Reading List

I read 3 books, the equivalent of 7 books.

• Tess of the D'Urbervilles (384)


• Dreamland (250)


• Eragon (768)

Dreamland was a book that I really enjoyed reading this quarter. Though I feel like the reading was below my level, I enjoyed the break that this book gave me from the more complex books that have been tearing me down this year. Dreamland features a young, highschool girl whos sister ran away from home. Caitlin had always looked up to her sister, Cass, so when Cass left, Caitlin did not know how to go on with life. Then she meets a boy. Isn't that how it always starts? This boy, Rogerson, helped Caitlin climb out of her shell and start her own, dangerous life. As there is in all books, life shifts once again for Caitlin when Rogerson starts hitting her. I enjoyed all of the details that the author included of the events in Caitin's life. I recommend Dreamland to all readers interested in an eventful, emotional book is not stressful for english class.

Consumerism Quote

Advertising tries to stimulate our sensuous desires, converting luxuries into necessities, but it only intensifies man's inner misery. The business world is bent on creating hungers which its wares never satisfy, and thus it adds to the frustrations and broken minds of our times.

-Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979), Lift Up Your Heart, 1942


Sheen's powerful words explain our society so well. Today, research has proven that people buy and buy and buy to make themselves happier but in truth, while "converting luxuries into necessities," they are actually intensifying their "inner misery." Businesses strive off of "creating hungers" or making and selling products that will be bought just because another family (the Joneses) bought those products therefore making themselves seem better than everyone else because they have more. Sheen's quote reflects and emphasizes the pain of our societies over consumption but slightly pushes towards the realization that over consumption will not end because of the business world.

Advertising Technique

Wii has been advertising their games and gaming systems for years now, but with the times getting tough, sales may not be as high as they used to be. In the past few years, family time has become a big part of the American society. The Wii company takes notice. Their newer advertisements mention Wii as being included in family time. This Wii advertisement is a prime example of the way most companies advertise now. I think that this new advertising technique is a clever way for companies to sell their products but is bad for the society because of the American over-consumerism.

2nd 9weeks reading list.

McMann, Lisa. Wake. New York: Simon Pulse, 2008. Print.

Janie has always had problems in her life. Her mom is a drunk who cannot take care of herself, much less Janie. She has no clue who her father is and has no friends. Oh and in addition to all of the usual problems, she gets sucked into dreams. When Janie gets stuck in a dream, she loses eyesite and her entire body goes numb. The worse the dream is, the worse she is paralyzed. In every dream, Janie is always asked to help but she never knows what she needs to do to help the dreamer or how to pull out of dreams until her senior year when she takes a job at a nursing home and meets an elderly woman who is just like her. Throughout her senior year she also gets involved with Cabel, a loner who has always wanted Janie. Cabel and Janie fall for each other and he learns of her secret dream catching curse. Through her involvement with him, she discovers that her curse can be used for good. With Cabel's help, Janie becomes a narc like Cabe and helps with a large drug case causing them to keep their relationship together a secret to everybody.

McMann, Lisa. Fade. New York: Simon Pulse, 2009. Print.

After Janie and Cabe's first case is cracked, Captain puts Janie on an assignment alone. She is in a lot of danger being stuck in the middle of a rape case but she is in too deep to get out now. Along with the case, Janie's eyesight is getting bad and she soon finds out what is happening to her and what she will become in a few years. The elderly woman from the nursing home, Ms. Stubin, reveals all of her secrets to Janie through a green notebook that she left with Captain when she passed away. With the secrets of her future comes tough choices that will change her life forever.

McMann, Lisa. Gone. New York: Simon Pulse, 2010. Print.

Janie's eyesight is getting much worse. Her sight and feelings are taking longer and longer to come back after each dream. She has come to accept her ugly fate but she does not want to drag Cabe down with her. He tries to convince her that he is okay with her future as a knarled and blind old woman, but dreams don't lie. The only way to keep her vision and not become paralyized is to isolate herself from Cabel and everyone else. She has a tough decision to make. When a stranger comes into her life, her decision becomes easier to make. The hardest thing she has to do is tell Cabe.

Noël, Alyson. Evermore. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. Print.

After an awful accident that leaves Ever without a mother, father, sister, and dog, she can see auras, hear people's thoughts, and know a person's life stories just by touch. To block this curse, she becomes a freak that wears a hoodie to school and listens to loud music under her hood. Life sucks for her until Damen finds his way into her life. At first sight, Ever senses recognition, but she does not know the reason for this recognition. Just the sound of his voice silences the whole world. Ever feels like there is something more to Damen, he seems to be able to read her mind. What Ever doesn't know is, he can read her mind.

