Semester Final

My writing this year has been a complete roller coaster, the ride being both a thrilling and a rewarding one. I honestly think that I've improved quite a bit over the years and looking back on my freshman work has only locked that belief in cement, the events that have taken place in the duration of my freshman and sophomore year have also contributed to who I really am now as a 'writer'. Now, as for this final, I'll answer 4 questions one by one in the best and most fluid way that I can manage.

The first thing I'll explain is how my writing has changed this semester. When I started out, my writings came from my head; they were reviews about games and movies (like the first blog post I ever did, a review of Prototype) and I really did believe that that was all I would be writing for the entire year. As I kept writing those kinds of blogs, though, I realize that they seemed... fabricated. Like I was just typing stuff that I thought people would want to hear, and it wasn't fun writing those sorts of things. People shouldn't write so that the audience will enjoy their book, they should write for themselves and make themselves proud of what they wrote. I do agree that a successful book (or blog post) will boost self-esteem, but if what you wrote isn't what you think then all of that support is for nothing. It's almost like plagiarizing, if you plagiarize and then receive a lot of popularity, then it's fake popularity; it's popularity for what you stole rather than what you wrote. Sutherland talked about people plagiarizing works for their monthly reviews and when he claimed that teachers can tell, the entire class seemed to scoff at him as though he were lying. I actually believe him 100% because I can tell when a picture is traced, and so can all of my friends. If we compare a really good picture to the rest of your work and see a significant difference, then we'll know that something is up. It's the same with writing, Sutherland has been reading our work for an entire school year (for people like me TWO school years), he can tell when work isn't ours. We might not be able to see it, but everyone has their own style of writing and most people can pick it out pretty easily. I'm getting off-subject though, but that is something I learned this year. Presently? I write from my heart, I pour my honest opinions into the keyboard and work out the rest with typed words. I blog about current events, weather it be in the news or in my personal life, and reflect on what's happening now. I write what I want, not what people expect of me. I like doing this, I like being honest with myself and with others rather than bottling it up and repressing my innermost thoughts in fear that they'll be rejected.

How did(do) I like having a blog? I love(d) it. I learn new things from both my friend's and my posts and blogging helps me release myself in a way I wouldn't be able to normally. Blogging is also a lot more convenient than writing, it's quick and simple and nearly everyone can see it. The most surprising thing that blogging has really helped me with is CONSISTENCY. Before I had my blog I would write maybe once a month, twice tops. Now, however, I write more than twice a week! If that isn't improvement then I don't know what is. Recently I quit the art site that I was on, I want to practice more on my own, without relying on the support of other people. This might not sound like a good idea, but I want to start again later; a fresh start. I don't think I'll do the same with my writing, but I do think that I'll continue even after this class ends. Maybe even after the school year ends, or after I graduate! Who knows? I think that's the great thing about life itself though, you never know what's coming.

The last question I'm going to talk about is "How did your classmates' blogs help you develop as a writer? Give examples from other blog(s) and from your own to show the connection(s)." Now, in the beginning of the year I didn't think that I'd be using ANY references for what I wrote in my blog, recently though I really have. One person in specific has be unknowingly inspiring in more than one field. This person is Irene, and she's been a friend of mine since the stone ages (kindergarten, am I old enough to call that the stone ages? Probably not.) Now Irene is a true renaissance (wo)man. She excels in so many things like writing, art, fashion, language, culture, agh so many things. In each thing she inspires me to try something new, although I don't think that she herself is aware of it. My favorite blog post this year was my last book review about 'Unwind', and it was inspired by her book review on 'Lies My Teacher Told Me'. I just love her style of writing and the ways she can combine word flow with an intelligent vocabulary. I only found her blog mid-way through the year, so I can't say that she's always inspired my blog posts; I can say, however, that she does now. Though she denies it, Irene is the sole person in my life who actually did something (aside from my parents) that changed who I am. She got me to start drawing, my favorite hobby, she got me into learning more about other cultures which is now something I strive to do left and right. She always has a good debate up her sleeve and though sometimes it turns into a bit of a fight, it's always fun to have a real argument with someone about something that's worth arguing about. Sorry to turn this question into a flattery session, but all of this needs to be said. Irene, this is a very special shout out to you; I hope you become everything you want to become, and I really do hope that we manage to keep in touch when our hobbies begin to separate us. I hope that when you're an amazing artist (which you already are) working for a big cooperation or something, that I'll still be able to point and call you one of my closest friends.
Well, that's all I'll be answering; before I go, though, I'd like to make a special 'shout out' to Mr. Sutherland, the guy that made all of this possible. Sutherland, what you're doing here is amazing; you're revolutionizing the way an English teacher should teach. Despite how simple your class is, amazing ideas come out of it. As for what I've gotten out of the class, I've gotten everything stated above, Sutherland has taught me interesting facts about the world including a few about where we live in specific; he's a complete inspiration to every student in his class and I hope he continues to teach with such enthusiasm.
Thanks to whomever is reading this, goodbye :) Read More!

Unwind Monthly Review

Unwind, a fictional book by Neal Shusterman, does more than just describe a story to you; this book teaches as well as describes to you the consequences to a very possible 'twist' in history. Although the story begins with a character named Connor, there is an even mixture of all three of the other character's, Risa and Lev's, stories as things progress. These three have but one thing in common, and that is that they are all supposed to go through a process called 'unwinding'.

"... life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end...."

Unwinding entails a person being, in short, taken apart piece by piece while the parts of their body (every single one) are used around the world as donors to people who need them. Though there is much opposition to this opinion, the process of unwinding is supposed to be a humane way of getting rid of someone without actually getting rid of them. The main problem that most of the population have with this process is not with the process itself, but with the fact that it's the parent's decision as opposed to it being the child's decision. Connor, Lev, and Risa team up through a strange sequence of events and are thus together (for some durations) while they try to escape their unwinding.

More than a few questions can be answered in this book, the first one being "for what audiences is this book intended?" This book, honestly, could be intended for all ages. Although the storyline follows teenagers through their lives, the plot line has a lot to do with the real world and the idea of how far laws can go until they're inhumane. The book brings up a variety of very adult ideas and questions, such as the idea of unwinding itself. Is it possible? That's the main question that skipped through my head as I got further into the book. In my opinion? Yes, it's very possible for something like this to happen. Some people will really go through whatever it takes to get rid of something (or someone in this case) that they don't want anymore without having the guilt of just killing it. I think that was what the whole point with the law stating the the children who are unwound are still technically 'alive'. In addition, the story has a few compelling adults in it as well. The book does a fantastic job at changing the perspective of scenes without making the book seem too jumpy, and it goes into the perspective of people who aren't even main characters. Some of the perspective changes are directed to people who don't even have proper names, such as a perspective change to 'Cop' or 'Woman'. By using these changes, however, you get a bit of a different perspective on things; in this way, the book doesn't seem biased to one side or the other, it shows people who think about certain aspects of unwinding that make it seem better than it actually is.

