Blog #2

In the next section of my book, Hannah tells about something that happened at a party she attended. What happens is she is crying in a bedroom by herself, but then realizes that someone had brought in a different girl, who was passed out, to lay her down to rest. Hannah heard voices outside the door so she hid in the closet; She never could have imagined what happened next. A boy came into the room, and raped the girl that was passed out. Now the boy who raped her is not the boy on the tape, it's the boy who let him into the room, Justin Foley. Hannah explains how he could have stopped the whole situation from happening, but also that she is responsible for the incident, too, because she didn't do anything to stop him, either. Hannah talks about how Justin just pretends like his friend never did anything wrong because that would mean he also did something wrong and he didn't want to think about that. Hannah is very smart about things like this. It's almost like she can see into people's minds and read their thoughts. She is always dead on about what others were thinking and feeling about each situation she talks about. I am the total opposite of that. I have no idea what people think or feel or anything like that. I just go by what they tell me and leave it at that. I sort of wish I could read people though, I think it would be helpful when I got in fights with my friends or my parents. There are only 3 people left to talk about so I'm really eager to find out who they are and what happened!

Blog #1

I chose to read the novel "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher for my outside reading book. When I started reading it was hard for me to stop so I'm almost done with it. So far in the novel a girl named Hannah Baker has committed suicide and left behind seven double-sided (one not) tapes each with one reason why she has killed herself. The story takes place from Clay Jensen's point of view. Where I am in the book now, Clay has already discovered his reason for being on the tapes, however it really isn't a reason at all. Hannah had a crush on him, but hid her feelings from him. However, Clay had the same feelings for Hannah. I think it was unfair for Hannah to put him on her tapes because he had nothing to do with her death. Clay is confused why he is on there, too, but I think he is glad that he knows how she felt he just wishes he had known sooner. Now it's too late. Clay learned a lot about Hannah, himself, and others from listening to her tapes and descriptions of other people and her views on life itself. The book still has about 100 pages left, and I'm curious to see what's in store for the ending.

Overcoming Odds

Wilma Rudolph is one of the world's most incredible female athletes. She is known as the fastest female on the planet. The most amazing thing about this, is that Wilma was infected with polio as a child. By age 16, she was fast enough for the olympics. This story is incredible, and there are many others like it. Many sports athletes have rags-to-riches stories, but a lot of them got lucky. Wilma had to work very hard to get to where she got. This story is only an example of what can come from hard work and dedication. Nothing in life worth having comes easy, and nothing in life that comes easy is worth having. You have to work for your goals, and dedicate your mind to it. You can not expect to achieve anything without putting in effort. I believe effort and willpower are positively correlated to achievement. If you do a half-assed job, you will get a half-assed result. If you try your hardest, give it your all, die for something, the reward will outweigh the work it took to get there. Never give up, because quitters never win, and winners never quit. Make yourself a rags-to-riches story. Anyone can.

Cazeneuve, Brian. "Wilma Rudolph." Sports Illustrated For Women 1 Dec. 1999. 23 Mar. 2009 .

Love

Barack and Michelle Obama are two people who love each other and have loved each other from the beginning. Some people may say that famed-love is fake, or unreal. The difference is, as this article states, the Obama's have been in love from the beginning. That is true love, when a couple can make it through heaven and hell 'till the end. Especially after undergoing the election and all of that political stress that I'm  sure they endured, it is actually incredible that they still are as strong now as ever before. They're romance began in 1988. If you think about it, that is almost 22 years, longer than I've been alive. If a couple can last more than 20 years before getting into the mainstream public's eye by campaigning for president, you cannot doubt that it is destined love. Everybody should find love and nobody should fake it. Love should not be taken for granted, thrown away, or deceived. Love is something that should be cherished, honored, and looked at with eyes of hope and wonder.

Espostio, Stefano. "Two People Who Love Each Other." Chicago Sun Times 13 July 2008. 23 Mar. 2009 .

