LAST BLOG POST :O

<–––– I love this drawing :O I DON'T OWN IT, BUT I WISH I DID CUZ I WISH I COULD DRAW THAT WELL :O




Well, there are the questions I'm going to answer for y'all. So... yeah.

* What did you learn about yourself as a reader from creating and keeping up with your blog?
I learned that I connect a lot of things to books. Whether it has a lot to do with the book or if it's just a connection I sort of randomly think of, I can usually write a bit about the book.

* In what ways did you benefit from the experience?
I think I learned to make more connections, and actually say them and rant off a bit. I'm not the type who likes to talk about a book, like if I'm asked about a book face to face, my reply will be "Oh, that's a good book" or "I effing hate that book" or whatever.

* Is writing online different than in a notebook? In what ways?
Of course it is. For notebooks, I feel like I can't really write as much. I don't have free spirit or whatever, and I always limit my writing. I think this is because I can't think clearly and just want to get it done and don't feel like writing one sentence on one page.

* In what ways can writing online be liberating? Limiting?
First of all, I don't know what liberating means. Dictionary away!
Okay, so liberating... I can just say things easier on blogs and all and whatever. It's just easier to express my amazing self (conceited). I don't think blogging is really as limited as notebook-ing, at least for me. I guess notebooks are great for diaries and that stuff 'cuz you don't want some random person reading every single thing you do or whatever, but this is a freaking book review, so ya know. Yeah.

* Do you think that people are more real online or do we create online personalities that project the best of ourselves? Or something else?
I don't know. I just rant about what I think, so I guess it shows my "true self". Or something. I don't really talk about books well by, well, actually TALKING 'cuz I sorta stutter and all, and I think writing a blog is more organized than just talking because you can GO ALONG WITH IT and THINK and that leads to CONNECTIONS and INFERENCES which can be awfully FAR FETCHED (trust me, I know -____-" ) but you can still think more clearly, I believe. So yah.

* Do you think that teenagers abuse the freedom that being online gives you on sites like facebook? Do people type things they would never say to a person's face? Do you think this is a good or bad thing? Why?
Well. Hmm. I thought we were talking 'bout bloggin' and all but chu know, that's cool. Course it's bad to type meanie things or whatever, but why people say to a computer, I don't know. All I know is that internet fight are a waste of time -_____- It's like, really peoples, do you have nothing better to do than to scan the screen for whatever amount of time, waiting for a notification of some sort saying "So-and-so responded"? Really? That's lame. And no, this is not my attempt to start an internet fight, 'kay? I would say this in "real-life" too, not just through a bunch of little buttons to a big screen.

* Can you imagine yourself keeping up this blog or creating another one? What would it be about? What's your opinion of blogs in general and why?
Hm, I think if I were to start another blog, it would be song reviews :D I don't think that I could write a lot about books, I'm not like that, but, chu know, Reedie tries her bestest. (As you may remeber, earlier I said all I care is if I like it or not). I usually like all books, so yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Also, I think blogs are cool, cuz you can totally share all your awesome ideas :)

Have fun in other high schools, guys! :O I'll Miss ya! Well, some of you, anyways -____-'' XD

Love and Rockets,
REED :D

To Kill A Mockingbird~ Spoilers, YAY

<---I THOUGHT THAT WAS A GUY





























I'm pretty sure that whoever reads or has heard of the book To Kill A Mockingbird has wondered why this book has this title. I guess you'll have to read it to find out (MWAHAHA THAT MEANS DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS OR IT'LL SPOIL SOME OF THE BOOK)

Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jem, and their father live in Maycomb, Alabama.
)I didn't realize Scout was a girl until her brother told her to stop acting like a girl, and Dill said that she was anyway.) At first I thought, since the book was published in 1960, that that was the time it was plotted in. However, it takes place during a few years of the Great Depression. When I found this out, I finally stopped comparing this to my parents because I thought that this was what it was like for them when they were growing up. At least, I hope it wasn't.

In the book so far, there isn't really anything about the Finch family living in poverty, though, but maybe it's just that the entire town is horribly poor? I don't know. However, once in the book, during school, the teacher screams because a bug crawls out of a boy's hair. She tells him to come back to school when he's taken a bath, but in his family, they only go to school when they feel like it. Once a year, on the first day.
This made me think about how poor people live, especially if you were poor BEFORE something like the Great Depression.

