent alot of time together and i was thinking you know maybe this is a girl i could be with. We experienced alot of awesome things together that most couples these days will never experience: hiking up Zion Canyon in Utah, climbing the remains of an old volcano (SP Crater), falling asleep under the stars holding hands, helping eachother study in the long van rides, writing her poems and seeing the look on her face afterwards, and taking countless pictures together. Everything seemed perfect and we still hung out a few times when we got back home and then she randomly starts distancing herself and eventually we lost touch with eachother. And then i'm sitting at home looking through all the pictures from the trip and on facebook, thinking to myself "why?" "did i say or do something?" This song just seemed to perfectly match how i felt. The final song i chose was "Better Days" by Goo Goo Dolls. This is actually a relatively happy song about starting over and giving life your best shot. And that's pretty much why i chose it. I think it illustrates the point that alot of us let our problems rule our lives and get in the way of actually living it; and how we need cast aside material things and things that should not matter as much in order to find better days.

Summary

So for this last blog thats supposed to be on an in-class reading or assigned reading, i really could not think of what to write on. So i'm just gonna write about this class. I think that overall, this has been my favorite class i've taken at ICC. I think its awesome that in our 8 or 9 weeks we have created like a little family. To be honest as happy as i am to start my real summer, i am actually sad that this class is over. At first i was very intimidated, not knowing what to expect when coming into class. Especially after hearing the first few assignments Stephanie assigned us. I actually considered dropping when i heard that we had to put on our own mini book club AND act in a play in front of the class. I have taken speech classes before and do not enjoy being the center of attention so therefore i was scared to death. However, i am glad i did not because i think even after all my complaining what Stephanie assigned us, ended up forcing me out of my comfort zone and therefore teaching me to be more creative and try new things. I thought our flash fiction unit was really random but fun. I also loved the poetry unit though i was taken by surprise when i saw the different poetry stations (fortune cookie for example). To be honest after surviving this class i would say the only bone i have to pick is the flipping down and dirty quizzes. I am a person who does the assigned readings but flips the hell out trying to guess what may or may not be on the quiz. I am a good reader but sometimes its like it goes in one eye and out the other. If this class was based purely on down and dirty quizzes i would be failing i'm sure. Especially with these Lit Salon ones. I see poem after poem after short story after essay and i have no idea what to take notes on. Other than that i liked everything. The plays were fun yet perverted/explicit but very enjoyable. I would definitely take another class with Stephanie.

Hannah Monfreakingtana

So there was yet another scandal i read about involving the disney star Miley Cyrus. She is/was dating Nick Jonas (i believe but don't quote) and was found with another guy making out on a beach. This went to the top of the E-News channel gossip/rumors. Now obviously this would be called cheating in a normal person's book , however; Miley happens to be a celebrity. As it turns out she was just filming a scene in one of her new movies. I don't know about you but i am not quite sure that would excuse it, especially if i was the unlucky boyfriend. Now seriously, i have had arguments about this with friends before and i want your honest opinions (whoever reads this). If you were dating someone and you saw them kissing/making out with another person would you be okay with that? Even if it was "JUST" filming a movie scene? I'm sorry i know its celebrity stuff but my opinion is: cheating is cheating. If you're not ready to committ yourself completely to just one person, i don't think you have any reason to be in a relationship. Relationships are built on trust and how is their any trust in that kind of a relationship? How do you know if the kisses/make out/etc. is strictly acting or not? Do you just take their word for it? And also would you be comfortable kissing a person other than the person you're with? I think even if it's acting, there is such thing as crossing the line and i believe that's a pretty big freaking line. My thought is does Miley have a conscience? And if so its obviously not a guilty conscience. Thoughts? Opinons? Beliefs? Please share :)

