Be A Child Star?? I Wish!

We all know who Will Smith is. Yes, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. Well he's moved past those days and has a had a few kids. His son, Jayden, has starred in a few movies, But I wanna focus on little Willow who has just recently hit the scene. Some of you guys might have heard her little tune "Whip My Hair." She is a very talented little girl and a little bit too mature. Recently I went I was reading through some blogs that I regularly visit and I came across an article about little Willow Smith. The article was about an interview she had, and she said that "people are relying on her." After I read the whole article and the opinions Miss Jia gave I agreed with her.

Should Children be allowed to become Stars?

This is a hard question to answer, because when you child has that much talent you want their talent to be brodcasted to the world. The thing that made me think about this issue is that she felt like people were relying on her, and like Miss Jia brought up is she feeling pressured to become a star? I think that if a child wants to be "famous" then they should be allowed to pursue their dreams. Then again we've all heard the stories about child stars like Gary Coleman, Drew Barrymore and many other adults who were once child stars. We've heard about their problems and how their lives were not normal and how they felt like they weren't children. It is a very hard thing to think about because of the high percentage of tragic stories, but I still think that if the child wants to pursue their dream then they should be able to.

12 Sentence Story

I was sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the table, left hand loosely gripping the remote, right hand holding a water bottle. It was a normal summer day; nothing major would happen that day. Nicky and Leo, my cousin and her fiance, pulled up to my driveway. She was under stress, he was over the limit, and I was into my shows. Leo decided to leave. Bad idea. He thought that it was okay to drive and that even though he had a few drinks that day and that nothing bad would happen. Well, he crashed into my mom's car, and my mom's car crashed into the outside storage. In his eyes, I saw fear. What would my parents do when they saw what he did? Would they kill him, or beat him, or merely make him pay? My parents did not give a proper reaction, I was the one given a lecture--this was not a normal summer day.

Yes, another facebook post.

Recently here at the school, there was a group of students who were called to the office for a facebook status that was posted. This really upset the whole school, because they felt like the school shouldn't have control over what is said on facebook. I was one of those students that felt the school shouldn't punish students for what they say on facebook. Then I hear about people who are fired from their jobs and don't get into colleges because of what is on their facebook profiles, and I just feel outraged!

I came across this article Facebook, freedom and thin-skinned bosses and the author, Barry Bruce, tell his opinion on people getting fired for their facebook posts. In this article I actually learned about freedom of speech and what it actually protects us from.

In the article a teacher was fired because she had some pictures of her drinking alcohol while she was in Europe. I felt like this was a ridiculous dismissal because the lady was an adult not doing anything illegal. Granted she is a teacher and might have students who are friends with her, but outside of school, she isn't a teacher she is a regular human being who shouldn't be held at a different standard.

Don't get me wrong and think that I'm saying that it's good to bash your employer or school on social networking sites, I'm just saying that those are two separate entities that should never cross.

I really agreed with Bruce's statement about "...Holding a job should not require giving up your right to an expressive private life..." People should be able to express themselves freely without fear of "what the boss will say". Isn't that why we created social networking sites so we could be able to express ourselves with our friends freely?

Books I plan on Reading

The first book I want to read this quarter is The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. I want to read this book because my dad recommended it to me, and it talks about how to get started in doing whatever I might want to begin, and I have some things I want to start.

I also want to finish the Hunger Games series. I read the first book in ninth grade, but two years and many books later, I haven't gotten to reading the next books. The first one was so good, I actually might reread it and then read the other ones.

I also want to read pride and prejudice. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite movies ever, and I always like to read the books of movies. I like to see the differences and give my mental critiques.

Annotated Reading Log 2nd nine weeks

Dark Visions

Smith, L. J. Dark Visions. New York: Simon Pulse, 2009. Print.

