Response to the World

I don't know if it's because I am getting older and noticing more, or our race is getting wiser because recently, I have been noticing a lot of call the action in our society. Calls to help others and make our world more just. Calls to replenish our generation. Calls like these helped me begin thinking about everything I could do to help my peers and make Earth a better place for my kids and grand kids to live in.

The first charitable event that made me begin thinking about really giving everything I have to help people, was the music video World on Fire directed by Sophie Muller.  The music video is about how a young singer, Sarah Mclachlan, is given a budget of $150,000 to make a music video. Instead, she bought basic things and did her own make up, so that the music video was a total of $15.  The rest of the money went to charity organization that help people all over the world. 100 children's school fees for one term in Ethiopia or five bicycle ambulances in Nepal. What Sarah Mclachlan did, really made me wonder that by making your life a little simpler, then you can make others loves much easier. If everyone shut off the water while they were brushing their teeth, or took shorter showers, then there would be enough water for everyone. However, some families are needy and making their lives simpler is just a little to hard of a task for them.

Another charitable event that really captured my interest was the movie The Cove created the OPS (Oceanic Preservation Society). The Cove is a documentary about a group of scientist who go on a mission to find out what  happens to dolphins in the city of Taiji, Japan. They hide cameras every where and risk going to prison to find out Taiji's secret, because they have sheer determination.  What is said to happen in Taiji: the dolphins are captured and brought to a bay every September where trainers from all over the world with swim with the dolphins programs, pick their dolphins and bring them back to their Resort or Aquarium. The dolphins are then let free from the bay. The truth: the dolphins are captured and brought to a bay every September where trainers from all over the world with swim with the dolphins programs, pick their dolphins and bring them back to their Resort or Aquarium. The dolphins are then slaughtered and the dolphin meat is then fed to children who eat cafeteria food in Japan. After I saw this movie, I was terrified and immediately was upset with myself for always wanting to swim with dolphins and supporting aquariums. Now, giving as much money to the OPS, which a group of people who are trying to help dolphins, and opening people's eyes to the real way dolphins are treated is my goal.

No matter if it is even a second, any of the time you give can help us towards making our government a better one. What Sarah Mclachlan did was brave, because she had no idea if her music video about charity and calling us to action to help the less fortunate was going to make any money, but she wasn't thinking  about money, she was thinking about what she could do to make our society a better one, and that's what we all need to do. The OPS was brave because they could have been arrested for everything they did to help the dolphins.

We can all help. Even if it is not littering or walking an old lady across the street,  sharing is caring. I'm calling you guys for help. Help to bring justice around the world.

You can watch World on Fire on www.youtube.com
You can watch The Cove on Netflix Watch Instantly

Independent Writing: Chapter 5 of Mystery (group project with Amanda and Janee)

Their eyes met and locked together as if they should never part but Rosalyn took all the strength she had inside her to pull herself from his grip and begin walking away without any kind of goodbye.  She felt his eyes staring at the thick black curls, clinging to the back of her. She heard tears coming from his watery eyes, even though she was already a few yards away, walking urgently away. She ignored the regrets and doubts she was feeling and continued walking on the path to her and her deceased month, Trudy's house, not looking back at Michael once.

She passed several cars, one a Buick, and several soda shops, while her yellow dress swiped her knees and caressed the scar on her left leg. Her walking became gradually slower and went from urgency to a calm stroll. She let the wind blow through her hair, and let the tiny droplets of water place themselves on her long eyelashes. These droplets gave Rosalyn a sign that a storm was near. The black clouds hung in the sky helped her make this estimation too. She again began walking urgently and payed no attention to the grown man wearing a beige tux bumping into her, or the small silver colored dog yapping at her ankles. After passing quickly through all the streets continuously ignoring her surroundings, she finally reached her house. She had been avoiding her, what once was home now just a house, to avoid the fact that her mother was gone, and skip the torturing pain of encountering old memories of her scattered around the house.

Rosalyn stared nervously at the bland door in front of her.  She sucked in the ashy air and shut her eye lids, Okay, go in, get what you need, get out. It didn't seem like that hard of a task right?  Rosalyn curled her fingers around the bronze door knob and turned it until she heard a faint click. She placed the palm of her hand in the middle of the door and pushed it aside while she rushed in rapidly, tucking her head between her shoulders, heading straight for the kitchen door. Walking down the hallway, she spotted out of the corner of her eye a brown valise placed sloppily on the wooden floor and shot her hand down to pick it up. While going up the stairs, the valise made loud thunks but Rosalyn ignored it and kept on look forward, not looking at any photos, bills or clothing flung around the house here and there.

