stressssssssed

I am sooooooooooo stressed out and I can not take it anymore. Its absolutely dreadful. I am so tired and have only read about 100 pages of my book. >.< that is a lot less than normal. I can't wait for my week to end and it be Friday. When I am stressed I think of Russel. :) he is always so happy and care free. I always think of his first line in the movie. "good afternoon . My name is Russel." I can't help but smile.

"God moves in mysterious ways. You move like lightening-here one moment, gone the next."

Currently

Last Week: 427 pages
This week: 238 pages
Total for semester: 2762 pages

Sentences for last week:
1. It’s called a shower.” I was staring straight ahead. When he didn’t answer, I turned sideways. “Soap. Shampoo. Hot water.” -Crescendo
2. “Being with you never felt wrong. It's the one thing I did right. You're the one thing I did right.” -Crescendo
3. “You're mine, Angel,"-Crescendo

Sentences for this week:
2. “I love you.” His voice was straightforward, affectionate. “You make me remember who I used to be. You make me want to be that man again. Right now, holding you, I feel like we have a shot at beating all odds and making it together. I’m yours, if you’ll have me.” -Silence
1. “How did you get in?"
"I move in mysterious ways."
"God moves in mysterious ways. You move like lightening-here one moment, gone the next.” -Silence
3. “I gave up something I wanted for something I need. And I need you, Angel. More than I think you'll ever know.” -Silence

I love the first quote from last week because I found it abosolutley hilarious, and I laughed for a good amount of time. I picked the first quote from this week because it is beautiful and I loved it. :)

Time for the Dawn to Break....

Well I finished reading what I had left of Silence to read. It was a spectacular book with a lot of twists and turns. I would recommend the Hush, Hush series to anyone. The book I'm reading now is kind of a forced thing. November 18th is the day that Breaking Dawn comes into theaters, and I have to read the 754 page by then. I have read it in a shorter time, but that was years ago, and I honestly don't remember too much. I started reading it last night. Now that I have started reading it, I have to finish it. That's the way I have always been. Once I start a book I have to finish it. My mom taught me that. :)

A Silence...

For the past two weeks or so I have been reading two of the Hush, Hush books. I had to reread Crescendo because I couldn't remember a darn thing that happened. I read that Nora finds out that Hank Millar, the leader of the Black Hand, is her biological father. This was all a crazy mess. Hank is a Nephillium (product of an angel and a human), and he had Nora's "father" killed. Harrison Grey was a decoy. Hank asked him to marry the woman that he fell in love with, and protect the girl she was pregnate with. She had to be protected from a fallen angel named Rixon. Rixon just happened to Patch's best friend, and Rixon had been after Nora for years. Finally in the end Rixon was supposed to hide Nora when really he was going to kill her. Patch figured that out, and ended him. Because Rixon is a fallen angel, and can not die, Patch sends him to hell. Patch was always a nickname. Nora never knew Patch's real name, until he told her. His real name is Jev. This is where Silence begins. Nora wakes up in a cemetary completely and utterly clueless. She has no memory of anything. It turns out when Nora finally returns home to her mother she had been gone all summer long, and she has no recollection of the past five months. Coincidentally, that means she doesn't remember Hank, she doesn't remember what he has done, who he is, and she doesn't remember being madly in love with Patch. So during this book Nora is on a quest to remember everything she has forgotten, and she does. But first she meets a beautiful guy named, Jev. She couldn't figure out how she knew him. She felt a deeper connection to him, but no one in her life recognized the name. Finally, Nora remembers everything after spending time with Jev/Patch. Hank during all of this was trying to get close to Nora to tell her something. So to do that he started to date Mrs. Grey, again. Eventually he gets Nora, and explains what has happened and why he had to give her up. Also, that he wants her to take over his Nephilium army when he dies. Nora of course hates the idea, but he uses Mrs. Grey to get to Nora. She has to promise him or he will kill both Nora and her mom. This is where I have left off, but I have about 30 pages left and I hope to finish it tonight. I will let you know about the ending... :) have a great week.