War

When most people think about war, they think about how everybody wants to get out of Iraq and stop the fighting. That is the main argument of this, but I do have one friend who is very strongly for the war. He says everybody who is against the war should speak for themselves, because he himself plans to join the military after finishing high school, and he says his goal is to go to Iraq and kill Iraqis. Instead of writing about the boring, easy side of this argument, I've decided to take a look at the side which supports the war in Iraq. In the article i found, John Murtha, a veteran, seconds politicians questionings. He points out that everybody in the military volunteers to join. Nobody is forced to join the military. People are ignorant and make assumptions based on what they know, which is stupid of them and makes them idiots. They have no right to talk on the issue. If you want to know the truth, talk to a real Iraq veteran, or read this article. Civilians can talk as much as they please, but that doesn't make them right. Most of the articles out there are written by those ignorant politicians who haven't spent a day in Iraq. Instead of reading those worthless pieces of paper, try reading the real thing, those written by the real troops, the real people fighting the war.

Zirkle, Wade. "Troops in Support Of the War." The Washington Post 13 Apr. 2006. 23 Mar. 2009 .

Colonization

When I read that we had to do a post about colonization, I immediately thought of Pocahontas and John Smith. In 1607, John Smith came to America to become wealthy. Him and his crew faced several Indian attacks, but one in particular is still famous today. John Smith gets captured by Powhatan, Pocahontas's father. He is held captive for a long time, but when Powhatan finally decides to kill Smith and the other Englishmen, Pocahontas puts herself between the two men so her father is forced out of killing him. Pocahontas and John Smith continue their relationship and fall in love. The love they have for one another symbolizes the bridging of the Jamestown Colonists and the Indians, and that the Indians can teach a lot to the colonists about the natural world.

Wolfinger, Lisa. "John Smith's Bold Endeavor." Nova. Dec 2006. 10 Mar 2009. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pocahontas/silverman.html

Global Issue

Throughout the U.S. and the world, foreclosures are affected everyone who owns or even rents a house. According to experts, even people who keep up with their rent bills and pay everything on time sometimes end up in the downward spiral of foreclosure and debt. One woman Maria Stephens went from earning 80,000 dollars a year and paying $1800 on rent a month to ending up in an emergency shelter with her 2 year old son. In the US, 40% of renters are currently facing foreclosure increasing the number of people homeless and putting the economy in an even bigger crisis. To solve this problem president Obama is giving $1 billion to the National Housing Trust Fund, this organization builds and preserves low-income housing. The foreclosure slump has led to people like Stephens having a different view of life. From now on people no longer take advantage of the little things in life and staying together as a family unit is the most important thing. 

Streitfeld, Rachel. "Not even renters safe from foreclosure storm." CNN. 8 March 2009. 8 March 2009.  http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/08/renters.foreclosure/index.html

Bollywood

Bollywood is the largest film producer in India. The name comes from a combination of the city Bombay, and Hollywood. There are six main influences of Bollywood: Indian epics, ancient Sanskrit drama, traditional folk theatre of India, Parsi theatre, Hollywood, and western  music TV (MTV). In the 2000's, Bollywood influenced western cinema, and the movie Moulin Rouge was directly inspired by the Bollywood musicals. Many other American movies have been based off of Indian song-and-dance sequences. Just like Hollywood, people come from all over to try to make it in the big time movie business, but very few actually make the cut. The actors usually lip-sync and have professional singers record at a studio for the movie. The Bollywood scripts are written by all different people, but are often written by a Hindustani who makes the script for as wide of an audience as possible. Bollywood movies are multi-million dollar productions. Bollywood is a lot like Hollywood and I think it would be really cool to visit there one day.

Hope

I am currently reading the second book in the Twilight series, called New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer. In the book the main character, Bella, is in love with a vampire, Edward. They would do anything for each other and promise to be together forever. But one day Edward is forced to move away from Forks, where they both live, and has to say goodbye to Bella. He tells her that they cannot communicate in any way because it will only make things harder for them. Bella does not belong in the world the way Edward does. Once Edward is gone, Bella can't even function. She can't eat, she can't sleep, she can't even see her friends because she is so miserable without her lover. But even through all her suffering, Bella still has hope that Edward will come back for her one day. She believe even after everything he said, he still loves her and they will be together forever. This reminds me of Nathan in Nectar in a Sieve because he has hope that things for his family will get better even though they have hardly any money or food. If I ever were to be left by someone I loved very much, I think I would try to get on with my life and not wait around for them. To me, that is kind of pointless because if they really did want to be with me, they would try their hardest to and not just leave me.