The Freedom Writers Diary

For those of you who have not seen the movie, i would very strongly recommend seeing it. It is a fantastic film based on a true story of how a young caucasian female teacher made a great impact on a class of african americans, latinos, cambodians, asians, etc; most of whom were involved in gangs, didn't know how to read, hadn't heard of the holocaust, and/or had no intention of ever graduating high school. I chose the actual diary as my second novel and realized i never posted a blog about it. It is a very heart-breaking and touching book and film about how naaive alot of Americans are about their nation. For instance, only after seeing the movie The Solist (Jamie Foxx), i learned that there were not only thousands but millions of homeless people living just in California. (I believe that was just in the San Francisco area but don't quote me) Likewise, until seeing this film i was not aware of how horrible many areas of our country are over-ridden with violence, hatred, and racism. Take Long Beach, California for example (which is where this story takes place) At Wilson High School, there were several different minorities thrown in with a what used to be majority caucasian school. Each minority acted as a unit, hated every other one, and would die for their own just to kill another one. Using the books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, Erin Gruwell (the teacher) relates the students to eachother, while educating them and bringing them together. Gruwell hands out journals for every student to fill out every day and in the end compiles them into The Freedom Writers Diary. "We decided that we were going to tell all the other teenagers that they were not alone."- Freedom Writer

Poetry Slam

So the first thing i can say after getting home from the poetry slam is WOW! I was firstly very impressed with a number of students in our class with their ability to actually 'get into it' while reading their poems. For me, it doesn't really matter how much i try to prepare myself, once i actually get up in front of everyone, i seem to lose it. Whether its shaking or talking too fast or sweating or all of the above. I have done a couple poetry readings before but for some reason this was quite a bit more nerve racking. I know self esteem may play a little bit into it, because after hearing a bunch of the speakers before me, i was thinking there is no way i can top that let alone come close to it. I actually am a poet and have been writing for years now, but there is something about having to read or "perform" it that just scares the hell out of me. If it were up to me, poetry would be my major (yeah i love it that much), but i don't really think there are any careers, jobs, etc. that that would do anything for. I was excited about reading a poem outloud... until i heard it had to be performed as a poetry slam. I have taken creative writing classes and read my own works outloud with no problem but i guess i don't have the personality for a poetry slam. I took all the right precautions this morning: didn't eat too much, drank plenty(gatorade/water), rehearsed plenty, typed and printed out my poem , and even triple spaced my lines to prevent me from reading too fast. Didn't help me dammit :)

The Time Traveler's Wife

I was at the Rave theater with my best friend waiting to watch the movie The Proposal, which by the way was a wonderful movie, when i saw a very intriguing preview for a movie based off of a number 1 bestseller novel. It looked like a nice romantic/funny/sad movie so i decided it would be the perfect movie for me. I then learned that one of my friends owns the novel that the movie was based off of and she let me borrow it. So for my third novel i am reading The Time Traveler's Wife. So far i really like it. It's very intriguing and fun to get into. The story is pretty much about a man with a condition called Chrono-Displacement Disorder and a girl Clare who met him at age 36, when she was only 6. The man Henry, without warning or anything he can do about it, gets pulled into different points in his life (past and future). I think the author was brilliant for creating this masterpiece because once you get into it, it is a really touching/moving book. It pretty much shows the effects of Henry's inevitable disappearances on the relationship between him and Clare. It also does a good job illustrating a major principle of love-distance makes the heart grow fonder. Another awesome thing about this story is that its written from both Clare and Henry's point of view, which makes it alot more fun to read and enjoy. This is obviously a fiction story but it provokes deep thought, nonetheless. Like what would you do if you were in love with someone who couldn't always be there with you? Would you try to work through it, knowing that it will be difficult or would you give it up and try to move on, dismissing your feelings? I can't wait to finish reading this story. It has my undivided attention so far.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Archaisms are defined as words no longer in common use and/or other words that may not be familiar to the reader. Some archaisms used in the poem are "tarry" and "coy". These are both words that i have never seen before until now. Syntax can be used as changing word order, in order to keep a certain rhyme going. An example of this in the poem may be "that age is best which is the 'first', when youth and blood are warmer; but being spent, the worse, and 'worst'". Rhyme is obviously used throughout the poem alot. "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying; and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying". Dramatic situation pretty much summarizes who is speaking to who under what circumstances. In this poem, the author Robert Herrick is kind of the narrator talking to the reader. A caesura is a pause within a line. A good example of this in the poem is the comma separating "but being spent" and "the worse, and worst".

