Second Semester Blogging

The end of the year is so close. I feel as if I am at the final stretch of a marathon, but as I step back to look at the big picture, I see that I have only been through half of my high school race. Sophomore year is coming to an end. Now, I must take the time to stop and examine my blog. I am briefly going to compare this semester to first semester on the different types of assignments my class had, and how they affected me. Blog posts were increased from three-hundred words to five-hundred words. Literature circle group letters were given a new format. They changed from addressing how one annotated a book, to more of a quote analysis type of assignment. But, just like last semester, my blog post topics vary from a wide variety of random topics with different styles of how I approached them. These are the very mild changes that have affected the way that I write.

I am positive that my writing has improved in at least one way. I am beginning to become a faster writer. This skill will certainly help me in the future if I am ever timed for writing. I believe that my speedy writing has been caused by all of these quick-writes that my English class does on some unique topics. Strangely, I wrote quick-writes last year in class for practice as well. They are an interesting task where a teacher gives their class a topic, and the class must write without stopping for a said amount of time. Sometimes the teacher can give the class a few minutes to arrange their thoughts on the topic. Over the two years that I have done them, I guess that I was bound to become a "quick-writer." An example of one of these awkward writing tasks would be my blog post called the "Quick Write: Rules of Love." This is not the best example of a quick-write because I put it in question format rather than attempting to form paragraphs about the questions (which is the normal format). Thanks to practicing these, I am capable of phrasing complex sentences for my blog posts in smaller amounts of time, and pretty much finishing them altogether in a short amount of time as well (roughly thirty to forty minutes). In "Chaotic Week," I discussed an unfortunate position I was placed in, and briefly about the book I would have to read over the weekend. "I am only forty pages through this four hundred page or more behemoth, which means that I have only taken a small glimpse of what is yet to come." I had hardly slept the night before, and yet I was able to formulate this sentence. I thought that it sounded perfect the way it came out. I did not even consider altering this sentence as I proof-read the blog post. The several minutes that I use to plan out a quick-write have also affected me. Every time I have to write a book review (e.g. Unwind, Hot Zone, and Parable of Talents). I now find myself using a sheet of binder paper to prepare for what topics I will write about and what quotes I may use from the book. It is a habit that I nearly find impossible to do without.

As I had mentioned in my "First Semester Blogging," I stated that "my blog has a lot of varying topics." I would still find this true. I still even blog about "either an event that recently occurred, or a thought that was lingering within my head for the past twenty-four hours." Some topics are not too out of the ordinary (well at least for other people). While I was writing "Avatar=My Hurt Locker Anticipation," I got to act like a legitimate sophisticated movie critic. At first it was a bit strange talking about the two most highly acclaimed movies of the year, but eventually I just let my ideas flow for whomever to see. Just the feel of writing like a critic was a bit different for me. Another blog post that appears completely bizarre is "Our Kitchen Sink." The title is not suppose to have some sort of double metaphoric meaning. That might actually throw off the reader before he or she begins reading. I even included "This weekend was not so good" as an intro. The whole post is just a plain and simple story telling the sequence of events that happened on my (at the time) recent terrible weekend which involved the replacement of my family's kitchen sink. I was still in a bit of a "handy-man" mode and decided to write about the experience the following day. Well, there was a familiar topic that I decided to write about with a new approach. "Easing Up" is about my somewhat new writing topic of skateboarding with a slightly new form I chose to write in. I decided to write as if it were just a journal entry. In the first two paragraphs, I mainly reflect on the distant past. But, things change in the last paragraph as I tell of a more recent event where my friends and I were "playing a game of L.I.N.E." For the ending half of that paragraph, I allow the reader to see exactly what I was thinking at the moment I was losing and also the feeling of triumph for being able to perform certain tricks under a certain amount of pressure.

I can hardly believe that I am at the middle of my high school career. I am beginning to feel concerned if the remaining other half will pass as quickly as the first one. All that I know is that I have become a better writer during the time I have been blogging. New assignments like quick-writes have given me the ability to write faster while being able to form perfectly coherent sentences. And now, I briefly, yet carefully, create a layout for what my essays (or book reviews) should include. My random blog post topics still continue to exist. New topics and new approaches to familiar topics are seen throughout my blog. They will continue to be posted onto my blog for as long as I want them to be. I think I might still blog even though it will most likely not become an English class requirement for the next school year. I want this to become a hobby of mine. For once, I have found a method of writing that I do not hate, and I might even conduct on my own free time.

Unwind Book Review

The novel Unwind, written by author Neal Shusterman, is an amazing science-fiction thriller. The book tells the story of three teenagers in a terrible future where a practice known as unwinding is accepted in there society. Parents may have their child (person under eighteen years of age) unwound, if they are displeased with them. For that, they must sign a waver, and from there, the child is picked up and taken to a harvest camp. Eventually (soon after the child's arrival), the child will be humanly taken apart. Their body parts will be donated to people who have experienced incidents and have lost a body part, or to just greedy freaks that want something as stupid as a new eye color. The main characters Connor, Lev, and Risa try to get escape from this cruel society and live to the age of eighteen (adulthood), so that way, the government cannot have them legally unwound. This is quite a challenge, due to the fact that Juvey-cops are everywhere on the lookout to captire and turn in any runaway Unwinds. Whenever I read this book, certain thoughts started coming to me. I began thinking about which audience would enjoy this story the most. The character that changed the most ever since they became an Unwind. And, of course, how did this book compare to other science-fiction books that I have read.

Identifying the intended audience was possibly one of the most simplest things that I have ever done in my life. The book centers around three teenagers and their struggle for survival by escaping the almost certain fate of every Unwind. The book has quite a bit of action, some mild blood and gore, and a few teenage romances. So, from what I am able to deduce from this, this book is strongly intended for teenagers and young adults. Primarily those that have a bit of knowledge of the Pro-life and Pro-choice causes. Unwinding was created in order to please both sides, in some strange way. All of the three main characters share some things in common. Like that fact that they are all were going to be unwound, and they all feel a bit like loners. Teenagers can relate to the arguments Connor Lassiter and his parents have all the time. Connor's parents want him unwound because he is a trouble-maker in school, always getting into fights. He does not have many friends either. So now, his parents are fed up with him, and have signed the unwinding order that will have the State send people to pick him up. At one point, when Connor was younger, his parents used to love him. Now, all that they do is argue with each other. "'Why do you have to get wound so tight?' his father once asked, exasperated, and Connor had snapped back, 'Maybe someone oughta unwind me'" (pg. 94). Connor later on runs away from home, before the people from the state come to collect him for unwinding. Risa on the other hand, has no parents. She is a Ward and lives at a Sta-Ho (state home), a place that is pretty much a large orphanage. As an orphan she has learned not to trust many people, except for Mr. Durkin, her piano teacher. He has become nearly a father to her. The third main character is Lev. He was a tithe (to be unwound as a proper sacrifice to God) with some pretty darn religious Christian parents. They were the ones that guided him down that path. It was quite lonely because, growing up, there are not many tithe, especially of the same religion. But, Lev's entire world begins to change once he and Connor cross paths.

Levi Jedediah Calder is one of the three young main characters. Of them, he is the youngest, but appears to undergo the greatest change. At the age of thirteen, his Christian parents threw him a tithing party before he was to be unwound. His oldest brother Marcus, was the only person who openly disapproved of his parents actions by simply letting Lev go with God. He caused a big commotion at Lev's party that Lev had not fully understood. Marcus goes and says, "'Gotta wrap up all those life events, all those parties, into one-birthdays, wedding, funeral'" (pg. 29). He wanted Lev to hear what sort of impact unwinding has on families. Lev did not fully understand what was going on because his father then shields Lev from the truth by asking Marcus to leave. A few days later, when Lev's time has come, and Pastor Dan and his parents are driving him to the harvest camp, there is a huge incident on the highway they were on. One thing led to another, and all of a sudden Lev is captured by Connor and Risa. Lev thought that he was being held hostage at first, so he plays it cool. Lev's tithing had been interrupted, and he was angry with these two Unwinds. So, Lev plans it all out. "Let them think they're earning his trust. And once they're lulled into their own false sense of security, he'll make sure they both get exactly what they deserve" (pg. 43).

