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1) Before this class I never read independently and would've never guessed it to be any fun. I know enjoy reading and enjoy reading Stephen King's books. I'll read in the car or before I go to bed for a half hour or so. I still don't enjoy reading books assigned by the school, but I've come to realize that doesn't mean I dislike all books and reading.

2)I read books about sports, action, and horror. Stephen King's horror/mystery books really intrigue me and I don't lose interest when reading them. I don't blog on a regular basis and found it to be very tedious, but was able to read the weekly amount,

3) I read in silence, at night in my room *desk or bed), or in the car. I lose myself in the reading and don't text constantly while reading. I don't talk about my book with anyone else I simply just enjoy reading it for myself.

4) I haven't read independently prior to this class, but I believe I will read more of Stephen King's books this summer.

5) I didn't expect poetry to be the main focus of this class. To be honest poetry isn't my favorite thing in the world and I really don't care for it. But this class showed me why poetry is so intriguing and can simply fascinate many people with it's deeper meaning.

Christine #2

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
32-87

Arnie has become obsessed with the car. He took it down to Darnell's shop because he needs to fix it up to make it street legal. It's the lat few weeks of summer and it seems that Arnie is pushing Dennis away. Dennis has been spending more time with this cheerleader girl and doing more chores around the house. The only time he sees Arnie now it seems is at work. All Arnie talks about is her, Christine, and fixing her up and riding around town in her. Dennis has the same dream that night. The next day Denis sees Arnie all beat up and bruised, and ask what happened. Buddy a tough arrogant bully around school was pretty close with Darnell and brought in stolen cars to the shop. Well Buddy started to push Arnie around and trip him a few times, but Arnie didn't care. However, when Buddy busted Christine's head lights Arnie lost it and swung at him. Buddy starting pounding on Arnie, but Arnie didn't back down and started waling out at him landing a couple of shots and eventually like a mad man knocked him to the ground where Arnie continued to beat him. Darnell came out in the knick of time to stop Arnie form basically killing buddy. That day Lebbay suddenly died from a heart attack, the same day the headlight was broken.

I BELIEVE THAT Lebbay CAME TO ATTACHED TO Christine AND SOME MYSTICAL BOND WAS FORMED BETWEEN THEM. i TRULY DON'T KNOW IF ANYTHING IS OUT OF THE ORDINARY WITH THE CAR YET, BUT DENIS'S REOCCURRING DREAM IS really creeping me out. I am amazed that Arnie wouldn't stand up for himself but once Buddy hit Christine (the car) he completely lost it.

Christine #1

Stephen king
Literary Fiction
Pages 1-32

Stephen King is by far my favorite author, and I would've never started to read his books if it weren't for this class. I honestly enjoy reading his books and find myself reading them instead of watching tv some nights. Christine is about a two friends Arnie (pretty much a very kind person, but a nerd) and Denis (a big time football player). One day when driving Arnie home from work they pass this car that is an old junker for sale on the road. Arnie immediately is attracted to the car and seems to fall in love with it. Dennis urges him not to buy it from the old man called Lebbay, but he does buy HER. Lebbay refereed to the car as Christine and never called it it, and instead addressed it as her. This really freaks Dennis out as Arnie starts to call the car Christine and Dennis gets a bad vibe from the car. Later that night Dennis has a bad dream of the car saying to "lets take a ride big guy," and Dennis refuses so Christine runs him over.

SO far i don't know where the story is going, but i really enjoy reading it. I love the idea of how the car is more than just an inanimate object and might be seen as a person. This is one of the better books i'v started to read this semester.

Night Shift #8

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 234-353

The Last Rung on the Ladder is a more depressing fear that could send someone into depression. Larry and Katrina were the closest siblings could get at a young age. Larry receives a letter from Katrina about a month after she committed suicide. Larry and Katrina grew up on a farm in Nebraska where the closest neighbor was 5 miles away. Larry grew up to become a big time lawyer, and move around allot (thats why he received her letter so late). While Katrina lived a rather depressing life as a substitute teacher, who was married twice and divorced twice. They played this game when there parents weren't home when they were young. They would clime up this old rusty rusty ladder to the top of the barn and jump down from the cross beam into a 50ft high hay stack. It was a normal day when they started doing it in the middle of the afternoon. IT was getting late and Larry said they would both do it one more time before their parents came home, but as Larry was at the top of the ladder he could hear the rungs cracking and felt as if the ladder was going to break. He quickly jumped down and was about to tell Katrina not to go up, but she was already halfway up by the time he got out of the haystack. She was almost at the top when the ladder broke, but was able to hang onto the last rung giving Larry sometime to place hay down so she could drop down safety. Well when Larry read the letter Katrina sent him it said, "I wish that the last rung on the ladder would've broke, things would be easier that way." The letter was dated 2 weeks before her suicide.

If I was Larry i don't know how i would cope with the depression and grief that would come from reading this letter. If only he would've stayed in contact with her or didn't move around as often she would most likely still be alive. Larry knows it to, that if he would've came to talk to her things would be better. I wouldn't be able to functions after reading a letter like that if my sister died.

Night Shift #7

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 206-234

Stephen King's short story, Children of The Corn, is easily one of my favorite stories in this book, maybe even better then the Bogeyman. Burt and Vicky are on a cross country road trip to California to hopefully rekindle their lost love before their marriage falls completely apart. Burt decides to take an exit of the turnpike to view the scenery of Nebraska, bad move. They drive on a open road surrounded by walls of corn stacks. For the past 2 hours of driving on the road Burt gets suspicious because they haven't passed one car. A boy came out of the corn filled all bloody and collapsed on the road. By the looks of it he was 18 and was killed by something in the cornfield. Burt plans to drop him off at the next town they come across. On the way to the town, they come across a very strange religious station, where it sounds like a young boy is preaching about the one who walks beyond the cornfield. They reach the small town to only find that there is no life in it. Burt can't accept the fact that something is wrong with the town and keeps looking around. In the bar he find that the calender hasn't been updated for 13 years. When he returns to the car he finds Vicky screaming as little kids with knives and axes take her away. He manages to kill one of them, but a whole swarm chases him. He heads into the corn field and runs for over 12 hours straight and eventually loses them. He then comes to an open patch in the corn field where he sees dead bodies crucified all of them looks like they just turned 18. He then saw Vicky who was brutally mutilated. He realized that these people where sacrificed but by who? He turns around and sees the one who walks beyond the cornfield.

The story in its entirety is very exciting and makes you think about all the small little towns out in the Midwest. I'm sure a town with a population of only around 50 people could vanish and our society wouldn't have a clue. Thats what is scary that an entire town was just wiped out in the middle of no where and nobody knew. There are counties in Nebraska and Iowa with very few people and only rows and rows of corn. The next time I pass a corn field I'll be thinking about the one who walks beyond the corn even if it is a made up story.. right?

Spiece Tournament

Got a basketball tournament this weekend lets go. We will be playing some very quality teams, hopefully we can get a couple wins. This is great practice for the upcoming varsity season at Homestead which should be promising. This year we are losing 6 seniors on the homestead team and only have 4 players returning to the varsity team, but still we have allot of young talent. My AAU team is very good, but the coach favors his son who is honestly not that good. Today we lost both of our games, both in OT, tomorrow should be better. Its hard to except allot this is our very first time playing with each other as a team.

Anthology Poems

Contrasting Theme: Warm Weather V. Cold Weather

Last Snow
BY HEID E. ERDRICH
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/240176

Ice Bound
BY WALTER BARGEN
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237346


The Snow Man
BY WALLACE STEVENS
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174502

“Alone I stare into the frost’s white face”
BY OSIP MANDELSTAM
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/185227

Snow-flakes
BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173915

**Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening** (Video, Lonely winter cold)
BY ROBERT FROST
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171621

Lunch

Random thinking. I am so hungry right now. I can't focus on anything but food. I need to eat. I can't wait to run down the halls to the cafeteria, sneak to the front of the line and buy my food. I don't know whats for lunch today, i never do. Ill probably end up buying pizza, nachos, and ice cream. Now that I have gotten all my thoughts out about food its time to get back to work. I wonder what its like to go on a lunch break at a major company. I don't know maybe one day Ill find out, who knows.

Night Shift #6

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 181-206

Many people start smoking at a young age and can never quit no matter how hard they try. They start to develop the mind set that they need a cigarette to function and complete their daily routine. Well the the short story called Quitters Inc. has a strategy to no only guarantee you stop smoking, but improves your life satisfaction greatly. Dick Morrison has been a smoker since he was 18 and has tried numerous times, but he could never stop. One night on his way to a business meeting in Florida he runs into a old friend. Jimmy McCann use to be a smoker like him, but he quite by using a special company's help and now he is a manager of his company and is physically in the best shape of his life. Dick gets the companies card and heads over to their facility the next month. They make him sign a couple papers and then he is introduced to his new doctor Victor. Victor says the process is simple once you leave this building you can't smoke unless you won't your wife to electrocuted a little. He leaves the session and immediately lights a smoke. The next day he gets a call to come down to the office and his wife is there and they have here in the room with the electric floor. He begs them not to do anything, and they don't this is his first time being caught and they say he will only get a warning. Victor explains you get ten strikes, they include your wife being electrocuted, your children being electrocuted, then it changes to beatings, then the 9th one is they take your wifes finger, and the tenth results in your death. After that Dick refuses to have a cigarette no matter how much he is tempted. He makes it without one for a year and he is in great shape and has even been given in a promotion for his increased work activity. He has one last meeting with Victor and Victor tells him he has passed and that they will no longer be checking up on him REGULARLY.