Close Reading Bingo

1. "He uses figurative language to describe a “steeper escalator of daylight". Weakness number 5. -http://contemplationsxjones.blogspot.com/
2. This person does not use any intext citations, and weakness 1. -http://bradey.blogspot.com/2011/10/practice-diction-analysis.html
3. "“They were the free-standing kind: a pair of integral sins swooping upward between the two floors they served without struts or piers to bear any intermediate weight.”" Weakness 2. -http://thelostmessageofwords.blogspot.com/
4. "Baker draws a picture in your mind with his descriptions, "escalator of daylight" and "towering volumes."" Weakness 3. http://almostfacebook.blogspot.com/




The highly descriptive and scholarly diction, the almost philosophical and appreciative tone inserted into Nicholson Baker's connotation, and the harmonious flow ringing throughout the first page of his novel, instill dreamy, practically romantic admiration for the mezzanine Baker speaks of, as this first page is read. Define Mezzanine: [mez-uh-neen, mez-uh-neen] the lowest balcony or forward part of such a balcony in a theater, or in this case, an office building (perhaps, I have not read this book). Baker elaborates on the mezzanine, the centerpiece of his novel, with a subtle passion, as he begins his journey to his office. He observes a "needly area of shine . . . [fall] against their brushed-steel side-panels" and the "long gloss highlights" waver on the black rubber handrails-- and he is amazed.  He adores these simple flecks of beauty that he comes across in his office building (?) and he watches them with fanciful amusement, absorbing each simple elegance with the a happy heart.-http://inside-out-lily.blogspot.com/

Day Made. :)

This is how my week has been going. I am so tired, and I have had a long week. And I am really happy that the week is almost over. My classes have been stressing me out really bad, and I have basically just been getting by with sleep and working. 

Dicition Observation

Nicholson Baker's dull, clear, and low diction creates a common and dull tone. His words are very dull and almost common, "At almost one o'clock I entered the lobby of the building where I worked...". The most exotic thing mentioned in the excerpt something about carrying a Penguin paperback, "...Carrying a black Peguin paperback and a small white CVS bag...". He also mostly describes the how the elevator is working on that day, and how it works differently on other days. The passage's low and common diction make the excerpt actually kind of boring, and not extraordinary.

Currently

Pages this week: 445 pages
Pages this semester: 1997 pages

Favortie Style Mapping:
1. "The Mud Below, Annie Proulx creates a poetic and loose style that has somewhat of a country twang which creates a melodious sound." -http://smellslikechlorine.blogspot.com/
2. "There are precise elements but also picuturesque elements. " -http://blogswithfriends.blogspot.com/
3. "In the excerpt from Stardust the words contains a very straight-forward description of a town named Wall that has a very primitive feel with huts instead of houses and tracks instead of roads."

time flys

its hard to believe its already late October. My junior year is 1/4 of the way over and still moving with rapid speed. I can't wait for the next break though, which I believe is on Friday of next week. Thank goodness. I need to continue to keep reading my book,Crescendo so that I can begin to remember. So far I have recalled only a few things but hey, the last time I read the book was the summer before my sophomore year!! Anyway.. I'm getting a bad stuffy nose and its so annoying .. Anyway I have other homework that I should probably be doing.

A boring end to a great series... But the beginning of a Silence

I finally finished reading Mockingjay yesterday. I have to be honest and say that it had a terrible ending. I loved reading all three of the Hunger Games books, but the ending was not good. I feel like it resolved nothing, and just left us hanging. I have had a lot of agreements on my statement. My mother even agreed with me, it kind of tweeks me off a little bit that she finished reading the books before I did. I also probably didn't like it because Katniss didn't end up with the guy that I wanted her too. Thats entirely besides the point though. I am kind of happy I have finished reading them before the movie comes out. Its usually better to read the books before you see the movie. I am a lot happy that I can start reading, Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. This is the third book in a series called Hush, Hush. They are spectacular books about angels, and humans of course. The series itself is about a 17 year old girl named Nora, and an age old angel named Patch. Patch at first looked like the untouchable bad boy. Always in black, or wearing a ratty old baseball cap. Nora knew instantly that Patch wasn't a normal guy. In fact on numerous occasions Patch gave her the creeps. Eventually they become close and fall in love. That's all in Hush, Hush. Then in her second novel Crescendo. Nora decides to look deeper into her father's murder. And Patch becomes distant and cruel. Falling for Nora's arch nemisis, Marcie Millar. Of course things are resolved, and then Hank Millar, the leader of the Black Hand interferes. The Black Hand are supposedly the people who killed Nora's father because he was a Nephilium. Which is another term for the child of an angel and a human. I might have to reread Crescendo  because I can't seem to recall much from that book. I remember Hush, Hush clearly. I guess we'll have too see.

