Reflection on the year

As a final post for class I have to do a reflection meeting certain criteria. The first thing I have to do is talk about the books I've read. In total, this semester I read 1625 pages. In the beginning of the year I didn't read very much for pleasure, it was hard for me to find time even though I enjoyed it. But when it became an assignment I did it a lot more often. I branched out a lot too. Books that my I'd seen my dad read I actually started reading. Before I thought they were too hard for me but when Mr. Hill talked about them in class I thought I'd give them a shot. This really expanded my library. I read on vacation a lot and in the summer, but not so much during the school year. Although it was hard to find time to read so many pages in a week with swimming and all. I had to cram a lot on the weekends, but I found a lot of books I enjoyed and had a long list of books to read. It was easy to look in the classroom and pick up a good book, even though some were better than others. I never read with music on because I get so distracted, but I did find myself checking my phone especially if the book was dragging on. So I would make myself read so many pages before I stopped. My dad and I talked about some of the books I read, and I explained to my friends about the books I had in my hands. I still enjoy reading books written in the first person better, I find it easier to relate to.But now I read books that are non fiction instead of just fiction. As for what I might read next, I have a few actually. I would like to read Paradise lost by John Milton and Freakonomics by... I'm not sure actually. I liked the way we studied poetry in this class, it was more relaxed and although we analyzed poems it was more of an open discussion and we could say our thoughts without being afraid of being wrong. The poems we looked at weren't of any certain type, we looked at so many different ones which I enjoyed. Even though the poem journals took time, looking back on it it was fun to be able to explore all the poems on websites. I don't think I would change much about this class, except the diction writing in the middle of the year. I didn't really enjoy that. But I think the vocab will help me, even though it was hard to do the homework, and the blogging was a refreshing change of an assignment.

I guess that's really all I have to say for this reflection.

Finally, I'm done with school posts!

Goodbye.

Guess Who's Back...

Here I thought I was done blogging, but my sister posted on her blog to follow mine. And I wouldn't want people to come to my blog and see nothing anymore. So, I might continue to blog every now and then. 

I found this website  today. It's a page of shirts with ironic quotes on it. At first, I didn't think they were that funny, but they get better as they go along. Here are a few highlights: "If you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?" or "How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges" and my final favorite: "If a #2 pencil is so popular, why is it still #2?" Yes, they're dumb questions, but I found them humorous!

Alright, I'll leave you with my new favorite song: Knee Deep By Zac Brown Band ft. Jimmy Buffet!

It's Wednesday, May 18th.

And you know what that means: last blog post of the year! The last few posts have been pretty boring so check out this website of really cool street art! I love the ones where it looks like something/someone is coming out of the ground but it's really just an allusion. I wish I was that creative. 


The final summary of the year... 
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 312-328


Chapter 23 starts with Ray waking up the next morning after he has read Ruth's journal like Susie told him to. While he was reading it, Ruth saw him and said she had a lot to explain. Jack and his family finally leave the hospital and head home, together after many years. Abigail doesn't promise anything because she doesn't want to hurt Jack again, but she says she'll try to make it work this time. Then she goes upstairs and goes into Susie's old room which she hasn't been in for years. She tells Susie she loves her, which makes Susie realize she just needed time away to figure things out. Downstairs, Samuel and Lindsey announce their engagement and they toast to champagne. Ray and his mother bring a pie over and talk about a Victorian house Samuel wants to buy but Ray's father owns it. Susie also realizes now that her family doesn't need to want her anymore and she doesn't need them, but she still will and they will too. The lovely bones, she figures out, aren't the bones in her body, they are the connections between her family while she's been gone. 
 Now Susie knows that the “lovely bones” are not her body; instead, they are the connections created in her absence between the members of her family and she knows that she can see things now in a way that “lets her hold the world without her in it. The chapter ends with Ruth in the cornfield thinking of the ghost she saw. She will always think of Susie and be haunted and for this Susie feels guilty, but there isn't anything she can do about it. The final chapter, called "Bones," starts with this line: “You don’t notice the dead leaving when they really choose to leave you.” When Grandma Lynn died a few years after the last chapter took place, no one was really affected by the loss, which validates the line. Susie hasn't even seen her in heaven yet. Every now and then Susie sneaks away to look at her family, Sam and Lindsey have been married and live in a house they're renovating. Lindsey is even pregnant. Jack hopes that some day he will build boats with his grand kids which makes him excited but at the same time saddened by this because it will remind him of all the boats he built with Susie. In the end Lindsey has a little girl named Abigail Susanne. Naming her this helps her to move on and let go of the need for her sister Susie. The best part of the ending, however, was Mr. Harvey's death. Susie and her grandfather visit an old diner he remembers and they see Mr. Harvey getting off a greyhound bus. He goes up and starts to talk to a girl who was on the bus. After the girl leaves, and before he can leave, an icicle "accidentally" falls and he jumps forward which makes him fall into a ravine. Because of the snow, no one will find him until it melts. With this, Susie finally feels like she can stop holding on to her old life. In her old neighborhood, they are filling in the sinkholes and a random man finds Susie's charm bracelet. He gives it to his wife and she says that whoever it belonged to is probably all grown up now. In heaven, Susie thinks, "Almost. Not quite." 