I really love this chapter and it gets me thinking. If this were a true policy would people, who were smoking really be able to stop just with their will power? I think this should be a real company and I believe that its unconventional methods would really work.

Osama Bin Laden Dead

I'm amazed that after all these years he wasn't hiding out in a cave, but instead he was found near Pakistan's capital in a major complex. He wasn't trying to stay under the radar he was living in a gigantic compound. This amazes me and I'm also worried that Pakistan took so long to report his whereabouts. I believe that some members of intelligent agencies were backing him up and didn't want him to be found. But after many long years we finally got him and the manhunt is over, hopefully his death will stop AL Qaeda's terrorist acts, but i doubt we have heard the last from them.

Night Shift #5

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 142-181

The ledge isn't a story for people who are scared of heights. When reading this story i always thought that this would be one of the most scariest things to do in your entire. This story isn't scary because its about demons or imaginary monsters, but because its about a legitimate fear that many people won't admit, heights. Stan has fallen in love with the love of his life; however, that women is married to the a very powerful drug lord. Stan meets Cressner, the husband of the wife, in his penthouse on the 73rd floor of a skyscraper. He makes a wager that if he is able to walk along the edge of the building one complete time he will let him have his wife and freedom. Stan accepts the wager and the story proceeds with him successfully completing the challenge in a time of 5 hours. With his time on the 6 inch ledge only one false move away from death, the reader can truly feel his fear. Every wind that blew at him made me jump a little bit and then when the birds starting pecking at his ankle I thought he was a goner.He wins the wager, but Cressner crosses him holding a gun in his hands telling him he can go with his life and pick up his love at the morg. Stan is filled with rage and charges Cressner taking the gun from him and forcing him to walk the ledge just as he did. However, Stan had planned even if he does make it back he won't be leaving the building alive.

I would love to do this if i was securely strapped to the building. I believe that the adrenaline rush that being that high up in the air just hanging on a ledge would be exhilarating. I love an adrenalin rush, the most scared iv probably been in my life is when i went snorkeling around a ship wreck and saw about 20 Caribbean ref sharks circling the boat.

Night Shift #4

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 117-142

Have you ever wondered what would happen if automobiles somehow managed to come alive and hunted down humans. Think about it how would you stop an 18 wheeler truck who has no emotions and feels no pain. Thats what happens in King's short story Tucks. A couple of people are eating a truck stop when all over a sudden their vehicles start to move without anyone inside them. They watch as one of the truck drivers is run downed by a speeding truck and splattered across the road. They wait there for many days and believe that they can wait for months with the food available. But they soon realize no one is coming for them and more trucks pull into the station without drivers. They circle the store and then one of them just stops dead.... Gas. The cars needed gas and couldn't pump it themselves. Thus the people thought they would be safe, but they were wrong the truck rammed into the building breaking it down and surrounded the people. The truck played mores-code threw their stereos telling one of them to pump gas. At first they disobeyed then one of them was instantly run over. There life was then devoted to pumping gas for the vehicles around the world.

I can only wonder if everyone around the world was doing this. If i was them i would try to hop into one of the truck and see what happens. I also wonder what would happen if you tried to do that? Its a scary thought, millions of vehicles becoming aggressive towards humans killing them on sight.

Night Shift #3

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 82-117

I'm sure everyones heard of the bogeyman and knows how he comes out of the closet at night to kill little children. Well I've seen the movies, but I never new it was created by Stephen king in a short story. Lester Billings came to Dr. Harper to tell his story of how he lost his three children. Before he starts the story insists that Harper check his closest, nothings inside. He then tells how his three children were murder one by one at night mysteriously. Denny was their first child and when he was two they moved him onto another room. He started crying every night and said he wanted a night light, but Lester never put one in because he thought it would make him soft. The night Denny died he pointed to the closest and said "Bogyman Daddy." Well when he went to check on him later that night Denny was dead on the ground and the closet was a little opened. Then two years later Shirl said the same thing "Bogyman Daddy," but Lester just let her fall asleep again. In the middle of the night he heard a scream and ran into the room and saw a glimpse of a shadow slither back into the closet just barely opened. Shirl died in the same house as Denny. Then he caught the thing strangling his last child after they moved houses. He then heard Andy's poor little neck break as the thing was shaking him and instead of doing something he ran away to an all night dinner. Then Lester leaves the room after finishing his story, then returns to tell him Harper something, but he is gone and the closet is open just a crack.

This is my favorite story so far because it actually scared me. I was reading this at 11:30 at night in my bed an when I tried to go to sleep i kept looking at my closet. I'm not easily scared by horror movies I wasn't even scared by the movie the Bogeyman, but this short story got to me. Maybe it was that i was reading it alone in the dark. The night was quite except for a cold breeze outside. It took me an hour to fall asleep that night.

Fast Five

The new Fast and Furious movie came out this week and I can't wait to see it. I'v seen every F&F movie to this date and they are easily one of my favorite series. I love fast cars and races on the streets. The movies also have some of my favorite actors, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. The new movie Fast Five has also added a new character, who will be played by "The Rock" another great actor. I can't wait to see the movie soon and I will be sure to post and movie review over it.

Night Shift #2

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 37-82

The Mangler is the next short story written by Stephen King that I really enjoyed. The mangler is an old school laundry machine. Officer Hunton is sent to the store because apparently someone's arm got stuck in the the machine and was pulled in between the rollers flatting the poor women making for a slow agonizing death.Officer Hunton suspected that the safety bar wasn't working, but to his surprise when he tested it the machine shut off immediately; therefore, the women should have also set it off when her arm went to far into the machine. Hutton discussed the matter with his close friend Jackson and neither one of them could make sense of it. Then next week one of the steam pipes from the blue ribbon laundry machine broke off and burned 6 of the workers, killing 3 of them. Jackson believes that the machine is possessed by a demon. Hunton is then convinced that Jackson's assumption is correct when they find out that the blood of a virgin is one of the ways to posses an inanimate object. Cherry weeks before these incidents began cut her finger on the machine bleeding all over it, they discovered that she was a virgin.Hunton and Jackson attempt to preform an exorcism, but come to realize that the machine is possessed by a much stronger entity, the hand of glory. The holy water does nothing to it and it soon rises out of the ground using the pipes as legs. Hunton runs out of their screaming leaving Jackson behind to die.

I'm amazed by the creativeness of Stephen King's writing. I could never have thought of a laundry machine to be something you could base a horror story off of. In fact credits found it to be so good they made a movie of it. I'll have to watch the movie and compare the the book to it and see what the movie changed. I can't wait to read more of his stories, so far they are all so good.

Im a Scatman!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cnQCk0u49w

This song can make anyone want to dance and if it doesn't then no beat on earth could get those people to grove. The musical beat of this song is just so energizing. The Scatman is simply the best artist to ever exist.

Night Shift #1

Stephen King
Literary Fiction
Pages 1-37

Night Shift is a collection of horrific short stories written by Stephen King. The story's are suppose to provoke the fear inside a human's mind making those final minutes before a person falls asleep in the pitch black dreadful. This is the first book I've read of Stephen King's and thought I could sample a bunch of his short stories before I decided to start buying multiple books of his. So far I'm very impressed and find myself unable to put the book down at times. All of the stories are good, but a select few of them are spectacular and one can truly not stop reading even if its 1 in the morning and one eye is closed. The first short story I'm going to share with you is titled the Grave Yard Shift. Hall works at a Textile Mill and has signed on to help clean out the basement of the factory over the week of memorial day. Warwick, the boss, has hired a bunch of men to clean out the basement during the graveyard shift (1-5 in the morning) because the the intense heat in the day. The first shift Hall discovered that there was more trash then any of them could've imagined and that there were tons of huge rats. These rats aren't just abnormally large they are literally the size of a germen Shepard dog. The next day he found a locked door leading to an even lower level. The workers could here the noise of thousands of rats coming from that door. Warwick tells Hall to go find the source of rats and Hall demands that Warwick comes with him. They both go down and discover that this floor goes past the buildings foundations right into the earth. They follow the tunnel and fight mutated rats with wings just like bats. They keep going and soon 10s of thousands of rats are following them. Then they see the impossible, a giant rat with wings the size of a mini van. The mutated rodent immediately attack Warwick and Hall runs away,but trips on a rat and they all swarm him as he starts to scream out in laughter.

I love reading these short stories and really liked this one because of the detail King gives about the main characters life and thoughts. I really like King's Gothic style of writing. The endings are all short and usually result in death there is nothing climatic of the endings and that annoys me, but at the same time it leaves the readers mind open to speculation. King is a literary genius.

Pen Spinning

Recently I saw a video on you tube about pen spinning and I'm now addicted to it. I have been trying to do the tricks in all my classes every chance i get, but I'm failing miserly. Every class i drop my pen easily over 100 times. The main pen spinners are in Japan where its a sport and they are insanely good at it. I need to stop this pen spinning business, but its very addicting. I find myself not focusing as much as i should in class and starting to rage after dropping it several times.

Fishing

In two weeks my dad, uncle, and I are going up to Pittsburgh where my family is from for our fishing trip. The second stalking of Tomas Mills is in 2 weeks and we were suppose to go to the first stalking, but the weather was to bad and streams were flooded. Hopefully the weather is gets better soon so we are able to go. We always have a great time and make many memories together. I still remember the fun things we did when I first when i was only 12 years old.