752 pages



In this book there is a girl who has psychic abilities and she is sent to Zetes institute where her and a few other kids are being studied and taught to control their powers. Turns out that the owner of the institute, Mr. Zetes, is evil and has a different plan for the students. They run away and try to find magic to defeat him. Meanwhile Kait the main character is having a love triangle with two of the guys. They end up defeating Mr. Zetes in the end and Kait ends up falling for Gabriel, the bad boy. Of course. This book was cool because it was three books in one and it very entertaining. It was a typical predicting storyline, but it was really good just to see how the storyline played out.

The Art of The Start

Kawasaki, Guy. The Art of the Start: the Time-tested, Battle-hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything. New York: Portfolio, 2004. Print.

226 pages


This book is a guide book into starting anything that a person might wanna do. It mostly geared toward new entrepreneurs. The tips in this book will help people start and maintain a successful business or whatever someone might want to start.



To Die For: The Shocking True Story Of Serial Killer Of Dana Sue Gray


Braidhill, Kathy. New York: St. Martin's, 2000. Print.


320 pages

This book is about a woman who kills kills old women and steals their money to support her lavish lifestyle. The book is really slow to get into at first, but later it gets more interesting. The author didn't really talk much about the Law portion of the book. The book really wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I wouldn't recommend it, but I do recommend reading crime books especially if you are CSI fan.

Reading Reflection

This nine weeks was very busy. Band, clubs, and other classes took up so much time, that reading feel on the back burner, but in the end I completed the six book requirement. I was very pleased with that.

The only thing I wish I could have done better was the Journaling and filling out the reading log. Journaling especially, because it was so hard to get into the habit of inking my thinking. This next quarter will be better, because I'm in the habit and I understand how to do it.

I also realized that I read to much "candy" books so, this year I have challenged my self to read more "vegetable" books. Reading more difficult books will make me a stronger reader, which will benefit me in the long run.

Socratic Seminar Reflection

When I first learned that our class would be having a Socratic seminar, I was a bit apprehensive about how it would actually go, would it turn into a heated debate, or would it be long awkward silences. When the seminar began, I realized that it wasn't going as I thought, it was actually civil.

My performance was not as I expected. Usually I dominate the conversation, but in the seminar I was dominated because of interruptions, but I digress. The seminar did deepen my understanding of the novel. It also posed a lot more questions about our society and if we[our society] are heading to a society like the one in Brave New World. The seminar also showed me the different views people had, on the same topic. For example, Andrea interpreted Henry Ford as God because he basically "created" the Brave New World society just as God Created us. While Nelson and I viewed him as a figure they[ Brave New World people] looked up to because of his scientific advances and they were a scientific society.

My favorite part of the Socratic discussion was the evaluation period after each discussion. I feel like the conversation became deeper with the whole class involved, and it was easier to share opinions because the pressure was taken off.

This exercise turned out to be really fun and thought- provoking! I would not mind having these seminars more frequently! If I had a "do-over" then I would be more aggressive in getting in the conversation.

ANNOTATED READING LIST

Postman, Neil. Amusing ourselves to death: public discourse in the age of show business. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death delivers an amusing critique on our society's addiction to television. In the book Postman says that America is heading towards a society like BNW. He says that Americans were more intelligent before the influence of television. He also points out that our society has become too focused on "show business", which I totally agree because we [Americans] put people in show business on such high pedestals. Religion is one of the things that is negatively affected by television because of all the television church services. Basically, Postman is saying that television has changed the way we think, talk ,and act and that is not a good thing because we don't want to end up like the people in Huxley's BNW. (163)

Huxley, Aldous. Brave new world. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

Huxley's Brave New World predicts a future that is very scary. This Book Is set in a time in the future, where everyone is exactly the same. From Birth the people are manipulated to be exactly how society wants them to be. They use different tactics to make the people how they want them to be. For example they genetically modify children and they use hypnopaedia so they end how society wants them to be. In every bunch there are always a few bad apples. For example, Bernard Marx is a strange young fellow compared to the other alphas. He doesn't think or act like them. One day Bernard and his lady friend, Lenina, go to a savage reservation and find a savage who's mother is from the BNW society. Bernard takes him back and life is never the same again. The savage comes to the BNW society and does not know how to react to all the immoral acts done by the BNW society. He realizes that in the BNW society there are no morals or individualism and that is something he doesn't handle well. Huxley used a very interesting writing style, he told different stories at one time, it was confusing, but made me a stronger reader. This book also opened my eyes to how morals and individualism is very important. I also asked the question is stability worth giving up individualism?? (268)


Bray, Libba. The Sweet Far Thing. New York: Delacorte, 2007. Print.