After the valise took a hard beating from the first floor to the second, it rolled smoothly in Rosalyn's hand to her room. She found that the door of her room was already open so she slipped inside and searched around her room for the things needed for the train she would soon be catching.
She took a dress or two, a pair of socks, undergarments, a few books and finally, she stepped into her mothers room, and chucked a picture of her mother and herself sitting at the beach, letting all worries pass right by their heads, into her valise. She began stepping outside her mothers bedroom because even just running in to grab a picture made her eyes teary, but she noticed a strange bronze box placed right under her mothers bed. Rosalyn checker her watch quickly, No time. Just grab it. She shot down and slipped out from under the bed and hesitated whether to put it in her valise or keep it in her arms, and decided to keep it in her arms, were she knew her mothers box would be secure. She scrambled down the stairs, her valise bounding after her, taking another hard beating and jogged out the door. Leaving every trace of memories, and running to catch her train.

Worlds On Fire Lyrics

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
Night has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I try to hold it in, yeah I try to hold it in

[Chorus]
The world's on fire and
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
(I try to pull my ship)
I try to bring more
More than I can handle
(Bring it to the table)
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens and I find a calling
Something I can do to change this moment
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

[Chorus]

Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take, the less we become
A fortune of one that means less for some

[Chorus X2]

An Appreciation for The Phantom Tollbooth

         Have you ever found a book that moved you so much that you could read it a thousand times and know that it would still be just as good? Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster gave me that feeling when I read about Milo stepping into the Tollbooth when it first appeared and began his adventure with Tock and the Humbug in The Lands of Beyond. Norton Juster’s clever and witty writing inspired me to sit in a corner and sink into the Phantom Tollbooth and block out all my worries, which I haven’t done in months. 

         My big words and the phrase “ an appreciation” might bore you and even maybe scare you but just in case you are reading this, you should know that Phantom Tollbooth created miracles and magic for me so you’re a lucky duck if your hands are flipping through its pages at this moment.  When my hands first stumbled upon the Phantom Tollbooth, I was thirteen (which is my age now!). I had heard about the book when I was younger, but had not had the opportunity to read it until recently. When I asked around to find out a little bit about the book, the words used to describe The Phantom Tollbooth were, marvelous and intelligent. How right they were.

         Phantom Tollbooth broadens your view with big ideas, and small ideas. Some of the big ideas that taught the characters in the book a lesson as well as teaching me a lesson, are things like looking past the obvious, or you need love, just as much as you need knowledge to make things work smoothly. Smaller ideas in the book that spice up the story is how Norton Juster uses his creativity to make you laugh such as, “halfbakery” for half baked ideas or subtraction stew where every time you take a bite of the stew, you get hungrier. So, if you’re ready to go on the most amazing adventure ever, then follow Milo’s steps and step right into the Tollbooth and begin your adventure in The Lands of Beyond. Go ahead, it’s not like it will bite!

Reading Response: Graphic Novel "F-Stop"

 If you have not read the graphic novel F-Stop by Antony Johnson and Matthew Loux, I recomend you don't read this post because I reveal the ending. Thanks!

Over the week-end, it was pouring, and I was in no mood to go outside, so, I had to find something to do right? My TV wasn't hooked up yet, my interent was down, and we had no paper to draw on. I Finally decided that staring at the wall all day, wasn't an option, so I ran in the cold to my neighborhood comic store and baught four graphic novels. I read them all in 2 hours and had to again find something to do but that's not the point. The point is that one of these graphic novels, was one of the best graphic novels I have read in my life.  The way it was drawn was different from usual, the story based itself off of photography (which is one of my favroite hobbies) and had a very interest plot.

F-Stop by Antony Johnson and Matthew Loux is a story about a young artist with a masters degree in English, but can't kick off his dream life as a fashion photographer. One day he mates an attractive woman and his friends, trying to help him out, tell this woman he is a a grand and famous fashion photographer. What luck! This woman was a model! That night the young man goes home not expecting the next day to get a call from Gauche, the most famous magazing in fashion industry. The attractive woman had been a model for Gauche, and that day, Gauche needed a photographer, she they called up the old photographer and asked him to fill in for a missing photographer. Only the young man didn't know that dozens of problems lay ahead.

F-Stop was my favorite graphic novel from the four I read because it was different. It wasn't just about a young girl solving a mystery or four teenagers running around in the big city crashing into problems. It taught me that if you work hard enough, you can make your dream come true. This graphic novel also taught me that you do need other people to help you face your problems. The fact that the graphic novel had great lessons, interesting pictures and it's based off of one of my most favorite things to do, was marvelous. Thank you F-Stop, you saved my weekend!

