Hello

I haven't been on my blog in a long time, and I have a little free time. So I thought I would write to all 5 of my followers :) Hello to you all lol. All this college drama is a little stressful, but I'll be glad when I get my acceptance letter and I will be able to relax. I hope all the juniors are not going to procrastinate on the senior year stuff, that makes life hectic. Well, I'm about to have to start working again. It was nice talking to all of you lol

A Long Night of Shattered Dreams

The Term Holocaust

The holocaust was a terrible tragedy. Many innocent people were murdered for a deluded idea of a solution to Germany's problems. Because of a conceitedly based idea, many people had to suffer. Superior race? Seriously? How many great innovations, ideas, advancements and so on have been made throughout the years? Where the inventors and heroes behind all these stories from one single race? No. Why must we be such proud creatures? No one person is "superior" to the other. Why must people have an arrogant attitude?

You may have a different outlook on this topic, and that is your right, but people who chose to ignore problems enable the problems to grow. Listen when problems arise. Do not ignore what is in front of you. For you may tell yourself that this problem will go away and is practically insignificant, but no problem is insignificant. Do you think that the people who were in Germany in the 1930s thought German problems would result in a new political party that would heartlessly slaughter innocent people? I think not. Therefore you must see that small problems now may be the gateways for disasters in the future.

I know the Holocaust seems ancient to my generation. Think of it this way: There are still people alive today that had to suffer through the horrendous events. The Holocaust is not so far behind us. I hope that no one ever takes light the events of the Holocaust. The acts of the Nazis baffle me. How could anyone be so heartless? I hope we never have to live through such a time again.

Pictured above is a picture I got here. This is what I think of when I think of the a holocaust or the Holocaust. This picture shows many bodies in a trench. The sad thing is, some of those people may have dug that trench, which was to become their grave. This shows how tragic things were during that time.

Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel grabbed hold of my emotions in his book Night. He is such an amazing writer. What he went through was tragic and the fact that he survived containment in the Nazis camps and then later wrote about it shocks me. He did not want the cold-hearted acts of the Nazis to fade with time. He did something that few people would do in his time. Elie Wiesel is a wonder.

Darkness

An excerpt from Night that has darkness in the passage is:

We received no food. We lived on snow; it took the place of bread. The days resembled the nights, and the nights left in our souls the dregs of their darkness. The train rolled slowly, often halted for a few hours, and continued. It never stopped snowing. We remained lying on the floor for days and nights, one on top of the other, never uttering a word. We were nothing but frozen bodies. Our eyes closed, we merely waited for the next stop, to unload our dead.

This passage has darkness all throughout. The darkness that the nights left in the prisoner souls is one example. The nights were so terrible, they left imprints on the souls of all who survived. Also, the passage talks about the dead. This has a lot of darkness within.

Early Morning Trips

This morning, my brother came home from Kentucky. He came home at four this morning. I woke up and he was there. I was really excited. A little later, I went to Walmart with my dad. After getting all the items we needed, we checked out and went outside. Dad wasn't feeling well and drank something quickly. After the sugar got into his system, he was feeling a bit better. He said his hands weren't shaking anymore, but his legs were.

On the way home, I looked over at my dad and realized he was having a hard time driving. For some reason, this made me think of something almost completely unrelated.

I was eating Doritos one day when I pulled out one covered in seasoning. This was the holy grail of all chips. I was so excited. I showed my dad and he laughed. I gave him the chip and was happy. Daddy really enjoyed it.

I later told someone that story and he asked me why I gave away a prized chip, knowing of my addiction to chips. I told him that it would have been nice to have eaten that chip, but having my dad enjoy the chip was so much better.

When I remembered that in the truck this morning, I was really glad I did that. I don't want to have later regrets. If we do things for other people now, we won't have to regret wasted opprotunities with people later on. I don't want to look back on my life and wish that i would have been a nicer person. All this was caused over an early morning trip with my dad.

Wings

My brother has just gotten his wings, that is, he graduated from Air Assault school. He is really glad to be done with all the studying and training. I am so proud of him. D has been through so much in his life and he is really doing something now. I miss him a lot, and I know he misses me, but this is all worth the bad feelings. David is really making something of himself, and I am SO proud of him.

David has changed a lot in the last 8 months. He has matured and become more responsible. Even though he has had changes, he is still my goofy older brother. He always makes me smile, just by the way he says things. I always have a big smile on my face when he calls.

What makes David getting his wings so great is that he is really afraid of heights. To earn wings, one must learn to repel from a helicopter. "I just don't see the sense in jumping out of a perfectly good plane," David once joked. Well, once again, I'm proud of you D!

Bothersome Occurrences

Sometimes I get aggravated and upset at the littlest things. I really hate how I do that, but I really have no control over my emotions. I try to hold back my frustration, but sometimes I can't help but get upset.

