Tuesday, March 29, 2011

In Ten Years

I listened to the little audio segments about seniors in high school and what they think they are going to be ten years from now. Some of them where very unrealistic and didn't seem to take the interview seriously, for instance the boy, Salome, wanted to own a bakery; not just any bakery but a "Marijuana Bakery." It was funny but very unrealistic I hope he's considering the low chance of this dream occurring. I enjoyed Shauna's career choice pick. However I found it disappointing that she was only doing it for the limelight. She only wanted the fame. I hope that she reconsiders her career choice because fame doesn't always come with acting. Its luck and perseverance and of course passion for the Field. I liked Samantha's interview and the boy who wants to be a E.M.T. The kid who was undecided was also cool because not everyone is going to know what they want to be at 17.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Speak 1-30



This story is about a girl named Melinda. In the beginning of the tale she is re-entering her high school "Merry Weather High." She immediately states that she is a outcast. The reason? So far I have know clue.She runs into her ex-best friend Rachel Bruin. First thing out of Rachel's mouth happens to be "I hate you." so something is definitely going on that involves the two of them.

Later on she wanders through the day. Shes a emotional wreck and tends to bite at her lips so that they are extremalty chap and disgusting looking. Somthing must of brought self esteem to a all time low. Well at lunch she meets a new girl from Ohio but she still mostly keeps to herself. The one thing she is really good at is art. So she happens to enjoy that class.

Well its a nice book. Not a challenge but I think it one some awards. So far she has not opened up yet so I dont know what has happned to her. It sounds bad.

Neil Young

Yes this is another blog post dedicated to a musician. I know there needs to be more variety but I needed to talk about the one and only Neil Young. Yes, well, my parents have been very fond of him for some years now. I liked his songs but now I truly enjoy them. Here's a favorite of mine.


Sunday, March 27, 2011

Bob Dylan

In my U.S history class we have been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan. I think his music is awesome. It's more about the lyrics than the sound, he's really poetic.

Here's a couple things having to do with Dylan.
Might as well put a video up. I like this video because it has a slide show kind of thing going on.

Bloodroot 1-29

The story begins with the POV of a women named Byrdie. She talks about another young women named Myra, Myra looks a lot like her mother. Who I am assuming is dead. To Byrdie, Myra is the daughter she was never able to have. She must of raised Myra, because Myra has been living with her long enough to have had baby toys in boxes.

This Chapter is narrated by a man named Doug. He is on a farm, probably his family farm. He's talking to a horse named rose. Something spooked the horse, Rose, because she ends up running out of the stall and leaping off into the hills

The narration goes back to Byrdie in this section. She reminisces about when she was a girl and lived in Chickweed Holler, some other mountain. I guess she had a ton of sisters and her papa had passed away so it was hard to support the family at the time.'

This is an okay book. I do not know if I will be finishing it off. It was a bestseller but is hasn't drawn me in. At least not yet.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Another Memory.


Best show of all time. Just another Memory now...when I was little I really wanted Tommy's voice. Sombody told me that Rugrats can still be found on Nick at odd hours. To bad I don't watch Nick anymore.

Country Boys


The story of Chris and Cody can viewed as sad or even inspirational. I love how they beat all odds and succeed in receiving their diplomas. Both tale is depressing in it's own way. Chris's living conditions must really be a pain, when watching Chris react with his father I also felt upset because he seemed kind of embarrassed of his dads state. For Cody the most depressing thing had to be the lack of his mother and father in his life. Also the fact that his father had shot himself was horrible. I feel like Cody uses his goth getup to make a statement. I cant believe that the documentary is 6 hours long!

Sepulchre pg 51-95

Okay. In this section we meet a new character, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student who is going to live in Paris, France for awhile. She is staying at a fine hotel called the L'Hotel Domanie De La Cade-Rennes-Les-Bains.Well she goes on about being settled in the hotel for several pages, so I'm not going to get into the detail....it would be a snore. Being into history Meridith brings up wonderful things having to do with France, such as Debussy.

