Complete.

Having a blog due every week in Reading 104, gave me responsibility and it gave me a reason to keep reading my books and even helped me explore the internet to read articles I never would have read before. Although there were nights I hated writing blogs, I truly think they helped me learn and helped me to bring out creativity in just writing. They gave my brain a workout and were a great learning tool. I think these blogs should be a tool that should be kept in use in this class. There is another thing that I think will be kept in class, the vocab notebook. Just like it was stated in the beginning of the semester they are a great learning tool and a way to get familiar with foreign words that I probably would have never known or seen in my life. The lists made for us to use like “100 words to make you sound smart” and “100 words that every high school graduate should know” were amazing and I’m very thankful that we got those. I have them saved on my computer so I’ll have access to them so that maybe one day I can whip them open and learn a word. I loved being in this class and glad I was bad at test taking because this class gave me so many pointers on test taking, note taking, and even how to write a summary. Something I thought I knew how to do but improved my skills beyond belief. Thank you Stephanie!

Gas Sucks!

I read an article, “Americans facing Tough Choice: Gallon of Gas or Entire Meal”, and it really put things into prospective. You can get by with a 10 dollar meal IF you’re lucky. You go out to eat at a restaurant and you can get by with a $5 meal, if you go to McDonalds. A gallon of gas is going to soon be up to $4. They say by summer it will be $5. Meals are going way up for just one person and then you’ve got the gas to get there. There have been times were I’ve had to choose between a meal and gas just like the article states in its title. I think money is overrated. I think we should just share with everyone and everyone just be happy with what they have. We could build our own houses all by ourselves and grow our own vegetables and raise our own meat. If someone doesn’t do so great with that year, we can just share what we have left over. We can just work to support everyone, just like the world is like today but do it all without money. And for transportation, well they used horses before they had cars! As great of an idea this is, I know for a fact that things would NEVER get that way. But in all seriousness, gas prices need to drop and so do food costs. Food prices are going up just because of transportation but I think they just need to fly the food if that’s any cheaper. I think I’m going to have to start watching my spending a lot more closely.

Decisions

In The Hunger Games Peeta told the crowd during his interview that he liked his teammate. Wether it was for the crowds amusement or because Haymitch told Peeta to, I have yet to find out. Throughout the time that Katnis and Peeta have been together, it’s pretty much obvious that he adores her. The first real interaction between the two was when Peeta burnt the bread for Katnis to take home to her family. If peeta has loved her that long then this would be as good a time as any, since he didn’t tell her before, to tell her now. The fact that she would have never known would eat away at him. But her knowing how Peeta feels about her is giving her something to look fight for and to get her through The Games. Making sure he’s always alive and wondering if he’s alright keeps her mind off the killings and the fact that she is being hunted. Wether Peeta did like her or not or wether it was just all part of the act, it’s still giving him something to keep his mind off too. I don’t think he should’ve told the crowd but I think he definitely should have told Katnis before the Games started. It would be hard on the both of them because one person gets to live and there could be that chance that they would be the last 2 standing. But that would be a risk worth taking. Maybe, the Capitol would even have the heart to stop The Games and let them both win. Fat chance.

!Boy oh Boy!

The Hunger Games. That’s all you have to say to make me start reading. It makes me laugh that I had no interest at all in this book even though everyone said it was amazing. I almost hate admitting that they’re right that this book is actually really amazing. I’m really glad I picked it. When Katnis leaves to go to the Capitol and her journey throughout the beginning, I think the author did an amazing job with emotions of the characters. How Katnis would get these feelings with Peeta and she’d have to block her mind and make herself believe that Peeta was playing her for his advantage. I definitely would feel the same way Katnis did. The way she put feelings and emotions aside because none of it will matter after the battle, showed how strong minded she was. I also hate to admit that I see her as a roll model. The way she stood up for her 12 year old sister and basically took her life for her like that. Just like the book said it gave the Capitol lots of action to keep things interesting. That has nothing to do with the reality back in District 12 where everyone knew each other and knew the power Katnis just portrayed, taking her sister out of the competitions. You know a book is awesome when it gets you dreaming about dropping a bee hive on mean people trying to kill you.

