Blog #6 (471-563)

After Alice took Bella to the Volturi family to find Edward, they returned to Forks, WA. There, Edward proposed to Bella which sort of freaked Bella out. He told her, "Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything" (514). This quote really shows how much Edward loves and needs Bella. It also gives insight into what Edward is thinking instead of only Bella.
Since Bella desperately wants to become a vampire, the Cullen family decides to take a vote. The majority of the vote was for her being a vampire. Edward still wasn't pleased, so he compromised. He promised Bella that after she graduates then she can become a vampire.

Blog #5 (347-470)

In this part of New Moon Alice has come back to Forks, Washington to visit Bella. She stays with her for a couple of days because she's extremely worried about Edward. "I don’t think he ever planned to outlive you by long" (418). Alice says this to Bella because Edward wants Bella to stay human forever. He says that he'll stay with her for as long as she lives even though she'll get old and he'll stay young. Bella starts to worry too because Edward thinks that she killed herself when she was cliff diving. "We may already be too late. I saw him going to the Volturi… and asking to die" (419). I can relate to this because it can be very confusing when people play "telephone". Like how when Alice saw into the future when Bella jumped, she told Edward what she saw. People I know hear things from other people and exaggerate when they tell everybody else so things can get really out of hand.

Blog #4 (283-376)

In New Moon, Bella starts to hang out with Jacob and his werewolf friends. Bella met Sam Uley's girlfriend, Emily, who has a huge scar on her face from Sam probably attacking her. Also, Bella does more dangerous things in order to hear Edward's voice. She's still not over Edward at all, and she remembers before he left when he was at her house watching Romeo and Juliet. "Romeo wouldn’t change his mind. That’s why people still remembered his name, always twined with hers: Romeo and Juliet. That’s why it was a good story. 'Juliet gets dumped and ends up with Paris' would have never been a hit" (371). This quote makes me think that Bella just is completely lost without Edwarde even though I feel really bad for Jacob because he really likes her. Bella won't even give him a chance because she's convinced that she's so in love with Edward.

Blog #3 (189-282)

In this part of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, Bella comes across Laurent in the meadow where Edward once took her. Bella thinks that Laurent his clan aren't targeting her anymore but he informs her that Victoria, another one of his clan, is after her. He says that since Edward killed James (in Twilight) that it would only be fair to kill Bella as a mate for a mate type of thing. Since Laurent is so "thirsty" he decides that maybe he should just take care of Bella for himself. Fortunately, a pack of wolves chase Laurent out and save Bella. "Granted, the wolf was monstrous in size, but it was just an animal. What reason would a vampire have for fearing an animal?"(243). This is when I had the idea that Jacob, Sam Uley, and his other new found friends were actually vampires. In Twilight, Jacob told Bella of an ancient folk tale that the Cullens were vampires and the Blacks descended from wolves, and were called "protectors". The werewolves are supposed to protect humans from their enemies, vampires. Since the whole thing about the Cullens turned out to be true, I thought that the Blacks were definitely going to turn out to be vampires.

New Moon #2 (95-189)

In this part of the book, Bella has been spending alot of time with Jacob doing somewhat dangerous things. She realises that whenever she does dangerous things, she can hear Edward's voice in her head telling her to be careful. This of course makes Bella wanting more to do dangerous things since it's the only way that she can disregard his promise: "It will be as if I never existed". He says this to her because he wants her to keep her soul and be a happy normal human. He thinks that if he's in her life than she will miss out on things that he doens't want her to. She of course disagrees with him because she's convinced that she can't ever live with out him. It seems as if when people break up with people they say they want them to just forget about them and move on with their life. That's impossible to do though, whether you were completely in love and can't imagine living your life without them or not. I think it's especially hard for Bella because of the impact he had on her because of the shock that he's a vampire and because they fell in love.

New Moon #1 (1-94)

In the beginning of New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, the Cullens leave Forks and Bella becomes closer to Jacob Black. A quote that I really found interesting in this section was after the Cullens left and Bella finally thought that she could live without Edward. She thinks, "Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me" (93). Bella really takes Edward leaving very hard even though she has Charlie, her father, and her new friend Jacob. Jacob has a huge crush on Bella and she doesn't even care. All Bella does is mope around and miss Edward. The idea of time is much more sensitive to her than it might be to other people, since Edward is immortal. She's so afraid of aging and becoming older than him and she desperately wants to become a vampire so she can be with him forever.