When Meridith goes back to her room, she decides to call her "mom" or Mary (that's what she calls her). Now Mary was not always Meridith's mother, she it actually Meredith's second cousin. Meredith's mother was a little shady so Mary took Meredith in, but they have a normal mother daughter relationship.

In this chapter Meredith notices a shop across the street from the hotel she is stay at. It reads "Sortilege. Tarot Readings" for some reason this tiny little shop interest Meredith more then it is suppose to. Meridith is defiantly not a superstitious person so she doesn't really read into things.

Nice, well in the summary on the back it says thay Meridth is somehow connected to the past. I'm assuming its through the tarot card readings that she discovers this connection.

Youtube Baby

So this adorable little creature has been a viral sensation lately. The baby is so cute, you can't help but laugh with it. I've never seen anything like this.
Haha and this one must have a fetish for paper because this looks like more than curiosity. It's adorable though too. Why did I make a blog about the YouTube Baby's. I have know clue, just go along with it...haha.

Okay last one. This one happens to be old, but its still just as funny as the first two. The baby frowns on command.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Nowhere Boy

So I really want to see Nowhere boy, I know it has been out for awhile but I have not had the chance to watch it. I haven't even run across it. It seems like a good enough movie though. I went through this whole non-stop "Beatles" phase. Yeah it was pretty bad, all I did was listen to them. I still love the Beatles and John Lennon's individual work but I no longer OD on their music.




Here's a couple pictures of John Lennon through out the years...




To top that off here is the well known song "Hey Jude" and a little background story about the song.

Sepulchre 30-51


In this chapter we are introduced to a new character, Marguerite. Marguerite happens to be the mother of Anatole and Leonie. She is a single woman and tends to be a little risque for that time period. Well in this excerpt she is out to dinner with her "date", when a young gentleman comes around asking her if she has seen her son. Of course she replies by saying no, but the scene seems sketchy to her so she hurries up her dinner.


This chapter takes place when Leonie has finally gone home. She should go off to sleep, but shes worried about her brother for he has snuck out again to go off somewhere. Where? of course she doesn't know. So she sits by the window and waits for him, she ends up falling asleep.


Anatole has just left his girlfriends house and is planning to walk home, however someone happens to be following him. So of course Anatole starts to speed up while looking for something he can defend himself with. Well he is pretty much beaten up anyway. So he is lying on the ground when a old man comes back to assist him home.

In the next chapter Leonie wakes up to find out that Anatole has returned. However when she See's him in the kitchen his face is all banged up. He says its from the opera house extravaganza but she knows better and calls him out on it later on. He keeps to himself and is very vague about the whole ordeal. later on they get a letter requesting them to go to their widowed aunts house. Anatole could use the escape so Leonie agrees.


Nice couple of chapters. Anatole seems like he is getting himself in to a lot of trouble lately. Leonie also seems to have a strong relationship with her brother if she is always so worried about him. I wonder whats going to happen next.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Keren Ann and GOASTT



Well, lately I've been listening to a lot of her songs. They're really good. Kind of a Norah Jones vibe going on except Norah Jones has a dreamy/ sleepy quality to her voice. Sometimes Keren's songs can be really up beat, such as My Name is Trouble. Here are a few of my favorite songs of hers: Not Going Anywhere, End of May, Lay Your Head Down, and of coarse one of her more popular songs My Name is Trouble.





I've started dabbling in GOASST. Really interesting sound, coincidentally John Lennon's son started the band with his girlfriend ( well at least I think shes his girlfriend) Sometimes Sean even sounds like John. It's sorta creepy, kind of chilling.







