Thursday, March 10, 2011
"Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
So, I just recently finished reading Twilight, yet again. I know this is supposed to be what you would call a "tween" book, but I can't help myself. I find the mythical type of genre to be the most enticing. I want to read about people, places, and objects that are completely unreal. It gives me things I can dream of. I tried to ignore the Twilight phenomenon ad I did for quite awhile too, but I gave in after New Moon came out in the theaters. I was bored one night last year and I found Twilight on television and I gave in and watched it. It just opened my eyes to another world. I immediately found the books at my local library and read them all in a matter of days. I have been obsessed ever since. I've re-read the entire series multiple times and have seen all the movies to date. I so wish that a series of books that you enjoy would never end and that there was always more to write about. Although, I can not completely agree that Stephenie Meyer is an excellent author, I find many mistakes in her work, I can agree that she is completely full of imagination and knew how to write an amazing story.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
"Luck" by Mark Twain (p. 213)
My husband and I have been searching for a house to buy. We don't make a lot of money so our range is a lot smaller than most people would try to buy. We started combing through the housing market back in October of 2010, searching for a larger house to accommodate our family of five. We looked and looked. We must have seen at least 4 dozen houses before finding one that we really loved. I was apprehensive to even look at this particular house since I believed it to be out of our price range, but it was so spectacular that I couldn't resist. It was a very large 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom brick split level home with huge white columns on the front porch. To me, it looked like a mini mansion. Our real estate agent convinced us that we had a chance since it was a short sale home, which is that the owners were trying to sell it for less than they owed to the bank. My husband and I decided to take a chance and put an offer in on the house, for as much as we could afford. We didn't think it hurt to try even though we didn't think we had that much of a chance. I mean, this home was gorgeous, valued at almost $200,000! We put our max offer in at $84,000. We sat back and waited and waited and waited. We were really worried when our agent told us there were 3 other offers on this house. And then, we waited even more. A month after we put the offer in, we received a call from our agent telling us they had accepted our offer. You can't imagine how excited we were that they picked our offer! We felt like the luckiest people in the world and started on the inspections for our mortgage. Needless to say, we didn't get our dream house. The house needed a new roof and we couldn't afford to pay for it right then and there. So, the bank would not allow us the mortgage and they gave our dream home to the next highest bidder. They let us know a week before Christmas. It was terrible for all of us. They just closed on that gorgeous house a couple of weeks ago, letting it go for $6000 less than we had offered!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
"Blue Winds Dancing" by Tom Whitecloud (p. 313)
The most important thing in my life is my children. I cannot and will not pick any one over the other, so I will describe all three.
William(12) is around 5'1" with piercing blue eyes and long, sandy brown hair. He is shy and so very curious. He's is so very smart but lacks more in the common sense area. He's on student council and in the Battle of the Books. He is in Boy Scouts and has his future planned out since he was 8 years old. He is my first born and I expect so much more out of him because of that even though I shouldn't. He makes me feel happy every time I see him and proud at the same time. I'm happy because despite what everyone said about me having him so young, I believe I've done a decent job at raising him. We had to leave his father when he was very young and I was a single parent for some time, but that left me to teach him things that a father should have taught him. He represents so much for me. He wants to be so many things when he grows up. He inspires me to be more than I am now.
William(12) is around 5'1" with piercing blue eyes and long, sandy brown hair. He is shy and so very curious. He's is so very smart but lacks more in the common sense area. He's on student council and in the Battle of the Books. He is in Boy Scouts and has his future planned out since he was 8 years old. He is my first born and I expect so much more out of him because of that even though I shouldn't. He makes me feel happy every time I see him and proud at the same time. I'm happy because despite what everyone said about me having him so young, I believe I've done a decent job at raising him. We had to leave his father when he was very young and I was a single parent for some time, but that left me to teach him things that a father should have taught him. He represents so much for me. He wants to be so many things when he grows up. He inspires me to be more than I am now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander(8) is around 4'2" with dazzling greenish-brown eyes and short, crew-cut brown hair. He's very outgoing and makes friends so easily that I'm a little envious of his ability to do so. He's always full of energy and loves to explore new things. He's not as book smart as his brother is but he tries so very hard to be. I am proud of his efforts and take comfort in knowing that he still knows about many thing his older brother can't comprehend. He's always healthy and rarely ever gets even a cold. He spends as much time outside as possible and loves to help other people especially his grandpa accomplish tasks that they couldn't do by themselves otherwise. He's always so vibrant and happy that I can envision that he will do great things in his life so long as I push him to achieve more than he think he can.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Piper(4) is only about 3' with muddy brown eyes and long dirty blond hair. She's so full of herself and also much to young to describe her in a full capacity. She is so full of life and energy that it could make you smile and wonder how she does it. Since she's so young, she sees nothing wrong with the world and is incapable of truly being unhappy about anything. I wish so much that I could share her perspective on life, how everything is great and your always happy about it. Anything can make her smile even an empty cardboard box. She's completely unburdened by anything and life is always open to all possibilities. A free spirit... hopefully always.