"9. Mother
The mother is nineteen, but she doesn't feel that old...Funny, but the Bill of Life was supposed to protect the sanctity of life. Instead it just made life cheap... From the time she learned that she was pregnant she knew that she would end up storking this baby... As she hurries down the street, she thinks how wonderful it is that she can get a second chance. How wonderful it is that she can dismiss responsibility so easily."

The second question that I can easily answer is "What was the author's purpose in writing this book?" The author's main point, I should think, was to show an example of how far people will go in order to relieve themselves of the burden of destroying something that should be cared for. The quote above is an excerpt in which a woman 'storks' her child. Storking is when a newborn baby is left on the doorstep of someone else, which actually used to be fairly common; according to the laws in this book, when a child is storked then the family who owns the doorstep must take the child unless they spot the owner fleeing. The woman should feel guilty that she's just handing a baby to a stranger, but she gets less of a guilt trip because it's a family who owns a decent home and it's a family that is 100% obliged to take the child. If she had to throw her child in a pit or kill it right then, I doubt she'd be so willing. Later in the book, Connor describes his experience with a storked baby:

"... it was early in the morning, and my parents figured no one saw the baby left at the door, right? So the next morning, before the rest of us got up, my dad put the baby on a doorstep across the street... Things go on like it never happened. Everything was quiet for a while, and then two weeks later, I open the door, and there on that stupid welcome mat is another baby in a basket.... My Mom, all frustrated, brought the baby in, and that's when she realizes... it's the same baby!... only now it's not looking too good..."

You see my point? People today do sort of the same thing, only a smarter alternative (abortions). I don't know what i would do if that storked baby ended up on my doorstep but, actually, i might stork it again. Does that make me cruel? I'm 15, I doubt I'd have enough money or time to raise a child that doesn't belong to me; however, I think a child is better suited in an orphanage or something along those lines then being handed off until it dies of malnutrition.

The last thing that I'll be going over is the description of a character that I favored in particular throughout the book. I'd have to say that i found both Connor and Lev very interesting characters, Lev more so than Conner. You see, although Conner was more of a 'main' character, he seemed fairly bland to me. He's an average protagonist. Rebellious, strong, smart, has his weaknesses, falls in love with the female of the group, and his personality doesn't stick out as much as I expected it to. The plot of the book definitely boosted his unique qualities, but if you look at him from a wide perspective then he's not very different. I believe that only added to the book though, because of his normality it's a lot easier for people to relate to him while they're reading. I hate to compare books that are on completely different labels but the Twilight saga uses this a lot. Bella, the main character, doesn't have too detailed of a description and because of this a lot of girls easily put themselves in her place. That's the reason the book is so popular, when people don't have a face to put to a character then they often substitute it with either themselves or someone close to them. Lev, on the other hand, was a very unique character. Unlike the other two, he had somewhat more of a decision when it came to being unwound. He's a tithe, which is someone who is unwound for the purpose of giving their body to the people. When Lev is on his way to the unwind camp, he is interrupted by Connor and Risa and is "kidnapped" by them. Throughout the book, Lev's ideas of being tithed and unwinding changes a lot. He goes from willingly being unwound to being a 'clapper' who, in a simpler description, is someone who sacrifices themselves in an explosion to cause chaos. Lev never does kill himself, but the steps he went through to do so are very shocking. The thing I liked the most about Lev though was the balance of innocence. At one point, he cleverly barters his way to getting $500 from a stubborn trader. When on his way to get the money though...:

"...He pulls open the door, and the second he does, he feels something hard and heavy connecting with his head. His thoughts are instantly scrambled. He loses consciousness before he hits the ground,
The pawnbroker comes to sometime layer, with a headache and a faint memory that something had gone wrong. It takes a few seconds for him to pull himself together and realize exactly what happened. That little monster conned him! He got guns to open the safe, and the moment he did, he knocked him out and cleaned out the safe.
Sure enough, the safe was open wide -- but it's not entirely empty. Inside is the bracelet, its gold and diamonds looking even brighter against the ugly gray steel of the empty safe. How much was inside the safe? Fifteen hundred, tops. This bracelet is worth at least three times that. Still a deal -- and the kid knew it."

He can still keep that kind heart that we all wish we had, he stayed clever and managed to get away with as much as he could while still being a decent kid. You can't help but respect that kind of intuition. The other scene in which I was again astounded by his courage was his travels with a kid named Hi-Fi; I won't go in depth, but I will say that at the end he manages to show his real compassion towards those who need it, and his bitter hatred towards those who don't offer theirs.

Overall, this book was amazing. I wish I could buy it, and maybe I will eventually, but for right now I had just gotten it from the library. This is the final book review, and I'd like to give a special thanks to people who really made me want to read more. Sutherland, of course, but he'll get a better thank you in my final. Adam, who introduced me to this amazing book and discussed some very interesting things about it with me that i would have never thought of. Grace always read the same book as me, and we discussed (in a very girlish fashion, I might add) the characters and plot twists that we adore so much. There might be even more people, and I apologize if I failed to mention you, who also contributed, but for now these are the people who helped the most. I hope to read even more books in my life, maybe even become one of those people who horde books and read them again and again, handing them off to their children and such.




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3rd Unwind Letter

SO MANY TWISTS HOLY SHIT
it took me like an hour to fully comprehend the amount of plot twists that this book has, it's absolutely brilliant. The biggest one is the one about the Sargent and his family, which kind of make me literally make a face that looked like this --> :O. I was just stunned, and a bit horrified, at what had just happened. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, just in case someone who hasn't read the book yet stumbles upon my blog and is then devastated when they read about the plot twists. I will say that they're amazing, and I didn't expect any of them.
Anyway, a few scenes got to me while I was reading, the biggest one being when uh INSERT NAME was being unwound and he describes his experience:

{INSERT QUOTE HERE} (i'll put it in when I can find the book. it's the unwinding process)

That just sounds so surreal, I don't even understand it. He stays alive all the way to when they take apart his brain, that part was the scariest to me. In a sense I think I would rather die than be unwound, from what's described it sounds like you're slowly withering away. I'd rather die than not be able to comprehend anything. It's pretty much like dying with the actual satisfaction of dying and, although it's done in a humane way, it sounds like a horrible experience.
It kind of makes you think though, isn't this slightly plausible? I'm not sure myself but the whole 'unwinding =/= killing' scenario seems highly plausible for me.

This quote I stole from Adam

"...We believe in randomness... We believe in forces of nature-and WE are forces of nature. We are havoc. We're chaos. We mess with the world... It dosnt matter who or what we mess with, just as long as we mess. The way we see it, the world dosent move if things dont get shaken up..."

Ahhh doesn't this sound plausible too though? It sounds a lot like groups that already exist, rebellions. I wonder if I'd be in one of these groups, after all their 'plans' have a pretty nice goal don't they? If you're on the path to being unwound, why let other people get unwound while you slip by the security? That's why I liked the whole detail that went into the way they did the things they did and for what reasons.

Well then that's it for lit circle letters! I'll save the good stuff for the monthly review. Read More!

