The Miseducation of Cameron Post

What really difficult or complex things are happening in your book?
(spoiler alert)

Currently I am reading the book called The Miseducation of Cameron Post. This book is about a girl who has a best friend named Irene and they do everything there is to do with a best friend. Unitil they both come to talking one day outside on their porch. They start talking about how they've never kissed anyone and they talk about going into middle school and how they have to "grow up". So you can only guess what they decided to do next. And to a reader's surprise you find out something that is even more complex about her life that makes her life difficult.

What happened next as a result of They kissed. And then they decided to keep kissing, as some days pass by. And that's when I began to notice that maybe they started experimenting. "Well at least thats what some parents call it." My definition of experimenting is when kids that are becoming teens or that are teens, decide to try different things in life with different types of people. And then they can determine what kind of person they are themselves. I think that this is a complex issue in this book because she is keeping this a secret from her parents and from the rest of her family. And so is Irene. And I'm not quite sure if Cameron or Irene are lesbians or not but it seems like they really like eachother.

 

Another difficult issue that is going on in this book is that Cameron has just gotten news that both of her parents have been killed in a car crash. That's something that is really difficult to deal with. When she first found out that her parents died she didn't react to it that much. Because she had thought that the reason why her grandmother had been wanting to speak to her all day was because she had found out about her and Irene. But it turned out that it was even something worse than finding out her secret with Irene. In a way I think it was kind of selfish of Cameron to only be relieved when she found out that her grandmother didn't know about her and Irene. But I think that as the days go by Cameron starts to get depressed and she stays home and she doesn't except anyone's phone calls or when they come to visit her. Cameron didn't necessarily cry when she had found out that her parents died but you could definitely feel her emotions. Like when I was reading the book I definitely almost felt like I was her, feeling her depression.

 

So I am going to continue reading on in the book to figure out wheather Irene and Cameron are going to date or if they admit in the book that they are lesbians or possibly even bi-sexual. And I am also going to anaylize the text more to see if I can figure out how Cameron is really feeling about her parents dieing and just how exactly she plans on dealing with it.

The book of secrets: unlocking the hidden dimensions of your life

I always read this book, "The Book of Secrets" by Deepak Chopra, because I became very intrigued by this book from when my sister had me  read the first page; It immediatly got me intrested in what this author had to say. This book is somewhat like the book that I've read and blog posted about called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, but the only difference is that this book talks about the reality of what life really is general. Although you might think that this author is including some of his opinions he actually doesn't. This book, as well as The 7 Habits, has also changed my way of thinking but not in the way that you would think.

To begin with, I would say that this book is very advanced. And sometimes it even took me a couple of times to re-read a page once or twice until I was able to fully understand the meaning of what the author was trying to get across to me. One of my favorite chapters of this book is called The Cause of Suffering is Unreality. This chapter is broken up into different sections and the section that I payed close attention to and underlined a lot was the section called Negativity. In this section Deepak starts talking about how negativity prevents your body and mind from being in a well state of mind. And then he starts to talk about everyone's daily lives. He says there are only three general types of people that you will incounter in your life. The ones that are there to help you, the ones that leave you alone, and the ones that hurt you. And this section of the book is what stood out to me because it made me think back to my friends in school. It made me think, well.. who are the people in my life that leave me alone, help me, or just hurt me. And it gave me a chance to reflect on my life before I was able to continue reading. Once I had plugged in all of the names to those 3 subjects, I read on and he starts to explain what these 3 general types of people are. And he says," People who leave you alone are dealing with your suffering as a nuisance or inconvenience - they prefer to keep their distance in order to feel better themselves. Those who help you have the strength and awareness to do more with your suffering than you are able to do by yourself. Those who hurt you want the situation to stay the same because they do not have your well-being at heart." These descriptions of the types of people you will encounter made me feel more aware of my surroundings, and it made me realize what types of people I am surrounded with every day. I was able to make a text to world connection, which is probably what the author was trying to get his readers to do. And then I learned that from the people that hurt me I don't have to guilt trip them, or confront them, or make them the cause of my self pity, because you are only adding more fuel to the other person's fire. Meaning they feed off of your attention and how much intrest you put in to what they have to say. And I learned that you can't let people affect you like that because you are letting the other person over power you. I still feel like it is a little hard for me at times to not confront someone about a big issue I am having with them in my life because I odviously can't ignore what I hear. But when I read that section over and over again it continues to remind me of how I should keep myself composed. And not let myself be overpowered.