"Back then", or whatever, cursing was like a really bad thing. Nowadays, people curse all the time. But in the 1930's and such, it was considered as a sin or something. Scout starts "cursing" and says "hell", and she gets in trouble and is yelled at. BUT~ people say means things about black people, because back then, nearly everyone. Was. Racist. Really, people call them... bad things. So yeah.

Imagine how much we've progressed since then. Their telephone was like half of a jump rope attached to a tin box. Now, we have these awesome things that look like they could teleport us (iPhones). I mean, imagine that poor boy with soot all over his faec and cooties and lice all in his hair. We take a shower everyday, he probably has once in his life. ( Like that king who only took 5 baths in his lifetime. [EW] ).

By the way, what do y'all think about marriage? or being engaged? You know how, when you're little, (at least for girls) you're all like "I'm going to marry a Prince" and all that, like you're going to marry Aladdin or find your Prince Charming? Isn't that cute, when little kids do that? The whole little skit, like, "We're engaged" whole thing? That's what it's like in this book, at the moment. Scout and Dill are "engaged", but Scout is only eight, and I don't know about Dill. Do you really think that little picture could last forever, or will it be torn apart?

That should totally be the end of a movie trailer.

Love and Rockets, Reed


By the way, if you ever get a gun, shoot as many bluejays as you'd like, just not any mockingbirds. It's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

I have been rereading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. In this book, an Indian boy named Junior lives on a reservation, the Spokane Rez. In it are his tales of woe, and how he gets by. His family doesn't have much money, they're dirt poor. He describes it as his parents parents were poor and their parents were poor and on and on until the beginning of poor people.

Junior loves to draw. He doodle all the time, and it's basically how he gets by. He claims that pictures show more than words, since everyone understands a picture no matter what language they speak. If you draw a flower, people will think "flower" in whatever language they speak, unless your flower was really crappy.

What do you like to do, to pass by time, to get through crappy stuff that may happen?
I love to draw too, even though I'm not the best at it. I mostly just doodle and all. Then, people sing or dance. I think dancing is a great way of expressing yourself, well, I guess any form of art is, even drama.

Do you know anyone who has "mental issues"? Well, if you read this book you will. (Dang, I sound like I'm promoting it. Is that what I'm supposed to do, anyway...?) Junior was born with "water on the brain" so the doctors had to cut open his skull and remove it. Scary, huh? He goes on about how in 3rd grade he was a size 11 in shoe size, he lisps and stutters, has a huge head, and how he gets beat up all the time. This made me feel so bad for him, and his parents. I know this sounds mean, maybe, but it must be really hard to raise a child who is so sick, especially if you haven't any money.

This book reminds me of this of Jeanne Wakatsuki's Farewell to Manzanar. In both stories, the families are poor and live in a reservation. However, Farewell to Manzanar is a true story; Jeanne Wakatsuki is the daughter of Japanese parents, and they are suddenly forced into the Manzanar reservation when Pearl Harbor is attacked, simply because they are Japanese. I can't imagine being in a situation like that, can you?

So it's not like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is true...? I wonder, is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian actually a true story, or what? It's really confusing to me since it says it is but... Yeah. What do you think...?

Love & Rockets, Reed.

Cruelty

What do you think about fate? Faith?
Do you believe in luck? Good or bad?
Do you think that if something bad happens to someone that it's their fault? That they caused their own misery?

You may be thinking it depends on the situation, and of course, I agree. If you do something bad, then something bad may happen to you. I believe this is called karma? Especially if you hurt someone, they may unintentionally, or purposely, get back at you. Like Law and Order SVU's season finale yesterday. (DID Y'ALL WATCH IT??) I think fate controls the world, just like faith. Faith is too much. People fight over and about it, and my theory is that everyone is wrong- or at least, not right. I think believing in what you believe is fine but you shouldn't talk about it and fight over it, that's just lame. And luck? Well, I'm not sure if I believe in luck or not. But ask yourself these questions.

Now, about the book I've been reading, Chanda's Secrets. There are many issues that come up in this book. Of course, you've heard that before, but it's not like simple, easy - to - solve problems like... Love stories or whatever. Chanda is 16, and her mother has been married 4 times. Chanda's father blew up in a mine, and her current step father is an alcoholic. And she suspects she and her mother have AIDS. In where she lives, Africa, everyone shuns those with AIDS, as well as their friends and family, because they have it, thinking they're bad people and such. But isn't there a saying "Bad things happen to good people" or "Good people die young"? I suppose these don't apply to this book... Which is sort of sad, because now, it's sort of like either way bad things happen to you, good or bad...

What do you think?