The Rules of Love ~

    Well, in my opinion the rules of loves depends on the person in question. You see, everyone has their own set of rules and expectatios when it comes to something like dating. For most people, dating is a one at a time thing that goes in these steps:
    1. Hanging out, decision to go on an actual date.
    2. First date, getting to know each other.
    3. Decide if you're a 'couple' or not. KISS.
    4. Whatever comes after a lot of dating.
That's at least how I personally see it. In terms of rules being violated, I'm not entirely sure. I suppose for most people, violating the rules differs depending on severity. The most severe being uh... getting pregnant or something when you're still young. Sex is a common thing now, everyone who's anyone in a long-term relationship has done it. There's also the basic rules like don't cheat, don't lie, don't avoid your partner etc. Another thing having to do with sex and popularity is that a girl can only have a few partners before she's labeled a slut. When a girl dates a lot of guys then guys don't feel as 'special' when dating them. It's about the same vice verse but when a guy dates a lot of girls he's more respected than he is hated.
    Consequences? Well your relationship could be ruined and no one will want to date you in fear that they're just one of a series. When people date they want to feel loved and special to someone that isn't in their family. It's like the most extreme self-esteem booster to know that some guy likes you THAT much in comparison to long friends and family who are pretty much forced to like you, it shows that your personality isn't holding you back.
    As for rules about dating, people like to be nit-picky and make up their own little pet peeves. For instance, some people don't like bad breath so they don't date anyone with bad breath. Some people don't like annoying laughs so they don't date anyone with an annoying laugh, things like that. It depends on the person. I think people now are a lot more picky then they were back then though, I'm not sure why but it seems a lot harder to be in a relationship now. In the video showed during class things seemed so simple, people asked each other on dates like a day after they met. I also noticed that in the videos (and commonly) it was the boy who asked the girl on a date. Since when did this end? I liked it more, it seemed more gentlemanly. Nowadays it doesn't matter who asks who, in fact I think girls ask boys more often than boys ask girls! It's the same with proms and stuff, the boy is ALWAYS supposed to ask the girl (unless it's one of those dances where the girls ask the boys.) Now, however, I see an equal amount of girls asking boys to dances. Man it up men, take back your rightful place. We don't bite, nothing bad's gonna happen if you ask us out. The worst we could do is deny you and then afterward everything is peachy. We're not going to punch you and spread nasty rumors, what would we even make the rumors about? I dunno.
    That's actually the main problem people have, I read this statistic about what guys want to see in a girl and the #1 thing was for the girl to ask him out. WHY? WHY DON'T YOU ASK US OUT? If we live the rest of our lives too pussy to ask anything then nothing is going to happen, we're going to grow up alone and die alone because we were too scared to ask that 'special someone' out. I asked my family from Chicago and what they told me was interesting, they told me that there's not really any dating. It's just "will you be my boyfriend/girlfriend" and then "yes/no" and then whatever, i actually like the simplicity of it but isn't it weird being the girlfriend of someone you don't know very well? I'm unsure. Anyway this ended up a lot longer than what I wrote on the paper.
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Unwind Letter 2

    SOO second lit circle letter for Unwind! Like I said in the previous letter, I read the whole book in one go so I made my own cut-off lines for these blog posts. So far in the book I think things have gotten better and better. The way everything fits and comes back together is just mind-blowing, I can't even comprehend how much thought went into every scene in the book. I'm especially surprised at just how smart these kids are; Lev, for example, is amazing when it comes to getting money. He shows exponential intelligence at bartering in this scene:

         He pulls open the door, and the second he does, he feels something hard and heavy connecting with his head. His thoughts are instantly scrambled. He loses consciousness before he hits the ground,
        The pawnbroker comes to sometime layer, with a headache and a faint memory that something had gone wrong. It takes a few seconds for him to pull himself togethre and realize exactly what happened. That little monster conned him! He got guns to open the safe, and the moment he did, he knocked him out and cleaned out the safe.
        Sure enough, the safe was open wide -- but it's not entirely empty. Inside is the bracelet, its gold and diamonds looking even brighter against the ugly gray steel of the empty safe? Fifteen hundred, tops. This bracelet is worth at least three times that. Still a deal -- and the kid knew it

    I don't know if I would have been that smart, I probably would have just taken the 500 and left with it. I would have been much to scared to actually hit someone over the head. Lev is one of my favorite characters simply because he's so... I don't know how to explain it, he's really tactful and always seems to know what to do and when to do it. In that way he relates a lot to Conner, I wish I could think on my feet like that.
    Another scene that made a big impact was the whole scene with CyFi, I can't exactly quote the whole thing but in the scene they dig up a whole treasure chest of stolen things. Cyfi seems to be entranced by the person who he got part of his brain from, and that person was apparently a kleptomaniac, always stealing whenever he could. I wonder what that would be like having part of someone else in your own mind. It gave me something to think about. Anyway, I would write more but I better get some sleep.

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Unwind

SO Mr. Adam got me to read this book 'Unwind' (and I'm very thankful) but he neglected to tell me who else is in our group so I'm not sure how awesome my commenting is going to be (or how frequent.) Gah the keyboard I'm using is really gross so I'm apologizing beforehand about the inevitable typos that are going to be littered throughout this. Also, as an explanation to people who are reading the book who I don't know very well, I'm forgetful, a lot of the things in the book are things that I remember happening but I don't know every last detail. I digress though, let's get started.
I finished the book, but I won't give any spoilers for after what I believe is the first part. Tout d'abord, this book is amazing, I absolutely love the style of writing as well as the in-depth characters that are mixed in. The plot is what really got me hooked though, why am I so drawn to books that have a moderately depressing plot? I'm not sure, but this plot definitely packs one hell of a punch. The main premise of the book is that parents or guardians are allowed to 'unwind' their children until they turn 18. It has something to do with it being the 'humane' choice as opposed to killing people because when someone is unwound then they're still technically alive. The process of unwinding is pretty much taking a person apart piece by piece and using the pieces that they collect for transplants and such. Ohh snap I have to have quotes in this, expect a long letter.
Quote numba one,
I lied this isn't a quote it's an excerpt. I'm going to talk about the scene in which Lev is having a party to celebrate his tithing; on page 29 to 30 there's a scene in which Lev's brother, Marcus, stands up and makes a 'toast' that eventually shows how against he is to it. I think that would be me in a family in which someone was being unwound, or I'm sorry, Tithed. Because I mean.. unwinding just seems plain cruel to me, I understand what the family is doing but it wasn't really Lev's choice. He was born to be killed, or I'm sorry, TITHED. I dunno, maybe it's just me but I thought it was really unfair to him.
Second quote is in the very beginning of the book, when Connor is talking with his girlfriend Ariana, and they're planning on running away together. Afterwards, though...

"So hurry up! The sooner we get out of here, the more of a lead we'll get before anyone knows we're gone."
"Conner," she says, "here's the thing..."
And the truth is right there in her voice, it's in the way it's such a strain for her to even say his name, the quiver of apology lingering in the air like an echo. She doesn't have to say anything after that, because he knows,but he lets her stay it anyway. Because he sees how hard it is for her, and he wants it to be. He wants it to be the hardest thing she's ever done in her life.