Independent Writing: Prompt

During our period of independent writing in English Language Arts today,  Ms.Robbins  gave us a prompt to write off of for  five minutes, to help our minds enter our creative side and begin writing independently. The prompt was: The green leaves littered the sidewalks. As i began writing off this prompt as I do every Tuesday during our independent writing period, I realized my writing resembled much what I used to do on the walk to my old school, P.S 8. So, I thought I might share it because it brings back old memories and that means a lot to me

The green leaves littered the sidewalk... but I slowly scattered them to the sides of the street creating a path for me. I scattered the  leaves to edge of  the curb past the deli, where the smell of coffee, bagels and cheap potato chips wafted up my nose. Past the pet store where  I  decided to skip over the step of pushing the leaves to the side and just let them crunch under my feet as I stepped rapidly past the store, because truthfully, I didn't like the smell of  dog biscuits and the sound of dog biting down on a plastic bone. I past the old book store and saw the old woman at her desk, tucked behind a book and dust, as usual. Normally, I would make up stories about every person that bumps into me, or about every bodega or store that I pass buy. Yesterday, I pretended that the old woman from the bookstore turned into a dragon! I guess I was in a good mood that day, I usually turn people into dragons on a good day but, not today. The leaves looked like they had been ripped from the trees by force.  I bent down and picked up a leaf that was broken at the end, I stayed down and wove my laces out of their holes in my black sneakers. I began raping the lace around the brown stem  of the leaf. I then tied the other end of the lace  to a tree beside me. I wished I could do that for all the leaves and then let the laces go when the leaves turned their maple color but I knew that that was impossible so  I continued my walk being careful not to step on any trees and left my lace attached to the branch behind and hoped that next year, the leaves would grow on the trees, live their full life and fall of their trees when they were ready too, not when the wind forced them off their branches.

Reading Response: The Phantom Tollbooth

After Reading Phatom Tollbooth by Norton Juster for the first time, i found it delightfully funny, just as much as I found it interesting. Its detail and cleverness captured me to sink more and more into the story every time I opened the book. I found it hard to stop and write post-its because once I entered The Land of Beyond, I could not leave it. However, I did have ideas flowing through my head on almost every page! An idea that I found myself tracking the most frequently in the book is how the author chose his words.  For example, on page 16 as Milo is just recently entering this new world, to describe Milo's surroundings, Norton Juster writes beautifully, The flowers shone as if they had been cleaned and polished. Descriptions like these can show you exactly what Norton Juster wants you to see this world as. To sink you even more into the story, Norton Juster places things interestingly. He places them in a way that makes you stop and think for a second. Some examples of when he does this is in Dictionopolis, and everyone "eats their words" or a halfbakery for "half baked ideas".  An example how he places things, but show a deeper meaning than a halfbakery, is the reason he called Rhyme and Reason...well, Rhyme and Reason! As Ms.Robbins mentioned, Rhyme can mean poetry or love, and Reason can mean knowledge, and if these two things are not in The Land of Beyond, than nothing can go right!  So,  Milo sets on a  journey to save The Land of Beyond, and my boredom.

Independent Writing: Chapter 2 of Mystery (group project with Amanda and Janee)

Mack stared blankly at the dark grey shadow tucked behind the door of his hotel room as he lifted his feet lightly carefully taking each step on the wooden floor towards the door. As he creaked forward, he began slipping his right hand into the pocket hidden inside his jacket grasping onto an L shaped object creating a bump on the outer fabric of his pocket.The closer Mack go to the door, the further the shadow stepped away into the hallway of the hotel, disappearing slowly. When Mack reached the grey painted door, the shadow had completely vanished into the dark hallways, but it's footsteps could still be slightly heard.Mack discreetly stepped onto the carpet of the hallway floor and traced his fingers down the wall nearest to him, stopping when his fingers came upon a metal rectangle hammered to the wall, a switch lay perfectly in the middle of the metal rectangle. Mack curled his index finger around the switch and slowly pulled it upwards. The light stunned the shadow, and caused it to freeze in place against the wall. Mack squinted his eyes and immediately recognized the shadow as the receptionist who had troubled him because he had not reserved the hotel room. He took a step forward and mouthed the words written on her pin, attached to her white blouse. Trudy Goldenberg the pin stated. Trudy fumbled with her hair and croaked, "Mack! I mean Mr.Abernathy! I was just passing dye, I mean bye. Excuse me, it seems I can't get my words right today. I do hope your feeling quite cozy at our hotel." Trudy cleared her throughout and traveled her bony fingers down her wrinkly dress, trying to straighten the pleats. "Quite" responded Mack in a cold tone. He stepped closer and closer to the receptionist as he started pulling out more and more the L shaped object from his pocket. "Thats delightful!" Trudy exclaimed and she began stepping back. "Now, now, don't move sweets", as Mack said those words he pulled out the L shaped object from his inside pocket and directly pointed it to Trudy's chest as she shrieked. "No! Please! I won't tell!" Trudy slammed her knees to the grown,creating a great smack on the floor and dug her nails into the red carpet, collecting dirt under her scarlet painted nails. Mack took a step forward and found himself touching the gun to her lips,and pulling the trigger on her scream.