blog 6

As i read more of Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn, i got to know gideon better. hes a likable guy and down to earth. but while hanging out with nicholas and cullen, he gets into some truouble. i think hes hanging out with the wrong crowd if you ask my opinion. but idk. after gideon was invited to another party at Pilars house, he was offered vicodin. instead of being smart and saying no, he took it to try to be "cool". i thought that was dumb. but after he took it he got high off of it, and then eventually became very sick. so im pretty sure hes never gonna do that again. gideon ended up spending the night at the party cause he was to sick to leave. pilar kept him company though. later in the book, gideon had a chance with pilar. i was excited cause he really liked her so i thought yay! but then he turned her down because he realized that she wasnt the one for him. he had someone else on his mind. so he went to NYC to see the girl he liked. after getting there i found out the girl he liked was Molly McGarry. Later i also found out that the girl who was inside his head was also her. that made me happy :) this was an excellent book!! i definetally recomend it!!!!

blog 5

Gideon is feeling awkward now because his roomates are telling him that hes skinny fat. this means that hes not over wight, but he has no muscle whatsoever. So after hearing all this, his roomate nicholas is making him go running every morning at 6 am. gideon really is not wanting to do this. but he does it anyways so he wont get made fun of. when i think about this scene, it makes me think of the scene in the sisterhood of the traveling pants when bridget is running and she says that running makes you feel free and you can forget all your problems. im not exactily sure why this comes into my head really but it just does. but later gideon gets invited to Pilars party. so he goes with his roomates and they all start doing drugs. gideon doesnt want to look like a pansey, so do does it too. the girl who is inside his head is disapointed in him. so now i know that ths girl isnt Pilar because shes doing drugs too. so now i have no clue who it is.. this is bothering me. o well ill find out soon enough hopefully

blog 4

In the past week, ive gotten to know gideon more. hes confessed his love for Pilar, this beautiful hispanic girl. when he met her as he was running to call his mom, he stopped and talked to her. i thought it was funny when she introduced herself and said that she wore all white, but she didnt try and steal it from J-Lo. i really want to find out who the girl is, who is reading gideons mind. right now im starting to believe it might be Pilar, but im probably wrong. i was right about how cullen and nicholas were going to be a bad influence on Gideon. The boys made him sneak into a girls room and steal her underwear.. i thought that was immature but boys can be boys.. (or dumb). all these kids at their school are rich priveledged kids who have BMWs and fancy trust funds that dont kick in till theyre 18, but that doesnt mean that they cant run to daddy when something bad happens and get a crisp one hundred dollar bill. Gideon isnt like that, his family doesnt have a lot of money, so he doesnt act like hes better than everyone. hes sweet which makes the girls love him. even i like him and hes a fictional character... gosh...

blog 3

A couple days ago i finished reading the luxe. it was an incredible book and i really enjoyed it. so after finishing it, it took me a while to figure out what i was going to read. so i decided that i was going to read the novel, inside the mind of gideon rayburn. i decided to read this because my friend told me it was interesting and one of those books you cant put down. so i started reading it and i think its really funny. it starts out wierd, by telling me that this one girl can read gideon rayburns mind. so obviously i can tell that this is definetally fiction. the first few chapters of the book are about gideon and how hes a new student. when i read this, i remembered when i first transfered to Edina. it was really scary. most of the people were mean to me, so i understood how gideon felt. then later it continued to tell me that this was a boarding school and they were all assigned roomates. gideon was assigned cullen and nicholas. those two boys are trouble. they are the most popular guys on campus, so i think that later in the book gideon is going to get in some trouble. im excited to see how this book progresses.