Summer Ball

Mike Lupica
Popular Fiction
Pages 157-214

The first day of practice Mr. Powers already shows that he is going to go hard on Danny because of hid grudge against his father. He makes Danny run laps around the court because made a noise when someone stepped on his foot. The coach barely plays him in games and when he does if Danny makes one bad decision he immediately gets taken out. He calls his father to get advice and his dad tells him to confront the coach and ask him what he needs to do better. When he goes to seek advice from the coach he is told that basketball isn't his sport and that he should play soccer instead. The next game Danny is put in towards the end and starts to do really good, he starts making his shots and beautiful no look passes. At the end of the game they are down one point and Danny does a double crossover to get past two defenders. He thinks he has an open layup and as he releases the ball and turn around to watch it drop though the net, he instead sees this huge 6'8" kid jumping so high that he could've put his elbow in the rim and grabbing the ball out of the air. The buzzer-ed went off and coach began giving it to Danny. The next games Danny didn't play at all and he decided to fake an injury to get out of camp. But then he remembers that Zach Fox looked up to him and what would he think if he quit so instead of giving in he doesn't quite and practices even harder. He and Rasheed become good friends and Rasheed knows Danny is by far one of the bets guards at the camp, even almost as good as him. Rasheed forgets about the past game and tells Danny that he was never friends with Lamar, who is a arrogant jerk. They make it to the championship game and Rasheed has convinced coach that Danny is really good, so he has been playing all throughout the playoffs and has been schooling everyone with Rasheed. Danny steals the ball from Lamar in the last possession of the game to beat his team and prove to coach he is a great basketball player.

Mike Lupica once again has successfully incorporated life messages into basketball. Instead of doing nothing about his problems Danny confronts his coach and asks for guidance. Even after being told he will never be good enough to play he almost quits, but then realizes if he quits at this he'll be a quitter the rest of his life. Therefore, Danny learns to never quit at something and to persevere through the struggles to achieve success. I also like how Rasheed and Danny were able to become friends after they got off on the wrong foot, both boys are really nice and good. In the end I'm happy Danny took it to Lamar and showed his coach that he really is a basketball player.

Summer Ball

Mike Lupica
Popular Fiction
Pages 72-157

Danny and Ty arrive are driven from the airport to camp by a college player named Nick Pinto, who was also very short. When Danny and Ty saw the camp they thought it was basketball paradise. There was a lighted court everywhere you looked and a lake just out in the distance. The kids were broken into different bunks where they would stay for the rest of the month, Danny and Ty were suppose to be in the same bunk because Richie was able to call and arrange it, but they ended up mixing Danny's name up with another kid named Danny and he had to bunk with the littler kids. This wasn't to bad because Danny ended up meeting a kid who was feeling even worse then him, but was even shorter then he was. The kids name was Zach Fox and he said he didn't even want to be here and his parents forced him to come. He got so worked up he almost cried, but he left the room with his ball before he completely lost it. Danny followed Zach to the court were he started shooting the ball and dribbling it. Danny noticed that he was really good at handling the ball and lighting fast like him. When Zach shot his goofy shot Danny laughed because it looked like his shot when he was that age. Danny ended up playing Zach in one on one and really started to like the kid, Zach felt a lot better and looked up to Danny as his idol. In the distance he could see two guys watching him, Rasheed and Lamar. Rasheed was on the team that Danny beat in the 7th grade finals and was their stare player until he fail out on an offensive charge that Danny set. Rasheed already called him out earlier on it saying he could only flop and had no game. Lamar was a taller kid, who was an arrogant player, but probably the best at the camp, he yelled at them saying "look at the two midgets playing they should be using a girls ball." The next day Danny finds out he is on the same team as Rasheed and his coach is Mr. Powers a man who hold a grudge against his father from backing out of going to his college.

I believe that Danny and Rasheed are going to be competing against each other for most of the season and that in order to be successful they are going to have to play together as a team. Also, Mr. Powers might go harder on Danny because dislikes his father just like Mr. Ross did for most of the first book. I can't wait to get to read about them starting to play games and Danny playing Lamar's team.

I believe that Danny is going to have

Art Gallery

Adam Gayer's abstract painting alludes to a calm content feeling. The effervescent colors imply a benevolent feeling in one. This work of art is truly majestic and dignified.The line patterns and colors really allow the viewer to see the painting it their own unique perspective.

Dank

Dank: (adj.) Unpleasantly damp or wet
The room had a dank atmosphere of a wet cave

My favorite vocab word is dank.

Summer Ball

Mike Lupica
Popular Fiction
Pages 1-72

Danny Walker is back in the sequel to Travel Team, where his team the Middleton Warriors won the national 7th grade travel championship. The book is staged in the summer before Danny enters into high school, where his dad is now coaching the varsity team. It looks like Danny and Ty might be able to play on Varsity as freshmen because of how good they are getting. This summer Danny and Ty are going to the best basketball camp in the country for 13-15 year olds. The Cameron invitational camp is one of the most prestiges camps in the country where college recruits come to watch the middle schoolers play, before they enter into high school. The recruiters are always looking for the next Lebron James. Danny has gotten even better at handling the ball and has perfected his jump shot, but he is still always the shortest player on the court. While Ty has grown and is the best overall player for his age in the state of New York. Danny is excited to get away from Middleton because recently the girl he has always hanged out with (who he really likes) is hanging around with this stud tennis player all the time. The day before they leave for Maine to go to the camp Ty and Danny are playing one on one. Danny blows by Ty easily with a double cross over and he thinks he has a easy layup, but out of no where Ty jumps from behind him and swats his ball down the hill. Danny thinks to himself "that can't be a good sign."

I can't wait to really get into this book, I loved the first one and hope this one is just as good. I think this story will focus even more on Danny's height disadvantaged
and the struggles he will face to keep getting better. The story will also probably use basketball as a way of demonstrating life lessons by comparing basketball to life. The last line that i read suggests that Danny is going to be getting stuffed a lot at camp and he is going to need to practice even harder.

NBA playoffs

The playoffs are wide open this year and anyone who made it into the playoffs this year has a fighting chance of winning the title. Early favorites haves lost their first game to teams that no one thought would even have a chance. The grizzlies were able to bet the Spurs in a shocking upset, will have to see if Tim Duncan can motivate his team to a win to even out the series. Also, the struggling Lakers lost to Chris Paul and the hornets. If Chris Paul continues to play like he has been i believe that the Hornets are a very dangerous team. Other notable highlights are that the Knicks nearly beat the Celtics and have a good shot at winning the series. The bulls are up 2-0 on the pacers, but surprisingly have had to come from behind to win. Also the magic have lost their first game as Dwight Howard was frustrated greatly by the other team. The Knicks are my team and I want them to go all the way, but i believe the obvious final picks as of right now are.

Thunder v. Heat

Travel Team #3

Mike Lupica
Popular Fiction
156-212

The game the Warriors lost by 1 was the last game before the playoffs. Next weekend the Warriors would play the number one ranked team the Vikings, the team Danny was cut from. Ty Ross hasn't played with them all year because of injury and will be able to play this week making them even better. Danny's Dad came into Monday nights practice a little late and was acting a little awkward. He was yelling at the team after every little mistake and making them run suicides for every bad play, he even started to curse at the kids. After, practice Richie drove him home without saying a word. The next day him and will went into a town and Danny caught a glimpse of his dad sitting at the bar just staring into space, he sees him at the bar allot lately and starts to wonder if what Ted Morgan said about his Dad being a drunk was true. Later that night the hospital called the house telling them that Richie was in a car accident. When Danny goes into see him, Richie immediately tells him that he wasn't drunk and explains to him how the first car crash he was in that he was very drunk. People always felt sad for Richie because they thought he caught a bad break, but the truth was that he was drunk that night of the car crash and he ruined his whole NBA career and has never been able to move on. Now Danny knows the truth, but Richie promised that he has quite and that the night he came into practice all upset was the last time he has drank. Danny is giving coaching responsibility of the Warriors for the big playoff game and Ty switch to their team because of how aggressive his father was being. When the game starts and Ty subs in against Mr. Ross team, Mr. Ross couldn't take it and he called timeout and walked over to Richie walker in the stand and sat right next to him to cheer on their sons. The game was tied with 10 seconds left and Danny does it double crossover move just like last time, but this time when he takes the shot its nothing but net... swoosh. The Warriors beat the Vikings and it seems that old rivalries have come to an end.

I really enjoy this story because it teaches life lessons through basketball, and shows how the game of basketball is just like life. There are times in a game when things won't go your way no matter how hard you try just life life. The important things is that you never give up and that you keep trying to achieve your goal no matter what. I also like how Richie was able to forget about the past and stop feeling sorry for himself and live with his family again. The book also shows that its important to not dwell on the past with the example of Mr. Ross not being jealous of Richie always being number one in their ball days.

