Mirror Poem

Driving to pick up my brother from baseball
I pop in the cd you gave me.
I know you don't like country but you suffer through it for me.
Would you listen to this "whining" as you call it
for any other girl in the world? Or am I special?
Each pluck of the guitar echoes through the speakers.
The melodies dance through my head
and crash against your eardrums.
It's moments like these that I do feel special.

Predicting the Future

Nathan Rebelo wants to attend USC and become an architect. He seemed very calm and confident in his future as well as pragmatic. He is reaching out for his dream in a realistic way. I thought I connected with him the most because we share similar interests. We both don't necessarily want to leave home to get away from our family, but to rather explore and discover who we are when separated from the people who have influenced and pushed their beliefs onto us. He said that his ultimate goal was just to be able to drive around downtown with his kids and family as he points out all of the buildings he has designed for the community--his personal stamp on the world. I thought this was awesome because family is very important to me. I too want to become successful not only for me but for my future kids as well. It's such a cliche, but I believe that everyone does want better for their kids.

Shauna Casale was the most deluded to me. She is the seventeen year old girl who wants to become a major motion picture actress, and based on her monologue from Silence of the Lambs, I don't think it's gonna happen. That sounds harsh, I know, but it really wasn't that good, or convincing. She states she excited to get out of the house and experience life without any restrictions. I don't think she understands how difficult it is to become as big as Angelina Jolie and how her fantasy outlook on life will effect her. She is in for a big shock.

My favorite quote:

I'm going to be the second person in my family to graduate, and I just want to make my parents proud.

Tudel Riek, 17

Breaking Dawn pg. 225-286

So its been a while since I've posted about this book. I've been crazy busy lately. Its also been a while since I've read the book. So lets see what I can remember.

Pretty much all that happens is the Cullen's give Bella blood to drink with a cup and straw which absolutely disgusts Jake--yet he doesn't mind because he knows that it could possibly save Bella's life. Which it does. After drinking the blood--which she actually seems to enjoy--Bella's cheeks regain their pinkish color and her heart beats stronger.

A couple of the other guys from Jake's original pack come to ask Jake to rejoin them. Jake refuses because he can't ignore the Alpha blood running through his veins. Leah seems to be more comfortable under Jake's leadership--she even defends Jake's decision to break away from Sam's pack. Her main goal for joining Jake's pack is to protect her younger brother Seth. Jake understands this therefore he ignores her pms like behavior.

Jake is forming a stronger friendship with the bloodsuckers through this situation. He is starting to trust them more and more and vice versa. Oh, in previous books its been determined that Alice can't see the future when the wolves are involved. This is important because when she is around Bella, she cant see her or the baby's future. Does that mean that the baby will have a little werewolf in them? but how could this even be possible?

I hope to get more reading done this week and especially when I'm chillin on the beach in Florida.

1000 Awesome Things

I must say that I agreed to every awesome thing that was on the one page available for viewing.

#283: Eating the thing you are cooking while cooking it. I honestly can't think of a time that I was baking a cake or brownies or making cookie dough that I didn't eat the batter or dough before placing it in the pan or on the sheet and then letting it cook in the oven. This also leads me to #288.

#288: Looking through the little window in the oven. I don't do this so much now unless I'm checking to see if my cake or cookies are done, but I used to look through the little window all the time when I was younger. I can remember helping my grandma make peanut butter cookies and pressing the design on top with a fork (and of course eating a little dough) and then watch the cookies puff up and cook in the poorly lit oven through that tiny tiny window.

There are many more awesome things that I could relate to however I am out of time. On to math. yay.

Picture Book Timeline

I am so glad that Mr. Hill discovered this link. Flipping through it made me remember all the books that I used to read to myself or little brother as a child. I had a Little Mermaid pop up play tent that was in the corner of my and by brother's room at my childhood home. I would sit in that poorly lit tent for hours on end reading and looking at the pictures of the same books over and over again.

While going through the picture book timeline I was amazed to discover that many of my favorite picture books came from the time of my mother and fathers childhood in the 70s and 80s and even before their time in the 60s. I remember my parents reading Beatrix Potter and the Tale of Peter Rabbit to me along with other Mother Goose styled books. I also loved to look at the pictures in the Curious George books. However, the book that I stumbled upon in the timeline that shocked me the most was the Little Red Hen. Every time I would stay at my grandma's house my little brother and I would make her read the Little Red Hen. Her book was way cooler than the normal version of the book because it had the buttons on the right hand side that produced those annoying high pitch noises. The other book that caught my attention was Love You Forever. I don't remember the storyline exactly but I do remember it being quite sad at the end. My other grandma got me this book for one of my early Christmases and now I'm thinking I need to look for it at my dad's house and read it again.