Comparing Two Similar Yet Far Worlds

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, both children are not close to their parents. Romeo hasn't even got a relationship with his parents, and it seems like they completely neglect him since there is no conversation between them in the play. Even at the beginning, Montague leaves Benvolio to talk with Romeo because he doesn't feel like it. Juliet's parents think they know best for her, and act and think that denying them is like breaking the law.

In Honey Hunt, the main character, Yura, is the daughter of two famous stars, her mother an actress and her father a musician. Yura has never been close to her parents, either.

What both these sets of parents have in common? They are famous. They are well known, rich and stand tall with dignity. They think they're so great, but they really aren't - at least, not to their children. This made me wonder if this is what it is like for children of actors and singers; are they really loved by their parents? Do their parents really care about them? Madonna is a good person, she adopted many children, right? Well, what if they really are neglected? In Honey Hunt, Yura's mother was voted "Best MOther" for actresses, but that really wasn't true. Maybe people really don't know anything unless they walk two moons in another man's moccasins. >Walk Two Moons<

Recently... (ugh I said that to start of my post again......) I have been re-reading, for the 3rd time, Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos. I have the advanced reading copy so I'm not sure if it's the same, but I like it anyways. Let me start by defining this term.

"Dark Dude" - n. I. What a male of light skin is derisively called by persons of color. (colloquial, Harlem 1965-1970). 2. A person considered suspect because of his light complexion, especially in criminal circumstances. 3. Someone who is not considered "streetwise". 4. A white person considered not to be "hip". Cf. "Straight." "Uncool." 5. An outsider, particularly in the context of ghetto society.

That's the exact definition from the book. So, basically, it's about a boy from a Cuban family who is, somehow, completely white.

What I like about this book, is that it really seems real. It makes me wonder... If Oscar Hijuelos lived like this? On the back of the book, a quote by him (which, honestly, I think is a little braggy?) is "This is the book I wish I'd read when I was a teen." So then, I looked him up. Oscar Cuban parents... hmmmm *hint hint*...

After seeing a photo of the author (he's white), I can conclude this is based off his life, or that a part of it (which reminds me of Go Ask Alice) is what he made up, sort of a rant on imagination.

Speaking of rant on imagination, that's sometimes what I will do. This ALLLSOOOOO brings me to a practice test I took over spring vacation. Roald Dahl said, in an excerpt on the test, that many of his idea come from dreams. Oooh mysssticaaalll... I don't know why, sometimes I'll just think of something like that. It's how my brain works... Ahem... Anyywayyy...

I've always enjoyed writing, but I really don't like my work. I try and try to be witty and all, but my aura isn't exactly comical. So I have a problem with that. I read my work and I'm like "... Oh CRAP. THIS IS CRAP." Anyway. That's my rant. On imagination. No, not really, but I should have one, shouldn't I? What do y'all like to write about? Is your brain strangely wired so you think one thing and it connects to a memory that has little or no relevance? Hmmmm...?

Lord Of The Flies -One of my lovely spoilers... And lame Titles...-

For about 5 or so days now, I've been reading William Golding's Lord of the Flies. However, or at least, so far in my findings, this book has nothing to do with flies. Perhaps everyone dies and rots and the island the boys landed on becomes infested with maggots, or maybe, because of the cover on the version I have (which has a rather "fat" boy on it) Piggy becomes ruler and everyone dies... or something amazing. (I can infer that because Piggy's glasses break and the spectacles on the cover are cracked as well.)

When I read books, I like to visualize things. If you know me, you probably know I am a very visual person and like to doodle quite a bit too much. However, it annoys me when in movies of the books, I see them and the setting and characters are completely different than what my brilliant imagination created. Anyway, how I imagine the tropical island in Lord Of The Flies is like an island in the Caribbean - Beautiful clear, blue waters and skies, tall green palm trees with coconuts and pineapple, and lovely bright flowers dancing upon the sand.

Thinking of these kinds of places make me have a craving to paint, even though I'm not that good (this is why I must learn InDesign and Photoshop). I think the one downfall to having a great imagination is not being able to share your thoughts.

~Colors~ ALL STARRRR

MAH ORIGINAL VERSION
These are the tips Corinna gave me to help revise my blog post :) (The italics are my responses.)

- Try to answer your questions, or arrange them in a different way. There are a bundle of questions that seem answered, but it feels as if they ... aren't. We want to know your opinion (this can also allow more responses to this blog post)!
When I said people care about my opinion once, a meanie walking by said "No they don't." Anyway, isn't my opinion in heerrrreeee?

