Americano

   One of my favorite songs is Americano written by Paul Blair, Stefani Germanotta, and Fernando Garibay and sung by Lady Gaga. As a big fan of her music and her personality, this song stood out to me because of its meaning. Gaga is a woman who feels strongly about fighting for human rights. She once said “You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way.” If you listen through any of her songs and really think about them, you realize that she doesn't just care about making money, she really cares about her fans. In her song Americano, she mentions a lot of different problems in the world. The first line of the song is "I met a girl in East L.A." The first situation is her meeting a girl in East L.A. which a highly populated Hispanic neighborhood in California. As she's singing,  she's telling the love story between her and this Spanish girl. She sings "If you love me we can marry on the west coast. On a Wednesday en el verano en agosto" when I first saw the lyrics I thought about why she was being really specific on the date and as I researched a little, I figured out that Prop 8 was overturned in California on Wednesday August 4th. Another hint to a gay rights theme is when she sings "In the mountains, las campanas están sonando. Todos los chicos y los chicos están besando" Which means In the mountains, the bells are ringing. All boys and boys are kissing in Spanish. Because of all of the hints about gay rights in this song, I can tell how strongly Lady Gaga feels about them.

   Another theme that I think Lady Gaga had in her song was Arizona immigration laws. The reason being because towards the end she says "Don't you try to catch me, don't you try to catch me. No, no, no, no don't you try to catch me. Living on the edge of the law." In April of 2010 a law was passed in Alabama to allow law enforcement agencies to require officers to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. I think that another reason besides the fact of the East L.A. hint that she's speaking spanish in parts of the song represents the immigrants (gay people and people not American) trying to fight for the rights that they have as humans but the government doesn't understand them because they don't speak their language. She even says "I don't speak your, I don't speak your language oh no." The thing I really love about Lady Gagas songs is that they have a lot of hidden messages and meanings.

   The reason that this is one of my favorite songs is because human rights and equality is a subject that I feel strongly about. As you can tell in a lot of my blog posts, I feel like no matter who you fall in love with, where you come from, or what you look like, you should be treated the same as everyone around you. If you were at a restaurant and you were from a different country than where you were, would you be angry if you weren't served as fast as the natives of the country were? What I like about Lady Gagas songs is that although some of them might sound funny or up beat, if you look at the lyrics and unpack what she's trying to say, you can really understand her beliefs. In a way I think that her songs are really persuasive because when someone gets a song in their head and can't get it out, it's usually because it's catchy and I think that's what most music artists aim for. If someone hears that person singing that song, then they will most likely go home and play it for themselves. When that happens with Lady Gagas songs, such as an inpowering one like Americano, a message is being spread to people and it's getting them to listen. 

   Another thing that I like about this song is that it packs in a lot of sort of hidden facts such as the prop 8 one. Some people might think that it was just a date that rhymed but if you know the song and have it memorized, then you have that date in history in your head. Also, she sings "We fell in love, but not in court" which meant that when they fell in love, it was before prop 8 went into effect. They couldn't officially be in an open and healthy relationship and eventually get married. Although it's not a true story, it's still a way to get a point across. Don't you just love a good love story? 

Fight for Your Right

    In the article Lady Gaga Vows To Make Bullying Illegal by Laura Hibbard, she talks about how Lady Gaga feels about kids being bullied. "Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime" is what Lady Gaga tweeted when she watched the haunting video "It Gets better, I Promise!" posted on YouTube by Fourteen year old Jamey Rodemeyer. Jamey took his own life because he was harassed at school for being gay. Rodemeyer was a big fan of gaga and that's why she was so involved. The weekend before his crushing suicide, Jamey posted on his Facebook lyrics to lady Gagas song "The Queen" "Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door."

    I think that by writing this article, the author wants the reader to feel informed but also sorrowed. The author wants the reader to know about this topic in hope that people will feel like they can help. By adding quotes the author informs the reader with an educated source. Hibbard includes mostly tweets from Lady Gaga instead of quotes from an actual interview. I also think that by writing this article, Hibbard wanted to inform the readers on this incident to give them something to think about every time they see someone getting bullying or embarrassed. Maybe if readers were more informed about stories such as Jamey's, they would feel more guilty about making fun of people for their sexual orientation. 