Style mapping

Blood Meridian                           Star Dust                           Crescendo

Connotative                              Low                                     Elevated

Figurative                                  Common                            Elegance

Poetic                                         Boring                                Figurative            

Bright word usage                   familiar                               Metaphoric

"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy is a very connotative and figurative piece. The piece is calm and almost poetic. "...and dark falls here like a thunderclap and a cold wind sets the weeds to gnashing." "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman is a low and common piece. Talking solely about a small town called Wall. "The town of Wall stands today as it has stood for six hundred years..." And Crescendo has very high language. Becca Fitzpatrick uses elegant and elevated words and grammar. "We waited until Scott had angled himself behind the steering wheel and backed out of the parking space before we exited the building."

Quarterly

I am surprised at how much I actually do read. I read a lot and I enjoy doing it. I often find myself checking out multiple books from the library, while I am reading a book already. I am pretty proud of how fast I have been reading the Hunger Games books. Usually I finish each book within a week, but unfortunately due to the fact that I havent had anytime, I have yet to finish Mockingjay. I usually find myself reading late at night, or while watching "That 70's Show" or "Friends." Working in a library does not help my love for books, because I continously find books that I want to read, and then i speed through the new books.

Mockingjay

I am breezing right through Mockingjay. The book is in the boring stage where the author is describing whats happen. There is no action going on. So far the revels have ventured into the Capitol, and came back with prisoners. Peeta has been returned to Katniss, but he is crazy. The Capitol has distorted all his memories of Katniss. When they see each other for the first time after a while, Peeta tries to kill Katniss. He starts yelling terrible things at her. She eventually leaves District 13 to go to the heart of the problem, District 2. District 2 is the place where the Capitol's military is, and where the Peacekeepers are trained. This is the only district that has yet to be taken over by the rebels. Katniss has gone in so that she can help the take over. Katniss has one thing on her mind, killing President Snow. By now, I think he deserves it. Gale has become a main person in District 13. His trapping abilities have made him vital to the take over. Hopefully I will finish this book this weekend. That way I can start reading my new book, Silence.

Currently...

Pages this week: 170
Pages this semester: 1552

Sentences of the Quarter:
1. "The search for God's presence, he understood now, was as much of a mystery as God himself, and what was God, if not mystery?"  The Last Song

2. "Because when he sings, even the birds stop to listen..." The Hunger Games

3. "He was running out the fire in his wings." Passion

The Mockingjay

After the tearful ending to the Last Song, I began reading Mockingjay. It's hard to believe how far Katniss has traveled in her life in such a short time. I love reading these books though, because it makes me feel like I can't put the books down. So far in Mockingjay, Katniss has finally accepted her role as the Mockingjay. People actually look up to Katniss, and they are so happy to see that she is alive. She awakens in District 13. District 13, was supposedly blown to pieces and wiped of the map. They have been hiding underground and making a living. They are now known as the rebels. Katniss is now the "Icon" of the rebels. She goes out to district 8 and its a disaster area. She goes to a hospital, and finds lots of people that have fought and are now wounded because of the Capitol. Now the Capitol begins to bomb the hospital, and Katniss and Gale, with their perfect accuracy, take lots of planes right out of the sky. Supposedly the Capitol is sending the rebels a message. So Katniss sends a message of her own. She says, in a nut shell, if you try and burn us down, we'll take you down with us.