Who would do that to someone after making such a deep promise? What a lying self-centered bitch. If I had a boyfriend and he was going to be unwound I would drop everything to go with him. If I didn't like someone enough to do that then I don't think I'd be with them in the first place.
Anyway, this is getting long, stay tuned for the next letter! Read More!

Book Review

Book Review

    Battle Royale, written by Koushun Takami, is a fictional novel describing a program in which teenagers are forced to kill one another until only one remains. The book is written in a third person perspective and follows the three main characters Shuya Nanahara, Shoga Kawada, and Noriko Nakagawa, while also describing what transpires between the other students. Battle Royale takes place in an alternate universe in which Asia is a totalitarian society now known as the Republic of Greater East Asia; students are taken to an island, being told that they're simply going on a study trip. Once the reach the island, they're told that they will each recieve a bag with a random weapon in it as well as other necessities (maps and such) and that the program will go on until one survivor is left. The students are forced to wear collars that prevent them from being in certain areas as well as leaving the island all together. Once they're released from the building one by one, the game begins.   
    I believe that Koushun Takami wrote the book for various reasons, some connecting to past events in history. I can't be sure but I think that the soul reason was because he was paying homage to the horrendous things that teenagers and children had to go through while living under a dictator. A lot of times in the book I could make connections between what was happening and events that had actually occurred. One moment in particular was when Shuya and Shogo are talking about how the government works and how they want to 'tear it apart'. More key moments were the descriptions of the Republic of Greater East Asia itself, one in particular was about how rock music isn't allowed. It resembles how, in Nazi Germany, 'Jewish' music wasn't allowed. Swing music in particular, most clubs where swing music was played were shut down. Another thing that Takami might have been suggesting is how people can do some pretty horrid things under the right circumstances. Some of the students turned against their friends just to stay alive. Other students, much like Shuya and Noriko, tried to stay in touch with their friends so that they didn't turn into 'monsters' themselves. I have to think of it through my own perspective though; for instance a question that always popped into my head was 'what would I do in that situation?' I think that question comes up for a lot of other people too, when they're reading something that pertains to survival they always wonder how long they would last. I'm not really sure what I would have done in this book though; I mean I have such close relations with all of my friends, I don't know if I would full-out just kill them on the spot. The characters in the book reacted in some very different ways though, it's a very interesting thought. Was Takami really trying to portray this though? I don't know, he might have written the book for many more reasons. These were just the points that I picked out personally.

    One of the characters that really stood out to me was the character of Shogo Kawada. In Battle Royale, Shogo is a normal student that's known as a bully at the school before the program. Shuya, the main character, describes him as a tough person but admits that Shogo never really did anything but act intimidating. Shogo might not have been too much of a main protagonist but he had a huge impact on me. The determination he has and the strategies he makes are flawless and he always has a calm demeanor around him, even in the worst of times. Whenever some new obstacle came up for Shuya and the group, Shogo seemed to know exactly how to react; in addition, he was smart enough to buy various things at the store, knowing that he would need them later. Part of his strength comes from his past; Shogo was unfortunate enough to be placed in the program twice, this time being his second. I can't even fathom the amount of hatred towards his government he must be feeling. Having to live through such a torturous program one time is bad enough but being picked for it again is pure insanity. I'm baffled at how rational he is throughout the book, more solely nearing the end. Another thing that surprised me about Shogo was that, despite winning the first game, he decided to do something different the second time. He could have chosen a straight path where he would have won the same way he did last time, but instead he chose to help Shuya and Noriko. In fact on more than one occasion, while reading, I thought that he might betray them in the end. See, that's what makes Shogo so mysterious, you can never tell what he's going to do next. I also felt a lot of sympathy towards Shogo as well; despite being in the program for a second time, he shows compassion towards Noriko and Shuya as well as making them laugh and keeping their spirits high. He's the kind of person you would talk to if something tragic had happened. He takes this horrible program and analyzes it to the point that it breaks, he's definitely an inspiration to me.

    So, overall, Battle Royale was an amazing book. The plot is fairly simplistic and the characters each have distinct personalities, the ending is pretty nice as well. It does get complex at points but I think that that adds to the book, it's the kind of book that you can read more than once to understand certain things about it. While I was reading Battle Royale I felt a whole flood of emotions through every chapter. When someone died I felt sad, when someone killed someone else in cold blood I felt angry, the book does an amazing job at really triggering the emotions that you didn't know that you could feel for a fictional character. 

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Battle Royale Letter 3

    I actually really enjoyed how this book ended; I enjoyed it because it wasn't overly cliche and I wasn't really expecting it (I say that in a light sense because I did consider it as an ending.) The last parts of the book were the most intense as well; SPOILER Shuya, Shogo and Noriko made their way to a rendez vous point while also trying to avoid the only other survivor left. The personalities of these few characters has been so fleshed out throughout the book that you can't NOT be affected by the things that happen to them. With Shuya, one of the stronger points is when he's staying at the lighthouse with the girls after his tumble down a hill. When inside, he's completely oblivious to the girls in the other room who are talking kindly about how he's doing. There's one girl, however, who saw Shuya kill someone earlier in the book and wanted to poison him. On accident she poisoned another of the girls and one by one they were all killed by each other. It's kind of a hidden message though, it shows how people's personalities can completely flip under dire circumstances.
    As for the end of the book, I liked the ending. It was nice and left you with a good feeling but at the same time it wasn't TOO happy. It didn't smother you with its happiness. In fact, it's kind of a bittersweet ending. I don't want to give it away completely but I have to say that it almost brought me to tears. The book overall actually connected of what we're learning in history right now, that being the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. The story in Battle Royale took place in an AU (or Alternate Universe) in which China is now under a totalitarian government. The things that these children had to go through is sickening and very close to how things were under a dictator. I'm not saying that anything like THIS happened, but it wasn't a very easy society to live in. I digress though, i'll have to talk more about it in the final book review.
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Battle Royale letter

