My Thoughts on Blogging and the School Year. [English Final]

1. Explain one or two ways audience feedback helped you grow over the semester. (It doesn't have to be stuff Sutherland said.)
• Have you been tracking your blog's traffic with Google Analytics? If so, you can respond to this prompt using the rich data that Analytics provides: Where is your audience reading from? What are your most popular posts (and why do you think they got the most traffic?) There are lots of possibilities here...

    In my first literature circle blog post for "Patient Zero", the actual author Jonathan Maberry commented on it. This was a tremendously surprising thing that happened to me and it actually made me feel motivated to dedicate more time and effort into the whole Literature Circle process. For example, my Confessions of an Economic Hit Man book review took me a considerably long time compared to the other one's I've done. This is made evident in my use of multiple quotes found in the novel (which took longer than I would have liked) as well as my analysis of the quotes and some themes that are shown. Peer feedback, well any feedback in this case has proven to get me motivated. It lets me know that people are actually taking their time to read what I have to write and it doesn't feel like as much of an assignment anymore. This aspect of it has definitely made blogging/writing more enjoyable. 

    The introduction of Google Analytics really made me pay attention to my blog more often. I would check out the site every now and then out of curiosity about what kind of data it would read. Actually, I posted a post about how cool I thought it was. Since then my blogging data has evolved a lot. As of November 27, 2009 I had a total of 63 views with an average of 1:38 spent on my blogspot. Looking at it now, I have a total of 366 views with an average time of 1:07 being spent there. A surprising little fact is that my original statement of purpose has had 66 page views alone, 47 of them being from different computers. Now this is one of those things where I have no idea why it has become like that, but for some reason it's the most popular/viewed post that I have to date. My absolute favorite aspect about Google Analytics however, would be the Map Overlay feature which shows where in the world people have visited your blog. I have 366 page views from 19 countries/territories. Now this is really really surprsiing to me because I have no idea how anybody would ever find my blog out of all the blogs out there. Besides having it linked to my Tumblr, I cannot think of any other way people would be exposed to it. I've had visits from places like, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Germany, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, India, Belgium and Norway. These countries are all around the world so it's not like only a certain region of the world has viewed my blog. These kinds of statistics simply amaze me. The power of a blog can be limitless as long as you have valuable feedback and good content. I've learned that people will find your blog and it gives me a kind of grateful feeling. It's cool to know that all the effort I put into this blog isn't all for waste and people are actually reading it. Thank you to my followers especially! 

2. How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?
• Has blogging had any other effects on your life beyond strictly your "school life"? If so, explain.
• For the second semester only: Do you plan on continuing to publish writing on your blog this summer, next year, or beyond? If so, what are your writing goals and how will you use your blog in the future?

    Well, blogging for me hasn't ever been a new thing unlike a lot of other people. I was first exposed to blogs back in 2006-2007. During that period of time I didn't write much and it was pretty boring writing. I would just write about my thoughts or my day, like a type of online journal because I knew nobody who I knew would really be reading it. Since then, I've had numerous other blogs made simply out of boredom and as time progressed I started to post more and more frequently. I would actually get to the point where I started to feel kind of bad because I didn't post anything in a long period of time. For my blog before this one (which will remain anonymous), I actually managed to produce 66 different posts spanning from 4/26/09 - 8/22/09, so a little under 4 months. That's pretty crazy now that I think about it. Now this blog that I have now is very different compared to the past ones. 

   

    I feel like it's this one that has been the most changed compared to the previous. First of all, the thing that helped develop my blog was that a post was due every week for a grade, requirements were set and I got to work. I wanted this blog to be something meaningful. When Mr. Sutherland first introduced the whole blogging process I know that I could have just BSed everything and created pointless posts, but then I wouldn't get anything out of this whole thing. The key to having a successful blog in my mind is dedication. You cannot get lazy on your posts, or skimp out on the content of it. Knowing my peers/friends could read what I was publishing, I wanted to write better. I tried to make this blog more formal than others and tried to treat each post as an actual writing assignment.

    I would say that my blogging style has evolved into a combination of daily life posts, along with content filled posts that others can relate to. This has all come together in my latest blog. I don't think blogging has has much effect on my "school life". The one thing I would say however, would be that it has helped me produce writing much quicker and more efficiently. I'm not sure if this is because of blogging itself, or the quickwrites that we do in class, but either way it's helped my writing. 

    As of now, I'm not quite sure if I plan to continue with this blogspot account. Tumblr's user interface is just set-up so much better and has made it easier to get exposed to different blogs and have contact with others. Also, since a lot of people have Tumblr accounts nowadays, (because there was some trend about it apparently....) it's a lot easier to network with a wide number of people that I know. I might occasionally return to blogspot to make a post, but I doubt I'll post more than once a month. As for my plans for blogging in general, I hope to achieve a wider audience, while writing about posts relevant to my life, and not just posting pictures and videos. As said in my statement of purpose I still hope to improve my writing and vocabulary. I plan to also create more posts that are meaningful and post them more frequently. As for now, I think I'm just going to blog when I feel like it. Summer is around the corner and it's been a long long year. Blogging has definitely changed the way I think of writing nowadays, as well as the process I go through with coming up with a piece of writing. 

I hope that this will not be the last post on this blog, but who knows?

Thank you for an amazing school year and I wish you well on your future endeavors. 

                                                                  
                                                        With love,

                                                                Alvin Lee 

Confessions of an Ecnomic Hit man Book Review

1. Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?
   
   
2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

     For my final literature circle book I chose to read "Confessions of an Economic Hit man" written by John Perkins. This book tells the life of the author, John Perkins and how he ended up working for one of the nation's top private companies as an economic hit man.

    As John was growing up, he was a pretty normal child. He was born in Hanover, New Hampshire and attended a private school there. During his teenage years, John always would hangout with the "poor kids". His town was segregated by social class and while John was in the top half of the social ranking scale, he would often play with the middle and lower middle-class children. He never understood why there had to be such a distance that needed to be kept away from the rich and the poor. It was this type of understanding and innocence that would play a critical role in his life later on. A life as an economic hit man.

    "Once you're in, you can never back out." is a quote from the book that best describes the main point of John's life. As an economic hit man, his job was to travel from country to country discussing with foreign politicians about why or how they should allow United States privately owned companies to build on their land. He did this based on methods of being an economist. He would survey the country and estimate (very accurately) how much money the country would make, or save over a number of certain years. This happens in third world countries across the world and so they eventually end up indebted to the United States. As the United States has a firm grasp on the country, they go ahead and use it to their advantages. Whether it is another vote in the United Nations, or to grant more construction projects (mostly military) on their soil.

    This type of scheming and planning is really quite brilliant in a way. This kind of "global domination" can never be traced back to the government because it is always linked to a private company. However, these privately owned corporations have very close ties with the government. The particular company that John worked for was named Chas. T. Main Inc, or MAIN for short. This quote from the book briefly summarizes how this would work.
   
    "I was initially recruited while I was in business school back in the late sixties by the National Security Agency, the nation’s largest and least understood spy organization; but ultimately I worked for private corporations. The first real economic hit man was back in the early 1950s, Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of Teddy, who overthrew the government of Iran, a democratically elected government, Mossadegh’s government who was Time‘s magazine person of the year; and he was so successful at doing this without any bloodshed—well, there was a little bloodshed, but no military intervention, just spending millions of dollars and replaced Mossadegh with the Shah of Iran. At that point, we understood that this idea of economic hit man was an extremely good one. We didn’t have to worry about the threat of war with Russia when we did it this way. The problem with that was that Roosevelt was a C.I.A. agent. He was a government employee. Had he been caught, we would have been in a lot of trouble. It would have been very embarrassing. So, at that point, the decision was made to use organizations like the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. to recruit potential economic hit men like me and then send us to work for private consulting companies, engineering firms, construction companies, so that if we were caught, there would be no connection with the government."