Monday, March 7, 2011
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
Marriage and Relationships
Women
Differences
Mrs. Hale is a very neat woman whom likes everything to be in order and doesn't like to leave things undone. She seems very strong and confident. Mrs. Peters seems more timid and much weaker than Mrs. Hale, but she also seems to be more quiet and compassionate as well. Minnie was unhappy with her life. She had had so much more before she had married and wanted some of what she had back.
Mrs. Mallard was a young woman whom had a heart condition. She seemed to be abandoned when she heard the news of her husband's death and overwhelmed with grief but later was ecstatic about her new found freedom.
Similarities
Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seemed to be observant and were convinced that Minnie had indeed murdered her husband merely out of loneliness and unhappiness.
Minnie and Louise both wanted to be free from the life they had, free from their husbands and they both ended up that way in the end with Minnie in jail and Louise dead.
Differences
The men in A Jury of Her Peers seem bias against the women and are convinced that Minnie committed this horrible crime right from the beginning without any evidence to speak of.
Richard just seems genuinely concerned about how Louise is handling the news of her husband's demise.
Similarities
In both the stories, not much is said about the husbands, but assumed through the lives of the wives. Only enough was said that made me believe that both the wives were not that happy with their lives and both had wished they had more to look forward to in the future without their husbands.
It seems to me like in both stories the wives feel trapped in their marriages and just want a way out. It's sad that Minnie had to murder her husband to escape after she snapped after he killed her canary. It was also very sad that Louise had to die after seeing that her husband was still alive and that she would not have the freedom that she thought she would.
Women
Differences
Mrs. Hale is a very neat woman whom likes everything to be in order and doesn't like to leave things undone. She seems very strong and confident. Mrs. Peters seems more timid and much weaker than Mrs. Hale, but she also seems to be more quiet and compassionate as well. Minnie was unhappy with her life. She had had so much more before she had married and wanted some of what she had back.
Mrs. Mallard was a young woman whom had a heart condition. She seemed to be abandoned when she heard the news of her husband's death and overwhelmed with grief but later was ecstatic about her new found freedom.
Similarities
Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seemed to be observant and were convinced that Minnie had indeed murdered her husband merely out of loneliness and unhappiness.
Minnie and Louise both wanted to be free from the life they had, free from their husbands and they both ended up that way in the end with Minnie in jail and Louise dead.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
MenDifferences
The men in A Jury of Her Peers seem bias against the women and are convinced that Minnie committed this horrible crime right from the beginning without any evidence to speak of.
Richard just seems genuinely concerned about how Louise is handling the news of her husband's demise.
Similarities
In both the stories, not much is said about the husbands, but assumed through the lives of the wives. Only enough was said that made me believe that both the wives were not that happy with their lives and both had wished they had more to look forward to in the future without their husbands.
It seems to me like in both stories the wives feel trapped in their marriages and just want a way out. It's sad that Minnie had to murder her husband to escape after she snapped after he killed her canary. It was also very sad that Louise had to die after seeing that her husband was still alive and that she would not have the freedom that she thought she would.
"A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell (p. 189)
Marriage and Relationships
Women
Differences
Mrs. Hale is a very neat woman whom likes everything to be in order and doesn't like to leave things undone. She seems very strong and confident. Mrs. Peters seems more timid and much weaker than Mrs. Hale, but she also seems to be more quiet and compassionate as well. Minnie was unhappy with her life. She had had so much more before she had married and wanted some of what she had back.
Mrs. Mallard was a young woman whom had a heart condition. She seemed to be abandoned when she heard the news of her husband's death and overwhelmed with grief but later was ecstatic about her new found freedom.
Similarities
Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seemed to be observant and were convinced that Minnie had indeed murdered her husband merely out of loneliness and unhappiness.
Minnie and Louise both wanted to be free from the life they had, free from their husbands and they both ended up that way in the end with Minnie in jail and Louise dead.
Differences
The men in A Jury of Her Peers seem bias against the women and are convinced that Minnie committed this horrible crime right from the beginning without any evidence to speak of.
Richard just seems genuinely concerned about how Louise is handling the news of her husband's demise.
Similarities
In both the stories, not much is said about the husbands, but assumed through the lives of the wives. Only enough was said that made me believe that both the wives were not that happy with their lives and both had wished they had more to look forward to in the future without their husbands.
It seems to me like in both stories the wives feel trapped in their marriages and just want a way out. It's sad that Minnie had to murder her husband to escape after she snapped after he killed her canary. It was also very sad that Louise had to die after seeing that her husband was still alive and that she would not have the freedom that she thought she would.
Women
Differences
Mrs. Hale is a very neat woman whom likes everything to be in order and doesn't like to leave things undone. She seems very strong and confident. Mrs. Peters seems more timid and much weaker than Mrs. Hale, but she also seems to be more quiet and compassionate as well. Minnie was unhappy with her life. She had had so much more before she had married and wanted some of what she had back.