    When I read the Facebook status of Rodemeyer I thought about how this happens to kids every day. A lot of my friends post statuses of lyrics on their Facebook's but I don't always think about them meaning anything. Usually when I post lyrics to a song on Facebook it's because I like the song and I want to share it with people, not based on my emotions. Maybe if people payed a little more attention to their friends whether it's through text message, Facebook status or Tweets then they could talk to their friends and resolve the problem before it gets any worse. Although I think that their friends should pay more attention to them, maybe they shouldn't be posting 'hints' to their feelings on the internet. It conclusion, if you see someone at school or outside of school getting bullied, they should stand up for them or tell a trusted adult. 

Life of Pi

    I'm currently reading the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It's about a boy named Piscine Molitor Patel who lives with his family (mother, father, and brother) in Pondicherry, India. Through out the beginning of the book, Pi discovers many religions such as: Christianity and Islam, but he was raised Hindu. His father owns a zoo where they live but after a while, he decides to move his family and the animals to Canada because of political concerns  in India. He packs up everything and everyone and they set sail on a boat. Not long after they set off on their journey does the boat run into trouble and go under. Pi's family doesn't make it through but luckily the crew throws him off onto a lifeboat. Well... maybe not so lucky... because he's stuck with animals. Animals that want him for food. I'm just wondering, how is he staying far enough away from them that they don't? I don't think that the lifeboat is that big, especially if it has to fit on the side of the boat. 

      I think that Pi has a special bond with the animals, different from everybody else. I think that's the reason that he's still alive. He basically grew up around animals and that benefits him a lot. He knows how to act around the animals so that they don't get startled. I'm surprised that he isn't dead yet. Most people I know feel 'dehydrated' and say that they're 'dying of thirst or hunger.' but when you think about it, Pi has it a lot worst. He's scared out of his mind with two animals who want to kill him, on a small boat, in the middle of nowhere with no resources. When he found water, he explained it to be the best part of his whole experience. I think the message in that part of his story is that you don't appriciate what you have until it's gone. Pi doesn't have resources and doesn't even have his family. Those are things that most people in the world now don't quite cherish. People waste food everyday and a lot of families aren't as close as they used to be because of technology. Pi doesn't have technology and that's why his family is so close.

       In conclusion, I think that if technology wasn't something that we depended on in our daily lives (computers, smart phones, etc.) we would spend more time with our loved one's face to face, sharing memories together. Maybe there would be less conflict in the world if that was the situation with technology. It's fun and all but look at all the problems that it's caused in the world, it's really not worth it. What do you think? Comment below!

Crush Control

           I just finished the book Crush Control by: Jennifer Jabaley. It's about a girl named Willow Grey who grew up in a small town in Georgia with her mother. Ever since she was born, she had a best friend and his name was Max Montgomery. The two were inseperable until one day, Willows mom announced that they were moving to Las Vegas. The reason being that her mom was going to be a hypnotist. She was going to have her own show called "the Hip Hypnotist." The day before the big move, Willow hypnotized Max so that he would always be her best friend. The two talked everyday when she lived in Vegas. For eight years her and her mom lived there but at age seventeen, her mom decided to move them both back to their hometown. When Willow gets back, she discovers Max has a girlfriend.. he's the only friend she really has in Georgia until she meets Quinton. Now, she has a huge crush on Max but her and newly found best friend Georgia (yeah ironic, right?) come up with a plan that they're positive will win Max over for sure. Willow uses hypnosis on Quinton to get him to like her. Their plan back fires when he goes from lovestruck to obsessed.

        Now I was thinking through out the book, whos fault was it for Willow using hypnosis to get what she wants? I mean, technically she was the one who was hypnotizing people, but could her mother be to blame? Growing up, all Willow was surrounded be was hypnotism. Las Vegas is full of them. Her mother had video and books from her studies all around the house and Willow was always backstage at her mothers shows (and sometimes even on stage.) Willow uses hypnotism to make friends by putting on a show for her new fellow classmates at a party. She took away the fear of heights for the head cheerleader and with just these actions plus dating Quinton, she sprouted right up to the popular crowd.

        Her mother gets mad at her when she finds out about what Willow has done, not even thinking about how she knows about any of this in the first place. She never even comes to the possibility that it's her fault. She should have made time for hypnotism and time for mother-daughter bonding. Not merging them into one thing. Maybe if she cooked dinner once in a while instead of always eating whatever was at the buffet, they would have bonded and talked more. It seems like her mother is always studying and finding ways to get better.

What do you think? Comment below!

