Jack's Strings to Being Alive.

I just finished reading "Prey" by Micheal Crichton, which takes place in the future. A cloud of nano particles which are micro robots which has escaped from the Nevada laboratory in the desert. Jack, who has just been out of a job due to being fired for discovering an internal scandal. He takes the position as a house husband. His wife, Julia is a very high employee at a nano robotics company called Xymos. He begins to suspect things when Julia starts to act strange; coming come late and possibly lying to him. Jack is offered back his position in the company when an "urgent" arises. He now works in the same company as Julia. Strange enough, he finds out stuff that's being hidden away from him. In this blog post, I'm going to write about Jack's relationships with his family and co-workers.

One of Jack's important relationships is his children. Because he's stay at home dad, he is around them all the time.His children ,which consist of his eldest daughter, Nicole, his son, Eric and his littlest daughter, Amanda.  When he leaves for the company, his sister, Ellen, takes care of them. His children do not like her and complain to Jack when he calls home. One thing that shows that he cares about his children is when nearing the end of the story, he is trying to get away from Ricky, who's trying to kill him. He thinks this, "I thought of the kids, waiting for me to come back. I saw them sitting around the table waiting for dinner. And I knew I had to go on no matter what. So I did." This shows that even though his children are very far away form him, he thinks of his children that need him. Because it seems like Julia does not seem to care for her children any more, he has to take good care of them. In my opinion, I think that Jack's relationship with his children gives him hope throughout the story. Without his children, he wouldn't have had the sudden "hope" to fight off the nano-particles.

Another of Jack's relationships is at his job. He develops several kind of connections with his co-workers. One is with Mae who helps him through out the whole thing. She is very suspicious of the whole thing, taking DNA of anything that come sin contact with the nano-particles. Jack and Mae continue to build this relationship when they are on this mission to find out what had happen to their fellow worker, Charley. She helps him find more about the nano-particles than any one else. In addition to being helpful ,she helps him escapes which shows that she does care about his safety, than just finding out what's going on at the company.

These good and well relationships help him stay in the game while many nano-particles are chasing him down. These strong attachments help him build a strong exterior around him, so he doesn't break down while in the process of trying to get rid of the particles. In my opinion  I feel like Jack is being really strong in his situation because like the first victim, Charley, he broke down as soon he saw the first swarm of nano-particles.

This book is really well-written because I'm able to understand what's going on even though I'm just an amateur reader. I hope, I hope, this does not happen in the near future, or the future because it can hurt a lot of people.

Influences on One Protagonist

In the "Case Histories," by Kate Atkinson, the backgrounds of each protagonist all tie up when understanding where each come from. There's a lawyer, Jackson Brodie who everybody in the story have some relation to. The two sisters, Julia and Amelia, only one of Mr.Brodie's clients, come to him with a problem. Their younger sister, Olivia, was kidnapped about 25 years ago. They only came to him now because her favorite doll, The Blue Mouse has been found in their ceased father's desk. This raises suspicion for the sisters. In this blog post, I'm going to be talking about Amelia and the influences on her.

When Amelia is first introduced, she sounded like a really old lady. She is described by Jackson on page 58 as, "one tall heavy, hair graying and falling out of a kind of topknot..." I see old ladies as grandmas sitting on rocking chairs while knitting sweaters for their grand-children. In fact, the "graying" tells me that she's reaching the old age, which completes the "old lady" image. She also proves this when she is compared to her sister, Julia. Julia seems more like a cherry on top of an ice cream person because she seems more of the "flirty" type according to Mr.Brodie. Moreover, Julia and Jackson seem to influencing Amelia to change up her "old lady" nature. For example, at the time being, Amelia is not yet married( she's like forty-ish) she takes a sudden interest in Jackson. When she "invites' him over, she says," Please, Jackson, please come, I need you," which is showing that she's desperate. She's usually not "desperate" which is showing that the sudden appearance of Jackson in her life, she changes her nature for him, so he would take "interest" in her. Another example would be that she pampers herself when she "thinks" that Jackson would be coming by. This shows that she is anticipating that he's coming and she's getting ready for his arrival. In addition to Jackson's influence on her, Julia has some how motivated her to be more out going. This shows up when Amelia thinks that Julia is trying to flirt with Jackson, she feels "concerned" with her status with Jackson. It's like a wolf is in someone else territory, causing the owner to feel threaten. Both Julia's and Jackson's appearances pressure Amelia to change her nature because she feels that she needs to step up her game if she wants to get Jackson.