The time does come. At a school where Connor, Lev, and Risa were seeking refuge, Lev called the cops and told a few teachers that he was kid-napped by two Unwinds. But, after a talk with Pastor Dan, Lev is told that he does not have to live the life of a tithe. His parents did not call in a search for Lev, so he felt pretty hurt by that because it showed his parents had a lack of caring. Lev helps Connor and Risa escape the school situation and gets separated from them in the process. By this time, Lev had made the transformation of tithe to Unwind, and gains a new companion on the way. The solder outhern accented umber skinned guy's name is Cyrus Finch, but goes by the name CyFi (he is a runaway, but not an Unwind). Lev and Cy grow quite close together on their voyage. All it took was one obsessive-compulsive shop-lifting episode, and Cy tells his secret. He had a whole piece of an Unwind's brain because of an accident he had long ago. The Unwind's name is Tyler. Tyler does not know of his unwound state, but for some reason really needs to go to the city of Joplin. When Lev and CyFi get to Joplin, CyFi 's parents are already there waiting for him to meet Tyler's parents, and Tyler takes over Cy's whole body. Tyler apologizes to his parents for all the bad things he has done (obsessive-compulsively steal shiny objects) and begs them not to have him unwound. All that Tyler's parents do is stand there holding each other feeling victimized that their son has come back to plague them. They do not feel any remorse for their son who they had unwound. Then, Lev yells and threatens Tyler's parents and commands them to tell Tyler they will not unwind him. When they finally do, Tyler gets his closure, and CyFi takes over again. This is when Lev escapes in all the chaos with the great feeling of change in him before the Juvey-cops arrive. "He knows he's been changed by this moment, transformed in some deep and frightening way" (pg. 193).

Lev later on shows up at the Graveyard, a place where run by Admiral Dunfree where worn down planes are stored, resold, and also where Unwinds can hide. Here is where Lev meets up with Connor and Risa. Their old conflicts are resolved, and they become dear friends. Risa and Connor notice the "new Lev" and just decide to live with it. But, also, the Graveyard is where Lev joins the secret group of Clappers. These Clappers have a solution injected into them so that in a few days, their bodies become dangerously unstable, to the point that they can blow up. All that it takes is a strong enough impact on the surface of their body, a clap or two should do. Lev became this suicidal Clapper because he wanted the world to "suffer a small part of the loss and the emptiness and the utter disillusionment he feels inside" (pg. 284). Lev and a few other Clappers are then sent from the Graveyard to Happy Jack Harvest Camp in Arizona. Their mission is to destroy the Chop Shop (the place where the adolescents are unwound) inside. At high noon, his two Clapper companions detonate (after experiencing a bit of hesitation). Lev gets ready to detonate, but realizes that his two friends, Connor and Risa were at the Chop Shop when it blew up. Connor walks out a bit dismembered (missing an eye and has a limp arm) while Lev has come to the conclusion not to detonate. Then he immediately runs to Connor's aid. Lev did not detonate not because he was scared. He was fully committed, but knowing that his friends were in danger was the feeling that prevented him from clapping. Hell, one of the reasons why Lev became a Clapper was to ensure that Connor and Risa were safe. Lev left to go out on his mission while thinking that "Connor was safe at the Graveyard... The one thing that Lev had taken comfort in-the safety of his friends..." (pg. 296).

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a fascinating science-fiction thriller. It is one of the best, if not, the best novel I have ever read. Neal takes a highly interesting approach in telling the story of the three teenagers, Connor, Levi, and Risa, by rotating through each of their perspectives. Along the way, a few other character perspectives are included in the story (some more significant than others). In the end, all of these perspectives are put together in such a well-mannered way that just seems to fit perfectly. This book was full of so much action that I just had to read faster to find out what would happen next. After reading a certain amount of chapters, I would usually take a break and ponder about what could happen next. Some of my predictions proved to be true, others were close. The book appeals greatly toward the teenagers who have experienced times of loneliness and have a small understanding of Pro-life and Pro-choice causes. Out of the three main characters, Lev is changed the most. Throughout the book, he changes phases. He begins at the stage of a tithe, becomes an Unwind, gets angry with the world and joins the Clappers, but when the time came, he chose the righteous path and became a savior by helping Connor leading the rescue of the Chop Shop victims. Unwind is a great book. Unfortunately, I have to end this review in a "corny" matter by saying, I give Unwind a 9.5 out of 10.

Unwind Third Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

As you both know, this is the final reading/lit. circle letter we are writing for Unwind. It might even be the last lit. circle letter we may write this year. After this, we have to get ready to write the last book review. But, I am glad to say, that I enjoyed reading this novel, almost and possibly even equivalent to being your reading group members. The quote that I am going with this week is:

"The Admiral grips his wife's arm. Neither can hold back their tears- not tears of sorrow, but of awe. If the rest of his heart were to stop now, in this moment, the Admiral would die more content than any man on Earth. He looks at the crowd and says weakly, H-Harlan?" (pg. 334).

This part of the book just seemed to leave me completely mesmerized. I was amazed at what event had taken place at the Dunfree's house. Just when I thought that the whole "Hunfree Dunfree story was correct, a small change is needed to make it true. I am not sure if it was the fact that the technology in this future did not posses the capabilities of bringing human beings back to life, or if the Dunfree's just felt if they gave their son to the people, then the people should give Harlan back to them. But, they ended up keeping all their guests alive, such as Emby. They did not kill anyone to harvest back their unwound son's body parts. They just invited everyone, and stood back to watch the magic happen.

The majority of the people being sent to harvest camps do not want to be unwound, even if others may say that Unwinds do not really die. They are still alive, technically. I am not sure if this was thoroughly tested before, but I am pretty sure that the true answer was discovered at the Dunfree's house. I am positive that when the scientists said "not dead," they meant it in terms of cells and individual body parts. They were not talking about awareness and consciousness. The ability to experience sensations such as love, hate, or jealousy. By bringing all the recipients of Harlan Dunfree's body part to one location, the Admiral and his wife had almost entirely unwound their son, Harlan. All of his body parts were there, just a bit scrambled up, but the fact that they were able to bring back his awareness, something that was lost by Roland during his unwinding, they were once able to react and communicate with their son once again.

Well. We had a good run my reading group buddies. I will see you guys some time soon to discuss the final book review.

Sincerely,
Jacob

Easing Up

It has probably been two straight weeks, maybe even longer, since I have touched my own skateboard. I need to go out and skate to relieve all this tension. All this tension is coming from these end of the year assignments that I fear I might not be able to complete. I always stress out, but end up doing good in the end. The stress is what pushes me to do such a great job. I need the stress. Without it, I will crumble down into a worthless slacker. I am starting to miss out a lot on friends and such because of doing these projects. I have not had a session ever since two Fridays ago. But, this will all be over soon, and it will be summer. I will finally be able to hang out and play with my friends for hours without having to worry about school or grades for at least another two months.

I plan to put this summer to good use. Last summer, my friends and I had progressed our skateboarding by a lot. One of them started landing 360 flips, the other got dolphin flips, and I finally got stylish pop shuvits every try, landing them on the bolts of the skateboard ("proper form"). It is a shame that I am taking a break from skateboarding because I had just landed two kickflips of mild height, on the bolts (proper form), within a month. I was so happy because I only landed one a year ago, and lost hope after that, until now. I can finally feel the trick within my grasp. I want to be able to do them consistently.

What makes me even happier, is that I did the better looking and feeling kickflip under pressure. It happened two or three weeks ago. I was with a couple of friends at one of their houses. His house is pretty cool because he has a long driveway and his parents allow him to build many "skate-able" objects. One of them we were using a lot. It was a nine of ten foot long movable manual pad that was approximately mid shin height. Some of us were playing a game of L.I.N.E. This is some sort of complex game that we heard of on the Berrics. Well, I was losing, and my friend set the trick by doing a kickflip and after that manualed the ten foot pad. I was pissed at the time because I knew that I did not have kickflips. I had proper rotation, catch, and height (knee high sometimes), but my front foot just never stayed on. I watched my other friends go and do their attempts, but none of them were able to copy, so they received their letters. Then, it was finally my turn, I did my first try, did not get the proper flick, so the board spun wrong and I did not land it. The second time was the charm. I caught and landed it. I looked back at my friends and they were screaming with joy, but I remembered that I had to keep going and do the manual pad. I thought that I was not, going to make it, but I told myself that I will not let anything get in the way of this moment. So I ollied lifted up the front end of the board bracing myself for the back wheel impact. I felt total concentration flow throughout my body. And finally, just as briefly as it had started, the manual was over, and I was rolling away, back to my friends to celebrate my accomplishment.