A Broken Home, A Broken Mind, A Broken Girl

     I'm currently reading the book Fallout by: Ellen Hopkins. There are three protagonists telling their stories of their lives in broken homes. Their names are Hunter, Summer, and Autumn.  All three of them are the product of Kristina Snows neglectful life. This book is the third in the Crank Series. In the first book Crank, Hopkins goes through how Kristina got hooked on crystal meth. She got raped and had a baby (Hunter). In the second book Glass, Hopkins takes the reader through Kristina’s struggles with her child, her mother, school and her relationships. Kristina’s point of view ends with Glass because now it’s her children's chance to tell their side of the story.

     Although Hopkins has three protagonists in her book, I'm only going to focus on one and that is Autumn. Autumn is the second born child of Kristina and Trey. I feel like she is the only child who has tried to forget about her birth mother and who has almost replaced her. Who has she replaced her with? Her Aunt Cora, Trey's sister. Her and her Aunt live with her Aunt live with Autumns grandfather. Sadly, Autumn is the only one of Kristina's children that has never met her mother. She does know Trey though from a vague memory of him showing up at their doorstep. 

       I feel really bad for Autumn. She's so curious about her real mother but her grandfather won't expose anything to her. She doesn't even know her mothers name. I couldn't imagine being so unattached from my mom, she's really the key to my sanity. I think that her grandfather is right to keep Autumn from her mother. Think about it, the reason that Kristina got into all of this trouble is because she when to visit her father. That's when she got addicted to the "monster." What if she meets her mother and then the cycles starts all over?

      On one hand, I think that meeting her mother will give Autumn some sense of security but on the other hand, how will she find security in a stranger? Someone she has no emotional connection with. Someone who hasn't been through her thoughts for how many years? Maybe if she just sees a picture of her, she'll stop being to insecure about her background. At least she won't be thinking of a stranger. 

    In conclusion, Autumn is very insecure about herself and I feel sorry for her. I think Hopkins made three totally different personalities to get the readers thinking about how they're similar and different. Do you think that Autumn should meet her real mother? Do you think that it will give her some closure? Comment below! :) 

       

     

      

Why Sarah?

 I just read the book Why Me?  By: Sarah Burleton. It’s her auto-biography about how her mother abused her as a child. She had no reason to hurt her, but she continuously made her feel unwanted. She does bring up many times in the book that she was an “accident.” Sarah’s mother even says at the beginning of the book “Do you want the whole building to hear you? I’m sick of you! I didn’t want you in the first place!” I couldn’t even imagine how I would feel if my mom were to say that to me.

   Through out the book, she tells stories about all of the times her mom neglected her growing up. Some examples are when Sarah’s mother poured Ajax Liquid Soap in her mouth and made her keep it in her mouth. This was her punishment for raising her voice to her because she didn’t want to eat the oatmeal that she made her for breakfast. Another example is when her mom cut and permed her hair herself. She purposely used too much perm solution so that the smelly, sticky substance would drip down the side of her face. She rolled the little rollers too tight so that the little needles hurt her scalp. She did all of this because she wanted the kids at school to picked on her and make fun of her. Sarah even thought to herself while looking into the mirror at the mess on her head “This hair is going to really get them going today,” referring to the kids at school.

    One thing that was going through my mind while reading this book is "if her mother knew she couldn't get an abortion, then why didn't she put Sarah up for adoption? Sarah's mom couldn't get an abortion because when her mom found out that she went to the clinic and was planning on getting one, she forbid it. I honestly agree that abortion is wrong... but that's not the only solution. 

   If she knew she wasn't old enough to raise a child on her own, then why couldn't she be mature and give Sarah up for adoption? I mean, if she didn't want her anyway (which she clearly states multiple times throughout the book) then why make the child suffer? I understand that she might not have been financially or emotionally stable... but then she should have told her mother that. Maybe her mom would adopt the baby. 

   Another thing I don't understand is why do mothers and fathers abuse their children? Don't they realize that that child is something they made? Something they brought into the world? If you went out and bought a new car, would you break the windows, scratch the paint and hit it with a hammer? No, right? So why would you mentally and physically and mentally a helpless child? I think "Why Me?" by: Sarah Burleton was an amazing emotion roller coaster. I'm not afraid to say that while reading some parts of her life, I cried. She was so descriptive and did an amazing job of making the reader feel her emotions. 

  It's a good read for someone who likes auto-biographies and who can handle intense story lines. Do you agree with my opinions? Do you disagree? If so, comment below! :) Thanks for reading. 