    As time went on, John rose in his company, becoming one of the top executives, but his conscience would always remind him that he was doing something wrong. This type of mental battle can be seen very clearly throughout the book.

    " It shook me to the core. I stomped out of the room and headed for Charlie's office. Halfway there, I stopped, uncertain about what I intended to accomplish. Instead, I turned and walked down the stairs, out the door, into the afternoon sun...A huge lump grew in my throat...I fought hard to hold back the tears; I needed to figure out why I felt so miserable. You're in it for the money. I heard Howard's words, over and over. He had struck a raw nerve."

    Eventually, he decided to leave. He quit the company, gave up everything that he had and decided to get away from all of this. John felt that it was necessary that the general public need to be told this truth of the hidden motives of our government, the World Bank, etc. So, he decides to write a book about it, however he is stopped multiple times by things that suddenly seem to pop up like job offers, threats, and bribes. Finally, after September 11th, John decides for the last time that the truth needs to be told. Truth be told, he wrote this book because he felt guilty of the things he's done. John basically feels like he's owed it to the public, as well as his family to reveal this truth. Therefore, I believe that this book should be read by everyone, young or old. There might be some setbacks to the younger readers though because there is wide variety of vocabulary that may not be comprehensible at such an age.

    This book was a real eye-opener for me and I'm sure it'll have the same effect on anyone else who chooses to pick up this book. John has also done other work related to this. He's made a move entitled Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in 2009, which shows interviews with John. He's also featured in the film Zeitgeist: Addendum, which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who is interested in this type of government conspiracy theme. This book was written very well and I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read it.

Confessions of an Ecnomic Hit man [Part 3]

Well I have finally finished my last literature circle book. This last part post will be difficult since I will be very tempted to just summarize the entire novel. In the final chapters of the book, it talks about John basically listening to his inner conscience and deciding to write/finish up this book. I actually really enjoyed this part of the book because of all the in depth thought put into every single little aspect of what he's talked about previously in the beginning. Upon finishing this book, a lot of questions are meant to arise from you head. To most of the readers out there this material is a whole new eye opener, and to others, it's nothing more than just a confirmation of your theories. In any case, this book was created and written to inspire. To get the reader to think, take action, not believe everything that you are told. To be honest, it's had some inspiration for me. I doubt I'm going to write to my senators about my concerns about the government, or make phone calls to local politicians and give them my side of the story, but this has inspired me to get others to try and read this book. Spreading this knowledge will do some good in this society. Educate the ignorant, and maybe, just maybe somebody will act upon it. A quote that I believe really summerizes this would be:

"...the world as you dream it, and that we can trade in that old nightmare of polluting industries, clogged highways, and overcrowded cities for a new dream based on Earth-honoring and socially responsible principles of sustainability and equality. It is within our power to transform ourselves , to change the paradigm." pg. 292

Now, think about that quote for a second. If a great amount of people read this book, I can only imagine how society would be different. I don't want to give too much away because this book can put it into better word than I ever could, but nevertheless this book needs to be read. Your mind will be blown one way or another. Wait for my book review, I have trouble holding back what I want to say. Just know, if you want to be more in-tune with the world, reading this book is a must.

Last Free Blog Post.

Well this blog is about to come to a close and I figured I should end it right. By speaking about what's on my mind.

The main thing that has been going through my head is about the main focus of my life. The place where I spend most of my days, and will continue spending it until I'm a young adult. School. It's getting towards the end of the year and stressful finals are approaching faster than I would have liked to imagine. This year hasn't been the greatest for me academically and my test taking performance has fallen also. I'm not very excited to take hour long tests on the last week of school, but alas I must strive through it. 19 days until summer and even less than that of actual days that I'll be attending school. Make it out of this and I'll have 3 whole months to slack off. Except for the fact that I probably won't have my usual carefree summers anymore. This summer I'm either joining an SAT prep class or signing up for summer classes. 8 more weeks of academics doesn't sound very appealing, but it's just something you have to do. If I want better SAT scores, there's no better way. So as that's established, other things roam my mind. Other than the 90% of the time with my brain focused on school, or rather focused on how to avoid school(work).

Something that has recently been occurring in my head is about trends. We live in a world full of them, especially teenagers since they care the most about what's hip and new.You have the trendsetters, those going out of their way to try and 'start' something, or predict what the next 'cool' thing is. The followers, who hop from trend to trend staying 'cool' and into the latest stuff. Then you have the people who don't care, they do them and let others be whatever they want to be. I love those types of people. Don't judge people because they're not interested in the same things as you are, or share the same ideas as you. If anything, have some respect for them, they go against all the peer pressure, the constant teasing, and in the end they're still who they want to be. They're not some thuglife gangster one day and next year they're the punk rock skater kid. They stay being who they want to be and regardless of what others do or say, they keep living their lives. I don't get why people are so obsessed with others' lives. Celebrities, Facebook news feeds, etc. All that is really just unnecessary information that really, you don't need to know. Focus on being who you want to be, strive and stick through with your plans. Respect others and shake off the people who don't respect you. In the end just keep being yourself, it's that simple. Don't stop and think, just act. Some people will love you for it, others will hate you, but in the end that's just how life works out for everyone. At least you know that you're one of the rare genuine breed of people out there, and that, that's something to be proud of.

The Rules of Love

Confessions of an Ecnomic Hit man [Part 2]

The process of the author telling his story is getting more and more interesting for me. I am not sure why this is, but for some reason I feel more drawn into the storyline compared to the first part of the book. Maybe it's because I get to see him slowly developing into the economic hit man. As the novel progresses, John becomes more and more involved with his job.

"By 1977, I had built a small empire that included a staff of around twenty professionals headqueatered in our Boston office, and a stable of consultants from MAIN's other departments and offices scattered across the globe. I had become the youngest partner in the firm's hundred-year history. In addition to my title of Chief Economist, I was named manager of Economics and Regional Planning. I was lecturing at Harvard and other venues, and newspapers were soliciting articles from me about current events. I owned a sailing yacht...I was being paid an excellent salary and I had equity that promised to elevate me to the rarified heights of millionaire well before I turned forty." (Chapter 17 page 117).

As you can see from this quote, John is well on his way to becoming a top economist. He's living the life that seems only to be true in dreams, and he feels really satisfied with his decisions and what he is doing at this point. However, along the way he faces obstacles, or conscious reminders about how dark and evil his job really is. This seems to be the never ending battle in this novel, and it seems like every time he has made up his mind, something comes up to stir it all up again. I like how the author does this to keep the reader hooked on the book. I don't want to reveal too much, but this book is very enjoyable so far!

Senior Prom

So Senior Prom has come and past over the weekend and it has been the main factor to why I was so busy. The day started off early because I had to go and get my haircut. My dad drove me to Oakland, I got my haircut, he ended up getting a haircut and we drove back home after making a quick stop to the bank. By the time I finished showering and eating lunch it was around 1PM. I was supposed to meet the group at school around 3:30 so I had plenty of time to kill. I wasted most of it on the computer doing pointless things, or talking to my mom. I never seem to be able to do school work when there is still light outside, I don't know what it is, but it just doesn't feel right to me. Anywho, by the time it was 3:00 I started to get ready by getting dressed and everything. And then, the problem happened.

I knew that something was bound to go wrong today, but I was not expecting it. So apparently I lost my 2009-2010 school ID. I started to freakout for a good 10mins and spent the next half hour trying to find it. My dad had to resort to driving to the bank to get my passport so we could have some sort of identification on me. This really taught me a lesson. Instead of spending those wasted minutes just on the computer before, I could have been double checking everything. Also, it's important to check everything more than once, well ahead of the scheduled date to make sure everything will go smoothly and accordingly. So, to make a long, overstretched ordeal short: I went to school to meet up with the group bringing my school ID from last year and my passport with me, unsure about if I was allowed into prom.