Quick Write: Rules of Love

1. The rules and ways of behavior of young men and women includes certain activities that they do together as a couple. They generally go on dates, eat together (romantic dinners), talk together, and watch movies together. As long as they know that they are having fun together, then that means the relationship is going in the right direction.

2. "Nice girls" and "nice guys" tend to follow certain rules such as having fun with their partner and being loyal. Loyalty is the key to a great relationship. They must never cheat on their partner or flirt with other people. Entering numerous relationships at a time is another bad thing, and especially using your partner to only benefit yourself.

3. Consequences of breaking these rules are harsh, yet reasonable. A violation could cause the relationship to weaken, or even fall apart altogether. The relationship may become "on and off," or a break-up will inevitably occur. There is no point in being in a relationship if your partner is not committed and is probably "looking around" while he or she says that they are still with you.

4. I would say that these rules come from a mixture of friends, family, and the media. Movies, the romantic sorts, currently are creating the rules of love. They are setting examples of what to and what not to do in a relationship. Also, they sometimes show how to get revenge on an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend for whatever actions they have done. Family lends a role because they sometimes try to get you to date people of a certain age or ethnicity. Friends try to curb our taste in our interest of people. They, like parents, approve of who you date, but unlike parents, look more at what social group they are from at wherever you see them around at (maybe school).

Unwind Second Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

This book is beginning to get way to good. I am starting to have trouble setting it down because of how interesting the story gets. I had to make the harsh decision of reading on last night. It was harsh because I chose to do that rather than type up this lit./reading circle letter. I know that you guys are already done reading your copies of the book, because you are two extremely fast readers, but I am starting to feel my reading skill get better too. The plot of this book makes me fear for whatever events will occur next. This causes me to create educated guesses (in which many have been prove true) and read on at a faster pace once I have focused all my concentration on the book. I get easily distracted, so thank God that this book has very dramatic scenes that pull readers in. I have read up to a point a bit past the second reading mark. I plan to finish the book some time over the weekend. And now it is time to get down to business. The quote that I choose for this week is:

"I know. I deserved it, and so it's okay, says Lev. But don't you ever git me again, or you'll regret it... Lev leaves, but Conner can't sleep. Every Unwind has a story you don't want to know. He supposes that Lev now has his" (pg. 210).

The section that this quote is sited from, is an account taken through Conner's perspective. Unfortunately, he does not know of Lev's adventure he had experienced between the time they got separated until when Lev finally arrived at the Graveyard. Conner and Risa missed out on Lev's voyage he and an older boy nick-named CyFi made to the small town of Joplin. Over in that town is where Lev witnessed a terrible scene that had forced his new transformation. Lev finally got to see the origin of an Unwinds story and in the end, helped that Unwind find some closure. The way that he talks about the parents of that child feeling victimized makes that future seem as if the only thing people care about is themselves. They do not care about the physical or mental pain these children, that were once wanted by their parents at one point (because they were not storked), go through in their lives. It is the sad truth because majority of Unwind body part receivers do not give much thought of the donor that saved their life.

Conner does not need to hear Lev's story of him and CyFi. Some people (including Conner) at the Graveyard can tell that Lev is not a force to be reckon with. His appearance is way more different than before. He no longer wears his fancy and expensive tithing whites his parents had bought for him. Hell, he hates his parents now for being able to get rid of him so easily and carry on their lives as if the thirteen years with Lev never happened. Instead, Lev now wears a puffy white jacket and a cold-hard expression on his face. And now, he has joined some sort of secret group led by a leader drawn to chaos. These very few pieces have given me the idea that Lev might possibly be a Clapper. Well, there's only one way to find out.

Sincerely,
Your reading group buddy :)

Avatar=My Hurt Locker Anticipation

This movie that James Cameron had completed was one hell of a movie. I really did enjoy watching it in theaters. I saw it some time in January, earlier this year. Around this time, tons of my friends had already seen the movie and started telling me things like, "Ooohhh, it's so great." Another one of them joked around saying, "Hey, did you know that I can speak their language." Unfortunately, because I had not yet seen the movie, I felt completely left out of the joke and conversation altogether. But, eventually, I went to see Avatar in 3-D with my dad and my brother at the local theater.

That movie was ridiculously good. I mean, it may just be Pocahontas in space (my dad seemed to figure this out by himself because we were not aware of the joke already existing), but fourteen years in the making, give James Cameron some credit for being so patient with his masterpiece. For fourteen years he eventually waited until the time was just right with all the technological advancements to be ready to await the creation of his movie. I am pretty sure that I heard somewhere that it had already beat the Titanic in the race of obtaining the most money, and had taken its place at the head of the throne among the top five movies ever made. For this I am saying, congratulations James Cameron for creating such a visually stunning movie. That is the main component that made that movie so famous. The visual effects were CRAZY good. No other movie can currently compare (and maybe for a few more years) to such artistic scenes created for the film. The acting was really good too. Highly believable, but the movie's actors and actresses did not win any awards. This movie swept the floor with all computer graphic imagery categories and maybe even a few scenery awards. But what I am trying to figure out is, how did it lose to the Hurt Locker?

I have not yet seen the Hurt Locker. My friends say that it is very good (but did not compare it to Avatar) and I heard that it was out on DVD already. I got to see this movie. I only heard about it once the Academy Awards were just a week away. I immediately searched up the trailer once it was announced as a nominee that day, and was completely drawn into the plot. The director of the film is James Cameron's ex-wife (my family found this hilarious) and she beat him for best director and won for best movie. Congratulations to her too. Kathryn Bigelow is the first female to win the Oscar for best director. All that I know right now is that the movie is that the movie won many awards and is about a man that diffuses bombs, I think in present day Iraq, and his team of soldiers that protect him on his missions. Sadly, right now, I have to wait until I can my hands on a copy and watch it. Only then I will find out in my own opinion if the movie is better than James Cameron's fourteen year creation.

San Francisco

San Francisco is a pretty darn famous place. It has become a famous tourist attraction to travel to due to its Golden Gate Bridge. People might possibly even consider it to be the “New York of the West Coast.” Not only that, but apparently the steep hills and the skate spots have made it a pretty darn popular city to skateboard in. The place is full of numerous local skate shops and many amateur and professional skaters.

My friends and I traveled over to San Francisco this weekend for a little “skate trip.” They have been doing this for a while, but it was my first time there in the city (without any parents). Now, being from a different city, we did not know too much of the rules about where to and where not to skate. It was a shame. There were so many beautiful stair sets and ledges. Some were way too big for our skill level, so we skipped them. Others, we made good time with. The major problem is that we kept getting kicked out of these public areas over and over. Even when we were leaving to go find somewhere “appropriate” to go to, we were getting yelled at by police. We were not aware of the fact that we could not skate on the sidewalks (while going from place to place). That is just stupid. We saw people bicycling way faster than we were going down the sidewalk. They might as well just make skateboarding illegal in the whole city of San Francisco. But, that would be even more stupid. Making pieces of wood with wheels on illegal. The government should go and make more efficient laws. Maybe even some that involve keeping a closer eye on drunk drivers.

The skateboarders over there are so good. They range in skill level, age, and race. Over there, we visited the local skate shop DLXSF. My brother and my friends bought some parts and clothes over there. They use their "recycling system" by purchasing used parts for only five bucks. I was surprised to find out that some of the used stuff was still in pretty good condition. We met some people that ride for (sponsored by) another local shop called FTC (For the City). They were really good. We were lucky enough to have a session with them. One of them only had a small cruiser board with large wheels and was doing tre flips on it and frontsiding up the four stair. Even though they were all amazingly good, the best part was their attitudes. The guys were so good, but were impressed and cheered for one of my friends when he did a huge kickflip on the four stair and landed it bolts. They were all very positive and loved to joke around. It made me realize what skateboarding is all about. Just to have fun and be with friends. Even though people get really good at skating, it will always be the same. Another activity that brings people and friends together to have fun.

Unwind First Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

I know that the new form of the reading/lit. circle letters does not really encourage a letter form, and considering the fact that this is the first time that I am writing in the new format, please don't be surprised if you guys find this whole post awkward to read. This is the first letter I am writing about the new book that we picked, Unwind by Neal Shusterman. The quote that I choose to write about is:

"You Unwinds are all the same. You think that because no one loves you, then you can't love anyone. All right, then, if there's no one you love, then pick someone who needs to hear what you have to say. Say everything that's in your heart- don't hold back" (pg. 109).

