Outside Reading Blog #5

I am now reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The book and movie are similar but also different. I personally like the book better, but the movie is ok too. I think that the actors are kinda cheesy, but its bad enough to be good though. One important quote from the book is the very beginning and Bella is talking. Bella says, "I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks, I wouldn't be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision" (Meyer 1). This is important because it forshadows the whole book, and it tells you what is going to happen. It also hooks the reader and makes them want to read the book. It makes the reader want to read the book to find out what would be so great to Bella to not regret her impending death. It makes them want to find out what is so great about Forks and what is there. I love this book and could read it multiple times over and over.

Outside Reading Blog #4

I am still reading Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice by Maureen McCormick.

outside reading blog #3

I finished The Royal Treatment so now I am reading Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice by Maureen McCormick. This novel is about Maureen McCormick's life before and after playing the role of Marcia Brady for five years on the Brady Bunch. An important quote from what I have already read is, "Politely, I reminded them tha tMarcia Brady was still a teenager, but, I Maureen, created not in Sherwood Schwartz's imagination but in the womb of Irene McCormick" (11). This is important because everyone always thinks of actors as the characters they portray not as individual people. This quote establishes her goal for the book right away. This book was going to be about her whole, not just the part of life when she was playing Marcia. She is setting up her own identity with this book, hoping that people won't always think of her as Marcia Brady, just Maureen McCormick.

outside reading blog #2

I finished Gossip Girl: The Carlyles so then I read The Royal Treatment by MaryJanice Davidson. In the book, Russia never sold Alaska to the United States, so Alaska is it's own country. Christina Krabbe is in Alaska and she happens to be on the same boat as the king and he takes a liking to her. He invites her to stay at his castle and marry the crown prince. This book reminds me of The Princess Diaries. In both books a regular girl becomes a princess. Also, both girls have to go through a lot of training. They also both don't want to be a princess at first, but then warm up to the idea by the end. Finally, they both end up being queen.

outside reading blog #1

For outside reading I started with reading The Carlyles from the series, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles. It was about the Carlyle tripelets moving to New York City and getting used to life on the Upper East Side. This book reminded me of the original Gossip Girl books. Not just because it is a part of the series, but I can see the similarities between the characters in this book and the other books. Jack Laurent reminds me of Blair Waldorf because she is the alpha and she is with the "hottest" guy in the upper east side. J.P reminds be of Nate because all of the girls want to be with him. Baby Carlyle reminds me a Jenny Humphrey because she doesn't really quite get the ways of the upper east side yet.

Blog #13

I read an article about war. Dick Cheney is defending Bush's decision about Iraq.

"Cheney says Obama's Policies 'Raise the Risk' of U.S. Terror Attack." CNN.com. 15 March 2009. 15 March 2009 <http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/15/cheney.interview/index.html?iref=newssearch>.

Blog 7

I read an article about change.

blog 6

For my blog on hope I read an article called Police Follow New Leads in Search Missing Florida Girl. Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings disappeared last week from her trailor home in Florida. Police now have new leads and are following them. This is about hope because the new leads have brought hope to the girls families and the people looking for her. It also brings hope to all of the other people who have someone that is missing in their lives. If they read this then they think that there is hope in finding the person who is missing. This reminds me of all of the missing people T.V. shows, like Without a Trace. When the person first goes missing, people don't have any hope. But throughout the show when they get closer to finding out what happened, people get more hope everytime they find something new out.

Blog 5

I read an article from Skeptic magiazine.

http://www.skeptic.com/the_magazine/featured_articles/v12n03_are_religious_societies_healthier.html

Blog 4

I read an article on how it is still uncomfortable between couples when the woman is the breadwinner. Society has gotten a lot better with gender equality, but when it comes to the sole provider, when women are it, things can get weird. It is fine between couples when both the man and women are bringing home money. It is even ok when the woman is making more money. One reason why this could be happening is because men have a sense of esteem (identity) associated with being the provider. Women feel like they have a double burden.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27instincts.html

Dunleavey, M.P. "A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles." The New York Times Jan. 27 2007. Feb. 10 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27instincts.html>.

Blog 3

In Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, there are two cultures described that are different then ours. One culture is the parasite positive people. They get crazy and want to eat people. They also start to despise the things they used to love. For example, if they used to love elvis, the would suddenly not be able to look at anything associated with him. This is different from our culture because we don't hate the things we love. Another culture in the book is the carriers, or people who have the parasite without the crazy symptoms. The carriers have to hunt down everyone that they infected and send them out to a treatment center in Montana. They also can't ever kiss anyone who isn't infected, or else they would infect them. Also, they have to lie to everyone about them. The book also talks a lot about different parasites and how they live. All parasites have a final host that they try to get to. Sometimes they kill other things to get there, sometimes not. Peeps is a very good book so far and I would recommed it.

Blog 2

I am currently reading a book called Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Cal is a 19 year old with a parasite that makes him a "Peep" or vampire. He is only a carrier of the parasite, but all of his old girlfriends are infected. Cal has to track down all of them before they create more peeps. Cal has overactive hormones, and has to control his thoughts at all times. Cal has to overcome his hormones. He also has to overcome his feelings towards his old girlfriends when he hunts them down. This reminds me of Twilight series. Bella, Edward and his family have to prevent other vampires from creating more vampires.

Blog 1

I read an article about how the state of Kentucky is dealing with all of the after affects of an ice storm. The ice storm hit Kentucky last Tuesday and Wednesday. A lot of people do not have electricity and water because of the storm. The governor of Kentucky is sending out the national guard to go from house to house to help people. So far 21 people have died because of this. This kind of reminds me of the tornado in Hugo this past summer, because after the tornado people also didn't have electricity or water.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/01/31/winter.weather/index.html