Travel Team #2

Mike Lupica
Pular Fiction
89-156

Richie Walker decided to make his own travel team, the Middleton Warriors. Danny was so excited because this meant that his dad would be sticking around with them for awhile and he would feel like he had a real family. The team was very good they only manage to find 9 players and most of them weren't really good. Danny and his best friend will both knew it too. The first practice they had was terrible, but Richie kept telling them to hang in their and the season could be very special. The first weekend of games came and the warriors went 0-2 and lost one game by 40. instead of being the team nobody wanted to play they were the team everybody wanted to play. One night Richie showed up to practice early and caught a glimpse of the girls practice. The best girl in the area, Colby, was making the game look easier dribbling by defenders like they weren't even there. Richie was very impressed and asked her father if she would like to pracite with his team. Then she starts to practice every night with them and Richie decides to let her play on the team. With Colby they were allot better they actually won one game, Danny finaly had someone to pass to when he drove. Things weren't just getting better for the basketball team, but this Christmas Danny was the happiest he has ever been. His mom and dad were looking like a real couple and it felt like one of the perfect family Christmas that you see on t.v. Danny got a Jason Kidd autographed basketball from his father. The next travel game they were in it to the end against the team that beat them by 40 early this season. It was 38-37 with 10 seconds left Danny's team was down. He split the defenders with his double cross over he was always working on perfectly and pulled up for the shot... short. Danny missed as time expired right as things started to look good this happens.

I really like how Danny's family life is starting to improve. The most important thing in life is your family and it looks like he got his back. I can relate to how Danny felt after missing that shot because every basketball player gets knock down at some point in time. It's up to Danny to work even harder and win the next game, which i predicted he will. In life in order to achieve success you need to continue to push forward after your failures.

Travel Team

Mike Lupica
Popular Fiction
Pages 1-89

Danny Walker is the son of a the famous basketball star Richie Walker, who is knows for taking the 7th grade Middleton travel team to nationals and winning it when he was 12. The first season Richie was in the NBA he was in a car crash and now he will never be able to play basketball again. His wife and him are divorced and he hasn't spent much time with his son, and whenever he comes over for the holidays the stay is always brief. However, Danny Walker is cut from the 7th grade travel team, the Vikings, because Mr.Ross says he is to short. He has always been the shortest in his grade, but that hasn't stopped him from being the best ball handler in town or from being the best passer. In pick-up games Danny was the 1st to be picked by a team captain because everyone knew how good he was. Mr.Ross had played with Richie on the 7th grade travel team and throughout high school. Richie was always the star and Mr. Ross was always second stuck behind his shadow. Also, Ty Ross who is the best player in the entire town and one of the best in the nation is close friends with Danny and knows that Danny should have made the team. After, hearing the new that Danny was cut from the team Richie shoes up in town to help his son out, talking about why he didn't make it. The next day Richie was watching Danny play a pick up game, with the boys that made the team, at the fare and blowing by them with Ty on his team. Mr. Ross came up to say hello and Richie took no time is asking why Danny didn't make the team. Mr. Ross could only say that he was to short and if he didn't like the system he should make his own team.

I really like this book because the main topic is about my favorite sport basketball. I can truly relate to Danny because I was cut from the 9th grade high school team in New Jersey because i just moved into town and no one knew me. But the next year I started JV and sat Varsity. Now next year I will again be playing another varsity season for Homestead, after just moving here this year. I really think Mr. Ross cut Danny because he was jealous of Richie. The last quote of the chapter by Mr. Ross foreshadows that Richie is going to in fact make his own team with all the kids who were told they weren't good enough to play.

Upstate New York Farmhouse

The upstate farmhouse is a simple house surrounded by open wilderness expressing a calm a relaxing feeling. The Farmhouse design is very plain and open which conveys a sense of welcoming. The home isn't filled with modern commodities or flashy new technology. The house is surrounded by wildlife and nature, isolated from the busy society of the modern world. The house looks very peaceful and a place where someone could escape to. The swimming pool is like a private oasis for the owners of the house. The public isn't able to disturb the peaceful land that the home is on. This home captures the full experience of living a simple life in the outdoors.

Soccer Freestyle

I'm very impressed with Indi's desire and drive at her young age. She set her mind to be a great soccer player and make the Olympic team and she went after it. She wakes up at 5 in the morning to practice that is truly dedication. Also, she plays on a boys club team to better her skills because the pace of the game is faster and of a higher level then a girls game. However, she is the best freestyle girl in the world, but is under the radar at school. She doesn't strut through the hallways with everyone knowing her. I want to be as dedicated to something as she as and work hard to achieve my goal. She is so good at 10 she scored three goals even though the coach benched her after every time she scored because she was yelled at to pass the ball. I believe that she should pass the ball more, but if she scores the other girls shouldn't hate her for it and single her out. I hope she makes it to the Olympic team and is a great success.

High School Interview

I believe many people in this school have similar to ideas as at least one of these people. I think that the Marijuana baker idea is the most deluded because I don't think that people would allow a store like that for citizens to come hang out and smoke marijuana. However, i do find it the most interesting because i think if marijuana is legalized then this is a big possibly and i think it'll be very successful. I alos like the idea of becoming a pilot just simply because he isn't mainly concerned about the money he actually wants to fly airplaines for fun.

I'm most like the undecided kid because i want to make money, but i also feel that i need to go into a career that i truly enjoy working with. I want a job that pays well so i can enjoy the finer things of life, but i would much rather settle with a job that has less money and i really love what i'm doing then with a job that has more money but i hate going to work.

That was Then, This is Now #3

S.E. Hinton
Popular Fiction
pages 143-212

The books ending was something i wasn't expecting. The falling action starts when M&M runs away from home because of his dad making fun of his long hippie hair. Cathy and Bryon grew real close to each other during this time looking for M&M. Bryon started to find it actually easy to tell her he loves her and actually mean it. While Mark continued to bring in money, but Bryon never knew what he was ever doing. In order to get back at Angela Mark and Bryon hung out one night like they use to and picked up Angela, who still loved Bryon but was really drunk. They cut off all her hair and threw her in her yard past out. Bryon was really drunk and started to pour his thoughts out to mark how he was changing into an adult, he had a job a girlfriend and didn't want to get into fights anymore. Bryon starts wondering "What If" like an older person would and Mark starts saying that your still a kid and need to simply live in the moment. Mark tells Bryon he knows where M&M is the next day Bryon and Cathy go find him a the hippie house Mark told them about. Where they got their M&M lost his mind on an acid trip and had permanent brain damage. Bryon and Cathy grew even closer as the wept for M&M together. Bryon went home and found acid pills under Mark's bed and lost it, he called the cops and took Mark away. Mark was put away for five years and Bryon went to visit him once, but Mark said he hated him and he meant it. Bryon became depressed and again started to wonder "What If" i just told Mark to stop dealing he would've stopped.

I believe if Mark wasn't so lost in his emotions for M&M and Cathy at the time that he would've never called the police. But unfortunately he did and he knew he made the wrong decision he lost his brother and ruined his life at the same time. After Mark was gone all he did was stay at home depressed studying. He got good grades but had no social life. I feel terrible for both Mark and Bryon, but i feel the most pain for Bryon because he will hate himself forever. I also know that Mark will probably end up a criminal and return to jail after being released. Bryon's childhood is over and he will forever be wondering "What if."

That Was Then, This Is Now #2

S.E. Hinton
Popular Fiction
pages 75-143

Bryon decide she really likes Cathy and finds her to be beautiful, so he decides to take her to a school dance. Mark would've double dated, but he was already going with a group of guys. Bryon picks Cathy up from her house with Charlie's Car, who lent it to him for the night. He is having a great time at the dance until somebody tells him Mark is hurt, Bryon rushes out to the parking lot where Mark and his pals were drinking. Byron finds out that his ex-girlfriend Angela told some stranger to beat up this guy, who turned her down. They were fighting fairly until the guy reached for a bottle then Mark stepped in between them and told them to keep it clean. The guy then decides to hit Mark over the head with it, while his back was turned. Mark was out cold and need 8 stitches, Bryon was really scared and felt that he was going to loss his brother, his best friend. While Mark was sick they began talking about things have changed since they were little and things weren't simple anymore. Bryon's reply was that was then, this is now. After their mom came home Bryon changed his attitude to find a job and started to spend more time with Cathy and less with Mark. Mark also make some cash for them, but no one knows how.

I really believe that the message of this story is expirenced by everyone as they grow up. When people grow up, some of their friends do grow apart. I've had personal expirence where I've grown apart from some of my childhood friends. This is because people develope diffrent intrests and mature at diffrent rates. I believe Bryon is learning to live in the real world and Mark is still holding onto his childhood years.

VCU

Virginia Commonwealth University has shocked the world by making the final four this weekend. They beat two of the best teams in the tournament, a number 2 seed Florida and a number one side Kansas. Kansas was predicted to win the entire tournament, but VCU was able to stun them by beating them badly with leadership from Rodriguez and a three point shooting percentage above 50%. Since none of my teams have made it to the final four i will be cheering for VCU to win it all, a team people thought shouldn't be allowed in the tournament.

Favorite Poem

My favorite poem so far was Mary Oliver's Wild Geese because it used nature to symbolize the world keeps turning. I find it very inspirational and it makes me want to get up after falling down. No matter what happens I still can try hard to find something better.

Past Reading

I have really enjoyed reading more then i have in the past. I've enjoyed most of the books I've read for the class and find myself reading instead of watching t.v. sometimes for fun. My favorite book so far was World War Z because I like zombie movies and video games. However, I feel that the book has brought me the must excitement out of all three. I truly like the situations present in the book and the way it was written. Th writing style of this book is very unique and i enjoy the narrators reports of different encounters around the world. I hope i continue to enjoy reading and find some other great books that interest me.

