Free Blog 3

Books are wondrous things. Every time I open a new book I am always surprised. Even though I know the structure of almost every book by now, books always seem to catch me off guard. Every time I know the girl will get the guy, or they will defeat the evil villain, or I am anticipating someone to die because it has been too calm for a while, I am always surprised. When you get wrapped up into a good book, anything can surprise you because you get attached.

Getting attached is a good thing though. Not just because it keeps you on your toes, but because you take what the author says to heart. Most of the advice I follow has been from lessons or quotes I have taken from the books that stick with me the most. If you pay attention while reading and go deep beyond the story you will find hidden secrets.

Over the years I have read countless books and now I can really focus on the truth behind it all. The philosophic questions, the meaning of love and life, the fact that the author choses this word instead of another; these are all signs. Signs that if you put them all together over the years, will point you in the direction of leading the best life possible.

You may open a book with one point of view on life and close it with a completely different view. That is the magic of reading. Until you actually read it you never know what pieces of the puzzle you are going to get. And by the end of your life, you will look back and say that you have lived your life thoroughly, not always in reality, but still thoroughly.

Ferguson

In August a police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. The grand jury spent three months reviewing the case and just recently announced that they will not be indicting the officer in question. An uproar exploded in the town of Ferguson, where the crime was committed, as well as New York City, Chicago and Oakland. There were riots, protesters, burglaries, and fires erupting in the streets. This one act has outraged the public.

As much as we would like to believe that racism isn't a factor in society anymore, we would be lying to ourselves. Even if it wasn't in the minds of the actual people in question, the reaction from the public proves otherwise. We have to realize, it has only been 50 years since segregation ended. It may not seem like it, but it is still a fresh subject in the grand scheme of things.

On the other hand, if you are saying that this incident was not race related, then it was a matter of policemen thinking that violence solves all problems. That because they have guns, it is always the answer. The amount of weapons that have increased in a matter of 50 years on officials is outrageous.

Either way you look at the problem, it has spiraled out of control. The country is falling apart further every time we "advance" in technology or politics. This one incident has just put that fact into he spot light so that everyone can see it. These protesters aren't there for the man who was killed, they are there because the see the change in society and they don't like it. This is just the people's scapegoat to show that they have had enough. If this didn't happen, something else would have triggered this reaction. This is just the beginning.

Journal #12

                                 
The quote above is from the book, The Impossible Knife of Memory. In the book Hayley, the main character and her father, Andy have gone through some tough times that they would both like to forget. Her father was a soldier and has PTSD. Hayley is the only one around to take care of him since he won't go to see the Veteran's therapist. But, Hayley has her own form of "PTSD".

As she is trying to be a normal girl in high school, he is starting to scare her. She doesn't know what to do with him anymore. Things and people keep coming back from their past and it is making her scared and angry at the same time. She was not prepared for any of this.

These words above is what she say to herself when her memories start to come back. Keep Breathing. These words is what carries her through the tough times, because that's all she really can do, is keep breathing.

This book is a great eye opener to the realities and casualties of war. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know and understand the complications of life from both sides of the story; father and daughter.

Journal #11

In the book, The Impossible Knife of Memory, there is one character that stands out to me. Finn is the main character's "boyfriend" and he is the most fascinating out of them all. He is smart and quirky and he balances Hayley (the main character) out.

We first meet Finn at a lunch table where he is spouting out definitions of random words for his friend's homework. Immediately I could sense that he liked Hayley because of all  of the attention he gave her. Perhaps too much attention, but in a cool/awkward way. That cool/awkward vibe is what I also liked about him. He was different from all the rest of the characters.

I also find Finn interesting because of his "life is life" attitude. He is not pessimistic, but he isn't overly optimistic either. He is just human, which is very refreshing. Hayley struggles with a lot, and he keeps her on the ground. He is a good and decent guy and that is why I think this character is the best out of them all.

Journal #10

There is a quote in the book Every Day that states, "If you stare at the center of the universe, there is a coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us. Time doesn't care about us. That's why we have to care about each other." I find this quote to be the absolute truth.

The Universe is only a place to put living things, it is not a living thing itself. It is just there, it does not feel or want, it is just cumulative, therefore it does not care. Time is the same way. It is just a measurement, so it does not care either.

Even though these two things are what we center our lives around, the Universe and Time don't center itself around us. Time seems so fragile, but in reality, it can never break. The Universe seems right in our grasp, but really we will never be able to touch it. We hold Time and the Universe up on a pedestal as if they decide our fate, our future, our choices, our life. But really these two pieces of our life will go on without us.

This is why we have to care about the people that surround us. Without them, we would be all alone, and that is no life. Friends, family, loved ones are all we really have while we are living, so we have to take care of them as best we can.

Journal #9

Like I said, the book Every Day, is full of philosophical questions. But, this quote above, is more about A's personal struggle with what/who he is. As I said before, A wakes up in a different body every day. Never to have his own friends, his own family, his own life. This can be a very lonely life. To never be tied down to anyone or anything. That is probably one of the reasons he feels love so strongly, because he so desperately wants someone to show him that same love.

To be invisible is one thing. It comes with A's territory. He blends in, lives on the down low for a day in whoever's body he is in. He is quiet so no one hears him. But when he does input himself into the life he has taken over for a day and no one notices that anything is different, that everyone thinks it is all fine and normal, it is like screaming at the top of your lungs and still not being heard. Being invisible is far easier than being seen and ignored. At least when you're invisible you have an excuse for why people don't notice you.

Journal #8

The novel Every Day is an interesting read. It is a love story, but a complicated one. The difference being that the main character, A, switches bodies every day. A is neither a boy nor a girl. So, when A falls for a girl when he was "possessing" her boyfriend, it makes things, to say the least, complicated.

Throughout this whole book, there are so many philosophical questions being posed. Based on this fact, I would think that this author, David Levithan, is a very intellectual individual. One can not write this book the way he did, if he wasn't thinking about life, death, love, and sacrifice at least once in his life. It makes me think that he himself has had these same questions circling in his head.

Also, the imagination it would take to come up with this complex life A leads, must be extensive.
Mr. Levithan would have to be a pretty fun guy to hang out with. There is no way someone who wrote this intriguing story could be anything but. To see how he thinks would be fascinating.

Journal #7

The book, The Foretelling, is a story about the Amazon Warriors. If you do not know, the Amazonian population are all women. Strong, powerful, warrior women. The main character in this book is Rain, the daughter of the Queen. Rain struggles with the fact that she thinks her mother hates her. Based on the story of her conception, it makes sense. Being raped by 50 men, is an inconceivable pain and horror that no one would want to remember. It must be so hard for the Queen to think about her daughter, which is why she let others raise her. Through out this book, Rain is jealous of the new woman her mother is with and angry at the new sister she has gained. Rain tries to find out how to be a good person as well as a successful warrior. She struggles with death. When she realizes she is going to be Queen, she struggles with that fact as well.

In the story, Rain talks to the woman who raised her and asks her, "Isn't every Queen cruel?". Her response is, "The weak are cruel, the strong have no need to be." This quote stuck with me throughout the rest of the novel. It is a motif of Rain's life. Later in the novel, when things get tough and complicated, she does not automatically resort to violence. Being strong is not just being physically strong, it is being able to be a leader that people will follow, it is knowing when to fight and when not to, it is being able to take charge when need be, it is being courageous, it is knowing love is more powerful that hatred. Rain is strong.

Even though the Amazon Warriors are extreme in their ways compared to society today, you can take a lot of the advice given in this book and it will still apply to life now. That is what I liked about reading this story. It will make you think about who you are and who you can become all based on the choices you make.