Sepulchre 1-30

This story starts off in Paris, the year is 1891. It's a sad and gloomy Wednesday, in the month of March. A young girl called Leonie Vernier stands outside, she is at a funeral. A Priest drowns on in the back of her mind. She isnt crying, she barely knows the women now lying in the casket. That Woman is just one of her brother's lovers, just another number really. She looks up to see her brother gazing at the casket, his eyes are filled with tears...but something else lurks below the surface. Leonie wonders if its relief.

It's months later, to be exact it is September 16th on a Wednesday. Leonie is waiting outside a french opera house. If you're wondering who shes waiting for, its Anatole. The brother she mentioned earlier. Well anyway Leonie is really anxious because her brother has not showed up yet. This upsets her tremendously (So far Anatole seems a little sketchy). She ends up going in to watch the show without him. Well, while watching the show a riot occurs, leaving the rich civilians to flee or be hurt...maybe even killed. Leonie makes it out of the opera house. She happens to run in to Anatole and they decide to go out to eat.

Yes. Okay. Well these chapters are a little confusing because it started a couple of months back and then skipped forward, plus I know another character is going to be introduced into the mix. Shes going to be set in the present. There is going to be alot of time changes.

Books and Books


Well this is tough. As a child I had a couple of books I really admired for the storyline and the illustrations. The funny thing is that most of these books I could probably find in our basement, all dusty in a box. Wow maybe I should go down there and take a few of the books out, read a couple. I don't know. Sadly, I'll most likely forget all about.

Storyline: Stellaluna, Altoona Baboona, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, NO DAVID, Corduroy (I even had the stuff animal), The Rainbow Fish, The Paper Bag Princess and The Polar Express


Illustrations: The Rain babies, Stellaluna, Click,Clack, Moo Cows That Type,
Tuesday and The Polar Express

Monday, March 14, 2011

A Nice Chuckle

Well this video may be old but this mans laugh makes me chuckle.I have noticed that through out the years my laugh has changed. I used to have this echo laugh where sound was not produced...I probably looked like I was gagging. than I had this laugh where I would suck in air at the end which also probably sounded like I was choking. I sometimes still laugh like that.



This second video about laughing is also a riot. At first I tried to put on a very somber face. It didn't work. In a way both of these videos are just plain creepy.

A Temporary Book...Say Your'e one of them. 1-50


Yes I will admit...I finished Mathilda Savitch. The chapters were really short but had a ton of detail. I feel bad that I didn't write about what I read but...oh well. Anyways I'm reading a few books at the same time. A book for etymology and a just for fun book. So for my "fun book" I am reading "Say You're One of Them"

In the beginning of the book the speaker talks about his sister who has just turned twelve. Shes a prostitute and resents their parents for not paying for her education. Shes never home and when she does show up its to give some money to the family. Her name is Maisha. Maisha acts as if a role model to one of the younger sisters, Naema. Maisha tells Naema all the do's and don'ts of the street. She even teaches her how to wear makeup and walk in high heels. Its pretty upsetting thinking about how in certain parts of Africa, children have to resort to such depressing things to survive.

Later on Maisha helps pay for the rest of the families debt. This makes the mother really happy and she ends up having a new found respect for her prostitute daughter. One other upsetting topics in the household is the use of a certain drug, Kaibre. I guess it stifles hunger. Everyone in the family seems to be hooked on it, even the babies.

Wow, I really enjoy books like this because they make you realize that the world is full of depressing struggles. Not everyone gets up in the morning and goes to school. I thought my life was boring, at least I can be educated here. Wow.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mathilda Savitch pg 81-97

    (Mathilda's household kind of has a Little Miss Sunshine Vibe)
Chapter 14
Mathilda talks about how her country is at war. I don't necessarily know where Mathilda lives, its very vague with those kind of descriptions. She mentions how they have "terror drills" at her school. How a boy in her class could be a possible terrorist. Who knows she can be random in that sense. Anna and Mathilda get into a deep discussion about terrorist and how they are zealots. Anna doesn't like zealots.