Bracket poll, still Hope

Even though my bracket took a major hit, I'm still only 20 points back from 1st place, putting me in a tie for 2nd out of 40 people. Potentially my bracket has a shot to win it, but some major teams need to loss and my two final four teams remaining need to win. Duke and UNC need to make it to the final four for me to have a chance of coming out of this with a win. It would also help if Kansas and Ohio State lost. A lot of things need to fall my way, in order to win the $200, but it's still possible.

Jimmer

Jimmer of BYU has led his team to the sweet 16. He can shoot father and better then anyone in the league right now and does it on a consistent bases. I wouldn't want to play BYU right now because Jimmer is certainly a force to be reckoned with. It doesn't matter if you double team him he will launch up a three pointer falling over and still drain it. BYU might have a chance to beat Florida.

Bracket Busters

My NCAA bracket has self destructed over the weekend. My national champion runner up, Pitt, was knocked out in the second round by butler. I also lost two of my elite eight picks. West Virginia looked like they were going to win the game, but fail apart in the second. While Gonzaga never had a chance when Jimmer of BYU starts hitting threes from half court basically with his eyes closed. This year my bracket has been a complete bust so now its time to rout for Jimmer and DUKE!!! Lets go.

That was Then, This is Now

S.E. Hinton
Popular Fiction
pages 1-75

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers since they were little kids. They live in inner city of Chicago and are now juniors in high school. Bryon is very good at pool and the story starts off with them going into Charlie's bar and hustling guys out of $100 to make some quick cash. They then meet up with a younger kid named M&M. He got his nick name because he always had a bad of candy with him. As M&M leaves the store leaves the store he gets corned by Curly Shepard, one of the dumb hood in the Shepard gang. He starts shoving M&M around and beating him up a little. Mark and Bryon rush out of the store and surprise the two guys pinning them to the ground. M&M didn't like fighting and told them to let the Shepards go, he said he didn't believe in hurting someone else just because they were different. M informs them that his old sister Cathy is back from private school and will be attending their public school this year. Bryon doesn't remember much about Cathy, but can't help to thik that she was beautiful. The next day the boys go to the hospital after school to visit their mom. Their father left them and Bryon's mom adopted Mark. They had to raise money for the surgery, and Mark always had some extra cash. Bryon never asked where he got the money, but knew Mark was real bad when it came to stealing things and Mark couldn't see what was bad about it.

I really like this book because I can see how this can relate to many teenagers lives in the inner cities. I've never hustled or stole anything, but I'm sure this happens a lot in tough cities. However, I can relate to Mark and Bryon's fighting to help out M&M. My friends and I would never let anyone pick on someone. We would always stick up for someone no matter how different they were. from what I've read so far I can interpret some of the foreshadowing that Mark may get in trouble by stealing something and Bryon will fall in love with Cathy.

Positively Fifth Street #3

James McManus
Literary Fiction
Pages 70-103

Ted Binion didn't start his gambling enterprise in las Vegas, but instead he got his start in Texas. He held small poker competitions at a court house late into the night. He didn't make a lot of money to start off with,but he soon become a major gambling boss. In world war 2 his business began to rapidly expand and he was soon targeted regularly by the government for illegal gambling. In 1946 his sheriff got beat and he decided to take off for Las Vegas with his family and $2 million in cash. Meyer Lansky trained Benion in the art of criminal and legitimate business practices. Lansky was a gangster like Al Capone, who made alot of money during prohibition by selling illegal liquor and prostitution. Binion took over the El dorado casino on Fremont and renamed it the Horseshoe, the same hotel that Jim will be playing the world series of poker tournament. Binion ran his casino just like in the old school gangster movies. he didn't call the cops when someone was cheating, he got his bodyguards to beath him with bat. he believed the past way to keep people from cheating was intimidation and it worked.

So far i really enjoy the book. I really like the idea of how Binion ran the Casino. However, the scary part is that the managers would truly do these things. For example, cheaters would get beat by bats and have their bones broken. Binion order hits on people that didn't pay their debt and I'm sure old gang managers did the same in the 50s. This book relates a lot to one of my favorite movies Casino in the aspect of managing a casino in the old days.

NCAA prediction

My final four predictions are ND, Duke, Pitt, and UNC. These teams have started to peek towards the end of the season and are very well rounded. I believe that UNC has some of the best talent in the tournament it just depends if they show up to play, which they need to do to go far. I also think Pitt will win it all just due to their overall streagnth at the guard position. They have 3 of the best guards in the country and now have a dominant inside force. Wanamaker is a potential player of the year canidate and has led his team to a big east conference chapionship.

Other notables to look out for are: Conneticut, Texas, Kansas, and West Virginia

Positively Fifth Street #2

James McManus
Literary Fiction
Pages 33-70

Jim the narrator takes a plain to Las Vegas to cover the Ted Binion murder trial and compete in the world series event. Jim's wife thinks that this is entire waste of money and believes that Jim is simply dead money. Dead money is the money that gets added to the winnings, but the people don't make it into the money rounds; therefore, they don't get any of the winnings. 1st place gets 1 million dollars while 2nd gets 600,000 and 27th gets 16,000. His wife allows him to go blow his bonus to compete in the tournament, but packs in his suite case a message reminding him off the dangerous of being addicted to high risks. The note reads, "the longer the addiction goes untreated the greater the probability of arrest and imprisonment. The disease can wreck family, career, and even life." Jim first learned to play poker from his uncle and only played with a couple of his buddies maybe once a month. The risk were never extremely high and they only played for fun. Jim found himself being drawn into the game and began reading every poker book he could get. he read guides from past champions and books with the probabilities and statistics of each hand. He got his main practice preparing for the tournament on online poker tournaments for free. Over the winter he played over 10,00 virtual hands and won 7 tournaments. By the time he got to Las Vegas he felt that he was ready to played, but nothing could've prepared him for the nerves he would face with the risk of losing 10,000 dollars.

If I had the money to enter into the tournament I would. Like Ted I get very excited and intense over taking risk, its an adrenaline rush. I love picking sports teams to win and playing sports to see who is the best, but I would never risk 10,000 dollars unless I was a millionaire. So far this book has talked about how people are drawn to risk and I completely agree with it. Most people enjoy the adrenaline rush of winning and the possibility of losing.

Peter Rabbit

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was one of my favorite little kids novels. I forgot must of the story, but seeing the cover makes me want to read it again. I loved the rabbits and how they took the risk of going into the garden. The thrill of wandering if the rabbit was going to make it out of the garden or get caught by the farmer. Reading Peter Rabbit in my mind was such a thrill and i can't wait to read it again.

March Maddness

The NCAA tournament is about to begin and I have already filled out two brackets. This is my favorite sports tournament for any event. I love watching the top teams dominating the 16th seeds and the hopeful Cinderellas upsetting a number 2 seed. This year i have Pitt going all the way, they are in an easier bracket and have 3 of the most talented guards this year. They also have a possible player of the year candidate in Wanamaker. I can't wait for the first games to start and watch my picks soar to the top or fall short and prove to be disappointments.

Positively Fifth Street

James McManu
Literary Fiction
Pages 1-33

The story starts off with the murder of Ted Binion, the icon and in many ways the godfather of no limit Texas hold'em. He was a Vegas man; he was addicted to heroin, alcohol, gambling, sex, and poker. Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish were close friends to Ted, but were also his murders. Why would anyone want to kill Ted you may ask, simple the incentive of money. Ted Binion was the king of poker, he mad a fortunate off of it and started the world series of poker tournament. He made tens of millions of dollars every tournament he held because so many people were addicted to gambling. They would through away 10,000 dollars to compete in the tournament hoping to make the money. The narrator is a writer who is to go to Las Vegas and report the Binion trial. He is also suppose to analyse the success of different genders and origins at the poker tournament. He decides to enter the tournament himself because he enjoys the risk of gambling and the excitement of winning money. He uses his bonus to pay the 10,000 buy in and the journey begins.

I love poker, but rarely play for money. However, when playing with money it does make you feel more intense and excited. Your adrenaline starts pumping and the success of victory is so much sweeter. I love the idea of high risk high reward, but would never gamble away 10,000 dollars on a card game. So far i enjoy the book and can't wait till the narrator starts playing people in poker. i believe that Tabish and Murphy will get away with murder because of their fancy attorneys.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 374-404

America was the first to eradicate the zombie infection, but the rest of the world is still struggling against the infection. America has established its continent as a zombie free, which was suppose to establish a sense of security. However, the society will always fear the zombies and it'll take centuries to restore the nation's confidence. Even though the nation was declared safe people were very cautious in returning home. Also, the United States military had to travel across seas to help their allies who were having no success in killing the zombies. The war was harsh and long, but the humans avoid extinction and were able to eradicate most of the zombies. This war has effected society greatly. People went insane and some people will never be able to let there guard down.

I believe that the society will always be in constant fear of the zombies and will never ever to be at ease. I hope that the soldiers will be able to forget of the tragedies they have experienced and move on with their lives. They never figured out how to kill the zombies in the ocean, therefore i fear that its only a metter of time for the next outbreak to begin.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 328-374

America's assault on the Zombies was entirely different then Europe's in the sense that America's assault was strategically planned and the military personnel were well trained and their were minimal casualties. In Europe the military didn't plan out any assault they marched into the cities without and strategy and hoped to eradicate the Zombies. This was a horrible idea because zombies could come from any building or back ally way. The Americana's used blow horns to draw the zombies out of the cities and into open territory for a reason. Millions of people live in major cities across the world and those people were now zombies. The Europeans suffered many hard losses to the zombie hoard es within the city because of running out of ammunition and getting trapped in from all streets by Zs. The push to liberate Europe from all zombies was a one of pain and suffering. One of the most gruesome facts was after every squad went down, it meant that they only strengthened the Zombies numbers. The Europeans didn't have a battle of Hope where their confidence was restored, they fought the entire war scarred and knowing that many of them would be killed and reanimated as Zombies.

