TKAM 12/15/14

To Kill A Mockingbird was okay. I did like it, despite the fatc that it's definately not something I would normally read, and that we read it for school.
I don't like being forced to read things, so when it does happen it sort of puts a damper on the entire thing and makes me reluctant to really like it.

I liked TKAM for the same reason I like the other books I've been reading. The characters are not flat. With the exception of Arthur Radley, you can easily imagine all of the characters as people. The children, while they're children, are imaginative and rambunctious, just like children have a tendancy to be. The adults in the novel are also realistic. There are different types of them. There's the nice lady neighbor who's sort of like an aunt who enjoys the children's company and is someone they can turn too. There are several people who are disliked by the children, (mainly Scout, on account of her first teacher,) but despite this they do not get twisted into worse than they are, or become depicted as monsters. They all stay realistic.

Earlier I said 'With the exception of Arthur Radley, you can easily imagine all of the characters as people.'. I made him out as an exception because even when he does come out in the open, he never feels quite real the way lesser characters, like Mrs. Dubose, do. He's always just sort of there. In the first part of the book he was always just a glamorized story enhanced by the creativity of a six year old and her two friends, so that dehumanizes him, in a sense, to the reader. By the time we do see him as a person it's such a quick moment that it doesn't have enough impact on that past impression part one left us with to really push it aside. What's even worse is that he then leaves, and like two or three pages later, the book ends!

But perhaps that was Harper Lee's intention. Perhaps most people did get a feel that he could really exist, or that he was a solid character the same way Atticus and Miss Maudie were. To me he just doesn't seem like a person in the book the way other side characters do. It's simply too rushed.

TKAM Found Poetry Maycom Comunity

Maycom was an old town

People moved slowly

The Cunninghams never took anything the can't pay back

They don't have much

The crash hit them hardest

We had company

I was spared the humiliation of facing them again

It was an honest mistake on her part

"Thank you darlings"

It was our habit

Summer was our best season

"Make us up one, Jem,"

Jem was silent

She loved everything that grew on god's earth, even the weeds

She made the best cakes in the neighborhood

Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the sun went down

The best defense to her was spirited offense

Jem and I had considerable faith in Miss Maudie

She was our friend.

There was a lady in the moon in Maycom. She sat at a dresser combing her hair.

Matches were dangerous, but cards were fatal

he ran back out and kissed me swiftly

Someone had filled our knot-hole with cement

Deep in thought

I kept my distance

He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him

Autumn turned to winter that year

"The world''s endin'-"

"No it's not," he said. "It's snowing."

"Baby get up."

We saw fire spewing from Miss Maudie's dinning room windows.

"It's gone aint it?'

"Who'se blanket is that?"

"You aren't thin-hided, it just makes you sick, doesn't it?"

The hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people too.

it'll take a few years for that to sink in

you all right now?

Don't fret Jem, things are never as bad as they seem.

He wasn't guilty in the first place and they said he was

doesn't make it right

The older you grow the more of it you'll see

I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside.

Passion Project: A Declaration of Declinations, as well As An Attempt At Prompts.

So, as the title of this post may suggest, I got some feedback about the other three stories I sent to Cicada.
They all got declined, saying they "weren't quite right for us".
Thanks, but some actual feedback would be nice....

I also sent one story to a magazine called Canvas Literary Journal. They declined that one as well, which is more upsetting because that one, in my opinion, is my best. However they said that they had a lot to choose from and it was a difficult decision, so that's somewhat of a plus.

I have not found any other magazines yet, but I think I will submit the short story from CLJ to Cicada, just to see what they think of it. I'm sort of just at square one now. 

Maybe one day when I'm older I'll just publish a short story/poem collection of the stuff that didn't get accepted, like Jane Austin's "Minor Works". (Though that was published after she died, but that isn't the point.)

I have also tried to do this thing I found on the internet, which was a daily prompt thing for December. I thought I would be able to keep up with it and pull it off beter than the NANOWRIMO, since it's just short stories or poetry, but I was wrong. It seems to me that when I write something that's actually good it comes sort of like that neighbor kid's baseball through your kitchen window and you can't get the window fixed until you finish the story. 

It also happens in the middle of the night and you can't not write it down because if you don't you'll loose it; but also it's late and there's school tomorrow. An understandable reason for me to have a small flashlight under my mattress. (It isn't quite under per say, but it's between the mattress and the bedframe. Otherwise close enough.)

One example would be my Poem "How To Kill A Mockingbird" written when we did the thing with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", and inspired by the fact that I kept miss-reading the title of TKAM. Basically it's about killing a mockingbird by taking away it's freedoms, and thus it's spirit, where the mockingbird symbolic of humans.

So I've learned a few things. Publishers and editors are just wrong sometimes, proper inspiration only comes to me when I'm half asleep and it's the middle of the night, and if I force an idea it just really does not work. 

My Creativity and My Insomnia in the Depths of the Night

*Passion Project Update* A Thing Happened.

So every day I check the progress of my stories to see if anything's different. This morning I noticed that one of them was missing, so I checked the accepted tab.

But there wasn't anything.

I'm really not all that upset about it, it certaintly is't my best written story, but I am hoping that Melodies Box Of Memories get accepted because I really like that one.

They sent me an e-mail too.

They said it wasn't quite right for them, which is extremely vague. I have a feeling it might be because I put a possibly gay couple in it. I think I'll enter a bunch of stories with like-couples and see if those get declined as well. 

"To Kill A Mockingbird" Character Relationships 12-4-14

Character pairs:

1- Dill and Francis


Format:

c. Relationship to Scout

d. Effect on Scout.


Dill and Francis are both characters that have had an effect on Scout. They are both the same age and they are both male, however they interact very differently with our little spitfire.