Charlie and I.... See the Difference?

      In the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by: Stephen Chbosky, the protagonist Charlie is having trouble finding his place in the world. He doesn't have many friends and he doesn't really fit in with any groups in school. In the beginning of the book, Charlie is a freshman in high school who has no friends, has never kissed a girl, and has never had a girlfriend. When he gets to school, he meets a boy and a girl, who's names were Patrick and Sam. The two step-siblings are seniors so they're more experienced that Charlie, and they explain every thing that Charlie doesn't understand about life. They became a group and started doing things together such as going to sporting events, going to parties, and going to put on performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Through out the book, Charlie is writing to an anonymous friend who he tells everything too.

    In a lot of ways, Charlie is just like me. For example, Charlie enjoys reading and writing for fun. Not for school and not because he wants to. He reads extra books and writes book reports on them, separate from schoolwork. His English teacher, Bill, is one of his "friends" through out the book. He gives him classic books to read and talks to him about them when he finishes reading them. While reading these books, he connects things that are happening to the main character, to his own life. I love to read and write in my free time. I mostly read books in which I can connect to the main character. Charlie also likes music, mostly the Smiths. He realizes this after his older sister gives him a mix tape that was made for her by a boy. His favorite song by the group is 'Asleep.' (Click on the link to listen) While he's thinking to himself, Charlie thinks about mix tapes. He loves the idea of being able to hold all of his favorite songs in one little plastic box. He says "I am starting to see a real trend in the kind of books Bill gives me to read. And just like the tape of songs, it is amazing to hold each of them in the palm of my hand. They are all my favourites. All of them." Charlie means that he likes the idea of being able to hold such knowledge in his hand.

   Charlie and I are also really different. For example, Charlie is really socially awkward. He doesn't really know how to make friends and he doesn't really know a lot about the outside world. He's always asking questions. He doesn't really know how to act around other teenagers and that's why he always depends on Sam, Patrick, and sometimes his older sister. For instance, when he has his first real girlfriend he had to ask Sam for advice about everything that he did. Another way that Charlie and I are different is he is really emotional. He cries about everything. I didn't notice though that he really only gets emotional when he has time to think back to himself about everything around him. 

 In conclusion, Charlie and I may have things in common and differences, but we are both teenagers who are misunderstood by the people around us. It's really important to try to think about the similarities and differences between the main character in your book. The reason being because it helps relate to the story more and also helps you connect to the character and feel for them. 

If you have any thoughts or responses comment below!

Let your True Colors Shine

What would you do if someone walked up to you and told you they were your Fairy Godfather? Would you be scared, confused? Well, Vincent isn't sure how he feels in the short story "Am I Blue?" by: Bruce Coville. Vincent is the protagonist of the story, and he gets bullied constantly by a kid named Butch Carrigan. Butch always calls him names that refer to people who are Gay. Now. the main character isn't sure if he is gay or not, but his bully doesn't seem to care either way. One day, Butch pushes Vincent on the ground, and walks away. All of a sudden a man (who Vincent describes to the reader as a tall man with dark hair, a mustache, kind of handsome, with a gold ring in his left ear who looked to be in his thirties.) The man introduced himself as Melvin, the boys Fairy Godfather. At first Vincent thinks that the man is making fun of him and tried to make him go away, but then realizes that he really does want to help him out.

 I think that Bruce Coville added Melvin into the story so that the reader could see how Vincents thinking changed from the beginning of the book.  At the beginning of the book, Vincent isn't sure whether or not he is gay. He doesn't want to be seen as gay by his peers and he's embarrassed by his confusion. He feels insecure about himself and that's why he lets Butch push him around.

Melvins job through out the story is to show Vince that it's okay to be gay. Melvin lets Vince have the power to see people as blue if they are gay. By having this power, he is able to realize that if he is gay, he isn't alone and shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed. He says towards the end "All right, I suppose you're wondering about me- as in, was I blue? The answer is, slightly." At this point in the story, the protagonist has changed from the beginning of the story. He went from being ashamed of being see with a homosexual, to accepting that he is in fact bisexual himself.

I think that the way that Bruce Coville ended the story was amazing. He ended it by saying ""And my third wish? I've decided to save it for when I meet the girl of my dreams. Or Prince Charming. Whichever."
I think that the theme of the book is that you shouldn't be ashamed of what other people think of you. No matter what race, size, hair color, nationality, or sexuality you are, you shouldn't be afraid to let other people see your true colors.