The true Last Song

I finished "The Last Song" on Friday night of last week. I cried and cried. Reading a book about a revel daughter turned good beccause of a love interest is absolutley amazing. As a spoiler, Ronnie's dad dies. It is one of the sadest endings. Steve begins to slowly deteriorate. He gets more frail and white everyday. Jonah is forced to return to New York with his mom, and Ronnie refuses to leave her father by himself. She takes care of him until the moment he dies. During all of the madness with her father Ronnie discovers the truth about why her father was so determined to make the stained glass window for the church. He thought that the fire was because of him, and he couldn't truly remember what happened the night the church burned down. She found the real absolute truth way to late. What truly happened to the church, was Marcus. Marcus threw one of his fireballs, and it went through the window. What Will thought was true was that the church was burnt down by Scott and his bottle rocket. For years Will has been covering Scott's tracks, that way Scott wouldn't get into trouble. Will finally broke down and told Ronnie the truth, and unfortunately the truth hurts. Ronnie and WIll were done after that, and then Ronnie found out what Marcus did. Of course after such a traumatic event a happy ending must be in tact. At Ronnie's dad's funeral Will returned, and him and Ronnie talked. They decided they would wait for each other. Will decided he would go to Colombia in NY, and Ronnie would audition for Juliard in NY as well. That way they would be together, and both get what they truly wanted. But what makes the story is Ronnie. Ronnie finished the last song her father had began to write. His last day Ronnie played the song for him. This is where I truly lost control of my emotions. Ronnie only started playing the piano because of her dad, and she stopped because of him. Now she plays for him, and she auditioned for Juliard for him. Its all very beautiful.

Currently

This week: 334
This semester: 1382

Quotes of the Week:
1. "And I haven't told you this, but I made her take the SAT's in February. She missed every single question. Do you know how smart you have to be to miss every single question?" -The Last Song
2. " "We had to save you because you're the mockingjay, Katniss." Says Plutach. "While you live, the revolution lives." " -Catching Fire
3.  " "I think you have problems." She told him. "What problems?" "Well, for starters, you're an evil duck killer." -The Last Song.

Number 1 is my favorite quote because it provides comic relief in a very serious story. And it does take a lot of talen to get EVERY question wrong on the SATs.

Life Lessons for the day! :)

As I sit here in my physics class I started to think about my life. I have so many blessings in my life. Each person should count their blessings everyday. You never know what could happen to you. The vicissitudes of life will come to get you one of these days. Something will enter your life that you may think you can't handle. I personally believe that God wouldn't throw something at you that you can't handle. I think that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and have faith in God. Also trust your instincts, people often second guess themselves and that comes back to bite them later. I think that you should trust yourself, your heart, and God. :)

The Last Song... :'(

I finished Catching Fire and started The Last Song. .. This book holds a special place in my heart. I'm not very far 160 pages or so, but I have seen the movie. So far the book is ten times better. For those of you that don't know what The Last Song is about I can give you a short description of what has happened so far. In North Carolina a man lives alone on the beach. This man Steve, is Ronnie and Jonah's father. The family is divorced Ronnie and Jonah live with their mom. Ronnie is the rebel, and she has not talked to her father in 3 years, ever since he left them to play the piano around the country. Steve is a spectacular pianst. He went, and then taught at Juliard. But to the main story. Ronnie's mother decides that her and her little brother were going to spend the summer with their father. Ronnie immediatley hates the idea. She can't stand it. So when she gets there, for the first couple of days, Ronnie stays out really late, barely talks to her father, and she has all sorts of tantrums. Ronnie is 17 by the way, so she is pretty much taking it way out of proportion. One of the main reasons she is so angry with her father, besides the fact that he left them, is because he had her so set on playing piano. She herself was, and still is, a fantastic pianst. She gets angry everytime he plays because she thinks he is trying to guilt her into playing again.. Ronnie makes the worst of everything, and felt sorry for herself until... She met Will. Oh Will. Of course this is her love interest later on but from the moment he ran into her and knocked her soda all over her, you knew. She of course then was apalled and ran away. Then she met Blaze... Oye Blaze is just.. She makes me angry. Ronnie is a vegetarian, and she LOVES animals. They find baby sea turtles on the beach behind her, so naturally she has to take care of them. Will finds her there, and they begin to fall for each other. Will's jealous ex-girlfriend of course had to interfere, and right now they are fighting but they did date. :) So I am very excited to read the rest even though I know what happens.

