Final Post.

   Throughout this semester I've grown. Grown as a writer, reader, and a person. At first I thought the class was going to be boring. It would just be us recycling information to produce boring stories about our lives and things going on around us. Fortunately I was wrong.
 
   One of our first assignments was to write a one-sentence story. Something that I  had never done before. It was actually rather challenging.  We had to learn to carefully place words so the sentence would just continuously flow into a story.  Although it may have been difficult I feel like now I could write a one sentence story with ease and probably better than the first time I did it. This assignment helped me grow as a writer.

 Our second assignment was to read The Color of Water. At first I didn't like the book. I saw it as just another assignment. I would scan the pages just enough to know what was going on. It wasn't until close to the end of the book that I realized that the book was actually pretty good and there was a lesson to take away from the book.  By the time I finished the book I found myself realizing that the lesson was about race and racial discrimination, sort of. I realized that this man was often ridiculed because he had a white mother. people were mean but he didn't let that stop him from following his dreams. He had rough patches but in the end he achieved those dreams. I think this book encourages readers to follow their dreams.

  One of the best assignments was the news article type assignment. It wasn't necessarily because I enjoyed writing about the topic that I chose. It was mostly because the format was fun to write in. It was neat and organized. I'd only used pages a few times so by using it more it allowed me to become more experienced with the application thus, it'll be a useful tool in the future.

 Our last assignment was to read a Non-fiction book and blog about it. It was a little difficult. Not because I can't read or blog. But because choosing a non-fiction book that is good and in your lexile level is one of the hardest things to do. Eventually, after searching through several pages on amazon books i finally settled on a book. Hooked on a junkie: a handbook for lovers and brave parents. It was about a guy that was hooked on herion. Sounds like a good book, right? WRONG. It was easily one of the worst books I have ever tried to read. I tried to bring myself to struggle through the pages but it was like pulling teeth. I eventually gave up and just started to scan the pages. I think that the book had the potential to be good but a herion addict in love with another herion addict is just a recipe for jumbled thoughts thrown on a page. It was pretty confusing to read and it didn't make much sense at all. The blogging part of the assignment was incredibly easy. I'm a natural born blogger. Unfortunately, I had no idea what to actually blog about. I pulled some direct quotes but then it sort of just became weird ramblings that kind of related to the book. If I had to do this assignment over again I would be more cautious on what book I read. I would actually read the sample pages before deciding on that book. Although the book was confusing I did learn a few life lessons from the book. The most important being not to get addicted to Herion and don't fall in love with a herion addict.

"you got hooked on herion because you couldn't cope with the cards you had been dealt, and you didn't have the patience to wait for the next."

In just about every story,book, movie, or song, about being hooked on drugs there's a reason that the person begins taking drugs, bever a good reason, but some excuse as to why they needed to turn to drugs to escape from reality. It's rather pathetic, almost, here's this man coming up with excuses for this girl that he thinks he's in love. When in reality no on can make excuses for her, no one can make her want to get better. The addict has to want it for themselves. They have to believe that they're worth recovery. Unfortunately, i think people fail to see this when they try to force people into rehab.

I'm going to make a prediction. Mostly going from background knowledge and from what I've read in this book.  My guess is the author, Tom, is eventually going to get pushed to the limit and tell the girl that she either goes to rehab or a) he dumps her or b) he tells her parents. Either way i think that the girl is going to reject both options and keep living her life hooked on herion or she'll die. It's sad to think about but unfortunately i think that's the outcome of most herion addicts. Given that this is based a real man I hope that my predictions are wrong. That the girl does believe in his love and faith and her and she goes and get's help.


Stuant63. "Fear of the Dark." Flickr. Yahoo!, 11 Feb. 2008. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

Free write: what would you do differently with this project?

If i could do this project over i would pick a different book. Before picking a book i would read a sample of the book to make sure that i would actually like the book. Over all I like the idea of the project. As a natural born blogger, i like to express my opinions and well, blog. So putting all my ideas from this book on a blog and sharing it with the world is a great assignment for me. All though the reading is a drag, the blogging part makes up for it. I actually look forward to posting because it's not a huge hassel or a long strung out prosees.

I think i could make my blog more interesting. I think i could post about things that relate to the book (artwork, poems, pictures, etc.) and comparare them to the book. I think that with the correct book this project has huge potential in being a fun assignment.

The blog as a whole could look better. It would be easier if there was a place to give a description about the blog so you don't have to address the title of the book in every post.






B, Kristina. "Blogging Research Wordle." Flickr. Yahoo!, 07 Sept. 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/31699569@N00/2836828090/>.

The illusion of love

"But it is nicer not to test it and to leave a crumb of hope, than to finally be convinced that happiness is an illusion which makes it easier to wake up, but it is still only an illusion."
When the author said this he was talking about how like humans, dogs are often beat as puppies to train them from right from wrong. He then talks about how happiness is a negative. Happiness is always just an illusion. Coming from a herion addict i get the quote above however, I think that his viewpoints would change after he was sober.  He then could understand that happiness is not an illusion. You need to create your own happiness rather than depending on other people to supply it for you.

It's interesting that the author said that happiness is only an illusion, I read somewhere online that people far too often depend on other people for their happiness. That once those people fade away or leave the happiness you once knew is gone. It almost seems a little ridiculous, right? Depending on other people around you to make you feel happiness. Which brings up the question: Can people be truly happy on their own? Can someone completely create happiness without the help of others? When the people around you leave, will you be left with only a dark shadow and the memories you once had of being happy?

