30
May
2010
My soul,
needs music.
Craves music.
Makes music.
I play the piano.
I can sing.
I knew how,
to play the guitar.
We all need music.
“To stop the flow of music,
would be like the stopping of time itself,
incredible and inconceivable.”
Words I believe in.
If you ever did stop music,
I would be sad.
My friends would be sad.
And we would rebel.
By all coming together,
to make what you’ve stopped.
Music feeds our soul.
Music tells the story,
that our words cannot tell.
Music expresses us,
In our own different way.
Music is love.
And my love is for music.
**Quote about stopping time and music is by Aaron Copland**
Posted under English projects/assignments, My writings
29
May
2010
New Moon
Author: Stephanie Meyers
“I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.” New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, was the first book of the Twilight Saga that I read. New Moon was also the one to draw me into the Twilight vampire craze. Of course since New Moon is about vampires and everybody knows vampires don’t exist, New Moon is a fictional book. In New Moon the theme that comes off strongly to me, is exploring the depth of love, and how badly it hurts when the one you love, leaves you. In Twilight, where Bella falls madly in love with Edward, it sets New Moon up for her struggle through devastation when Edward leaves.
In New Moon, Bella is turning 18, which means, she wants for Edward to turn her into a vampire, but he still refuses. At her birthday party at the Cullen’s home, she gets a paper cut after eagerly trying to open a present. As, the first drop of blood is exposed, Jasper, the newest member to the Cullen clan and being used to human blood instead of the Cullen’s diet of animal blood, tries to attack Bella. As Edward pushes Bella to protect her from Jasper, Bella gets tons of cuts from tiny shards of glass. After all the shards of glass are out of Bella’s skin, within next two days, Edward becomes distant and ends up leaving her to protect her so, another birthday party incident never happens again. But, before he leaves her, he makes her promise not to do anything stupid that could endanger her life, and she agrees. Then leaving her in the woods where he broke her heart, Bella goes into a depression for four months. Finally, Bella attempts to go back to her life before she got caught up in Edward. She a girl from school, if she wants to hang out that weekend. As they’re out and about, Bella sees a group of guys that reminds her of the night Edward saved her. Walking closer to them, she hears Edward’s smooth as silk voice telling her to turn around and walk away. Leaving, she goes back home. Then the next day she decides to go see her friend Jacob. After they hang out, pain that Bella usually endures is lessened when ever she hangs out with Jacob. While they’re hanging out, Bella and Jacob fixes up two old motorcycles and when they finish, Bella decides to learn how to ride it. As she is riding, she once again sees Edward. That is when she realizes that when she does something that could put her in danger, Edward reappears right before her eyes, making her do more dangerous activities. Which leads her through the rest of the book.
When I read New Moon I think its interesting, and memorable because when I first read the book, it brought me to tears. Reading about Bella going through so much pain after losing Edward, was really brought out through Stephanie Meyer’s writing. I’ve never read a book that affected me that way. It was so powerful. Just reading about her going through that pain, made my heart ache in pain with her. And after that, I was hooked into reading the rest of the series.
Now that I’ve told you a little bit about what happened in the book, and telling you how I reacted to New Moon, I would love it if you would decide to read it too, for the realness factor. And judge for yourself to see if you get that same exact reaction that my friends, people around the world, and I felt when we read it.
Posted under Book Reviews, English projects/assignments, Uncategorized
29
May
2010
Eclipse
Written by: Stephanie Meyers
“Staring into his eyes always made me feel extraordinary — sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also a little lightheaded, but that could have been because I’d forgotten to keep breathing. Again.” -Bella. I like this quote. Being someone who likes to read romance books, reading that makes me feel happy for the character. In Eclipse, there is a killing spree going on in Forks, Washington. And Bella being a danger magnet, can’t help but to find herself in the middle of it. And between the ultimatums of her love for Edward and her friendship with Jake, and the choice and decision of life or death, this is really hard on Bella. What will she chose?