He's Just Not That Into You

When i saw the preview for this movie i thought it looked funny but i didnt really have any interest in watching it. I was pressured by my two best friends to skip class on Presidents Day and see it with them, so i decided to cave in for once. I actually ended up really enjoying the movie. Then recently when it came out on video i decided to rent it and watch it by myself. Surprisingly i got alot more out of it the second time i watched it (coulda had something to do with not hearing my friend Karissa drooling over every good-looking dude in the movie) and the movie is now not only in my top ten favorite movies of all time (i know, all 19 long years of my life) but on my list of movies to buy when it gets cheaper cause i don't wanna pay more than $12 for it and its $20 right now. Anyways i think whoever created this movie is a genius because it completely catches you. It is so real that its humorous and enjoyable as well as romantic and sexy (yes i said it). I however know quite a few people who saw the movie and utterly despised it. My first reaction was "What the hell?!" And that is exactly what i said. I did not understand how someone could watch the movie, paying attention to every detail, from beginning to end and not love it. Then after watching it the third time i realized that this is a movie that strikes close to the heart if you can relate to it. I myself could relate to a few situations in the movie but thats what i found funny and enjoyable about the movie. I can see though how some people being closely related to a few situations in the movie would find it more hurtful than enjoyable. I still thought that overall the movie left a good moral-don't lose faith, just because some guy or girl hurts you doesn't mean that every guy or girl will. You have to take chances and really put yourself out there sometimes. No gain without pain. I would encourage whoever was more hurt by the movie than amused/entertained to re watch it and pay close attention to the movie as a whole. Allow yourself to be amused and entertained because if you're only paying attention to what depressed you, of course you're gonna hate the movie. I think thats the problem with the world today. People in alot of cases do not wanna open themselves up and i find that really depressing because life is too short to keep yourself in a shell. Instead look at this movie as a way of learning and succeeding from your mistakes as well as others. My father abandoned me half way through my life and missed the most important years of my life but is that gonna keep me from watching or enjoying movies that remind me of it? Hell no! Everthing happens for a reason and as my man Kanye West says "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

I Gotta Feeling (Like Oh Em Gee!)

I was not feeling very creative tonight and didnt know what to write about. So i decided to go on Itunes and check out the lyrics to the number one song of all genres. The song at number one happens to be I Gotta Feeling by the o-so-loved Black Eyed Peas. Not only are they back together after a few painful solo albums and embarrassing performances (*cough* Fergie!); they are back with a whole new set of mature and well-written lyrics. It starts out by repeating "I gotta feeling, tonight is gonna be a good night" somewhere between 3 and 11 times and progressed to the heart-felt 1st verse: "Tonight's the night night, Let's live it up, I got my money, Let's spend it up, Go out and smash it, Like Oh My God, Jump off that sofa, Let's get get OFF". This just goes to show the brilliance of the hip-hop/pop/r&b (or whatever the hell else you wanna call it) mastermind in todays world of "music". In particular i liked the part "Like Oh My God" cause thats exactly what came to my mind after realizing this was number one most downloaded song on Itunes. But wait it gets better! Here comes the 2nd verse! "Fill up my cup, Mozoltov, Look at her dancing, Just take it... OFF, Lets paint the town, We'll shut it down, Let's burn the roof, And then we'll do it again" If i was too harsh of a critic before, let me apologize. Black Eyes Peas is very good at... rhyming...o and being repetitive. So pretty much this song is about what most popular music in our generation is about. Getting drunk and having fun WUHOO! I mean really could there be any higher purpose in life? Obviously B.E.P. doesnt think so :) I invite you all (who ever even checks this blog out) to check out the rest of "I Gotta Feeling" s lyrics by Black Eyed Peas. I will provide a few more highlights if you don't get the chance. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Saturday ta Sunday, Get, get, get, get, get with us, You know what we say, Party everyday". I "gotta" hand it to them, they sure do know their days of the week.