Catching Fire

I finally got deep enough into Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series, to blog about it. This book has so many twists and turns, and it is a great page turner. So far I have yet to predict anything that has happened. In the beginning, Katniss returns home and lives in the Victor's Village with her family. The first book left us with an angry Capitol and two alive tributes. Peeta and Katniss both survived the Hunger Games. Now the two of them are off on their Victors tour through the districts. In district 8 is when all goes wrong. Katniss makes a very compelling and rebellious speech that not only angers the Capitol, but begins an uprising. Which is strictly forbidden. When they come home, Gale, her best friend actually is in love with her. Which just complicates things even more considering she is supposed to pretend the he is her cousin, and that she is engaged to Peeta. Rough life. Then this year is the 75th Hunger Games, and since it is an anniversary there is a twist to the games. The 50th there were twice as many tributes... For the Quarter Quell as they call it, the twist is... All the living victors from all the games, are going back. All of the tributes are going back into the arena. All of them including, Peeta and Katniss. This is probably the biggest turn of the book so far. Katniss is completely and utterly terrified. She can't sleep and she couldn't even say goodbye to her family. The Capitol whisked them away. This book is so surprising. I can't wait to finish it. After I finish the Hunger Games series, I will begin reading "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks. This story holds a special place in my heart.

A bit of faith for the week...

This week I was introduced to a movie called, "The Human Experience". The movie is about people who try to get the human experience and see how some people really live. It is a documentary. For instance on Sunday at my youth group, we watched the first thirty minutes or so of the movie. In that thirty minutes these two men set out to live as though they were homeless. They spent a month on the streets of New York City homeless. Each night they slept in boxes, and all they had was a sleeping bag and a back pack of essentials. They had to scrounge for food, and find a safe place to sleep each night. They found out that a church is the safest place for homeless people to sleep. Which I thought was very interesting. Homeless people believe that God will protect them from the evil that is out there if they are sleeping near a church. These two boys learned a lot in there month of living on the streets, but the people who learned more were the people watching the documentary. In this case, my youth group. In the movie homeless people talked about how they were at one time very rich and powerful, but then things just started to go down hill and they had no choice but to fall to homelessness. There was a lady that said she would see people walking down the streets, and they would stop and try to help the stray dogs and ogle over them. But when people walked past a homeless person they just kept on walking and ignored them. Can you imagine how it feels to be ignored like that? Can you imagine what it feels like to be under a stray or sick dog? This portion of the movie opened my eyes majorly. It showed me that there are people out there that have it way worse then I do. I will sit and complain about how my parents bother me. Some of these people don't have families that love them. It taught me to count my blessings, and not to complain about what I have or what I don't have. This is a very inspirational movie, and I recommend it to all.

My Five Claims

1. The majestic, distinctive color with the deep, wild detail add to the heavy contrast and proud focus of this lion, a dignified and appreciative beast who hunted his prey out of resigned necessity, and for a disgruntled, hungry family.
2. In Versace's purple ruffled gown, his fading colors, smooth lines, and rough and fragile textures along with a flowing and clean shape create a complimentary and whimsical sense of beauty in fashion-art.
3. Catherine's use of goofy clothing, fierce jumps, and precise gracefulness express a sense of energetic and explosive dance that has a playful attitude.
4. The interior decorator's use of strange, modern furniture, simple color, a careful use of space, and distinct, quirky architecture express an energetic confidence and absurd frivolousness of the inhabitant.
5..In this dance from the show America's Best Dance Crew, the [crew's breath-taking yet crazy, loud and exciting choreography, fast paced music, and wide range of use of space] express [a dramatic explosion and loud abstruseness.] 
I like the first claim because I think it is very descriptive and has a lot of details. 
I also like my fourth choice because the claim is very good and descriptive.  

http://ilikesoccer17.blogspot.com/  i love this!!

The Wizard of Oz movie poster

Observe:                                                                                         Tone:

   

Color:                                                                                          Cheerful

• Beautiful                                                                         Compassionate
• Bright                                                                              Energetic
• Old Fashioned            
• Attractive

Facials:

• Alive                                                                               Wrath
• Innocent                                                                         Formal
• Curious                                                                           Gentle
• Real                                                                                Thoughtful  

Feeling:

• Ancient                                                                            Anger
• Graceful                                                                           Innocent
• Early                                                                                 Reverent
• Outstanding                                                                     Kind

Attractiveness:

• Bright                                                                                 Excited
• Alive                                                                                   Happy
• Talented                                                                              Benevolence
• Magnificent                                                                        Passionate

In the beautifully bright movie poster of the Wizard of Oz, the creators use of old fashioned colors, alive and real facials, reverent feelings, and excited attractiveness makes this old fashioned movie a must see movie.

http://www.movieposter.com/poster/b70-7814/Wizard_Of_Oz.html

Poet of the Year

My poet of the year is Robert Frost. I wrote his poem, The Road Not Taken, in my moleskine!