- Use more sophisticated manner in your blog post. (EX. "I like colors, though" can be turned into "But personally, I like colors.") There is too much personality, but less main ideas.
Fine. But my personality is like sunshine, you can't live without it :D

- Use comments to help fix some issues? (Hint hint.)
Whatcha mean "hint hint"??? That's what Ms. Yip says...

- Possibly research some topics? Such as racism or color-blindness?
Okiieeesss


Once again, I'm writing a post on The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. There are so many things I can talk about from this book, but I promise this shall be the last.

This book takes place in the late 1700's. African-Americans were still kept as slaves, and Octavian basically is one. This made me think about the whole racist concept.

In this book, Octavian's professor said that color isn't real, yet an illusion. I disagree with this, but if there is really no such thing as color, why is there racism? Racism is based on the color of one's skin, and if there is no such thing as color, how come there is such thing as racism??

I believe anything visible and something we can touch is real. Mirages aren't... Oh, I just realized that doesn't exactly make colors real... Whatever, I believe in colors. I feel like I'm talking about God! But personally, I like colors [ STOLEN BY CORINNA 8D ]. They make everything more beautiful. What would the world look like without color?

Whenever I see an old photograph or video, I think "Oh my gosh everything was black and white! When did people begin to paint the world?!" Okay, I don't really think that, but I did when I was little. Still nowadays, I imagine everything from [back then] as black and white, not just as a photo, but for REAL. Awkward?

Basically, I can't imagine the world without color. That's like eating an Oreo without dunking it in milk. Everything needs color, colors are beautiful. Darkness is scary. I think Hell would have no colors, everything dark grays or just nothing at all. Just a blank page, me as a drawing in a world of nothing but white, running but never leaving, for drawings cannot move [I'm not talking about animation don't criticize me.]

There's this song I like a lot called Colors ~Melody and Harmony~ . It's about how people give to the world and how lucky people benefit and how they are grateful. I mainly thought of this song because of it's title and I wanted to share it. I like how it says about how we have good things in our life due to things kind and generous people have done. I suppose I can say the Civil War is one of them, so it has something to do with this post.

Also, according to Ms. Corinna's advice, I should look up stuff about color-blindness and racism. Honestly, I think I know enough about racism - it's the thought that controls and idiot's mind that his race or skin color, usually being white, is superior. Which is stupid.

However, I don't know much about colorblindness. That's why I looked it up. >See here for info I looked at about color blindness< Basically, colorblindness is when you can't see a certain color or brightness of a color, or something related to not seeing color. The treatment - unknown. And it's a lifelong condition. Can you imagine not being able to see colors your entire life? The page says those who are colorblind are used to it, but that's hard for me to imagine. I suppose, if I suddenly became colorblind, I would get used to it over time.
I've been thinking ; maybe people who are colorblind aren't the ones that are so "different". If, going back to Octavian's professor, colors aren't really real, maybe colorblind people are the few that are "normal". Maybe those who can see color are the ones who have a strange condition. Perhaps, long ago, all humans saw the world black and white, but there was one monkey (we were monkeys... "Reed, we know that." "SHUDDAP.") who was able to magically see magical things called COLORS. Then, many others got it and then yaayyyyy everyone sees colors, except a few who didn't adapt. Also, most men have color blindness, 1 in 10, but it's more rare for women. (Because the X and Y cells go boom and...)
When I was researching humans on Wikipedia, because I was going to say some other word for "human" that I forgot... both what it was and how to spell... I saw a thin about the oldest performer alive. Who still performs. Well, anyway, I thought that was cool. Then I stopped reading it after it said he spoke fondly of Adolf Hitler. Maybe the guy is getting Alzheimer's finally... Now I'm going to look up the oldest person alive... Oh, a French guy named Jeanne Calment... Ah, a lady... Oh, and maybe this is related to the X Y cell things and how boys have more diseases, etc., but the top ten oldest living people were all women. In the world. But then in 11th place is a guy. Okay. Yeah.

And lastly, my new sign off.

Love and Rockets,
Reed :D

My Weekly Rant :)

I finished Ashes!! Finally! Aaah I feel like I've accomplished something. You know how when you've finished something extreeemeeelyyyyy borrriingggg?? Like this book. Well, towards the end it was pretty cool I guess, but I HATE when books leave you trailing. I don't like when the author leaves with the very end just hanging and they expect your "imagination" to finish the story. I like it better when they finish it and THEN I make up what could of happened. Although I'm pretty creative... I think... I just think that way is easier.