The Sweet Far Thing is set during Victorian times at Spence Girl's Academy. I felt like the characters in this book were too modern for the time the book was set in. Gemma Doyle is the main character and she is the protector of the magic. Her friends Felicity and Ann also use the magic because Gemma has the power to give them some. She also has a beautiful romance with a boy named Kartik that has an unfortunate ending. The girls are about to be debuted into society, and so they are getting ready for that in the day, but at night they are getting ready to fight a war that is brewing in the realms. This book was a long read, but it wasn't very challenging so I recommend it for anyone looking for a pleasure read. I also recommend the first two in the trilogy.(816)


Like EasyBib?

Analysis of Abundance

Pink observes that our society has become more and more obsessed with "stuff" and beauty. "For most of history, our lives were defined by scarcity. Today the defining feature of social , economic, and cultural life in much of the world is abundance." He compares yesterday's society and today's society saying that in modern times people are defined by their "stuff" whereas back then people were just trying to get their basic needs met. Pink also comments that "For business, it is no longer enough to create a product that is reasonably priced and adequately functional. It must be beautiful, unique, and meaningful." This goes to show that not only do we want "stuff" but we want it to be aesthetically pleasing and easy on the wallet! Pink then talks about PetSmart about how "on average sells $15,000 worth of merchandise a day for non humans." Not only do we (the humans) want to look good, but want our pets( the animals) to look good too, so we are willing to spend thousands of dollars to make fluffy look pristine as well. With all this obsession with beauty and objects, we should as ourselves this question, Am I truly happy?

Analysis Of An Anti-Smoking Ad

Persuasion is a huge industry in our society better known as the advertising business. Aristotle a great philosopher in history gave the art of persuasion three categories ethos, pathos, and logos. The three categories have to do with three different methods of persuasion used in advertisement. In this anti-smoking ad the advertisers used ethos, pathos, and logos to try and persuade the public not to smoke.



Ethos means that the advertisement is trying to gain credibility. For example in this advertisement, they have a note from the surgeon general. Having a note from, a creditable source, makes this advertisement more believable to the public.

Pathos means that the advertisement is using emotional appeal to persuade the public. For example in this advertisement. Having the casket, shows people that they can die from cigarettes. The casket can also make people remember loved ones who have died from cigarettes. Death is a good way to make people emotional and dissuade them from smoking cigarettes. Another smart way the advertisers used pathos is when they say, "New crush-proof box." That was smart because the advertisers used a joke to lure the public in, so after the public chuckles they could get the deeper meaning in the picture.

Logos is when they use logic to persuade the public. For example in this advertisement they used the amount of tar, nicotine, and other poisonous ingredients to show the public what exactly they would be putting in their body, if they smoked cigarettes. This method would help dissuade the public of smoking because it would show them that logically it would not be wise to smoke.

In conclusion, If your goal is to master the art of persuasion then, learn to use these three methods.

Scandal In The Shampoo Industry!

I was reading this article about shampoo. The writer said that we were all wasting our money, buying all of the nutrient rich shampoos. I was immediately lured in, because I use Garneir Nutriesse, and that brand always talks about how it is rich in nutrients.

The writer says that the nutrients end up down the drain, just like our hard earned dollars. As I was reading, I asked myself "How does this happen?" As if she was in my head, the writer answers by saying the the shampoo molecules are too large to penetrate the tiny follicles where our hair grows.

While reading this article, I was just blown away because all these years I thought that getting nutrient rich shampoo would make my hair glorious, but actually I was just wasting my mother's money.

Then I continued reading, waiting for her to sell me some miracle shampoo that actually works, and what did she do? She starts advertise a miracle shampoo. I chuckle quietly to myself, because I saw that advertisement coming.

