God-Given Bias

Life's not fair. Some humans don't do anything their whole lives because their father's were millionaires, now their children are too. Some humans where born in a shed, to parents they never knew, and eat a little every other day, then manage to eat steady for a week only to die of cholera the next day because they couldn't drink the water that taunted them at their feet. Why are some born better off then others? Why are some born millionaires and some born only to die a week later? Why are some given the unfair advantage of safety and support in the fight for heaven?

Upon reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins these thoughts only dug deeper in my mind. Why do I deserve to have the hardest choice, or test, of my day so much lighter and easier to make then Katniss's disturbing dilemmas? Of course Katniss is fictional but she represents those who have not been blessed nearly as much as others.

To those with life in the seam, when it comes down to it you have to choose whether to follow Friedrick Nietzsche and say "God is dead" or you choose to be the best person you can possibly be and hope that the choice God looks at the most is the choice of weather or not you chose to try at all. Or best of all just choose a way, and know that it is completely right for yourself.

12- Sentence Short Story

Nathan and I we’re obsessed, we had the band’s shirts, we had the band’s albums, we knew the names, we knew everything there was to know. We had done everything, except seem them perform live. Now that their tour was destined for The Village, a small venue in Little Rock, it was our time to strike. Then we had to get by our authoritative figure, who we couldn’t seem to get past by any means, bribe past, argue past, whine past, or fight past. So we would just have to sneak past. Hardly easy. We told him we were at a friends house and we drove to little rock and called him often and got there and back fast and did so in a hurry. Many shows are good, but this one was grand. Blown were our minds. Was it worth the risk? The risk of anger, of disappointment, of arguing, of punishment? The spontaneous jams, unpredictable covers, cultured crowd,and intense environment made this concert completely worth any risk.

Doomed for Mediocrity

It seems that, over time, we, Americans, all turn out to become the same person. We, the average american schoolboy or girl, seem to slip down the ever-entrenching, ever-engulfing, and ever-slippery slope down to mediocrity. Society shoves us up the latter of, as they call it, "success" while in truth it's a latter of sameness and monotony, we doom ourselves by trying to please our family and friends.

As long as I can remember I've been told to get good grades, then I got told to take the ACT to swipe at scholarships, go to college, marry, and tell your kids to do the same. This is the latter that we all have seen plenty of times before, but what is at the top? A Toyota Camry? An average house? Generic Wal-Mart groceries? This is the life that we all end up with but is it the life that we want? Do we wanna put our feet in the exact footprints of our parents and theirs before them? We cannot take advice from this song as it claims, "I find sometimes its easy to be my self, sometimes I find its better to be somebody else". It is not better to be somebody else. Thats how we all end up the same, by trying to be each other.

The only way to escape mediocrity is to unmistakably be our own selves, without taking influence from others, and to make our lives truly our own.

If you wanna never marry, work at McDonalds, and try to become a famous musician, for the rest of your life do it. Who cares if society says your a loser you'll end up living more of an exciting free life then any of us.

What I Plan on Reading Next.

The next book in The Hunger Games series, Mocking Jay, will defiantly be next in line so I can, of course, finish the series. I also plan on reading Life of Pi which apparently goes into different types of religions and beliefs of the world, a subject interesting to me. Then I may read The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, if I can get past the first chunk and get into it, because people have said great things about it. I have an exiting set of books ahead of me.

2 Quarter Annotated Bibliography

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. Detroit: Thorndike, 2010. Print.

2 books

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is gruesome story that tells of a young girl, Katniss, and the awful decisions she is forced to make during a brutal civil war in a future land, Panem. Katniss became a hero in the first two books due to her defiant gesture in her first Hunger Games, threatening to kill herself and the other potential winner, Peeta. After being sent to the Games again, she is broken out by District 13, who wants to use her as a war hero to rally around and with, she proves herself good at this but only if she is in a live battlefield, which fuels her want to kill the enemies leader, President Snow. This book is an excelent read as it intesivifies not only on the character's war lives but on their personal lives as well. Katniss is the main character of Mockingjay, she's also the spark that sets of a revolt against the Capitol, District 13 was ready to rebel, they just need someone to set into motion. This book proves that no matter the numbers, people always need a leader.