I almost forgot to mention. You guys were right. I love the book. The first week of reading is nearly over and I have already finished half of the novel (it's not that impressive because I know you guys found the book so good that you have finished reading). It is something that every teenager in at least America can relate to in times of loneliness. Well, back to this fantastic quote. This is my choice because it is what Sonia says to Conner, and probably to about a hundred more Unwinds that she has taken into her safe house. Sonia has met so many Unwinds that she possibly has them all figured out. Unwinds are made up of two parts. The first half is a mystery containing the Unwind's personality and past. The other half is the fact that Unwinds feel that they are all alone in the world without any love to give or receive. This is the half that all Unwinds have in common and what Sonia sees in all of them. Sonia tells Conner and all the other Unwinds to write their own letters to someone in the world to let them know that they are not alone. But, Sonia had it all planned out. Conner learns of a second purpose of the letter after witting the letter to his parents. The importance of the letter is so that the Unwinds are not forgotten. Sonia is one of the very few people out in this ugly future that still has a respect for human life. She does not enjoy the fact that if people have problems, they just get rid of a child. So, if she is not able to save the child with the efforts of giving them food, shelter, and guiding them in the right path, she will still be able to save their story in a letter. The letter is what preserves the person even though they have vanished within the blink of an eye. The letter allows people to know the Unwind was not all that bad and most of all, they were human too.

Sincerely,
Jacobo

The Hot Zone Book Review

The Hot Zone is a scientific non-fiction thriller written by Richard Preston. I would have to agree with the San Antonio Express-News because he really does deserve a lot of credit for his "...great skill in turning interviews and scientific data into a compelling human story (San Antonio Express-News)." The book that Richard Preston has written is about numerous deadly viruses that are scattered around the world, but seems to focus mainly upon the viruses of the Andromeda strain. This group includes Marburg, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, and Ebola Reston. The actual plot revolves around the scientists that work with these viruses on a daily base within the highly confined walls of USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases). To me, the book appeared to have a character that showed up the most throughout the story. I feel that this could be the main character. But, while reading this book, I also wondered why the author had written it and what was he trying to tell his audience.

I am not sure if it was just me, but Nancy Jaax emerged quite a number of times throughout the book. This was a bit hard to come to a conclusion that she could be the main character (I will just call her that for now) because the book exposes nearly all of the scientists' thoughts when they are undergoing certain events. Towards the beginning, it briefly mentions Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Jaax (was just previously known as Nancy Jaax) being a veterinarian before starting her work at USAMRIID. She assisted in the dissecting of monkeys in a specific area after they had died of an Ebola virus. She found this task difficult to complete from time to time because of her background. But then, "as a scientist, she believed that it was her obligation to perform medical research that would help alleviate human suffering" (pg. 79). After only working in this Level 4 research area (an place consisting of terrible deadly viruses which is pretty much all of the Andromeda strain thus requiring scientists to where pressurized suits to keep extreme caution) for a few times with Ebola, she discovers a whole in her outer glove of her suit and finds herself face to face with the virus and nearly gets infected. This seemed to leave a huge impact on her life because, she thought about if the incident had gone wrong, what would she tell her family.

Nancy Jaax is married to Jerry Jaax. They have two children in the book (one a boy and the other a girl). Jerry Jaax is mentioned in the book as an employee of the army and a veterinarian as well. Approximately half-way through the book, it fast-forwards quite a few years. Nancy and Jerry both get promoted in their army ranks, their children get older, and sadly her father (who does not leave too big an effect on the story) dies. Nancy does not have to work with Ebola for a few years, but then all of a sudden, as a Lieutenant Colonel, she finds herself being called in by the army to work in an operation where a possible Ebola threat has found its way into a little town in America called Reston (I am going to stop right there so I do not give away too much of the story). When she arrives home, she talks to her husband about it and says, "It's killing me- I'll never get away from this bug" (pg. 234). The way that I had annotated the book was by centering it on the viruses of the Andromeda strain, their history, and the way how it affects people that get infected and people that work with it in laboratories. Because of this quote, not only I, but Nancy Jaax also admits that the Ebola virus plays a huge roll in her life. And because of this, I had a whole lot more annotations for her than any other character.

While reading the book I kept wondering what the author wanted to accomplish in having other people (such as myself) read it. The story was just so filled with information that I decided almost right away that Richard Preston was clearly trying to educate the public in what diseases lurk around all parts of the world. I thought that it was just going to be a story full of information on how people get sick from viruses, what they do to the victim's body, how scientists test them, and where they originate. As always with all of my predictions, I was wrong. Richard Preston ends the story and just decides to go on and give a little talk to the readers. In this, he states, "Nature has interesting ways in of balancing itself... The earth's immune system, so to speak, has recognized the presence of the human species and is starting to kick in. The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by the human parasite" (pg. 407). I have never thought about it this way in my whole life. I was astounded by reading this quote and thought right away, what if he is right. The earth is an ecosystem almost exactly like a human body. We are killing the earth by robbing it of all its natural resources and multiplying within it, just like how a virus kills a human. And now, the earth is fighting back by using viruses to kill humans so it can try to return back to its previous naturally balanced state. This leaves me wondering, what kind of virus is the human race. Are we one that can be fought off easily like the "common cold." Or, are we the incurable virus (a lot like Ebola) that offers no hope for its victim whatsoever. In the end, there will most likely be only one of us remaining, unless we can find a way to cooperate.

Richard Preston's scientific thriller titled The Hot Zone is written on events that he obtained from interviews and scientific research. The book seems to place Nancy Jaax and her family in the limelight the majority of the time (second to the viruses). This allowed me to come to the conclusion of her being a main character. The Ebola virus has played a large role in her life ever since she joined the team at USAMRIID (also known as the Institute) and helped in the dissection of Ebola infected monkeys. Even as Nancy nearly succeeds in finally ridding her life of the virus, the army calls her back for a mission to stop a possible Ebola outbreak in the United States from spreading all over the country. Richard Preston created such a great analogy between humans, viruses, and the world. In the end, humans and the earth may never find a way in co-existing and end up wiping one another out. All that I can say is, only time will tell of Richard Preston is correct or not.

The Hot Zone Second Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members (followers of my blog are free to read this as well),

I have just recently finished reading the book titled The Hot Zone, written by Richard Preston. I was given strict instructions to not give out any "spoilers" due to reading members reading at separate paces. So I will try my best in not giving out too much information of the plot to come. The book started off very strong with the gruesome death of a character given the name Charles Monet (the author obviously wanted to protect this man's identity) to a "level 4 agent" (agent meaning disease) called Marburg. The book was able to keep me entertained all the way through. Especially during the Ebola Reston incident (I am going to stop right there before I give away too much). This all kept me entertained while reading for numerous hours (because I am quite the slow reader).

As I stated in my previous literature/reading circle letter, I said that I was annotating about the viruses and how they affect us humans. Richard Preston does an amazing job by tying off the story with a perspective of the human problem of overpopulation through the eyes of Nature. In a way, he might be right. I never really looked at the situation in that sort of way. I will try to post the quote after writing my book review. I want to hear everyone's opinions on the quote in the comments section. It is definitely worth taking a gander at. The Jaax family is probably the most centered around characters because they are mentioned in the beginning and are later called back into the story for the Reston mission. Hopefully all this annotating on the virus will pay off in the end. Well, good luck with your book reviews.

Sincerely,
Your group member

My Spring Break

Hmm. Well. Another blog post about my vacation. I was looking forward to spending time with friends. I really needed to use this vacation with STAR testing coming right up around the corner. But, I did not get to spend time with friends. I will not bitch about it (because I feel that I bitch about my vacations way too much and it makes my dad sad). My family and I went on an RV trip for this spring break. My dad rented one at some place near Oakland. The RV was pretty nice. It had a toilet, a shower, a microwave, a stove, a ton of cabinets, and a few areas that could be used for sleeping. This one was not even worn down at all. It looked as if it were brand new. We used it for nearly the whole vacation. We got back in town on the second to last day (Saturday) right before my siblings and I would have to return back to school. A place that we love so dearly (SARCASM).