blog 2

For this blog i thought i could describe the differences and similarities between the two Holland girls, Diana and Elizabeth.
Diana is compulsive and somewhat stand-offish and dreamy, and wishing to live the adventures she reads about. Diana is hasty with boys. they are like her toys, and she just messes with them. she didnt waste any time when she slept with henry. even though they said they loved eachother, theyve only been on one date so i think that would be a little too quick to judge.
Elizabeth is beautiful an a way that shows that she knows she is. since she is the oldest girl, i feel like she has more responsability to herself rather than diana. elizabethi is cold in a way because she treats people like they are beneathe her. althought she is very high in social ranking, it doeant mean that she is supposed to act like a brat. in some ways elizabeth reminds me of preppy girls at our school. to your face they are nice but behind your back they really dont care about you. its so fake and thats how elizabeth is.
these characters seem different but they are the same in some ways. one being that they are both just two priveledged girls in their society.

blog 1

For my outside reading book, i decided to read The Luxe by: Anna Gobersen. This novel is about Elizabeth and Diana Holland. they are two rich and priveledged girls in society. but when the find out that their status is far from perfect the panic. pretty much this is Gossip Girl in the 1800's. most of my friends read it and said it was really good and so far i am enjoying it. seeing as though i am only on the fourth chapter i dont really know much. this book started off with a prologue that was the ending. it confused me a bit on why authors do that... it makes me mad becuse then whats the point of reading it if you already know the ending. but anyways, it also confuses me when the characters are referred to by their nick names and the author doesnt tell you who shes talking about. but im really excited to get more into this book and i am always excited to see what happens next.

#15 Overcoming Odds

I thought long and hard about what i should type about for overcoming odds... then i realized that twilight is now out and eveyone is obsessed. including you ms. tholen ( haha jk) and so i thought i could write about the two lovers bella and edward. they came a long way from not even talking to eachother, then becoming sould mates. i particularly think that bella overcame something huge. she became a vampire for gods sake just to be with edward for the rest of their lives together. she overcame having a little vampire baby and she is still alive (in a matter of terms) and so i think she really overcame some great dificulty. so yipee for her! :)

#14 Love

For love, i found a sweet poem. here it is:

A BETTER TOMORROW

Author: Yvonne Warren

I never knew there would be a better tomorrow
But you've come into my life and taken away all my sorrow

My days of sadness are a thing of the past
Because I have found true love at last

My days of emptiness are gone for good
Because you fill a void in my heart that you should

You've opened a window
You've shown me the light
And my love for you will continue to burn bright.

i think this is a cute little poem written by someone who just fell in love and is happy. little do they know that over 50% of marriages go down the crapper. this poem may be true tomorrow to this women who wrote it, but maybe the day after tomorrow will be sucky. to me i think love poems are sappy but thats just one opinion. if you like them or enjoy writing these kinds of poems... kudos for you.

#13 War

I found an article about the almost "world war III". it talked about President Bush and how his decisions were stupid and unjust. there is a picture talking about the possibility of another world war. he was smiling durring it. A man in Bush's cabin said "In an utterly twisted logic, World War III is presented by the US President as a means to preventing collateral damage." and that was his way of backing him up. i think that makes no sense personally. im just glad we didnt go to war because we didnt have all the facts straight and it would have been a long scary hard process that would have killed millions.
" We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously...." (George W. Bush, 17 October 2007)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7116

#12 Imperialism/Colonization

I found a text that talks about the effects of colonization. colonization makes living conditions worse than they already are.... even when the colonizers think they are doing the right thing. some effects include death, destruction, malnutrition and the tearing away from cultures. this article talked about diseases that were developed because the people in the area colonized were not used to the food they just starded eating. the people started getting sick and having flu like symptoms. after a while they descovered they had pnemonia and they died because of the lack of medicine available. i think that colonization should be stopped because we are killing people who dont deserve whats happening.


http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/151/4/986

#11 Global Issues

Did you know that most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day? Poverty is one of the main global issues. it is everywhere and all the time. 1 child dyes every 3 seconds due to poverty. Wheather its because of peoples bad cholices or if it was forced upon them, povery comes around. The government it trying to make more programs to help people in need. without some programs like food shelters and food shelves, people would be in way more trouble than they are. if we made more of these places and somewhere for them to sleep then maybe things would be better off. Instead the government is using money we could be using to help people in need on guns and equiptment for war. we should be making love not war. a way to create love is helping others who cant help themselves.