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: a Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

2 books

Life of Pi is a funny, unusual, thought-provoking, novel written by Yann Matel which tells of teenage Pi Patel and his quest for truth in religion and survival. The story begins with random and unusual tales of Pi's life, for instance he tells of his father's zoo and facts about animals, which eventually leads to Pi's love of religion and strong belief in God. Pi's family is forced to move to Canada for political reasons, they take all their zoo animals with them. The ship sinks and Pi is stranded with a tiger, hyena, zebra, and orangutan on a small lifeboat. Religion is a major theme in Life of Pi as the reason Pi stayed reasonably sane on the life boat in the middle of the ocean. Rituals and storytelling saved his human mind as he explores Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism.

Sykes, Charles J. Dumbing down Our Kids: Why America's Children Feel Good about Themselves but Can't Read, Write, or Add. New York: St. Martin's, 1995. Print.

2 books

Dumbing down our kids is serious, nonfiction, rant by Charles Sykes arguing that our public schools spend too much time and money on less important subjects such as driving ed, P.E., and sex ed rather then academic studies such as math, science, and english. He doesn't stop there but claims american families don't teach enough to their children thus their want for the schools to teach more. A theme in the book that isn't argued, obvious or talked about much is doing things yourself, not shoving it on to others. He shows this by telling how much time american schools spend on other things that aren't academics that should be taught by families themselves, therefore the families are shoving their responsibilities on to public education, which Sykes shows to be not worth it in the long run.

Reading Reflection

My reading habits this nine weeks were surprisingly excellent, thanks to The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Making it work was easy thanks to books that never got old(The Hunger Games Series) while reading non-fiction, or rather attempting to read non-fiction, like Dumbing down our kids was much harder thus why I didn't finish. Inking my thoughts was fun but only in thought provoking books such as Brave New World. However with fiction books inking was extremely difficult, when I read the goal is to escape wherever I am and join the world of the book, stopping to write kills my imagination. Overall how often I read surprised me and I can do it again next quarter.

Annotated Bibliography

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print. 2 BOOKS

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins tells a depressing tale of humans, so consumed by power that they send children, from there own districts, 12-18 to fight to the death in an intricate and complicated arena. Katniss Evergreen, a teenage girl in district 12, lives her life as usual, helps provide for her family and hunts with her friend Gale. Then, as every year, the reaping comes. This is the time in which the contestants in the games get chosen by random. By the most unbelievably unluckiest stroke of luck Katniss's little sister Prim gets chosen in the reaping. When Katniss volunteers to take her spot as the female contestant she realizes that survival in the games is very unlikely. There can only be one winner, one who survives. The Hunger Games is brilliantly worded and perfectly paced, the reader never knows what to expect. Haymitch, Peeta and Katniss's advisor in the Games, plays a seemingly small role yet none the less important. He represents what Katniss and Peeta would seem to turn in to if they continue to let the Capitol do as they please, he won the games when he was a child yet it brought no happines. He lives alone and is an alcholic, this character alone tells the reader they have to do something about the government.

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print 2 BOOKS

With all the odds against her Katniss Evergreen, an extremely poor teenage girl sucked into an intense battle for the entertainment of a corrupt government, has won The Hunger Games. The only problem came at the end of the games when Katniss and Peeta, Katniss's partner in the games, decided to commit suicide therefore killing the last two contestants in the games in order to "stick it" to the capitol, they could't live without a winner. Without knowing it Katniss sparked a revolution. President Snow, leader of the Country, commanded Katniss to win over the country, saying she only did the stunt with the berries because she was madly in love with Peeta. She fails at this soon enough and finds out that, again, she has been called into the games, this time a Quarter Quell, which said that all the contestants were to be drawn from the pool of victors in previous games. This novel is a perfect sequel to the previous book. It acclimatizes but doesn't loose the plot. Katniss is the main character of Catching fire, she's also the spark that sets of a revolt against the Capitol, the people already have already more then enough reasons to rebel, they just need someone to set into motion. This book proves that no matter the numbers, people always need a leader.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print