The Title

I have just started the book The Hunger Games for this next book of choice. I really didn’t want to choose it just because it didn’t seem that interesting to me and I thought it would only make me uncomfortable in a way that I couldn’t stop thinking about the torture. I’ve already read about 50 pages in what seems like an hour; it’s definitely a page turner. It also did exactly what I thought. I can’t stop thinking about what the children have to go through. The thing that gets me is exactly what the title says, The Hunger Games. They have this “game” every year that has kids fighting for their lives. I get the fact that the government wants their people to know they ARE in charge so they won’t try and escape again. But how can any human design this game to have as little as 12 year olds fight until their death or even try and survive. The title matches the book very well just because it’s what the book is about but I understand that there is much more that will be coming from the book. I just can’t get over the fact that the government makes the children hunt and be hunted like that. There was a guy in the beginning that was at the “festival” when they announced who was going to be competing in this game that was completely drunk. I think I would be drunk for the rest of my life if I was forced to hunt people and actually survived it.

Urg!

Liar pissed me off. The first part of Liar was alright because it was reality, something that would actually happen in the real world. After she told us she was a wolf I lost it. I definitely wasn’t interested in anything she had to say. Even the 10 little lies she admitted to, I just couldn’t believe her. It makes me realize how it actually applies to us. If we lie, cheat, or steal how can anyone trust us again? It’s hard to get over something the first time. Let alone if the person does it again. It takes a real strong person to forgive someone for doing something over and over. I’d say that’s the only thing I got out of the book. Otherwise I just blame it for late late nights of drinking coffee and trying to keep my eyes open when I could be resting for the next day. Not saying it’s the books fault for making me wait until last second to read. I usually do most my reading at night anyways because I can actually focus and understand what I’m reading. I’m not really sure if I would suggest this book to anyone else. If I would I’d only want to see if they got the same response as I did and if so it’d be for the fun of watching them flip out and get mad at how much of a waste of time the book was. This just goes to say that Justine Larbalestier has a gift of playing with people emotions and a very creative way at that.

Tuition

I was reading an article about “Free College Tuition,” which really strikes my interest because I’m sure most Americans are trying to get by paying off their college education, even after they’re finished. In this article they suggested that government pay for 16 years of schooling. Boy, if only. I’m not sure how most students pay for tuition, whether it’s by their parents or by loan but I have to pay out of pocket whenever the payment plan has set up for me. It’s really tough to come up with payment when I already live paycheck to paycheck. Working and trying to do the best I can in my classes is tough. Because I graduated high school early I was living like an adult at age 17. Most jobs now, decent jobs for an adult to live off of, require you to at least have your Associates degree. So, I do agree with the article when it said the government should pay for 16 years of schooling or at least at tuition be high school pay rate. I understand the importance of a good education for physical therapists, accountants, lawyers and I agree they should pay for a good school and a good education. I want my doctor to be as smart as he can be. But then again, how is it fair for us middle class people who really want to go to school but can’t because of money? Isn’t that why we go to school and get an education, to make good money and to have a good living? I guess that’s what we call Life.

Lying

This week’s blog is going to touch on a controversial issue from the text. Agreeing or disagreeing with one side of the issue is going to be very hard. First off, my issue I’m going to state is touching on her 4 lies she admits about. There’s a point were too many lies are abuse to the mind. Remembering what lie goes to which person and what detail goes to the other story. Sure, everyone lies. There are little white lies being said all the time. I can see where she comes from with lying about the kissing situation. With all the rumors going around about Micah, why should see admit to leaning over to Sarah? I know I wouldn’t. Of course I’d never lean over like Micah did either. She had enough to worry about. But lying about everything else is just wrong. Lying about Yayeko was uncalled for. I just don’t see the point. Talking about the gruesome details Micah talked about only would make it worse on her for only imagining. Thinking optimistically about the possibilities of what happen to Zach has to be much better than thinking the worst. Hiding that she didn’t want to hear the fact that he died is not that hard to admit. It’s someone dying. No one is okay when someone they love dies. Admitting things like how you feel aren’t always hard. Sometimes even telling the truth or talking about a problem makes the weight of a situation lighten on your heart. No one should have the weight of lie upon lie on their shoulders