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

#10 Holidays

Since its march and St. Patricks Day is almost here, i read an article about this green holiday. in the article it talked about how many underaged kids were drinking at the St. Patricks Day Parade they have in Bozeman Montana. To discourage drinking, they have a policie that tells you what you arent allowed to bring. the list consits of glass bottles, coolers and backpacks. These items could help minors sneak alcohol in. i think this is a good call because underage drinking is bad and you shoulnt do it. im glad that the police are getting more involved becuause this is a serious matter. people should stay safe on this holiday and have fun. And wear GREEN!! :D

http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2009/03/02/area/hjjajgjhjbjjja.txt

#9 Bollywood

i read an article on the first bollywood movie. it was titled Raja Harishchandra. it was made in 1913 in india and it had no sound and was black and white. since it was a long long time ago, they caste men as the entire cast because women werent in the movie buisness yet. the movie was based on the legend of King Harishchandra, recounted in Ramayana and Mahabharata. its plot consists of a noble and righteous king, Harishchandra, who first sacrifices his kingdom, followed by his wife and eventually his children to honor his promise to sage Vishwamitra. Though, in the end, pleased by his high morals, the Gods are pleased and restore his former glory, and give him divine blessings. this movie was a huge success in the movie buisness and lead to more interesting bollywood films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Harishchandra

#8 Culture

i read an article on the dragon dance. this dance takes place in china during their Chinese new year. it dates back to the Han Dynasty and has a specific look. This dragon has the horns of a stag, the ears of a bull, the eyes of a rabbit, the claws of a tiger, and the scales of a fish down the long body of a serpent. this is because the Chinese people believe it is so the creature can walk on land, fly through the heavens, and swim through the waters. the dragon dance is very important and one has to have skill to be involved. one person is the head of the dragon while the others are under the serpent body. the head controlls where the serpent goes and how it gets there. it is said that the longer the body of it, the better good fortune they will get. the dragon head has many colors on it. The color green on the dragon stands for an extraordinary harvest, yellow is for the solemn empire, prosperity is represented by gold or silver, red is excitement, and the dragon's scales and tail are silver symbolizing joy. this is a breathtaking performance and i hope to one day see it.

http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese-dragon-dance.htm

#7 Change

When i read the book Speak, i see how much change Melinda goes through. she has been dealing with change for a long time. after getting raped at a party she knew her life was going to change forever. she used to have so many friends. and after she called the police to tell of her rape, everyone was mad at her for ruining the party and the cops getting a couple of people arrested. besides not having friends, her relationship with her family changed too. before she wasnt on super good terms with her parents, but now she doesnt even talk to them. she has trouble saying anything to anyone at all. im sure everyone is wondering whats wrong, but at the same time they dont care. she has to deal with this change because she cant change what happens in the past, she can only change whats in the future.

#6 Hope

For this blogging assignment we were supposed to read a text on hope. I am reading the book Prep right now and hope ties in with this story because the main character is a shy person. she has many dreams of which to have many friends. she hopes people will notice her and her unique qualities. after hoping that she'll make friends, she decides to put an effort into meeting people. she begins to cut peoples hair in the dorms for free. by doing so, she becomes recognized and noticed by fellow classmates. she didnt just hope to get fiends either, she hoped of having a boyfriend. after people started noticing her and knowing who she was, more boys talked to her and later she met a guy who went on to being her boyfriend. without hope she might have given up on her dreams. but she prevailed and triumphed over her struggle of being shy.