So at school I took pictures, etc. and talked to people. It felt pretty unorganized since there were so many people in the group to keep track of. I ended up being one of the first people to Megan's house (the site where the party bus will be picking us up) and so people started arriving more overtime and a lot of pictures were taken during this time period. I was actually surprised about the size of the party bus, it was a lot bigger than I had imagined and it was nicely furnished on the interior also. So after an immense amount of picture taking, we all piled into the bus and headed off to Pier 29 (I think it was) to have dinner. On the ride there, we blasted music and just started having fun on the bus.  It was a pretty nice ride there and I started to feel more comfortable, considering I didn't know more than half of the people.

So dinner was pretty good, I had prime rib along with potatoes and vegetables. It was a pretty interesting experience eating with people you don't know that well, but it was still fun nevertheless. After the dinner, we all got back onto the bus and started heading for San Francisco. Another round of blasting music and people going crazy on the bus. There was even a pole on there! hahaa. Well, when we arrived I was able to get in and the dance had already started. I saw a lot of crazy people 'dancing' and was pretty surprised when soem teachers didn't seem to mind. The dance overall was fun, they had refreshments and even two chocolate fondue fountains. So I got home around 1AM, crashed in bed and slept the day away.

Confessions of an Ecnomic Hit man [Part 1]

The New York Times Bestseller, Confessions of an Economic Hit man by John Perkins is what I'll be reading for my Literature Circle. I remember first hearing about the basics of this book from Mr. Sutherland when he first introduced the class to the whole concept of literature circles. While he was giving his brief summary on the book, it started to peak my interest. Words like scheme, globalization, hit man, etc. really caught my attention. My first thought after hearing about the book was the movie Zeitgeist which talks about related topics. I didn't enjoy the last book I read, so I figured I would finish the year strong with a book that I will hopefully find satisfying.
After reading the first few pages of the book I was quite surprised at how this book was written. It's a much harder book to read and follow than I had originally thought, but it's still manageable. The first part of the book starts off as an introduction to the author's life, how he got into the business and how he felt about it. The part that I read in which I really enjoyed was when he was situated in Indonesia and instead of living the rich and fancy life of his co-workers, he decides to spend a night out with some locals which changes his views on things. Another part of the book that was touching is when he starts to have a change of heart.
" It shook me to the core. I stomped out of the room and headed for Charlie's office. Halfway there, I stopped, uncertain about what I intended to accomplish. Instead, I turned and walked down the stairs, out the door, into the afternoon sun...A huge lump grew in my throat...I fought hard to hold back the tears; I needed to figure out why I felt so miserable. You're in it for the money. I heard Howard's words, over and over. He had struck a raw nerve." pg. 37
This passage is really emotional and shows the author's conflict in fighting to believe in his morals and gut feelings versus his job and nationalism. As this book progresses I am interested to see what happens. One thing that caught me by surprise is that it's not as action packed as I thought. For some reason I expected him to be an actual hit man at times too, but I guess not. Well, so far so good.

Follow Through.

It's nearing towards the end of the school year and the final stretch is in sight. With less than a month left of school day until summer the only thing that students really have to worry about are finals. This is the test that will make or break many students' grades, including mine. So far the classes that I'm struggling the most in are HP Chemistry, Adv. Algebra 2, and French 3. For all of these classes I basically have a borderline grade. With this being the fact, if I fail any of those finals my grade could actually drop 2 full letters. I'm talking about from an A- to a C+, and since pluses and minuses don't show up on a transcript, it means the difference between an A or a C. It's not only this either. In an effort to bring up these grades for those certain classes, I've sacrificed my grades in my other classes.So basically in the end, I'm faced with dropping grades from my easier classes and borderline grades for the harder ones. This has really been a struggle for me throughout my entire school year. Managing classes, how can one decide which class is better than another? Along with taking 0 period this semester, it just adds onto the homework load and decision making. With the home stretch in sight I still haven't come up with a solution to my problem and so I'm slowly achieving plummeting grades no matter what.
I have found that week by week I just slowly count down until the weekend. The weekend seems so short to me. In my point of view this is how I see things: Saturday is the day off. Your day to relax, hang out with friends, go out, etc. When Sunday comes however, it's when you have to finish all of your homework assigned for the weekend, perform all those household chores, etc. So basically in a full week there are 6 work days in comparison to 1 day off. Also, on Friday night people generally stay up later than usual due to there being no school the following day, however this results in the person sleeping in later and therefore wasting more of their Saturday, aka the day off.
Including the weekend, I find that there are very few things that I look forward to anymore. The only big thing is summer, and even then I'm sure there is a tedious amount of work that needs to be done. Everyday it's just school, school, school. I really hate those teachers that tell you to go out and play, or if we had a nice weekend. Really now? And in 20 minutes you'll be complaining about how nobody did their homework? How do you expect anyone to have an enjoyable weekend with basically half a day off? It's like they're taunting us. Teachers need to learn that giving tedious work doesn't help a student learn, it just turns them more into a robot. Everything becomes automatic, for example stupid math teachers that give you 20 problems that you solve exactly the same way. What is this?! I want a better education, a better quality education at least. Looks like I'll have to do it on my own, another thing that I will have to prioritize...

The Memory of Earth Part 3

The final part of The Memory of Earth is basically the only part that makes sense to me. A lot of  the stuff that was confusing before starts to make sense. I started to wrap my head around this weird plot and it turned out to be quite interesting. So basically Nafai, the main protagonist in the story has to team up with his family to find the Index of the Oversoul. Mid-way  through my reading, there was a separate plot twist. This man named Gaballufix, who tries to draw Basilica into a war against the Gorayni. Nafai and his family find out about his evil plan, and they fight with each other about what to do about the situation. They need to retrieve the Index for the Oversoul, but they don't want to kill Gaballufix either. Gaballufix fights back by forcing the family to retreat out of the city and into the desert. He also plans to kill off the influential people of Basilica and overthrow the society's rules. I find that this is a very interesting point in the book, that actually got me sort of interested in it. However I do not think that it should have taken this long, to reveal this type of information to the reader. If this was introduced earlier then I think many more people would be hooked to this book from the start. I've read many reviews about how Orson Card has written an amazing novel and a great start of a series, but I don't see how people could like a book that progresses so slowly. There's just too much extra detail that does not contribute to the main plot whatsoever, so giving the reader too much information can make the story become confusing. Overall, I think this book has room for improvement, but isn't a total failure.

I am becoming pudgy.

In a world of obesity as well as health freaks, nutrition and dieting are shaping up to be a bigger part of a teenager's life. With constant pressure from magazines, movies, music videos, etc. to look a certain way, many people have resorted to outlandish things to keep up.
Now as for me, I'm not a health freak who is constantly watching my weight or what I eat. In fact, I haven't weighed myself since 2009 and I normally don't care about what I put in my mouth. I'm one of those lucky people who are born with a relatively higher metabolism compared to other people. On the other hand, I'm not a fitness junkie either. I'm not going to be one of those people who goes to the gym other day, nor do I do many workouts outside of P.E. Recently however, I've noticed that I'm starting to build up some fat around my body. I'm normally an average guy, not too skinny, but not overweight either. My current body mass index (BMI) is 22.0 which is average for someone my age. It's just now in the back of my mind every time I put something unhealthy into my mouth, I think 'You're going to regret that.' 
When I was younger I used to be really into fitness, or exercising. I would play multiple sports as well as do some push-ups, sit-ups, etc. at home. I never had to really worry about my weight or appearance. Now I'm not saying my sudden rise of fat has been so significant that I've gone through a dramatic change. No. In fact, most people probably wouldn't be able to tell. However, I can.
In the past week I've eaten really unwisely. Monday started off with a Double Down from KFC. Two pieces of fried chicken sandwiching 2 cheeses and bacon. Probably not the best choice, but I had to try it once. Wednesday for lunch I had a large sweet tea and two McGangBangs from McDonalds. This is a DIY creation made from a McDouble (double cheese burger) anda  McChicken totally a whopping 600 calories each. Friday, I had McDonalds for a second time, stuffing down one McGangBang  and 20 piece McNuggets. This is the type of unhealthy eating, and bad habits that I would like to steer away from. I hardly pass up a chance to eat some fast food since I don't eat it often. I really should be one of those people who watch what they consume though. I mean, it's a good thing to do for your body and it's not a lot of work to maintain.
Due to my laziness, schoolwork and other activities, I don't have much time to work out. I mean, sure I play basketball every now and then for a couple of hours, but there's no better way of losing weight, toning, as well as building muscle than to work out. I suppose I really should start. I know some people may think, why do you worry so much just because you may have put on a little weight? Well, it shouldn't matter as long as I have some motivation to reach my goal. I really don't know. I should just start doing a little every night or so. We'll see how it goes from there.