One thing that upsets me is when I find out the end to a movie or a book before I am finished. This happened just a few moments ago and now I am fighting back the frustration. I found out the ending to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I am actually kind of devastated by this. I know, this is a weird and insignificant thing to get upset about, but I am. This is just me.

Another thing that upsets me for no real reason is being interrupted. I get really aggravated when people continually interrupt me. So much so that I won't even attempt to tell the person what I was saying after about the third interruption. This is kind of ridiculous and childish, but I get so bugged by being interrupted.

I also have an issue with people eating my food. I get really upset with my brother especially. He would always eat my share of dinner and I wouldn't eat anything the rest of the day, in silent protest. Another childish decision, I know.

Sometimes I laugh at how ridiculous I am. I can hardly believe all the things that bug me. But I try not to let things bother me so much.

Connecting

As I was riding the bus to school today, I realized how people connect with one another over the simplest of things. Someone mentioned a tire swing and many different childhood stories were revealed and shared. Everyone seemed to have a way to tie in with the conversation and become a part of that link with others.

We sometimes don't realize how easy relating to someone can be. We also don't realize that sometimes people search for that connection with people, just to get through another day. If we take a little time, we could find that we have ties to complete strangers.

I also realized how easy starting a conversation can be. Even if the conversation is on a completely random topic, like salt. I had a for person conversation on salt last night. I thought the idea was very funny.

People can be so random at times, but we still connect and relate to them. I find that intriguing.

Life in the 1920s

Living in the 1920s sounds exciting. The 20s are referred to as the "Roaring 20s." The 20s were a time for celebrating. Here is a site that has a lot of details about the 20s. I think living in the 20s wouold be fun. People went out and danced all the time. I love dancing, so I suppose I would enjoy living in the 20s.

Prom

Prom night started off kind of hectic. I had to rush to get ready. My date, Nathan, was really great about everything though. He waited patiently for me. When I was finally ready, we stopped by his dad's house for a few quick pictures. After that, we went to his mom's house. We had a couple pictures done there, and then ate a nice steak dinner.

Nathan looked really nice all dressed up. When we arrived at prom, I immediately saw friends. We talked a little bit, but then the music started to catch us. We danced a lot that night. We finally had pictures made there, and then danced some more. I had to work the next day, so we didn't stay until midnight, but that was okay. The night was really nice.

Thirteen Reasons Why

If you like books that make you rethink the way you act, you will like Thirteen Reason's Why by Jay Asher. This book has a lot of depth inside the pages. The characters go through struggles, and I went through them with the characters. This book drew me in and really made me think about how I treat people.

The plot of this book is dripping with sorrow and emotion. Clay receives cassette tapes. When he listens to the tapes, he hears the voice of Hannah Baker, the girl he had feelings for, and also the girl that committed suicide very recently. Clay is baffled and can't really believe what he hears. The tapes were made to tell thirteen people why they had a hand in her suicide. This causes Clay to rethink every detail of his time with Hannah, but he can't figure out what he had done to make her want to kill herself. Clay learns a lot about Hannah through the tapes. The reader also follows along with not only Hannah's story, but Clays emotions as well.

While Clay listens to the tapes, he struggles to keep control. There are times when he is grieving, when he is angry, when he wants to cry, and also there are the times when he remembers a good time with Hannah. Clay struggles through the whole book because he thinks he could have kept Hannah from killing herself, if only he would have said something. The reader also sees Hannah's struggle. She wants someone to notice, but she distances herself. Hannah's main struggle was with herself.

After reading this book, I really considered how I treated everyone. This book taught me not to be selfish. Thirteen Reasons Why also made me appreciate people more and made me want to become a better person. Anyone who reads this book will question how they interact with others and if there is a Hannah in their lives.

Jay Asher did an amazing job. Thirteen Reasons Why is not a book for younger readers. This book was made to take a deep look at teenagers lives and how somethings can change one girls life forever. One thing can set off a chain reaction. Jay Asher helps us realize this.

Green is Gold

As the seasons change, so do the colors outside. In Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay," he talks of the gold in nature. In this poem, I believe that Frost is saying that the first parts of life, the completely innocent, can never stay the same. As time goes by, progressing in experiences, that innocence is changed. The innocence is valuable and should be cherished, but we can never hold on to it forever. We should enjoy ourselves while we are still gold, and enjoy the little gold we can rescue from time. With that I say, nothing gold can stay.

St. Patrick's Day

When I think about St. Patrick's Day, I think about spending that holiday with my brother David. It was those days that made me really dislike David. He would get in a mean spirit at school because of all the pinching going on, then he would come home and start fighting with me. I would get pinched and punched even though I was wearing green. He loved to pick on me. But now, I really don't mind. I wish he were home so he could pinch me to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

I know now that his way of showing he cared was by picking on me. He still picks on me even though he is 19 and I am 17. I have a feeling that he will be picking on me until the day I die. Somehow, that makes me smile. David wouldn't be David if he wasn't a bully. That is just one of the many things that makes him who he is.