And that's the end! What a great book. I want to see the movie really badly now, but I'm not sure where I'll find it. Mr. Harvey's death was the perfect end, he finally got what he deserved after killing so many people. It's sad to think that people move on and don't think about people who have died, like Susie's family after her death, but I guess that's what keeps you sane. If they constantly morned over her death, they would be miserable.  


Well, I guess this is goodbye!


Maybe I'll keep posting... but no promises.

I forgot!

I forgot to add this video to my last post! I'm in love with this song, and lately it's all I've been listening too, ha. It's called "I Won't Let Go," by Rascal Flatts. Wouldn't it be nice to hear a guy say this to you, ladies?

Second to last blog!

Yes, that's right. Only one more blog until I'm done with it for the year! I might still do some fun things but definitely no book reviews. In a way they kind of ruin the book for me. I'd rather give a presentation on the book I read instead of blogging about it, but I guess blogging is a creative way to get class work done. I scheduled my reading for this book so I would finish it just in time for the last blog! Tomorrow I'll have to read 28 pages to finish the book. So, let's get into chapters 19-22:

The Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold Pages 262-299

Susie's mom comes home after 8 years to see Jack, Susie's dad, because he had a heart attack. When she gets off the plane she barely recognizes her Lindsey and Buckley says some really hurtful things to her. She cries in the car but he doesn't care and continues to be hateful to her. When Abigail gets to the hospital Jack is sleeping but he wakes up when we walks in. And he's very happy to see her. She stays with him for a few days and realizes that she never stopped loving him but won't admit it. Then the book switches to Mr. Harvey. He goes back to the site where he buried a woman a few years ago, but it's been dug up. That night, he dreams of Lindsey running away from his house. He always has this dream when he's feeling threatened and is worried that he may be found out. Back at the hospital Susie visits while her parents are sleep but Jack wakes up and senses she's there. When Abigail wakes up he tells her he saw Susie and she says that she sees her all the time too. Then they kiss!

In chapter 21 Ruth and Ray go to the sinkhole before it is filled in. Then the detective, Len, goes to see Jack at the hospital even though he knows Abigail is there. When she sees him, Abigail is shocked but moves on after a while. Len gives them a Susie's charm bracelet that they found at the grave. He tells them it wasn't her grave, but this proves she's connected to other murders that have happened. Susie sees Mr. Harvey driving a beat up old orange car. He's still having dreams about Lindsey, plus he keeps remembering things about his other victims. Mr. Harvey drives through the old neighborhood and looks through a window to see Lindsey, he doesn't even care at this point if people see him. A police officer comes to the car once he is back in and asks if he's lost, Mr. Harvey says no so the police officer tells him to leave. He rights down his license plate number though. While Ruth and Ray were at the sinkhole, Ruth sees Susie standing next to her, but she doesn't tell Ray. Then, she sees Mr. Harvey driving toward the sinkhole with bloody people in the car and blacks out. The final scene is this chapter is Susie falling from heaven. In chapter 22, she takes over Ruth's body. When she wakes up from blacking out, she's being held by Ray and they kiss. Then they go back to his house and take a shower together and have sex. He realizes that it's Susie. She tells him how she has watched Ruth and him for years. She tries to call her brother but he can't hear her. Then she goes back to heaven and Ruth returns.

These few chapters were really good actually. The police officer writing down Mr. Harvey's license plate number is like a cliffhanger, why did Alice Sebold put that in the book? It must be important. I'm glad that Jack and Abigail finally meet again, it's sad that Susie's death tore them apart even though they still love each other. I only have two chapters left and I'm tempted to keep reading, but I have to go work on my anthology project!

Goodnight!

Happy Birthday, To Me!

Well, it's that time of year! My birthday. I'm 18 and I can't believe it. How can I already be 18, time really does go quickly. A few weeks ago, I found this poem while I was trying to fill out my poetry journal. And it's quite appropriate for today!

Birthday Lights

BY CALEF BROWN

Light bulbs on a birthday cake.

What a difference that would make!

     Plug it in and make a wish,

     then relax and flip a switch!

No more smoke

      or waxy mess

      to bother any birthday guests.