#5 Religion

My article had to do with hinduism and their beliefs and rituals. one thing that struck me as interesting was the ceremonies they do for new born children. some of the things they do when a child is born is to touch the baby's lips with a metal spoon or ring that is dipped in honey. another thing they do is have a ceremony of the childs first solid food which is usually cooked rice. when the child goes into their first haircut, they usually shave it to make the hair thicker and to give the hair to a deity. then the child has their ear(s) peirced and that is a specific ritual they preform. For a death in the family they usually resort to cremation but, if a child dies they burry him/her. after a funeral they undergo a purifying bath. hindu rituals are very different from ours in america, but they are very interesting.

http://atheism.about.com/od/hindusandhinduism/a/IndiaRituals.htm

#4 Gender Roles

People say that gender roles are diffrent today because we have become less descriminative about women in our society. i think that is an obsered statement. theres a part in society that people say that men are always better than women. I read an article in seventeen magazine about how a girl was held at gunpoint by a cop because she was a women and he was going to rape her. at the end of the article it showed ways to prevent bad things happening to girls at night. men never have to deal with the fear of someone stalking them on the way to their car or getting raped on their way to get fire wood for their family like the women in darfur have to deal with. these criminals feed on the fear that women have of being alone or being scared something is going to happen. i hope that one day gender roles of men and women could be equal.

#3 Different Culture

After reading the book Twilight, i realized that even though they live in the same time as us and in the same country, they still have a culture different than ours. Vampires in that book don't sleep in coffins or kill people for thier blood. But, they do have other elements in our life different than ours. first, they cant eat normal food, they must drink blood. could you imagine if all of us had to do that? that would be disgusting, some people faint at the sight of blood, so that could be a problem. second, they cannot go outside when it is really sunny. on sunny days they would stay out of school because the sun would expose their identity. here, we are lucky when we have a nice, warm, sunny day. lastly, they cannot have children. most women in our culture if they found out they couldnt have children because a lot of people love kids. overall im glad im not a vampire. it would be nice to be able to not get cold, run super fast,have impecible strength, and knock out looks. but being a human is good enough for me.

#2 Struggle

I am currently reading Speak. This novel is about a girl who is over coming her struggle of being raped. when she attended a party in the summer, an older football player did this to her. ever since that night she has had trouble speaking about it or anything else for that matter, thus the title speak. Melanie can barely relate to her other schoolmates because she feels incapable of saying anything to anyone at all. So she faces this dificulty of trying to come up with the words to say and how to say them. i really like this book so far. i usually like books with a lot of dialougue, but this story really illustrates what is going on. i would recomend this book to anyone because it is a story that captures you in a world where you dont belong; and i think most of us can relate to that durring a certain point of our lives.

#1 Natural Disasters

I read an artile called Hurricane Katrina. I never realized how bad the natural disaster was untill now. It was a horrible catagory 4 hurricane. category 4 means is is one of the most devastating hurricanes. it caused $100 billion worth of destruction and affected many peoples lives. 10,100 people were origionally feared dead and that came to be true. There was much critisizm against president bush on how he dealt with the situation. he was said to have had poor crisis management, slow response to get help, and not setting foot in New Orleans after the disaster. Many people have said that this country did a bad job of trying to fix it even though we are the richest country in the world. To lend aid from hurricane katrina, 60 nations have offered to help us out and 13 states have a state emergency in force to prevent being so unprepaired.
To go to this article..... go here: http://www.globalissues.org/article/564/hurricane-katrina

In Class Activity

I liked the activity we did in class today. its showed how we describe ourself and what qualities we like and want to hold on to. i dont think we americans realize how good our life is. we can do pretty much whatever we want. in other countries girls wouldnt be able to do certain things that girls can do in the U.S. i was left with two things at the end that i really didnt want to give up. the first was being a dancer. i love dance and i dont know who i would be with out it. it makes me happy and is my favorite thing do to. my second thing i had was being a daughter. i dont think i could just give up my parents. i know how hard it is to not see family for a while because all of my relatives live in different states except my mom. so the last thing i kept was being a daughter. i dont know who i would be with out my family.