I believe that if the Europeans government would've followed Americas strategic planned that they could have successfully assaulted the zombies with less casualties. I also believed that because of their many failed attempts the militarise morale was plummeting knowing that they would have to kill their buddies, who came back from the dead to only devour them. It would pain me to be bitten by one of the zombies and knowing that i was going to change. The military forced officer to execute infected military personnel. It's heartbreaking that the officer were forced to do this and many of them couldn't coup and killed themselves. War is a horrible thing and violence can only bring suffering.

Weekend blog assignment: Spellbound

1. Pick any two of the students in Spellbound and compare and contrast what you see as their motivations for pursuing success in the National Spelling Bee.

I believe Nupur and Neil are both very self motivated and want to achieve success. I think they stive for perfection and push themselves to achieve it to be successful not only for themselves, but to make their parents proud. They are both pushed hard by their paraents and I believed they feel pressured to win for their parents. Both of their parents are successful and they only wish to pursue in their footsteps to make them proud.
I feel that Ted Bringham is motivated by his teachers and himself to make it to washington where he can find other kids as intelligent as he is. His parents are already proud of him and want him to win, but more importantly to develop frienships with other kids. Since Ted lives out on the country not many people are as smart as him and see him as an outsider because of his intelligence. In Washington Ted can truely be himself and make lasting bonds with the people at the nation spelling bee.

Tough Loss

Homestead's boys basketball team suffered a tough loss to Jay County friday night. Going into the game we were playing some of the best ball we have been all year with 6 wins in our last 7 games. Unfortunately things didn't bounce our way friday. Jay county got out to an early lead and we couldn't find our chemistry which allowed to beat some high quality teams. It also doesn't help when you only shot 20% from the field collectively, while the other team is shooting in the high 40s. It was a tough loss to a great season. It was alot of fun and hopefully will be back next year.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 292-328

Once the world was able to establish safe zones throughout the world there was only one thing left to do, go on the attack. This will be the first time the world will enter into a total war. Most wars victor are decided by who can endure the most violence and suffering. But Zombies have no emotions and feel no pain. Zombies will fight never stop coming until they are all wiped out that's why so many people were scared to fight the billions of zombies across the world because there was no surrender. Todd was a marine grunt who was part of America's attack force. He was there at the battle of Yonkers where the U.S discover how horrifying their enemy was. He was also at the battle of Hope in New Mexico, America's first assault on the Zombie hoards. The military learned a lot from Yonkers they invested all their supplies and effort into manpower and ammo. The only vehicles that were at the battle were transporting Hum Vs that brought the grunts and ammo in. The grunts have been trained for this they formed a square shape around the supplies and ammo and when ready sounded the blow horn attracting the zombies. A constant chain of zombies arrived because on zombie moan attracts all surrounding zombies and that moan attracts more zombies even farther away. The first wave of zombies came in and the soldiers were able to take them out quick and efficiently, their motto was " 1 second for aiming, 1 shot to the head." Hundred of thousands of zombies stormed the area, but the soldiers killed them all Zombies had to start climbing over the wall of corpses that surround the square. This was the start of what would be a quick and efficient assault on the infected territories in America.

The United States was able to effectively kill thousands of Zombies with no casualties because of their training. Ever since Yonkers they have trained to properly fight of Zs. The United states military is very intelligent and I believed developed a proper system for tacking down the zombies. Also i believe that by the time the soldiers got to the fight that they would be able to effectively get head shots because of there training it was pure instinct at the time. This shows the the U.S can re train and adapt to any situation.

2.23 Diction Exsercise #2

Wild Geese, Mary Oliver

A. Repenting, Despair, Landscapes, Prairies, Home, Deep Trees, Imagination, Harsh, Exciting

B.
Level of Formality- Descriptive, Passionate, Formal

Connotation- Poetic, Flowing, Comforting

C. Mary Oliver uses passionate and comforting language to express that one shouldn't dwell on their mistakes, but instead should learn from them and continue to pursue their goals.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 264-292

Terry Knox's experienced World War Z in a way different from everyone else, during the war he was not on planet Earth. Knox was the Australian commander of the International Space Station. He and his crew were the only human beings that were completely safe from the Z's, however they faced the dangerous of starvation and O2 depletion. Half of the crew was able to return to Earth in an escape pod, while the rest of them remained in space without any contact from Earth. They were able to scavenge an abandoned Chinese satellite for parts and supplies. They gathered enough materials to remain alive for 10 years according to their calculations. While, the rest of humanity experienced the Zombie outbreak, Knox and his crew witnessed it. The government stilled controlled their satellites images, therefore the crew had no control on what areas of Earth they were going to observe. The watch through a telegraphic lens the battles in China and the horrors of Yonkers. The most terrifying thing they observed was the Zombies abilities to borrow into ground after little animals like rabbits. This showed they were creatures who lived only off instincts and would do anything to get a piece of meat. However, no sight they saw on the screen could replace the naked eye, they view earth from the observation deck and saw the whole world in flames not just cities burning but billions of campfires across the world. They were able to survive the zombie war without ever facing any harm, these people were truly blessed.

I believe if i had the chance to return to Earth i would. I would want to go protect my family and ensure their safety. If i had a wife and child there would be nothing that could stop me from boarding that escape pod. I would leave the security of the satellite to fight of thousands of Zombies in order to keep my family safe. I would also feel terrible viewing all the horrible things happening to humanity and not being able to do anything about it. The guilt of staying in the satellite and the possibility of my family dieing would drive me insane.

2.23 Diction Exercise

A. Crap, Lousy, Brother, Nice, Secret Gold fish, David Copperfield, Hemorrhages, Touchy as hell, Goddamn, Autobiography

B.
Level of Formality- Informal, Slang
Connotation- Keeps it interesting, adds vulgarity in his slang, casual talk, easy going
Concreteness- Distinct, Dull, Harsh mood

C. Holden's use of vulgar dialect and slang highlights that in a distinct part of his life he was experiencing a dull and harsh mood.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
238-264

With the land overrun by Zombies the safest place to flee was the seas. Admiral Xu the captain of a submarine made a bold decision when he choose to leave the dock to keep thousands of people safe, even though he would be disobeying a direct order from the military. Xu told crew members to send word for their families and friends to report to the dock immediately. He then had them smuggled on to the submarine trhough crates and disguised officials. Xu waited for as long as he could before he gave the order to depart into the seas, he knew some families were still not aboard and that pained him. The submarine went into the most remote parts of the ocean and stayed there for over a year. The captain realized that the radar had picked up an increase in movement on the surface. Therefore, he order the crew to use the monitors to see what was causing the movement. What they found was astonishing, there were hundreds of thousands of aircraft carriers with tents on them, old Battle ships, and even home made rafts tied together. People were doing anything to get away from the infested land. Xu stated that they would've helped the people if it weren't for the zombies they spotted failing over board. Food became a problem for the Submarine, and it was to dangerous to sear an infested ship or even go back to the main land because of the amount of zombies on the coasts. They survived by going to what was called as the pacific continent a remote island where many people joined up under the falg of survival. They traded power for food and medical supplies, they became the millionaires of bartering. They brought light to the island during the night allowing the community more safety.

I would've done exactly what Xu did and left the dock. He saved thousands of people by taking families out to sea in the submarine. I feel bad for the people that tried to make it out to sea and there boat became infested, resulting in the death of everyone on boar. I also pity the people that didn't plan out their chances for survival and just thought as long as they get out to sea they would be safe. I would've made a plan to go out to see with supplies and a fishing rod, so i would always have a source of food. The trade deals also show how money is something or no real value as no one cared for it, the most valued things were supplies and power.

Snow Day

Things to do on today's snow day.

-Shovel the driveway
-Go to the YMCA
-Take a walk in the Snow
-Watch TV
-Play videogmes
-Eat all day
-Go to Homestead's basketball game
-Sleep

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 204-238

The nation that was most protected from the Zombie outbreak was North Korea. North Korea was completely unharmed by World War Z. They stopped transportation and communications with other countries one year prior to the public announcement of the Zombie infection. After the Korean war all of the nation's resources were put into national security, strengthening their borders and making every civilian undergo military training. U.S. Satellites revealed that there was no activity at all in North Korea, it was like everyone vanished. The North Koreans did in fact vanish, they went underground in bunkers were they lived until the end of World War Z. The nation that was the most devastated by World War Z was Japan. Most off Japan's cities went up in flames and the entire nation was forced to evacuated to the mainland of China. Kondo Tatsumi was a survive that was able to flee out of Japan. He said that once the outbreak started that there was no chance of following a evacuation plan, all chaos broke lose. Zombies spilled out of hospitals within the cities creating a panic. Kondo is an otaku he stayed inside his house all day gathering information from the computer. He locked his door and even as his city was being destroyed by the infection he continued to stay at his computer and learn about the zombies from the survivors around the world. He says that because he learned so much about the zombies that he was able to survive in the infested territory and make it through World War Z.