Chapter 15
Well, Mathilda is watching her mom, who happens to be drunk. Shes on her knees pulling out things from the cabinet chaotically. She looks completely crazy. Mathilda talks about the time her mother said she had eyes in the back of her head. They must of gone blind recently because she is not aware of Mathilda staring at her in disgust.The funny thing is when Helene died Mathilda cried for months and months. Her mom must of been deaf because she didn't her Mathilda's pleads.

Chapter 16
Mathilda talks about lighter subjects in this chapter. She mentions the minute of silence at her school, they had had it ever sense the bombing had occurred. Then she mentioned running into the infamous Kevin. Kevin still has a weird shade of blue hair. Mathilda is obsessed with his blue hair, how do I know this? She goes on about it for several paragraphs. Kevin ends up shyly walking away again.

Nice, nice. The story really progressed in these few short chapters. I'm starting to like Mathilda as a person . I also somewhat understand her actions. Lovely, this book is.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Pretty Much My Favorite Poet.


Jacqueline Bouvier, also known as Jackie Kennedy has to be one of my all time favorite poets. When I was little I was given a poem book for children and Jackie happened to one of the poets in it. My favorite poem of hers has to be "Thoughts", its amazing.

I love the Autumn, And yet I cannot say All the thoughts and things That make one feel this way.
I love walking on the angry shore, To watch the angry sea; Where summer people were before, But now there's only me.
I love wood fires at night That have a ruddy glow. I stare at the flames And think of long ago.
I love the feeling down inside me That says to run away To come and be a gypsy And laugh the gypsy way.
The tangy taste of apples, The snowy mist at morn, The wanderlust inside you When you hear the huntsman's horn.
Nostalgia - that's the Autumn, Dreaming through September Just a million lovely things I always will remember

Just reading it makes me smile. It's a happy poem.

International Women's Day?

Today is International Women's Day. I didn't know such a day existed, but earlier today I used the Google search engine and their logo happened to be.....(drum roll please) International Women's Day!!!! So I did a little research...Supposedly it is a day that celebrates accomplishments women have made through out history(I kind of predicted that). The first International Women's Day happened in the year of 1911. Today happens to be the 100th anniversary. Pretty cool.

Hey Arnold


Yes I was on YouTube and I happened to come across the Hey Arnold theme song. Gosh I really miss that show. Give me Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys and The Amanda Show over Jersey Shore. The 90's had amazing shows.

Mathilda Savitch pg 72-80



Chapter 12
In this chapter Mathilda talks about Helene's 14th birthday. How Helene, Mathilda and their mom had gone horse back riding. Mathilda went up to a certain horse but was afraid to ride it. Their mother seemed so happy when riding the horse, she had been riding since she was a little kid. ----Later on in the chapter Mathilda wakes up in the morning and decides to put on one of Helene's old dresses, it fits perfectly.

Chapter 13
When she goes downstairs to show off the dress her parents happen to be watching T.V. They don't even notice her. So she makes a loud cough noise. When her mother turns around to look at Mathilda she has tears in her eyes but she doesn't say anything. Of course her dad follows the mom. She wonders why her parents are so emotional about a dumb movie on T.V. Of course she knows that's not really the problem.

Yes well very depressing again. Once again her parents refuse to really look at her properly. Once again Mathilda is crazy angry. Once again it all goes wrong. Depressing...depressing.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Oh...SNL





Well, yes. This is another post about SNL. Why? I just felt like it. Plus I really enjoyed this skit about "Black Swan" the movie that came out a couple of months ago. I think one of the actresses even won a academy. I have not seen the movie yet but I'm planning on watching it soon. Well this is just Jim Carey being himself as usual. It's perfect.

Mathilda Savitch pg 62-71

Chapter 10
So Mathilda ends up going to the theatre with her parents after pleading to her father for sometime. After hearing the title Mathilda assumed it was about space. However after intermission she thinks differently. It has nothing to do with space, except for the main characters last name being Moon. As Mathilda watches the show with her parent she thinks about her father. How he's not the same. How he seem to be disappearing or fading. He just follows her mother. The question is where is her mother going.