Dill is sort of Scouts alter ego. They have similare interests, like reading and acting, but they go about things differently. Dill seems a lot calmer than Scout. He doesn't argue as much as she does, and though it is not from his point of view, we haven't see him fight anyone like the several accounts we have of Scout. However when it comes to ambitions and risky ideas Dill is the one to get into the fryingpan. She's more cautious when it comes to things that will get them into trouble, like in thier second summer with Dill when she spent a good deal of her time with Miss. Maudie. Dill also preferrs to make up his own stories, while Scout enjoys reading them more. Dill sort of sparks her imagination and soothes her bordom. They're naturally happy to be around one another.


Francis however seems to be more Scouts foil than anything else. The first thing about scout aside from her fire-like nature, is how loyal and protective she is of her family, Atticus, Calpurnia, and Jem. (Miss Maudie and Dill can be in this list as well however she has not quite outawardly defended either of them to my recollection.) Francis didn't seems like that to me. He insulted Atticus, who is his family, which is something scout would never do to the degree he did. He also runs away from fights. Scout is a rather headstrong person, so no matter who starts the fight, she's likely to be the one who finishes it if it doesn't get broken up by an adult. From the get go Scout told us she never liked Francis, and the happenings at The Landing gives the reader a reason to do the same, other than her mere word for it.

TKAM Photo Analysis

Florence, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)). Gordon Williams, electrician at Wilson Dam, lives in this demountable prefabricated defense house at Florence, Alabama

• Digital ID: (digital file from intermediary roll film) fsa 8d05922 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d05922
• Reproduction Number: LC-USW3-004496-D (b&w film neg.)
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Describe what you see: Three white teenage/youngadult people, two male, one female, sit outside in lawnchairs under a large tree that seems to be a type of oak, most likely red oak due to the pointed shape of the leaves that I can see in the picture.  The male on the left is holding open what I think may be a book. He has short dark hair, a white shirt (possibly a polo), and dress pants and white dress shoes. The lady has dark hair done in (pin?)curls, a black dress that shows no pattern or design, and some sort of heeled, dark colored dress shoe. Her legs are crossed like the young man next to her on the right. The young man on the right has his hair parted to the left, and is wearing a dress shirt and a tie. Though the gentleman of the left seems to be wearing a simple teeshirt, the formal wear of the other two made me believe that it was a polo of sorts and it's detail wasn't noticable because of the lack of contrast in that section of the picture. The pathway in the yard they are in seems to be made out of stone blocks, and has grass growing between them. the house behind them has paneled windows as well as a white picket fence.

Things I wondered about: Who are these people? What are their relationships with one another? Are they alive now? If they are, how do thier relationships now differ from when this picture was taken? Speaking of when this picture was taken, what was the ocasion that lead to this pictures existance? What do they in the present (given that they are alive) remember about the day this picture was taken, if they remember about it at all? What are some things they regret they did when they were the age they were in this picture? Would the people in this picture be happy about how they are now and the choices they made? ( a revision of this question would be, would your younger self be proud of your present day self?)

A Discovery of Witches 11-19-14 Pages 166-364

Plot and Relationships and Science Oh My!
*and also sex but it wasn't that importent*

     Remember in the last post I wrote when Mathew, Marcus (who turns out to be his son, by vampire lineage) and Miriam are explaining thier research to Diana? Well shortly after that she let them take her blood for testing as well because she was interested. Later when the test(s) run through, it turns out that she has aptitude for every power witches are known to have, and some that weren't able to be identified, which is absolutely fascinating. So far she's shown to have witchwind/water, some sort of sight she gets from objects that shows her snippets of thier history, and floating, as well as the electric sparks that cause fires and wreak havok when she gets upset or angry (but that's been going on since her parents died when she was seven so that really isn't anything new.)


     So an update on what's happened with Ashmole 782! Diana called it back a while ago in the book, but it wouldn't show up. The human at the desk who she's friends with explained that it's been lost for hundreds of years even though she had just ordered it up one, one-and-a-half, or two weeks ago. There is also another thing called the Congregation that is an order of three witches, three vampires, and three daemons, who keep the rules of *none shall associate romantically or too often outside of thier own species* which is causing a problem for Mathew and Diana for obvious reasons. Not only now do they have to worry about the nine old fashioned jerks, but they also have to worry about witches trying to figure out how to get Diana to open the book again.

     So a while after she gets a threat from one of the witches in Oxford names Gillian about how Witches aren't supposed to keep secrets from other witches,  she gets an anonymus letter (most likely from another witch) only with the word "remember" on it, and the picture of her parents that was taken at the crime scene when they were murdered in Nigeria, most likely for doing the same thing. Mathew, being the one who's protecting her (he's not even being over-protective because of instincts she is in actual varying levels of danger pretty much 24-7) was the one who walked her to her apartment in Oxford. When she lets out some sort of noise of distress he hears her and rushes to her aid. (A literal knight in shining armor too since he's been one before.) She continues to have a panic attack (understandable) and he helps calm her down eventually and sort of stands guard until Marcus brings him his passport so he can take her to his home in France where his mother is. It was all a very cuddly comfort filled scene and it was extremely adorable.

     Now here's the thing about Mathew's mother Ysabeau, she's got a killer reputation among witches. Quite literally. It's understandable too, since it was really just rage-fueled revenge for witches killing her husband during WW2. She still really isn't fond of them, and was definitely not fond of her favorite son bringing one home. Sarah (Diana's Aunt) and Em/Emily(Sarah's Wife, though I'm not sure if they're actually married or not,) weren't fond of the situation but agree'd with Mathew on the basis of witches not going to dare to mess with her there.

     In the time span of about a week where she is there she and Mathew learn a lot about each other, and grow more romantically involved. They are then threatened/warned aggressively by the Congregation about their forbidden relationship. Soon after someone breaks into the lab, looking for Diana's test results. They don't get far, and they wouldn't have found them if they had because Mathew took them with him to France to show to her when the right time came, but he then has to leave to check up on Marcus and Miriam to make sure of the details and check with things.