I am not going to lie, the first four days of the vacation were spent really well. It was the segment of the trip that we spent heading towards our destination. On the first day, I got out of school around lunch time. My parents had me excused from my last two classes so we could load up the RV and hit the road before traffic appeared. The first stop on the trip was a place called Tulare. We checked into the RV place first to get a space to stay. After that my family and I met up with my God Father. I was so happy when I saw him. I remember the last time we met I was only six pears old and my greatest passion in the world belonged to dinosaurs. We all went to a diner to eat and catch up with each other. After that, my God Father, my brother, and I went to go see Clash of the Titans. It was an alright movie. After that my God Father dropped my brother and I off at the RV park. That day was obviously the highlight of my trip.

The next three good days were spent in Las Vegas. My family and I went to meet with an uncle on my mom's side of the family. It has been a while since I saw him too. He moved to Nevada a few years ago with his family and they are doing quite well. I am going to try to just summarize up the majority of what occurred on these three days because a lot of the time was used on driving for long hours. We got to Las Vegas, checked into an Oasis RV park. It was pleasant area. The next day was Easter Sunday. We attended my uncle's church. I will say that this was quite a different religious experience for me. My mother said that they used the King James Bible rather than the New American Bible that my church back home uses. That was a small contribution to the different experience. My brother and I took a part in the highly successful youth group that they have. It was a while since we have gone to a CCD class, so we were prepared for nearly anything. To my surprise, we got to attend a small rock concert in the name of Jesus Christ. After that the youth group took us to talk about Jesus and why him rising from the grave was the key to sparking Christianity.
The differences in the Bibles were not that great. But what I found interesting was the fact that they believed that Jesus was dragged down and tortured in Hell for three days after his death. On the third day, he took back the keys to life and death, and returned to the human world to tell his apostles. This was the only difference that I heard from the story that I was told as a small child.

The next good day was the last one. We drove to Zion (some sort of National Park a lot like Yosemite). I climbed a really tall mountain that only had chains on the sides to help people. There were a lot of huge (approximately 1,000ft.) drops. The view was fantastic, but I did not enjoy it much due to my fear of heights. After that day, we started the "homecoming" part. I hated it. The worse part was the fact that when we got back to Alameda, all the good weather that they supposedly had was gone. It rained on the last two days and I was pissed. Oh well.

The Hot Zone First Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

This is my first literature/reading circle letter on the supposedly highly acclaimed book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. My reading group members chose this book because it seemed to appeal to our style of reading. I personally enjoy reading books that involve a large amount of tension, but normally those books that I choose to read are fictional. The Hot Zone feels a bit different to me due to the fact that the story is true. So far I have the understanding that the book is about extremely deadly and contagious viruses that lurk around all the parts of the world. But, as I read further in the book, I learned that these viruses not only "live" (I put live in quotations because biologically, viruses do not show any signs of actually being alive compared to other microscopic organisms) in foreign countries. It turns out that a select few of the millions of Americans have the opportunity to work in government labs to better the understanding of these dangerous "agents." The scientists have a wide range of backgrounds ranging from hunters, to fishers, to your average American house-wife. The plot takes a while to develop. About half-way through the book, I'll just say that a virus may possibly place the safety of the United States in jeopardy (I am still not done reading, so I will just half to find out). I have to give Richard Preston a lot of credit for having the ability to change a compilation of interviews and research into such an intense story.

The book is written in a sort of third-person form accompanied by a ton of information about the viruses. This made it a bit difficult for me to adjust after reading the novel, Parable of Talents. To me, I do not believe that there is a main character. The book seems to jump from character to character revealing their thoughts at certain instances and their surroundings from their own points of view. This made it a bit more odd to annotate the pages because I had to find something to center my annotations on (it helps me annotate to find some sort of topic or center point to focus my notes on). So, instead of just letting myself sit their confused reading the book, I decided in my own mind that I will make the various viruses the "main character(s)." I have to admit, at first, this seemed quite bizarre for me, but then it started to make sense for me. I decide to mark and comment on pages that gave background history and information on the viruses, and how the viruses affected the lives of the people that it infected or the people that had to work with it. I might end up regretting this soon when I will have to write an essay reviewing this book, but it appears to be working for now.

Literature/reading group members, I apologize for reading so far ahead of you guys. I just wanted to stay on schedule. But, I hope that we all can eventually catch up to a certain point where we have all read up to a relatively equivalent spot. This would make it a whole lot more easily for us to discuss things in class just in case if any of us get confused. I am confident that you guys will catch up and probably even surpass me because you guys are obviously faster readers than I am. Oh well, I guess all that we can do is keep reading and allow the story to unfold before us.

Sincerely,
Your reading group member

My Goals for Writing

Well. It is about that time of season again. To go back and to examine my past past works of writing and also to set up some new goals for my future articles of writing. Looking back, I would say that my writing has gotten more of a casual and almost inviting style to it. It has become more appealing in such a way that it pulls readers in at the beginning so that they will have a good chance at making it through the whole composition without getting sidetracked. I like this style of writing. I feel that it suites me well. But, there are some more components that I would like to factor into my blog. The primary object that my blog seems to be lacking is more exquisite vocabulary (notice how I tried really hard just to use some in this sentence). Hopefully, by using more complex words, people will feel that they are not reading from a blog of a "stupid kid," but rather from a well educated teenager that has a good understanding on how the world works. Another weakness that I currently have is the fact that I simply do not revise my writings before posting them (or turning them in). I still find some various typos and some awkwardly phrased sentences or even paragraphs from time to time. I try not to beat myself up for this, but the fact that it could have easily been prevented, makes me feel terrible.

My other goals that I have right now are mainly for my blog, and what I wish to do with it. I guess that it would be a blog owner's dream for their blog to become famous or just plainly well known throughout the nation and or world. This would be cool, but more likely overwhelming for me. I guess that I can try working my way into writing about more current and popular events such as recent occurrences that are mentioned in the daily news because people of the United States seem to find these the most "interesting." For these events, I will display my point of view as a student and/or teenager and how these events affect me. I will most likely try writing about more of my hobbies and other things that I enjoy doing (i.e. slot car racing at the local track). By undergoing these two improvements, I am keeping high hopes for an increase in "followers" by obtaining a bigger audience and plan on getting more comments and good/bad feedback. I hope that I am able to fulfill these goals that I have set up in this small writing reflection. If not, I think I will be okay. I will not be heart-broken, but I will live. I plan to keep blogging as I am doing so right now. It might even become a small hobby of mine. I do find it quite enjoyable. So, in conclusion, have fun reading my blog.

The Parable for the Future

The science-fiction novel Parable of Talents by Octavia E. Butler tells the story about a young female adult, Lauren Oya Olamina, living in the post-apocalyptic United States of the not so distant future. The book is a sequel to Parable of Sower (also by Octavia E. Butler). In this continuation, Olamina has successfully established a community called Acorn, and has began spreading her religious ideas of Earthseed. This futuristic America is quite frightening as chaos fills the street, wars in almost every nation occur, and Christian extremists enslave the "non-believers." This terrible future continuously takes away numerous lives and begins to break apart families and friendships to the point where one seems physically dead to the other. All that I can say is hopefully, none of this will actually happen.

Out of the whole chaotic story of characters appearing, dying, and vanishing, there was one who seemed to interest me the most. It is Marcos Duran (a.k.a. Marc), Olamina's (the main character) handsome younger brother. Olamina thought that he was dead because of the long time that they have were separated (without any form of contact) for. He has probably the character that suffered the most in the novel. He was shot, injured, robbed, beaten, and used for sex numerous times. Olamina randomly ran into Marc and rescues him by purchasing him from a man involved in terrible business of collared prostitution. These collars force the wearer into unrealistic forms of pain with just the press of a button. Olamina brings him back to Acorn so he can live peacefully as he did before. Unfortunately, Marc has been though so much that he cannot just simply go back to life as it was before. Also, he has become a deeply religious Christian and refuses to be surrounded by all the heathen Earthseed believers. With the failed attempts of preaching to the members of Acorn, he decides to leave the small village. In the end of the novel, he ends up hurting Olamina and tries to apologize. He uses the excuse, "I'm sorry... I had been alone so long..." (pg. 404). It is a shame that this happens because Olamina had tried giving a helping hand out to Marc by bringing him to Acorn. Olamina brought him to Acorn in order for them to be together so he would not have to suffer alone anymore. Even though he had always told Olamina that she was still his sister, and that he loved her, he seemed to just turn his back on her. After he left Acorn, he started preaching all over Christian America, he said stuff about Olamina on how she "...permitted herself to be pulled down by Satan" (pg. 305). Marc also blamed her for his leaving of Acorn by saying, "... through the influence of Satan, done him a great injury" (pg. 305). He did not even make an attempt in believing her stories of the corrupt Christian America. Marc had truly betrayed her.