Currently

Pages this week: 346
Last week: 302
Pages this semester: 1048

Quotes:
1. "Because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen." The Hunger Games.
2. "Then almost eerily the Mockingjays take up my song... " The Hunger Games
3. "Let the 74th Hunger Games begin." 

I love the first quote so much. Katniss says this about her father. Her father had the most amazing singing voice. I like it because birds have a beautiful song, and comparing a man's song to a bird's is a major event. That gives the image that Katniss' father sings so beautifully.

Long week

To me, this week has been incredibly long. With all the stresses of school, working, and playing softball I have found myself exhausted and always tired. Since last Friday I have had about a total of 8 quizzes/tests. It has not been fun, and I am always busy too. Monday seems so far away. My Tuesdays and Thursdays are always jam packed. First I got to school, then to softball work outs, and then to work. Then I come home around 8 or 8:30 and begin my homework. My homework then usually takes an unnecessary amount of time to complete, and I go to bed late. I realize that this is what every teenager goes through, and they probably complain about it a lot as well. I need to vent, so I am venting here. I haven't had time to read any of Catching Fire, so this weekend I am looking forward to reading it. I heard that there will be a movie made of the Hunger Games and I am beyond excited to see it. It looks spectacular, and I hope that it matches the book well. Well I this weekend in my softball games, my goal is to not scrape my knee up, and to do well both offensively and defensively. Have a great day!

And the Hunger Games end...

Wow. I can honestly say that I could not put this book down. I could not stop reading the Hunger Games. I became so incredibly addicted that I have read the book since 5 pm today and finished it at 8:59 pm this evening. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Its such a great book. I will have to explain, but I won't give anything away in case you choose to read it. I left you last time with just the setting, and Katniss deciding she would take her little sister's spot in the games. So much has happend since that fateful day. She gets to the capitol, and her life then is completely and totally under the control of the games. For a week she attends interviews and special training sessions. There the 24 tributes practice for the games. They learn what plants are good, and what their strong suits are. Each tribute has their own training session where they show the Gamemakers what they do best. As for Katniss, she is best with a bow and arrow. She is the greatest hunter out of all the tributes, and the greatest in her district. It is also revealed that Haymitch, Katniss' and Peeta's mentor, has told Peeta to trick the people. Trick them into believing that the tributes from district 12 are madly in love with each other. This, at first, is not true. I wont go into great depth on the relationship between them, because it is a major part of the story. But the gun shots go off, and the games begin. The 24 tributes run into the arena. The smarter tributes run away from all the supplies and head for the terrain. But there are the greedy and the nonwise who head straight for all the supplies. These tributes are attacked by the bigger and stronger ones, and then there were 12. For a long time Katniss survives on her cleverness and wits. She is very smart, and the Hunger Games are, unfortunately her place. She survives for weeks, and then there were three. I will not release the winner of the Hunger Games because you have to read it. I can honestly say  I was shocked, and so was the Capitol. This was a very interesting and weird book and I can't wait to start reading the second book in the series, Catching Fire.

Currently

Pages this week: 371
Pages last week: 164
Pages this sememester: 702

No favorite sentences, a favorite paragraph. They are from Passion.:
"That was a later early version of myself," Daniel said.
"A later early version of myself, he says!" Shelby snorted. "Exactly how many Daniels are there?"

I love these sentences because they are really funny and they make good comic relief.

And The Hunger Games begin.