Diana then gets extremely upset and discovers the powers of witchwater. By crying. Through everywhere and nearly making an ocean and drowning herself. Fun. Ysabeau sings and calms her down eventually (Like mother like son, eh?), but do not tell Mathew of what happened when he calls so he doesn't worry. Marthe, the 60 something looking Vampire who knew Ysabeau before either of them were turned and is the only other part of the family and household  distracts Diana by teacheing her how to do things like identify herbs and make her special blend of tea with said herbs.
Then Diana sort of snoops around and finds out things about Mathew but it's a lot so I won't really go into any of it until it's evidently effecting the plot later.

When Mathew comes back he fully accepts her affection of love for him and returns it in a rather long passionet kissing scene barely after he gets out of the car. Then, due to the pack-type nature of vampires, it is explained that they are technically seen as married.
'"I'm not a child Diana, and my mother needn't protect me rom my own wife."He kept turning his glass this way and that. The word "wife" echoed in the room for a few moments."
"..."When were we married?"
Mthew's eyes lifted. "The moment I came home and said I loved you. It woulnd't stand up in court perhaps, but as far as vampires are concerned, we're wed."
"..."Vampires mate the way lions do, or wolves," he explained, sounding like a scientist in a television documentery."The femal selects her mate, and once the male has agreed, that it. They're mated for life, and the rest of the comunity acknowlages thier bond."

Like I was going to miss the oportunity to use this.

Then eventually they sort of have sex while discussing the mideval history of bundling, where a couple gets to know eachother physically but not intimately and just sort of talk, and then fall asleep. Just as an FYI, when vampires sleep, they sleep like the dead, referring to a scene on the beginning of the book where they're talking about how every human myth about their race has some sort of truth in it, like the sleeping like the dead thing translating to vampires actually being a form of dead, and thier strong sense of smells being the reason they hate garlic translating to vampires being repelled by it. Since Mathew and probably Ysabeau are sleeping (IDK about Marthe) , no one smells magic when she foolishly goes outside alone into the garden and ends up getting kidnapped. 

Chapter 28 was one hell of a rollercoaster.

*Passion Project Update*

     This probably means that it's being read and reviewed by the long line of people it needs to be seen by in order for it to get published! It's taken a while but I am very pleased!

11-19-14 Edit
     Today so far I have submitted one short story to Canvas Litterary Magazine, and I have heard absolutley nothing from them, which is dissapointing because I sumbitted what I thing is my best one so far, and I don't want to submit it to Cicada as well only to have CLJ repy and accept it.
     You can see on my pictures, I've submitted three sort stories and one of my slam poems to Cicada, but since it's a bit of a longer process to get everything read and reviewed, I have gotten no further informaton as of today. I will update you guys when I do. 

A Dicsovery of Witches 11-13-14 pages 96-166

1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.

2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.









Things are getting interesting. Things are getting extremely interesting. Mathew is also a bit less creepy than how I felt in the last blog but if anything I think it's just because of how his relationship with Diana is evolving. It's kind of cute.


Also so much world development. SO MUCH. As someone who writes stories where world building is needed because of how different it is from life now, I love to see how other writers do it.






Okay so Mathew is a scientist working with other creatures in a lab trying to find out Daemons,Vampires, and Witches are evolving by looking at Mitochondria and DNA. They can see entire family lines, and how they've adapted. The quote and explanation is a little bit lengthy, so to save space and time here's a link to a pdf file. Scroll down to page 77 and read The sixth line down where it says "These are DNA sequences...." to page 78. Stop at the end of paragraph 15 where it ends in "....Marcus insisted."



This entire occurrence in the book explains the genetics of the creatures and what makes them all different. It also reveals earlier that vampires are having trouble reproducing, which may be caused by some deformations made by immunizations to things like diseases. This sets a whole problem other than what could be in the Ashmole 782. The amount of research Deborah Harkness had to put into this series is ridiculous and amazing. It doesn't reveal things about specific characters as much as it does species' that the character's belong to, but this would be for 2.


The way the character's Diana and Mathew talk to one another really doesn't set the tone as much as their body language does. When a conversation goes from casual to more serious or downright worrying or frightening, it is normally conveyed through Mathew's sudden (slightly preditorial, being a vampire) actions.

"Mathew shot to his feet, his face white and furious. His napkin fell, unnoticed, to the floor. A vein in his forehead pulsed once before subsiding.

I had said something wrong."

They do talk like the adult scholars that they are, and though it isn't difficult to understand, it's a lot more sophisticated than say, diolague of two teenagers from a different book talking to one another.

"Mathew," I said slowly, watching him for any early warning signs of anger. "How old are you?"

His mouth hardened, but he kept his voice light. "I'm older than I look."

"I know that," I said, unable to curb my impatience.

"Why is my age importent?"

"I'm a historian. If somebody tells me he remembers when chocolate was introduced into France or a comet passing overhead in 1811, it's difficult not to be curious about the other events he might have lived through. You were alive in 1536—I've been to the house you had built. Did you know Machiavelli? Live through the Black Death? Attend the University of Paris when Abelard was teaching there?"

He remained silent. The hair on the back of my neck started to prickle.

"Your pilgrim's badge tells me you were once in Holy Land. Did you go on crusade? See Haley's comet pass over Normandy in 1066?"

Still nothing.

"Watch Charlemagne's coronation? Survive the fall of Carthage? Help Attila from reaching Rome?"

Mathew held up his right index finger. "Which fall of Carthage?"

"You tell me!"

They have a very entertaining relationship. I still don't exactly like Mathew, but I don't hate him either. He's... interesting. I would miss him as a character if something happened tough because then Diana would lack someone to bounce witty banter off of. He's definitely a main character.