Noël, Alyson. Blue Moon: a Novel. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. Print.

Now that Ever knows that she is an immortal, she knows that she can control everything and that she is more powerful than she thinks. She is eager to learn everything she can about her new abilities and Damen is there to show her the way until someone new in town, Ramon, comes along and changes everything. Damen is growing old and he seems to forget about ever loving Ever. He sees her as the freak that everyone else sees her to be. Ever needs to save him but she is running out of time. Not only is there a time limit for Damen, but Ever is met with a choice between saving Damen or reuniting with her family.

Sarah Palin Running for President?

While listening to Batesville High School gossip, there was a group of my friends speaking of Sarah Palin's decision to run in the 2012 Presidential Campaign. I have always been interested in politics so I looked further into the discussion and found an article with the title Should Sarah Palin Run for President? Holly Ojalvo, the author of this article, pushed me to believe that Palin does not have the capability and qualifications to become president because of all of the negative facts about Sarah included in her article.

Ojalvo included an interview from another article by Robert Draper with Palin's political advisor to discuss Palin's political moves. Mentioned in this interview were the poll numbers. Palin is obviously not being favored in the political race with only 39% among registered voters seeing her qualified to become president. In Holly's article, is a link to Draper's article with the interview and more in great detail. Draper made a point to add better better on Palin's status but did not succeed in swaying the attention away from negative points about her political qualifications. In Ojalvo's article, she invited young adults to post their opinions on Palin's capability of holding the presidential seat. Most comments regarded Sarah as incapable of being presidents and some added more facts about Palin. From the comments and two articles I read, I have the same opinion as the majority of the young adults that commented on Ojalvo's article. Palin is not qualified to become president.

12 Sentence Story

Over the summer, I was baby sitting my two little brothers, while laying on the comfy green couch, watching a comedy central movie, and paying absolutely no attention to Jake and Josh. The boys were bored and wanted to go outside and play frisbee, but I would not allow them to go out in the rain and they had no frisbee: they found a license plate in the living room to play with. Jake, an immature six year old with bad aim, tried to throw the license plate towards Josh like he would throw a frisbee. I did not realize that the object was coming towards me until I heard Josh screaming from behind the couch, saw Jake move in front of the television, and, finally, noticed the reflection of the shiny metal moving toward my face. The license plate hit me in the forehead just above the eyebrow. Ouch!! Though the hit hurt, I did not think that the wound was very bad or that my little brothers would make a very big deal of hurting me. Joshua cried like a baby, while Jacob screamed bloody murder. Hurt worse than I had thought, my cut I realized. What steps should I take to fix this mess? I finally called my mom, and settled the boys down, and called my dad, and called my grandfather to come get me and take me to the emergency room. After stopping the bleeding with a lot of painful pressure and cleaning the wound with burning alcohol, for minimal scarring, the nurse stitched my cut.

Opposite Sex Friends While In A Relationship

Many people in relationships have friends of the opposite sex. The boyfriend has friends who are girls and the girlfriend has friends that are guys. The opposite sex friends might possibly be really close friends. In a blog that I read, the author talks about the debate over whether a person can have close friends of the opposite sex while in a committed relationship.

The author of this blog defends having friends of the opposite sex. I agree with her. The fact that someone is in a closed relationship does not mean that all friends of the opposite sex have to be out of the picture. My best friend actually is a guy, I am in a closed, committed relationship. My boyfriend has no problem with me having guy friends because he trusts me. All of my boyfriend's coworkers are female. This does not bother me because I trust him. If there is no trust in a relationship...then there shouldn't be a relationship, period. Trust is not the only issue on this subject, though, jealousy is a big problem in relationships. People that do not agree with their partner having friends of the opposite sex may trust their partner, but is jealous of the friend. I personally have faced the jealousy problem. Too many friends that are girls, and his opposite sex friends are too pretty and too flirtatious, and he hangs out with them too much. All of those factors have bothered me and made me jealous of those other girls that were his close friends. But once the realization that he chose me as his girl and not them helped me get over that jealousy.

Others disagree and argue that people in relationships should not have opposite sex friends unless those friends are only friends of the couple and not the individual. I can understand this logic but still have a separate opinion. Wouldn't opposite sex friends build the trust in the relationship and help the couple as individuals learn to overcome their jealousy habits?