Brave New World is a very unusual novel by Aldous Huxley, it tells of a the earth into the future were all humans are created like robots and Henry Ford is God. A man named Bernard decides to take a women named Liana to the savage reservoir. The savages are humans that weren't created, born like you and me. They view an unusual display of Indian people and meet a man named John, who they happened to know was his boss's son, a despicable act, to have a son in this time. The whole generation is caged by soma, a drug that flattens their emotions, of course John doesn't do the drugs as he is a savage. His body is free so he cries freedom and throws the soma out the window in one instance. The deepness of cloning, drugs, love and communism run extremely deep. John, the savage in the novel, can be paralleled to Jesus Christ, in that Jesus saved man and John attempts to save man threw crying out against soma. He no doubtingly represents us in that he wants freedom and emotion in life, not just a lifeless flat life that humans seem to be fine with in the future generation.

Socratic Seminar Reflection

Reflecting on my Socratic Seminar I realize that my performance was poor, not only because I failed to react to others ideas and opinions but because words barely came out at all. In the question 2 seminar, the one discussing Mond and John's talk in chapter 17, I did bring up a few points on soma and how it caged their emotions, made them dull when they should have been emotional, forced their lives to be lifeless, and how later John would cry freedom and throw the soma out the window. This idea would later be extended by Ms. Huff, saying that John could have represented Jesus Christ in that Jesus saved man and John tried to save man through crying freedom from soma. Making the thought go even more extended I continued saying that the two are more alike in that they would both be whipped and killed in the end. The most enjoyable part of the seminar was learning about other's thoughts and feelings on the book. I learned, from Becky, that soma was real and even has similar effects with the fictional version. The most important thing the seminar did was to relate the fictional novel to the real world and how the two have more in common that I had thought or like to think. How soma is real and how we, as in scientists, are moving toward clones in that we can clone bulls and other animals and how we can change embryos to select certain genes that don't cause cancer. If changing one thing was possible I would force myself to tell my thoughts and ideas much more often. If that single area would improve the seminar would have been perfect.

Abundance in America

Dan Pink's fearless criticism reveals and showcases America's strong attachment on abundance, extreme wastefulness, and want for aesthetics in places that need not aesthetics. "Self storage... has become a $17 billion annual industry in the United States". When US citizens have bought too many things they don't need they spend more money to get someone else to hold the stuff somewhere else for them. Abundance is so prevalent in America that we buy unnecessary things and don't even have them around us, furthermore we even pay someone to take it from us, this is ridiculous, wasteful and needs to stop says Pink. A toliet brush does not require aesthetics, all that should be expected of such an item is to clean, however a country soaked with abundence requires "a toilet brush designed by Michael Graves, a Princeton University architecture professor". American people are now looking for pleasure, happinies, and joy in items that need not to provide thoose things. Yet another way Americans show that they want everything.

PETA's Dangerously Convincing Advertisement

PETA, an animal rights organization, runs a convincing argument using pathos, ethos, and logos. Using mostly pathos PETA tries to convince consumers to stop buying animal products by tugging on their emotions. Furthermore they show a viewer, or more importantly a consumer, what it would be like if we were the animals being killed.
As said before PETA uses pathos the most in this advertisement, they use this type of rhetoric dominantly because of the strong emotional appeal it can bring. The woman is pretty yet average, she's wearing makeup, earrings, and a bracelet, we, as viewers, can relate to her, we are one of her, human just as she is. Her grotesque position, and the splattered blood show a crime scene, a great act of evil. Add the bar code and price, only 785 dollars, and the doer of this is selling a human life. Who would do such a thing? PETA says you would. They're saying, through the packaging and the price tag, that this act is similar or even the same as killing an animal and selling it.
Of course if PETA only used pathos in this advertisement most of us would just throw this out the window, this demonstration is just as crazy and radical as its maker. Viewers would just say that these vegetarians cant back it up. That's why PETA uses another type of rhetoric called logos. Logos is raw, substantive, information. In this case logos is used on the price tag, it says 55,000,000 killed per year. This little bit of information straitens out many rationalizations, for instance if someone where to say, oh well we don't kill that many animals. Just showing such a large number can be frightening.
Logos can sometimes stand alone but is more effective if used with ethos, a way of using egos, big names and companies, to the advertisement's advantage. I like you is a simple statement but when Miley Cyrus says I like you it's a huge statement, the opinion now becomes a big deal one that the listener will remember. This is precisely why PETA prints the Animal Liberation Victoria stamp of the sticker. Information now is official and educated if it comes from a official and educated organization, I mean they have their own seal.
Pathos, ethos, and logos can be very effective, even dangerous, if used properly. PETA pitches a very convincing argument to stay away from meat through these key rhetoric devices.