*Late Blog* First Quarter Reflection Blog 11-12-14

     So I haven't gotten through many books this quarter blog wise. The only one I blogged all the way through was The Maze Runner, since TIOM:..etc. was dry as California, and Unfamiliar Fishes was rather difficult to do since it lacked both plot and characters.
     However, plotful books you guys should be seeing soon go as follows! Shadow Of Night (All Souls Trillogy 2) -Discovery of Witches is the first-, The Book of Life (All Souls Trillogy 3), and The Shadow Throne (Acendance Trilogy 3)
     I'm not sure if I'm going to continue the Maze Runner series, but I'm not sure. 8th grade is like the year of the trilogies for me.

     I didn't really write in a different way than I normally do, so there really isn't anything notable for me to write about there. Looking back to now at the end of the year will probably show more of a change the way looking back to the beginning of the year 7th grade did. I wonder what seventh grade me would think about the blogs we've done. She'd probably think I'm weird. (Not like I don't agree.<3)

A Discovery of Witches 11-7-14 pages 13-96

     
Okay so the first thing I'd like to clear up is that Diana is a historian, not a scientist. I got that mixed up in the first chapter. She's studying the history of science and starting with Alchemy and how it's science with magic and sort of it's origin. 
      Also Vampires are fricken creepy. 7/10 would not recommend.

      So remember when at the end of the last post I quoted the inside flappy thing and said that the Ashmole782 was going to cause ? "...a fantastical underworld stirring."? Well it started. When Diana first examined the book she found layers of hidden script under the seen ink, seemingly hidden with magic. According to a daemon who approached her while she was having lunch, the book is told to explain the origins of Witches, Vampires, Daemons, and Humans. Daemons are especially needy for this information because they don't have bloodlines like the other three do normally. (Witches may have normal children) They are seemingly at random and are unfortunately born to humans. Genetics does not seem to be involved, though the Daemon during lunch said that her son was lucky and was born to her a daemon where she could see the signs and explain it to him because he was, by chance, like her. 
      It's all really super cool. 

      There is also a vampire of the name Mathew who has been stalking her since she unclicked the book of it's enchantments. He's the creepy one. He has been sort of protecting her from the swarm of magicals that have come to Oxford now but still it's super creepy. 

      Also apparently Diana glows with magic; as observed by sir-stalker-man. When she sleeps, (he was looking for the book in her apartment even though she would not have taken it from the library), when she studies/researches (he's been in the same/adjacent room as her as "protection") and when she's working off extra energy by running, doing yoga, and rowing a little canoe in the river for a few hours. 

      It really isn't that I don't like him and he isn't interesting it's that a lot of hi qualities so far in the book (note I really am not that far) are negative in my opinion. 

      But everyone has to have a character arch!

A Discovery Of Witches 10-31-14 pages 0-13, chapter one.

     You guys have no idea how much I missed reading something with an actual plot.
     Also Witches for Halloween. Pure ironic incident.

     In Oxford University is a witch of the name Diana Bishop, from two very long powerful lines of witchcraft. Diana however, wants nothing to do with magic or sorcery or anything of the kind. Her parents raised her with magic, and sometimes it scared her. They went around the world studying artifacts, and once went to an exhibition to Africa and never came back.

     She's tried to distance her self from it, from her family name, and stop herself from using it by accident. When she was 16 she entered collage and became affiliated in the theatrical arts, where she ended up becoming a little more than in character. Her appearance and actions changed to suit her roles in and out of the scenes, and she took other cast members with her. After such unfortunate happenings she moved onto science, and has since started to try and translate old text of alchemy into modern sense and formulas.

     Since then she has come across and ancient lost book called the Ashmole 782, a book sealed with magic and images that tempt her to touch so she can sense their history and understand more. She takes a few notes on it, and apprehensively banishes it back to the stacks. Nothing has quite happened yet, but the inside sleeve says this occurrence causes "...a fantastical underworld stirring." so that's is going to be quite exciting!

CoA Narrative: The Violet Widow; a Tale of Betrayal and Unrequited Love

It is dark here for with no torch I can scarcely see. After a long, disappointingly quiet walk I make it to the entrance of my family's catacombs. The long winding staircase saw only me, for my friend, unfortunately for him, would walk up them no longer.


I'm sure he knows now what he has done. I pretended I would allow it. Pretended that the confession of her love to him did not upset me. It did, however. It pained me like a thousand knives stuck and twisted, poisoning the trust I had for the both of them and anyone else, feeding my anger as if it was oil to a lamp.


It was always supposed to be me. It was practically planned. But no, he had to come along and spoil, akin to rotten fruit. They joined in matrimony soon after telling of their betrayal.


Oh dear sweet Violetta, you brought this upon yourself. You are the only one to blame now. Your sorrow will all be my pleasure.



(Second/Extended Ending)


It has been fifty one days the disappearance of her dear Lord Fortunato. The case has since been closed, and she's lost all hope of his return. I sit in front of the flower that I once owned. She is dawned respectably in black, as I am. She offers me a drink and pours a glass of wine when I comply. She does not drink herself.


We converse briefly about our social circles and how the people we know are faring before we come to the subject of her and her husband. She believes he is dead, much as I expected her to due to her choice of clothing and the Chrysanthemums that adorn the vases around the home.

"You believe that Savio is dead as well I presume?" she asked, eyeing my dress.

"Indeed I do." I replied, noting that I should most likely be quite careful with how I respond.

"What makes you imagine that?"

"Well it isn't quite like him to abandon the people he loves quite so suddenly and lengthily, and we don't have any evidence of capture."

"However no body or evidence of death has been brought up either." she countered, peering coldly at me. I faltered.

"I know you did not take kindly to our romance Montresor, but neither of us meant you any harm or shame from it."

"I do not understand what you mean."