I finally finished reading The Screwtape Letters. In the end, Wormwood failed in getting his "patient" to give into him, and become a sinner. "The Enemy" kept entering in the patient's life and saved him from being tempted away from him. I was happy to find out that Wormwood failed in tempting him. I love reading about miracles sent from God. I was also truly excited to finish the book so I could begin reading The Hunger Games. I am so excited to read it. I have heard a lot about it, and I pretty much have this weekend to read it because it is due back to the library on Tuesday so lets hope that I can finish it within that time. I have started to read it, I am only 2 chapters in and not much has happened. All I know is that the main character, Katniss, lives in a really strict community and every year two teens between ages 12 and 18 get picked to compete in the hunger games. There are 12 districts that kids come from. The kids compete to see who is the best kid. In some districts its an honor to be in the games, but in others it is a terrible thing. Katniss' little sister Prim was picked out of 1000 names to be in the games, but Katniss wanted to be a tribute. Which I am assuming means the trade in. I have heard that once you get caught in the games, you cant quit.

Passion Ends

I finished reading Passion late last night. I finished a little under 200 pages yesterday. Luce has gone on quite the journey, and unfortunatley her fight to be with Daniel is not over. In the final bit of Passion, Luce finds herself visiting times back before Christ. She finds herself in the Mayan culture, and that she is about to be sacrificed to gain rain. Daniel saves her life yet again, but then by revealing his true angel soul, he kills her and many other Mayans. So she then travels to Ancient Egypt and is sent by an evil princess to die in a tomb, but yet again Daniel saves her then kills her. Luce finally discovers that the curse between her and Daniel have nothing to do with something he did, but what she did. A little gargoyle that follows her and "helps her" tells her that her love for Daniel is what is killing her. So she thinks that to stop Daniel from being in pain she thinks that she needs to end her life. Naturally believing the little evil creature, Luce almost separates her cursed soul from her body. But her love for Daniel kept her from doing so. Nearing the end of the book Daniel finally discovered that he will catch Luce eventually, so he goes to the place where The Fall happened. The bible talks about the great fall from Heaven. Lucifer and his demons fell from Heaven and into Hell. He flies in on the meeting where "God" and Lucifer are having their argument over which angels are staying and which are leaving. There he watches his past self walk up to "God" and Lucifer and state that he chooses his love, Luce. He refuses to be in Heaven or Hell. So he is forced to fall anyway. While this is happening, Luce has found out that the evil gargoyle is the Devil himself. He appears to her and tells her his plan of erasing the time from The Fall till now. He wants to make the slate clean. He then takes Luce to the time in which Daniel is waiting for her, and they decide together that they will fight to end the curse. Its a love story like any other. I did enjoy the book and I can't wait to read the last book, Rapture.

Currently

This week: 167
Last week: 164
This semester: 331

This week I have a favorite passage. It is from "The Screwtape Letters".
"We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over."

I like this quote because even though its from the devil's point of view, it really does show what God wants you to do.

Finally Friday

This week has been really long, and I am really glad it's over. I am really excited for my lunch today. Last night I am still currently reading Passion by Lauren Kate and I am slowly moving through it. Luce is in Paris, France in 1723. She finally gets to be with "Daniel" from the old life. Luce finally encounters her past self. She goes 3-D, meaning she enters Lys', her past self, body. They are at a ball and Luce had to weasel out of a sticky situation and ended up in Daniel's arms. Luce has had to watch herself die many times. The only reason she is going back in time is so she can finally end this curse that has killed her over and over. Luce finally realizes one of the most important things in her life. Daniel has never lied, and will never lie to her. He has been honest and true with her. All she does know s that he hasn't told her everything that is also why she has gone back. This weekend I hope to finally finish both "The Screwtape Letters" and "Passion."

Faith life.

I started reading "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis yesterday, and so far its good but confusing. The book has taught me a lot about sin and morality. The book is about a man, who is one of the devil's demons, telling his demon nephew how to turn his "clients" into sinners. All the advice he gives is written in letters. They are very in depth and sometimes confusing to read. The book is very ironic because it is a widely known fact that C.S. Lewis himself was a very strict Christian. This book opened my eyes to sin and morality. Screwtape is telling Wormwood, his nephew, how to make humans sin. For example, people call themselves Christians all the time but they go off and sin then. It is very easy to sin, and people do it all the time but they never know. Sometimes your "church" friends can be bad for you. If they sit around and gossip and talk about people and how much better they are then someone else, that's sinning. The book shows you how the devil tries to come into your life. How they try to force you to go against God's word, and they portray God to be the bad person. In the book, God is known as "The Enemy". Screwtape, the uncle writing the letters, tells Wormwood specific examples of how to ruin his human. This book also incorparates morality. There are many definitions of morality. Most people see it as the things that you live your life by. For example, honesty, integrity, and loyalty would all be spectacular morals. The devil obviously doesn't want you to be honest or loyal. He doesn't want you to keep promises or go to church every Sunday. Screwtape is upset when he finds out that the human has started going to church. He often tells Wormwood how God is lying about loving each person fully. That he just wants to be in control. But in reality that's not true. I was always taught that God loves every one of his creations equally. He will never stop loving you and that each person is made in God's own image. I actually really love this book because it shows me how much I actually do sin and don't realize that I am doing it. My faith is the most important thing in my life. I believe strongly in God, and I put my trust and love in him. In high school it is hard to keep your morals and stay straight. Especially with all the peer pressure and the want to fit in. I am not done reading this book yet, but when I finsih I am sure I will have learned a lot more about me and about sin.