 

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

      As a class, we recently read the short story "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury. It's a short story about a boy named Joby, who is the drummer boy in the army. During the beginning of the book, the author hints that Joby isn't sure about his job. He doesn't feel like his job is as important as everyone elses.  All of the other boys are fighting on the battlefield, fighting for their country, but he's just playing a drum. While Joby was thinking to himself, he said "Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield." This quote in the story made me start thinking as a reader. I don't think that he means that he doesn't have a physical shield (made of steel or wood) but I think that he means that he doesn't have protection in general. He's just a kid, but everyone around him in grown and can fight and defend themselves. Think of a time when you've felt small, or a time when you were around people older than you. That's how Joby feels at this point in the story.

   Joby finally started feeling more confident about himself and his part in the war when the General had a conversation with him. He was explaining to Joby that he's going to be the heart of the army when the general is gone. He asked Joby “Youʼll run them through for me then, boy?” The author let the reader (me) realize how Joby's point of view changed by having him answer with a confident "Yes, sir." This part in the story let me, as a reader see how Joby changed his mind about himself from the beginning of the story.

   Have you ever felt like Joby? Have you ever felt small or less powerful than everyone around you? Do you have low confidence about yourself? Well, if so, just think of Joby. At first, he didn't feel like a big part, but he realized his part finally, it just took someone else to show it to him. Sometimes it just takes longer to find your place in the world. In conclusion, everyone has a part in the world, but it takes everyone a different amount of time to find theirs.


If you'd like to read this story and think about it for yourself, click here.

Post #2 Glass By: Ellen Hopkins

     The book Glass by: Ellen Hopkins is told through the point of view of the main character Kristina Snow(who also has an alternate personality named Bree.) At the beginning of the series (the first book: Crank,) Kristina was a normal high school nerd. Then, she goes and vists her dad, who, she comes to learn is a heavy crystal meth user. While she's with him, she meets Adam, who gets her hooked on Meth herself. When she goes home, she goes on a date with this guy named Brendan. When they're in his car, he sexually assaults her. She gets pregnant and at the end of the book has a beautiful baby boy named Hunter. Kristina's dad hasn't really been in her life too often. A while back, he left his wife and two daughters (Kristina and Leigh, her older sister) and moved to Albuquerque. He isn't a good role model because he was the reason that Kristina ever got involved with drugs in general. If she never would have been court-ordered to visit him a year ago, she wouldn't be in the current state that she's in now: fighting with her mom and having to lie to her on top of that.

  When her addiction gets really bad, and Bree is starting to take control over her more, she calls her old best friend Robyn. Robyn went away to college this year, something Kristina couldn't do because of Hunter. The reason Kristina called her was because she knew that Robyn would be able to get her a pretty reasonable stash for the weeks to come. She gets to her apartment early and while she's waiting on the stairs, she meets Trey, Robyn's roommate. Before Kristina leaves, she trades number with Trey so that they could hook-up the next time he was in Reno because he figures her supply will be gone by then. When they meet up, they end up going on two dates: one that wasn't a REAL date. . . but it was just him selling drugs to her in his car. The second one started at a local Starbucks but ended up at Treys cousin Brads house. Trey and Kristina grow closer and closer as a couple and through out the rest of the book, they grow closer together as a "couple."  


       The conflict in through out the whole story with Kristina, the protagonist, is that she is addicted to Monster. No matter how hard she tries to quit, it's too addicting and the chemicals (and Bree) take control of her. When her mother kicked her out and kept Hunter, she moved in with Treys cousin and his two daughters (Latreya and Devon), he was even closer to Trey, which means he was even closer to the Monster. When the real mother of Latreya and Devon returned home, Kristina was forced to move out. That's when her a Trey moved in to an apartment together. They got Hunter back, but not too long after, lost him again because of their drug dealing. The couple uses too much of their sale because of their strong addiction and don't have enough to sell to their customers. In order to get money, Kristina has to steal from her own mother. They soon get caught and plan to flee the state but they fall asleep in Treys car and get busted while sleeping for having a half pound of glass in the car with them. The resolution to Kristinas problem is that her and Trey end up going to jail where she is forced to detox from the Monster. Soon after she's in jail, she discovers that she's pregnant with Treys baby. I think that it's a good thing that she has detoxed from drugs because now she'll have the chance to prove to her mother (if she even wants anything to do with her) that she is healthy now and is in fact a fit mother.