Current: Week Six

Favorite Sentences:

1. "You are Chaya no longer, child. Now you are JI97241."

2. "The garbage dump."

3. "But do not let them hear you use the word death. Do not let them hear you use the word corpse. A person is not killed here, but chosen."

I like quote number two because of what it inferes. It is talking about the pile of people that have been created from all of those that have been killed from the gas chambers in the concentration camp. They named it the garbage dump so the Jews wouldnt refuse to go. If they knew it was the place of dead bodies they would be less likely to go.

This weeks words: 164
Last weeks words: 97
Total words: 745

How i see it.....

When reading this I felt consumed and like I was there and feeling and going through pain and agony the Jews were going through. It only makes me more supportive of my Religion. It helps you believe in your faith a little more. What if it was your religion that was chosen instead of the Jews? What would your take be on it and how much more would you respect your religious background? This book makes you realize what truly the worst that can happen is. We all remember the 9/11 attacks and that only serves as a miniscule devastation compared to the Holocaust. When reading this and thinking about the Holocaust I’m put in a state of solemn remembrance trying to conjure up what it would be like if I was in the position the Jews were at the time. Just think about it and see what you come up with and how you feel based on what happened during the Holocaust.   

Remember the Holocaust

I chose to read a shorter novel this week and its called “The Devils Arithmeitc.” This book is a representation of what went down during the Holocaust. It is said through the perspective of a Jewish girl named, Hannah. At a young age her and her family were taken by Nazi soldiers and brought to a Nazi concentration camp in Germany. This book is very graphical and violent. It depicts the harassment and torture the Jewish members faced while living on fatal and humble grounds of  the camps which were located variously around parts of  Europe, mostly Germany. Families were split up and only the strongest and most able were to remain alive, only to live another day of unexplainable agony. People within the camps were only there to clean up the mess that the Nazis had created and that was burying the dead bodies that had been singed from the gas chambers. People were forced to shave their hair and strip completely of their clothes so that they had no identity except the tattoo driven into their arm when they entered the camp. Hannah has been hard pressed and consumed by demeanor that has been put upon her in the camp that she has no recollection of her past. The only thing soaring through her mind is making it to the next day and wondering when and if this will all come to an end. Even life doesn’t seem appealing anymore day by day as people encounter uncountable deaths occur. There are indescribable mounds of people that tower higher than anyone wishes to see. One slip up and you’re off to the gas chambers. In this case if was survivor of the fittest.

Sentences of the Month

1. "Just because coach Banks wants his football team to be one with the student body doesnt mean certain individual players feel that same Zenlike love."
2. "The team a single entity. It works when everyone does his part, from the manager to the quarterback."
3. "That makes us dually duly authorized. You dont get more authorized than that. Or more duly."

I like Sentence one because i feel it really has a sort of life meaning. Even though we may not get along with a certain individual we still gotta work together as a team and make things happen. Life kinda works like that. We all dont agree with what is said and done within the society but we have to cope with it and move on and just do our best to get our part of whats needed done.

Total this Week: 97 (End of book)
Total last Week: 103
Total this Semester: 581

You Wont Realize Until It Happens To You.

Just how Ben kept a life secret my uncle kept one as well. Robert Lynn Stalf, is the name of my uncle who passed away roughly year ago. His story goes somewhat like this. My uncle was an amazing guy. Had a wife and three children: Corbin, Kristin, and Cameron. He was honestly the most compassionate person you will ever meet. He would be that example when you said someone has a heart of gold. His every waking minute was dedicated to making sure that someone was being treated for the better. The entire family respected him to the fullest. A simple phone everyday would be the minimum he would do for you. I never met anyone like him. The story begins on a Wednesday evening. He decided he and his wife were going to go to the free concert held here at the park. His son Cameron had come along on his bike and rode to our house which is in the addition right next to the park. Uncle Robbie’s wife is the worst woman a person could even dream of marrying. She had been cheating on Robbie for quite some time but no one ever knew. As Ben keeps his secret in “Deadline” Robbie kept his from us. No one in the family would have ever guessed this was happening. As the evening progressed Diana his wife had been still talking to some other guy and never once introducing him to Robbie. He couldn’t take it anymore.  