The Memory of Earth: Part 2

Finally! This book is starting to develop, it's not as fast paced as I would like, but progress is progress. From what I can make out, the protagonist in this book is Nafai, the youngest of four brothers. He is an 18 year old boy still learning about the customs of adulthood and how to be a man. So as he goes off to visit his mother in Basilica, his father gets a vision of the city being burned to the ground. As I read further into the novel, the plot thickens and trouble arises. The main problem that I have with this book is the way that it's written. I mean, I suppose most fantasy type novels are similar to this, but for some reason I keep having to go back and reread sections. I just get lost sometimes during the time in which I read and it can get annoying to stop and go back to clear things up. I can say one thing for sure though, this book was not what I expected it to be like, but it's got a unique twist to it. From it's good reviews, I cannot understand why I can't seem to enjoy this book. Whenever I read a section of it, I just find myself in a bored state of mind. Perhaps that's why I keep having to go back and reread sections. I guess it all depends on the type of person you are, and what type of literature you enjoy. Reading is definitely easier though, if you actually read a book that you enjoy, or are fascinated in. I suppose this was bound to happen eventually, I mean I'm not going to enjoy all the books that I read. This one probably isn't as bad as I'm making it sound, but it just kind of annoys me. The more I read, the more questions that pop up, and only a few get answered. I don't want to post most of these questions up because it won't make sense unless you are actually reading the book, but for now I'm pretty confused. Still.

The Memory of Earth: Part 1

The first thing that intrigued me about this book was the title. The Memory of Earth made me believe that this book was about the destruction of the planet Earth and what happened afterwords. Well so far, this is kind of true. From what I've read so far, I believe that the story takes place on another planet called Harmony. From the cover of the book I can tell that the characters live in a desert-type environment and their clothing and it's style looks quite old. This is the confusing part, originally I thought that this book was about the future because it talked about how Earth was destroyed and such, but I don't understand why the technology didn't seem to advance or progress. However there is one exception, the protagonist's brother, Issib is disabled, but instead of being in a wheelchair, he is on a levitating chair which is quite interesting. I think this book is pretty dull so far compared to my last book filled with zombies and shootings. This one is more of a fantasy book, but I do hope for some action later on. This early on in the book, I can't make out what the plot seems to be, except for the fact that the Overseer, a master computer designed to fix human problems, is in trouble and is seeking help from citizens. The concept is pretty strange, but I do have a little bit of hope for it. This book is tough for me to read because there are some made up words in here that make it hard to keep up with the storyline. I think next time I should be choosing a book earlier on instead of last minute, that way I can get a better understanding of whether or not I'll enjoy reading it. So far, the reading to me feels forced rather than me actually wanting to read it like my previous book. Who knows though? Never judge a book by it's cover.

My Goals as a Writer.

After effectively blogging on a variety of different topics for the past several months, my goals as a writer has shifted slightly. My main focus as of now, is to go into more depth or detail in my work. I think the cause of this would have to be partly due to the requirement changes for the blog posts issued by Mr. Sutherland. Instead of the standard 300 word blogs that I used to be able to write to effortlessly and with ease, I have found out that the going the extra 200 words is an entirely new challenge. The struggle that I have with this is not about reaching the minimum word count, but rather it is focusing on making the content worthwhile to read. The more words that you post, the harder it gets to become less and less redundant in your points. I find it rather difficult to maintain the same level of depth and detail in my old 300 word blog posts as I type out the new 500 worded posts. So this new struggle that I've encountered has slightly changed my priorities on what I want to accomplish as a writer.
Now on another note, a big thing that has been occurring around school are students enrolling for classes for the 2010-2011 school year. My final decision ended up being: English P, HP Pre-Calculus, AP Environmental Science, Multimedia Art, United States History P, and AP Computer Science. To be honest, if all of my choices become approved, I'll become rather nervous. This will be my first time taking any sort of advanced placement classes, and I'm taking two at that. The pressure of schoolwork and grades would definitely be a constant thing on my mind next year. Also, if I would like to maintain as close to a 4.0 as possible, I would need to seriously change some habits of mine. The main point would just be procrastination. I have a huge tendency to work on things the last minute, or get distracted and so if I were to keep my grades up, this major bad habit would need some revising. Now I am fully aware of the fact that AP classes are meant to be taken because a student wants to learn more about a certain subject, or they want it for college credits, but truthfully I think the main reason why I took an AP class is because I wanted a challenge. The curriculum that is currently offered at Alameda High is rather odd. I find that there is a major difference in the regular classes compared with the advanced ones. I find that the advanced classes pushes a student, shaping critical values and skills such as work ethic and being prepared. Meanwhile, from experience and friends, the standard classes are just that, standard. They're not going to be a walk in the park, but the class itself won't push a student over the edge. You'll never find a student pulling an all-nigher due to a regular class, unless they needed to catch up on work, or something. All this is my opinion after all. Some people may feel very differently towards this subject, but from what I've heard from numerous amount of people, this is what I was able to deduce.

One really big thing that's going to bother me though, is that I forgot to turn in my schedule today to the office and so I'm worried about getting into my desired classes for net year. Do you think they'll allow for me to turn the slip in on the Monday we get back? Thoughts? Thanks.

Patient Zero Book Review

For my literature circle book, I read the action packed Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry. So when I first set my eyes upon this book, I wasn't immediately attracted to it, nor did I find it something that I would pick up and start reading on my own. No, I would have to thank my partner Damien for making such a good selection of a book because I actually enjoyed this book very thoroughly. My first impression of this book was, great another zombie thriller/horror apocalypse type theme, but that's far from the case. This book is far from your average zombie book, in fact this action packed sci-fi novel has many plot twists and turns throughout the book that will keep you from setting the book down. The main thing I would say that I like about this book is the detailing that goes into it. Knowing that the author took a great deal of time researching and thinking the ideas that are presented in this book is a very comforting thought to know. I recommend this novel to anybody who is even slightly interested in science fiction, or they like zombie type things. I think they will enjoy the refreshing new vibe that Jonathan Maberry brings to his book.

This novel starts off introducing the character of Joe Ledger, the main protagonist in the story. He is basically a guy with a whole bunch of backgrounds from various military/ law enforcement/ secret service groups. So, as you can tell he's a pretty experienced man. The novel starts off with some action and Joe soon finds himself in the middle of a secret military corporation. He is let in on a secret biochemical weapon that terrorists are developing that is nothing like what the world has witnessed before. Now this is not your typical zombie book, and readers will notice this right away. A big difference is that the author makes you believe this type of action and terror can actually become a reality. He bases as much of the book as he can on pure fact, and only some parts are fictional just to fit the story line. This in itself, makes the book stand out as a great read. Another interesting thing that the author does is give you two points of views. You get to see the plot unfolding from Joe Ledger's point of view as well as the antagonists'. I think that this helps the reader understand the plot better because you get access to both sides of the story and their thoughts. It's actually a very interesting concept that I believe has worked well to increase this novel's stand-out factor.

The one flaw that I would say this book has is it's over detailing. This is a fast paced book so if you don't get the story at some point, you may have to reread some parts. Also, this may be a personal thing, but the author goes too much into the detailing of the biochemical weapon. I like the fact that he is using actual science to back up his novel's details, but at points it just feels like a rambling textbook and can get rather dull.