What I learned from this article is that I should ditch my shampoo and use the one the author advertised beautifully. The crazy thing is, I secretly want to try the miracle shampoo, but it is still relatively new and it is hard to come by.

Is Facebook Ruining Friendship As We Know It?

The text I chose to read was an article I found in the Arkansas Weekly called the The Facebook Dilemma by Archie Lewellen.

In the beginning of the article he talks about the nineties and the huge technological boom during that decade. He also talks about how during our lifetime we have went through a wide spectrum of technology. For example, most people my age have gone from a Walkman portable CD player to an apple iPod touch.

He then begins to talk about all the ways people nowadays can communicate. We have several ways to keep in touch aside from cell phones, like Twitter, Myspace and the most popular Facebook.

Then he begins to get into the issue of Facebook, which is that we are using it to socialize then actually seeing people and hanging out with them. He talks about that we can go for weeks without speaking to our friends because we know exactly what the other i doing. I can relate to this, because I talk to my friends on Facebook all the time and days will go by of not actually seeing them.

He brings up that Facebook is not ruining the term best friends, but it is redefining it. I agree instead of only interacting with our friends when we are with them, we can actually be interacting with them twenty-four seven hours a day!

At the end of the article he says is Facebook good or bad. His response is that it is both good and bad. I agree with him that Facebook is good and bad. It’s good because it keep you connected, but then its also bad because you can forget to actually go outside and be with your friends.

"If You're Out There"

The text I chose to read, was a song by one of my favorite singers,John Legend. It's called If "If You're Out There". This song is one of those songs that touch your heart and make you smile.

"The future started yesterday and we're already late." I think that this part of the song means that we should have already started working on a brighter future, but we are just living in the present.

In the chorus he says "If you're out there, sing along with me" He later says " If you're out there, tomorrow's starting now" This part means that If anyone wants to make the world a better place then stand up and do something, and that we can't wait, that we have to start now.

"No more broken promises. No more call to war. Unless it's love and peace, that we're really fighting for. We can destroy hunger. We can conquer hate. Put down the arms and raise your voice. We're joining hands today." This part tells us[the human race] all the things that we can do if we work together to achieve them.

The rest of the songs talk about we can do anything together and that we have to start now.

The singer John Legend is a huge humanitarian, he just won a huge award for his work overseas to gain peace, end hunger, and end poverty. This song is just another way he is pleading with the rest of us to take action and start solving global problems.

This song touched my heart and made want to start helping the world. I can't go to the poverty stricken areas, but I do donate money to an organization that helps, and yes it is legitimate.

My Annotated Photo

Here is a little sneak peek into the wonderful world of Wendy. Click for more.

Of Mice And Men Analysis Blog

Analysis of Detail


From his first paragraph, John Steinbeck sets the scene in Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery as he describes the natural world as a parallel to later events in the novella.

In the beginning of the book Steinbeck says "the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green" When I hear the term river I think of movement, wealth,and jobs. This was a great parallel of George and Lennie because, they were on the the run and they were looking for a job so they can build some wealth. Also when I hear the term green, I think of nature and new life. That is a parallel to Lennie because he is full of life like a child. When I saw the word deep i thought of something strong, and grounded. which describes George perfectly. Even though, he is not physically strong like Lennie, he is mentally strong. Also, George is grounded because, even though, he says he would leave Lennie, we all know he never would.

The quote,"slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" Has a great parallel to George and Lennie. Lennie is rocky because he is unstable. George is strong because he is able to handle Lennie. The Mountain represents the challenges and hardships they go through.

In the next quote Steinbeck talks about a path beaten hard. When I hear that I think about a long hard journey, which connects to George and Lennie's journey. The quote also talks about tramps walking on that path, which foreshadows the appearance of Curley's Wife who is referred to as a tart.

Another quote in the book that foreshadows what happens in the book is, "under the trees leaves lie deep and so crisp" The word trees represents something tall and strong. Obviously that parallels Lennie he is very big and strong. He is strong, he can pack more barely than anyone can, he crushed Curley's hand, and killed the puppy by petting it too hard. Also the part in the quote about how the leaves lie deep makes me think about a place to hide. Which foreshadows the part after Lennie kills Curley's Wife he has to run and hide in the brush.