David is a bully to me for a different reason though. It isn't because he doesn't like me, it is because he wants me to be strong. I hope I don't disappoint him.

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a book that touched me. I was involved with the main character, Amir, from the very beginning. At times I was against, but I was always rooting for him. The setting really made this book what it came to be. Afghanistan life is different from American life by far. The overall message given by the book was what really touched me.

The book progresses throughout Amir's life. When he is a kid, he is a bully to his servent, Hassan. He was also struggling for affection from his father. I believe that is what made him mean to Hassan. At those times, I was against Amir, but I was rooting for him. I wanted him to be kind, but I understood the pain he was going through. I wanted him to get the affection he deserved. When he was an adult, Amir carried a lot of pain. He couldn't forgive himself for something that happened. I wanted Amir to have peace at those times.

Set in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner gave me insight on a different life. The events that occured shocked and horrified me. I was appauled that people actually had to indure days like those desccribed in the book. I guess I was just denying that anything like that could happen. I knew things went wrong, but I never knew the extent at which they did.

The book sent a deep message to all who read it. Amir was carrying a lot of pain and grief because of something that happened when he was a kid. What made things so terrible was that Amir never told anyone what happened. He was left to deal with this pain all alone. I felt for Amir in those times during the book. He was a kid that got scared, one who didn't know what to do. And for that, he did wrong things in the time that followed. But, he should have asked for forgiveness, maybe then he wouldn't have been tormented.

The Kite Runner had me intereste all throughout the book. I felt like I was apart of what was happening. I really wanted to reach out at times and help. This book really made me think about things and appreciate the life I have now.

Sara's Face

If you like strange books, I have a book you will enjoy. Sara"s Face by Melvin Burgess is strangely captivating. The main character, Sara, has self-hate issues and nearly destroys her life. The way the story is told also makes the book interesting. The plot is the ultimate in strangeness.

The main reason I was drawn to this book was the main character. I thought the fact that we have the same name, with the same spelling, was cool. Sara turned out to be different though. She had major self-hate issues, which ultimately put her in a position that would have cost her everything. Sara would ask for help, but then do everything she could to prevent herself from getting the help she desired. Sara was a pretty girl, but she always hated her looks. She even "accidentally" burned her face with an iron. This made the book very intriguing.

The author set up the book as a journalist's way of reporting a story that had many theories about it. Jonathan Heat, a popstar in England, took Sara into his home. Many had suspicions about Mr. Heat's intentions. Most didn't suspect him of being a monster, until further in the story. The way the story is told though, the reader knows something happened, but are getting the facts as they happen, so the reader only has hints at what really happened.

The plot of this book was very interesting. Sara moves into Jonathan Heat's home after she burns herself with an iron. Jonathan Heat is famous for facial plastic surgery, mainly because all the surgery he had caused his face to collapse. Mr. Heat wanted to help Sara become more loving to herself, because he too had a self-hate problem and knew how hard it could be to deal with the problem. A little ways into the book, Mr. Heat is suspected of wanting to steal Sara's face. Sara sees the ghost of a faceless girl, and fears she is next.

With ghosts, plastic surgery, and famous pop stars, this book is never boring. I enjoyed reading this book and rec commend this book to anyone who likes strange writing. Sara's Face is full of mysteries and suspense.

Nickelback

Nickelback is my favorite band. Chad Kroeger's voice is just amazing to me. This Canadian band is one that people either love or they hate. I have gotten in many arguements with my friends about how great Nickelback is. I have been listening to Nickelback since I was little. I try to learn interesting things about the band. The band got the name Nickelback because one of the members would always say here's your nickel back to customers in the Starbucks where he worked. This site has a lot of information about Nickelback.

Olympic Commitment

Many hours of olympic athletes time is spent in tough conditioning and training. All that go are honored, just by being chosen. They dedicate their lives to preparing for the olympics.
I, myself, do not have something that I am that passionate about. The only thing I would dedicate that much of myself to is helping people. I am always trying to help people and make them happy. I would do anything I could to make someone happy. My brother always said that my biggest fault was always caring so much about people. But he just wanted me to be careful and not get hurt.

Civil Wars

One type of civil war that can be devastating is a civil war fought within an individual. I know when I find myself being self destructive, a toll is taken on me.

When I get self destructive, I do anything in my power to keep myself from being happy. Fighting a war within yourself is a tiring and destructive process. I know how bad individual war can be. The war within an individual can really take a toll on the person.

Even though these self destructive tendencies can be corrected, they usually aren't. I know I usually realize that I'm making myself unhappy, but I just can't bring myself to stop. I get tangled up in all the hate and emotions and get lost.

Civil wars can be so damaging. The individual wars are really severe. There is always hope though, even when there seems to be none, hope is always present.