Twilight/Car Trouble

I've slowly but surely become addicted to the Twilight Saga. At first I was skeptical of the how "vampire" storyline and just the whole thing in general. But a good friend of mine was reading the 3rd book, she told me how good it was and it made me very curious. I began reading the first book last Sunday night and finished by Tuesday night, it was a record for me because usually it takes me much longer to read, but I couldn't help it. It wasn't the gorey vampire novel I thought it would be, it was actually a romance and not your mushy romance either. I decided that I just had to see the movie as soon as possible to compare the two. On Thursday night I went in monsoon like conditions to go see it, and I have to admit that the book was so much better than the movie. The detail in the book just made it so much better than the movie. Normally I'd say the movie is better than the book, but the detail in the book gave you all the information to build your own characters and scenery, the movie was just totally different from what I pictured it being. Right now, even though it is Finals time, I have started reading the second book New Moon, and I must admit that it isn't as good as the first but like my friend said "the last two will be better." I'm hoping for that.

Now onto to my little rant. I hate my car! Well not really hate because when I got it almost 3 years ago on December 23, I was in love with it, now not so much. Since the car isn't even 3 years old yet, it makes matters a lot worse. First the hatchback springs or whatever break, that I could deal with since a trunk isn't that important to me, and then 4 new tires that were about $300, but now I have to draw the line one what I can tolerate. The radio in my car has gone out along with a few other little things, this is ridiculous! Now I'm paranoid to drive it in fear that the car is going to just die on me while I'm driving it, that will just be the straw that breaks the camels back. So I'm hoping and somewhat praying that I can make it through the first two days of Finals without anymore incidents. Ugh, stupid car, I just want to kick it.

When you read something that starts like this, “we were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold” (Thompson 3), you know it’s going to be different. Hunter S. Thompson is the pioneer of gonzo journalism, which is the format of my favorite reading thus far, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Usually I am very critical when I read and I find it hard to enjoy books because of it. While reading Thompson’s piece, I really enjoyed the comic emphasis that shone throughout it. When an author adds real life situations into their writing, the story becomes far more real to me and definitely more enjoyable. Also, by having dialogue and detail in a story, I feel that it gives you more of a chance to picture what is going on with the characters. For example, “the trunk of the care looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.” (Thompson 4). That alone makes you wonder what trouble the characters of this story are going to get into, and also keeps you wanting to find out exactly what happens.

Hunter S. Thompson is by far the best writer that I have read in a long time. Stories that involve some kind of humor always get me and I haven’t laughed aloud while reading in a long time. Even the film version of this book made me enjoy it far more. Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Thompson was uncanny, and from all the videos I’ve seen of him the film was dead on to how he acted. By far one of the best books I’ve read.



Works Cited
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
New York: Vintage, 1971.

Birth Order and Sibling Competition

Birth order is something I didn’t think affected our lives too much, but author Frank J. Sulloway changed thought for me. However; I didn’t agree with everything that Sulloway was talking about. Being that I have an older brother who is 5 years my senior, I feel as though I take on many of the characteristic that he is supposed to hold. I am the more bossy and in charge one, but then again I hold a lot of the younger sibling traits, for example: my brother is the more academic and definitely stronger than me. “A considerable surprise from these results is that growing up in the same family exerts only a small influence in making siblings more alike.” (Sulloway 299). This I feel is perfect in describing my brother and I, because a lot of people tell us that we are nothing alike and now there is a valid reason why. Sulloway gave many good examples in his writing to get his point of birth order and sibling competition across. Not only did he give examples on the human sibling competition, but he also explained animal sibling competition. This was extremely helpful in understanding where he was coming from. Another topic he touched upon in his writing was that too match the characteristics of birth order, he gave examples from famous historical figures and how significant their birth order was. This was a very interesting piece and well explained, I enjoyed it immensely and helped me understand my own birth order.

Work Cited
Sulloway, Frank J. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Of all the authors I have read none have been stranger than J.D. Salinger, as described by Margaret A. Salinger. Not only was Margaret Salinger the author of a memoir depicting J.D. Salinger’s life, but she was also his daughter. Salinger gave a very descriptive look into her father’s private life and also her childhood. When I was first handed Salinger’s work, I was a bit skeptical as to what she was going to say about her father and if it was going to be boring. I say boring, because I really did not picture J.D. Slinger to be such an interesting character. As his daughter described him in her book, he is a bit of a neurotic and definitely marched to a beat of a different drummer. His behavior was and still is a bit off the wall and his antics definitely display that, from living in almost complete solitude to drinking his own urine. Also, his relationship with women was a bit eye opening and especially the relationship between him and his second wife. This wouldn’t be the type of person I’d never picture to write such a great American classic. The way that Salinger described her father through word was perfect, and it was like you could almost picture him doing all the things she said he did. It really made me look at the world of authors different, that they are all different in their own ways.

I'm terrible about keeping up with writing in this thing. I can never seem to put my thoughts into words, and I know I have a lot to say it's just hard to say it here. Privacy is my thing, I love knowing that I have it and don't have to share it with anyone if I don't want too. That's how if I had the talents to be in the limelight, I wouldn't be able to deal with not being able to go out in public without being hounded. What's making bring up this topic is that, I've been watching videos on TMZ.com and I love watching E! and all those entertainment show. Oh and I love those trashy magazines. Even though I love watching and reading about celebrities, I actually feel kind of bad fore them sometimes. But isn't it what they asked for and knew that if they got into the business thats part of it. I guess that's why I've learned to hold my privacy so dear. I just also have to learn to update this more so I could share my thoughts with the world. Which is a weird concept to believe, that anyone in the world could read what I have to say, it's odd.

I finally have a topic to write about. So bare with me on this one, it might be a little rant.

This morning on the news I heard about John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is pregnant. My first thought was, "Who cares?", then I really thought about it, a million undecided voters care. I find it so funny that people can judge a candidate on one fault and it's not even their own. It's mind blowing to me, so what if her daughter is pregnant that's her prerogative, what does that have to do with our votes and her mother's possible vice presidency? Then it dawned on me, we as American citizens for some strange reason think that every president and vice president we have, have to come from the perfect "All-American Cookie Cutter Family." The truth is not every family is perfect and a lot of families go through teen pregnancies, so I really think that John McCain's campaign is going to appeal to a more average person. And think about it, I haven't heard much about Barack Obama having a teen mother. I just don't understand what the big deal is. Shit happens when your young, but don't blame it solely on the parenting, I know not to because I am one of those children who did a lot of the opposite of what she was told but that is normal. I just hate how a lot of voters judge based their votes upon, family history and upbringing, votes should be based upon experience and ideas. This is why I hate the media sometimes, pshh the media for blowing things out of proportion.

OK, I'm done ranting and I now must return to doing homework.

My First Blog Ever

I don't know what to write in this thing, but considering I like to laugh, I'm going to to post a video or atleast attempt to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXp2ruZoxK8 There's the link since I can't upload it because it's not saved to my computer. Enjoy!