Last post of the year!!!

            Let me just start off by saying that I am not one to write my thoughts down on paper. I find it rather annoying to constantly pause and write down my “journey of thought”. Recording my thoughts is more of a nuisance than a way to reflect on my reading. That being said, I didn’t completely hate blog posts this year, it was a very Interesting experience, a better alternative to the traditional pen and paper.

            Overall, I didn’t learn that much about myself as a reader from blogging, except that I’m not very “deep”. This is probably something I am going to have to improve on. This experience benefited me by giving me a little more experience in an alternative method of reading reflections, which will probably become more useful as I grow as a reader.

            This experience was very liberating, as it gave us the freedom to talk about whatever we wanted in our book. It gave us the opportunity to explore our own thoughts instead of blindly following the traditional path of summarizing.  However, in some aspects it was also very limiting. I was constantly mentally reminded that I was posting on a public server, and that anyone who wanted to could see my terrible and not so deep writing. This fact sometimes kept me from writing certain more personal things, which I could have easily stated in a personal notebook.

            I believe that the things we post or type online are the “real” us. In the real world we probably would attempt to hide our dark sides under a deceiving layer of shyness. However, online on Face book, or other websites, we feel more secure, and safe. That Is what leads us to believing that we can post whatever we want. This secure wall of a hidden identity is what some people use to abuse their freedom online. Some people just post whatever they want without thinking how their words might affect others.

            I can’t really see myself continuing this blog in the future. I might start a new blog and talk about stuff that actually interests me such as computers but sadly, I think this is the end of “I don’t know what to name my blog!!!” And so, I know say “goodbye blogging community of MS51!”  

Holes by Louis Sachar

              I am currently re-reading one of my all-time childhood books, Holes by Louis Sachar. This book is mainly about a young lad named Stanley Yelnats who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the book, Stanley gets arrested for stealing Clyde Livingston’s (a famous athlete) sneakers. In truth it wasn’t really him, however Stanley comes from a very poor family and their parents couldn’t afford a great lawyer. For his punishment, Stanley was sent to a Labour camp known as camp green lake, a camp in which you dig holes all day.

            While re-reading this book, I was mainly thinking about the judge who gave Stanley’s’ sentence, and the society that Stanley lives in. what happened to Stanley was not fair. Even though he told the truth in court, he was still punished. This makes me think about justice and the way we hand out punishment in America. However since we are studying philosophy, I will phrase my thoughts into a philosophical question. “Who has the right to hand out punishment in the U.S, and who gave the, the power to do so?”

            To answer my own question, I would think that no one really has the right to pass down judgment or condemn someone. This is because I believe it is not our place to do so. I mean, what makes the people who decide on the punishment any better than the accused? Why does that person have the right to end someone’s life if he or she wants? What makes them that much more important than us?

            Overall, however, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.       

Teen Angst? Naaah...

            I am currently reading an interesting book named "Teen Angst? Naaah..." by Ned Vizzini. This book is actually an autobiography about Ned Vizzini and his times at Stuyvesant High school. This book doesn't really have a plot, it just follows a timeline of events in Ned Vizzinis life. however, i still somehow managed to pick up a few themes in Ned Vizzini's life. In it he basically talks about the average american teenagers life. He talks about the weeks leading up to the SHSAT, the excitement he felt when he got in, and his time there. His life is kind of basically what you would expect: worrying about getting good grades, worrying about college, getting a girlfriend, being popular, (etc.).
            While i was reading this book, i kind of started thinking of stereotypes. this is because Ned Vizzini's life seemed almost stereotypical, just an average life. Specifically, i was thinking about who came up with the american life stereotype. I mean, someone had to come up with what the average life is supposed to be like, right? In my mind, an average Hollywood stereotype of the american life is a suburban neighborhood, tall, usually white teens wearing hoodies  listening to ipods. Is this really how the public views us? so what is the definition of "Normal", or "average"?
 

lord of the flies by william golding

            I am currently reading a very interesting book called “Lord of the flies” by William Golding. I am not too far into the book because I have just started but here is what I do know: this book is basically (so far) about a group of boys on a plane during a fictional war, who crash onto a deserted island. One boy, Ralph, is elected as a group leader, while another boy, jack, is elected leader of the hunters of the group. However, it is obvious that jack wanted to be the leader. The first boy, Ralph is the kinder one, and he found a pink conch shell that is used to summon the other boys during meetings and such. The other boy, jack is much more harsh, and a little evil, and devious.