Reading Eclipse last year during the afternoons, it was a little slow in the beginning. There was a point where I was wondering “What are they talking about?”, and “I don’t understand what they’re doing right now!” It was extremely aggravating. But later on in the book, I started getting back in tune to Stephanie Meyer’s writing style. And once I was back into the book, it was only starting to get good. And if I had to put this book into a genre, I’d put it in teen romance. I mean it makes sense. It is a teen sensation around the globe, and it involves romance between an immortal and a mortal.
I suggest that if you liked reading the Twilight series, or about vampires and werewolves, then go head and read it. And even though, Stephanie Meyers is criticized about her writing, I still love her books. They’re easy to relate to. Boy meets girl. Girl falls, hard. But then again, us teenage girls don’t fall in love with vampires or werewolves. So, it gives it a little twist typical teen romance. And if you’ve ever wondered what the ribbon on the cover symbolizes, the ribbon itself represents life. More of Bella’s life. And the last strand holding the two almost pieces together is Bella’s decision of whether she wants to stay mortal, or become immortal.
Posted under Book Reviews, English projects/assignments
29
May
2010
“No girl wants to marry a doctor who can’t tell if a man’s dead or not!” -Sherlock Holmes. That quote, is my favorite quote in the entire movie. In Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock (played by Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man, Zodiac, and The Soloist) and Watson, (played by Jude Law, The Holiday, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Gattaca) have to find a serial killer, who thinks of himself as a “sorcerer,” Lord Blackwood (played by Mark Strong). After they arrest Lord Blackwood, they think their case is closed, not until after Watson pronounces that Lord Blackwood is dead, that they find out that Lord Blackwood has return from the grave. Which is where the quote came from. With the help, and distraction of Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams, The Time Travaler’s Wife, Mean Girls, and The Notebook), the case is reopened to make sure that Lord Blackwood doesn’t goes after his bigger plans.
Sitting in a theater with my sister and cousins, I couldn’t have been more blown away. I had been wanting to see this movie ever since I’ve saw the trailers for it. And I was certainly not disappointed. The sound effects were amazing! During the movie there were times where there were slow motions, foreshadowing what Sherlock Holmes was going to do next. There were moments where watching the foreshadowing, I was cringing at what he was doing! But it was amazing! Even the settings looked like I would have imagined old England. Within 2 minutes into the movie I felt I was there running the streets of London with Holmes! And helping Watson and Holmes catch Lord Blackwood. Everything was incredibly believable. The clothing, as I’ve said, the settings, the dialogues and the accents were extremely believable. The soundtrack to it was amazing too. When the setting needed to be sneaky, it did not disappoint, at all.
If you haven’t seen Sherlock Holmes, I absolutely suggest you do. It will be the best movie you’ll see. And since I haven’t done so already, I absolutely applaud Guy Ritchie and everybody else who was involved in the movie! They made an amazing movie, that I will not forget in a LONG time!
Posted under English projects/assignments, Film Reviews
29
May
2010
The Performing Arts
Performing is fun.
Most of them are on the stage,
In front of the crowds.
Music is the best.
Learning about it is hard.
But it is worth it.
Musicians jam out
Learning pieces everyday.
Music is my life
Art is beautiful.
It is music to the eyes
Art is exciting
Artists are awesome.
Imagination at work.
Beautiful artwork.
Dance can be soothing.
You have to be very fit.
It can make you move!
Dancers, live art piece
Making art with their bodies.
Tired in the end
Theater is playful.
Full of ecstatic people.
Never are they quiet.
Acting can be cool.
Up on the stage all the time.
Loving the feeling.
TV/Film is fun.
They like to watch and make films.
Don’t ask them to act.
Film makers are nice.
Always enthusiastic.
Making things I can’t.
See how the arts are?
The visual arts are great.
Opening our minds.
Posted under English projects/assignments, My writings, Poetry/Poems
25
May
2010
My perfect day consists of resting on the beach.