Over all, Amelia feels threatened that someone is in her territory, which is Julia. Because Julia seems more of a vivid person, Jackson takes more of an interest in her than her sister. In my opinion, I think Amelia is trying to prove her self worthy to Jackson, while trying not to over do it. The influences on Amelia are not bad because they are making her to change up her nature, which is making her realize that she shouldn't be so restricted and should be more outgoing.

(Yea, that's about it. :))

The Interesting Character of R&J

In class and at home, I've been reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We are introduced with the Capulets and Montagues. The rivalry between the two families are very well known. Tybalt, Juliet's cousin and Capulet's kinsman is always trying to start up and fight, while Romeo's cousin, Benvolio is the one trying to keep the peace between the two foes. The character I find most interesting so far is Romeo's friend, Mercutio. The thing I find really intriguing about him is that he has two sides to him. There is one where he is really serious about the matter Romeo and he talk about. Then there's the funny and outgoing side to him.

Mercutio gets serious with Romeo when he's giving advice to him. Well, he's not technically serious and straight-faced, but he is sincere about the advice he gives. For example, in the play, Act 1 Scene 4 pages 43-45, he's trying to get Romeo to go the the Capulet party because Romeo's love, Rosaline is going. (She was his love before he met Juliet.) He gives advice to Romeo as Romeo tries to counter what his friend is trying to help him. Romeo says, 
"Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes
With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move." In response, Mercutio responds, "You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wingsAnd soar with them above a common bound."

Mercutio is trying to help Romeo by trying to boost his confidence. While Romeo feels down and lonely, his friend is giving  him a boost of self-confidence so he's not moping around. Basically, Mercutio is helping out a friend which I can connect to everyday. When I'm comforting a friend, I'm not all giggly. I would be trying to convince them that they're who they are and no one should be stopping them.

On the other hand, Mercutio has this really funny and out-going side to him. Even when he's being serious, he has this really fun side to him. For example, Act 2 Scene 4 page 93-99, he is making fun Juliet's nurse, who comes by to deliver a message to Romeo. Mercutio repeatedly makes fun of the nurse,
"Good, Peter, to hide her face, for her fan’s the fairer face."
"'Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon."
"A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!"
"No hare, sir, unless a hare, sir, in a Lenten pie—that is, something stale and hoar ere it be spent."
"Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell, lady, lady, lady."
He's making fun of the nurse shows me that he spends his times having fun and relaxing when he's not helping Romeo out with his problems or in an argument with the Capulets. I can relate to  his fun side. Whenever I'm not trying to help my friends out in any kind of way, I'm always goofing of with them. I mean everybody had those two sides them.

In my opinion, that's exactly what I think of a normal person, a person who has a fun and a serious side. But in the play, the characters seem to have only one side to look at. Romeo has the most romanticist side ever. Tybalt seems to be in an aggressive state while Benvolio seems to be the nice person. I mean Mercutio seems to be the only person I can really relate to in any way. 

Keystone Pipeline: The Goods

The article, "Keystone is responsible oil sands development: Column," by Alison Redford is an opinion piece discussing a decision President Obama might make. (Just want to say that Alison Redford is the Premier of Alberta, Canada.) The Keystone Pipeline is pipeline that will  transport oil from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada to several destinations in the USA. Redford talks about how she is very appreciative of what the President is going to do. "I'm proud to say Alberta applauds and shares the president's strong desire to address climate change and we're already taking action," Redford says.  The President in addition is making a choice that allows two countries become better "friends," he's also making a good decision for the environment. The Keystone Pipeline is using clean energy and equipment so greenhouse emissions can be reduced by 32 million tons. The Premier says, "We were the first place in North America to require by law all large industry across all sectors to take action on greenhouse gas emissions... We take the revenue generated from this levy and direct all the money into a clean technology fund." She is very sure that the equipment used for the pipeline will have a great effect on the environment.  In all, Alison Redford wants to thank President Obama for choosing the Keystone Pipeline to be the line supplying the USA oil. 