            I didn’t mention earlier but my family and Robbie’s family have lake houses on Coldwater Lake in Michigan right down the street from each other and we would go up every weekend and spend endless evenings just chilling with family. It was ineffable. That night Robbie left the family and headed up to the lake alone. It didn’t seem abnormal at the time because he would always go up there periodically and just clean the place up and do whatever. But this time was different. The next day is when things changed drastically for our family. Uncle Robbie was missing. His boat had been found ashore our friends property across the lake. This is what they found: one of two anchors, Robbie’s diet Pepsi, cell phone, and his pack of cigarettes on the edge of the boat, and only half the boat uncovered. That’s when we suspected something terribly had happened. All I can remember is my mom’s voice in miserable sadness on the phone telling me to take my grandma (Robbie’s mom) home from visiting her neighbor in hospice. I had to carry my grandma in the car and drive that long car ride back to my house from New Haven. My uncle had been found tied to an anchor at the bottom of our lake where we always swam every weekend. It was three days after the occurrence that they actually found him. Our life will never be the same without him do to the fact of keeping “that” life secret that we as a family could’ve helped with. It’s as simple as that.

            I want to end by saying that hiding what’s going on in life doesn’t do you well. People need to know. Family and friends are there to help and make life better. If people are destroying your life and especially your family then things need to be done to help. No one would have ever expected this to happen to a person like my uncle. I can’t even fathom the idea of what happened still to this day. Writing this was tough but this book reminded me of the way things happened in my uncle’s life. Holding back and hiding a problem and letting it build up to an unbearable point that taking your life if necessary something is wrong. We as friends and family need to be able to identify these setbacks in our loved ones lives before things like this happen to you. Don’t hide and don’t cover up what hurts inside.

The Fact is........

This Week I decided to write about how this story so far has an impact on the behavior of people today and me in some way. A normal boy who has a problem insists on denying the truth of what’s going on in his life. No matter whom he talks to his stubbornness gets to him and doesn’t allow him to come clean with his fatal secret. Ben will die in a year. He tries to put on a disguise and cover up his secret. Nothings harder to do than to put on a smile and act like everything is okay when really……its not. In Ben’s case it was death. Nothing could’ve been harder to do than hide that you’re going to die within the year. Now I’m going to tell a story that probably doesn’t sound true but it happened. And it affected my family, my mom, my grandma, and. My Uncle.      

Claims of the Day

1. In the song "Your Love Is A Song" by the band Switchfoot, the pensive, tenacious air of the lyrics, along with the mellow drum and guitar accompaniment and the powerful, husky, and dreamlike quality of the singer's vocals combine to evoke an overwhelming sense of breathlessness and euphoria surrounding the song's subject, a love so solemn and earnest it becomes the singer's reason for living.
2. In this picture of lightning striking the Serengeti you are overwhelmed by it's explosive power, seductive presence, and docile setting which creates a sense of euphoria, fear, and loneliness.
3. In this shocking yet comically amusing video we observe an unusually grotesque reaction to some news that set a strange wild boy into a mystifying tangent of caterwauling violently.
4. The music group Ok GO and dance group Pilobolus' smooth and elegant costumes along with the modern aspects of movement portray the lyrically pleasant mood of the collaboration in the music video.
5. Emerson's chubby cheeks, varying moods, and melodic giggles highlight the sincere, playful, and cheerful innocence of children.