I believe that North Korea was the bet place to hold out during World War Z because their form of government kept the people obedient and fearless. They remained calm because they would rather die then disobey their dictator. Also, the entire population of North Korea has military training of some sort because of the Korean War. This made them properly equipped to handle the Zombie situation. they could have easily survived for decades in a world filled with Zombies.

Dunk Contest

Blake Griffin won the dunk contest last night in spectacular fashion. He jumps farther and higher then anyone else in the league for his size. He proved it last night by receiving an alley op pass from the inside of a car while he jumped over it to finish a 180 slam. He is going to be one of the must dominant players in the league for a long time. His athletic abilities are only matched by Lebron James, if he can get a jump shot he will be one of the top 3 in the league soon.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 159-204

The United States have never fought a enemy like the Zombies before. They could be blown apart and would still be walking or crawling towards the humans, filled with hunger for flesh and meat. The only to kill them was to destroy their brain, by wither bashing their skulls in or delivering a head shot. This made many of America's prized military technology obsolete. Airplanes that dropped highly explosive bombs would do a minimal amount of damage to the Zombies and expensive chemical weapons had no affect on the Zombies. Even the high powered lasers that were constructed to shoot down incoming missals were useless unless they were aimed at the head. The money to build 1 military bomb was enough to provide thousands of marines with assault rifles, who were capable of taking out nearly ten times as many Zombies. America's weapon production focused on creating rifles, ammunition, and melee weapons such as the lobo (Shovel/Axe). Therefore, America's prized weapons were discontinued and the air force was no longer used for combat, but instead used for an even more important task, resupplies. The air force was tasked with supplying the blue zones with in the infested areas with food, ammunition, and personnel to teach them how to survive. They dropped down marines, doctors, and carpenters to teach them how to survive and fortify their zones. These were very courageous men because once they parachuted down there was no turning back, they were stuck in the fort until the war was over trying to survive with the civilians. The pilots were also very brave because they had to fly over thousands of miles of infested territory. Many planes malfunctioned and went down, the pilots had to fight their way threw hoards of zombies to reach one of the pickup zones scattered across the U.S.

I have a great respect for the military and believe they are the bravest men in our country. They risk their lives to protect and keep us safe, they deserved to be honored. This book shows that the military would do anything to keep us safe if we were ever attacked. The air force uses valuable resources and fuel to transport supplies to the civilian settlements surrounded by infected. They are truly heroes.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
137-159

When World War Z broke out money wasn't worth anything, instead people only valued resources and materials. The government top priority was the Blue collar workers, they needed to manage the factories, build equipment and houses, and construct weapons. They were the most valued now, not the lawyers, businessman, or wealthy stock brokers. In a time of war the pre-war talents that make people rich count for nothing, in a time of war they are the ones who scavenge and dig graves.Apocalyptic Despair Syndrome was one of the major enemies during the Zombie War. ADS accounted for more deaths then hunger, disease, and the living dead combined. ADS is when people lose the will to live, they go to sleep and simply have no hope of waking up tomorrow and pass away. Malibu Pier Fortress set out to resolve this problem. He collected footage of our military massacring hoards of thousands of Zs and Civilians establishing their own forts withing the infected zones. His tapes were placed all over the west coast and after 6 months the accounts of ADS decreased by 55% in the areas where the movies were being played. The footage of humans surviving in the infected zones and killing the Z gave humanity hope and the will to live.

I believe that if a major virus broke out similar to the strand mutating humans into Zs that humanity would lose hope. If people where standard in little settlements with no contact with the outside world, just simply fortifying their defenses and preparing for an attack that they would no longer have the Will to live. That's why the movies showing the Humans kicking butt are very important for their morale. I also finding interesting that the simple jobs that the civilization depends on for daily survival earn the lowest wages, but unnecessary business CEOs make millions. It would take a war like World War Z for people to understand that. Think about it in a post apocalyptic world would you rather be able to manage a business account or build weapons and homes.

Grammys

I was very impressed with the Grammys this year, mainly because of eminem's performance, he is be far by favorite singer/rapper. It's great to see him come back to make a recovery after his best friend was killed and he almost dieing from a drug overdose due to depression. He has matured with age, therefore changing the style of his lyrics. I think his songs know deliever a more powerful message, his new album The Recovery is by far one of my most played albums. I hate how the Grammy for best Album went to this pop/metal band that I've never heard of before and who gave a terrible performance, the award didn't even have to go to eminem anyone else would've been better.

The Blind man's meal

Pablo Picasso's painting, Analysis

The blind man gently reaches for his drink with one hand, while he is quietly grasping a loaf of bread that highlights his peaceful nature and his heightened senses. The blind man sits casually in a dark room by himself relaxing as he consumes his meal. The dark colors used in the painting portray how the man views the world as just a shadow of darkness. He touches his dinning wear delicately to establish what it is emphasizing his ability to identify objects by touch. The fact that the man sits alone represents the peace and serenity that he lives his life in. The blind man is calmed and relaxed posture reveals that he has embraced the dark world he lives in and strives to make the best of of it.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 111-137

The world has been completely infested with Zombies and humanity number one concern is survival. The Redeker plan was initiated throughout the world and saved many people's lives. Paul Redeker is seen as an angle and a devil because of his soulless plan. Redeker wrote a detailed planned that would ensure the survival of the human race, but led to the sacrifices of others. Paul Redeker even admits that he sometimes believes he has no feelings towards human life; thus, people refer to him as a souless devil. His plan was simple, refugees where to be evacuated to safe sites guarded by military personal and protected by natural land forms (hills, mountains, rivers). Then all routes toward the safe zone are to be destroyed before the Walking Dead could reach them. Unfortunately, this would also leave millions of civilians still in the infested areas. Redeker planned for this and instructed that they were left as sacrifices and to be with supplied with weapons by airdrop. They were to kill as many Zs as they could before their defenses collapsed. Redeker's plan may have been cruel, but it's what allowed humanity to make it through World War Z. Brook interviewed a man named Bohodan Taras, a man who was stationed at the Ukraine safe zone border line. He witnessed the militarise wrath as the pressure of oncoming Z threatened the safes zone security. Taras inspected refugees for any signs of being infected before they entered the safe zone, but as soon as the Zs appeared all hell broke lose as refugees tried to ram through the barricade. The government took action, a fighter plain boomed the entire bridge with toxic gas. the gas had no affect on Zs, therefore all the humans that died that were infected would come back to life. Therefore, the government ensured that no Zs would enter the safe zone, but at the cost of thousands of lives. Taras and the military then killed the Zs and blew the bridge preventing any Zs or humans from reaching the safe zone.

I believe that the choices that the government made in this book would be very similar to the choices our government to day would execute if an infection of this magnitude ever broke out. I do find it cruel that the government believes that they can't save everyone and in order to protect a select few they would have to sacrifice many lives. The Redeker plan was inhumane, but i believe it was the best solution. However, the fact that the government would kill and millions of its own people to ensure human survival shows people's natural instincts when the fate of all humanity is on the line.

East Of The Web

This website Eastoftheweb.com is a great site to play educational games in Etymology. We all enjoy competing against each other to spell the most words possible within the time limit. The game is very intense and can be comedic. I recommend playing this game with friends to fully enjoy the game. I never am able to get the main word, but someday I will finally solve it and that day will be glorious.

In Class post

HEHEHE

Teenage Driving

I agree with the article that when teenagers are driving alone that they drive safer. I believe that when teens are driving with their friends that they feel they need to drive faster or take more lights so they can impress their friends and not seem lame. This is also because teenagers aren't as mature as adults yet and think that they always need to show off for their friends to look cool.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 57-111

The Great Panic, marks the worldwide acknowledgment of the breakout of the living dead. Even heavily fortified America has been infested with Zombies, as chaos spreads throughout the world. Many people picture the zombie outbreak as the begging of the end of the world. Brook interviews an average American housewife, who tells of the mob of zombies that devastated her neighborhood. This event showed Americans that they indeed were not safe and put society in a state of total anarchy. The women was making dinner when a gray ghoulish figure broke through the glass door and charged her. Luckily the father was there to save here and fight of the zombie. The family fled to an isolated part of Alaska were they survived World War Z. The next interview was with a professional body guard. Highly trained veterans were able to make a large sum of money at this time because of the chaos and people fearing for their lives. He helped transport and protected celebrities, sports stars, and rappers. On one job he was stationed in a heavily fortified house that had a 15 foot wall guarding it. The place could survive waves of Zombie hoards for years. But they shouldn't have been fearing Zombies. Soon, the public eye noticed that this place could keep them safe and they formed a mob and stormed the house killing the wealthy celebrities and stars.

I believe if America was invaded and in a state of chaos that people would react just as they did in the book. In order to ensure their survival people would do anything, it would be anarchy. people would break into stores and steal supplies, and break into houses killing other humans just so they could be safe. A society facing extinction will do anything to protect themselves, but many things could cause a downward spiral not only zombies. For example, if the world got into a nuclear war, the people who survived the blasts would be on their own scavenging and killing anything to to ensure their survival. The fact that many countries posses these weapons that could result in society reacting the same way as they did in the story.