Alison Redford, in my opinion, wants readers, especially USA citizens to feel very grateful of Canada's resources. She shows in her article by repeating how "green" the pipeline is going to be and how it will reduce greenhouse emissions. She says, "Through our policies and our actions past, present and future, Americans should feel confident that Alberta is the safest, most secure and responsible energy supplier to the U.S. The same cannot be said for the other foreign countries and regimes that currently feed U.S. energy demand." She's saying that Americans should feel confident. It makes me think that she's very confident that we will be approving of the Keystone Pipeline. Redford wants us be almost thanking them for creating a "such-new and improved" pipeline. I mean, of course every county would try to persuade the USA to become a partner, but the Premier has this ego that gives her all the confidence about the pipeline, but not us. Also, Redford wants readers to think that Canada is a great partnership to be in and there are benefits. She's almost sounds like she's posting an ad for Canada's businesses. For example, she says, "We want to be an enabler of good solutions that achieve the outcomes that all Americans and Canadians are looking for. I'm proud to say, Alberta is already leading the way...Over the past several months Alberta has taken a number of strong environmental actions. " She is giving the world of how Canada is going to be helping the USA with oil and the environment. Basically, the Premier wants readers to know that Canada is open for businesses and the Keystone Pipeline is just an example how. 

After reading this article, I learned much from it. I see many beneficial outcomes if the Keystone Pipeline is approved. Canada is helping the USA and themselves in many ways that include county relations and oil. After hearing Alison Redford's view on the Pipeline's good, I feel like I see the benefits of the pipeline, but I actually want to hear the outside of the argument. What are the bads of the pipeline? If it benefits both countries, what would be the disastrous things of it? In conclusion, I learned that the Premier is very grateful for the President and the government for taking the possibility of the pipeline in consideration. 

Bibliography: Redford, Alison. "Keystone Is Responsible Oil Sands Development: Column." USA Today. Gannett, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

Fainting

Jodi Picoult's "The Pact" is an interesting book. it is about two people, Emily and Chris,they've been inseparable since birth. They fall  in love, which was what their families wanted.But a tragedy brings an end to the families. The death of Emily Gold leaves the fingers pointing to Chris, her boyfriend. The families break apart and there are only 2 sides to the event: Chris's and the accusers. Even after finishing the book, my mind is left with questions. The who, what, when, where, why and how questions are in my head. But one of those questions stuck to me.

The author has Chris, the "supposed" killer of Emily, he faints three times throughout the timeline of this book. In the next three paragraphs, I'm going to explain why I think Jodi Picoult repeats the scene three times throughout the book.

The first time Chris faints is right after the shot that killed Emily, on page 3. I feel like the reason he fainted was because of being shocked and confused. Well, mostly shocked because his love of his life has just been shot in his arms. I mean, some events are actually really mind-triggering that make people want to go away. Emily has been with Chris for a very long time, and in the book, Chris's mother says this line, “He cuts himself,'...“And she bleeds." Chris and Emily are inseparable and since one of them got hurt during the "killing," the other feels the pain and automatically they can't do anything  The reason why I think the author had Chris faint after Emily's death is because she wanted the readers to feel that they were really close and that whatever happens to one of them, it happens to the other. 

The second time he faints is on page 215, this is where he finds out that Emily was pregnant with his child.  It is really sad that he didn't know about the child before hand. He says that he would have married Emily if he knew. But then, he thinks, "Maybe Jordan has been right; the pregnancy had been the thing that made her so depressed. But why? They could have gotten married and had the baby; they could have gone together for an abortion. Surely she would have known that they'd figure it out together.  Unless that was exactly what she was afraid of. All of a sudden a powerful rage shuddered through Chris. How dare she depend on him for one thing, but not the other." These lines come after his second fainting. I think that Chris is starting to get angry at Emily for not telling him. He htinks that he might have fixed it, but instead she decides to solbve it herself. Jodi puts the seocnd fainting after the news is out because she wants to give the readers somethig to think about. I mean, everybody in court thinks Chris killed Emily because he didn't want the baby. But now that the readers know, it'll twist the story plot.

Third, on page 386, nearing the end of the book, the judge declares Chris "not guilty." Chris faints after this. The reasons to why I think the author repeats it there is to stress how the trail has been on Chris. He did not if he was going to be convicyted of murder or let go. I mean, all the evidences points to him killing Emily, I mean, hell, if I was one of those 9 juries, I would have voted for "guilty." But Picoult also put the last fainting there to show that the decision could have went either way. Chris had no idea that he was "not guilty." In the end, Chris had a burden on his shoulders, not guilty or guilty, he stills feels the "jail smell " wherever he goes.

In the conclusion, I think Jodi Picoult repeats the event of Chris fainting several times throughout the book, to either stress how Chris is feeling, let the news seep into the reader or to create suspense. Over all, I think Chris has changed a lot throughout the book, form a young higher-schooler to a mature man. the author has done a great job writing the book, and honestly, I think she's one of my favorite authors. 