Chapter 11
Late in the night Mathilda wakes up screaming loud. Her dad shows up and she asks him what time it is. He says it three. He comes over and comforts her. For once in the past 11 months he seems like her dad again and she loves it, the next day was H.S.S.H. Or the anniversary of Helene's death. Thinking about it made Mathilda's stomach clench up into a giant knot.

Okay... well in these two chapters not much progressed, except for her talk with her father. The mother still seems to keep her distance from Mathilda. That's upsetting

Mathilda Savitch Pg 46-61

Chapter 8
So...Anna and Mathilda happen to be sitting in Anna's living room at the beginning of the chapter. Mathilda is drawing a tattoo on Anna's arm while Anna picks at a splinter in her pinkie. While drawing  the tattoo, Mathilda reminisces about when Helene was still alive. Helene used to draw tattoos on Mathilda all the time. After creating her work of art on Anna's arm she decides to meander about Anna's house. Anna doest mind she just sits there gazing at the T.V as if it was a miracle. While prancing about Mathilda's mind once again wanders elsewhere. She thinks about Helene's cellphone, how it rang two weeks after her death. None of the family members went to pick it up, they jsut wat there listening while eating dinner. The next day Mathilda's mom had the Cell phone disconnected

Chapter 9
In this chapter Mathilda comes across a old letter addressed to Helene from a boy named Louis. Helene had some odd ways of hiding her letters and printed out emails. She hid them in a stuffed bear. Mathilda was shocked that nobody was able to find them, even the police couldn't track them down. Mathilda decided to hide the letters in the basement.She Describes the basement as being no mans land since Helene died. Her mother and father seemed to refuse to go down there.

This story is pretty depressing. I definitely do not think Helene's death was a accident. I hope the letters Mathilda keeps finding have some sort of clue. I don't know though. This story is kind of unpredictable...but I'm enjoying it.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Funny...funny.


Earlier today my mom was talking about Dauphin Island. We used to go down there until the big oil spill occurred. Even though most believe the oils gone, scientist still say a large amount of oil is still looming at the bottom of the gulf. Kinda depressing, huh? It was a pretty upsetting thought, knowing we're not going down there again this year. When I watched this video it made me laugh. A lot.


Spellbound


Spellbound, a documentary, directed by Jeffrey Blitz follows eight contestants on their journey to become the spelling master. Each contestant has a close up on family life, study habits a feelings towards the spelling bee. It was interesting to see the different characteristics each contestant displayed.
Neil
Poor Neil. I feel as if Neil was not just competing for the benefit of himself. The drill like preparations he had to do, seemed strenuous and boring. Now, I know, Neil must like to spell a little bit, but it definitely didn't seem like it was his passion. His father, Rajesh, almost has a mad gleam in his eye when talking about the National Spelling Bee. As if it was going to be his success, if Neil won. Also when Neil was being interviewed, he didn't seem as energetic as expected. Than again it may have been his timid personality that got in the way.
Emily
Emily on the other hand seemed to love spelling. As if it where her passion. Her parents didn't push at her to study but just mildly encouraged her. She seemed optimistic on the whole subject. Always happy to discuss her study of words and her excitement for the National Spelling Bee. She even remarked on how she didn't mind if she lost, she would like to win, but she didn't mind if she was second or something. I felt as if Emily was less stressed about winning, compared to Neil who always seemed gloomy.

Mathilda Savitch 31-45


Chapter 6
When Mathilda got home her mother was in the kitchen, which was rare because lately she just moped around. Anyways she had bought pecan rings, one of Mathilda's favorite treats. She tells her mom that shes not hungry though, because of her anger towards her still. Her mother brings up one of her plans for next week. I guess, the father and mother are going to the theatre. Mathilda insist on going to but her mother says no. Mathilda then talks about the day of her sisters funeral. She hadn't been able to see the body so the coffin was closed. To Mathilda Helene's death was still a big joke.