The Idea of The Gorillaz

Damon Albarn writes all the music for The Gorillaz, a famous electronic band most famous for their song Feel Good Inc. But it's not the attractive beats nor smooth melodies that make me love this band, its the way they never show themselves, the way they completely stay out of the spotlight, never looking into a camera. Why is this attractive? It shows they don't make music for personal gain nor an ego. It shows they make music solely for the love it, nothing else. And they don't take it too far either, they do play live shows. They turn of all the lights, only keeping themselves illuminated by a giant screen playing supplements to the song. The effect is vivid, Damon Albarn plus the band all perfect silhouettes on stage. Their appearence completey hidden yet their music non the less great. They show that music isn't about how you look but the notes you make. They make it seem like it should be, They're making it seem like you dont have to have the looks to make it in the music buisness. This is the way music should be going, maybe not as far as not showing yourself, but leaning that way.

It's about the Music Man! Isn't?

At first glance this picture seems to be the epitome of today's music scene. Musician's holding up their money for all to see. Should this be their biggest concern? Or should they be more concerned with making more (sometimes) beautiful music? Because that's what they are doing it for right? Isn't that the fun for them? Money is just a nice little something after right?

That's the way it should be, but unfortunately it isn't always. After looking at the picture again you realize this is no wealthy man. He's name is Andrew Vanwyngarden, the lead singer and guitarist for MGMT, a now semi-popular band out of Brooklyn, New York. The irony is in this picture makes it outstanding. First he's holding the money loosely in a Payless Shoes bag, which is not the safest place. This shows he does not really mind what happens to it, money is not a high priority to him. It also isn't the case that he has so much money he doesn't need this either. Payless shoes is not the nicest and most expensive shoe store. So he chooses to be a muscian therefore giving up the pursit of weath. It also appears that he doesn't even have a car as he is seems to be riding in some sort of public transportation, most likely a train.
What we need in this modern music scene is more men and women like Andrew VanWyngarden. We need less of those who belevie that money makes happines and music is the way to get there.

The Wizard of Oz: More then just a Child's Movie

The Wizard of Oz is more then just a children's movie, its an allegory depicting some of the most important events of that time. The author, L. Frank Baum, was very involved in politics, no doubt he had the ability to write a political allegory.
When Dorthy reaches the strange village she is told to find The Wizard of Oz, and to do so she must take the yellow brick road. This movie was made in 1939, a year that was in the great depression, a time when many people lost their jobs and due to inflation the U.S. dollar became more and more useless every day. To avoid the U.S. dollar as much as possible citizens began to trade with gold. Dorthy symbolizes this by taking the yellow brick road.
Along the way she meets the Tin Man who is stuck because he lacks oil. The tin man represents the U.S. people's growing dependence on oil, almost all of us would be stuck without gas in our cars. Dorthy meets another character along the way named the Cowardly Lion, who seems intimidating at first sight but lacks the guts to back his chilling looks up. This resembles the United States in the 1930's who adopted the isolationist's way of looking at the world. They were going to stay away from all of the trouble brewing in Europe even though they defiantly had to power to fight.
The Wizard of Oz is a symbol of what was happing in the world in the 1930's. L. Frank Baum hid political figures and happinings in a child's story, that was still a satisfing tale and plot worthy of watching for fun and for smarts.