I still read this book every day even though I have finished it once before. But this book has a lot of information to take in and I still have a lot more blog posts to write about this book. Like I have said before, this book as well as The 7 Habits, has also changed my way of thinking but not in the way that you would think. And I was able just from this one section to become more aware of my surroundings and the type of people I was surrounded with. And I still have more to share in more blog posts for this book.

My view on Child Soldiers Essay

Child soldiers are an issue worldwide. The have been many article written on how some author's feel about child soldiers. and how they believe that the U.S. should not take part in capturing Kony. Many also believe that child soldiers are perpetrators of war. But they are wrong.

Currently worldwide, there are over 30,000 child soldiers. They can be found in the places such as Colombia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Gaza, and Palestine. Those are only a few countries where child soldiers are located. A rebel leader named Kony has been abducting children from the ages as young as 5. If they are not abducted, they are forced to kill their own family members or the rebel leader would kill them. And that's unfair and wrong for children to have to experience shooting and killing someone else to keep their own life. Girls also get forced to join the armed forces and rebel groups to become sex slaves or cooks. And for one thing, thats illegal. No one even has slaves anymore, and that is violating many of our rights. Clearly in these foreign countries women and girls don't get the same opportunities and rights as women and girls in our country. Boys in foreign countries also get drugged to dumb down their senses and they also are forced to drink alcohol. This is a bad thing for the children because if they lose some of their brain cells, it doesn't give them enough power to think for themselves. Like to really think whether or not they want to shoot someone or just plain down right kill them.

Some author's opinions were very harsh on the fact of child soldiers. In the article "problem with Kony 2012" the author Emily Merlino talks about how Jason Russel, the founder of the move to stop Kony, has a goal to "intensify pressure on the U.S. government to make sure Kony is brought to justice this year." She believes that this is not the right way to go about the issue. She thinks that it is a wrong decision to let the U.S. take matters into their own hands. She starts to explain later on in the article that by sending U.S. troops to a foreign country, such as Uganda, it will cost our government a lot of money. It will also harm civilian lives in Uganda, when our military goes out to arrest ONE wanted guy she says. But it would actually be helpful for the U.S. to take matters into their own hands because we have a larger army and that means more people can be on the case to defeat Kony, save all of the child soldiers, bring them back to their families, and stop all of the rebel leaders that follow in Kony's steps.

In my opinion I completely disagree with what author Emily Merlino has to say. I think that the U.S. should get involved and it doesn't matter if they already have troops in Yeman, Afghanistan, and Libya because it's never to late to ask got more people to join the force to do one big mission. And that is to capture a very wanted man. I also believe that if people are willing to protest and get Kony known so that we the people ould make a change than Obama would be kind hearted enough to not even care how much it costs to stop Kony. Because you're trying to stop a very wanted man that is trying to get himself known worldwide.

In conclusion, I believe that child soldiers should be helped by the U.S. government and Obama should definitely take part in this project. Child soldiers shouldn't have to be forced to do things that they want to do. Such as taking drugs and shooting people and drinking alcohol. It's unfair for young girls or women to have to be brought into a scene where they get sexually abused, and boys are forced to kill or watch their friends and family members die right before their eyes. That's not the life a kid from age 5 and up should have to experience. And I think this is just inappropriate, sad, and very disturbing.

Runaway by: Wendelin Van Drannen

A little while ago I read a book called "Runaway " by Wendelin Van Drannen. This book is about a girl named Holly who runs away from her troubled home. She has to face getting sexually harrassed by her foster father, and her witch of a foster mother. Whenever Holly supposedly does something bad her parents lock her in the basement and give her nothing but a blanket and a bucket to use the bathroom in. She continuously ponders on about how she will escape from her home, and just go off somewhere. Meanwhile her teacher named Ms. Leon gives her a journal to write in about how she feels or just about anything. Which displays how this book is written, because it is basically written in a journal type of form.

In the beggining of the book Holly feels like she is trapped inside a descent space but is not given the treatment that she should at least be getting. For example when, her foster father was sexually harrassing Holly, the mother had over heard that something was going on so she asked her husband what had happened and he lied straight to her face.And then it caused both parents to lockher in the basement. She then started to write in her journal because she is litterally locked in the basement for days besides when she has to go to school. And they tell her, "until you learn how to be a good girl." They also get mad at her for the littlest things. Like if they don't see that she takes the bus home then they start to ask 50 questions, and then the first thing that comes to their minds is that she was doing drugs. And that's when they start to insult her.