Chapter 7
In this chapter Mathilda goes outside to smoke a cigarette. Its part of her whole being bad plan. While doing so she runs into a neighbor Kevin Ryder. Kevin and Mathilda used to be real close till they became older. Well she offers him a cigarette but he declines. She then complements his blue hair and talks about her plans of dying her hair red. He thinks its a cool Idea.


Ok...so finally Mathilda was able to start her being bad plan. We also met a new character Kevin, I think Mathilda has a crush on the boy. It hasn't been revealed yet but...Then again who knows.

Mathilda Savitch 18-30




Chapter 4

In this chapter Mathilda tells her closest friend Anna that she wants to be "Bad". Anna, a naive girl and also somewhat slow is shocked when Mathilda reveals this. Right away she asks Mathilda about her soul. Mathilda becomes very defensive and retorts back "what about it?". Then they both give their opinions on what a soul should look like. Mathilda thinks it looks like a pudgy piece of dough. Anna on the other hand thought it looked like a silk dress in the shape of your body.

Chapter 5

In this chapter Mathilda is invited down to the principals office for a little chat. The principle, Ms.Olivera, a former hippie, wanted to ask about Mathilda's home life. Just that day Mathilda had slapped a young boy in her classroom because he "deserved it". Mathilda doesn't want to discuss her home life so she ask to use the bathroom and then immediately leaves afterwards saying sorry and it will never happen again. Ms.Olviera doesn't seem to mind.


These are really short chapters. Victor Lodato doesn't use a lot of detail, however a lot goes on in those couple of pages. I feel bad for Mathilda, having parents that can;t even look at you without disgust sounds horrible. I wouldn't want to reminds parents of a dead sister.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Mathilda Savitch 1-18

I have decided to move on to a new book. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed David Sedaris's excerpts about his wacko life. I have actually finished the book. Yes finished. Without writing a single word down about the last chapters. So I am going to read a book called "Mathilda Savitch". Its about a young girl. I'm not going to go into detail for I need to read it myself....here we go.
Chapter 1
In this chapter a young girl named Mathilda Savitch talks about her need to be "bad" or "rebel" against the everyday boredom's taking place in her house. The problem has to do with her parents. They just do not seem to care as much as they used to. She describes them as being like a copy machine, "reading reading reading, their eyes moving like the lights in a copy machine." I wouldn't want to have parents that resembled a copy machine. She goes on about her want to cause chaos in a empty and unpleasant setting. Most of all Mathilda seems to fear the look that glazes her parents eyes, as if they secretly despise her.

Chapter 2
In this chapter Mathilda talks about her school year starting. I guess she was really stoked because she had her friend Anna McDougal in her class. She then talks about a girl named Libby Harris, who is in her class also...she has a "disastrous mole" on the tip of her nose. Mathilda finds this unfortunate for Libby. She goes on to mention basically everyone in her class and if she like them or not.

Chapter 3
In this chapter Mathilda talks about her sisters death. Her sister, Helene, was hit by a train. Not on accident though someone pushed her at the train station. That just makes the situation more terrible than i originally thought it to be. Apparently Helene a was amazing. She was full of life and...all. This is must be the reason Mathilda's parents are so sad. It makes me sad

Well I left a lot of commentary in the paragraph. Its a easy read not a lot of big words. I'm liking it.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

A) Words
Stubbornly, appetite, dreamy, presence, idly, stillness, buried, mournful, absolute

B) Elements of Diction
1. Concreteness; sensible
2. Sound; harsh


Jim Moore's sensible speech and harsh repetition of the letters T and S depict why he relished his everyday childhood experiences in his poem, "It Is Not The Fact That I Will Die That I Mind."