Besides the very few pages of scientific detailing, the rest of the book is action packed. You can find some sort of fight in basically every reading you take. This is also a great book for people interested in the military or guns because this novel is packed with them. It's basically your typical guy book and I doubt any typical girl would enjoy it, so I would definitely recommend this to teenage boys. Not only did I find the author's style of writing interesting, but I couldn't put the book down when I knew  a fight scene was about to happen. It's just something about the writing that gets me hooked on them and I simply can not wait to flip to the next page to find out what happens. Also, if you think this book is all about guns and explosions, you're wrong. A good part of it goes into the development of characters and even a romance spawns. Whenever I read the book, I feel like I'm in the shoes of the person, from whosoever's perspective I may be in and I go along with their thoughts.  I don't know how to quite describe it, but I can kind of relate to the characters, not in a sense of something we have in common, but I understand them well and can tell what they would do in certain situations. That in itself is very hard for an author to do, but I believe Maberry has done a phenomenal job at it.

The saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." really applies to me for this book. Although it does not seem appealing from the outside, the depth and detailing that it goes through is worth it. I'm glad that my partner chose this book for the group because otherwise I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own. It really is an exceptional book and a wonderful read. The author apparently is making a series out of these books, which I did not find out about until my first literature circle blog post. The ending doesn't leave any opening that I could think of for this book to continue on with its plot, but knowing the author, he'd probably think of something.  I think I could most relate this book to the Alex Rider series, if anyone is familiar with that. It's kinda of like your James Bond in modern times type book. I would for sure read the next book in the series if I had the chance and I think if you're looking for a good action book, this is the book to go for. I only hope that the next book that I chose for literature circles would be as satisfying to read as this one.

Patient Zero Part 3

This section of the book is by far the best part. Everything that was built up in the beginning and middle all come down to this last section at the end. While I was reading this part of the book, I literally could not put my hands down. I had to finish the book, no matter how tired I was from reading I just could not stop. The descriptions of the fight scenes and the environment are very detailed and it made the book just that much more addicting. The climax of the book occurs when the main protagonist meets the antagonist and also finds out the identity of a traitor amongst them. He ends up fighting them in a bloody battle that is nothing short of exciting.
Also in this section of the book, the author goes more in depth with the different characters and their behavior, a romance blossoms and a new twist is added at the end. The author never ceases to have a boring part in the book, which makes it highly addicting.
During the fighting or action scenes with the book I felt excitement rushing through me, waiting to see what would happen next, or what the outcome would be. At some points of the book I was worried that a lot of the main characters would die off, so the author did a good job on creating suspense too. Another aspect that is interesting about this book is that it tells the story from the antagonists' point of view also. So I read about Joe Ledger, I also got a feeling of what the enemy was up to. Towards the end, the antagonists end up fighting each other, and one of them makes a brave choice to save the world. The ending was typical, but what surprised me was that it leaves no opening for a sequel to follow up on. Overall this was a very good read.

Rest in Beats Nujabes.

Jun Seba, a Japanese producer and DJ has passed away in late February. Confirmed by his own record label on March 18, he has died in a car accident upon exiting the Shuto Expressway late at night. He was only 36 years old.

More commonly know by the name of Nujabes, he produced beats with a strong jazz influence, adding in his own mix of saxophone, guitar, piano, and flute in order to produce a warmer, more mellow track. The death of Nujabes struck a blow to the underground hip-hop scene. The first time I listened to one of his tracks it was completely different compared to anything that I have ever heard before. I would just feel so much emotion from his beats. No matter what mood I was in, there seemed to be a track that would match it. Whatever the mood was I could always turn to Nujabes. I would rely on his music to focus when I did homework, or when I had a headache and needed to relax. His music was just always there for me, always soothing. The mellow beats would always paint pictures, memories, scenarios in my head. There's only a few artists that I can never seem to get sick of no matter how many times I listen to their work and this man would definitely have to be one of them.

Listening to his music not only helped me emotionally, but it has also influenced my taste in music. Before listening to him, I was stuck in the same overall genre of music. No variety. No change. Everything was the same, snares here, bass here, and a mix of fast paced lyrics. Nujabes' music was different. You can't really predict the type of tracks that he will produce since each one of them has it's own uniqueness. From listening to him, I've expanded my playlist of music past the common mainstream music of the radio, or general hip-hop and rap and started to progress into instrumentals from such producers like J. Dilla.

Man, now that I think about it, J.Dilla died really early in his life too. So many young and talented people seem to die at an early age. It only leaves the rest of the world to wonder what they would have become, and what else they could have contributed. Nujabes touched the hearts of countless people across the world. His work has changed the lives of many and his presence will truly be missed. He brought a new style of sophistication into his work, accompanied with nostalgic undertones, he's put out some of the most beautiful tracks to emerge from the underground scene. He brought with him a real taste of hip-hop in a world of rappers talking about money and drugs. This just makes me believe more strongly that we really have to appreciate the type of people who are contributing to the world while we still can. Whether it's in music, sports, politics, etc. Before we know it they won't be with us any longer and only then will their work be honored. He was truly one of the geniuses of the music industry. You will forever be missed and always loved. Your music is just that much more meaningful to me now that I know you won't be putting out any more new tracks. Rest in peace Nujabes.

Patient Zero Part 2 (Chapter 41-71)

During this section of the novel things really started to pick up. Jonathan Maberry goes into further detailing about how the whole zombie thing works and at some parts it gets really scientific. I try to get the overall understanding of the situation, but sometimes it gets too complex for me. However, I do enjoy how seriously the author is taking his novel to go this far into detailing. An example of this would be when Dr. Hu explains his theory on how the zombie disease works:

"Prions are neurodegenerative diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies...sometimes you see it occurring as a result of cornea or dura mater transplants, or in the administration of human-derived pituitary growth hormones...they are not compatible according to what we know of modern transgenics---or they've found a way to alter the chemistry of the body to cause artificial hibernation...Once the victim is in hibernation this disease cluster reorganizes the functioning matrix of the body. It somehow uses fatal familial insomnia protein to wake the victim up again and keep them awake."

Not only is the fine attention to detailing a factor that keeps me hooked onto the book, but the fast-paced action scenes as well are described incredibly. It takes a person with a great deal of creativity and imagination to create such a fictional story, like a zombie invasion and turn it into something that can be relatively believable. From the author's comments on my last post (which is still shocking) I'm excited to find out that he's made this book into a series. This book is a really exciting read with a blend of action/thriller and science based horror. I am well ahead of the schedule of the pace that the class should be reading at and I don't think it'll slow down until I finish the book. I can't wait to see how the plot unfolds and thickens even more, and most of all see how it all accumulates into a climax.

Rants

I procrastinated this week and I don't have enough time to write a 500 worded post with some meaning so here's a mix of posts from my Tumblr.

I’m tired of all this. I come home everyday tired and as soon as I walk through the door I get yelled at. Lectured on how I don’t do enough to help out, or on my bad habits. I’m sorry mom and dad, I guess I’ll never be the son that you’ve always wanted and it hurts me just knowing that. In my dreams I sometimes wish I was different. How my life would change if I had actually listened to my parents more often, so then I could bring them more joy rather than disappointment. I’ll never be the kid with always straight A’s, or the one popular for their athletic abilities. I guess I’m just an average kid just trying to get by the best I can, but sometimes that’s just not seen as good enough. More often than not, people recognize you for your accomplishments, but not your effort.