While I was reading the first parts of this amazing book, what caught my mind, was not the plot, but the role of the conch shell. It was used by Ralph to summon the boys to meetings, but it also had another role. During the meetings, whoever held the conch shell had the right to speak, and everyone else had to be quiet and listen. More and more, this conch shell kind of struck me as a symbol of order, power, and organization. It represented order and organization because it prevented anyone from speaking out of turn during meetings. However, it also represented power because Ralph is the one who blew on it to summon everyone, and he was the king.

All this made me think “is order necessary on a deserted island?” I would think so, because without order, there would anarchy, and chaos. However, if I was speaking form the other side, who may think that you don’t need order on a deserted island, you are a group of teenage boys after all, who are far away from civilization. I mean, the first thing that would’ve popped into my head wouldn’t have been “let’s make a constitution, and organize daily rations”. It would’ve been “Lets party!”.  

twisted by laurie anderson

            I have just finished reading a great book called Twisted by Laurie Anderson. This great book is about a high school teenager named Tyler Miller whose life is basically ruined. He was tired of being the one who was always ignored, and being shoved into the toilet, so in tenth grade, he wanted to make himself noticed. In tenth grade, Tyler took six cans of spray paint and wrote devious messages on the school wall. However, Tyler was careless, and left his wallet, containing his I.D. He was caught by the police after an investigation.

            Throughout this whole book, I was always thinking about peer pressure, because it seemed to be a major theme in this book. Even though Tyler wasn’t directly being pressured by the jocks and most of the student body into spray painting the school, he was being indirectly pressured to do so. The jocks and some other people were the ones who made Tyler feel like he needed to make himself noticed, and so he spray painted the school. I guess now that I think about it, it all comes down to popularity.

            Tyler wanted to be popular just like the other kids, so he did all that stuff, but what if there was no such thing as popularity or social rank? Everyone would feel a lot more secure, confident, and equal. It is because of this invisible force that the student body has to be divided. But should it be? Or is ranking someone based on social status wrong? I honestly don’t know…         

Be more chill By Ned Vizzini (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

  

            I have just recently finished reading a great book called “Be more chill” by Ned Vizzini. In this book, Vizzini takes a look at the American high school life of Jeremy Heere. Jeremy is a social failure, not having many friends, being humiliated on many occasions and plainly put, he’s just not cool. Jeremy always stares at a girl named Christine, wanting her, even though he knows that with his current social standing, he’d never get her. So Jeremy decides that he’d do anything it took to get her. So of course he jumped at the mention of something called a “squip”, which is supposed to be a kind of micro computer that you swallow. After swallowed, it’s supposed to make its way up your brain, and give you advice to help you achieve your goals. And what does Jeremy do after hearing this? He pays seven hundred dollars that he got from selling rare dolls he stole from his grandma, to get his hands on one.

            While I was reading this book, I thought a lot about how the book was looking at social ranking. At first I interpreted Vizzinis writing to say that high social standing was something that must be achieved, in the case of Jeremy. But towards the end of the book, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Jeremy throws away his “squip” because even though it was making him very popular, it was making him hated by his real and original best friends. So after finishing the book, I realized that Vizzini was actually telling us that friends  are only friends if they really like you for who they are, and they’re not just your friends because you (“ehemm”*clearing throat sound inserted here) “f _ _ ked” the hottest girl in school (pardon my language please). So basically, just “stay with people like you, and don’t try to be someone you’re not” was the moral of this story.

            All in all I definitely recommend this book to everyone looking for fun, relaxing read. Vizzini does a great job steering away from the stereotypes of an American teenager, and focusing on very real scenarios in a teen’s life.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

            I am currently reading a suspenseful horror book called The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine jinks. I have not yet completed this book, but here is a brief summary and what I know so far; vampires do exist. At least, they do in the world of 73 year old Nina Harrison. Nina is a vampire, so she still looks like a 15-year old, which was when she was bitten and infected. She is also part of a group called the “Reformed Vampire Support Group”, a group of vampires that promise not to ever infect anyone, and feed off a human. However, the vampires in this book are very different from the vampires in our imagination. They don’t have any superpowers, they must constantly remember to wear sunglasses when looking at light, if they don’t want blood pouring out of their tear glands, and worst of all… they can barely ever go outside and experience new thrills because they will either scare off humans, or burn to ashes.