 

In my opinion, I feel bad for Holly because she has to live with being sexually harrassed by someone she actually trusted until she moved in with the family. I also feel bad for her because she doesn't have any siblings to stand up for her, if she couldn't stand up for herself. If she had another person that could help her gain confidence she would be able to conquer all of the struggles she goes through. I can't imagine having a mother that automatically assumed I was doing drugs with some friends just because I got home latte from school. In a way I can kind of connect to Holly when she says that her parents get mad at her for little things, because sometimes that can be the same case in my life as well. But I mean when I was reading this book, I was able to have a better understanding of what her life was really like. I would've never thought that parents now adays would be or could be so cruel to their children. Odviously if you adopt a child you would want to adopt them not to treat them like poop, but to nuture them, love them, and give them everything they never had. Or just plain and simply to have another joy in life. And if I were Holly being locked up I would want to run away too, because I wouldn't be able to deal with all of that stress and always having to be blamed for something I didn't do. That's something I hate and I think Holly's character is the same way.

 

In conclusion, I think that Holly does have a tuff life, and there are a lot of things that I can relate to when it comes to Holly's type of character. But as I continued to read on in the book I was able to find out what her character is really like. And you'll find out in my other blog posts that I will soon write. I tried to create a text toworld connection by really processing the idea that stuff like this can still be happening now. And I found out that it's actually kind of nice writing out your feelings or whatever you have to say in a journal or notebook, because when your at a point where Holly is at, and you have nothing to do, the first thing you turn to is a notebook or journal with empty pages in it. It's almost reassuring to some people in a way.

 

 

The 7 Habits of Highly Affective Teens

The 7 Habits by Sean Covey, is a book that describes the issues that teens have to face in their every day life, and life changing experiences that they have to face. This is basically a book that gives you the steps to help guide you through your journey as a teen. And it gives you valuable tools to help you get through life. This book most definitely helped me with how I deal with "all of the perks" of being a teen. And it some ways it helped me switch my ways about how I think about things, in one way specifically.

One of the things that I want to mention that Sean Covey talks about in this book is how to deal with your parents. My mother and I always have our arguments and sometimes I don't know how to deal with them, and on top of that my anger, but by reading this book I was able to conquer my emotions. Sean Covey talks about Listening. And what he really means is to really listen when someone is telling you something; If your listening then you will be heard as well. What Sean Covey means by listening is that for example when I actually listened to what my mother had to say, we were able to negotiate on a certain topic. And that was also because she was able to listen to me. He explains how communication is key. Without communication, you won't be able to heal the wounds that you have with people and your relationship with them.

If you read this book, you will also learn how to say "I'm sorry" to my parent. From my own personal experience from reading this book, I learned that sometimes I am unable to control what comes out of my mouth. And the things that I might say might hurt someones feelings sometimes. Sean Covey's book taught me how to apologize right in the moment where you realize what words you just let your mouth come out with and say. Being able to apologize is a personal change that you make within yourself. Sean Covey said,"I know from experience how much an apology means to my parents. It's like they forgive me for almost anything and are ready to start over if I admit my mistakes and apologize." I really found that statement to be true because when I would argue with my mom and she would ask me for an apology or I give her an apology without her telling me to, i realize the importance of that. Because that's the moment where I realize everything I've said. It really does give you a clean slate to start from if you really did do something wrong and you confess up to it. I never really thought that whatever I say to my mother or my father would really hurt their feelings because they are the superiors, and i'm just the kid. But it really isn't that way, all parents will always care what you think or say to them. And I learned that the hard way.

After I read this book, I've become more aware of what things I should pay attention to in my life. And My relationship with my parent was a big issue in my life that I finally learned how to solve and also prevent. As a result this book helped me in one way, which is that I am now able to have a better relationship with my mom. And if you end up reading this book it will change your life. You will become more aware of the little things that you wouldn't normally  notice in life and in people.

2132 blog post

I am still in the middle of reading this book called "2312" By Kim Stanely Robinson. This book is about a girl named Swan Er Hong who has to face some challenges after her grandmother that everyone in the galaxy knew had died. She has decided to carry out the plans that her grandmother had made to improve the other planets such as Saturn, and our Earth. But she faces some challenges throughout the way.

After Swan's Grandmother died, it was as if every part of all the people that she knew died as well, because her death wasn't an expected death. And there were so many unfinished plans that she had created but could not finish. Meanwhile everyone is freaking out because they don't know what to do with her unfinished plans. But luckily Swan's grandmother leaves a message for the most important people in her life and they transfer the information into to their qubes. And you guys may be wondering well...., what is a qube? A qube, as described in the story, is an electronic device that is installed in your brain almost like a computer and it holds all of your information of your life, and helps you get other information about everything. It even takes mental pictures of things to store inside your memory! If I were the reader of this blog post I'd probably be thinking wow it's better than Google! But back to the story, Swan get's a message from her grandmother to be transferred into her qube and that gives her a little hint about what she should be doing.