Lying in the sand.
Listening to music.
Working on a tan.
My perfect day also consists of sitting at home,
Listening to music.
Reading my books.
Or sleeping. Ah, sleep…
Another version of my perfect day would be hanging with my friends.
Sitting around.
Bonding, getting better at being friends.
Talking about anything.
For me, there are different scenarios of what my “perfect” day is.
Any mixture of them would make me happy.
I’m a simple person.
Let me do those things, and you’ve made me happy.
Posted under English projects/assignments, My writings
25
May
2010
1. Who is Hermann Hesse?
Herman Hesse, born on July 2, 1877, whose father, was a Baltic German, came from Estonia; and his mother was the daughter of a Swabian and a French Swiss.
2. What were the social conditions that existed in India which lead Siddhartha on his journey?
Since Siddhartha was a son of a Brahmin, he was dissatisfied with the way he was living so he decided to move onto something new in his life.
3. What were the chronological steps that Siddhartha took to reach Nirvana?
At first, he was a Brahmin. He then left with Govinda to become a Samana. When Siddhartha was unsatisfied with how he felt about that, Govinda and Siddhartha left to find Gotama, and see if his satisfies him. When he decided to leave Gotama without Govinda, Siddhartha then realizes that he is done with teachers. Until, he sets his eyes on Kamala. He realizes at that time, that he wants to be taught how to love. During that time of Siddhartha’s life, he meets Kamaswami, who he needed in order to be a pupil of Kamala. After a while, after Siddhartha has become a master at business, he starts to gamble, and drink. When he realizes that, he is disgusted with himself, and runs out to the river, wanting to commit suicide. It is when he is on the brink of letting go, and swept with the current, is where he hear Om. That brings Siddhartha back, and after a restful night, he is reunited with Govinda. After Govinda departs from Siddhartha once again, Siddhartha goes to the ferryman, who then teaches him to listen to river, and learn from that. After a couple of years of learning to listen, Siddhartha and Kamala are reunited, and that he fathers her child. Just as quickly as they were united they were broken apart, because she dies of a snake bite. After Kamala dies, Siddhartha takes on his duties to be a father to his son. After a while of failure after failure, when Siddhartha’s son abandons him, Siddhartha and the ferryman listens to the river, and that is when Siddhartha reaches enlightenment.
4. What were the philosophical steps that allowed Siddhartha to reach Nirvana?
He went from being a Brahman, to a Samana, then to find the illustrious one, only to move on to being Kamala’s pupil. Lastly he became a pupil of the river.
5. How is your life like/unlike Siddhartha’s
Well, my life is like Siddhartha, because I am still on my journey to my destiny in life, and because I am often a pupil.
But my life is not like Siddhartha’s, because of the obvious, I do not have a child, or live near a river.
6. What are the chronological steps that you have taken to develop to where you are today?
Well, I had to be born. I passed all the grades between Pre-school to 9th grade. I joined VPA Music in Booker Middle school in 7th grade, and have stayed in VPA Music since.
7. What are the philosophical steps that have helped shape your life?
I’ve stay a Buddhist since the day I was born, but didn’t know I was a Buddhist till 7th grade.
8. What are the social conditions in your life that have influenced your development?
Since I’m Asian, I’ve been made fun of because of it. Which leads me to not speaking Chinese in front of people I know, and get extremely offended when someone that I either don’t know, or is not that great of friends with, says an Asian stereotype.
Posted under English projects/assignments
24
May
2010
The Black Cat
Summary: The Black Cat was about a man who loved cats and dogs very much. At this time, he is a perfectly normal (or as normal we can be) married man. But out of all the various pets he has he loves his black cat Pluto.