"I went with him to the celebration and saw you lead him away. You dawned a mask of black silk and brought him to you home. Then you returned and he did not. Jealousy is not a healthy thing, nor is it valid reason to murder."

"You are imagining things my dear, I assure you I would never do such a thing." I said with a laugh, playing it all off as if she was simply playing a joke.

"Montresor do you love me?" she asked suddenly.

"Well, yes, I suppose that I do, but this is neither the time or the place; you are presumed a widow now."

"Were you happy for Savio and I on our day of matrimony, or were you angered that I had not chose you?"

"Well I-"

"I can always tell when you are about to fib Montresor," She interjected "I suggest that you choose your words wisely."

I sat silently, wondering how I would manage to change the subject. To my utter misfortune, Violetta found her answer in my sealed lips.

"Do you know why I did not enter into union with you Montresor? It's because you did not truly love me, not even as a person. Savio did. To you I am a prize to be won or lost. If you had loved me my joy from being with Savio would have brought you happiness and content in it's self. However, it brought jealousy and death. If you think my pain will bring you satisfaction you are sadly mistaken."

I bowed my head.

"Rosa!" she called to the servant passing in the hall, "Lord Montresor is going to take his leave now, would you please get him is coat?"

Any Prompt? 10-24-14

(Now that I've slightly startled you all with that, let's get down to business)

     So I've kind of noticed that I've been heading out of my comfort zone lately. A while ago on Goodreads I made a folder of books I plan to read this grade. Our of nine books, five of them are non-fiction. That's more than half. Only one of them is even remotely fantasy, which is something I sort of stuck to for a while; like that one piece of gum on the the bottom of your shoe that you don't notice until you walk on something tile and it starts to make a strange sloping noise every time you step. The only one being the last of the Ascension Trilogy with Jaron the 15-year-old king leading his kingdom into what will soon be a war. (Remember the cunning sarcastic little thing that I really like which made me question myself in my top ten book list? He is the thing.) The other three are the last two books in the Maze Runner series, which is odd too since I don't like distopian either, and Freaks and Revelations, which is realistic fiction.

     Although I must make point that two of the books are only on the list because of the author, (Take the Cannoli, The Partly Cloudy Patriot- Sarah Vowell) and the another one is a biography of sorts(?) by Amanda Palmer who is one of my favorite music artists and the wife of Neil Gaiman. The last two fall into the same category as The Invention of Murder because I like murder history and forensics. The Poisoners Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York seems like it will be an interesting read and there is actually a documentary on it, so that will be quite un to watch afterwards as well. The last and final one is of the also very long title (why do they all have such long titles anyway it's not like they have to compensate for something their books they'll be interesting regardless-) of Victorian Murderesses: A True History of Thirteen Respectable French and English Women Accused of Unspeakable Crimes. 

     So those will be the books I plan to read this grade. A lot of history and murder. I guess the moods will match my spooky background. 

Time Travel Q&A

Okay so before we start with this I want to make something very clear. In my mind, there are two types of time travel scenarios. The first being static, where no matter what, when you exist nothing changes because it happened already. Like if you caused butterfly's not to exist, the future wouldn't change from what you were from because you grew up with the extinction of butterflies and all that was caused do to it.

It would look like this.

__________________________


The other is parallel. In "The Sound Of Thunder" the change in the past, caused a branch off of the original time line where everything was then changed. Sort of like this. Dotted line is parallel due to change, solid line is original, 0 is point of change.

-----------------

_____________0____________





Q: Where would you go?


If my point was to change something, I would do something connected to my own life. If it wasn't, I would want to see what Berwyn and our suburban area looked like 70 years ago when all of our houses were new and being built because I like architecture.


Q:To which year or period would you travel?


Earlier 2000's, 2002-2005.


Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

My mom to ask her something explained later.


Q: Where would you find this person or see this event?

In the house we live in now.
Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event?\


When I was little my mom had a friend named Kate who had a son my age named Fin. We'd play together while they talked. He was my first friend. Around the end of pre-school our mom's had an argument about something Kate did or lied about that my mom didn't like and they stopped being friends. I haven't seen Fin since. I'd ask if we could still have playdates and be friends even though she and Kate weren't, because i think it's kind of unfair.


Q: How might YOU change history?


Maybe my mom and Kate would have made up and have a tolerance for one another. Perhaps Fin and I would still be friends. I'd also be able to apologize to his little sister for all of the mean things I did that at the time I hadn't realized were mean. I am the reason I don't like little kids.

Passion Project: What are you looking to achieve? 10-21-14

What do you want to do for your passion project? What will this look like? How long will this take to achieve?

     For my Passion Project I want to publish/submit my short stories and poetry to lit. magazines for young adults like us. So far in sight I have Cicada, which has a prompt each month. However I will look for a magazine that does not, so I can publish ones previously written. The plus with Cicada at least is that they'll buy the rights to it so I'll get paid! It's all very fun.
     It's a longer process that could take up to almost a year, but when something does get accepted it will be in a magazine.

Why do you want to do this for your project? What are you looking to achieve? How will you know if you've been successful?

     Every since sixth grade when I sort of started to get my story ideas solidified and onto paper I've wanted to get them published. It's sort of been a three year dream of mine at this point in time. And besides, I have a lot of ideas and plots in my head, why not share them with people?
     I know I'll be successful when I get the news that something of mine is getting published. It doesn't matter if it happens soon or over the summer or not until I'm in high school because no matter when I'll have been successful.

Unfamiliar Fishes 10-16-14 pages 1-29

     So due to the fact that I am reading a book about the author discovering the history of Hawaii, I don't actually have any characters. So instead of doing character development, I'm going to write about how the subject of the story is developed.

     So I know that I've described the way Sarah Vowell writes already, but I'm going to do it again anyway. When she writes about the history of a place, she always does it while she's there and brings in past experiences and research on people and occurrences that have to do with that history. 