One of Swan's troubles that she has to face is that she is very confused as to what exactly her grandmother wants her to do. From what her grandmother's close friend tell her, the most that she could help do is make a new plan for earth and set up how their architectural system will turn out. Since this is the future, she currently lives on another planet that we know of which is called Mercury. And in the book since it is the future, there aren't as many people living on earth as there used to be about a thousand years ago. This is because the Earth has changed and had their water levels rise, forcing the people that live there to have to walk on boardwalks or cat walks most of the time. The way it looks is kind of how Venice look nowadays.

In a way, I kind of feel like this book is almost a mixture between a mystery genre, and a science fiction genre.  I say that because so far throughout the book, You are always anticipating what will happen next, and what the next clue that you'll find will be. It makes you wonder how exactly did Swan's grandmother die? And it makes me wonder why didn't her grandmother finish recreating Saturn or reconstructing our Earth's architecture a long time ago? If Swan is just starting to figure out that she is now going to have to take the main role that her grandmother had, then she has to work twice as hard to   fulfill what her expectations of the new planets will be. And I'm just going to have to keep reading my book to figure out what other big challenges she faces.

Am I Blue? By: Bruce Coville

  In my ELA class we have just finished reading a short story called "Am I Blue?" By Bruce Coville. In the beginning of the story a boy named Vincent gets bullied by another boy named Butch. Butch apparently thinks that Vincent is gay so he calls Vincent a faggot and a fruit frequintly. And Vincent gets picked on and he doesn't even know if he is gay or not. But Vincent discovers some very valuable lessons when he get's approached by a man right after being bullied. And he learns that not everything is what it seems.

  Right after he get's bullied by Butch, he get's saved by a guy named Melvin. Melvin comes to his rescue after Butch pushes Vincent into a big pile of muddy water. You guys may be wondering well,"who is Melvin?"and in this short story Melvin claims to be Vincent's fairy godfather. After Melvin sees what had happened to Vincent, he takes him to a coffee shop so that he can explain to Vincent what the purpose of his job is. He explains to him that a year before the current year that they were in, he himself had been gay bashed and was brought into an alley and had gotten killed by a tire iron. From that day on he decided that he wanted to become a fairy godfather so he could help kids that were being gay bashed.

  In my opinion, I think that it's a good thing that Melvin wants to do good, although he suffered from a brutal death just from being gay. I think that it shouldn't matter what other people are and how they choose to go about their life, because its THEIR life! And you should worry about what you are doing and what your choices in life are going to be, not about what others choose to believe or how they choose to express themselves. And the author was trying to make the idea aware that other people would notice that it's not much of a difference being gay because they are just like any other individual in the world. I believe that in this short story this is one message that Melvin is trying to get across to Vincent because Melvin says,"Do you know the three great gay fantasies?" he then explains to him that it was the third gay fantasy that he wanted to talk to him about. Melvin says,"We used to imagine what it'd be like if every gay person in the country turned blue for a day. Why? (Vincent says) So all straights would have to stop imagining that they didn't know any gay people (melvin replied). They would find out that they had been surrounded by gays all the time, and survived the experience just fine, thank you." And to the end he summarizes it up, and he says, "the hiding would finally have to stop." In this part of the story I also see that the author is kind of sneaking in his own opinions into Melvin's character. Maybe the author also might think that we need to put an end to people who are being gay bashed. It could even be possible that the author of this short story is gay and he might be trying to spread his opinions by writing a story about it.

 In Conclusion, I also think that towards the end of the story, there is most definetly a character change with Vincent. In the beginning of the story, you could surmise that he didn't really have faith in someone that could actually help him with his life issues until Melvin showed him all of the magic that he could do. And it was until Melvin arrived that he was able to learn some of the principals of what being gay really was about. Although Vincent still couldn't figure out if he was gay or not, I think he was more aware of the "not everything is what it seems" statement because he learned who peoples "true colors" really were. You would be surprised who turned out to be gay in this short story and who exactly was just hiding it all along. But don't worry I'm not going to spoil it for you. I think he learned a valuable lesson the day that he speant with Melvin, and he was able to still have the rest of his life to figure out if he was gay or not because like Melvin said, it took all of his life to make the choice of just walking the way he does. And saying things like "Honey" all the time. But at the end of the day, Vincent had all of Melvin's thoughts and opinions to keep in mind to help him determine what his choice in his future life would be.