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm looking forward to spending my night watching my Steelers play the Packers, while i eat chicken wings and pizza with my family. The sports analysts predicted it to be a very exciting game. I can't wait to sit down on my couch i simply enjoy the night. The night is sure to be filled with many angry jeers at bad calls and cheers for good plays. I also can't wait to watch the Superbowl ads and get in some good laughs.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 32-57

The Zombie War hasn't officially started, at the moment the UN amid other government agencies are trying to maintain the minor outbreaks of the virus. In the early years of the Zombie outbreak the virus was known as African Rabies because the Chinese believed they contracted it from jungles in Africa. Brooks next interview is with a doctor, who describes his shocking first encounter with the plague. He needs to preform a hear transplant on his patient in order to save their life, the only problem is that they have no donor and are running out of time. Eventually a heart is transported over from China, there is no time to check the heart for viruses themselves. This proved to be a fatal mistake. The doctor preforms the operation, but later that night the patient wakes up as a zombie because his knew heart was infected. The doctor returns to the hospital at 3 in the morning to find his nurse being eaten by the patient he thought he saved. The next couple of interviews are of other people around the world sharing their first encounters with the walking dead, honestly it got to be very repetitive. Brooks then interviews a United States doctor who used society's fear of the African Rabies to get rich quick. The doctor stated that he created a vaccine that prevented people from getting African Rabies even after being bit. His vaccination really did prevent rabies, but the virus that resulted in changing into a zombie really wasn't a form of rabies and he knew. But, the public was willing to buy anything that they believed could save them from this modern day plague, therefore making the doctor hundreds of millions of dollars.

I enjoy the interviews of people describing their first encounters with the Zombies, especially because the people are from all different parts of the world. It's interesting to see that people in China are experiencing similar situation as people in Mexico. I can't wait till the book starts to pick up and tells stories of people scavenging and protecting themselves after World War Z comes into full effect. I also think what the doctor did in the story was wrong, but at the same time believe doctors today do the same thing. For example, the swine flu epidemic a few years back scared everyone into getting a regular flu shot. I do agree with the doctor that "fear sells" (people who are afraid will buy anything to make themselves feel secure).

Addictinggames.com

http://www.addictinggames.com/

Is a website I'll go to when I'm extremly bored or when i feel like taking a break from home work. It has many of games that i think are very fun to play and are useful when you want to take a break. Other then Youtube, facebook, and espn.com i don't go on many websites. This is the most uncommon one I visit.

World War Z

Max Brooks
Literary Fiction
Pages 1-32

World War Z is a fictional documentation of the Zombie War. A reporter shares survives accounts of their encounter with Zombie outbreak that overtook the world. The outbreak was believe to have started in China or in the Middle East. The first survive first encountered the virus in a small chines town called Dachang. He was a doctor and five people came in all with same injury of being bitten by a little boy. The doctor went to see the child, which was locked in a little shed. He opened the door and was immediately attacked by the child. He eventually got two of the stronger villagers to help him hold the boy down. After, studying the infection and symptoms the doctor couldn't determine what was wrong with him. He later called the police and soon the Chinese secrete forces showed up, Z8-A, quarantine everyone in the hospital. Another, survivor was a smuggler who brought people to other countries bypassing the border patrols. After the outbreak of the virus his business became even more successful as he transported infected to other nations were he encouraged them that they might find a (nonexistent) cure. This is how the virus was able to spread into other countries and eventually plague the US.

I find this book to be very entreating and love the topic of Zombies. So far the story is a little slow, but all stories about Zombies start off slow because they have to show how the virus originated and how it was spread throughout the world. I believe if the Smugglers wouldn't have transport the infected people to other countries, the Chinese could have solved the problem. But without the continuous spread their would be no story, and I defiantly want to read more of the Zombie War.

Snow storm alert this week

Starting on Tuesday we are suppose to get alot of snow until Thuersday. Hopefully there will be a cancilation between those days. I love snow days in the middle of the week, it gives you a day to sleep in a relax before going back to school.

The Walking Dead

The new book i have begun to read is titled World War Z, which is an account of The war between humans and Zombies. I've watched a T.V show similar to this book called the Walking Dead on Amc. It was one of my favorite shows this year and its up for many awards. I can't wait for the next season to come out. I find the whole idea about surviving a world of zombies to be very intriguing, which may sound a little strange. But i like the idea of humans scavenging for food and setting up forts to fend of Zombies. That's why i think I'm going to enjoy reading World War Z.

Me Talk Pretty One Day #6

David Sedaris
Non-Fiction (Biography)
Pages 181-219

David has moved to France where he will live for the next two year; therefore, he decides to take a french class because he knows vey little conversational phrases. He excpects the class to be very relaxing and informative of the french language. This is not the case, David enters into the classroom and is surround by people who are speaking french fluentially and carrying on a conversation. He starts to think this was a bad idea. As class starts the teacher enters the room and instructs a student to state his name and likes and dislikes in french once called upon. After, listening to their respondes she would bruttually insult them and yell. When it was David's turn the teacher first laughed at his responde and brought knowledge to the fact that he can't assign the proper gender to the nouns. She also informs him that even a toddler can speak better then him. For the next three months she would insult the class in words that many of them didn't know. One day she singled out David saying, "You are a fool and reward my efforts with nothing but pain, do you understand me?" For the first time David was able to understand everything she said giving hima sense of accomplishment. While in France David avoid public interaction by wearing a walkman everywhere and seeing six movies a week.

If I was David I would be intimidate too once i enter the classroom and everyone was speaking the language fluentially, but i could only say a few random nouns. I believe that the teacher methods of critzing are ineffective, but they may work because in the end David was able to understand what she said. The many engagments with the teacher shouting random french words at David, I found was very entertaing if i was in David's situation i might have ended up just cracking up. This will be my last entry about David's adventures, I have found his stories to be very funny and reccomend it to people who are looking for a good laugh.

Me Talk Pretty One Day #5

David Sedaris
Non-Fiction (Biography)
Pages 150-181

David goes to live in France for a month with his friend Hugh, who he met through a mutual friend.The first summer that David spent in France with Hugh he had a picture in his mind of leaving in a paris and going out at night to walk the street of the beautiful streets. Unfortunatley, David found him self living in a little village outside of Normady with about a population of around 100 people at lived in a house thats electricity didn't work. He also went there only knowing the word 'bottleneck' in french. Therefore, he believes he was known as the village idiot because he responded to anything said in french with only "bottleneck." David also spoke of how french people don't hate all Americans and are actually very nice and polite and don't fit the American sterotypes about them. In order to learn the language he would write down random nouns that he read in magazines to broaden his vocab. After 3 summers in France David had accumilated a list of 5,000 nouns, which he would use to respond to questions. The french people were often shocked and confused when David would respond to a question like "How are you?" with witchcraft, exorcism, and death penalty. Eventually Hugh and David would move temporarily to France while their apartment building was being worked on. In the next chapter David decides to take a french class where he encounters the strictest teacher he has ever had. Many laughs await in my next posts as David is brutually insult by his teacher.

In David's story about living in Paris I can relate to the fact that he didn't know their language. I can personally say it is a very frustrating situation and brings much humor to the others who seem tobe making fun of your use of words. I would sometimes go to a part of town that was dominatly populated with latinos and at the time i knew no spanish. I'm sure that they found my attempt to speak spanish to be hillarious.

STEELERS WIN!!!

In a close game last night the Steelers were able to hold on and win 24-19. The first half was controlled completely by the Steelers defensively and offensively dominating the Jets and to go up 24-3 at halftime. But the Jets refused to give up and almsot made an unbelivable come back on the arm of Mark Sanchez. However, the Jets fell short and would not recieve a chance to take the lead for the final 6 minutes of the game after failing to score after 4 plays on the goaline. Big ben was able to convert on key third down conversions to run the clock out. The jets had another great year, but fell short and will face the insults of how they choked all through New York until next season.

Me Talk Pretty One Day #4

David Sedaris
Non-Fiction (Biography)
Pages 120- 153

In the chapter Todays Specialm, David gives his thoughts on the fany entrees that most restuarants in the SoHo district of New York City. SoHo is a very up scale part of the city and has some of the most unique and expensive restuarants in the city. While living in New Jersey Iv been to NYC many times and have walked through SoHo and seen many of the restuarnt, but unfortunately have never aten in one. David and his frind Hugh go out every friday night to eat at one of the restuarants. David doesn't like the fancy restuarants that serves entrees with names no shorter then 15 letters. For most of the chapter David informs the reader of how he may like a peticular thing about the entree, but then they ruin it by adding an exotic spice or sauce. In the end David leaves the restuarnt before the waiter can offer any desert and buys, what he reffers to as "quallity food," a hot dong from a vendor. The next chapter is about David's father's obsseviness over his daughters looks. David explains that his father believes a womens only chance of making it in the worl is to look beautiful. Therefore, when David and his sister return home for the holidays they decided to trick their father. For the entire week Amy, David's sister, wore a fat suite, which compltely shocked her father. The father would keep trying to force her to eat more vegetabels or encourage her to got to the gym with her. David also says he believes that he caught his dad crying in the bathroom because of his daughter appearance. Before Amy left to return to New York she removed the suit and a the father sighed with relief and admitted she got him.

I really like the story's where David is leaviing in New York because I'v been to NYC many times and now alot of the places he talk about. I think it's really cool how I'v been to thes places that he mentiones in the stories and how i understand what he means when he says these are "real New Yorkers." I also understand why the father cares so much about his daughter's appearance because backin the early 1900's women didn't have many options to make a living besides marrying a husband.