The topic of the story is a bit difficult to listen to. Its content and little side stories of characters are quite graphic. The novel does use some fine vocabulary words such as "parable" (which just so happens to be found in the title) and some harsh vocabulary (curse words). Because of these two factors, I would say that this story is intended for an audience of readers that are either adults or at least young adults (possibly mature teenagers as well). Gruesome scenes are mentioned countless time about people getting shot, others dying, some getting stabbed, and so on. Olamina even says that cruelty is pretty common in the hectic future that she lives in. She mentions this right after listening to how the young Noyer children and how they arrived to the city of Acorn. Olamina really did care for the children, but her tone sounds as if she were nearly shrugging it off. "It was a familiar sort of story-horrible and ordinary. Almost everyone in Acorn has a horrible, ordinary story to tell" (pg. 56). The novel also involves a lot of situations involving rape and other forms of sexual abuse. Homosexuality is brought up too. This is not really so appropriate for a younger audience. Small children were even being sold as slaves and for other purposes as well. When the town of Acorn had been torn up by Jarret's Crusaders, I am pretty sure all, if not, nearly all the women in the small community of Acorn had been raped and surely abused by their captors. "The way they rape us, the way they lash us, the way they let some of us die-all that tells me that they don't value our lives" (pg. 215). Strangely, I find the gory violence to be a bit worse. Olamina asked her brother Marc about what happened to him and the other members of their family on the day they got separated. Marc's emotions were running high when he told Olamina the story. "Then I saw Mama get shot... I saw blood pouring from her neck... He shot Ben while Ben was trying to get up. Ben's head... just... broke apart" (pg. 118). There are more explicitly detailed events that are within this book.

Parable of Talents by Octavia E. Butler is a book tells the tale of a young African American female, commonly known as Olamina, who lives in this hectic Christian supremacist United States of the future. While I was reading this book, I noticed that the rule of Jarret over his Christian America had caused the nation to be put in to a form of regression. Harsh punishments were all the more common. Brutality and weaponry ran the streets. Women and children were put below men as they were in more primitive cultures. This unfortunate future continues to send a mature vibe for a more adult-like audience. All these terribly horrid events of death and rape are quite occur more often in the time that they live in. They seem to create and tear apart relationships between families and friends. Especially, the old bond between Olamina and her brother Marc. All that Marc has been through while he was away from Olamina seems to shape the story and especially plays a role in the way the novel ends. I am still a bit curious about what happened before Olamina founded the community of Earthseed. I have not read the first book (Parable of Sower) yet. But I am hoping that I will inevitably be able to get to that book before I begin to forget about the story of Olamina and her religion of Earthseed.

Third Reading/Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

Well. What can I say? Hmm. This is the final letter I am writing on the Parable of Talents by Octavia E. Butler. It was a pretty darn good book. The ending is quite sad. What Olamina's brother, Marcus, had done to her is terrible. It added to the whole negative/pessimistic mood of the whole book. I was already sad and scared of the whole "ugly future" background going on. So to top it all off, they decide to throw in at the end that Olamina's daughter is not only stolen away from her, but the fact that her own brother ended up taking Asha (a.k.a Larkin) and making her a member of HIS family seems just plain wrong.

This book has shed some light upon me. I am a Christian (Roman Catholic to be exact), and this book did seem to throw some terrible things around about them ruining the world in an attempt to improve the country of America. But, there has been some Christian extremists in real life. They scare me a bit because there are some connections that I see among them and "Jarret's Crusaders." I forgot what American state it was in, but it I believe the people that did it were either Methodist or Baptist. They made up some crap and blamed the school for having homosexuals for the recent suicides that occurred. So, these Christians (I forgot what branch, so please do not get angry with me for naming the wrong one) ended up protesting in front the school. I thought that this was all stupid. God made us all, and Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek when violence occurs. Why must people go amongst themselves accusing each other for who is at fault. If we go on doing this, than we will eventually end up creating a "Pox" (short for apocalypse) similar to the one that Olamina had lived in.

What a Joke XD

Wow. This week went by pretty easy. I guess that I would have to thank the state of California for that. This high school exit exam was quite easy, but took a ridiculously long amount of time to do. I would say that it was worth it. I ended up receiving a bit less of the average amount of homework that I normally have. Some of the homework that I also received was easier too. When I finished certain parts of the exit exam I was able to complete some of my homework so I could get ahead and have less to worry about in the long run. Unfortunately, by doing this, I have more reading to catch-up on. I will just have to worry about that over the weekend.

This exit exam was a "joke." Learning about it in English class two weeks prior to the exam somewhat frightened me. The statistics of it seemed so scary. The fact that this one test was preventing about twenty percent of California's student population from obtaining their high school diploma made me fear for the worst. It kind of made me a bit angry too because the test does not really have a purpose to it. Colleges do not even care about what score a student obtains from said exam. At that moment I felt that it was just one more thing that the government was throwing at us to make us students suffer.

While testing, my whole mind-set had changed. The questions from both halves of the exam were so easy. From the English part, it just was about basic literature and grammar skills that learn in the sixth grade. Hell, I wish that I could have taken that test in the sixth grade just to get it over with. This part made people read prompts and answer questions about the prompt. Some of my friends said they did not even have to read the prompts the majority of the time because hardly any of the questions asked for information from the prompt. The practice questions were way more difficult to answer than the real test. Even the essay portion of the exam was quite simple to complete. It only took me approximately twenty minutes to complete that part.

The math section was not so hard either. It was basic seventh and sixth grade math. I am pretty sure that I got close to, if not all, the questions right. But, from the learning that I obtained in English class, I feel kind of sorry for the people that had failed the test. I think that it could have been the school that they went to in these tough times. If education cannot fund for schools, then where are they getting the money to test us? They should be spenging money on helping the students rather than evaluating and preventing them from succeeding. I forgot who is doing this (I am pretty sure it was the government), then I hope that they do something to change their ways before it is too late.

Second Reading/Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

This is the second reading group letter I am writing on Parable of Talents by Octavia E. Butler. Might I just say, it has gotten quite intense ever since the first chunk of reading. Now I am able to keep track of the characters that are coming and going. They seem way much more familiar to me. And to you guys (in my reading group) and to all others reading my blog, please do not call me a wuss, but I slightly find myself growing a bit more emotionally attached to the characters as I read on. I am not to the point where when a character dies (which happens quite often in this ugly future) I cry my heart out. It is more of a distant relationship where I view them dying as more of a stressful feeling, as if I had nearly failed a test. This stress somehow makes me read a bit faster for a while in order to figure out what will happen to the remaining characters and how will they overcome this problem. I am not really use to this strange feeling because I was not that much of a reader in my past years.

There is something else that appears very strange about this book. One of my reading group members convinced me to join him (we needed a minimal of three people in a group which means we would only need to get one more person to read along with us). Pretty much he chose the book and I just went along with it. Now I do not know if he knew that the book would include antisemitism and these "reforming camps," but they seemed to tie in a lot with what we had just learned about genocide and Adolf Hitler in our English class. It also seemed to get a bit involved with recent facts that I just learned from history class. Strangely, the history stuff does not involve anything about genocide, because we have not gotten to that topic yet in history class. In Parable of Talents, Olamina's daughter, Larkin, mentioned something about her growing up in a new "Christian America" era. Because she was taken away from her non-believing heathen parents, she was given to a "good" Christian family. Growing up in this terrible future was strange. Larkin said that children were preferably to be seen and not heard (this means they should be present but must not unless spoken to). That was when it hit me. America was forcing itself into regression. Life was becoming more primitive! That quote of "children being seen, not heard" was in my history book about family and childhood life during the time of the Industrial Revolution! Not only that, but the cruel treatment of women and the witch burnings were a big hint too. I think that I may include this regression of America in my review essay of this book.

Mucho Passion

At school I am usually stereotyped as the "good grade" child. I guess that this is true. People normally tend to get surprised when they find out that I skateboard. Probably because they never see me carrying a board to school. And, it may have to do with the fact that I use to think that I sucked (terribly) at skating. But now, I do not have much of a problem with what other people think about me skateboarding. I have some really good skateboarding friends at school (maybe even some of the best at the school) and they tell me that I am actually a pretty good skater. That gave me a confidence boost and makes me realize why I do it anyways. Its because I love it so much. Some people just do not understand why these "kids" and adults throw away their future to "push a piece of wood." It just brings so much bliss to us who enjoy it. I am not saying that I am trying to get a future in the skateboarding industry (although some of my friends have a fighting chance at getting sponsored), but I skate because it is an activity that relieves me of all my stress and allows me to have wit my friends.