The illustrations that intrigued me the most came from books in the late nineteenth century. The images produced by Howard Pyle, Jessie Wilcox, Arthur Rackham, and Edmund Dulac all caught my attention on the account that their drawings were quite to very realistic and lavish.



I especially enjoyed the works of Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac. Rackham illustrated classics such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) with dramatic and graceful pen lines completed with muted watercolors.



Emund Dulac illustrated classics such as Cinderella including stylized figures and elaborate backgrounds to complete the elaborate and fantastical essence of the fairy tale.

Variety Show TONIGHT!

Just wanted to give a shout out to one of my really good friends in the variety show tonight. i cant wait to see you perform girlie! its going to be sooooo good i just know it!!! GOOD LUCK :D

Breaking Dawn 185-224

Jake furiously runs to the Cullen residence in order to check in on Bella's condition only to discover that the reason she is sick is because she is pregnant with nobody knows what. Edward speaks to Jake a fair distance away from the house so none of the Cullens could hear the conversation. Jake describes Edward's facial expression and body language of being that of a man burning at the stake, full of pain and anguish. Edward begs Jake to talk Bella out of having the baby that could possibly kill her; he even tells Jake that if a baby is what Bella wants then she can destroy this one and have a baby with Jake. Jake desperately attempts to talk Bella out of going through this pregnancy yet no matter how hard he tries she has made up her mind. Even if it kills her, she is willing to carry the blood-sucking baby. She says that if Edward changes her from a human to a vampire that she has a chance of living, but its not a guarantee. Jake now finds himself wishing that Edward would change her when before he couldn't imagine the act.

Jake returns to the pack to inform them of Bella's condition. Sam ultimately jumps to the conclusion that the baby is a danger to their families along with the rest of the town, and under the vampire/wolf treaty, it is the pack's duty to protect the humans of the dangers of a vampire; even if that means killing Bella and the rest of the Cullen clan--who, to Seth, are people, which would contradict the treaty. This logic does not stop Sam who believes that they must attack that night. This breaks Jakes heart. He is not capable of destroying the love of his life or the kindhearted doctor or the rest of the clan for that matter. And after fighting alongside the vampires last spring, Seth has formed a friendship with the Cullens. With Sam being the Alpha of the pack, Seth and Jake have no choice but to listen to his orders.

However, Jake remembers that Alpha blood runs through his veins. He was the natural born leader of the pack but gave the authority to Sam when the pack was first created. But giving Sam the Alpha position does not mean that Jake loses his natural born right. After realizing this, Jake confronts Sam about what he is doing is wrong and tells him that he doesn't have to fall to Sam's every command. Jake decides to return to the Cullen residence and forewarn them of the attack of the wolves. As he is running, Jake suddenly realizes that it is very quiet. Not physically quiet in the forest but in his head. Because he has left the pack, Jake's thoughts are no longer connected with his brothers. However, not long after this realization, he hears this annoying, non-stopping voice in his head. After listening carefully he discovers that Seth has left Sam's pack to join Jake's pack.

Breaking Dawn pg. 139-184

I began reading the first part of Book Two: Jacob last night and so far I like it. I like it better than Bella's point of view mainly because its a different, less annoying outlook on the situation this circle of characters are in. The second book of the Twilight Saga, New Moon, provides an insight to the Quileute legends of the wolves of the reasoning behind their existence. I thouroughly enjoyed the legends and I am looking forward to follow Jacob further into his journey of saving Bella from immortality even though I highly doubt he will succeed.

The first part of Jake's book is him describing how he feels about the imprinting going on within the pack. Imprinting is when a wolf lays eyes on the woman of his dreams that was destined for him, no matter what age they are. For example, Quil has imprinted on a toddler girl, Clair. As of right now, they share a father daughter relationship, but once she is older they will assume a romantic relationship. Kind of creepy, I know, but does it sound less creepy that he won't be an old man when she grows up because he wont age? I dont know, I thought that made the circumstances a little better.

Everything is pretty plain until Jake and Quil hear the cry of a wolf coming from the forest. This is a call of order for the pack. Jake races into the forest and waits until he is well hidden from public eye to phase (into a werewolf). The pack phases rather than staying in their human forms because they can hear each other's thoughts while in their wolf form. Jake has been waiting for the news of whether Edward will bring Bella home "dead" (immortal) or not at all (because he killed her). He believes now that he is about to hear the answer to his wonder. Sam, the Alpha leader, reveals that Bella is home and has been quarantined due to a disease she picked up in South America on her honeymoon. Charlie is freaking out because even he is not allowed to see her. Jake of course takes this news as being Bella is now a vampire however he is greatly wrong. Bella is in fact pregnant and Carlisle has to surgically remove the fetus in order to save Bella's life. Lacking the true information, Jake decides that he is going to say goodbye to his father and runaway like he did when he discovered Bella was engaged to Edward.