First of all, I want to mention how saying that I wanted to read a happy book was a lie, the book I read wasn't happy at all (pretty much). There were a few small humorous moments in it but I don't think it depressed me any less than Schindler's list would have. I'll start off saying that I couldn't annotate, unfortunately, I had borrowed the book from the friend who requested it from me. If I was able to annotate it I probably would have kept track of deaths and payed more attention to things near the beginning (like I would have written on the map in the front of the book.) As for now, I'll say how fucking awesome this book is. Although it's not heart-wrenching or tear-jerking, Battle Royale is a fantastic book filled with different points of view as well as different opinions and emotions.
The parts of the book that I liked revolved around Shuya and his friends Shogo and Noriko. They were the most intense points because the book follows them more, giving you a greater connection with them. I love how you can sense Shuya's growing affection for Noriko and vise versa. Their personalities are very three-dimensional and it's almost as though you can connect with them. Another thing that I like with the book is the relation to what we're learning in school currently, that being the Holocaust. In the book, they live in a new Asia ruled by a totalitarian system under a dictator. This is a lot like what it was like back then (as well as what it's like in North Korea currently.) When you think about how cruel the officers were towards these innocent teenagers, it relates a lot back. I didn't come across many questions during the whole thing, the book made a lot of the moments very straight forward so there was no confusion. I generally.. skipped the parts that didn't have to do with Shuya and the gang, sometimes their deaths were really interesting (such as the couple who committed suicide as well as Shinji and his friend) but most of them just kind of mowed each other down.
The only real question I would have would be what someone would do in that situation. I'm not sure what I would do myself, I think I'd try to get a group with my friends and then hide out; then i'd probably let everyone else kill each other so that I'd only have to kill one or two people? Most of the time though I would just hide, try not to get myself killed. I can't really speak for that though because it isn't happening, if it were I'm sure I would act a lot differently than I thought I would. A lot of the people in the book went insane, not trusting anyone and killing their own friends; it was a very depressing thing, mostly because you could see it happening in real life. When people are under that kind of pressure then they'll do practically anything, kill their own brother or sister just to stay alive. It's amazing how dearly caring we are for our own lives. I'm just going to bring this back to what the holocaust survivor told us; he told us that during the holocaust he wanted to die, that he would rather die than receive torture, he said that his faith was so strong that if his God wanted him to die than it was not his choice. That kind of faith is a little inspiring, it seems so selfless and nice; the people in the book seemed a little selfish, only really caring for themselves. Only Shogo, Shuya and Noriko seemed to care otherwise. Read More!

My writing goals

I think that I've come a long way from when I began 'blogging' and I'm incredibly happy that such has happened. From what i hear, in AP English 3 (which is the class I'll hopefully be taking next school year) we focus more on our writing skills rather than reading things like the works of Shakespeare. I have to say that I'm pretty glad about that since I don't want to read 'boring' material that everyone has read, I want to do reading like we've done in Sutherland's class. I'm getting off-topic though, i believe that my writing has matured a lot since when I began and I have even more goals for the future.
    The first one would be to write more often and in larger portions, I don't want to feel limited by a word count or feel crushed by the pressures of writing as much as I'm told, I want to be able to write everything that I feel about a specific topic and then have enough, if not more, on the document to use on my blog. Sometimes I do feel crushed by expectations of my teachers as well as my peers; when I see someone that has done more work than me, I switch between envy, loathing, hate, and many more unfavorable emotions. Thus is where my 'need to overachieve' comes from. I think I will work to any extent I have to as long as the payoff is amazing; a lot of people feel that way! If I have to slave all day on a painting but I know that the painting will be 100% badass if I finish then of course I'll work as long as I must. I want to feel that way, more so, with my blogging; only I want it to come naturally. I suppose my writing goal for this year is to be able to write essay-length blog posts even though I know that there's little to no payoff. After all, only a small number of people read my blog.   
    I also want to have more variety in my blog posts, a trait that they're slowly gaining post after post. (Oh my god. I'm so fucking annoyed right now. The people sitting next to me don't know how to shut the fuck up and work on what they're supposed to be working on. I took a peek at their screens; one is on a blog site, so that's awesome. the most annoying one is spewing bullshit about a quiz he's taking, I hope it's providing some kind of intellectual entertainment for him. Sigh. Sutherland I feel so bad for you, how do you cope with such high levels of immaturity in one day? Most of the people in your class disrespect you left and right, barely being able to contain themselves when it comes to chatting with a neighbor. Do they think that class is just relax time? i mean I know school should be fun but it's also a place to learn and I don't see very many people learning here. I'm obviously not the only one who feels this way right? I mean when I look around I see people typing with the same amount of vigor as they should be typing with. However, even as I'm typing, the noise level seems to go up and up and up... Is this because you're not in the room? okay. I'm done ranting.) I want to be able to talk about things that effect me without being prompted to write about them. It's more of a wish to be able to do more 'freestyle' writing. (I take it back, it's the test that the boy is taking is a test pertaining to alcohol consumption.) I know that I should focus more on writing to a prompt, because that's what a majority of my assignments in school will be, but I can already do that pretty easily. It's when I have to write about my own thing that I get stuck, so working on that would be better for me.
    Ah well, those are my goals for now, I'm  cutting back on them so I don't 'overwhelm' myself with things that I must do.
Wow 716 words! I think one of my goals is already blooming!
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Monthly Review

So I read a book titled "John Dies at the End" written by David Wong. The book is a kind of horror/comical book, offering both scary descriptions and gruesome situations as well as dark humor and a very funny style of writing. The book is about two boys, John and David, whos lives are turned upside-down by a mysterious drug nick-named 'soy sauce'. Throughout the book both John, David, and various characters embark on a frightening journey to find out various things about the 'soy sauce' and to bring the havoc that it caused to an end. Overall the book was amazing, always providing a reason to continue reading it as opposed to doing something like eating or sleeping. The book is filled to the brim with cliffhangers and twists, never once leaving you with something predictable. One of the most exciting twists is at the end, but to spoil that would be a crime against the book itself.
    The first thing that I knew I would love about the book even before I read it was the writing style. I've read works by David Wong before, he's one of the writers on a very funny and informative website called Cracked.com. Most of the publicity for the book was done on that site and that site is the reason I picked the book in the first place. I figured that if the book was written in a similar style to the site that I would love it, and boy was I right. David uses a potent yet balanced mix of humor and horror, knowing how to really make you laugh as well as really make you want to throw up. The way he describes events, objects, and people are stunning and you can always relate to the description. He doesn't describe things in a boring way nor does he use an extensive vocabulary that makes things difficult to understand. One of my favorite scenes is when David realizes something strange about the cop watching him in the room and as soon as he realizes it he is attacked by said cop:
    << 'A jolt of pain shot up my thigh, like I had kneed over a pile of cinder blocks. But I felt him give, pushed back by the force. The mustache bat flittered over to my ear and clamped down, feeling like somebody doing five piercings at once. I slapped at it again, suddenly realized the cop had reeled back and fallen to a knee on the floor. I should have been free of him but the hand was still around my face.
                                    Ah, look at that. His arm came off.' >> pg. 66
  The style in which everything was described is just so intriguing that it's hard not to keep reading. Another good thing about the writing of the book is the dialogue. When people talk to each other, you can just feel the emotions dripping off of every word. The way they speak is easy to imagine and it's just so natural that you'd think the conversations actually happened. David Wong also worked on making the dialogue very humorous and his hard work payed off. In various scenes, the most 'riveting' from when Dave is talking with John, the dialogue made me laugh out loud. David did quite an amazing job with really dragging you into the world that he's created.