My Photo Story

Of Mice and Men Paragraph

Detail
The most ingenues relationship in John Steinbeck's of Mice and Men is the parallel between the landscape description in the first chapter and the characters introduced later. Steinbeck says, "the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green". This description seems to do the job for the Salinas River and George, a man working hard to keep a slower friend,Lennie, alive, he "runs close" to Lennie. The picture for Gibilan Mountains is very similar to Lennie. "Slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains". Mountains, massive yet seemingly stupid mounds of rock, are similar to Lennie, both being strong yet stupid. "Under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp" parallels to the workers at the ranch. They are thick in numbers and lie underneath the boss, who parallels to the the trees. Curly,the boss's sun, weds "a tart", the workers beat him down behind his back. Curly is "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway". Curly's Wife, her name is not mentioned, is called "a tart", which means she is very flirtatious. She is also described, "the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it". Even though Steinbeck's way of adumbrating his future characters is hard to pick up on, it is a very clever way of foreshadowing.
Point of View
The third-person objective point of view shows the painful lives the men on the ranch lived.
"Crooks sat on his bunk... in one hand he held a bottle of liniment.. he rubbed his spine."Crooks, living a harder life because he was black, rubbed his spine because he was kicked by a mule, he feels pain often."Lennie and Carlson came in together.. Lennie crept to his bunk and sat down, trying not to attract attention."Lennie's biggest worry is George, which is not a big deal. He mainly does his work then wonders around the ranch, petting the "pups". The third person objective point of view differentiates the lives of the men.
Tone
The tone words empathetic and tough explain the moods and feelings Steinbeck is trying to convey in Of Mice and Men.Epethetic feelings are strongly felt because of Lennie's speech and actions. He says "I'd find things, George. I don't need no nice food with ketchup. I'd lay out in the sun and nobody'd hurt me. an' if I foun' a mouse, I could keep it.". When reading this, feelings of sorrow arise for Lennie, the reader wants to help and encourage him. Not only do George and Lennie bring up empethitic feelings but tough ones too. George tells Lennie, "Guys like us, that work on ranches , are the loneliest gus in the world.", that night that ate canned beans for dinner. Canned beans are not the best dinner in the world, but they have no choice. Life was definatly though for them.

The Giver Book Review

The Giver by Lois Lowery mesmerized me by telling a world empty of decisions and choice. Citizens in this community not only lack freedom but the knowledge that freedom exists giving the government total control of the citizens bodies and more importantly their minds. But what happens when someone gains memories of both the good and bad of freedom? Will he choose a land of freedom but full pain or one full of painless emptiness.
Everything is decided for you, and you don't realize that. Pain pills are given if you fall off your bicycle, which is given when you become a nine. When you start to feel strong emotions, pills are given for that too. Everyone is made the same. All is born near the same time, all is killed at the same age. Yet no one realizes that the old is killed and that they will share the same fate. No one but the Giver and Jonas realize truth and have memories of freedom and the price of freedom. The Giver was given these memories from the one before him, and he was given the memories from the the one before him. Jonas is the next in line. The giver gives each valuable memory, one by one. He puts his hands on Jonas's back. Jonas seems to have magically departed to a new place, the Giver's memory. Jonas soon learns true happiness, and true pain. He learns that the old are really being murdered, he learns to stop taking the pills that suppress his emotion. But how far will Jonas go for freedom? Is freedom worth the thing the Giver called "war". Will he want to escape and even if he wanted to, how?
The Giver has captured an epic choice: a free but painful society vs a controlled, choice less but painless world. Read this incredible book.

Orwell's Animals

When I realized that Animal Farm was a metaphor for the Russian Revolution I also realized it was a good one, extreme revolutionaries, who would do anything for power, truly are animals.
The worst of the animals, Napolean, is related to the abominabal leader, Joseph Stalin. This relation is brilliant in so many ways. Both wanted to expand the glory of their countries through expansion of territory, propaganda, secret police, anything at all. When reading the book an extreme feeling of hatred arises toward the animals like Napolean.
After realizing the book is a metaophor for the russian revolution, the same feelings are felt for men like Stalin, who sacrificed anything for so called "utopias".