Star Wars

One of the themes i identified in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope was love. To be more specific, more of a love triangle. Although it is frowned upon today (in most cultures) for siblings to develop "intimate" relationships, Luke and Leia definitely cross the boundaries of flirting (not to mention she kisses him 0n the lips in the next movie) ewww. Anyways though, it is obvious that Han Solo and Luke are both trying to put their best foot forward to get Princess Leia's attention. And although Leia picks on Han and appears to be rude/snobby to him, it is quite apparent that she has a crush on him. We find all of this information out (or most of it) when Han asks Luke "do you think a guy like me and a girl like her?" and Luke, without hesitation (almost immediately) says no.

The New Pop

Not only have i noticed that "vocal synthesizers" are becoming very popular among hip-hop, r&b, and pop artists but also the similarity in most radio played songs. I guess the "electric" sound is more appealing than the sound of original unaltered voices. Not gonna lie i do find alot of it catchy, but at the same time we are allowing artists who really don't have talent to steal all fame and glory from the musicians who work their asses (and voices) off to secure a spot on the top 40. If you are hearing a pop, r&b, or hip hop tune, chances are you are hearing the original version or remix with one of the following: Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Kanye West, Akon, and/or R.Kelly. Now i am not saying that none of these musicians have talent because i do frequently listen to most of them BUT i am merely suggesting that other artists should get the spot light without having to try so hard to fit in with what's "popular". I am a music fanatic so usually when i am listening to music, i'm listening to brand new stuff and recently it's all starting to sound the same. You would think that our new generation should be concentrated on pure driven talent rather than electronic (technology made) talent. Without these vocal synthesizers, i dare to say, half or more of our popular artists today would be done. Finished. Shut completely out of business. We need us some musicians who sound the same on their records as they do in concert!

The Lady With The Pomeranian

The short story that fate assigned me was The Lady with the Pet Dog. After reading the first two lines, seeing the words fortnight and yalta, i panicked. I had no idea what either word meant and assumed the rest of the story would be the same. From what i gathered the overall meaning of the story was... there was no overall meaning to the story. The best i could come up with was Pomeranians are cute and cheating is bad. To summarize the well dragged-out story (it could have been much shorter and kept the same meaning), the main character is a bit of a sexist/pig/manwh*re who views women as the inferior race. He has never been in love before and from what it sounded like, had an arranged marriage. The girl (who happens to be half his age) seemed to be naaive, emotional, and a bit of a suicidal case waiting to happen. The highlight of this poor character is the fact that she owns a Pomeranian (very cute Asian fluffball lookin dog). The manwh*rish main character is entranced and intrigued by this "lady" and decides she will be his one night stand. He is taken off guard when he realizes he has developed feelings for the girl and is in fact in love for the first time in his life. But he doesn't this yet so shhhhhhh..... Now of course like most love stories, there is a serious conflict. THEY'RE BOTH MARRIED! So when the husband of the girl calls for her, she leaves and plans to forget Mr. Manwh*re. Mr. Manwh*re does not like this so he decides to surprise her and show up at a theater thingy. They sneak off together......... blah blah blah and story ends. Open denoument. Do they get caught? Do they divorce their significant others so they can be together? I guess we will never know because the author passed away over a hundred years ago.

Unauthored Quote

Two days before starting this literature class, i had just arrived back home from a traveling minimester. I took this field geology/biology course to be my last science credit. One of the places our class traveled to was Zion National Park, Utah. While shopping at a bookstore right outside of the national park, i found several coffee mugs with quotes on them. Being the poet/dork that i am, i got out my notebook and wrote a few of them down. My favorite one that caught my eye was a quote without an author that read "all your dreams come true IF you have the courage to pursue them". I think i liked this quote so much because it is so accurate. The way i interpreted it is : If a person really wants something in life, but does not strive to achieve it, chances are they will not get it. One has to fight to get what they want and in most cases, if one does fight for something, he/she is bound to get it. If one is too scared to stand up for themself, how is he/she ever going to accomplish anything? In life, there are bound to be risks that may or may not be necessary to take and it is only one person's choice whether to take it or not. This reminds me of a line of lyrics by 3 Doors Down from the song "It's the only one you've got". It goes "If you're afraid to fly, then i guess you never will...you've gotta live this life you're given like its the only one you've got". I think this also highlights the point that we only get one life and we will waste it by not taking chances and striving to achieve our dreams/goals. I used to be afraid to try new things and to put my heart out for other people to see. That was the loneliest point in my life and now that i have grown mentally, i am not afraid to try even if i fail. This quote "all your dreams come true if you have the courage to pursue them" has now shaped my life... I still don't know who wrote it though :)