I liked the Baby who was scared of her moms nose because it was funny. The claim really demostrates and portrays whats going on in the video very well.

http://freefifteen.blogspot.com/

Movement: Muscular, Aggressive, Supporting, Raw

Attire: Revealing, Simple, Neutral, Practical

Setting: Upscale, High-Class, Poverty-Stricken, Suffering

Body Language: Natural, Voiceless, Powerful, Connected

Inferences: Passionate, Assertive, Sensual, Seductive, Dramatic, Romantic, Loving, Vibrant, Strong, Sultry, Energetic, Intimate

The aggressive raw movement and the natural connection of the two dancers from two worlds portrays passionate, seductive, and energetic love by not giving up on their one dream.

Poet of The Month

1. "Poem to be read at 3am" - Donald Justice
2. "First Kiss" - April Lardner
3. "September Twelfth, 2001" - X.J. Kennedy

I chose these poems because they seem relevant to everyday life. The “Poem to be read at 3am” just seems to portray the subtleness of an evening night and the realization of small unimportant things such as the lights on in the house. I can relate to the thoughtless nights when I drive to the lake or home from a friend’s house.  The others are good as well and really show the relevance to life and what’s going on in life. I can really appreciate the “September  Twelfth, 2001” poem because of its closeness and meaning. Really highlights what went on after the 9/11 attacks.

Current

Favorite Sentences:

1. "Theres not one part of Dallas Suzukis face or body that is in any way Miss World, but you put it all together and i'd swim through five hundred yards of molten turds to listen to her art into a paper sack over the telephone."

2. "Did Jonah really live inside a whale for awhile?" "It says 'big fish,' not 'whale.'"

3. "Just because coach Banks wants his football team to be one with the student body doesnt mean certain individual players feel that same Zenlike love."

I like the first sentence because i think its funny and sort of realistic when it comes time to finding someone you think you might love. You dont really know them that well but you would do anything to make yourself known and get them to hear your name somehow. Its not always as dramatic as Ben says but I can see where hes coming from when he talks about his love for Dallas.

Number of pages this week: 103
Number of pages last week:115
Total number pages Read: 484

Just a little sidenote....

In this book, the author puts an internal conversation that Ben has within his head that helps explain the reasoning behind a lot of the reasons he thinks the way he does. It allows you to figure out the deeper meaning of why Ben is so determined to do what it is he wants in life. Helps show his true feelings and decisions towards things that are going on and people in his life.

Thats my kinda woman!

Dallas Suzuki. That’s her. Ben has been keeping a close on her and she is in one his classes and would do anything for her grocery list. He has been falling in love with her for a long time and he really needed to make his move since his life was literally ticking away from him. Dallas played volleyball for the school team and Ben would go just to watch her muscular thighs and calves give her hops. He makes a simple date with her to lunch one day and ends coming and she’s writing stuff down. Ben asks what shes doing and he says she is writing for the school newspaper and was doing a sort of background check on him and needed to ask questions for the school yearbook. He though for a minute is she here for me or just to use me for the school yearbook. It didn’t matter to him in the long run as long as he got to talk to her. She asked him some questions about why he chose to quit the cross country team and turn out for the football team. Ben thought being in the school yearbook just might not be that bad after all. It would put himself out there and “make his mark.” Just like he wanted to do.

Im not crazy YOU are.

At school Ben’s tenacious attitude doesn’t always get the best of the teachers. In US government Ben has been creating obstinate arguments that are logical but irrelevant to the subject at hand. He figures from the book he reads called, Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, that high school history books are way more interested in making us love our country revere all the famous historical dudes than they are getting the facts right. Mr. Lambeer, the teacher, has notified the class they will be learning about the Constitution within the next few and of course, Ben brings up controversy. Ben says out loud, “Did you know the Framers recommend we revisit the Constitution about every twenty years?” Mr. Lambeer is perplexed about what has just happened and Ben goes on about he thinks, “Yeah, they knew things change, that the Constitution could get stale in the face of progress.” Lambeer doesn’t appreciate what Bens doing at all cordially says we’ll save questions for the end. Doesn’t stop Ben. He continues on and brings up endless topics just to start an in depth debate with Lambeer.

This is why I do it.