Friday

You are:

• slightly expressed extravert
• slightly expressed intuitive personality
• moderately expressed feeling personality
• slightly expressed judging personality

I agree with everything but the judging personality. I try my hardest not to judge people. I do agree with intuitive because I always try to think on my feet.

Currently

This week: 160 pages

This semester : 160 pages

My favorite quotes:

1."He was running out the fire in his wings."

2."A church A majestic white church filling this gaping hole. A huge triptych of marble arches on the fron facade. Five golden spires extending high into the sky."

3." A pouding of horses' hooves echoed around the track like a massive clap of thunder."

He was running out the fire in his wings is my favorite quote because that creates a beautiful image. It's amazing to imagine an angel with big bright golden wings, running as fast as he can to get away from all the anger and sadness in his life.

Passion

I am still reading "Passion" by Lauren Kate. Nothing eventful has happened to Daniel and Luce. Luce has gone through another Announcer in the hopes of ending the curse set upon her and Daniel. She finds herself in Helston, England in 1854. In this life Lucinda is a rich Victorian style girl. When Luce steps through she has been forced to be a lowly servant for a family. She has to hide herself a lot she doesn't get confused with Lucinda, her past self. What she doesn't know is that Daniel has been following her through the Announcers. He is in England with her right now. He is also at risk for being confused with his former self. He does encounter Lucinda, although he could have sworn it was Luce. He confronted her and that was the biggest mistake he could have made. Lucinda may fall in love with the wrong version of him. All I know is that there is a ball coming up and both Daniels and Luce and Lucinda will be there. I am very excited to keep reading. Hopefully I will soon finish this book so I can start some of my new ones.

The Fallen series

I am reading a book called Passion by Lauren Kate. Passion is one of four books in a series called "The Fallen". The series is about a human and an angel. In the first book, Fallen, Lucinda or Luce Price, is shipped off to a school called Sword and Cross. The school was a burial ground for soldiers from the civil war, and the cemetary is still there. It is a really high security school, and is basically like a prison. There Luce falls right into the middle of a war no one knows anything about. Her friends actually end up being angels. Not just any angels, fallen angels. She finds herself in love with one, Daniel. Luce then finds out that her and Daniel have really been together for years and years. And every 17 years Luce and Daniel find each other again, fall in love, and then she dies. Luce then found herself in a war between angels and fallen angels. In the second book, Torment, Daniel takes Luce to a private school that will keep her safe from harm and out of the war. The school is headed by two fallen angels and all the students are either angels or half angels. There Luce discovers things that are called Annoucers. They are shadows that have haunted Luce all her life, but she never knew what they were. Now she finds that she can step through them into her past. The book is called Torment because Daniel and Luce can never be together in the way they want too untill their curse is lifted. At the end of the book, Luce stops a war from breaking out in her backyard by stepping through an Annoucer and going to visit her past lives. She does this so she can discover where the curse came from so that her and Daniel can finally be together. I began reading Passion on Saturday and so far within the first 100 pages Luce has done some traveling through Annoucers. She has been to two of her past lives and has watched herself die twice. The only thing she has found out is that Daniel is following her, trying to get her back so that Daniel can tell her what happened himself.

My First Post!

Hey everyone! I just wanted you all to know what books I am going to start reading. The first is Passion by Lauren Kate. It's the third book in a series. The second book is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.