Wednesday, April 15, 2009

My Favorite Techie Tool

My favorite web-based technology tool is blogs. I like blogging because it keeps me thinking and it keeps me organized. I also get to share my opinions and thoughts with my friends. Expressing how I feel about a topic or a book makes me feel good about myself because I feel like I have had a say in what we are doing in my class.

Blogging also makes me feel accomplished. I like working hard and writing posts because I feel like I have done a good job.

Blogs keep me organized with my thoughts and also because my teacher set up a class blog. The class blog helps me out tremendously because I can always check and make sure that I have everything done. This helps a lot with my busy schedule in case I forget something.

In my opinion, blogger is enjoyable. Writing my thoughts down and posting them is easy and fun.

Animal Farm Book Review

George Orwell's Animal Farm was a very interesting, deep read. Have you ever heard of animals taking over a farm? Me either, but this book symbolizes what went on at the time of the Russian Revolution. Relating to the Russian Revolution, Animal Farm made me think a lot.

Mr. Jones, of the Manor farm, was very careless about what went on at his farm. He especially did not care about the animals. Mr. Jones mistreated the animals and worked them very hard with little food. Eventually the animals got tired of his selfish acts and decided to take over the farm. Kicking Mr. Jones and his family out, the animals were finally free. Well, sort of. Being the smartest, the pigs took control of the farm. Two boars, Snowball and Napoleon worked together at first but disagreeing all the time, Snowball was the one to go. Taking over, Napoleon was a selfish liar who only cared about himself. The animals worked so hard and got very little in return. They also had to handle battles to keep the farm. By working all the time and also fighting in battles, the animals had double the work.

Has anybody ever said to you that life is not fair? Well, that is what I thought when I read this book. Life was not fair for the animals beside the pigs. Animal Farm also made me think that a person can only trust themselves and no one else. With these two statements that I thought about, I was able to relate to what is going on in my life right now.

I would definitely recommend this book. Animal Farm is a pretty easy read and the book helps you better understand more of what went on at the time of the Russian Revolution.

The Secret Language of Girls Book Review

Frances O'Roark Dowell's The Secret Language of Girls can relate to teenage girls around the world.

Kate and Maryiln have been best friends forever but now, things are changing. Marylin decides that Kate can act immature at times and she decides to start hanging out with girls who she thinks are more mature. Kate and Marylin go there separate ways and by doing so, they start to hang out with other kids. Through the changes they always wonder about each other. Still caring about Kate and their friendship, Marylin tries to stop what might happen to Kate when things get out of hand.

I would recommend this book because The Secret Language of Girls shows that people go in an out of your lives but there is always a true best friend that will always be there. This book also teaches that no matter what happens in a friendship, true friends always care.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

An Excerpt from Anthem Essay

Any quote from a book can have so much significance and detail behind the sentence that only the author might know. In Anthem there is a lot of meaning behind Ayn Rand’s sentences. She is the only person that knows what she is truly talking about and we could only guess.

“The glass box in our arms is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good of our brothers” (Page 76, Paragraph 5). The first part of this quote is all about security. In Anthem, Equality 7-2521 are always by themselves doing their own thing and they just want to feel safe and secure. Equality cannot get security from anything or anybody, but they can get the security and strength from this glowing, glass box.

“I wish to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning” (Page 94, Paragraph 3). At the end of the book, Equality 7-2521 starts figuring out who he really is and what life really is. He thinks that he is everything and that he is so confident and so sure of himself. By saying that he is the meaning, Equality thinks that he has solved everything and that all his problems are solved. This quote makes me think that everything revolves around Equality and that he thinks he is the greatest thing on the earth. This quote sounds like he is a snobby kid that only thinks that he is better than the whole world. Equality might think he is right, but he is so wrong on so many different levels.

“I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them” (Page 96, Paragraph 1). Equality definitely acts selfish in this quote. He does not give anything nor does he do anything for his brothers. Not only does he not do anything for his brothers, but he does not want to. Equality 7-2521 does not want to deal with responsibility. He does not want anything because then, he just feels like he has to give something back in return.

These three quotes that Equality 7-2521 said really makes me frustrated and mad. To me, Equality is very selfish. He does not care about his brothers and not caring a thing about other people is the worst thing that a person could do in life. These quotes from Anthem makes it obvious that Equality 7-2521 needs/wants security and love in his life. He feels like the only way he can find security and love is by being selfish, but we all know that being selfish is not the answer to problems and wants, whether we like to think that or not. At the same time, Equality knows that he has a lot in his life and does not need to be selfish about what he has.

My Spring Break

My spring break was the best one that I have had in a long time. I got to go to Orlando, Florida on a band trip. The best part was that I got to go to Disney World with my friends.

At Disney World, I found out that I have grown to love rollar coasters. I went on some rollar coasters that I never thought I would go on. I also love to be on the front row of a rollar coaster because I felt like I was the only one riding the ride.

I got to know more about the people in band. Everybody had so much fun together. What more could a person ask for just hanging out with her friends during spring break at the "happiest place on Earth"?

Driving on the charter buses was fun, but so uncomfortable. I could not get any sleep no matter how hard I tried.

We went to Hollywood Studios, Island of Adventures, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom. There was no possible way to get everything done in one day. One of the reasons why it was not possible was because there were so many people and we had to wait in line for every ride.

I would absolutely love to go back to Disney World again. I would definitely want to go back with my family and get to experience Disney World with them. Going back to Disney World would be worth it. It would be a dream come true.