Actually, you know what? I hate the book endings. They just annoy me so much. Maybe I hate books. No, I love books. It just ANNOYS me when a good book is finished, it makes me cry. When I finished The Mysterious Benedict Society and Fruits Basket, for example, I cried. Especially for Fruits Basket... heheheh...

I think, we should make a law. NO MORE ENDING BOOKS. We must keep books going oonnnn and onnnn foreverrrr... Only if they're good books though. Heheh.

Anyway, The end of Ashes was sort of... SAD. Gaby's sister is marrying a Nazi and they're leaving her behind in Berlin by moving to Caputh. HEY HEY HEY I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. "What? HOW COULD THEY? Terrible people." But Gaby's sister wanted to stay for some reason.

This book made me think about how you could love someone you hate. I mean, Ulla, the sister, loves a Nazi, and her family entirely opposes it. But she can't help but love him. Why? I have no idea. This is what brought me to Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are supposed to HATE each other, LOATHE each other, DESPISE each other. But yet, when they actually meet, they somehow love each other instantaneously, like people did in Shakespeare's time, apparently. However, neither of these families are necessarily BAD, they just... don't like each other for some unknown reason. So that's a difference from Ashes, I guess. But then again, it's sort of their fault for causing such a ruckus in town. So I suppose, they are good and bad people?

I've been wondering for a while, is anyone really a good or bad? Everyone has different opinions so maybe there really are no good or bad people. Many people thought Hitler was a good person, for instance, but many think he was terrible, too. What he did was horrible, so was he really a bad person? He was just doing what he, somehow, thought was right.

So are there really good or bad people? Or is it just an illusion of our minds?

A Bad Thing Called _____ (SPOILER ALERT... I THINK...)

Recently, I have been reading Go Ask Alice. (Ugghhh I say "recently" to start off my blog posts waaayyyy too often. If anyone has a suggestion, tell meeeeeeee :D ) Ahem, anyway... No, I haven't finished Ashes yet, but since I'm a terrible person and was so excited to read Go Ask Alice when I saw it in Barnes and Noble, I had to. So I've given up on Ashes until I finish Go Ask Alice (Likely going to finish tomorrow during project REAL.)

Enough random rambling on about how I read books. Go Ask Alice is the diary a girl renamed Alice (to keep her identity) who becomes a bit of an addict. Not an addict as in too much of a food or watching T.V too much, but as one of those bad addictions. Like, really bad addictions. The ones that get you into so much trouble and is just one of those bad, bad things. *sounding ridiculous but repeating things over and over are fun, especially since people -sometimes- start to listen to you*. Yes, I mean the drug addiction.

To sum it up, Alice becomes addicted to drugs after a party, where her soda was tainted with an LSD. Before then, she was always writing about God and a little hostility towards her siblings (let's admit it, we all hate our siblings even if we love them...). Afterwards, she was constantly writing things like "torpedos on Friday and Speed on Sunday", "going to trip on acid" and "I can't wait to try pot!" At first I was thinking "Eeeehhhhhhhhh, I thought torpedos were those things that blow up ships like in that cheesy Batman Movie with Adam West..." and "Being high is good? WHAT?" Then she goes on about how she has to STOP taking drugs and she basically stops and starts again, back and forth back and forth.

"After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs...."

I got really scared when I read this, and the effects from drunk guys yelling outside the house and rain didn't exactly help calm myself either. This line reminded me of gangs and this show called The Mentalist (I love that show heheheh). One of the FBI agents was a former gang member and his friend was killed. This was because he was trying to get OUT of his gang.

Also, in Fruits Basket, Arisa Uotani was a known as a delinquent. She met Tohru Honda, a very kind, polite girl, and she really wanted to change and be a great friend. When she tried to leave her gang though, they basically tried to kill her until Tohru's mother came along and fought them off. How could a kind, tender, loving housewife fight off some juvenile delinquents? She used to be in a gang, known as "The Red Butterfly". This supports my idea that people CAN change. Even though it's fiction, it really stands out.

I want to see what happens to Alice, since something very table-turning just happened (my way of words isn't that great...) and I think she might die, but I guess I'll have to keep reading... then go back to boring old Ashes...

Ashes

Recently I've been reading Ashes by Kathryn Lasky. Although it's by this author who has won awards for her writing, I am a bit disappointed with this book. The plot is fine, but so far it's a bit slow, and the wording isn't exactly grade level. This seems a bit more like a 6th grade book instead.