            While reading this book, a very important theme that I was thinking about a lot is acceptance. This group of vampires is not accepted by society because society is afraid of these vampires. But that is completely human. We are scared of what we cannot make sense of, and do not know. Books and movies have played their part in forming what a vampire or werewolf is in our imagination. What if a werewolf were to appear in time square right now? He may even just be standing there, but our primary instinct would either be to shoot it with a twelve gauge shotgun, or run. Not try to befriend it. Same with a pit bull.  We would probably head the other way if we saw one, because we’ve all seen guard pit bulls in movies that rip off your leg if you come too close. We humans tend to blindly follow the media in what something is or isn’t. We hang onto it as a lifeline, so we can make sense of things.

            All in all, so far I would definitely recommend this to readers looking for a good horror book. However, one thing you must know is that this book is kind of slow (it felt like that to me anyway). It takes a while to get to the point. But all in all, a great book.

Little Brother by Cory Doctrow (revised version)

            I have just recently finished reading a book called little brother by Cory Doctrow. This amazing book takes place in the modern day world, and zooms into the life of an eighteen year old boy named Marcus Yallow who really loves technology, mainly computers. A massive terrorist bombing had just taken place in San Francisco, where Marcus lives. And now Marcus’ home has been turned into a police state, where every checkpoint is patrolled and where every citizen is tagged, and watched over by the department of homeland security (DHS). Marcus however, does not like this, and uses his vast knowledge of technology and computers to create a secret organization and fight back against the DHS. 

            One question that continuously comes up in this book is “when does our government stop working for us?” also, “when is it right to overthrow our government and establish a new one?” While I was reading this book, I pondered on these questions a lot. In my opinion, the government would stop working for us when the decisions they make no longer benefit us, but instead harm us. That is also when we would have to overthrow them, and establish a new government based on modern day thinking and necessities. After all, we are a democracy. I sound a lot like the character when I say that the government works for us, we don’t work for them. We pay their salaries, and we should get a better country because of it. This also kind of ties in with what is happening in Egypt. The Egyptian people don’t like their current leader, so they’re overthrowing him. They dont like the way he is runnig the country. They feel that it is their country, and they have to try and take it back from the evil dictator who is ignoring the wants of the people.

            While reading this book, i have been affected greatly. one way i have been affected is that this book has changed the way i now think of our government. Before, i used to be just an obedient little american who would've always done what the government asked of me. But now i realize why our country became a democracy. Not just because we wanted more say in our government but also because we can think of needs and wants that the president or mayor cant think of. sure the president or mayor is more educated on our sountry, and economics and stuff, but they arent perfect, and they cant think of everything. It is our job to aid them in making the decisions that will affect our nation.

           Another way that this book has affected me is that it has gotten me greatly interested in computers. And after finishing this book, i became really interested in computer language. I followed mr.doctrows advice and starteD with a basic language such as python. then i movd on to blitzbasic which is another computer language. i have made  2 programs already with blitzbasic, and am working on more.

            I am really enjoyed reading this book , and recommend it to everyone else. Not only does Cory Doctrow delve into political views, but along the way shares his vast knowledge of computers, and crypto terminology.

Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

                I have just recently finished reading a great book called Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer. It’s the first of 5 books in the series “The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd”. This book is mainly about a teenage vampire named Vladimir Todd who tries to fit in as an average everyday human. In it Vlad narrates his days at middle school and has a band of vampires after him to make him pay for the sins of his deceased vampire father. There are many other things that go on in this book but you will have to read it to see what.

                During the course of this fast paced book, there were many themes that are put in play. One of the many themes would be secrecy. This is because his aunt Nelly (who is also his caretaker) refuses to tell him of the sins his father committed against his brethren. She tries to hide from him his fathers past secrets. She tells him that some things are better not known about his father.

                I agree with his caretaker, Aunt Nelly about that. Because, she also went on to explain how she once had a dog, but her Father killed it, and now every memory she had of him is now soured by that memory. This made me realize that maybe not everyone is we think they are. Everyone has a little evil in them, but it’s better for us not to know about that evil side, because we will always dwell on it. We humans only want to know about the good in people.

Holes - by louis sachar

             I’ve recently started reading this great book called Holes by Louis Sachar. Basically what happens in this book is that a boy named Stanley yelnats (who is very poor by the way) is arrested for supposedly stealing a pair of sneakers from an orphanage. Now, Stanley is actually innocent, but the judge does not believe this and so sentences him 16 months hard Labour at camp green lake. Stanley finds camp green lake terrible, you have to dig holes every day to build character, and it’s in the middle of a hot, barren land.