But Grampa says, “it’s not the same!

      Where’s the magic?

       Where’s the flame?

To get your wish without a doubt,

You need to blow some candles out!”

Cute, huh? It's true, though! What happened to the magic of birthdays?! Right now, I'm at a swim meet. It's sad... birthdays used to be anticipated so much and now I have to share such a big birthday with a swim meet. But what can you do? Anyways, I'm going to go swim, then drive all the way home and open up some presents! 

232-261

List of Poems

In my etymology class, we're doing a poetry anthology. These are the ten poems I plan to use. My theme, though I haven't figured out a good word for it, is the story of lives: birth, growing up, getting married, retiring, having birthdays, and, inevitably, dying. Here's my list:


"Lullaby" By John Fuller
"Mrs. Adams" By Kathleen Norris
"Birthday Lights" By Calef Brown
"Maturity" By Philip Larkin
"Epitaph" By Katherine Philips
"Altruism" By Molly Peacock
"Cave Dwellers" By A. Powlin
"Retirement" By Henry Timrod
"Young Man" By John Haines
"My Grave" By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there! Sure, we yell at you and tell you we hate you and ignore half the things you say, but when it comes down to it, you're the one we want to hug when we have a bad day, the only shoulder we want to cry on when our hearts get broken, and the one who always knows how to cheer us up. I love you, Mom. For everything you do for me, and everything you will, you're the best.

What did you guys do for your mothers today? My parents went to the Kentucky Derby yesterday so I surprised my mom by cleaning the WHOLE HOUSE, buying her some flowers, and a delicious (looking) cupcake from Fresh Market. Of course I wrote her a sentimental card, too. I think she enjoyed it.

Onto other news... today is the last Sunday I will ever be 17. Yep, that's right, my 18th birthday is next Sunday! I can't wait, but I'll be spending it at a swim meet which is quite a bummer. Oh well, gotta go with what I get. Have a great Mother's day, make your mom feel special!

174-231

Chapter twelve starts out with Jack in the hospital after his attack, he had to get a kneecap replacement. Abigail goes outside to call Len and asks him to meet her. The nurses at the hospital think something is going on between them because of the way she touches Len's hand. On the balcony near Jack's room, the smoke and talk about Len's wife who commited suicide years ago. Then they kiss. She finally leaves him and she's Lindsey and Jack in the room finally on good terms. As Susie watches this she realizes that her mother was never really happy, she wanted to teach but since Buckely was born she couldn't. She noticed now how Jack grew closer with the kids and she spread apart from all of them.

Quality Time, Redefined

Hello readers! Today we had a class assignment and I had to read this article. It was very eye opening actually. Recently I've noticed how plugged in I always am. I'll be watching t.v. while texting or looking at Facebook on my phone. And what's the point? Sure, it's fun to look at peoples' pictures and see what they're up to, but in the process I'm just wasting time. I stay up later to finish my homework and inevitably I spend less time actually talking with my friends and family. In fact, I've considered putting my phone away, turning off the TV, and canceling my Facebook account, but it's so hard. I feel like I'll log right back on to Facebook and start my habit all over again. Or right as I'm putting my phone away, I'll get a message and start chatting with a friend. My family isn't too bad about this. We will watch TV together but my parents don't text that much and my Dad usually just quickly uses the laptop to finish some work. And when my brother and I are texting if front of my dad, he'll say, "Tell you friends goodbye. You're spending family time right now." or "Don't you get sick of talking to them?" I get annoyed with him when he says that because I want to talk to them, but it's true. I don't really NEED to be talking to them. Reading this article was really sad. Relationships have turned "enjoying each others company" from talking to sitting in bed together playing games on your iPad. And what's the point? Maybe life is more convenient now, but is it really worth it?

A short blog today

The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold Pages 126-140

Jack keeps calling the police station to ask Len about Harvey but he tells him to stop and Abigail tells him to stop, too. He realizes that he isn't supported by his family so he decides to take action. He sees a light in the cornfield and takes a bat with the intention to kill Mr. Harvey. In reality it is Clarissa, Susie's best friend, who is waiting for her boyfriend. Jack attacks her thinking it is Mr. Harvey and Clarissa's boy friend knocks Jack out and Susie sees all of this from heaven.

I know this is a really short blog but after yesterday's I'm kind of worn out! This part was so intense thought, especially followed by all that I read yesterday. I think it's cool that Jack is doing this for his daughter, he's gone through so much and even when it seems hopeless he keeps trying. Mr. Harvey is so twisted. I can't believe he played with the bones and trinkets from his murders, but I guess if it's preventing him from killing again... except he's doing it because he knows the police are watching him, not because he feels bad.

Have a good rest of the day!

Happy May!