It’s not only a family thing either. When it comes to friends, I hate to be the one to disappoint them. Often times I would come home after a long day of school, log onto AIM and some friends would IM me. They would go on to tell me about their daily problems asking for advice and whatnot. To be honest, after a long day of school and a butt load of homework to work on I’m not in the best mood to give advice, but I will still try my best. Then there are those bad days. Those days where I just don’t feel like answering, where I’m just really in a bad mood. Those are the days that get me the most. It sucks not being there for your friends all the time. It sucks to no longer be the one that someone can rely on no matter what. Everyone has their bad days, but it seems like no one recognizes mine. I feel invisible sometimes

When you’re surrounded by people who are just disappointed by you, or sad because of you, it doesn’t really put you in a good mood. It really hurts when you did something wrong, but the other person won’t mention anything. Pretending everything is okay, but in your head you know something is up. The lingering of a guilty conscious is sometimes unbearable. It hurts that I can’t live up to anyone’s expectations, or even my own. I really put in my effort and try my best, but I guess people just expect more of me and to be honest, I should expect more from myself. I’m sorry that I’m not the person you always expected.

I’ve come to realize something. All those positive comments you get from someone, they don’t mean anything unless the moment is right. Once something goes wrong it’s like all those compliments never existed. Yeah I get it, you’re not always going to think a certain somebody is always the best person in the world, but I mean, why even say it then? Because when it really comes down to what matters, out of the things that do matter, one of them is not going to be because they’re the best person in the world.

No matter how many compliments a person receives, it’s not going to come true unless the person believes it for themselves.  No matter how many times you call a girl beautiful, it’s not going to make her think that she is. Once you start to believe in what others call you, only then can you be labeled as that. This is pretty sad because it seems to work the opposite when you’re called negative names. If you’re being called stupid over and over again, eventually you will start to believe that you are stupid. Funny how that works. Call a girl beautiful who doesn’t think of herself as beautiful, as many times as you want and she’ll never believe you. Call a smart girl stupid enough times and she will start believing you.

Patient Zero Part 1 (Chapter 1-40)

Dear Damien,
I must say, you have a good taste in books. When I first picked up this novel I was doubtful. My first impression was, 'Great, another typical zombie apocalypse book.' This book however proved me wrong. The story starts off at a good pace and after the first few pages you can tel that the author has done his fair share of research. After the first few minutes of reading, I've read about different types of guns, government organizations as well as tactics used by federal agents. This was the thing that really caught my attention, the authors detailed description of everything is laid out perfectly almost making it feel like I have what it takes to become a secret agent. There's no doubt about it that this is a guy's book. Zombies, guns, fighting, and blood. What more could you ask for?

The main protagonist in the story is Joe Ledger, a Baltimore detective with a super ego. He used to be from the military and was no doubt, the top of the class. However, Ledger soon finds himself full of mixed emotions when he is recruited by a super top secret organization called DMS (Department of Military Sciences) to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a deadly bioweapon that can turn ordinary humans in zombies.

The thing that gets me hooked onto the book is the action factor. It reminds me of a mix between James Bond and Bad Boys. What kid growing up didn't want to become a secret agent at one point? Through Jonathan Maberry's writing I feel like I'm with the character. The close attention to detail on everything is amazing and a little bonus factor is the science in all this. Much of the technical information in the novel is based upon actual science, with the few exceptions. So far I have gotten hooked onto the book already and it's growing more interesting with each chapter I complete. I can't wait to see how this plot unfolds and turns out.

Basketball

Basketball is something that I've done ever since I was little. It's made up a big part of my life growing up, and it's still a good chunk of my life right now. I started playing basketball around the age of 6. I remember going out on my driveway after dinner, just practicing on my dribbling and trying out new things. No matter what I was doing, my goal was just to get better. I don't know why I loved the sport so much at the time, but back then I didn't really care.

I guess my reasoning for it now is partially because of my father. My dad loves basketball with a passion. He used to play in his free time back in China and he even managed to play for his high school team. While growing up my dad would become super excited whenever there was a basketball game on the TV. I remember watching the games with him, while he would comment on the game every now and then about a play. I guess I felt attached to the sport at first sight since this could be the one thing that my dad and I really have in common. So from that point on, I set a goal to keep getting better and better. My new found love for the sport also let me spend some quality time with my dad when I was a child. My parents back then were probably working 10+ hour jobs daily. I wouldn't see them when I woke up to go to school and I barely saw them when they came home late at night. So on the rare days that my dad gets to leave work early I would always ask him to play basketball with me. I remember that I would constantly try to show off to him whenever we would play a game, showing him the new tricks that I taught myself, or how much better my shooting improved. There was one thing that really bugged me about playing against my dad, it was the fact that he would win every single game. No matter how hard I tried, how lucky I got, he would always win. So probably from the age of 8 and beyond I would make new goal to beat my dad at basketball. This was especially tempting because my mom would always taunt me saying things like, "How can a young child like you possibly beat your dad in basketball?". It took me quite some time, but I finally did it a couple years later. I can't really give myself all the credit though because during those times, my dad's health got worse and he was more tired after work. I really miss those moments now. By now my dad is too fragile or tired to play basketball with me. It's not like I would have time either due to schoolwork or other activities. Nevertheless, I miss the father-son time that we used to share. It was the only way I really felt connected to him.

I still play basketball to this day, although maybe not as much as I would like and I'm probably not as motivated by it. For now I just do it as a hobby. I never joined any basketball league or team because I felt like that restricted the game in too many ways. The petty fouls and the occasional travels aren't a big deal when you just play with friends or in a pick-up game. I hope that basketball will remain in my life for the years to come. It's an outlet and a hobby that I appreciate with all my heart.

Friendship.

Friendship, one of the really major things that I value in life. It's a relationship with a person that you regard with affection and trust. I would much rather have a close knit group of friends compared to knowing every person in the school. Another thing is that I like to keep long term relationships with friends, meaning that I would go out of my way to stay in contact with a person who I feel like is drifting away from me. I value my friends a lot and would pretty much do anything for them. There's just this sort of energy when I'm around them that makes me feel safe and secure. I know most of their habits and how they act, and they pretty much know mine. I honestly can tell them anything about me without having to worry about being embarrassed. I'm really glad that I have the kind of friends that I do because there's people out there with just acquaintances rather than friends.

There's also those types of people who act like they're you're friends one minute and ditch you the next. That's why I'm so hesitant on making new friends or meeting new people. I mean sure, it's a great thing to get to know others, but you can't really tell what a person is like just after a few encounters. Also, there are those who have a misunderstanding of who their friends are. I'm not trying to sound harsh or selective or anything, but it's true. For example, if you're constantly hanging out with the same group of friends and suddenly one day someone just decides to randomly go with your group and act like they've been there the whole time. Like honestly, what are they thinking? Are they just trying to be a part of a new group or just have nothing better do? Either way it just annoying to me. There's just a lot of risks in meeting new people I suppose. You can't be too sure on what kind of information to tell them, and depending on the type of person you are, the trust factor has a big determination in how close you make friends.

The bond between friends is a very strong one. To me, they're basically the family that is there for you when your real family isn't. I treat them basically the same way as my real family, with the exception of being overly polite at times to my family. I guess a better word for them would be an extended family. I'm just really grateful towards all of my friends and everything that they've done to me. This weeks been pretty stressful for me and if it wasn't for my friends I would be in a mess right now. Like there's just something that I don't tell ym family either because I feel like they wouldnt understand or it would make matters worse and so that's when my friends are there for me, they cheer me up and help me through all the rough moments that I have.

Quickwrite: Cooperation VS Competition

Prompt- Do people achieve more success by cooperation than by competition?

I believe that it depends on the situation that a person is in that determines whether or not they will become more successful in. It can vary depending on the environment along with the people that may be involved. Cooperation helps because ideas can be shared and the work can also be split up evenly. However, competition gives humans this drive, or determination to achieve success. This pushes a person's work ethic and because of the idea of competition, new successes can be achieved.

The first thought that comes to mind when I think of people cooperating with each other is when they are working together on a project. In any other situation I believe that the person can accomplish the workload independently. Projects require extra work and effort that is expected to be put in. Working in a group can enhance the overall success of this because you have different people collaborating together, with ideas being shared and different strengths, which can lead to success in groups.