For example on page 27 in the second paragraph she takes note of how Hawaiian people take a different approach to gathering information. On a forum she was looking at to find out the meaning of the Hawaiian word kupuna one person commented with regard to other people's opinions and how he hoped not to offend anyone in anyway. Unlike the various French men who published articles covering various topics in the book titled Encyclopédie, which had been brought up the paragraph before. One of of the name Denis Diderot had a mission statement (a formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual.) that stated "All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings." 
Using her past she connects how the cultures and mannerisms of the people are different.

     In the beginning she describes how America sort of took over a lot of islands in WW2 in order to fight Japan, with little to no regard of the people who lived there. This, of course, included Hawaii, which already had a bit of history with them.
This is how the author says she got into the history of Hawaii in  the first place. 

     She then moves on, out of curiosity, to the only Palace in America. She then writes about how Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown by "the sons of churchy New-Englanders". After explaining what happened in about half a page, she then remarks that she was in Hawaii at the time in 2003. The same time an Iraqi dictator of the name Saddam was overthrown by the same government. Connecting the two incidences she says "Still, there's an identifiable link between the two overthrows, an American tendency to indulge in what trendy government lingo was calling at the time a "regime change"."

     The way she develops the subject really is through her style, which is to talk about one thing on subject, then connect it to something else she is familiar with enough to do so. To me it makes it more interesting. Not only are you learning about the history of Hawaii in this case, but you also learn about other little snippets of history that have sort of been ignored in our education so far. To be honest I can really tell why a lot of countries don't like ours. We take over everything with no regard to the people already there. Not much has changed I guess.

Reflective writing 10-6-14

     This week last year I did a blog on the collection of short stories called On The Fringe. The story in question being of the title, "Standing On The Roof Naked". It seems long winded, but I didn't really write anything of my own. Instead, most of it was the entire first page of the story, and the last paragraph. The writing I did in it's self to me looking back seems like just a run on sentence chopped up by little dots that cause the flow to go all wrong. I also use pretty short to the point sentences, which I still do but not as much any more. I express my opinion, and the basic plot of the story that isn't conveyed through the quotes, but it isn't formatted as smoothly as it probably could have been. I rambled, and if any of you have heard me do so in person with my voice instead of with type, it's not that great of a thing for me to do. 

     I do however think that I relayed my thoughts properly, though the formatting and spacing of the words could be a little bit better. Double spacing my paragraphs was not a thing I had in mind while writing that. 

Yichk

Unfamiliar Fishes- 10-3-14 pages 1-15

What I am reading is historical non-fiction, about the sad history of Hawaii and it's unfortunate take over by America.

In what is described as "an orgy of imperialism" The United states Annexed Hawaii among a number of other island territories. The author, Sarah Vowell, writes about these things in her quirky often humorous accounts and personal experiences in the place she writes about. 

I suppose that this type of writing would be considered first person historical or something, since Sarah does incorporate a lot of her own experiences and and funny thoughts and takes on things. For example, the first two sentences in the book go as follows: "Why is there a glop of macaroni salad next to the Japanese chicken on my plate lunch? Because the ship Thaddeus left Boston Harbor with the first boatload of New England missionaries bound for Hawaii in 1819."

She then goes on in a somewhat roundabout way to explain how so many cultures and then tourists eventually wound up there, causing a huge mish-mosh of cultures that; in the small area the Islands are; are all minorities. When a bunch of different cultures mix, the types of food do also, causing the extremely odd common cuisine mentioned in the first sentence. It isn't only Japanese Chicken and Macaroni Salad theres a bunch of other things that can be put together on a lunch plate but back to my point.
She writes things in extremely interesting ways.

In one spot on page 14 she states: "It's laughable to think that a lava rock temple--built at least a century before the Declaration of Independence was signed five thousand miles away, has much to do with the history of the United States.(Though it is entertaining to wonder what John Adams would make of the sacrificial demands of ferocious priest kings given all that fuss about Parliament taxing tea.)"
I quite enjoy her unique voice throughout the books she writes, and I plan to read several others. It makes the history less dry, which, sadly, is not something I can say about "The Invention of Murder" -and the rest of the title- at all....

Banned Book Vlog

My File was too big so here's a link to it. If it doesn't work I'm not really sure what to do about it.

http://dw4.convertfiles.com/files/0687586001411747443/banned%20book%20week.mov

The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled In Death And Detection And Created Modern Crime 9-16-14 pages 0-20

Boy is that a long title.
I'm going to be reviewing this book by chapter, maybe every two since there are only nine.
Reader discretion advised for gore.

     So chapter one so far, titled "Imagining Murder" is about the first string of murders in England that really set things off. Normally here would only be one murder a year, and then all of a sudden a family of three and the husbands apprentice where brutally killed. 
"Marr and his apprentice were lying in the shop, battered to death...Mrs. Marr was lying dead halfway to the door leading downstairs...Meanwhile Margaret Jewell rushed in with a group of excited bystanders. looking for the baby. They found him lying in his cradle in the kitchen, his throat cut."
     A lot of hype is made about murders back then. It's almost a family affair to see the scene and the bodies and go to the funeral wether you knew the people or not. Flyers and these things called Broadsides were sold too which according to Wikipedia, are like posters with information on them, but only if you type in the 18th century as well because otherwise you get parts of ships like if you use dictionary. 
     Then, pretty much the next day, guess what happens. On page seven, four pages later after the first murder, three more people. Same way, slit throats and bashed skulls.
     They found a supposed killer, and then he committed suicide by hanging himself in the jail-cell. Everyone saw it as an outright admission to the murders, so his body was publicly shamed. Before the shaming though everyone was just spreading rumors and sensationalism like the plague it was ridiculous. The fact that no one had anything better to do asides from talk to one another made things spread even faster. 