There is another quote that talks about a limb worn smooth by men who have sat on it. The word worn represents something old and familiar. That parallels Candy's dog. He is old and has been with Candy all of his life. Also the word limb represents something weak. Which parallels Curley. Curley is very weak in character, he is always trying to fight people just because he is insecure about his size.

Analysis of Point of View

The third-person objective point of view solidifies the solitary lives these men lead.

One example is when the men try to convince Candy that he should kill his dog. I understand where the men where coming from because Candy's dog was old, blind, and could barely walk. These men thought they were trying to help, but actually Candy couldn't let the dog go. That dog had been with him for years, Candy even said that he had him since he was a pup. That dog was the only family Candy had.

Another example is the quote, "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came to his face," Of all these men Crooks was probably the loneliest, because he was not allowed in the bunkhouse because he was black. He scowled at Lennie because Lennie came in while he was applying cream for his hurt back and that was a time of vulnerability for him. Also because he was used to being alone all the time, that he had a certain hardness that he wanted to portray to other people.

Analysis of Tone

The tones of hope and commitment reflect Steinbeck's view of George and Lennie.

In this story George was very committed to Lennie. He made a promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, and he honored that promise. Lennie was very hard to take care of, because he would get into trouble. Most people would put him in an institution and forget about him, but George would stay with him. It was sad, because Lennie would always offer to go away, but George would always say no.

In this book we were taken on an emotional roller coaster ride, but we were always given a glimmer of hope when Lennie would ask George to tell him how they were going to live off the fatta the lan'. George would always say they were going to get a stake and buy a piece of land. He would tell how they would work on their land and be self sufficient and Lennie would get to tend his beloved rabbits. Every time George told Lennie their dream I would root for them to achieve it in the end, but we all know how the book ends differently.

Theme.

The theme would would be that we are our brothers keeper. We are responsible for the people around us, but only in certain times. When we have made a commitment to take care of our brother then we are our brothers keeper . For example, George made a commitment to take care of Lennie.

Migrant Mother

Migrant Mother is a series of photographs taken by Dorthea Lange of a woman and her children. Lange was following farm laborers.

When I saw the pictures I just felt bad for this woman and her children. I saw the pain in the woman's eyes. I could also see that she was trying to stay strong for her children. Her facial expression showed that she had so many emotions swirling in her. She was scared and desperate, but she also had determination on her face. It was as if she wasn't going to let her situation beat her.

In one of her pictures the woman had her wedding ring on. For most people living in poverty, the ring would be one of the first things to be sold for money. However this woman decided to hold on to hers. I think she did this so she could remind herself that there were better days and better days to come.

The Giver.

Lois Lowry's The Giver gave me a different spin on society and what it could be like instead of what society is like now.


In the book people lived in different communities but the story only focused on one. All the people in this community were assigned jobs by this committee of elders, and you did what you were assigned to do till you were put in the House of Old. The way these jobs were picked for people is that the committee members would watch the people all their young life and see what suited them best. The main character, Jonas, was chosen to be the next receiver and that position entailed receiving all the memories of the past. When Jonas begins receiving he realizes that the way they live in his community is not as good as he thought it was. Long story short, he realizes that there is no freedom and he runs away.





The book's setting is in a peaceful and seemingly perfect community. All the land has been leveled, and there are no animals. The people think that animals are just mythical creatures.



Jonas is the main character he receives the assignment for being the next receiver. He realizes that the people in his community have no freedom and they have no real emotions. He later flees the community.The Giver is the old receiver and he experiences all emotions. Jonas' Mother is a judge and his Dad is a nurturer. Lily is younger sister who is an eight. Gabe is the baby Jonas' family takes in who needs extra help. Turns out Gabe can receive memories and Jonas runs away with him near the end of the book.