I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift

“Once upon a time a few mistakes ago 

I was in your sights, you got me alone 
You found me 
You found me 
You found me-e-e-e-e”

That’s just the beginning of Taylor Swift’s I Knew You WereTrouble, which has recently been released and it hit big.  This song contains a lot of repetition which makes it really catchy.  On the other hand, it doesn’t contain much rhyming, but the repetition gets to the listener’s head. She writes off her songs about the love life of girls.  On Good Morning America on October 8, 2012, Taylor said, “The song is about being frustrated with yourself because here you are heart-broken and you knew when you first saw that person you saw all these red flags and you just went for it anyway, so shame on me.” Personally, I think the song is about how sometimes the going after a person is not right and in the end; you’re just going to be mad at yourself. Overall, I think this song is trying to tell us that sometimes it’s our fault for falling for something or someone.

In the song, there is a lot of repetition that makes the song really catchy. One line would be, “Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in 
So shame on me now 
You flew me to places I've never been 
'Til you put me down, oh 
I knew you were trouble when you walked in 
So shame on me now 
Flew me to places I've never been 
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground”

In my mind, I just think the singer, Taylor is saying that she knew the guy is liked was a bad-boy and she took her chances. This is her fault for going after something that signaled “trouble” for her. She’s blaming herself for going after him even though she knew. In addition to that line,

“I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that 
And when I fell hard you took a step back 
Without me, without me, without me-e-e-e-e 

And he's long gone when he's next to me 
And I realize the blame is on me.”

The line, “I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that,” tells us that Taylor indeed know what she was getting into. As a fan of her music, I can understand what she means when she says, “I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that.” Sometimes for other girls, it feels good to be finally “being” with someone and they forget that they’re with that person for the wrong reasons. Lastly,

“And the saddest fear comes creeping in 
That you never loved me 
Or her 
Or anyone 
Or anything 
Yeah,”

This part is where the truth finally sinks in. Taylor finally realizes that the guy didn’t really like her. He was just there and she happened to be there as well. Basically, in the end, even though she was heart-broken, she knew that she was going to end up like that.

The message that sometimes it’s our fault for falling for something or someone does apply to the real world. Girls sometimes fall for the wrong guys. Like in the real world, people tend to go for people “out-of-their-league.” Or maybe they just happen to be there at the same time. Whatever the reason are, being in a relationship with someone who you know will cause pain to you afterwards, you’ll end up blaming yourself for it. It’s actually quite unhealthy to do that to yourself, even though it may feel good for a while, it will cause pain afterwards. So basically I’m trying to say that the song I Knew You Were Trouble is mainly trying to tell us sometimes it’s our fault for falling for something or someone that isn’t right for us. 

Would you...?

I've just recently finished "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson. This is takes place in the not-too-distant future. Seventeen year old Jenna Fox "illegally" survives the accident that many doctors thought she wouldn't. After awakening from a year long coma, she goes through the recovery of memory lapse. On her journey, she learns a lot about her existence. This not-too-distant future has made biotechnological advances that has made synthetic bodies and brains, illegal. Jenna's father works for Bio Gel, the company that has changed everything. They made everything to possible. Blue Goo is artificially oxygenated and loaded with neurochips. They're smaller than human cell and communicate with each other they same way neurons do but faster. Once you have loaded these neurochips with some basic information, they pass on the information to other neurochips and begin to specialize. The most amazing thing is that they communicate the same way human cells. So you pack a human or a lab liver in Bio Gel and let the neurochips do the rest until it can be transplanted into someone who needs it. And guess what? Jenna is basically only 10% of her original person, meaning her parents had her in Bio Gel so she could live.

Isn't that crazy? Would you put someone you love in  the position as Jenna is in?

Jenna's parents had their reasons. On page 116, Jenna finds out that she is "fake." " 'Jenna, what difference does it make? You're still my daughter. That's all that matters-' " This is the response that Jenna's mom, Claire, says to Jenna when Jenna finally understands why her hands don't entwined right and she can't walk. If I was in Jenna position right that moment, I would freaking out. Why am I not like the rest of the world/ What am I? This is basically how Jenna reacts. "My clumsy feet. My legs. Oh, God no." The fact that she has just found out would be like being able to hear a pin drop in a class. It's just shocking news. But what comes after is really surprising and kind of shocking. Her grandmother, Lily says, "Ten percent. Ten percent of your brain. That's all they could save. They should have let you die." That last sentence just shocked me. "They should have let you die." I mean shouldn't she be happy that her grand-daughter is alive. She should be grateful that the technology they have was able to keep Jenna alive? If I was in Lily's position, I would be hugging my grand-daughter, telling her that I loved her, not trying to keep my distance away from her. Who would be that selfish and conceited to be not at least happy that their loved ones were able to survive a year long coma. I mean, I can see why Lily would chose to act that way. Would you want a loved one to be only less than half real flesh and filled with artificial cells in them? I would rather let them die than let than have to live knowing that they weren't really "human."