Perfect Chemistry

Perfect Chemistry is the novel that i am reading right now. Simone Elkeles did a fantastic job writing this. This story is about two different high school characters' lives coming together. Poor and popularly feared Mexican gang member (Alex Fuentes) and rich, conceited Caucasian head cheerleader (Brittany Ellis) live on opposite sides of town. North-siders and South-siders do not get along with each other, to say the least. That's why when Alex and Brittany are assigned to be partners in chemistry class, bad things are bound to happen. Both young characters genuinely and openly hate each other to begin with. The only thing that the two have in common is a mutual attraction. Gradually, feelings between the two characters start to complicate. Brittany cares a great deal about appearance, as she was raised to by her parents. So even when her boyfriend, captain of the football team, is pushing her to have sex, she is scared to break up with him. She thinks that if "The Golden Couple" breaks up, her reputation will go down the drain, especially if people find out about her feelings for Alex. Meanwhile Alex's feelings are rapidly increasing for Brittany and does not care so much about what people would think if he and Brittany were together. This modern day Romeo and Juliet is humorous, dramatic, romantic, and exciting at the same time. A movie, for sure, needs to be made of this Perfect Chemistry. I am not a reader that is usually excited to sit down and read, but this book has sure changed that. When i start reading, i am usually pulled in until chapters and chapters later. So.... Read this book fo sho!

Collected Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

I have been a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe ever since i was introduced to "The Tell-Tale Heart" in eight grade i believe. After being assigned other readings such as "The Cask of Amontillado" i actually began to enjoy reading. The Collected Poems of Edgar Allen Poe is actually the first book i have ever bought on my own, which i bought yesterday. I just really enjoy the power and passion that Poe puts into his writing. I prefer to read his poetry for the most part because in alot of cases one poem can make clear a message that would usually take a story. I also enjoy the poetic language more than narrative language because its more fun to read and its song-like. Alot of poems can be really fun to read if you just find the right pace/melody to read it at. Of course not all poetry is supposed to rhyme, but even when it doesn't, there are appropriate pauses that, if found, make it more enjoyable to read. The Raven, one of Poe's most famous poems is a good example of this. If you read it closely and follow the rhyme, you can almost snap your fingers and dance to it. Annabel Lee is another perfect example. I enjoy Poe's writing also because he is brilliant with word usage and his descriptiveness. So much of Poe's writing is though of as scary, but beneath the "scary" element, there is nothing but genious.

Literature- A Pocket Anthology

I thought the reading from page 7 to page 25 was very straight forward and unlike most classroom texts, actually somewhat interesting. There was alot of information to pick up on while reading the text; however, there were many examples such as famous authors and books that were given, which made the reading more interesting. I normally would have kicked and screamed my way through an assigned reading but instead i learned a few things about literature that i did not know before. For example, i was not aware that Edgar Allen Poe was a magazine editor nor that denouement was the same thing as resolution. I also read carefully enough that i actually was able to remember a few of the down and dirty quiz questions without taking notes, which i still should have done. I think the author did an exceptional job writing this introduction, in not being a typical textbook author by just throwing boring, useless information at the reader which would inevitably stay unabsorbed on the page, never making any connection in the brain. I'm quite positive that i just created a run-on sentence but i am just trying to hit my 250 word mark so i can post my next blog and go out to dinner :) If i had bought the literature book before 7:15 this morning and had been able to sit down at home to read it, i probably would have gotten a little bit more out of this reading. But why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? I am going to pretend this is 250 words and hurry on to my other blog now.