In the book, the people do not feel emotions. They think they do because they have never had anything different. They also can't see in color. When I was reading, I thought that the community wasn't that bad. Then I read on and realized that they're lives were terrible. For example, when Jonas asked his mother if she loved him, she couldn't answer him.

I would definitely recommend this book for people to read. The story is a real eye-opener of what life could be like, and it made me appreciate that we don't have our lives ran by some committee.

Orwell's Effective Use Of Animals As Characters.

George Orwell is the author of the book Animal Farm. In this book the main characters are animals, instead of the usual of humans being the main characters of books, even though the animals are personified. He was very clever when he made the characters because they actually hate humans, but they have human-like mannerisms. I just thought that he was clever in doing so.

For example, the pigs were a good choice to be the leaders, because pigs are very smart animals. They are also fat, and during those times being plump meant that you were wealthy and had power.

Also, boxer was a good choice to represent the working class, because horses are hardworking and strong animals.

Cross Examination

When I hear the words cross examination, I immediately think of one of those court room dramas. When I asked the question, "For what might you be cross examined?" I immediately said nothing, because I have never committed a crime, and have never been in court. Then I realized that i am cross examined all the time.

I realized that I am always questioned, especially by my parents. They always ask me who I'm with, where I'm going, what type of environment am I in, will there be adults there, what time will i be back, how much is it going to cost, why is it so late. I usually answer truthfully( haha keyword usually).

Okay back to the question. I'm basically only cross examined when it comes to the people I associate with. I guess its a good thing to be questioned on because I do not want to be with people I shouldn't be with. Then all of a sudden they rob a gas station and I'm sitting in the car. The police come and I'm in jail because of guilt by association. Then I'd really be cross examined.

TIme For Celebration!!

I am a big celebrator. I like to celebrate them all the time. Even if I do something small like make my bed, I throw a small dance party in my room.

I would never make goals if after i achieved them I couldn't celebrate. That would just be a terrible existence, to do so much, but afterword you just pretend like nothing happened.

Now, when I say celebrate I don't mean having a huge extravagant ball. You could do anything to celebrate, you could go out to dinner, sit and revel in your awesomeness(not an actual word lol), actually have that dramatic ball, or just take a break. The choice is yours, but a celebration must always be had.

I cannot even think of a time I had a celebration, because I am such an avid celebrator. I just celebrate all the time. I do throw a lot of mini dance parties in my room.

Mask Poem

FAKE

What you see is not the real me.
it's a facade you see.
How can this be?
you ask.
Telling you is a task.
A task I'm willing to bear.
I am more than perfect hair.
I care
for humanity
not really vanity
I take heed
for every one's need.
Even though i seem vain
I still see the world's pain
It might be a surprise,
but if you look into my eyes.
you will see
me.

my ipod!

So much depends
upon

my black
ipod

filled with amazing
music

in my green
satchel

AAHHH EVERYTHING IS GREEN!!!

St. Patricks day is the worst holiday ever. I don't enjoy it. I am pressing charges on the three people that pinched me today. Why would anyone impose bodily harm on someone, just because that someone isn't wearing green.



Even though i hate that day, St. Patricks day is huge at my house, since the day doubles as my father's birthday.



I remember when I was in Kindergarten and the class returned from recess, we found the room a mess. The teacher said a leprechaun must have done it. My classmates thought it was fun, but I did not see how this was funny or cute, what I saw was pure ridiculousness.

I guess what i'm trying to say here is, if someone in Washington decided to do away with the holiday I'd be cool with it.

Call of the Wild

Jack London's Call Of The Wild surprised me with the fact that it was actually good. I usually do not enjoy assigned books.

Buck is the main character of the book. This book follows his journey from a pampered pup to a wolf. He gets kidnapped and is sold. He then becomes a sled dog. He is worked hard and beaten, but it only makes him stronger. He always feel that he is getting a urging call to the wild and then he turns in a wild creature.

The story takes place during the gold rush in a region in the northwestern Canada's Yukon Territory. Basically when I see the word Canada I think of snow, and in this book there was plenty of snow. I pictured those poor dogs running with all their might, and being deep in the snow.