    It's a very difficult thing to pick a single of my favorite characters so i've decided to talk about the two main characters, Dave and John. John is the more... eccentric of the two, providing endless humor in dire situations. In one situation, the group of teenagers (including Dave and John) are attacked by hideous monsters that dig their scorpion-like tails into unsuspecting people. It sounds like a very gruesome scene and it was, at first; John, however, lightened the mood completely by spouting puns whenever he killed one of the monsters using a chair. By saying things like 'You've been sentenced to the chair!' and so forth, John almost makes you forget about how serious of a situation he's in. I believe that's what the character himself was trying to do as well, distract himself from the things at hand. Dave takes notice of this too and often comments on how stupid John is and how immature he's acting. John also likes to over-exaggerate things as well, saying that a certain thing happened when something entirely different is what actually occurred. One of the best examples of this is too long to cite, but it involves John's recollection of events; the story that he tells is completely insane and hilarious but it's obvious that it didn't happen at all. At the end of the story that John says, David notes what possibly (and probably) occurred.

    That brings me to David, the main protagonist of the book. David is the level-headed one and often maintains a stern and kind of depressing personality towards events. Although he can be very humorous at times, his mood is usually crushed by something within the next few moments. At one point David tries to say a pun after killing a creature but is interrupted by a loud noise, a satirization of how John's puns lightened the mood. The way that his mood is crushed is always ironic though, providing a kind of 'sadistic' humor. David always knows the right way to think and has the same kind of thoughts about something that an average person would have, allowing for a much better connection between reader and character. Most people are like, or know someone like David; someone who's always killing the mood but can have a light side as well. Because of the way that he treats all of the situations he's in, the story becomes very realistic and allows you to really challenge what you believe is real or not. I believe that was the overall goal of the whole book though, to make you really think about the perspective of reality. 

    That's all I really have to say about the book, those two aspects of it are really what gives it that extra PUNCH that all books should have. Overall it's an amazing book, the plot is magnificent and very original and the characters are fleshed out beautifully; though things might get confusing at times, it all evens out once you get to the end of the book. David Wong did a fantastic job with this book and all of his hard work payed off. I most definitely recommend this book to all of my friends and family, anyone that can withstand a fair amount of dark humor as well as some grotesque imaging. I intend on reading this book more than four times throughout my life because I just have this gut feeling that it gets better with every read.

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A difficult decision

Only one difficult decision that I've made in my life stands out, and it's actually a recent decision. In the duration of my 8th grade year, my life wasn't going too well; I was getting bad grades, in the beginning I didn't have many friends if I had friends at all, and I had pretty much isolated myself from anyone including family and teachers. That year was also the year in which I started thinking about where I was going to go from there in terms of my life. I had a passion for drawing and would do so whenever I got the chance, even when in the middle of class, but that was it. My parents weren't being very helpful about the matter either, they told me to get good grades and figure out what I wanted to do later; I, however, wanted to figure it out right then and there. I decided to pursue the two things I loved the most as well as the two things that I considered myself the best thing, art; more specifically, game concept and design.
In the beginning it was more of an inward goal than a real decision, I was a very quiet person and I didn't tend to speak my mind often. I took a serious turn when it came to my works though, I started spending more time on pictures and paying closer attention to detail. In addition to that, I started taking peeks at nearby art college, as well as normal college, websites. This dragged on for most of the year and, luckily, I made a lot of friends that shared the same passion for art as me and they were there to support my goals. The hardest part was talking to my parents about it. My parents always wanted me to do something more along the lines of math, science or literature so I didn't quite expect them to 'extend their arms' in appreciation of my decision. When I did tell them, my assumption was pretty much spot-on. My parents weren't thrilled about what I had chosen to do, they were very negative towards the whole thing. My mother, for example, pointed out how expensive art schools were and how I might just be thinking about going into an art career because my grades were slipping. My father was more supportive since he was an artist as a kid as well, he also loves games just as much as I do, but he sided more with my mother. Still I had one of the biggest decisions ahead of me, I had to choose whether to go with what I love and pursue art, or make my parents happy by pursuing a more 'neutral' career.
Naturally, I was stumped as to what I should do; I loved art with such a passion but I would never want to disappoint the people that had raised me. In addition to wanting to impress them, I also wanted to be able to support them. I'm pretty well aware of the income that an artist usually makes (even in the game industry and suck) and it's pretty dismal compared to the income of a lawyer or a mathematician. I wanted to be able to stand on my own without my parent's support and without having to ask them for money on a daily basis or even at all. the decision that I ended up making was the decision to pursue art; why? Because I can enjoy what I'm doing. I'd rather have a job doing something what I love and get paid a little than have a job where I do something I hate and get paid a lot. I figure that if I'm really good at it and pursue it with vigor, then the job will be satisfying enough. After a lot of coercing, my parents agreed to support what I wanted to do; I believe that, in the beginning, they pegged my artistry as more of a fly-by hobby than an actual passion. I also recollected back to one of my favorite quotes "If you're good at something, don't do it for free." I consider myself talented at drawing for my age, and being paid to draw and design games is like a dream for me. So all in all I'm happy with the decision that made, my art has only improved since then and so has my understanding of what I want to do after high school and college.

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A Genocide/ Peer Pressure

So this week in Mr. Sutherland's class, we watched a video about people being put under a sick test that included people thinking that they were inducing shocks one people. It got me thinking, would I do that to someone? Sure I'm CAPABLE of it but I don't think i'd do it without a reason; if the person was a criminal with a record, I'd probably feel more obliged to go ahead with the tests, if the person was just a person though I don't think i'd go far enough as to give them a 'lethal' shock.

I thought it was a bit like the placebo effect, how if you THINK that it's doing something then it'll have an alternate reaction than if you knew it was false. If someone knew that the person they were 'shocking' was an actor then they wouldn't care; if someone knew that they were just getting the placebo then they wouldn't feel any improvement.

I also understood when they talked about how if someone SAW someone else administer the full test before they took it, then the results of the previous person would be similar to theirs. It's kind of like peer pressure. When you see someone doing something, whether you know them or not, you're more obliged to do it (even if it's a bad thing like smoking). This kind of pressure is everywhere. It kind of makes me wonder that if things like torture and killing can be made a 'normal thing' with something as simple as peer pressure, what ELSE could be accomplished with it? With todays economics and state of mind, another genocide is completely possible. Today, with the right mindset, we are capable of doing practically anything. That's why I don't usually understand when people say things like 'the germans were so stupid, blind, and cruel to do something like that to such innocent people. It's not like the holocaust was the first incident of a mass homicide, it happened (and happens) all over the place. When you're raised around a popular judgment of someone else, that judgement grows on you. Just look at the situation with Iran! People are killed and tortured for no decent reason all the time, the Nazis were just the first to really make it a full fledged genocide.

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English Final Essay

7. What have you learned from your struggles with writer's block? Why do you tend to get stuck? How do you tend to get unstuck? Notice any patterns?

Writers block has the unique ability to be both an amazing thing as well as a horrible thing. Nobody likes it because, in order to get through it, you have to work to the absolute best of your ability. When you end up getting through it though, you'll find that you've greatly improved. It's troublesome to say the least, sometimes infuriating, but it can be just the roadblock that you need. When someone has a writer's block they tend to search wherever they can in order to find something to write about; they ask friends, go on the internet, whatever it takes. At times they could even be in the middle of an essay when they suddenly have no idea how to continue it. An example of this would be if they're assigned something to write about; when I get essays from teachers, a lot of the time I have no idea how to start it. It's not that I don't know what to write though, it's that I don't know how to write it. Without these blocks, however, how would we get any better at what we like to do? When I get stuck in my writings or my art, I can work weeks on end to get rid of it. When it's gone though, I feel as if I've improved so much that it's worth the time I spent working on it.