At some point you're going to realize that happiness is not an illusion and it's not something you can depend on other people for. You can depend on people for a short amount of time but when they leave, you'e left with nothing. So at some point in your life you're going to realize this and you're going to be confused and lost about what happiness really means to you. I think that everyone is this world will go through this stage. I think it's rather important. Because, without sadness or the lack of happiness, how would you know when you are truly happy?






♥, Camdiluv. "Colours." Flickr. Yahoo!, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/33990680@N07/4441155157/>.

We accept the love we think we deserve

"She and I were the same, meaning that we were created for each other, the type of love which we could practice was a matter of our own agreement, since from the beginning of our twenties we couldn't resist beauty. but we didn't have the courage to live it."

This quote made me think of the perks of being a wallflower and the quote "we accept the love we think we deserve". From my understanding the guy has fallen in love with a herion addict and he thinks he can save her with the power of his love. Him, being a herion addict himself, should know that his love is only going to suffocate and push her away. later in the story as he discusses his love life it seems as though he may not actually be in love with this girl, rather he's settling because he believes he can not do any better.

I think often times especially as teenagers and young adults we settle. We settle with a person we think we want to be with. We're so anxious to get married, have kids, start a career, and get a house that we often distract ourselves from the hideous personalities of our "loved" one.

As humans we like to help people, or the idea to help people, or rather the attention we receive from helping people and doing good deeds.  Which brings up my next point, Is Tom, the main character, really in love or is he in love with the idea of saving this girl from herself? I think too often times we find ourselves looking at drug and alcohol addiction, self-esteem issues, and mental health issues as some sort of project. Like maybe you're that one person who can actually be in love and save them, or are you that person that is in love with them while they're ill and then realize they're not who you wanted when they're better?

My thinking of Tom is this; I believe that Tom isn't in love with this girl who is strung out on herion. He's in love with the idea of saving her because no one was there to love and save him when he was addicted.





Rose,, Ashley. "When Panic Grips Your Body,." Flickr. Yahoo!, 06 June 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/22196205@N03/2556609897/>.

Free Write- Favorite character

There's something about picking up your favorite book and instantly being comforted by your favorite character. For me, the book is Paper Towns by John Green. The book is about a girl who  after an adventurous night full of revenge, up and runs away. Leaving clues for her neighbor and childhood friend to find her. Except she didn't think he cared enough to actually follow the clues to find her. Love-struck he researches for weeks trying to find her. He finally does and he learns the truth about Margo Roth Spiegelman. Now, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you but I will say this; In the end the boy learns a lot not only about himself and Margo but about people and life in general.

Margo Roth Spiegelman happens to be my favorite character. Not because she actually runs away and gets away from her paper town but because she's adventurous, she stands up for herself, and most importantly; she's relatable.  Margo spent her entire high school career pretending to be something she's not, pretending to be friends with people she hates, pretending to care about what others think. Then one day she just snapped. Everything came crashing down. So she did what she thought was best, got revenge. Revenge on the people that had hurt her.To correct the wrongs. But in the end she did get her revenge, but she also hurt the people that really cared about her.

I think Margo is my favorite character not necessarily because of the things she does but because of the things she says. John Green did a fantastic job of creating a character that was outspoken yet secretive. Theres this quote in the book said by Margo and at that point her and the boy are standing at the top of a very tall building over looking the town and it's at this point, i believe, that you can really start to see the real Margo. “Here's what's not beautiful about it: from here, you can't see the rust or the cracked paint or whatever, but you can tell what the place really is. You can see how fake it all is. It's not even hard enough to be made out of plastic. It's a paper town. I mean, look at it, Q: look at all those culs-de-sac, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm. All the paper kids drinking beer some bum bought for them at the paper convenience store. Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too. I've lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters.” 

 All of John Green's books are wonderful and beautifully written but Paper Towns is one of the best books because Margo's character makes you think about your life and the people around you.

Camerotti, Gabriela. "As You Blink She Is Gone." Flickr. Yahoo!, 27 May 2007. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/50417132@N00/517086074/>.

"But we will give you a guitar and when you touch its strings bits of skin will fall of your fingers."

I'm used to reading rather strange books. But I never thought that a book so strange and poorly written, aside from fifty shades of Grey, but this book, Hooked on a junkie, tops the oddities of fifty shades. I started reading this book with an open mind. Never would I have imagined that the author would have sounded so un-educated and spacey. The author relives some of his drug-induced fantasies. But then the book kind of jumps forward for him to reflect in present tense and then include bits of interviews with drug dealers.

During one of these drug-induced charades the author, whose name I still do not know, is in some sort of fantasy where he is in some sort of hospital, i believe. the book is rather hard to keep up with. He asks for a guitar. But he is faces with an issue. They will give him one but each time he touches the strings bits of skin fall off his fingers. So now he's faced with the issue of should he play and lose his hands? or should he not play and keep his hands? He chose to play. Weather it was because he was tripping on LSD or because he actually had a true passion for music, we'll never know.

I like to think that the author's passion for music shown thru even in his LSD mindset. That it wasn't just the drugs making him play the guitar and seeing if his skin would actually fall off. He played and he played. And it came to a point where he and his audience knew that the skin was completely gone and there was just bone left. But then the bone started to dissolve as well. He just kept playing until the last possible note could be strummed out of the guitar. Maybe I'm reading to much into the text but I like to think that maybe just maybe the author, as terrible as he is, put this underlying message in the text. That people should get passionate about something, anything, as long as it's not LSD or Herion.





Buffer, Jitter. "Acid Flash." Flickr. Yahoo!, 09 Oct. 2005. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/93737034@N00/50858322/>.