Just this past Friday I landed so many tricks that I thought were extremely difficult and I may never have a chance at landing. Other than that, I really liked just being around my brother and his friends because of all their positive attitudes. His friends are getting close, if not have reached, the skill level my brother and I are at. They (including my brother) are all two grades bellow me. Just seeing them doing some of their tricks makes me wish that I had began as early as they did. I started learning how to do tricks in the eighth grade (but knew how to ride a board before that). They probably started around seventh grade. The tricks that the majority have now are some I did not get for a year. Others have tricks that I may never land. But, thats another reason that I love skateboarding. Everyone has their own "bag" of tricks and individual style. It is just purely fascinating.

Well, back to last Friday. I landed some serious tricks and I landed some silly tricks that I simply put together that suited the surrounding. We went to a local public park that had a little wave/wedge good for skating. My brother told me that one of his friends just learned a few tricks last weekend that I wanted to land involving that concrete wave. I had been working on them before (not seriously) but always ended up falling because I lacked the ability of shifting my weight to the slope of the wave. Strangely, the trick that I had been going for (for all you fellow skaters out there it was a rock fakie) I landed it on my first attempt. Then on all tries after that I landed it. I was so happy. That I decided to go for other stuff too. I went to the waxed ledge to the side of the wave (the people at the park don't get mad at us for using it because it is not a part of any of the nearby buildings). By just fooling around I landed two frontside feeble grinds. And this is only one week after learning how to grind. Hopefully, I can continue my passion for recreational skateboarding (I don't have a big dream of getting sponsored and going professional) and get better over time. Well, at least for a few more years. Before my parents tell me to grow up and get a job. So, I will enjoy whatever is left of my youth while I can.

First Reading/Lit. Circle Letter

Dear reading group members,

Parable of Talents by Octavia E. Butler seems to be quite the appealing book (to me). I am not sure if you guys have caught up to the fist checkpoint mark (first chunk or third of the novel), but I will begin giving my opinion on it whether you have or not. At first I was a bit confused in what tense the book was taking place in. All that I knew for the first few days of reading this book was that there was a women living in a post-apocalyptic world. The next time I decided to continue reading, I reread/skimmed over what I read on the first day (including the prologue). That helped me a lot. Now I know that the main character is Lauren Oya Olamina Bankole. She is the one that is telling her first person views and narrating in the sections that are given a date. The bold sections of the book are like little annotations or opinions written by "Olamina's" daughter. She gives a little bit of background information from time to time to help the reader out. Usually Olamina's daughter would give a little background history when a new character was introduced. After I started to understand the cycle of how this works, it benefited my understanding of the plot.

The story gets pretty intense and dark at some points. I sometimes relate the carnage and gore that is displayed in this book to some sort of violent rated "R" film. The only one that really comes to min right now is Children of Men. It is a movie that takes place in a world where the human race is threatened due to human infertility. But, I guess that means wherever there is chaos, there is violence. I am pretty sure that Olamina mentioned something about it being easier for humans to fight than to make peace.

P.S. If you guys have any questions, please leave them in the comment section so I can try my best in giving an answer of my own.

Chaotic Week

Well. I am writing this because I am preparing for the worst of what will happen today and tomorrow. Boy have I chosen the worst night to experience insomnia. I am pretty sure that I did not fall asleep until two o' clock in the morning. This is absolutely terrible. I have a history test and a pre-calculus quiz today. I am hoping for the best that I am prepared enough to do well on one (most likely the history test). Tomorrow is going to be Friday, I am going to have a physical education test on a worksheet about bones we received on Monday and I have a chemistry test about a topic we have covered for only a week. My chemistry teacher just told my class yesterday (Wednesday) that the test was going to be on Friday. Normally he gives us a heads up a week before an event (such as a test or a lab). Uhhhh. Why could I not sleep? This is bad. I only got four or maybe even less hours. Maybe it has something to do with all this stress. And to top it all off, this crappy, unpredictable weather is not helping my mood. And to make it even worse, my whole family (including me) have an eye appointment to go to after school. You all know what that means. I will be working late into the night to prepare myself for the tests comming up on Friday (tomorrow). I just hope that I can fall asleep tonight.

Oh yea. I almost forgot to mention that I have to read about a hundred more pages in my reading group book by next week. It is called Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler. The book is somewhat interesting. It is a darn shame that I am a pretty slow reader. I am only forty pages through this four hundred page or more behemoth, which means that I have only taken a small glimpse of what is yet to come. Currently, all that I know is that the story is about a girl (or was it her mother) who lives in a post-apocalyptic world of the not so distant future (around 2030 A.D.). I do not really know what caused the Apocalypse, but the book did mention something about world-wide natural and economic disasters occurring at the same time, and this medicine that killed a lot of people and left their children with terrible mental (and possibly even physical) ailments.

Oh well. All I can hope for is that I can keep my grades up. That is all that matters in the eyes of my parents. GRADES, GRADES, GRADES!!! Then after that I go to a good college. And then what? I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Forget it. All that I want to worry about now is the present. The distant future scares me. I hope that the weekend will make up for the crap that I have to deal with this week. It rarely ever does. But, last weekend was amazing. I made some new friends/acquaintances on Saturday. And on Sunday, I had a pretty good slot car session. It is a small hobby of mine. I think next week I will blog about it.

Our Kitchen Sink

This weekend was not so good. I did not get to do much. The weather somewhat ruined my free time. But, it was not the only thing that did. The sink broke down. I do not know why. All that I know is that my dad, my brother, and myself would end up fixing it. I thought it was going to be no big deal because my dad and I had already fixed the garbage disposal before. That had only taken us a few hours. It turns out that the sink was just a tad more time consuming.

As usual, I will start from the beginning of what I remember. I woke up in the morning of Saturday. That was when my parents broke my brother and I the news that we were going to replace the kitchen sink with a new one. I guess that it did need to be replaced. whenever one of us puts the water on high it would make a loud screeching noise. The sink had been in the house ever since it was made. That would make it fifty or so years old. So, my dad and brother went out to go purchase a sink, some new pipes and a faucet. I stayed at home because I was still in my pajamas at the time.

They got back at around noon. By that time I was ready to work. We ate lunch first and then got down to business. our first task was to remove the old sink. I read the instructions to what steps we needed to follow after the removing of the sink. While I was doing this, my brother and father were laboriously working away at removing any clamps that bonded the sink to our kitchen counter. When the clamps and garbage disposal were removed, and all the water valves were shut off, we were finally ready to take out the old sink. It took us a while to figure out that it came out from underneath rather than just pulling it right off the top. So we got ready, pulled it out from under until it was out of the lower cabinet, and set it down in the backyard.

After doing this, my brother sized up the rectangular gap that our new sink would go into. There was just one problem. The new sink that my brother and father bought was too big! My dad did not want to make a bigger rectangular space by sawing away at the kitchen counter. Instead of doing that, my dad and I (it was my turn to go with him) left for Home Depot to return the "mis-sized" sink for a different one. It took us an hour or two to find the right one, but we chose an alright one. During the time their we were weighing and sizing them up. We even found a sink that weighed five times as much as any of the others. But, we made our decision on one. It was the only one that would fit.

When we got home, we ate a snack and then worked like crazy. My dad did do the majority of it, but my brother and I found ways to help. Well,now the new sink is in its place. The only bad thing is that we cannot use it because the caulk used to secure the sink is still drying. The new faucet is a beauty. It has this stainless steal professional look, and it does not even make a loud noise like the other one.

Looking into Genocides

The one word, genocide, can bring up so much emotion and remind us humans of so many years and events in history. But there must be something that divides genocide from other violent occurrences, such as massacres and wars. If one were to carefully examine the definitions of these words, they could possibly find a fine line dividing the words. According to the Webster's New World Dictionary, massacre means the "indiscriminate or merciless killing of many people or animals." This word can possibly get confused with genocide, but genocide's definition is the "systematic killing of a whole people or nation." The big difference between the two comes down to a single word, indiscriminate. It makes the meaning of massacre seem more spontaneous, as if the victims of the "killer" were not specifically targeted. As for genocide. In order to start one, the selected target will be a group that has some sort of characteristics that separate them from the killers. On the other hand, war is a bit like genocide because of the separation of the two armies, but usually war has an ending point. Normally, it would be a compromise of both sides, or a surrender of one side then leading to a treaty of some sort. This is the huge difference. People who plan for war hope for it to be over at some point. People who plan a genocide do not want to stop until the targeted group is exterminated completely.