As for competition, it all depends on your expectation of success. The human ego can act as a 'boost' in this kind of situation. The thought of coming in first place and being the very best is what drives everybody. The whole world is a competition. This mental drive can force a person to go through great lengths to achieve success. IT however call comes down to the person itself. The person must have a strong will and determination in order to use this mentality as an advantage. Striving to be the best is what every single person has in common. Whether it be at one subject or another, everyone wants to be able to say that they're the best at something, anything.

This whole question can be answered with another question. What is success? Depending on what a person views as success, whther it be a personal one, or one that society recognizes. Either way works, but I personally believe that to obtain the most success, both personally and in society, competition is key. Everyone has a goal they want to reach and it all boils down to this drive that keeps them going. A strive to be the very best that a person can be is the key to success.

Genocide

Human nature: Who participates in genocide, and why? What does the commonality of genocide lead you to believe about humanity?

A genocide is defined as a systematic killing of a racial or cultural group. Those who participate in such an act are undoubtedly considered evil. Now, participation in this requires two separate parts, the thinking/planning, and the physical part.

The brains of the operation plan to commit such an act because they believe that the extermination of another group of people would benefit the world. They don't see that group as humans, in fact they probably hate the selected group with a deep passion. In order to plan to commit a mass murdering, it requires a lot of intellect, that of a military general or along those lines. Not only does the person have to plot out ever single detail of the plan, such as movement and possible rebellion, I believe the hardest part would be gaining enough followers to act out the plan. This is truly a difficult task to accomplish because there would have to be a massive amount of followers in order to act this out. The genius of the leader shows during this stage when they brainwash others into believing in such a horrific set of ideas.

Now, for the people who follow the leader, they could arguably be just as evil as the one planning it. Not only will they commit cold-blooded murders, claiming numerous innocent lives, but the fact that they don't believe that they are committing some sort of crime is the real horrendous part. I can't grasp the concept of how they would begin to believe that killing other human beings in such a way would be considered "normal".

This sort of behavior can be compared with that of stepping on an ant. For example, if you are walking outside and you noticed the fact that you have squished an ant, chances are you wouldn't feel emotional pain or remorse about it. You would just move on with your life, as if nothing happened. This is because of the fact that you don't see yourself on the same level as an ant. Now for the ones who physically commit genocide, they see the targeted group of humans as the ant, nothing more and maybe even less.

For example, Hitler thought himself and the Aryans as superior to all other races and hence felt it was their right to commit such atrocities. He convinced the rest of Germany that the Jews were evil, lazy, etc., which made it easier to pave the way for the Holocaust.

This commonality of genocide leads me to believe that us as human beings are naturally violent. Countless innocent lives have been claimed due to wars. I also believe that today's society has actually encouraged or increased classification amongst humans. There's all different types of classifications everywhere you look and it begins at an early age.  

Also, the general society lacks diversity, something that could help prevent genocide from happening. Any society is capable of committing genocide and that is why education in other cultures should be essential. Instead of leading people to believe in negative stereotypes and common myths about a certain group, they can become educated instead and have more of an insight on that particular group instead of just jumping into conclusions.

I do give the general population credit because among most people there is a great reluctance to commit atrocities; atrocities that contradict values taught from family, religion, and perhaps even instinct. Nevertheless, most people can be conditioned in such a way that, under certain circumstances, the perpetration of extreme violence becomes possible. For example, the Iraq war. Simply because the United States is at war with them currently, it automatically gives the people a reason to view Middle Easterners as 'the enemy'. Another thought, one reason it would become easier for people to commit genocide is physical distance. With the development of better technology and weaponry there is no longer a need for face to face combat. For example, the atom bombs dropped in Japan were a lot easier to issue compared to ordering troops to go over and kill them. 

In conclusion, genocide is not something that occurs instantly, but rather the cause of genocide can be found in leaders who manipulate key factors in order to create the requisite and social conditions for such mass killings.

Confusion.

I took a 'nap' at 9:30 and it turns out I woke up at 6AM. So that's the reason for a  late post.
So this past week I've been getting very little sleep due to the lack of finishing homework earlier in the day. As a result I've been kinda of in a zombie like state at school for the past 3 days. So for tuesday and wednesday I got a total of about a little over 6 hours of sleep. That's less than what the average person should get in a day. So even with my lack of sleep somehow I still don't manage to finish all of my homework for all my classes. So as a result my grades are yet, still dropping.
So, a couple things that have happened to me because of my sleep deprivation. I woke up twice from 'naps' and had no memory of anything that happened before my nap. For example, I think it was last weekend I woke up at around 8AM and I remember the first thought in my head was, "How am I in my bed?". So I slowly get up and try to retrace my steps, but nothing comes up. It's a weird feeling losing a bit of your memory like that, it makes me kind of scared. So, I still don't know what happened that day and the same thing just kind of happened to me last night. I woke up to my alarm going off at 6AM and so I slowly drift out of my sleep and come back into reality. I check my phone and I notice that I received two phone calls, one that was 7mins long and the other one was 2 mins long. Now I have no idea what happened during those 9 minutes. If it wasn't for my phone I wouldn't have even known that I was on the phone last night.
Could this be a cause of not getting enough sleep? Slight memory loss? Maybe it's from exhaustion? I've heard from others that they're too tired to think, or people sort of mumble and rant on and on when they're tired. Either way, this is a bad habit of mine that needs to stop.
I keep telling myself after school to go home and finish my homework so that I could have worry-free time to do other activities, but that never is the case. I need more self discipline, this is my resolution.

Wishing.

 So there's this Calvin and Hobbes strip that I remembered a couple days ago that goes like this:

Calvin: "If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?"
Hobbes: "..Hmm..."
Calvin: "Anything at all! Whatever you want!"
Hobbes: "A sandwich."
Calvin: "A sandwich?!? What kind of stupid wish is that?! Talk about a failure of imagination! I'd ask for a trillion billion dollars, my own space shuttle, and a private continent!"
Hobbes (later, fixing a sandwich): "I got my wish."

The point is, Hobbes is being a realistic person because in the end his wish came true, while Calvin's desires are on a much larger scale. The message that I get out of this is that people generally tend to focus on the big picture instead of the little steps in reaching that goal.  I mean it's good to wish for bigger things, but the more extravagant the situations get, the chances of them becoming reality get slimmer.

In Hobbes' case he wished for a more realistic thing and it came true. I believe that if you set goals for yourself that you know you can accomplish in the short term, it'll set you up for reaching your long term goals. Calvin on the other hand just wishes for things that most likely won't come true and sets himself up for failure.Oftentimes people tend to solely focus on the big goals and don't realize how to achieve them. Like the famous saying goes, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."- Confucius.

It's not just that people wish for big things, but they try to find every opportunity to make these wishes, 11:11, shooting stars, birthdays, etc. For example, if someone wishes for happiness at every chance that they get, the chances are they won't ever be happy. Happiness is not something that can just be obtained instantly, the person has to realize what makes them happy and take little steps towards happiness.

Rainy Days.

Recently it's been raining over here and I'm not particularly fond of the rain. The reason being is because it limits the activities that you can do outside. When it rains most people are forced to go inside and there isn't much to do indoors for me. So with this said, since it's been raining a lot as of late, I've been pretty bored the past week or so.
This gloomy weather definitely effects my mood. The cold wind that blows across my face in the morning, nipping at my ears and the constant rain drenching my clothes isn't the best feeling in the world. I'm the type of person who enjoys waking up to the sunshine peaking through the blinds and illuminating the room making it seem as if you turned your bedroom lights on. With the sun out the possibilities are endless for the things that you can do outside. Now, I feel like the rain has ruined my chances to be outside and I'm forced to be indoors focusing on staying warm. However, it wasn't always like this. I remember a time when I enjoyed being outdoors during the rainy season just as much as I enjoyed the sun.
When I was younger I used to hang out with some friends that also happened to be my neighbors. We would constantly go outside, rain or shine and it didn't seem to matter to me. I remember that we used to splash in the over sized puddles that would form on the edge of driveways and racing with legos down the miniature streams along the edge of the curb. Those times were so innocent and carefree, and now I worry about getting my clothes wet and I prefer staying dry. So I wonder, what has happened that makes me feel this way now? I've never had a bad experience in the rain that would force me to dislike it and I don't think age has much to do with it either because I know some friends that absolutely love the rain. If not for these reasons, then what has made me break the once strong and loving relationship that I had with rain? For now, I will still wish for the rain to go away every time it comes, but perhaps in the future my love for the rain will return to me once again.