Ben is far being a lackluster person in this book. Even with his circumstances he makes his last year one that not just he will remember but one that the entire school and maybe even world will remember. His goal is to make his mark and to make it big. After denying the coaches recommendation of not playing football, Ben proves otherwise and shows coach he deserves to start. The coach hesitates at first and is shocked to see such talent out of someone who just joined their senior year. Ben confirms his drive and determination to the team that he deserves to be on the “special team” and be a starter. He realizes that it might not be a good idea to take an original starters position right off the bat because it will lead the other teams to believe that Ben is a strong upcoming player that they need to watch for. He will slowly, but surely, rise to the top and prove his mark on the team.

Current

Favorite Sentences:

1. "Dallas Suzuki may sound to you like a car dealership in Texas, but for the past three years, she has been the single prey in the crosshairs of my Cupid's bow."
     - Chose this because i think its funny, hes talking about his love of his life in reference to a car dealership so i got a kick outta that

2. "Otherwise you'll be luck y to have a year."
     - I think its sad cause he only has a year to live and I just feel like he doesnt take it serious. I understanding not wanting treatment but he just doesnt care in this book.

3. "The team a single entity. It works when everyone does his part, from the manager to the quarterback."
     - Just like it cause its some good words of encouragement for both the team and Ben since hes dying and has just one year to live.

 Pages this Week: 115
Pages last Week: 110
Total Pages: 381

Its My Life and I Will Do What I Want

Good ol’ Ben still stuck to his word and did not want anyone else to know his dilemma. Doc even took him to the treatment doctor to help confirm what is going wrong and that there is a possibility that we could help. Ben didn’t want anything to do with treatment. He just wanted to make his mark and live out his entire life from adolescent to old age all in one year. He began by quitting cross country and turning up for the football team. Coach was surprised at first to see a senior trying out for football for the first time. But he couldn’t do anything about it. He warned Ben that there is contact in football and that because of his size; one hit could land him in the hospital. Ben exclaimed, “That doesn’t bother me, I don’t have anything to lose.”

The Truth About Dying Just Makes Me Wanna Live

You have one year to live and that’s if you let us undergo treatments. “No,” Ben said, “I will just have to live with myself because I’m not going under any kind of treatments.” Ben said he’d rather live life well knowing he was gonna die, rather than suffering in an institute going through some treatment that we don’t even know will cure me. “What a waste of my time.” Ben gets up and leaves the office and said he would return but didn’t tell anyone where or when he would come back. Ben went on a run so that he could absorb what he had just heard and think of what he’s gonna do about it. When he return the whole doctors office was freaking out that he had done something. But he just went on a run.

Im free when im 18!!!!

Ben has known for awhile that he has something wrong with him but he never let it get to him. But its all about to change. Ben gets a call from Dr. Bachchan or Doc that he needs to him in his office immediately and to bring your parents. Ben arrives at his office and of course without his parents. Doc insists that he call his parents and tell them to come right now because its urgent. Knowing Ben’s stiff personality he refused. He said, “I’m 18 now so whenever you have any information it must go through me first.” Doc stared at him with blank eyes. Ben still refused to call his parents. Doc had really got to know the Wolf family well because of the reoccurring visits Ben had to attend for his medical issues. After several attempts of getting Ben to call his parents he gives in. Doc told Ben the news anyway.

18 and a "smart" aleck

Ben Wolf had just turned 18 and he is proud of it. He can say and do whatever he wants. Ben has a smart-alecky demeanor about him throughout this book that makes you want to give up and think nothing of him, but then you hear his story and realize how much he has to offer. Ben was the top runner on the cross country team and he could outrun even the tallest kid with the longest strides. If Ben had the drive to win the race he would. He didn’t let petty impurities about himself let him down. He would be the type of kid you hear say, “I will get what I want when I want it.”

Deadline

I have started a new book and it is called Deadline. This book has great meaning and good reflection points as you read. It gives you something to think about and wonder as you read. It also allows us to realize that we have it good. We are not put into a situation where we have to decide life or death. But not the boy in this story. You will find yourself sucked into the book as you read the helpless story of Ben Wolf.