New Moon Reflection

For fourth quarter, I decided to read New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. I’ve never read Twilight, I just saw the movie and I thought it was really better than I expected it was going to be. Everyone says that the books are so much better, and that the movies don’t even compare, so I decided that I would just start with the second one. Also, my mom and I were thinking that we would read it together, so we both got copies. I got the book on Monday, and I'm already half way through the book even though I thought it was going to take me forever since it's so thick. It's actually a surprisingly fast read and I'm really enjoying it, and I'm really excited to read and Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Overcoming Odds

Octomom Doesn't Need Anyone's Help
The Octomom has had fourteen kids. Fourteen! That's insane! But so is she...
Anyway, Nadya Suleman obviously has some mental issues and she really needs to be loved. But she managed to beat the odds of having 8 babies. It seems a little coincidental that someone who has an obsession with babies would have eight. She went on Dr. Phil and received help from Angels in Waiting to take care of her babies. Soon after, she fired the nannies because she thought they were going to steal her babies from her. She is so nutty, she won't even let people help her with her children. She's not a superhero, she's not going to be able to take care of fourteen kids, including eight newborns, all by herself.



Finn, Natalie. "Octomom Hands Off the Help?" E! Online 23 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b105777_Octomom_Hands_Off_the_Help_.html

Love

Shawn Johnson's Stalker Arrested
34 year old Robert Michael O'Ryan was arrested after jumping the fence to the set of Dancing With the Stars where 17 year old Shawn Johnson was rehearsing. He had a loaded hand gun and materials for kidnapping (zip ties, duct tape, and a map to her location). He is her "biggest fan" and really wanted to meet her. In his car, they also found love letters and clippings of articles about her. He's insane, he thinks that Shawn talks directly to him when she talks on television and confesses her love for him. He thinks that they're going to get married and have children together no matter what. Shawn has filed for a restraining order and the investigation will continue.











Finn, Natalie. "Alleged Shawn Johnson Stalker Arrested After Sneaking Onto Dancing Set." E! Online 25 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b106151_Alleged_Shawn_Johnson_Stalker_Arrested_After_Sneaking_Onto__lt_i_gt_Dancing_lt__i_gt__Set.html

War

Protesters Rally Against War

Last Saturday, was the seven year "anniversary" of the War in Iraq. Protesters are frustrated with the lack of progress overseas. They marched from Hillcrest to Balboa and spoke out against the war. People held cardboard coffins to represent the nation's capitol. The U.S. says that they will pull troops out of Iraq in 2011. That means that the war will end in only 2 years! That isn't that long from now if you think that 7 years ago the war started, and it seems like it wasn't that long ago.


Hughes, H. "'Rise Up, Get Down': Protesters Rally Against War." NBC San Diego 22 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Rise-Up-Get-DownProtesters-Rally-Against-War.html

Colonization

Africa Still Isn't Colonized

Despite Africa's size, most of the countries still aren't colonized and modern. People's views of uncivilized Africa can be true. Africa isn't completely colonized because the Sahara Desert is so huge and the areas around it are impossible to live because the living conditions are so bad. Also, nomadic tribes make up a lot of Africa. Since they travel so much from area to area, the government can't control what they do so it's basically impossible to colonize them. Despite them being "uncivilized", I don't think that they want to be. I think that most of them are perfectly fine with their tribal life without technology. The only thing that really is bad about that is the lack of health care and the spread of HIV/AIDS.


Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "Countries in Africa Considered Never Colonized." about.com 10 Mar 2009 .

Global Issue

Global Warming: A Real Issue or a Hoax?

The writer of this article thinks that global warming is a tool used by the government to gain more power. He does admit thought that there is a climate change happening. He says that people in the government are exploiting global warming to restrict freedom and grab power, which doesn't make any sense to me at all. What good would come out of that? This writer contradicts himself so many times in the article. I think that global warming is an actual issue, and it doesn't matter whether or not the government is "exploiting" it because if people are environmentally cautious that couldn't harm anything.


Adams, Mike. "Is Global Warming A Hoax? The Real Story on Climate Change and the Non-Future of Human Civilization(opinion)." Natural News 20 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.naturalnews.com/025895.html

Holidays

Create Your Own Holiday

5 years ago, a few people just created a holiday called "Meat Week", in celebration of meat, and it's pretty successful. Now they're giving tips for creating a successful holiday. First, you should pick something to celebrate. Second, you should go all out and be completely ridiculous about it. Then, you should definitely include a food because everyone likes to eat and people will take notice. To get people to celebrate it, you should go all out so people think it looks like a lot of fun and will want to participate. Instead of creating rules, you should create traditions, that way people don't see at as being a hassle or a commitment they have to celebrate. Be All-Inclusive, and make sure that no one is offended or feels like they aren't being included in the holiday. Finally, if you have holiday spirit and a sense of warmth, people will feel more welcomed to join.