In this story Buck to a lot of stands. One stand he took was against his master, when he refused to cross the river, because he knew the ice was too thin, but his master insisted they crossed. He was beaten a countless amount of times, but he stood his ground. He also took a stand against Spitz, the lead dog, when they had got into a little spat. Buck fought Spitz to the death, just to show that he was stronger.

This book does not really need a recommendation, because you'll probably have to read it in your English class. If you're lucky and you are not assigned class reads, then go ahead and read Call Of The Wild. I enjoyed the book a lot. I feel kind of lame for liking it, but I did.

TWILIGHT?! Phstt..NO! -485 pages

Don't call this book Twilight. The Mortal Instrument Series is way better than the Twilight Saga. I know Twilight fans will murder me after they read this, but this book was amazing. Cassandra Clare's City of Bones took me on the ride of my life with its thrilling tale.

The story takes place in New York City. Little do the New Yorkers know that their city hosts millions of mythical creatures. I guess they're not so mythical,in the story, if they exist. They have every creature in the book, vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks. There were also shadow hunters, formally called The Nephilum. I had never heard of shadow hunters until I read this book. The characters go to a lot of places in this book, Like the Institute. The Institute is where the characters live. The Institute also serves as a safe haven for the shadow hunters. Cassandra Clare did an excellent job describing the city and all the places the characters went.

Clary Fray's world changes as she knows it when she sees a random guy killed at this club. She investigates what happens and finds the murderers, who turn out to be shadow hunters. Later she find her mother missing. Then she finds out her mother is a shadow hunter and she is too. Her and her new shadow hunter friends seek this mortal cup, and she is the only one who truly know where the cup is. To bad her mom put a unbreakable memory block on her.
Jace Wayland in this book is the typical cute heartthrob guy in stories. He is one of the best shadow hunter of his Age group. He's killed several demons. By the way, shadow hunters kill demons and anything that tries to harm humans, they basically protect all humans. Like in typical stories he and the Clary form a relationship.
Simon is Clary's best friend and is a regular human. He is the typical awkward guy that is in love with their best friend.
Isabella is the typical beautiful girl that all the guys fall for, and she is also a shadow hunter.
Alec is Isabella's brother and he has a huge secret that he is very ashamed of, he is also a shadowhunter.

The big Stand in this book is done by the Villain in the story. Valentine took a huge stand against the Clave. He and a group of other shadow hunters,called The Circle, went against the Accord, peace negotiations with downworlders. Valentine didn't agree with them, so he had a huge War with The Clave.

I would recommend this book to anyone really. This book was one of those book I thought I would try, even though it looked lame. If you enjoyed the Twilight series, this book is ten times better. City of Bones is a must read.

DETERMINATON- Writer's Notebook

Committing is probably one of the hardest things to do in life. Committing is especially hard, when whatever you're committing to gets difficult to handle.



Athletes are very committed people. They work out constantly, eat right, give up free time, all for winning that gold medal, become a professional athlete, or winning the championship game against a rival school.


One thing I would commit too is my singing career. If I don't become a singer that won't be the end of the world for me, but if I did pursue it I would be 100 percent committed. I would practice everyday, lay down a demo tape,write to record labels, perform wherever I could, and if all else fails, tryout for American Idol.

When people stay committed, there will be be rewards. They could get famous, rich, powerful. They could always get the greatest reward of all and that is self-gratification.

Winning. What does it really mean?- writers notebook

When people think of winning they usually think of something like a sporting event or competition, where one team wins and the other loses. That example is very black and white. To me, winning means reaching a goal.

Winning does not always mean receiving a tangible reward. Earlier I said winning meant reaching a goal. One example could be, if your goal was reading a book at a higher caliber than you're used to, and you reach it, you still get the feeling of success, even though you don't receive a medal.

One thing think I'm proud of winning is the Middle School talent show. Yes, I did receive a trophy. Getting up on stage and actually being able to sing the song was enough for me, even if I didn't win the feeling of accomplishment was worth it.