Cross Examination

I cant imagine why anyone in the world would want to question me about anything. I just might be one of the most boring people to question or inquire thanks to my boring and so very predictable answers. How are you doing today Peter? Good.
In order to actually answer this question I look to a lower, more elementary level. If one was to enter my home they may wonder why there are 8 guitars in the house with only 4 eligible players. I often wonder myself why we own 8 guitars.
To others a 2:1 guitar to person ratio is absolutely unnecessary which would defiantly make for an interesting cross examination.

8 line Poem

Oh another
poem!

oh and to
show em!

And to try to
write

is an already lost
fight!

What to Celebrate

Someone might ask:
What to celebrate?
Well, you can celebrate...
a loss of weight
the turn to eight
your heads on strait
a positive fate
a peaceful state
a double date
an open gate
a loss of hate
a well played debate
a beautiful estate
a new-found soul mate
or an exelcelent trait!
Isn't great
to celebrate?

Mask Poem

I wear the mask that can hide and conceal
The wieght is to great like an automobile
It's rise to power was much to fluid,
so no one seemed to take notice
that now we all share the same fate
because it's power is much to great
So now united we must be
in order to be free.

What St Patrick's Day Means to Me

I have absolutely no idea why we celebrate St. Patrick's day in the states. In European countries they celebrate to remember when st Patrick forced all of the snakes to flee the land. So why does the United States even celebrate the day? Maybe we just wanted to fit in. Now it is just an excuse to have a party and parades. St. Patrick's day has got to be the most pointless holiday there is to Americans.

Taking a Stand in Call of the Wild

One of the major themes in Call of the Wild,a novel by Jack London, is taking a stand. Buck, a 155 pound dog, exemplifies this when he leaves man and fellow kanine to answer "the call of the wild". He is taken from his home, beaten by a man in a red sweater, and forced to run many hours in the cold winter days, just because "man had found a yellow metal". He takes his stand when he decides to run away, therefore leaving his owners and fellow sled dogs.

Olympics/determination

Nothing in the world is worth the type of commitment that Olympic athletes take upon themselves. To give up everything in your life and do nothing but practice and workout would be stupid. Apolo Ohno, the Olympic speed skater worked out 4 times a day. Each session would last two hours, that's 8 hours a day! That means he would have time to eat then go to bed and do it all again the next day. These Olympic athletes must have such a passion for there sport.

Characteristics of a Winner

The best characteristic a competitor can have is stubbornness. They have to know what they want and stick to their laurels. Another important characteristic they must have is focus. Because when its time to execute and perform their best they absolutely have to buckle down and focus otherwise all of their training could go to waste.

Persuasion

The use of persuasion can be the most powerful tool there is, unfortunately I cannot harness it's power. I am absolutely the worst at persuading people to do or say what I want them to do, which gets annoying. This makes me wonder if there was a person out there who was so bad at giving people what they wanted that I could persuade them to my side successfully (most likely not). I also wonder what would be the case if I was good at persuasion. Would I just expect to get what I want all of the time? When I vissualize this I dont like what I see.

The Glass Armonica

The glass armonica was invented by none other then Benjamin Franklin, this unusual instrument was unofficially his favorite invention. He got the idea when he saw a local musician gently rubbing his wet fingers against the rim of different wine glasses. As a musician himself he naturally wanted to make an easier way of making this beautiful noise. He came up with a crank powered version and played it avidly. The drawbacks from the instrument include it being to quiet and expensive thus there are few today. Once Benjamin woke up in the middle of the night and decided to relax himself by playing his invention. Hearing the noise, Mrs. Franklin thought she had died and went to heaven.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book Review (Taking a Stand)