When I get stuck on my writing, it's usually because I'm unsure what I should write about in the first place. My mind wanders endlessly in circles to think of something and most of the time it hits a dead end. When I ask people what I should write about, their suggestions aren't of any interest to me. That's not the whole thing though, sometimes I know what I want to write but when I write it I can't get my specific idea across. This connects a lot back with the way I draw; I get art blocks a lot more than I get writers blocks, but they're of the same nature. I know what I want to do in my head and it sounds really nice but when I actually write, or draw, it on paper then it isn't what I imagined it would be. During a writers block, I always just keep writing; I find some random prompt and just write about it without thinking. Eventually I find something really interesting to me and then my writer's block just vanishes in thin air; it's then that the wave of relief and happiness flow through me.

A pattern is definitely there when I get an art block; it generally consists of me being okay, getting the block, writing a lot of bad essays, and getting through it. A good example of this is when I was writing about 'Copyright or Copyleft?' It was pretty close to being my first blog post, so I was still a little new at it. At first I knew exactly what I was going to write about, I had everything nice and fresh in my mind. When I started writing though, what I said sounded so different typed than it did in my head. Eventually I just started rambling as though I was actually talking to someone and it worked perfectly. I treated it as though it were a quick write actually, I pretended that something bad was going to happen if I stopped typing and eventually the whole blog post had turned to make 2 pages.

10. Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you ro write?

Inspiration is something that I can derive from almost anything. When I'm walking down the street, in the classroom, or even in my own room, I can write about pretty much anything if I'm compelled to. The fact that I can do that, however, is actually what inspires me. When I'm in a rush I usually do something that just pops into my head; it ends up being media related, like the first blog post I made, or some type of problem I'm having. I like venting quite a bit and I've found that I can write a lot about things that frustrate me. I tend to think of my mind as a fire, and when the fire is burning brightly I can write in a more vigorous manner. There are a few examples of this; 'Theory of Evolution?' 'Copyright or Copyleft?' and there is a bit in my article about 'Careers'. It's just that when I'm angry I have so much more material to work with.

When I do blog posts I like to work on my own ideas, such is why I don't use 'quick writes' on my blog; I like things to be original rather than get my ideas from someone else. It's also the reason that I'd rather have a blog than be assigned something by a teacher, there's a lot more freedom and I can test different writing styles more frequently. I relate my writing to my art all the time. When I draw I just close my eyes and let the ideas flow in, I draw based on how I think and what mood I'm in. When I'm happy I'll write something uplifting and when I'm sad or angry then I'll write something of the same caliber. Everything depends on my own mood and what has been going on around me. Generally I keep my blog posts realistic and relative to what is going on in real life, I leave the fantasy and fiction to my art or my personal writing.

I've also tried doing reviews in addition to my normal blog posts. For my first blog post I reviewed a pretty good game titled [Prototype]. Writing a review was very different and it was both nice and frustrating. When I write, I like it to be very free and without a pattern; with a review, things had to be in a specific order. Writing in my own paragraph style is a lot easier for me than writing an average '5 paragraph essay' or a 'compare & contrast' essay. It's not that I'm bad at writing those, it's just very uncomfortable for me.

All in all I love freeform writing, not being controlled by a format. I love writing about what ever topic I can think of and enjoying doing so. I suppose that's why I like fiction so much, because you don't need to base anything on statistics or weather it's real or not; with fiction you can just write whatever. The same goes when I write my opinions down, of course I can be judged by them but I don't mind it. When I get blocks, I work through them and excel to make my writing better than it was before.

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Quickwrite: Writing Groups

Yay! Blogger is working for me again!


1. What are some things you'd like to get out of writing more collaboratively with peers?

Working collaboratively, I'd like to get a lot more assistance on trudging through my writer's blocks at a more frequent pace. I'm not really used to getting them since I don't write as much as I draw. I DO however get some very troublesome art blocks; but I have my own method of getting through those. Said method, though, doesn't quite work the same with writing so I need more help on it. If I was in a group with people giving me suggestions on what to draw, then I'd probably be more progressive. Writing weekly isn't that difficult, but if I have friends giving me their opinions along the way then it would be much easier. It would be fairly the same with encouragement issues; sometimes I know what to draw but I am much too lazy to do it until it's close to the due date; if I had peers telling me to get it done then chances are that I would do a lot better.

2. What are some things you'd be willing to contribute to a writing group?

I love sharing my opinions with other people so, mostly, that would be what I would do. I love reading what other people have read and then commenting, telling them how it was and what I thought about it; sometimes I even add a little bit of critique in there although, most of the time, I'm a little too shy to say anything. Again, I have to connect the writing with my art, but that's because ti me it's more or less the same concept. I give people my honest opinions on their drawing as well as a lot of constructive criticism. Another thing I could offer is good reading material; reading is something that I enjoy doing often so I could offer them good books and such if they ask for them.

3. Is it more important to you to work with friends, or with people who are writing the same types of things you are? (Of course, it's possible to have this both ways...) Explain why.

Yes, it is. I think this because imagine arguing with a very stubborn person on your opinions, it's completely infuriating and goes almost nowhere. I figure it would be entirely the same concept with writing when you're being critiqued by someone who writes in a completely different style. Most of the time they probably wouldn't know how to comment on it, they'd be so used to what THEY usually write that they would feel almost uncomfortable telling you something that you need to work on. Yet again, this connects back to me being an artist. I critique people who draw in the same, or close to, the style that I draw in myself; if I'm commenting on an abstract drawing then I feel a bit awkward.

4. What are some "rules" (or at least guidelines) you'd like to see in a writing group?

I don't know how I would be able to type this in paragraph form, so I'll do it in bullet note~~ (or well, line)
- Only constructive criticism, nothing that's opinionated unless it's called for. (like if it's a debate)
- No put downs based on their writing (ex: your writing sucks. You should have picked a different topic. I hate you. et cetera)
- Everyone has to comment at some point, no slacking
- If someone asks you for their help, you should give it to them to the best of your ability.
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New Purpose Statement

So this keyboard is trying to kill my fingers with how difficult it is to press the keys down (seriously it's like somf type of finger-excercise machine) So I apologize in advance for any typos.
I, in all seriousness, can't say that I ended up writing about what I had intentionally planned. I started out wanting to write solely on the subject of video games/gaming in general and ended up on writing more on what I felt I should write about. However, I actually enjoy writing about said topics now and believe that I'll continue.

So I've decided to establish a new goal for myself, one that is a lot more simple than it had previously been. My goal is pretty much just to write more; just that. I usually enjoy writing every now and again but I want to be able to write without waiting until the very last second. My previous blogs were mostly done later on in the week with the rare few that were done on schedule; I think on one I had even waited until the last hour or something along those lines. I also want to write about more... serious topics rather than funny ones, although that does put a bit of a bar on the things that I normally write about.