Mrs. Mallard was a young woman whom had a heart condition. She seemed to be abandoned when she heard the news of her husband's death and overwhelmed with grief but later was ecstatic about her new found freedom.
Similarities
Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seemed to be observant and were convinced that Minnie had indeed murdered her husband merely out of loneliness and unhappiness.
Minnie and Louise both wanted to be free from the life they had, free from their husbands and they both ended up that way in the end with Minnie in jail and Louise dead.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
MenDifferences
The men in A Jury of Her Peers seem bias against the women and are convinced that Minnie committed this horrible crime right from the beginning without any evidence to speak of.
Richard just seems genuinely concerned about how Louise is handling the news of her husband's demise.
Similarities
In both the stories, not much is said about the husbands, but assumed through the lives of the wives. Only enough was said that made me believe that both the wives were not that happy with their lives and both had wished they had more to look forward to in the future without their husbands.
It seems to me like in both stories the wives feel trapped in their marriages and just want a way out. It's sad that Minnie had to murder her husband to escape after she snapped after he killed her canary. It was also very sad that Louise had to die after seeing that her husband was still alive and that she would not have the freedom that she thought she would.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
"Neighbors" by Raymond Carver (p. 137)
To me, minimalism is when you do everything minimally. You use the fewest resources when building or the fewest amount of ingredients when baking. You try to conserve as many resources as possible no matter what you may be using them for. You don't like to waste anything or any time doing needless tasks. Minimalism could also go towards how you do your job or spend your free time.
Examples that illustrate minimalism.
1. Carver sets the scene of Bill and Arlene taking care of their neighbors apartment while they are away somewhere which he could have put in especially since the Millers' were being kind enough to look after their home.
2. The kitty... she could have been described more and maybe given a name although Kitty seems to be minimal enough to let us know.
3. When Bill took the pills from the cabinet at the Stones' apartment. The only description we received was that they were for Harriet Stone and she was supposed to take one a day. He slipped them into his pocket not even knowing what exactly they were.
4. The Millers' were supposed to water the plants. They filled the picture and went to water. Went to water what? A few more details would have surely set the scene more for us as readers.
Examples that illustrate minimalism.
1. Carver sets the scene of Bill and Arlene taking care of their neighbors apartment while they are away somewhere which he could have put in especially since the Millers' were being kind enough to look after their home.
2. The kitty... she could have been described more and maybe given a name although Kitty seems to be minimal enough to let us know.
3. When Bill took the pills from the cabinet at the Stones' apartment. The only description we received was that they were for Harriet Stone and she was supposed to take one a day. He slipped them into his pocket not even knowing what exactly they were.
4. The Millers' were supposed to water the plants. They filled the picture and went to water. Went to water what? A few more details would have surely set the scene more for us as readers.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver (p. 180)
Life Lessons
I was very pigheaded when I was younger. Against my mother's advice, I married when I was only 15. The day after my marriage, my husband started physically abusing me. I made excuses to my family to explain my bruises and lacerations. I went through this for two years, always implying to myself that it was my fault and never having enough courage to protect myself. When I was 17, I became pregnant. I miscarried due to kick in my stomach. I became pregnant again rather quickly almost losing this one too due to another kick in the stomach. I somehow managed to carry my child until he was big enough to survive outside of the womb and gave birth to a healthy baby boy right before I turned 18. Mostly things were fine at first, but the stress of parenthood at such a young age was, I gather, too difficult for my then husband to handle. He continued to abuse me. One day, when my son was only three months old, he proceeded to attack me while I was holding my tiny baby in my arms. He went out and I left him that day and never looked back. My eyes were opened due to the fact that if he could harm me while I was holding his baby than the time would come when he would abuse him as well and I couldn't have that. After all, it is supposed to be a parent's job to protect their child. If I had not had a child, I would probably still be very stupid and still be with the abuser. I am very grateful that he helped me open my eyes to get out of that situation.
I was very pigheaded when I was younger. Against my mother's advice, I married when I was only 15. The day after my marriage, my husband started physically abusing me. I made excuses to my family to explain my bruises and lacerations. I went through this for two years, always implying to myself that it was my fault and never having enough courage to protect myself. When I was 17, I became pregnant. I miscarried due to kick in my stomach. I became pregnant again rather quickly almost losing this one too due to another kick in the stomach. I somehow managed to carry my child until he was big enough to survive outside of the womb and gave birth to a healthy baby boy right before I turned 18. Mostly things were fine at first, but the stress of parenthood at such a young age was, I gather, too difficult for my then husband to handle. He continued to abuse me. One day, when my son was only three months old, he proceeded to attack me while I was holding my tiny baby in my arms. He went out and I left him that day and never looked back. My eyes were opened due to the fact that if he could harm me while I was holding his baby than the time would come when he would abuse him as well and I couldn't have that. After all, it is supposed to be a parent's job to protect their child. If I had not had a child, I would probably still be very stupid and still be with the abuser. I am very grateful that he helped me open my eyes to get out of that situation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)