Bookwormblu's Blog

The Last Blog

bookwormblu — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:54:55 +0000

Now that the school year is essentially over, I have to decide whether or not to continue this blog. I’ve actually been thinking about this for a few weeks already. Things may get a bit easier to write once there aren’t any prompts, but I’m still not sure if I want to leave anything out in a place where I can’t control who sees it.

I would love to see any of my classmates’ blogs if they continue.

I’m out of things to say. Any thoughts?

-Bookwormblu

Looking Back

bookwormblu — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:36:36 +0000

Now that I think about it, we read a lot this year. I had trouble figuring out my favorites–it’s more of a three-way tie between the first several works–and my least favorites, which were okay books, but I disliked some of the plot points and/or major characters. Anyway, here’s the list:

1. Ender’s Game (I really enjoyed this book, the plot was interesting, and Ender was amazingly intelligent, but still had a human side to him.)
2. Speak (This was a really sad book at some times, but I really like this author.)
3. Whirligig (Beautiful.)
4. The Glass Menagerie (If I think about it, the characters and concepts in this play can relate to so many other things we’ve read, even outside of the unit. For example, Amanda’s obsession with the past can be seen in Miss Havisham in Great Expectations.)
5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (I’d never have imagined half the meanings when we read it in sixth grade, but it still gives a kind of nostalgic feeling (: )
6. Great Expectations (The long sentences are wonderful. The book is very interesting as well.)
7. Romeo and Juliet (The story, by now, has long been a cliche, but the passion in the lines is beautiful.)
8. The Odyssey (I like mythology, so this epic poem was enjoyable.)
9. Fahrenheit 451 (The heavy symbolism was interesting to recognize.)
10. Animal Farm (I read this for the first time in fifth grade, and totally didn’t understand the whole allegory thing. I just thought “weird pigs….o.O”)
11. 1984 (I disliked the ending.)
12. Cold Sassy Tree (I disliked many of the major characters, and loved all the ones who died.)

Not that I hated the last few, they just didn’t really appeal to me.

-Bookwormblu

Style

bookwormblu — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:47:27 +0000

One of my favorite children’s book authors is Lois Lowry. Two of her most well-known works are The Giver (which I wrote about for Banned Books) and Number the Stars, and A Summer to Die was also really moving. Since her books are directed towards children, the register of her diction is very simple, but the stories are extremely powerful. Even though the simple words are meant for kids, the plots are not the average happily-ever-after fairy tale; Number the Stars is about the Holocaust, and The Giver shows a dystopia similar to that of 1984, but in a small community and a lot less propaganda. A Summer to Die shows an older sister’s death from cancer from the younger sister’s point of view. Based on these books and Gathering Blue, I think that Lois Lowry writes simple but powerful stories about darker topics for children.

-Bookwormblu

The Final Stretch

bookwormblu — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:38:29 +0000

Five more weeks…wow…where has the year gone??? I can’t believe the year just passed so quickly– it was just like WHOOSH and then over.

I have to bring up my Spanish, Math, and Lit grades by the end of the year– I really hope everything will be over a 95. The sad part about Spanish is that all I have to do is study a bit more seriously, and not make stupid mistakes conjugating verbs. The same goes for Math– less stupid mistakes like forgetting an exponent or not adding things right (yes, that has happened.) In Lit…well, that’s a bit more complicated. I definitely need to rethink how I read the assignments, maybe take more notes or start earlier, and I really have to start the final product for the research paper, and the amount of work the paper will take intimidates me a bit.

Another huge project due very soon is the plant project so many people are complaining about. I won’t be able to work on it at all the night before its due because of the talent show (which you guys should all come see Arush and me in, by the way (: ) which takes away that final panic mode feverish all-nighter work session (but of course that is never the case >.>).

But, anyway, I will have to put in a lot of effort these last weeks (oh, I completely forgot about studying for finals…*shudder*) and get a lot of work done for the big projects this weekend. There go my plans for relaxing after the piano auditions.

-Bookwormblu

PS: Take my survey if you haven’t, the link is . Please…..I really need more people!!!

Spring Break

bookwormblu — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:13:24 +0000

aah….a week of freedom! It’s just too bad that I’ll spend the vast majority at home, doing homework and playing the piano. fun fun.

Besides that, I’m going downtown to the High Museum, which has a new exhibit called “The Allure of the Automobile” and watching Alice in Wonderland with some friends. Mr. Weinberger assigned a huge plant project, so I might go to a park for samples as well. Above all, I plan to sleep, eat, watch TV, and read books.

-Bookwormblu

I friend you, you friend me, we’re a Facebook family tree…

bookwormblu — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:28:10 +0000

I think the definition of family has become much more general lately. It used to mean, in the good old days that never really existed, fathers, mothers, children, and siblings. Now, pets and close friends can become family as well, not to mention adoption. But no matter what makes up a family, it always has traditions. My family is kinda laid-back about traditions, but we have some all the same:

-Eating dinner together

-Playing or listening to classical music

-Chinese Food….real chinese food

….and lots of little things here and there.

-Bookwormblu

Playing Nice

bookwormblu — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:21:06 +0000

Especially for analyses of reading material, I much prefer working in small groups. That way, everyone can see points of view or learn things that they hadn’t considered, while all the members stay focused.

I’m kinda divided on working in groups for major assignments, though. On one hand, the work can be split up, and the responsibility for another person can motivate people to procrastinate less. On the other hand, one person usually ends up doing the majority of the work, and if the assignment gets a bad grade, people working individually can’t blame it on another person. Taking both sides into consideration, though, I would still prefer working with a group of one or two more people.

-Bookwormblu

Movies

bookwormblu — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:28:30 +0000

Now that I think about it, I haven’t watched any full movies this year.

If you count 2009, though, there’s lots of good ones. I watched:

-Part of Up (the beginning was so sad ): )

-August Rush (really, really good)

-The Devil Wears Prada (somehow, I never get tired of it)

-Part of Titanic (for the first time)

and, much more recently, my new favorite, West Side Story. I cried at the end >.>

-Bookwormblu

I don’t know what to write

bookwormblu — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:39:03 +0000

…so, since the mythology exam is coming up this month, a poem.

“Tantalus”

I stand, not knowing what to do.
The pool of happy times, of laughter true
Recedes when I reach down; the branches high
Slip farther up–so do good futures fly.

And that’s it for this week. If you like it, comment. If you don’t, either tell me or pretend you do ;]

-Bookwormblu

Romeo, Juliet, Montague, Capulet

bookwormblu — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:51:17 +0000

…it rhymes. (:

As old and overly dramatic as it is, Romeo and Juliet can still ring a bell for people today. Although Shakespeare may have been exaggerating or even making fun of the young lovers (as he did with Lysander and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,) adolescents today are just as impulsive. They may not go as far as getting married, but they can fall in love with each other within one night. Boys are still immature (yes, don’t argue) and still like to joke back and forth like Benvolio, Mercutio, and Romeo. Parents still do not know everything about their kids’ lives. In short, Romeo and Juliet is a exaggerated, condensed version of real life, then and now.

-Bookwormblu