            While reading this book, (even though I haven’t gotten very far yet) I started thinking about the justice system in Stanley’s world. It wasn’t very fair, Stanley told the judge the truth, but the judge just wouldn’t believe it about the justice system in our society, and wonder if it is fair or not. To me personally, Stanley was only in the wrong place at the wrong time. This eventually led me to think I guess its fair enough, you do a crime, and then you sit in a cold barred cell, thinking about what you’ve done. Not too unfair, as the saying goes... “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”.       

little brother (by cory doctrow)

              I have just recently started reading a book called little brother by Cory Doctrow. This amazing book takes place in the modern day world, and zooms into the life of an eighteen year old boy named Marcus Yallow who really loves technology, mainly computers. A massive terrorist bombing had just taken place in San Francisco, where Marcus lives. And now Marcus’ home has been turned into a police state, where every checkpoint is patrolled and where every citizen is tagged, and watched over by the department of homeland security (DHS). Marcus however, does not like this, and uses his vast knowledge of technology and computers to create a secret organization and fight back against the DHS. 

            One question that continuously comes up in this book is “when does our government stop working for us?” also, “when is it right to overthrow our government and establish a new one?” While I was reading this book, I pondered on these questions a lot. In my opinion, the government would stop working for us when the decisions they make no longer benefit us, but instead harm us. That is also when we would have to overthrow them, and establish a new government based on modern day thinking and necessities. After all, we are a democracy. I sound a lot like the character when I say that the government works for us, we don’t work for them. We pay their salaries, and we should get a better country because of it. This also kind of ties in with what is happening in Egypt. The Egyptian people don’t like their current leader, so they’re overthrowing him.

            I am really enjoying this book so far, and recommend it too everyone else. Not only does Cory Doctrow delve into political views, but along the way shares his vast knowledge of computers, and crypto terminology.

Response to Graham's post

            I really liked graham’s blog post, and agreed with his viewpoints about the themes of the book Hunted Past Reason by Richard Matheson. In his post, graham delves deep into a thought that has been proposed before but has never quite been though of in this way. Graham brings forth the though of how every single human is inside a shell, and underneath that shell may be something completely different than what you thought was in there. He explains how humans may create a fake facade just to hide their true personality. This theory has been proposed many times before, but graham then goes on to explain why we create such disguises to cover our true emotions, and when we do show our true colors.

            He gives us an example from his book, of how a bully may act tough, and in charge, but may really be scared, taking his emotions out on others, because of the fact that he is abused at home, and his mother is a drunk. That bully may have created that disguise/ social standing because he is angry/ jealous at other kids because of their good fortune. Graham also explains how we only show our true colors in extreme or dire situations, or when we just can’t hide our inner selves any longer. We only come out when that heavy burden inside of us is just too heavy to be shared alone, so we must share our true self with others.

            Another reason I really liked grahams post was because of the way he organized it. He first threw at us a brief summary of the book that only included the important points in the story, and the points he needed to talk about his thoughts. Then he talked about the thoughts he had while he was reading, and also elaborated on some parts of the story to make his point clearer. Then, he concluded by wrapping up his thoughts on fake identities by explaining what we could do to make sure we never had to make a fake identity in the beginning.

            All in all, I really enjoyed grahams post, and am looking forward to reading this book because of how interesting it sounded in the summery. Of all the posts graham wrote, this one stood out the most because it was recommended, as an all star blog post, and so I went to see why it was so good. In conclusion, grahams post really makes me think about how we can never really know a person to the deepest corners of their heart and mind, because there is always something hidden.

grahams post:  http://guttentagfurlein.blogspot.com/2011/02/hunted-past-reason.html      

        

the monstrumologist (not for the faint of heart)

             i am currently reading a  book called the Monstrumologist by rick yancy. this book is a gruesome and horrific yet addicctive book. basically what is going on is that an orphaned child whose father worked for the monstrumologist goes to live with the montstrumologist  and be his assistant. the mostrumologist is basicaly a scientist that studies monters by the way. the book is in the form of the diary that the boy (will henry) keeps. in it, will henry explains in gruesome detail the journey him and the "doctor" embarks on to explain why there is a rouge group of "anthropophagi" (a monster) in america, and not in its native habitat in africa. i realize the summmary is somewhat unclear, but you'll just have to read this suspensful book to be informed of the monsters that plague our world.

