Saturday, May 6, 2017

Spring Break!!

The words "spring break" always have a special place in my heart. The downside is that it lasts for a week and a week only. Although it seemed short, it was pretty eventful. On Tuesday my favorite show, Prison Break, came back on. On Friday, Harry Styles' new song would debut. It's pretty obvious how those two things aren't relevant to each other but they're what made my break better. 



The other days of the week were pretty boring and I did nothing but catch up on Gilmore Girls and texted my friends. I wish I could say it was eventful but my life's too boring for anything cool to happen. 

Friday, March 17, 2017

The Homeless

The nonfiction book I read is called The Homeless by Tamara L. Roleff. Homelessness is not new to the United States and has increased slowly since 1922. Although many people can't afford a house it doesn't cause homelessness because the person could have a mental illness and wouldn't be able to care for themselves. Mental illness contributes to homelessness but it doesn't stop the person from wanting to make a better life for themself.

I chose this book because I've always been interested in helping people in need and by reading this book it gave me a new insight on what kinds of problems they faced and explained how people are unfair to them. A quote from the book says, "The low minimum wage, raised in April 1990 for the first time since 1981, has left many working families in poverty." This interested me because people are still protesting to get paid better in their job and the problem is still ongoing after 27 years.



Thursday, March 16, 2017

Backlash

The book I finished is called Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman. When I read the summary on the back, I was really interested and wanted to find out more, so I did. The story starts out with Lara Kelley's point of view and she's messaging someone named Christian on Facebook. Lara has been depressed but she soon gets better, so when Christian tells her that she's an awful person, it drives her over the edge and tries to commit suicide, Lara survives but her parents are extra over protective. Throughout the story there are many conflicts and surprises. Although the story focuses on Lara, there are different characters points of view in the following chapters.

There are many interesting characters in this book but I will write about one I really disliked. The character I didn't like was Mary Jo Connors, she is a real estate agent and wants her daughter, Breanna, to follow her dreams and not her own. A quote that made me not like her even more is, "Can't I trust you to do anything right, Breanna?" Mom says in a voice as cold as her anger is hot, completely unmoved by my tears." After I read this part it made me feel bad for Breanna because she dealt with this everyday. Also the fact that her mom didn't show any sympathy after her daughter was crying shocked me.


Sunday, March 12, 2017

Terezin


"Terezin"

That bit of filth in dirty walls,
And all around barbed wire,
And thirty-thousand souls who sleep
Who once will wake
And once will see
Their own blood spilled.

I was once a little child,
Three years ago.
That child who longed for other worlds.
But now I am no more a child
For I have learned to hate.
I am a grown-up person now,
I have known fear.

Bloody words and a dead day then,
That's something different than boogie men!

But anyway, I still believe I only sleep today,
That I'll wake up, a child again,
and start to laugh and play.
I'll go back to childhood sweet like a briar rose,
Like a bell which wakes us from a dream,
Like a mother with an ailing child
Loves him with aching woman's love.
How tragic then, is youth which lives
With enemies, with gallows ropes,
How tragic, then, for children on your lap
To say: this for the good, that for the bad.

Somewhere, far away out there, childhood sweetly sleeps,
Along that path among the trees,
There o'er that house
Which was once my pride and joy.
There my mother gave me birth into this world
So I could weep...

In the flame of candles by my bed, I sleep
And once perhaps I'll understand
That I was such a little thing,
As little as this song.

These thirty-thousand souls who sleep
Among the trees will wake,
Open an eye
And because they see
A lot

They'll fall asleep again...

Monday, March 6, 2017

My Regret

I have a few regrets in my life and most of them are things I wish I had done. I think that regret helps you as a person to build confidence to do things I passed up on. Although I didn't do most of those things, I think that my choices helped me in the end.

I have a regret that happened years ago and it's still clear in my mind, let me explain it. When I was around 8 I had swim classes to help me swim better. I made it to the experienced part of the group and we started doing harder stuff. One thing that I had trouble on (I still do) was flipping in the water. I tried so hard to do it but eventually I gave up and told my mom I wanted to quit. To this day, I wish I had persevered and kept on trying, but I know how to swim and that's ok with me.


Sunday, February 26, 2017

A Day With Harry Styles

If I could pick someone famous to spend a day with, it would be Harry Styles. He's a singer in the band One Direction, but I don't know if they're a band anymore so that's kind of sad but he's still great! I choose him because he seems like a person who would be fun to hang out with and from the millions of videos I saw about him. I think he's worth meeting since he's done a lot for people around the world and made an impact in my life.

The setting is in Florida so imagine this in your head, if you've never been to Florida pick a familiar place to you. We're driving around downtown Venice and decide to stop and walk around the stores that are nearby. I would ask him to sing some songs because I have to take that opportunity. I'd also ask him to recall any embarrassing stories he has because I love hearing those. I would take him to all my favorite beaches in Florida and share the many experiences I had there. We would get food and watch the phenomenal sky. The day goes on with us having fun but sadly the day ends and he leaves.


German Propoganda

Propaganda has been around for many years. It's used to make people believe in what you want them to think. During the Holocaust many people were targeted, such as children and adults. Posters were used to send a message across in various ways. I think that not all propaganda is bad but it depends on the context it's being used in.

The poster I chose was "Mothers! Fight for your children!" I chose this poster because it was interesting in many ways, and people can interpret it differently as well. At first I thought that the poster was telling mothers to join the way of thinking the Nazi's wanted them to believe in. Then I thought it could be saying to persevere and protect your children from anything that can harm them during this time period. I think that they made this poster to control people's thoughts at a young age because as a child you always trust your parents and what they have to say.