By the Time You Read This, I'll be Dead pg. 1-30

This is the 2nd time I have read this book. For some reason, although its creepy, I love books like this. They really grab my attention and keep me hanging on. I feel like everytime I reread a book I catch new things I never noticed the first time around. The chapter titles are really interesting. They're days counting down. The first chapter is "23 Days" meaning 23 days until she commits suicide. Its so dark and scary but so interesting. The book starts off describing a place where Daelyn is a lot of the time, and a person who changes her life. A bench outside of her school where she waits for her parents to pick her up everyday, and a white headed, tall, skinny boy who creepily sits by her, on the same bench. It starts off her just waiting for her parents, and the awkward silence between her and the boy. He watches her, but she makes no eye contact, for she doesn't make contact with anyone. Her mother picks her up, and is on her way home when she says she needs a few things at Walmart. After, it goes into a flash back. She talks about how her mother once went to a local store before they went home because she needed a few groceries. That is when she had her first "wack attack". She couldn't breath and paniked, screamed, honked the horn, and basically went crazy. Her mother was humiliated. Ever since, she hasn't left her alone. But her "wack attack" isn't the reason. Her parents can't leave her alone because she is on 24 hour suicide watch.

There is a break in the story, and the next chapter is talking about her website she found. WWW.Through-The-Light.com .. A website basically setting up your suicide. Everything is anonymous, but you can read posts by other members about their lives and why they want to be out of the world. Its really sad to me. Daelyn has been bullied and made fun of her whole life. People have constantly made fun of her weight, her looks, her personality, and basically everything about her. For the most part, the next few pages just talk about her struggles through life and all the mean things people did to her. It also talks about the website and what other people talk about. Another interesting thing to me is, Daelyn cannot speak. She wears a neck brace, but hasn't released why or why she can't speak. I guess this is something we will find out later, huh?

I think this book is extremely sad. It sickens me that people think this way. I know this book isn't true, but I know some people go through this and it is devistating. I know I would hate to feel the way she does everyday. She hates living, has no joy in her life whatsoever, and lives her teenage years thinking of which way of commiting suicide would be best. That is no way a high schooler should live their life. I love this book and I am excited to continue.

FAGE Total Plain Extraordinary™

For some reason, I find this commercial so awesome. Everytime I see it on tv, I stop whatever im doing to watch it. It intrigues me and really makes me want to try this yogurt (lol). But seriously, this is an amazing commercial. I love the poem in it and the visual it gives you. I know im making a big deal about a yogurt commercial, but its cool.

2.28 Diction Exersize

"Once Upon A Time" by Jack Gilbert

A.
1) young
2) alive
3) melody
4) natural
5) excitement
6) intensity
7) innocent
8) tender

B.
1) Elevation - Medium (sensuous, admiration, adoration)
2) Connotation - Poetic (idyllic, quixotic, vivid)
3) Musical - (melodious, graceful, exquisite, rhythmical)
4) Abstract - (conceptual, abstruse, recondite)

C.
In Jack Gilbert's "Once Upon A Time," his graceful, idyllic sensuousness of his language conveys the speakers nostalgic and wistful attitude toward young love.

2.23 Diction Exercise

A)

1. Cruddy
2. Evil
3. Kill
4. Swear
5. Bubbles
6. Dark
7. Mercy
8. Weird

B)
1. Elevation - Low (cheap, inadequate, low-grade)
2. Connotation - Literal (definite, simple, regular)
3. Sound - Harsh (rough, craggy, unrelenting)
4. Concreteness - Concrete (conglomerated, solidified, calcified)

C)
[Roberta's craggy and cheap language in Linda Berry's "Cruddy"] depicts [her jaded frustration toward her younger sibling.]

Full Moon Night - Ulrich Lieve

Ulrich Lieve's "Full Moon Night" at first glance seems like a chaotic, unorganized mess. Although this is true, when you begin to concentrate on the painting is when you recognize its true beauty. The women in the picture are morphed, and undecided on their feelings. The colors of the painting contrast the paleness of the woman's skin, and although these colors portray happiness, the women don't feel the same. It looks as though the woman in the front is blocking her face from being seen, and the others look in distress. This hypnotic painting is almost romantic, seeing as the women have red lips and long lashes. The placement seems somewhat random, and I am wondering if Lieve had a specific order in his own mind. This painting is mysterious, contrasting, and somewhat sorrowful, and for some reason its hard to keep your eyes off of it.

Hole in my Life - Jack Gantos pg. 1-34

This book is hooking me just like Go Ask Alice. It is so raw and intense and I have barely cracked it open! For some reason, I love dark books about drugs and stuff like that. Sappy love books don't reel me in, books like this do. Not that this is what I'm personally into, I just love reading about it. I guess sometimes if you don't experience these things yourself, it makes it even more interesting when you read about it. Especially because this book actually happened, and Jack Gantos wrote and published it after his jail time. Its the scary truth about the real world. Sometimes bad things happen to people with the best intentions. Its just somewhere, something went terribly wrong. I think its sad because some people really don't deserve things that happen to them. They go into something with the best intentions, and it just goes wrong and gets them into trouble. Just like in the last book I read, the main character does not seem like a bad person whatsoever. Which makes these books even more interesting, because they may not necessarily deserve what is happening to them. I think it makes this kind of book even more addicting because it pulls your emotions so many different ways. Sometimes you just don't know what to think or believe, which plays with your mind a little bit. It is insane how words on a page have that type of impact on a person reading it .....

Anyway, on with the book. It started right off into explaining the picture on the front, which was his mug shot. He talked about his diet, why he dressed/looked the way he did, and went right on to tell how horrible prison life really was. He also talked about how frightful it was, because anyone could do anything at anytime. He watched people stab others, and saw things he never wanted to see. After some jail talk, he went back to talk about his childhood. He wasn't raised around the kind of violence he saw in jail. His father could pick out people like it was his job. Somehow, he knew the criminals from the good people, and told Jack all about it. He told him who to trust and who to watch out for, and always talked about who had been in prison. When his father talked about this, Jack never dreamed of going to prison. When he was in high school, he felt like he had it all. A car, a fake ID, and wasn't living at home. After his dad took a job out of town, he and his family decided it was best for him to drop out of school and go straight into the work field. He got a job at a hotel doing electrical stuff, and the hotel gave him a free room to live in. He was constantly drinking and hanging out with older men, which made him grow up extremely fast. Finally, he got over this fade and started thinking of school again. He got a different job stocking food at a supermarket and stayed with a family close to his new school. After awhile, he got back into drinking and came home drunk almost every night which frustrated the family. Eventually, he was kicked out of their home. He ended up in a motel called The Kings Court, and got a room there. He began trying to write, coming up with ideas but never being able to make it into a story. He had thousands of beginnings, but no endings. He got back into school, and things were going decent for him. One day, a bunch of prisoners came into his school and talked about prison life, and how much they wanted those kids to stay out of it. They encouraged them to be good and to not mess up and end up like them, and Jack thought they were crazy. At this time, he had no idea that his life would relate more to those prisoners than he wished for.

This book is extremely good. I cannot wait to get farther into it and see how his life pans out.

P.S. -

Sorry for slacking lately on blogs :/ This week I am going to post as much as possible!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!! Hope it was wonderful :)