Breaking Dawn pg. 98-138

I just completed Book One: Bella. The past forty pages were pretty uneventful. After destroying the down pillows and comforter, Edward has to call in Kaure and Gustavo to clean the lavish house up. The Portuguese housekeepers believe in legends of the vampires however their legend is slightly different from those around the world; their culture believes in the Libishomen--a blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women. It is understandable that the Portuguese woman suspects Edward to be a vampire one, because Edward is a vampire, and two, because he has Bella all alone in this large house on a remote island.

Bella begins to have very realistic dreams every night while on the island. She claims they are vivid and colorful and so realistic that she doesn't even realize she is dreaming until she wakes up. She dreams of this fair-skinned beautiful little boy with green eyes and the Volturi surrounding them. That is all that is revealed about her dreams. Other strange occurrences start to unfold. Bella is constantly sleeping and constantly hungry. One morning she suddenly feels sick to her stomach and pukes multiple times that morning. It's obvious that she is pregnant but the odd thing is that she already has a bump that she refers to as her nudge. She frantically calls Carlisle who determines that she is indeed pregnant. Edward arranges for them to return home immediately so Carlisle could "get that thing" out of her. Bella, frozen and not quite registering the situation, feels heart-broken that Edward would say such a thing.

Before leaving, Edward argues with the Portuguese woman in what seems to be an alien language to Bella. She did understand one thing. The woman placed her hands on Bella's stomach and quietly said, "morte." If you've taken any foreign language its not hard to figure out that that means dead. Bella makes one last phone call before leaving the island. She calls Rosalie, her stand-offish sister-in-law and begs "Please. You have to help me."

Breaking Dawn pg. 58-98

Bella and Edward's wedding is quietly interrupted as Edward introduces his surprise wedding gift to his bride. He discreetly leads Bella to the dark shadows of the yard where her best-friend, and best-man Jacob awaits. Edward painfully leaves them alone even though he does not completely trust the werewolf in disguise. Jacob attempts to act happy for Bella but it never fails...he of course gets all upset about how it's wrong for her to be with Edward and become a "blood-sucker" and how "life would as easy as breathing" if she were to choose him. Give it up Jake. She's already married. And rather than just leaving, the situation becomes in need of a vampire and three werewolves to get Jake to leave without causing a big scene. I know he's in love with her and all but really get over it. Jake's already told her that it's her decision and that he'll have to live with whatever she decides. Well I'd say marrying the vampire was a pretty clear decision for a vampire-life but now Jake's not living with it. He continues to fight it which is all he ever does and it gets old.

Anyway, Edward and Bella return to the dance floor as they force themselves to forget the possible catastrophe. It's not long before Alice butts in to drag Bella away from Edward in order to get her changed for the flight to their unknown destination honeymoon. I know Alice is just trying to help, but please, give the couple thirty seconds to themselves without interrupting for once. Bella changes and comes back downstairs to listen to the farewells of her family members before her and Edward drive off to the airport. She says goodbye to her mother and father for the last time; after she becomes a vampire she will not be permitted to see them in fear of killing and eating them. and I though my family had problems haha

The newlyweds arrive in Rio de Janero where Edward drives a speed boat to a solitary island known as Isle Esme--named after his mother. Carlisle, his father, had given the island to his wife as a wedding gift so it was just perfect for Edward and Bella to spend their honeymoon there as well. The wedding night is traditionally the first night that a couple becomes one however I didn't even realize this act happened until i was halfway through Bella and Edwards conversation about it. It was during this conversation that I first felt any sympathy towards Bella. She was just describing how wonderful it felt to wake up next to Edward after the previous night and that she was the happiest she had ever been. But then Edward, the insecure pessimistic creature that he is, had to ruin it all by being depressing and sad because he had left Bella bruised. What did he expect? He's a super-strong vampire. Of course he is going to hurt her. Even after Bella tries to reassure him that she is fine he flips out while beating himself up over nothing. He finally realizes that Bella is indeed okay and finally decides to move on by making her breakfast.

After re-reading this it sounds like I can't stand the characters of this book at all. Which is true. They are all just so extreme and it drives me nuts yet I can't put the book down.

3.1 Diction Exercise

a)gristle adrenaline inexorable insane blood bullet esophagus rifling puncture clavicle-snapped hissing

b)Sound: harsh graphic
Concreteness: repugnant repulsive revolting

c)Brian Turner utilizes graphic, repugnant diction in his poem "Here, Bullet" to delineate the harsh conflict a soldier faces between himself and the enemy's weapon.