Current

Favorite Sentences:

1. "About the precision of his movements, the subtlety of his misdirection, the speed of his fingers, and the stealth of his hands."
     -I chose this sentence beccause it describes in great detail the technique and mastery it takes to precise an extreme illusion.

2. "The pigeon was just resting," Rudge said quickly, looking around to see if the goons from the SPCA had started following him again."
     - This sentence is just funny and sarcastic because its referring to a bad magic trick. One of the pigeons died in the hat during their magic trick. They were comparing it to the grossness of leaving the dead chubby guy in the tank.

3. "That makes us dually duly authorized. You dont get more authorized than that. Or more duly."
     -This sentence just makes me laugh cause Deputy Lassiter is doubting that Gus and Shawn have power on this case but to find out they have been authorized duly agents and they were asked by Fleck to be an investigator so that makes them double powerful.

Pages this Week: 110
Pages last Week: 155
Total pages: 266

A Deviating Idea

After the disappearance of P’tol P’kah from the Fortress where he performed his magic trick; Fleck devises a plan to help him find his successor. He hires Gus and Shawn to solve this illusionary mystery. The first thing Gus and Shawn ask for was the keys to the Green Martians luxury floor. Fleck hesitated at first cause he knew that P’tol P’kah wouldn’t like that strange people were in his room if he were to return while they were in there. But it was the only way to get them to even think about starting the investigation on the magical illusionist’s whereabouts. Gus and Shawn went up the private elevator up to where P’tol P’kah lived. No one was there when they walked in. Everything in the house was spotless. The place looked to be untouched or unused. As the two looked around they noticed that this magic brilliance had everything everyone would want but the thing was that nothing seemed to be in use. Certain items were still in boxes not even opened. They reached the kitchen area and both unprofessionally grabbed a flavored Popsicle from the freezer. The entire time they were searching around for clues of where the magician could’ve went Gus was staring at Shawn hoping he would stay still so that the tip of his grape popsicle would drop onto the perfectly clean white carpet. Shawn took a swift move and the dripping grape colored popsicle landed on the spotless white carpet. They panicked at first cause they didn’t know what to do but the considered all the maids that could clean it up for him. After searching the immaculately clean room Shawn and Gus had come up with an idea that seemed like it could be true. They were thinking that maybe P’tol P’kah could be a murderer and he was using his act materializing into air as an escape from ever coming back to the place that was specifically designed for him. He might of used Fleck to him gain fame and fortune and it all just became too much and he had had enough it. Fleck asked of Shawn and Gus that if they ever saw the Green Martian that they would immediately tell Fleck. They agreed to this request and left the CyberSpace.

Since when do we listen to Martians.....?

As Gus and Shawn are assigned to travel to the Las Vegas to figure out more about P'tol P'kah; they find that they are relocated to a hotel that they were not assigned to stay at. Shawn and Gus were in a cab riding along the Las Vegas strip when the cab driver passed the hotel they were supposed to stay at. An Asian girl had greeted them when they arrived at Outer Space. A hotel that had carried its theme for many years. They were lead straight to a room where Fleck was waiting. He needed to talk to them about conjuring up a deal to help him find out where P’tol P’kah was. Fleck is the guy who help P’tol P’kah get his career started on the Vegas Strip. The story behind them meeting in unbelievable but true. This is how Fleck described it. A woman lead me into an abandoned warehouse and there P’tol P’kah was waiting. He insisted that no one see him in public and that’s why he had to do it there. P’tol P’kah proposed and idea so that he could show off his trick and make good money on the Vegas Strip. As Fleck agreed to this proposition, P’tol P’kah had a few stipulations that had to be done.  He insisted that he have his own entire floor to himself and that there be a private elevator that goes only from his dressing room to his personal floor. He didn’t want anyone to see him in public unless it was for his performances.