• What impressions do you get of the writing you've done so far?

I like the writing I've done so far; it's simple, easy, and I often enjoy working on it. Although what I generally write about varies depending on that mood I'm in or how my week has gone. Most of it has something to do with a recent event (such as my blogs about my family or about some of the other things) and all of it has something to do with my life and how it's been panning out so far.

I might edit this because there are probably like 8,000,000,000,001 typos :/

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SO, an update I suppose?

This blog post is half of an update and half of me venting about dumb things. Like complaining versus bragging; both are so annoying but the decision of which is more annoying it an ever-pressing question floating in my head.

First of all I'll do the 'update' portion of this post. So Halloween is coming up *que spooky music an a bad ghostly-voice over* and I've taken my share of looking through various costumes and what not. I'm going to be a Ghostbuster myself, but I've noticed that the true intention of Halloween is so skewed now that it's laughable. Wasn't Halloween originally intended to ward away evil demons or something? Well with the costumes that I've seen people wearing it seems more like we're inviting the spirits here; what I intend with this is what is UP with all of the slutty costumes that they have for women? For one, I've never met a single woman who looked the way that the models look in those skimpy outfits; second off, uhhh yeah those costumes are really only scary in the slightest when a large girl (or a man) is wearing them.

Now for portion numero dos of my little blog post. That almost rhymed(not really). Ahem. So I was listening to one of my friends whine endlessly the other day and, rather than continue listening to her antics, I began to ponder really how annoying it was getting in comparison to the screeching sounds of someone showing off. In my personal opinion, showing off is far worse than complaining; maybe it's because I complain more than I show off? I'm not too sure myself. Complaining just seems more... casual. Showing off is annoying because when people show off it's like they're TRYING to make someone ELSE feel bad. Such as someone showing off about something they did and saying something like 'you could NEVER do something as well as I did!" and on and on and on until you pretty much want to claw their eyes out. It's ESPECIALLY annoying if they're showing off about something that they're bad at. Complaining can get annoying if it's about really minuscule things like a slightly bad grade or a boy not liking them or... just something dumb like that. When someone complains about something stupid like that to ME, however, I pretty much say 'yeah. sucks' and it's over and done with.

But what do YOU think? Which is more annoying? People who complain too much or people who brag too much? Read More!

Pourquoi tous les enfants noirs assis ensemble à la cafétéria?

Here are my annotations for this paragraph. :)

(4.) Though this group of children, almost all of whom were White, did not live near a large Native American population and probably had had little if any personal interaction with American Indians, they all had internalized an image of what Indians were like. How did they know? Cartoon images, in particular the Disney movie Peter Pan, were cited by the children as their number-one source of information. At the age of three, these children already had a set of stereotypes in place. Though I would not describe three-year-olds as prejudiced, the stereotypes to which they have been exposed become the foundation for the adult prejudices so many of us have.

Alright so, I'm totally awesome and annotated this in a really badass way. And that way specifically is kind of hard to 'type out' so I apologize that you guys can't see how totally AWESOME my annotations were. (They were awesome.)

Uh; I will try.

So the first thing that piqued my overall interest was the mention of one of my most cherished past-times, Disney. Everyone knows that some of the messages portrayed in the 'innocent' Disney films can be taken... a little too close to heart. When they were talking about the film Peter Pan though, I was all like 'whaaaaat?' because Peter Pan didn't go much over Indian stereotypes. Forgive me if I don't remember the film as well as I used to but wasn't that movie about... some kids on an island that didn't want to grow up? Wasn't there also a pirate with a hook and imaginary food and a fairy? I don't remember any Indian stereotypes in that film... As for Indian stereotypes, the first thing that came to MY mind was the film Pocahontas. That Disney film centers more around the Native American community.

Another Disney film that I connected stereotypes to was the film Dumbo. Now although Dumbo is a great movie with a nice plot and cute characters and a well-flowing storyline (It's a pretty fine movie) everyone that I know CONSTANTLY talks about the 'hidden messages' and 'stereotypes' that are scattered throughout the film. If you click the link, wikipedia does a good job of explaining how it was criticized and a lot of people debate about this day in and out.

I myself don't really think that the cartoons MEANT to be racist, and most of them really aren't; so saying that cartoons are the source of people developing discriminatory thoughts at a young age is kind of.... stretching it.

And that pretty much sums up (although it cant amount to) my AWESOME annotations.

P.S. My annotations are awesome.

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Purpose and Introduction.

As a default, I should explain the reasons for this blog's creation. While the school year turns its wheel and treds on, the time for choosing a carreer thins. Since I have a passion for hame design and 'gaming' that goes beyond a hobby, I plan on persuing it as a full time carreer; this blog is a perfect practice for such a choice.

Technology is improving more and more, and the rate at which it improves gets higher every year. The second you turn your back, a newer and more polished game (or game console/system) comes out. The possibilities are endless when it comes to game concepts so naturally ideas flourish wildly. Now for a pretty long time I've enjoyed reviewing said games; back in middle school I really got into it, playing them instead of doing my homework and thinking about them instead of listening to my parent's lectures. I can't say that this did much for me in an external sense but I was really 'climbing' the steps internally. I've always felt that if I did game reviews and added my own little 'flair' in everything I wrote, then I might get some where.

Now a lot of people wonder why I really got into gaming myself; I have to say that the explanation Isn't as detailed as a lot of artists and game designers make it. I started drawing and playing games because it's enjoyable and relieving to do. I started drawing when I was really little, probably around pre-school. Me and one of my closest friends(and inspirations) always drew whenever we could. Ever since then I've been drawing in my spare time for fun and to practice and, possibly, make some money in the process. Gaming is a little bit of a different story, I got into video games because of my cousin Elliot; sadly he's passed on but he helped me find the first games that I had ever played (things like Mario and Zelda; old school). As I aged, I got more and more into it; I bought a lot more games and played them a lot more than I should have. As of now it's an addiction; I play whenever I get the chance and have to tear myself away to do things like work and school (you know, boring stuff.) I'm only now learning how to balance out my schedule so that I don't completely ruin my chances of getting into a good collage.

The last REAL reason I'm making this blog is for the feedback. I love it. I love hearing other opinions and having people comment on how I view a certain subject. If you never get feedback then the things you write will sound biased and I don't really want that to happen (although it's almost inevitable). Either way I like getting different perspectives from other people, even If I don't personally know them. I'm a very open-minded person so no matter what someone tells me i'll probably take their view into account and sit on it before I make a real judgement; even after I make said judgement i'll keep that specific view in mind.

Well that's about all I can say about this blog; as for details I'm going to be updating once or twice a week and each week I should have a new game review up and ready. If anyone ever has suggestions then I'm ready and open for them and I'l give an honest effort to review them.

PS. I'm human, I make typos. I'll try as hard as I can to get rid of them but it's like death and taxes, there's just no way around it.


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