Guess whaaaattttt?? I'm reading yet another book about World War II. Apparently, I'm not completely evil yet. (Or I am...) I enjoy reading historical fiction a lot. Maybe this is because it will help me in school? I think I also just enjoy learning about stuff that happened, because often I am way behind and people expect me to know what they know even if I just never knew... Does that make sense??

I think that it's interesting how the author incorporates the German ways of saying some of the words. Unfortunately, unlike some other books, this one doesn't have the translations in the back. I wonder if some of these references are even what people actually called the Nazis, though. For example, Gabby (the main character) calls the Nazis "Brown Shirts" because they wore, well, brown shirts and khaki pants. Apparently, many men grew Hitler's mustache, the "toothbrush mustache" as well. I can't believe people actually agreed with the terrible things he said, maybe they just didn't want to be killed or become famous or something...

~Colors~

Once again, I'm writing a post on The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. There are so many things I can talk about from this book, but I promise this shall be the last.

This book takes place in the late 1700's. African-Americans were still kept as slaves, and Octavian basically is one. This made me think about the whole racist concept.

In this book, Octavian's professor said that color isn't real, yet an illusion. I disagree with this, but if there is really no such thing as color, why is there racism? Racism is based on the color of one's skin, and if there is no such thing as color, how come there is such thing as racism??

I believe anything see-able and something we can touch is real. Mirages aren't... Oh, I just realized that doesn't exactly make colors real... Whatever, I believe in colors. I sound like I'm talking about God! I like colors, though. They make everything more beautiful. What would the world look like without color?

Whenever I see an old photograph or video, I think "Oh my gosh everything was black and white! When did people begin to paint the world?!" Okay, I don't really think that, but I did when I was little. Still nowadays, I imagine everything from [back then] as black and white, not just as a photo, but for REAL. Awkward?

Basically, I can't imagine the world without color. That's like eating an Oreo without dunking it in milk. Everything needs color, colors are beautiful. Darkness is scary. I think Hell would have no colors, everything dark grays or just nothing at all. Just a blank page, me as a drawing in a world of nothing but white, running but never leaving, for drawings cannot move [I'm not talking about animation don't criticize me.]

There's this song I like a lot called Colors ~Melody and Harmony~ . It's about how people give to the world and how lucky people benefit and how they are grateful. I mainly thought of this song because of it's title and I wanted to share it. I like how it says about how we have good things in our life due to things kind and generous people have done. I suppose I can say the Civil War is one of them, so it has something to do with this post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right now, somewhere, someone
is in pain, all alone
Passing through a sleepless night
Until the light shines on your heart
Let’s nestle close together, so that we could sleep
Like a melody and harmony in love

For someone’s sake
we are here
Although we can only achieve small things
Even just for 1 second
We still want to stop all the tears in this world
And turn them all into smiles

Keep loving, and keep walking,
We’ve been believing that we will be able to convey these overflowing feelings
Even before we were born, we knew that we would meet
And that we would be searching for our dreams together

[RAP]

The moment when we are able to compose the sparkling sound
We will be able to forget all the sorrow
Melody and harmony
You are always by our side
Giving us courage and hope

Thanks to you
Thank you forever
These glittering feelings are your gifts to me
You’ve taught me how to support each other, to watch over each other
And that I’m not lonely

The love that was piled up
is riding on the melody
I want to convey it to you
Forever and ever

My music is my life
For you, for you, smile
Because our hearts will link together
My life is wonderful
Forever, forever

Starting from here

Keep loving, and keep walking
We have been believing that we will be able to
convey these overflowing feelings

Thanks to you
Thank you forever
These glittering feelings are your gifts to me

The love that was piled up
is riding on the melody
I want to convey it to you
Forever and ever

lalala…

Right now, somewhere, someone is in pain, all alone
Passing through a sleepless night
Until the light shines on your heart
Let’s nestle close together, so that we could sleep
Like a melody and harmony in love

~Lies~ This is not about them.

My friend Lila wrote a very interesting blog post awhile back, on a topic I could never elaborate on. Check her blog out here! ➪ http://silverbonesandgoldenstars.blogspot.com/
The post is based from the book, We Are Broken, and Lila takes the quite a lot of time talking about lies. I, for one, can't say much about lies. I can say that they are bad and untruthful. To help me think more about lies and lying, Lila left us some questions.

When you have to lie to someone like that, when do you stop? Does someone make you do it? Or does the other person find out first? Why do you tell the truth? Why don't you?