Nies, Jennifer. "Meat Week Creators Serve Tips on How to Create Your Own Holiday." Aylum 26 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.asylum.com/2009/03/26/meat-week-creators-serve-tips-on-creating-your-own-holiday/

Bollywood

Bollywood Comes to America

The Movie, Slumdog Millionaire, has won several Oscars and has gotten great reviews from critics. The American Film Institute put Slumdog on it's Top 10 Most Significant Moments list for this year. It's very rare for a Bollywood-type movie to become really popular in America. Slumdog Millionaire doesn't exactly follow the Bollywood guidelines since their isn't a lot of singing/dancing and the movie isn't 4 hours long.


Grossberg, Josh. "Slumdog Lords Over AFI's Top 10 'Moments'". E! Online 29 Dec 2008. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b75110__lt_i_gt_Slumdog_lt__i_gt__Lords_Over_AFI_s_Top_10__amp_quot_Moments_amp_quot_.html

Gender Roles

Kim Kardashian Doesn't Care if You See Her Cellulite

A photo for the cover of "Complex" that wasn't yet photoshopped was accidentally leaked out. She commented on peoples' remarks by saying that any girl with curls has some cellulite and she's not ashamed at it at all. Magazines photoshop pictures of celebrities and people never know their actual flaws. Girls who read these magazines and see photos of these "flawless" women think that they need to be that perfect. Teenage girls are insecure and they think that guys expect every girl to look like the photoshopped pictures of these women.

Cady, Jennifer. "Kim Kardashian Doesn't Care If You See Her Cellulite." E! Online 26 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b106199_kim_kardashian_doesnt_care_you_see_her.html?utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_yahoobuzz

Different Culture

Mexico is not in Danger of Collapsing Despite Drug Wars

National Intelligence Director, Dennis Blair, says that Mexico is actually not in danger of collapsing despite all of the recent drug wars that been going on. A planning report by the U.S. military said that due to the increasing violence, Mexico could be in danger of collapsing but it turns out that it's not true at all. Obama's administration says that 500 federal agents will be sent to the border to make sure that no dangerous drug lords sneak into the U.S.

Hess, Pam. "Official: Mexico is Not in Danger of Collapse." Associated Press 26 Mar 2009. 26 Mar 2009. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_intelligence_blair;_ylt=AuOxGqKUZhhIFUixeik76VrXn414

Overcoming a Struggle

Troubled Musical Couples

Rihanna and Chris Brown aren't the only couple in the music industry that have been involved in an abusive relationship. Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols and his wife Nancy Spungen were together despite the drug and physical abuse. Nancy was eventually found stabbed to death in their bathroom and Sid was arrested for murder. Sid died of an overdoes before the trial. Also, Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and Courtney Love from Hole were married and had a daughter, Francis Bean Cobain. Kurt and Courtney were self destructive with drugs which led to Kurt taking his own life. Amy Winehouse and her elementary school drop out husband, Blake Fielder-Civil got married in 2007. Amy continuously beat Blake and then she recorded a video on YouTube of herself torturing mice while confessing her love to Blake. Although Kurt and Nancy didn't overcome their struggle in an abusive relationship, Amy Winehouse filed for divorce from Blake and got out of that relationship and hopefully Rihanna will move on from Chris Brown.





Amos, Shawn. "Troubled Musical Couples." Yahoo Music. 19 Mar 2009. 21 Mar 2009. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/getback/102768/troubled-musical-couples

Quarter 3 Blog #1

Volcano Erupts Near Tokyo

Early Monday Mount Asama, a volcano near Tokyo, erupted. No one has been reported injured or dead since the volcano eruption only stayed very close to the volcano. People were still affected by the eruption since the ash spread all over Tokyo and other surrounding cities. Breathing in volcano ash can actually be very harmful. Also, there were warnings saying that volcanic rocks may be falling out of the sky around the volcano. So, people could get hit in the head with a rock, which is pretty dangerous. The volcano also erupted last year, so it's active and could erupt again.

Lullaby #15

Helen Hoover Boyle and Carl Streater are still driving along with Mona and Oyster. It turns out that Oyster has a little scam going on. He publishes ads in a bunch of papers saying that if people have gotten a rash or sick from eating or going to popular places then they should call his cell phone. It's not explained why he does this, but I think he's pretending to be a lawyer or something and just getting money from these people who probably are lying just like him.