     All of this hype over time caused what we now know as the standard police force to form due to citizen request of more security. At was mostly just a collage of individual forces run by the many parishes that were in the areas. Eventually the government and Parliament started to regulate everything. 

     This was also the time where crime started to come up as a genera. A series of memoirs about a Detective sparked a couple of screenplays. At the very end of the chapter a series of satirical essays written by Thomas de Quincey is mentioned to view and speak about murder as the newest fine art. Quite an interesting point I think, since he was correct about how interested people are in the murders themselves, but not the actual victims. We really haven't changes much.

    To be honest over all it's really quite boringly written so far. I was hoping she would write more like Sarah Vowell, -who I am rather fond of- but it's really just strait and to the point. Perhaps It'll have more individuality and flare as I go on.

The Maze Runner- 9/10/14 Finished

So The Maze Runner is 3rd Person Limited to the main Character Thomas which is interesting and somewhat frustrating as well because the reader is about as confused about everything thats's going on as he is. There really isn't any wordplay, though the imagery is more pronounced in some areas than others. One part that really comes to mind is when the Grievers are introduced and described. Rather unfortunately I had been eating breakfast which I do not suggest during pages 38 and 39.
" A large bulbous creature the size of a cow but with no distinct shape twisted and seethed along the ground in the corridor outside ... The creature was a horrific mix of animal and machine, and seemed to realize it was being observed, seemed to know what lay in the walls of the Glade, seemed to want to get inside and feast on human flesh."
The sentences are normally medium or long like the two I quoted, but there isn't really any wordplay. The size of the Grievers is likened to a cow though so I guess that counts for something.

I really did like the book though, and I have pretty high hopes for the second one. Since the test group in this one was all boys and it was hinted at that there was a group b I have a feeling that the next one will be all girls trying to escape the maze and then the third one they actually cure the plague that's engulfed the world because of solar flares.

Top Ten Book List

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

This series really entertained me in elementary school and continues to now; with the relationship between Percy, his friends and now girlfriend Annabeth.  It's also sort of an influence to my writing as well since it caused me to get into different kinds of mythology, which have been used in one of my story lines.






 

The Harry Potter series

This was probably my first favorite when I was little, and though I've moved on to other things, the story and characters will stick for a long time. Like the previous mentioned, it has influenced my writing (though slightly less if not the same) in how magic works in the worlds if there is any at all.




 

Simple Wicca

Helped me find a religion that was both engaging in how it can be both complex or simple depending on what you do with it, and had morals I agreed with. Though Wicca can be a tad bit elaborate with rituals and having an Altar and various other things it's all very interesting; like how different things evoke certain energies like herbs and gemstones. It's also all very customizable. There really isn't one way to do anything so as long as you follow the code you can do things as you please.

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

I would definitely not call this a child appropriate book but up there with The Wordy Shipmates it is one of the few (aka three) historical books that hasn't bored me out of my skull. It's also a biography about a young Charlatan of the name John R. Brinkley who cons his way through life and it's quite hilarious.

 

 

 

 

Divergent

I got a sort of mutual respect and/or tolerance for Utopian/Dystopian society based stories when I read this. If it isn't a complete pit of despair and absolutely nothing else like The Hunger Games series is,  and good things or relation ships are built and stay to some degree it's okay. Mostly I just like how the society's are structured because it's interesting but the stories are okay too.

 

 

 

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Introduced me to children's' poetry. Also didn't give me a headache like Alice in Wonderland or Beowulf. Despite how much of it I write I really don't read it unless it's involved with something in class. It's hard for me to find poems of the genera that don't make my head spin or aren't dull as a oxidized copper. It might be pretty, but that isn't really what you should want to be remembered for. If it doesn't mean something it's nothing.

 

 

 

 

The False Prince

This one kind of made me question the kind of person I am because the main Character Sage/Jaron is a cunning sarcastic little thing I would get into trouble for writing and yet I really get a kick out of it. He's witty and quick minded with insults and not-so-flattering remarks  and it tends to be quite fun to read. Some decisions I'd like to push him in a creek for, but it's only some.

 

 

 

Coraline

Another world or place may be better seeming than your own, but don't jump in until you really know what lies beneath it. If you do, you'll wind up with a nasty surprise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skary Children And The Carousel Of Sorrow

Everyone is superstitious for a reason. It may seem silly, but still tread carefully if you decide to check it out for yourself. 

 

The Eyes of the Dragon

I cannot stand it when the plot is based around the main character getting wrongly accused of a crime and other people have to figure it out because their thrown in jail it isn't fair I can't stand it and I am never reading a book with such a plot ever again.

 

 

 

Freak Show

Gather 'round

Gather 'round

Adults and parents be warned!

 

Our show is not for the light of heart

the underage

or the premature

 

For every other year

 a very special circus

rolls into town

 

It's a freak show!

It's horrendous!

It's terrifying!

It's a treat!

 

Bring along the entire family

if you dare not

be discrete

 

We have horrors to behold

Gathered

just for you

 

Pulled right out of your nightmares!

From the devil's own imagination!

 

Disfiguration!

Pyrotechnics!

Telepathy!

The Deranged!

 

It's such fun

though be warned

 

You may never leave

 

Special visitors may be chosen

to join us up on stage!

 

Don't be discouraged

Don't be afraid

 

Eventually you won't care

you won't regret it either way

 

Gather 'round

Gather 'round

Adults and parents be warned!

 

We are not for the light of heart

the underage

or the premature

I Am A Person

I am a person

just trying to get along

to be every ones friend

singing the same song

 

I am a person

just beginning to see

the accidental evil

within you and me

 

I am a person

trying to make things right

to make a world I want to live in

not this god-awful sight

 

I am a person

just a person

plain to see

 

there isn't much a difference between you and me

 

Being just a person

not much can be done

 

But try to change peoples' opinions

 

However

is it the right one?