I think that to show you care for someone, you have to tell the truth, always. Once you begin to lie, you can't stop. Many people say "I lie to you because I need to protect you from the truth." I disagree. You need to tell everyone, especially the person you really care about, all honesty. Does "all honest" make sense?? Doing this and staying by their side shows how much really you cherish and care for them. It's like saying "Forever I will stay with you, through the good and the bad. You know why? Because I love you, and I have to go through the same crap you do." Saying this reminds me, once again, about the Fruits Basket quote I love so much. "Repeat the good... and the bad. Do it all... and pile on the years."

Also, once you start to lie, it's hard to stop. It may be something imaginative from your world of creativity - I'm trying to come up with a clever way to say "the human mind"- that you must say, but don't feel like making up a whole story because it's annoying and lame. OWN EXPERIENCE...

I think the word "lies" may as well begin capitalized, as is "God" and "He" when directed towards God. Then again, many words should be, they mean so much. But, is "God" his name? A title? It's the same with "His Royal Highness". Does this mean he's up towards God? Off topic, something to look into...

This also reminds me of BIGBANG's song, Lies. ➪ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cv3phvP8Ro&feature=relmfu

The first few lines are

Yeah... Love is pain
Dedicated to my Brokenhearted People
One's old a flame... Yes, Scream my name...

I like how he says "Dedicated to my Brokenhearted People". It seems like in the song he's saying lies break love. Another reason to tell the truth? Yet, at the moment, I don't understand "One's old a flame"... I will have to search into that meaning...

I haven't read this book. It seems like something I may read, yet, I'm not sure why I say this. I suppose, often, I read books recommended by friends?

Well, before I end this post, let me ask you. What do you think about lies? Do you agree or disagree with my theories? Why? Ooh this is making me sound all high-and-mighty...

I wish to hear from you!

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing [ SPOILER ALERT ]

Recently in The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing I have been thinking about the title. Octavian is a slave living in Boston. Although the setting is up north and Octavian and his mother are treated well, they are still considered "slaves" because they are "slaves who may be bought and sold at anytime". This made me think how slaves didn't have last names, or they took the last name of their owner. Perhaps that's why the title is "Octavian Nothing" Get it? :D Well, that's what I've decided to infer.
Also, in this book, they are quite religious. They often mention God, and they are Catholic.

I find it interesting that the owners (there are many living in one building) call themselves by numbers. I'm going to make a quick, small inference that they are bad guys. By this, I mean that they aren't allowed to own slaves but they are anyway and use secret codes so nobody knows where they are. Something like that. Then again, this sets in the late - ish 1770's, so maybe it is still legal in the north...? But I still like my amazing idea better. Because they're evil. So ha.

The Astonishing Life Of Octavian Nothing

Some books are happy.
Some books are sad.
Some tell good stories,
some tell very bad.
Yesterday, I started The Astonishing Life Of Octavian Nothing Volume I - The Pox Party. I already have much to say about it, even though I'm less than a hundred pages into the book. "There is no refreshment more gratifying to the soul than the sight of Nature in her summer finery, before the heat is at its most intense. She is soothing, but not soporific; intoxicating without inebriation." I love how in this paragraph, "nature" is capitalized so it is not in fact "nature", but "Nature." As if She (notice the capital...) were a God, referred to sometimes as "He".
Reading this book has made me want to paint. I have so many beautiful ideas to paint from this book, for example, Octavian's mother, Cassiopeia. She's an African princess of the Empire of Oyo, the Egba people. Apparently, when she lived in Africa, before he palace burnt down, it was covered with flowers and had many gardens, and that the palace so close to the ocean that a breeze would waft the salty scent through it. I can completely imagine the bronze princess gazing out at the sea with vines all over the window with flowers booming from vein-like ivy. This is only one of the many beautiful visions I have so far.
I also love his mother's name, Cassiopeia, because it's my favorite band's fan-club name! (Laughter) I haven't much time, I'm sure to write more on this wonderful next week!!!

Maus

Recently, I read the first book of the series, Maus. Maus is a true story about the author getting his father to reveal his life to him so he may write a comic book about. This comic book is what became Maus.

In this book, the Jewish people who wear discriminated against were mice, while the Nazis were cats. I think this is really interesting to look at from that point of view, since cats are supposed to eat and attack and sorta of HATE mice. Like Tom and Jerry.