Persuasion(:

Persuasion a tactic many humans have mastered, I being one of them. I happen to be very good at getting what I want. The tactics I use are very basic, but in the hands of a master they could persuade a mountain to move.

One tactic I use use is the eyes. Eyes are the key to getting what you want. My mother swears that she is immune to the eye trick. Little does she know that those eyes she is immune to are the same eyes that convinced her to get me everything I have ever ask those. Im not big into the puppy dog eyes, the type of eyes I use are the near tears so there is a glimmer. I'm also thankful for my lush eyelashes. One bat of those lovely lashes and her heart melts.



Logic is another persuasion tactic I use. If I give my mother a rational explanation on why I need something or why I need to go somewhere. This way seems to work a lot more than my other methods of persuasion. For example when I want to go to a friends house right after school, I tell mother that it would be easier on her to let me go right after school becuase it saves her an unecessary drive and gas. She then sees that she is getting a good deal and lets me do as I please.

If my other methods do not work I annoy her till I get what I want. This method is on my final lifeline because both parties do not end up happy. I may get what I want but they way I got what I wanted was not very classy. What I usually do when I use this method is ask for what I want a million times, Whine, Slam doors, yell. The usual annoying teenage girl tactics. Then my mother usally yells and says," Fine do what you want!" I try to use this tactic as little as possible.

Persuasion is probably one of the greatest tools in living life. Without persuasion most people would not have anything they wanted. For me, that would be terrible because I like to get what I want.

STOP TALKING ABOUT HAITI!

Sunday night as I was looking on http://www.globalgrind.com/ ,looking for a topic to write about, I came across this CRAZY blog post title, STOP TALKING ABOUT HAITI. At first I went crazy. I said," How somebody gonna put a crazy post like dat fa errbody to see?!" I clicked on the link and started reading.





Turns out Bre, the author, was not the one who said ," Stop talking about Haiti" She came across that in a blog. Kind of like I came across her blog post! So I kept reading and she had some good points in there. She talked about how we should focus on delegating the money appropriately, instead of having a remake of Hurricane Katrina. She also said that instead of talking we should start doing before it is too late.



Personally, I say that we should not stop talking about Haiti because I have donated money, not a lot but nonetheless money, and I would like to stay posted on how my money is being used. I truly want everything to get better, because there is no possible way I could go to Haiti and work. So Cnn, bring on the information!

MLK DAY!!

Since today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I thought I would do this blog topic on him. I know writing about him is very cliche, but I really do respect and appreciate him. His stand was a result of many stands. That all led up to his speech at Washington D.C.



In this speech he basically called out the whole country, and said that we need to be treat each other equally. That was some serious bravery. If I was in his position, I would have totally chickened out. That's why I respect him so much. As I type this, I am in awe of his bravery. In all of the things he did. That took some serious guts!

All that he did during the civil rights movement definitely affects my whole life. If Martin Luther King and all of the other civil rights leaders didn't do all that they did. I wouldn't be writing blog, I wouldn't go to Batesville High School, and most of all I wouldn't be in this country. Also my home country would still be under the apartheid regime, and that would be most unfortunate. Even though he took a stand for people everywhere, I feel like he took one for me

TAKING A STAND!

Many people in history have taken stands for what they believe in. There was Martin Luther, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and many more. Their actions were far greater compared to mine. The things they did affected the world, and are still present in our lives today. I hope that one day I can take a stand for something and that act change the world. For now I'll stick to the small stands I take on the bus.

I remember one day on the bus, a guy who rides my bus was talking about how God wasn't real and how Christians were wasting their time believing in him. At first I just kept quiet and let him state his opinion, but after twenty minutes I couldn't listen to him much longer. So I decided to confront him.

First I told him that I believed in God and that I didn't appreciate his comments. Then he said that I was wasting my time. Then I told him that he was entitled to his opinion and that I wasn't going to force my religion on him, but I wasn't going to tolerate him bashing Christians like that. Then he apologized for offending people. Then I said that everything was all good.

Even though what I did wasn't really a big movement. I was still very proud of myself, because I didn't let someone talk crazy about what was very important to me.