In my opinion, I wouldn't really have a side to side with I can see the bad and good of letting someone, artifice, live. Who wants to know that someone sitting right next to you, is only half human. That might creep you out that you can't stand having the world to be crawling with fake humans. But on the other hand, there are good. You can have your loved ones back. Though having your loved ones back, the suffering they'd be going through would pain you. They have to learn that they aren't fully human and their memories wouldn't be there. Jenna has had problems trying to remember and some problems with other memories. Such example would be this line, "Let them go." This line stood out to me. This is where she throws out the backups of her friends that died in the accident. Their voices , she hears them every time she slept. Their voices I think represent the link between her and them. They didn't want to be used as an experiment. They wanted to be freed.

In conclusion, there are many reasons for the substitutions of a real human beings with such substitutes as Bio Gel. If I were in Jenna's shoes, I'd try to understand the concept of Bio Gel and what good and bad it does for me. Then I would try to comprehend everything I could understand. Yea, that's how I would try to live my life at the time. I want to see this future. I want to understand it. I want to TIME-TRAVEL. Muwaaahhh Comment your thoughts:)

Sandy Hook Elementary School

About a month ago, a gunman killed 20 children and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Now, parents and residents of the Connecticut school are debating on what to do with the school.  The article, "Newtown debates future of Sandy Hook Elementary School after tragedy that claimed 26 lives” discuses the opinions of the concerned residents. The shocked residents are, well, in shocked say that they wouldn’t want to send their kids back to the original Elementary school. On the other hand, others want the school to be renovated and to remove the areas where the victims were killed. In the article, the author includes many voices of both sides.

The author wants the reader to feel that their opinion counts to. They name out all the voices of both sides. For example, they quoted Susan Gibney, who lives in Sandy Hook, “I wouldn't want to have to send my kids back to that school. I just don't see how the kids could get over what happened there.” This gives the reader think that the event that happened at the school is already horrible enough. The reminder that the children will have to go through will be horrifying if the school reopens.  On the other hand, Fran Bresson, a retired police officer who attended Sandy Hook Elementary School, thinks that the school should reopen, but “the hallways and classrooms where staff and students were killed should be demolished.” He says, "To tear it down completely would be like saying to evil, 'You've won,’” This says many to the readers. Bresson wants the school to reopen, but with fresh starts in the places of the old ones. The author shows the reader both sides because they want the reader to understand that there are many decisions to be made about Sandy Hook Elementary School. They include quotes from the parents and residents of the school to give us perspectives. They also include decisions that have been made in the previous years about similar situations. For example, the author tells the reader about Columbine High School’s shooting aftermath. The school reopened several months after the shooting. Crews removed the library, where most of the victims died, and replaced it with an atrium. Another school tore down the original school where the shooting took place and built a new school a few hundred yards away.
The author shows the reader many perspectives and the decisions of similar situations in the past.

In my opinion, I think it is really horrible to think of going back to the school without any changes. I mean, if you had to go back to the school, you would feel like the presence of the victims “ghosts” are still there. Or may the fact that it gives you the willies that you are in the same place where the victims were killed. It’s really hard to explain the feelings and thoughts of a person who had to go back to the school where no changes were made. The author has shaped my mind to think in other ways. I mean, I’d like the school to be either torn down entirely or renovated. But then on the other hand, I wouldn’t want my school to be torn down. It’s like taking your home away. The school has created many memories for many students and residents. Tearing it down would be taking a piece of their memories and throwing it out. It’s would not be fair to the ones who
don’t want any drastic changes to the school. I’d like to know the thoughts of the children on what to do with the school. I really want to understand what they feel about the whole situation. I know some are shocked about the whole shooting, but I’m sure they have opinions about what to do with the school. I’d like to also know the thoughts of the children about guns. Because of guns, the shooting happened. Right now, the issue about guns is very worldly. I’d like to know what the children feel about the controversial topic.

So really to sum up, I’d like the residents and parents of the Connecticut school to really think about what they’re going to do about the school; to torn it down completely, to renovate the areas where the victims were killed, or to reopen with no changes. The issue is really hard to think about while knowing that there has to be serious changes happening.