It seems like I enjoy stories with bad situations. For instance, earlier this school year, i read Emil and Karl (I have a blog post about it). They are both about World War II and living through it while being persecuted, although in Maus the author's father is a grown man and Emil and Karl is about two young boys.
Recently, I found out what a swastika is, and I realized just a moment ago that it's in the middle of the emblem on the book, with the skull- cat head. (I believe it is a skull...?) When I looked it up (on Wikipedia, I know, I'm TERRIBLE...) (Oh wait this is Wiktionary... whatever...) it shows up with three languages (I don't know how to explain it... here's the site... http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%8D%90 ) and they're all from Asian countries. I THEN looked it up on Wikipedia and it says

"The swastika (Sanskrit: स्वास्तिक) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing (卐) form or its mirrored left-facing (卍) form. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient India as well as Classical Antiquity. It remains widely used in Eastern religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Following a brief surge of popularity in Western culture, the swastika from the 1930s became strongly associated with its iconic usage by Nazi Germany, and it has hence become stigmatized and taboo in the Western world; it has notably been outlawed in Germany if used as a symbol of Nazism. Many modern political extremists and Neo-Nazi groups such as Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and Russian National Unity use stylised swastikas or similar symbols."

So I know it symbolized Nazis, but I still don't really understand what it has to do with Buddhism and Hinduism. I suppose I will have to research more about it...

Cirque du freak (Spoiler... for first book...)

Cirque du freak seems like the only vampire series that no one hates on. (Twilight, on the other hand...)
When I read the first one, Darren has to leave his family in order to continue to live.
I feel bad for Darren. He had to fake his own death to survive, and his parents believed that he really had died. When people die, they realize that leaving people behind is just as hard as being left behind, if not worse. I can't imagine leaving my family. Even though sometimes I get sick of them, especially my brother, I can't imagine living without them.
This made me wonder if Darren was on bad terms with his family. Even if he is, I can't believe that he would swap his LIFE for his friend! I guess I can, but Sam, his friend, had begun to hate Darren because he had become a vampire (jealousy is BAD). To get a cure to save Sam, Darren had to become a vampire. I think think was a very generous act, since Darren knew that Sam would hate him forever if he saved him. Then again, he didn't want to have Sam die feeling that he hated Darren.

Fruits Basket Final Volume (a bit of a spoiler but read it anyways :D )

Comics have heroes. They have them defeat evil, demented monsters or villans with super strength. They even, sometimes, have a deep, thoughtful plot and theme.

Recently, I've been rereading a lot of manga series, including Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. (Well, I've been rereading the few volumes I actually OWN of the series). I love this series - romantic comedy is my treasure :)

Fruits Basket is very sad sometimes. The main character, Tohru, her mother died. In this last volume, it shows Kyoko (her mother) of what she was thinking when she was dying. I want to incorporate it into one of my poems. "I understand now. Leaving people behind, being left behind. They're both... so hard..." And she starts going on about how much she loved Tohru and if she loved her enough. It's really touching and sad. This is one of those things you would wish to be real, to really have happened. It's like in The Office, you (well, at least I do) wish that Pam and Jim were a real couple :)

I remember when I finished the series, the last sentence was so touching, I cried. I'd never cried about a book before, but it was so beautiful and I was so sad that the series had ended - I was overwhelmed. "Repeat the good... and the bad. Do it all... and pile on the years." I also want to put this into one of my poems. My topic is Icy love. I think. Or Icy life. something so it sticks out - something good and bad. This is where I can say the quote again :D

Repeat the good... and the bad. Do it all... and pile on the years.

Honey Hunt ~ :D

Recently, I have been reading a series called Honey Hunt. Over the winter break, I read five entire volumes... I must get the sixth one...
Anyway, in Honey Hunt by Miki Aihara, the main character, Yura Onozuka, is the daughter of two famous celebrities. Her mother is Yukari Shiraki, a famous actress voted "Best Mom" for a magazine. She's not. Her father, Takayuki Onozuka, is a famous musician.

This story has many problems, which I can not discuss right now because it would give away the book and because Ms. Rear will tell me to re-do this if I summarize it.

When I was reading the series, I started thinking, "I wonder if this hard life for Yura is how it is for many children of real celebrities." It made me think of Madonna's daughter, Lourdes. I didn't know who she was, until someone said "Madonna's daughter". It's like that for Yura too, she's not known much and is referred to as "the daughter of Yukari Shiraki".

Also, I sometimes wonder if Lourdes has any talent, or if she just goes to LaGuardia because she's Madonna's daughter and LaGuardia can use that to boast. I feel bad for people who aren't known for themselves but only through other people.