           in this book, rick yancy digs deep into mans deepest fears and thoughts, and plays with the psychological aspects that make up our mind. this book is a dark, violent piece of literature that takes the fears of man almost 3 centuries ago and mutates them into a modern selection of words that frighten us.

wherein i spake of most disastrous chances,
of moving accidents by flood and field,
of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach...
and of the cannibals that each other eat,
the Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
do grow beneath their shoulders.
-Shakespheare, othello   

the andromeda strain

            I just recently finished an addictive book called "the andromeda strain" by micheal crichton. the basic plot of this book is that the government sends eleven satelites into space. the intention is for the satelites to collect any possible forms of life while in orbit. when brought back, this new form of unicellular life is intended to be studied by a group of dedicated scienntists. however the goverments intention is to use them to try to create weapons of amss destruction. when the eleven satelites land on earth, ten of them are retrieved with nothing in them. the last one lands in an isolated village in arizona. after one day, the villagers decide to open the sattelite bvecause no one came to retrieve it. after only a few hours after opening, the villagers start to die of very rapidly. coincidence??
         This book really made me wonder about what would WE do in a worldwide health crises. the swine flu epidemic may have given us a glimpse, but that was bacteria that our current technology, and understanding of medicine made sense of. what if we were faced with a totally new foreighn, otherworldly disease from returning spacecraft. what if went against all our biological laws. life forms on earth have to have certain charectaristics to be considered liveng, but that doesnt have to be true for all life forms in this universe. maybe our charectaristics depend on the charecteristics that our habitat, or planet has. call me paranoid, but it could happen.
           Our current technology can see into the microscopic universe, scientists know that the electron is the smallest particle of matter  in the world. but to me, everything we know is just a hunch. the electron is the smallest particle.... we dont know that, thats just based on what we can see. the wall is white... we cant be sure, maybe its actually yellow, but the way our eye works, makes our brain iterpret it as the color white. we may think that our body works one way: that our heart pumps blood to our body cells, but our body may be actually working in a whole different way, we just cant see it. everything is based on what we can see, hear, feeal, smell. but that is what makes us human. 

world war z #1

         i am currently reading an exciting book called "world war z: an oral history of the zombie war" by max brooks. in it, mr.brooks gathers a collection of interviews by survivors of the zombie war. this book takes place in an alternate future where the living dead is a reality. in the book we experience the horror that many faced at the time of the war. technically the war is over, and this book is just a retelling of what happened in different parts of the world.

       this book was mainly about how the human race almost went extinct because of another donminant species... zombies. this really makes me think about how we always take being a human for granted. we are a dominant species. we think of ourselves as a superior race, superior to lions,birds, cats, dogs (etc.). we claimed earth as our own. we cut down many forests which were home to millions of species, for our own benifit. because of us, many species went extinct. we also caused global warming which may eventually many more millions of species maybe even ourselves.

      this really makes me wonder... what if a species/race emerged on earth as superior to humans and became the dominant species. we would be no more than a mere form of entertaintment for them, or maybe even just an exotic food source. we take being a dominant species for granted, but we should emrace it as a gift and be glad we are a superior race.

response #1- shades children

I am currently reading a book called Shades Children. This book is mainly about a time after ours where a "change" takes place and all humans above the age of fourteen suddenly disappear. The narrator tells the tale of four children and their quest to stay alive and overthrow the evil beings that brought about this "change".

this book reall.y just made me think about reality and how teenagers and pre teens are just so distant from adults. the book actually captures this idea very well. for example, in the futuristic world of my book, every month, everyone in the neigborhood comes together to celebrate the birthdays of the children. but every year gone, is just another year less until the day one becomes fourteen. after that, age loses all meaning. many dont even remember how old they are. at fourteen the children are assighned jobs to contribute to the community. in my book thats all a persons age stands for... a countdown clock for the day that they become fourtereen.

this is what led me to thinking about how adults and teenagers just seem like they're on two totally different planets. and i guess this is what leads us to misunderstanding each other.  also, thinking about this leads me to thinking about stereotypes and how teenagers are portrayed on tv. in most cases the teen will be a suburban schoolchild living with a mom, a dad and most likely, a sibling. the teen will probably have a "regular" live. meaning a buisnessman dad in a suit, a mom drinking cofee while getting ready to go to work (in a suit) etc.

but that is only one of the ways the media or press or whover is responsible for tv portrays us. another very common way teenegers are displayed are as juvenille delinquents. teens in dark, ratty , and baggy clothes, with bad haircuts and potty mouths.

is this because we are misunderstood........