English Final.

7. What have you learned from your struggles with writer's block? Why do you tend to get stuck? How do you tend to get unstuck? Notice any patters?


Through having a blog with a required post due every week I've come to realize that writer's block has hit me more times than I've expected. The main reason I believe that I tend to get stuck is because I have no inspiration. To be honest my life isn't that exciting and I don't really have a main subject that I would like to focus on. The main subject for my blog as I've mentioned previously (http://alvinleeblogs.blogspot.com/2009/09/change-of-course.html) is me and if nothing really interesting happens to me, then I don't have much of an interesting subject to write about.

When I'm usually stuck I tend to look at other blogs to see if I can get inspired.  Through the help of Google Reader I can swiftly browse through numerous blogs in a short amount of time and sometimes I come across a post that inspires me. Other times if I'm really feeling unmotivated I just blog about how I'm feeling like this previous post. I've also noticed that once I start actually typing out my blog post, it gets easier for me, like I just need a starting point and from there I can expand and broaden my ideas to whatever I'm thinking about. My 'Inspiration. Teachers?' post started off as just a short post about how I felt inspired by some of my teachers that I've had/have and it turned into a monstrous 1200+ word post. It just felt like after I wrote out some ideas, others would come in and question those ideas and I would just write and write. I'm sure there is a lot of redundancy in there however, it's a prime example of how if I just have a good starting point I can keep writing and writing. 

A pattern I've noticed is that I tend to put off posts until the day that they're due, leaving me a short amount of time to sift through my thoughts and get an idea of what I want to write about. Procrastination is definitely a big problem amongst teens, and that includes me. However on some occasions I have wrote down drafts a few days before the deadline, just a basic outline on what I plan to blog about and I think it helps a great deal. Your thoughts tend to be more organized and for me, I already have a starting point on what to write about.

8. How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?

Unlike a lot of people that I know, I've actually had blogs before this, but they were never anything more than just a way to vent my thoughts out. I've never actually really had an audience until now. I believe that there are multiple benefits to having a blog besides that fact that it's a good way to just write out your thoughts, like a diary. One aspect I really enjoy is reading others' blogs. I feel like I get a little insight into their lives and thoughts outside of when I talk to them in person. The blogs that really interest me are the ones talking about their opinions on different subjects. This sort of thing doesn't really get brought up in face-to-face conversations and so getting a chance to read about others' thoughts makes me appreciate blogging more.

Blogging for me, especially this one in particular because it's for an English class has changed my opinion about writing in general. To get a good grade in writing no longer means having to type out and print essays on Microsoft Word. Through blogging, students can integrate so much more things into their writing, such as pictures or videos to back-up their thoughts/opinions and formal language isn't a real requirement (although some does help). It definitely changes the way I think about writing. Before I used to think writing was just based on analyzing books or writing about a given prompt, instead blogging has allowed me to write about any subject I want and that's really helped me get a feel of my writing style. This new found freedom for writing has allowed me to actually enjoy blogging and I do posts outside of this school blog, as seen on my tumblr.  Blogging has given me a whole new perspective on writing and much more respect for the subject.

10. Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you to write? 
My main inspiration for me blog topics are the people around me, my environment. My 'Teachers' post was based on the teachers that I have currently and one that I had 2 years ago. The people that I see on a daily basis can influence me to write an entire blog post about them, or something relating to them. Anything big or small can influence me to write. This post was written because of a simple question my friend asked me during a normal online chat. Nothing big has to happen to motivate me to write, it just depends on if I can relate to it or if I want to voice my opinion on the subject matter or not.

Another reason that motivates me to write, are the people I follow. Although I may not comment on their posts, I generally do read most of them whether they are pointless posts, or in-depth ones. The simple fact that I know my friends are doing the same thing as me can be a good motivation for me to write. It feels like a support group in a way, like I'm not just doing this thing alone. This also applies to the people who follow and comment on my posts. Getting feedback on my thoughts gives me more of a reason to write. Google Analytics was another motivational thing, knowing how many people view my blog and which posts they enjoy more allows me to gain confidence in blogging about my thoughts.

On another blogging site called Tumblr, I follow a wider range of people who blog on their free time and I go through their posts daily. On occasion, most of them tend to write a really meaningful or moving blog that's personal to them and when I can relate to what they're talking about, I feel motivated and inspired to give my own opinion too. This post for example was one inspired by the people I follow on that site and was originally meant for my personal blog, but I never got around to posting it. Tumblr offers an easier way to access others' blogs that are outside of your general social network and so there's a better chance of getting fresh new thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of subjects. Whether it is big or small, the main thing that inspires me to write is other people's personal blog posts.

Quickwrite: Writing Groups

1. What are some things you'd like to get out of writing more collaboratively with peers?
I'd like to brainstorm some ideas or at least get some feedback of some ideas that I might've thought of before I begin to write. This process could also help me get through writer's block if it were to occur. Also this might benefit me because it could give me brand new ideas to write about, that I otherwise might have no though of if I didn't have the help of my peers. 
Hopefully my groups can proofread my writing and perhaps offer some suggestions. What I hope to gain from this is to have fewer mistakes gramatically and it can also improve my writing a bit, like help my sentences flow better. 
2. What are some things you'd be willing to contribute to a writing group?
I can basically offer everything that I wish I could get out of from a writing group.Also there might be other services that my group would wish they could get out of from this, and I would do my best to offer that. 
3. Is it more important to you to work with friends, or with people who are writing the same types of things you are? (Of course, it's possible to have this both ways...) Explain why.
I think it would be best to have a combination of the two. A friend would definitely help to give a comfort zone and they have more of a chance to understand your point of view more compared to someone who doesn't know you that well. The benefit of having people who are writing on the same subject would help develop and structure ideas from collaborating and brainstorming. 
 4. What are some "rules" (or at least guidelines) you'd like to see in a writing group?
I would wish for most of the writing to be kept private unless the person wishes otherwise, and also make sure all the members in the group have their needs met instead of everyone just focusing on just one person. I also think everybody should try and contribute or offer some ideas about each person's writing, because the more feedback the better, right? Basically keep it simple and see how the groups develop on their own. 

COMEBACK.

I haven't blogged in about 3 weeks due to winter break and since then I really haven't gotten any inspiration to write a blog either. So this week I tried to get readjusted to school life again just like everybody else. Coming back from not sleeping until the early morning and waking up in the late afternoons to walking to school in the freezing cold at 7AM can take a while to get used to again.
During this week I've decided that I really want to focus more on my academics since I cannot afford to slip up since finals are coming up. Sadly today I found out I have a C in math class. The irony huh? The week that I decide to work harder is the week I realize I'm really slipping fast in school. I guess I've just had a lot of outside distractions as of late. A lot of hanging out and not enough book time would probably be the blame for it.
So anyways, school also had some good sides to it, getting to see friends again and well, learning again. I know a lot of the times school can be a real pain, but I really do appreciate the fact that I actually learn some important information during the 7 hour period. You know the saying "Somethings aren't taught in school"? Well, the same goes for both ways. Somethings, you just don't learn without school. I guess I'm starting to have a new found appreciation for the place in which most kids dread. I'm not saying I completely love it, but it's a start. So Mr. Sutherland thank you for teaching me something new everyday I enter your classroom, even though you don't get paid as much as you should nor receive enough of the respect that you deserve, I'm grateful.