Unknown

Haiku's

Have a tendency

never

to make sense

 

Poetry

is just rhythm

spilling

off the page

 

Poetry

can have guidelines

depending

on who you are

 

Sometimes

 it flows freely

Ink

on paper dry

Respect _slam poem_

 

 

A discussion today

was overheard

It was foul

It was disgusting

I was ashamed

 

A parent to their child

An Adult to an Adult

they should hold some respect

don't you think?

 

RESPECT

is what gains trust

Not AUTHORITY through AGE  or BIRTH

 

Not AUTHORITY through anything

 

Adults are left wondering

ironically scratching their heads as we tremble in rage and fear that though we are simply speaking our minds in a civil tone and matter that we will be reprimanded with violence for speaking out of turn though we are equals

or should be

 

Adults are left wondering as we cower

why their children never ask for help when they are in trouble

 

Why their children confide in stranger they have never before met in person

only over electronic waves in the glow of "poison" screens

instead of them

 

Why their children are so secretive about their life outside of the home

 

Why whenever someone else gets yelled at

or someone raises their voice ever so slightly

they tear up involuntarily and start to feel sick

 

We are our own people

We deserve RESPECT

 

We have our own opinions

let us speak them CALMLY

 

We have PRIVACY

knock loudly and do not enter unless explicitly told that you may

 

You May point Out A Flaw but Do not FORCE Unwanted And Expressedly Denied "Help" Upon Us

when you will do nothing but yell and interrupt when we try to explain that we have dealt with and fixed the issue ourselves already

 

Speak to us like adults

Treat us like adults

We may always be your children but we are building our own lives

Don't force yours upon us

we've lived with it for more than a decade

 We'd Like To Move On



The Runnaway King, AscentionTrillogy book two 0-122 7-24-14 *spoilers*

   So here we continue the drama of "The False Prince." It continues about a week or two after the first book ends.  Jaron is still the slightly arrogant cunning sarcastic little thing I cannot say on here from the first book, so nothing has really changed there; which I'm glad because his character is really three dimensional and him as the POV character is the only thing getting me through this story.
And at the point where I stopped I'm not sure he'll be worth it.

So the book starts off at his family's funeral with the sentence
"I had arrived early for my own assassination."
Well then. That sure is one hell of a first sentence.

He isn't ever really at the funeral though, mind you, because all of the lesser nobility is there and it's really just an elaborate waste of time because no ones really and truly mourning.
Instead he goes to the garden and climbs the wall to get rid of some energy and take his mind off of things. Like how the neighboring Kingdom Avenia is threatening war and his regents refuse to believe him. This is when he see's a cloaked figure enter and go hid in the bushes with a knife. Proceeding this event is a fight where the person is revealed to be Roden, a boy from the last book, who still refuses to believe that Jaron is in fact Jaron and was just in hiding as Sage. (I strongly suggest you go back and read my blogs about The False Prince if you want to actually know what's going on because I'm not going to bother summing up that one here for you when I've done it elsewhere) During this fight it is told that Pirates who are on Avenia's land are out to kill him because it is humiliating that they failed the job four years ago when they were hired to by Conner. After he gets knocked in the head he blacks out and wakes up when his attackers are gone. He has a cut on his arm and is soaking wet from falling into the fountain so he decides to don a cloak to hide that and listen to the service outside of one of the windows. There Imogen, once a servant girl who he befriended until he gave back her family's title of nobility, finds him and gives him a makeshift bandage from one of her skirt layers.
Previously it had been stated by Roden that they would target all of his loved ones. The only three people who are truly his friends, and the best one of them, is her. Which means, of course, that she is not safe now.  That realization sadly causes this to transpire....

     As much as I hated the thought of it, I knew it must be done. Imogen had to leave the court. Worse still, she had to want to be as far away from me as possible, so that nobody could ever suspect there was any benefit from harming her.
     My stomach twisted, as if the lies I was about to tell were knives pulled from my gut. I slowly shook my head and said,
"You're wring Imogen. We're not friends and never were. I only used your help to get back to the throne."
     She froze for a moment,unsure of wehether she had heard me correctly. "I don't understand-"
     "And you're using me to stay here at the castle. Where you don't belong."
     "That's not true!" Imogen stepped away with a look of sock as if I had just slapped her. Once she recovered, she said, "When you were Sage-"
     "I'm Jaron, not Sage." My lip curled as I added the worst thing I could think to say. "Did you really believe I could ever truly care about someone like you?"
     Imogen's struggle to contain her emotions was clear. That tore at me, but I did not, could not, flinch. She bowed to excuse her self and said, "I'll leave at dawn."
     "You'll leave at once. A carriage will be prepared to take you home."
     Shaking her head, she said, "If there's something you need to tell me-"
     I turned away from her, so as not to betray my own feelings. "I don't want you here. Gather your things and go."
     "I have nothing here." Imogen said. "I will leave just as I came."
    "As you wish."
     She left without looking back at me with her head held high. Watching her hide the pain I had just caused was worse than if she'd let it show. I had never been so cruel to anyone, and I hated myself for it. She would hate me as well, and I'd never be able to explain that sending her away with such indifference, even hostility, would save her life.
     A new sort of pain flared inside me, something different than I had ever felt before. If there was ever someone I could one day give my heart to, I had just sent her away from my life forever.

To be completely honest I'm really not as mad about this as I could be. It's a perfectly understandable thing to do. If he had told her why she just needed to go away from him for her own protection, people would know she just left out of the blue. She needs to hate him and it needs to be authentic. If he had told her the circumstances it wouldn't be. Also there will be word around the staff and such about what happened above so the Pirates will think she isn't a weak spot. Which is smart thinking, although it does not make up for what will come later.
This will be a two part post so it isn't dreadfully long so look for part two in a couple of days or hours or when I next feel productive.