Religion/Spirituality/Belief/Non-Belief

I read an article how Muslims had to adjust their living styles when they first came to America. One woman described how when she first got to the airport many people were staring at her because she was wearing a dress and head wrap that covered her whole body except her face. One person said, "I expected people to say, 'What is this terrorist doing here? We don't want your kind here,' " said Woldt, a 22-year-old blue-eyed Catholic, recalling her anticipation before stepping into a local barbecue restaurant. "I thought I wouldn't even be served." I don't understand how people can be so judgmental towards someone only based on their appearance. It's not like you know someone's personality traits or background just by looking at them. I know I do this sometimes, though, but I'm going to work on that because I know I don't like when people I don't know judge me. I think it is just hard for people to adjust to the changing world around us, and the fact that people are coming to America for many reasons. I think overall, they are helping our country because they are exposing us to new cultures and such.




Ravitz, Jessica. “Muslim in America: a 'voyage of discovery'”. CNN News. 9 Feb 2009. 16 Feb 2009. .

Gender Roles

Men are you usually seen as the superior sex. However, the arguments men and women have been fighting over have come to an end. The problems in it's place are the stress, lack of time and financial pressure of modern life. Surveys show that both genders believe their lives has been enriched because of the increase in gender equity. They also both agree that it is more difficult than ever to build and maintain successful marriages, families and lead satisfying lives. The surveys also showed that men and women think it is very important to have a happy family, but the parents who have to put their children in child care say they wish they didn't have to do that. Although men are accepting to women working outside the home, large majorities of both sexes agree that it would be better if women could stay home and take care of the house and children. Overall, i think our society has greatly impacted from the acceptance of women in the business field.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm

Cultural Differences

I read an article on Wikipedia about Muslims. I learned that they are much more religious than Christians are. They have prayer times, rituals and religious gathers throughout the day. Muslims have certain foods they can and cannot eat. Arabic names are now being called ''Muslim" names because they are being passed down from their families. Regardless of their religious beliefs. 99.8% of Turkey is Muslim, however one can accept Muslim aspects without accepting all of the Islamic theology. This is unlike the Western part of the world because they base statics on the religion as a whole that a person follows. As you can see, Muslim culture and Christian culture differ in many ways.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Muslim

Overcoming Conflict

when a jessica was 14 years old, she started using drugs. it started with marijuana, and then progressed into pain killers, and eventually cocaine. she used these drugs at least once a day for a few years. Jessica lost her boyfriend, her job and dropped out of school because the drugs took so much control of her. she was always depressed when she came off the drugs, and thirsted for more. that is when she realized she had to quit. Jessica is working very hard and getting and staying clean, but she says that it's hard for her to. her body tells her that she needs it. however, when she goes a whole day without using, she feels so good about herself. in the article, she really stresses how one should never get started on drugs. they ruin your life and some people can never get their lives back together. even though jessica hasn't completely overcome her addiction, she is working at it every minute of every day and i am very happy for her.

http://www.thailandlife.com/drugs/story_001.html

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters can cause not only physical pain, but emotional pain as well. When a natural disaster occurs, it may sometimes permanently damage lives in many ways. The houses, jobs, and loved ones can be gone forever. Some people even are scarred for the rest of their lives because their losses are too tragic for them to even bare any longer. Bill O'Callahan says, "Losing a home is like losing a limb". He is expressing that it is terrible when one losses their house and getting another home may even be impossible if one is still paying the mortgage on the home that was destroyed. Others, however, can easily get their lives back together, find new jobs and move on with the rest of their life. I think if I were to ever be in a natural disaster, depending on how tragic my losses, I would try to get my life back together because living in the past isn't going to get me anywhere. 



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=990CE1D8133BF934A15755C0A965948260&scp=10&sq=natural%20disasters&st=cse