Harry Potter and The Deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling charmed me with an enchanting tale of a boy and his distraught past. The book keeps the reader wondering but more importantly gives many answers.
The book keeps to a specific theme thoroughly, standing up for whats right. Harry himself demonstrates this throughout the whole book by fighting against the evil Death Eaters and Tom Riddle. Harry could easily just run and hide however he runs strait into a possible death and risks his friends also. While they are on the epic journey to take down Riddle they, Ron, Hermione, and Harry, never loose sight of their values, mostly at the expense of Hermione setting them strait. Acts of righteousness such as never killing or hurting anyone not only kept them well hidden but also set strait who's side they where on.
The story can not be understood unless the first 6 books where read first. At the end of the 6th book the reader learns that Tom Riddle cannot be killed unless all six horcruxes,items that can be made to carry a part of ones soul, are destroyed. Normally the three friends, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, would be heading back to Hogwarts for their 7th and last year however Dumbledore had left a mission for them to complete, they where to destroy all of the remaining horcruxes, two had already been destroyed. They had skipped the train ride to Hogwarts and headed for where they thought a hohorcrux, a locket, was. They succeed in stealing it from a highly guarded building thanks to a well thought out plan. In order to destroy it they used a sword infused with a rare venom. Meanwhile they are informed of a myth called the Deathly Hallows. These three objects,a stone, a wand and a cloak, have unimaginable powers. After weeks of wondering around for another horcrux they decide to look inside of Hogwarts. When they arrived they found many new surprises. Will Harry, Ron and Hermione survive the last and final battle? What will have to be done in order to take down Tom Riddle? Who will go after the Deathly Hallows? Do they even exist?
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows absolutely flabbergasted me with an imaginative tale and a never-gets-old plot. Read this wonderful book right away.
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When Someone else Took a Stand

I had made it as far as i could have hoped for, I had a lot of new friends and the kickball fields were ours (if you have not read my other post "When I took a Stand" read it now for this one will not make sense). I thought that was it, people really cheered me on and gave me high fives a lot, but no more, they had forgotten about the incident. But oooo how much I was wrong!

They, my peers at Clover Elementary, had not forgotten that I stood up to Bobby the bully at all, in fact they too had decided to take little stands on every day stuff, like not letting older kids cut them in the lunch line or in the ball line, and not allowing the older kids to copy their homework. I had set of a ripple effect throughout the whole school! All of these acts put together made a better school and less bulling from the 5th graders. Once I remember Billy Zang was cheating of a much smaller kid's computer during computer lab. The little, tiny really, asian boy stood up and said "its time for you Mr. Zang to do your own work, and I am tired of you muching of my work.", then he sat down and continued working.

The thing I, and everyone else, loved about what the little third grader did was that he treated Billy with respect ,by calling him Mr. Zang, even though Billy was not giving him any.

When I took a stand

One of the most courageous acts I have ever taken part of took place on a dirty, sweaty, cement floored kickball "field". This act was such a simple but hard thing to do that I will never forget or regret it. On this cheap Los Angeles School District playground one group of kids ruled the swings, the 5th graders. No one ever questioned them, challenged them or most of the time even talk to them, they seemed soooooo big and tough, but one day i decided I was not going to take it.

I still remembered the day, so very cold to us, 60 degrees, but we still couldn't wait for recess. Us underlings, the 1st through 4th graders, knew we where not to touch the handball courts, they where 5th grader territory. We knew not to go to the soccer fields because we would get trampled. We even knew not to touch the playplace because that's where the bad kids would lay. So we would accumulate at the kickball fields. We where surprisingly nice to one another and kept the rules, rarely would kids try to cheat. But on this freezing, 60 degree weather day, something changed. The 5th graders decided to attack the kickball fields, they took over and changed all the rules to they're favor. We had no choice but to accept it. But it got worse and big, tough, 60 pound Bobby was coming through and pushed my friend Scott down. I decided not to take that and tackled him strait down into that cement ground, stood up and kicked him in the face and shouted "Freak You" (I thought that made sense and that it was a really really bad word. But of course I was wrong on both accounts). Everyone gasped and cheered me on.

Of course after the incident I was suspended and had to pay for Bobby's broken nose's medical bills with my allowance but it was more then worth it. Everyone, including some 5th graders, treated me with much more respect, not to mention I was the coolest kid from then till we graduated (or maybe for just a week or so).