And even though he loves Pluto, he gets violent mood swings because of his excessive drinking. And because of that, he mistreats not only his pets but his wife as well. But the only thing that he doesn’t harm is his beloved black cat Pluto. But one night, he comes home drunk. On that night he finally lashes out at Pluto. After being stuck, Pluto starts avoiding him, or as the man thinks Pluto is avoiding him. So then, one night the man is fed up with Pluto avoiding him. So then, the man grabs Pluto, only to be then bitten on the arm. And because of that one bite, the man is possessed. During this possessed time, he grabs a knife from his pocket and cuts out one of Pluto’s eye. The next morning he knows now that Pluto is definitely avoiding him. So, one night, he’s fed up with it and hangs Pluto from a tree branch.
Throughout the night, the man’s house catches on fire. Then the next day he finds his neighbor in amazement, staring at a cat with rope around it’s neck portrait on the wall.
Months later he finds another cat; just like Pluto. Except that this cat has a white spot on it, and no one has seen it before. So then, he takes it home, thinking everything is hunky-dory… But then eventually he goes back into his same ways, first loving the cat, then slowing growing a hatred for it. On during this time, he realizes that the white spot on the new cat slowly turns into the structure of which Pluto died.
So one night, he’s going down into his building with his wife and then he almost trips over his cat. Enraged he tries to attack the cat with an axe, but his wife, who loves the cat, tries to defends it. So then the husband turns the axe on his wife. He kills his wife by burying the axe in her head.
After realizing what he’s done, he buries her body and the axe. He finally decides on where to place her corpse, in the walls of his basement. After he entombs her body within the wall, hiding all evidence in the wall with his wife, he turns back to finish the cat.. But he can’t find it. So, that leads him to think that the cat was frightened and ran away.
Four days later, the police unexpectedly drop by his premises. So, acting like everything was fine, he tours the police around his building, including the basement. After the tour, still in the basement, the police, about to leave, hear a loud scream. Which then leads them to tear down the basement wall, to discover the wife. And the missing cat on her head.
Posted under English projects/assignments, Short stories
23
May
2010
Loving you is the best part of my day.
Seeing your smile makes my day better.
Seeing your eyes makes my heart swing and sway.
Just being with you makes my heart gladder.
Our love is pretty crazy honey.
No matter what happens to us my dear,
You are like my own personal genie.
Losing my love should never be your fear.
All you have to do is never let go.
My feelings for you definitely show.
Posted under English projects/assignments, My writings, Poetry/Poems
23
May
2010
I HAVE no life but this,
To lead it here;
Nor any death, but lest
Dispelled from there;
Nor tie to earths to come,
Nor action new,
Except through this extent,
The realm of you.
Title:
The title reminds of something I’ve said basically my entire life. School has taken over my life. I have no social life. “Oh, hi there social life, I didn’t see you there behind school and homework.” I got that from a Facebook page. But that’s not what this poem is going to be about. It’s probably going to be about how she has devoted herself to him, and how that has made him her life.
Paraphrase:
Well she’s talking about how her life is surrounded around him, and how she expects nothing to really happen except to pamper him.
Connotation:
I was watching t.v. one afternoon, and they we’re talking about how much can men handle being sick. They even showed a video of a guy who has a cold, and fake EMTs show up and the EMTs tell the man’s wife that he has a “man cold” and that when he rings the bell, she must go to him and pamper to his every need. Well, this poem kind of reminds me of that. She’s the wife and he wants her to pamper his every need.
Attitude:
I think that her attitude is that she’s sad. Like if you said the poem in a tone where she’s expecting nothing, you’d end up sounding dull, and gloomy because you’re taking care of him, but the same treatment isn’t being put towards you too.
Shift:
In the first stanza, she’s feeling sad, because she has too take care of him. And throughout the rest of the poem it stays the same.
Title:
My opinion of the title hasn’t change. The poem is still about him, and his needs, that ends up taking over her life.
Theme:
The theme is about someone has taken over her life. The poem shows us that, that shouldn’t happen, or you’ll be stuck in “their realm”.
Posted under English projects/assignments, Poetry/Poems