The people that take part in a genocide can range form the insane to the somewhat "normal" citizens. Hitler used tactics of blaming the Jewish people for many of Germany's problems in order to unite its people and to gain more power. The genocide in Rwanda occurred between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutu were tired of being treated unfairly, so they began the genocide of the Tutsi. There was a large amount of propaganda going around about the Tutsi needing to be killed. Ordinary citizens got together and just started mindlessly killing the Tutsi. People that did not participate were threatened with the same fate as the Tutsi. So, in order to protect one's own life and family, one had to kill another.

By looking at how often genocide occurs, I would have to say that it is only committed my human beings. Animals do not just blame other animals for their suffering and kill them. Humans on the other hand do it quite a bit. This must mean that there is some sort of human quality that causes us to do this. I believe that genocides are fueled by hatred. This hatred is usually triggered by some other sort of emotion. Adolf Hitler was able to use blame, which then in time turned into hatred for the Jewish people. Same goes for the genocide in Rwanda. The Hutu were angry with the Tutsi for treating them harshly. They could have even been envious of the Tutsi and their freedom.

There is also another thing that people can see by looking at the history of genocide. Only humans do it. They do genocide to one another and, even to animals. There is a wide variety of animal species that have been wiped out completely because of humans. But there can be possible ties between animal extinction and genocide. Usually, extinction from human beings is caused almost unintentionally. By hunting and defending livestock, many species have died off. It is a shame. California grizzly bears were killed by hunters in California and certain breeds of animals were killed for just the thrill of it. There are certain bison that are extinct now because during the "Railroad Era" of American history, people would bring their guns along on train rides just to open fire on a herd of these bison. No one would even go back to collect the pelts or the carcass for food. One might even be able to call it a waste. Now, the goal of genocide is to intentionally kill of the selected group without holding back. Only humans can do genocide. Animals kill each other normally for food/hunting or out of self-defense. But, they never try to exterminate another group of animals. There might be some similarities between the two. Certain chimpanzees from one group would band together if there are too many chimpanzees from another group are within their territory. They would even kill the infant chimps of the opposing group. This is a lot similar to the Spanish Inquisition. Non-Catholics were to be killed and or tortured regardless of age or gender. Strangely, I view the Inquisition not as a genocide. This is because once I had taken a tour to an Inquisition torture room. It is then that I learned from the tour guide, that some people that were tried before the Inquisition were falsely accused and sentenced to death only because they were wealthy and the Catholic Church (which at that time was corrupt) wanted their land. Genocides are different because they strictly target the group of choice and kill only them and anyone who gets involved with them. To me the Inquisition was just a bunch of killing in order to obtain nearby land.

Genocide is a form of killing a certain group, yet it differs from a massacre. Genocide has a large variety of participants that kill for sometimes different reasons. Some kill to exterminate the other group, and others kill just to keep themselves and their families out of the danger of being killed for "helping" the opposing group. By looking into how many times genocide has occurred, one might be able to spot the human emotions that fuel it such as hatred or even jealousy. Also, genocide does not only happen from person to person. People have been doing something just like it to animals to. Over-hunting has caused many animals to go extinct. Some people might call the Spanish Inquisition a genocide, but I would have to disagree. I view it more as a killing of partially random people to gain land for the Catholic Church. This goes to show that certain acts of violence must be carefully examined for certain traits before being classified as a genocide.

Movie Review: The Lightning Thief

Well. What can I say about this movie? I guess that it was alright. To be honest, I would have to say the book was ten times better than that movie. The first book was one of the longest from the series, so I have to give some credit to the directors for being able to squeeze such a big plot into a two hour film. Now, where shall I begin? Hmm. I will start from the first time I ever witnessed the trailer for the movie. I was with a few friends watching the recent Harry Potter film. The trailers for upcoming movies were playing, and all I saw was a boy standing on the Empire State Building, looking up at a path to a shining city or temple of some sort. At that exact moment, I knew that I was soon going to be upset, but I was never really sure why. Probably fact that filthy rich directors were going to tear apart a book series that meant so much to me and just continue on with their life.

Now, I will begin to talk about the actual movie. It somewhat kept to the plot of the book. The movie had Greek gods, a dyslexic and ADHD Percy Jackson, and a lightning thief. These are the majority of key points that the movie included. I was a bit upset that the acting was a bit "cheesy" and over-dramatic at some times, but a lot of the lead roles were played by new actors. The movie did not include a lot of monsters that I really looked forward to seeing, such as Cerberus and the Chimera. It also did not include the actual character who stole Zeus's master bolt. People in the audience that were watching the movie even got confused from time to time. In order obtain a well understanding of the film, I highly recommend that one should read the book or look into Greek mythology so that they will not get lost in the plot while watching. But, if they read the book, they might end up disappointed (like me) because of how much of the actual characters and story was changed.

Insomnia

It was probably a few weeks ago. I was pretty sure that I was starting to develop a sleeping disorder. But, I am okay now. I have no idea what could have caused it. People say that lack of sleep can be caused by stress related to work. But, I do not have a job. Well, not really. My parents say that my job is being a student at school, and my duties are to complete my work on time and to obtain good grades. I guess that I can be suffering from stress, wait, no... I believe that I am suffering form stress. My mom asked me this question a while ago. She got an e-mail and started reading it. Then she turned to me and asked, "Jacob, are you stressed-out?" I looked a way from my homework for a moment to respond, "Yea. I think so." To my amazement she seemed a bit startled and told me, "But you don't even do sports." I am not going to lie, I wanted to yell at her how I never get a break. I want to take one, but my dad drags me to these strange events just to meet these two faced politicians that I feel completely uncomfortable around. I also felt the need to add that some of these classes are killing me. Pre-cal gives out a crazy amount of homework every night. But, as usual, I just remained silent and returned to my work.

That was possibly the only instant where I had admitted that I was suffering form stress. Soon after, it was not that difficult making the connection between that and the fact that I was staying up until one or two in the morning struggling to go to sleep. I would go to bed at around ten or eleven and end up tossing and turning for hours. Then in the end, my parents would just tell me to take some Benadryl. I do have some symptoms of a cold, but I think that I am perfectly fine without the use of it. I think that I even became reliant on Benadryl in order to fall asleep for a few days in a row. But now, I am capable of going to sleep without using any. But if another random occurrence of lack of sleep were to happen, please leave suggestions in the comment area.

Video Games and The Future

My classmate Jordan writes:

Even if we try we cannot stop video games. As technology advances so will video games. I think as we advance into technology there might be a virtual realty. People are going to find better ways to make video games so realistic that you don't think that you are playing.

I also believe that video games will continue to become better and better. Game designers will enhance the quality of the games' graphics and the realistic feel of the games. This is what has me looking forward to the future of gaming, and somewhat fearing it. If someone was to look at the present state of the gaming world, they could see that the size of the gamer population has drastically increased since the 80s and 90s. The visual graphics and game play of some top-notch games are outstanding and often incorporate real life scenarios, such as playing the role of a soldier in Baghdad on a mission to rescue an imprisoned colonel. These games to appeal to a wide audience because people get to be a character with objectives that they would not be able to experience in the real world. If the graphics of these games and the way we play them (i.e the Wii is a simulator because it incorporates real-life motions to play) only continue to get better, some people might not even feel that they are playing a game.

Video game addiction has already become a problem in our current society. As games become better, people just keep finding them more difficult to take a break. I use to be quite the avid gamer. I was possibly even addicted to video games a few years ago. I would play for hours with friends and/or family. But now, with more homework to complete to maintain good grades, and just hanging out and skateboarding with friends to relieve myself of the stress of school, I find myself playing a lot less than the amount of what I use to play. Now, if the gaming audience and continues to increase, gaming addiction is becoming more common, and video games are getting better graphics with realistic game play, I am staring to fear the future of video games. Realistic graphics incorporated with new gaming technology, possibly simulator suits, will draw in a big audience that possibly will become easily addicted (especially the children). Now if someone were to factor in the increase in violent games (i.e war games). The virtual suites might be the worst idea in video game history. I am pretty sure that nobody wants to experience killing someone as if "you don't think you are playing."