Anatomy Reading

The only books I have been able to read have been my school text books. Not exactly the thing I’d pick for “fun” reading but we all know it’s necessary. When I read chapters from my Anatomy book it was very hard to stay focused. The word “procrastinate” comes to mind every single time I open my book. There are times when I can sit and read it and some things interest me. With a bag of crackers and bottle of water to keep my hands busy, I got through 2 whole chapters! It feels like such an accomplishment. The text covers just about everything, of course throughout the whole book. It gets into so much depth with every little thing. Sometimes I think to myself, “How does one single cell help out the entire body?” It puts in prospective that not just “me” is alive. There are millions of things about me that keep me breathing and walking every second. It’s very confusing at times, too. With all the processes the body goes through. I just got done learning about protein synthesis. Two parts make that happen; transcription and translation. It has something to do with DNA and copying and so forth. What I’ve learned from taking this class is you really have to want to be in it. You have to put a lot of your time into it and even more. Studying, looking over notes, reading the chapters, and asking questions when needed are all things any class would require. Getting these classes out of the way will be quite a challenge. I just hope I can get some free reading in before all this studying kills me!

Guided Response

I’m not much of a reader but I got sucked in easily with 13 Reasons Why. This Hannah Baker sounded like one tough lady. An option asked if the main character is worthy of praise or criticism. I think Hannah deserves both. I’ve never had suicidal thoughts so I don’t want to sound like those who have are weak. Life is hard and is always one big struggle. I’m sure EVERYONE can agree with that. Being tough, staying strong, and staying optimistic is what I think gets me through hard times. During this book she had a lot of stress weighing her down by letting things get to her. If only she would have stayed strong and maybe moved to get away from the drama filled school, I wouldn’t be criticizing her suicide choice. I will give her props, though. Surviving that day in class when classmates were passing around the note that said she was Hot because she had the Best Ass in the Freshman Class would be hell for me. I can’t stand when I’m out of the loop in things, so if everyone would be checking me out and giggling I’d be pretty agitated and confused. I don’t know what my reaction would be but I can definitely say she beat mine. Also when mystery man touched her shoulder and said “I’m only playing, Hannah. Just relax,” I would’ve done the same thing as she did. On her way home she thought of the statement/translation and action/interpretations. I’m proud she put those in her tapes. Guys need to know when it’s okay and when it’s not okay to touch a girl’s ass.

Memior

I was doing some reading and I came across the book The Glass Castle. I hated it. I didn’t actually hate the book, I hated the way the parents treated their kids. This book is told through the eyes of a little girl in the early 1960’s. It was about how her and her 2 siblings grew up, got flung out of the car, moved from city to city, slept in the same bed, ate nothing for days on end and it was okay. As long as they had each other they were going to be okay. This is Jeannette Walls’ memoir. I had to look up memoir just to make sure that this was actually a true story. I was just in awe in how the parents would treat these kids. I understand that being in “lower class” back then would have been very hard to live through. I would consider myself middle class and it does get hard. I don’t think money is so important you turn to alcohol and drown yourself to not have to deal with your problems. I would think that would make it worse. I could understand a few drinks just as a stress reliever but not enough to abuse your wife and kids. What I was impressed with, though, the kids stayed together, were there for each other, and even kept their father in line. It was her birthday and it was around a time when her dad was big into drinking. He asked her “what do you want for your birthday?” and she told him she wanted him to quit drinking. That was the most touching part of the book for me. Overall I was very interested and loved The Glass Castle.

My name is Cari and I live in Washington, Il. I'm going to school for Physical Therapy and just want to enjoy college. I love country music and love to take long drives.