How to Survive a Plane Crash

Despite what most people believe, it's really likely that you'll survive a plane crash. People think that everyone dies in a plane crash because in the most tragic/infamous crashes, everyone did die. In the recent Hudson plane crash, everyone came out alive. Also, most people panic and freak out when they don't know what to do. So, these are the steps that people should follow to live:
1. Try and sit within 5 rows of an exit.
2. Follow the safety instructions and plan out what you're going to do in case of an emergency.
3. Focus on what the plane is doing the first 3 minutes of flight and last 8 minutes of landing.
4. Relax because it's a one in a million chance that you're going to be in a crash.

Man Demands His Divorced Wife to Pay for Kidney #13

A man in New York wants his ex-wife to pay for a kidney he donated to her. Dr. Richard Batista said he'd settle for $1.5 million as compensation. After their divorce, he hasn't been able to see his children. He says that he has no regret in donating his kidney to her, he just regrets that their marriage failed 4 years after the donation. She filed for divorce, saying she had an eighteen month affair with someone else. That's so terrible, it seems that she just took advantage of him knowing that he'd give her his kidney since he loved her and they were married. Then once the surgery was over, she decided to just come clean and file for divorce.

4 Year Old Boy Shoots Babysitter #12

A four year old boy in Ohio shot his babysitter with a shotgun! Police said that the babysitter accidentally stepped on the boy's foot. So he went into the closet, grabbed the shotgun and shot him out of anger. Other teenagers were babysitting children at a mobile home when the four year old shot Nathan Beavers. Beavers has been hospitalized with pellet wounds in his arm and side. One other babysitter was injured with shotgun pellet wounds. I don't even understand how the boy was able to use a shotgun, they're huge...he's four years old. It doesn't make sense. The boy hasn't even been charged, what if he had killed the sitter? I don't think it matters if he's four, that kid has serious issues and should have anger management.

Boy, 6, misses bus so he tries driving to school #11

In Virginia, a six year old boy missed his school bus one morning. Instead of going home and calling his mom, the logical choice. He decided to take his family's sedan for a little joyride to school while his mom was inside the house sleeping. He didn't get very far though. He apparantly ran off the road several times until he eventually ran into an embankment and an utility pole. He wasn't even wearing a seatbelt. Luckilly, he suffered only from minor injuries but he could've totally died. The police are still investigating it though. I think the mom will probably get charged with something since she allowed her son to just go outside and wait for the bus alone when he's only six years old.

Man's Last Lottery Ticket Wins $10 Million for Widow #10

On November 1st, Donald Peters last day, he purchased two lottery tickets at a 7-Eleven as a 20 year tradition he had with his wife, Charlotte. Later that day, he suffered from a heart attack and died. Then, she didn't even think of the lottery tickets. Charlotte and her three kids were way too busy grieving over Donald's death. But in December, she was in the grocery store when she heard that she won. She had no idea how much she won, she was extremely surprised. She has no idea what she's going to do with the money yet, but it won't solve her grieving of her deceased husband.

Lullaby: Outside Reading Quarter 2 #9

Helen Hoover Boyle's assitant is named Mona Sabbat. She told Helen that she heard about culling tales before, and that they're meant to be read to old people who want to be taken out of their misery peacefully. Interested, Helen is more friendly to Mona so she can find out more of what she knows. Mona invites Helen to a get together she has at her house. Not wanting to go alone, Helen brings Carl Streater to the party. All of the people there are Wiccan and they are very strict vegans. Everyone calls themselves by an animal name instead of their normal names so Carl and Helen feel very uncomfortable there. They also meet Mona's boyfriend, Oyster. He has really long blonde hair and is a Wiccan like Mona and all their friends. After a while at the party, everyone gets naked and start saying prayers. Helen and Carl feel even more uncomfortable, and keep their clothing on and start drinking.

Lullaby: Outside Reading Quarter 2 #8

In Carl Streater's search to destroy every copy of the deathly song, he and Helen Hoover Boyle go to a young woman's house who checked out the book at the public library. They told the woman that they were offering free makeovers. Inside the house was an empty crib and a stack full of books. Poems and Rhymes Around the World was on the top of the shelf. They suspected that the woman must have read the poem on page 12 to her baby, and the next morning found it dead. Carl Streater tore the page up, crumpled it up, and put it in his pocket. Helen packed up her makeup kit and told the woman they were finished, now that she looked like a clown.