What Was That All About?

You are officially almost as dizzy and confused as I am while reading Catcher in the Rye.  I don’t really have a strong opinion as in I don’t loathe it but neither do I adore it, I’m just indifferent to it.  It is, however, confusing me because I don’t understand why Holden does some of the things he does and he will often barely explain something and then say something like “Well, I don’t know how to explain it but that’s it.” or “You know what I mean.” and he is very vague and it makes you feel a little crazy sometimes.  I am really hoping that the book ends with everything making sense and I understand why the author decided to write this book this way because otherwise it would just be a waste of time that I can be spending on studying for my finals.

Beyond that, Catcher in the Rye doesn’t seem all that special to me and my friends either love it or hate it and some even think it has funny parts, which are completely invisible to me.  You know that feeling you get when you’re doing something and you can tell that it’s going to be something magical or make sense in the end and make you happy that you did it, well, I almost feel that way about this book but I’m trying to expect the worst and hope for the best so that I’m not angry or disappointed when it ends and I’m left there wondering what the point of all that was.

To show you how incredibly lax and seemingly useless the story is, Holden failed at a private high school or some sort, for the nth time, and he is trying to avoid his parents during his Christmas Break until they get the letter that he failed so that he doesn’t have to tell them himself.  However, Holden hasn’t even gotten home yet and I only have 40 more pages in the book.  I hope I get a happy surprise and if not then I really hope it  brings joy or deep thought to others because it sure isn’t doing that for me, and that’s okay because I have other books that are special to me.

Now that I have thoroughly made you dizzy, told you a brief synopsis of Catcher in the Rye without giving anything away, and giving you my perspective on reading it, I hope you go do something that gives you a happy surprise or something to the affect that my books have on me, “You know?” hahahahaha.

Have a good day everybody.

Be Good Humans

– Gold Glitter Pumps

Looking Back

Well the school year is almost over and I feel like I have done so much. I have taken two AP classes, raised money for a charity, made it through chemistry (ugh!), and so much more. I had a lot of fun this year, but I have also had a ton of stress to deal with. In my English class this year I feel that I was able to refine my skills and that had I had a couple “Oh!” moments. Through my English class I was able to learn how to add my voice to a conversation. I feel that this will probably help me the most with my life in the future. I am a huge introvert but through technology and other resources I am able to talk to others and find out more than I would normally. I have also learned how to critically look at something and get more out of it than you would at a first glance. This will definitely help me in the future because not everything comes to us the first time we look over it. I know that I don’t necessarily like critically looking at everything, but I can see the purpose it serves and respect what it does for us.

Overall, this year has been pretty good… Now for summer!!!

-Navy Blue Dress

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees

 

But it certainly grows on banana bread!  Well, at least it did for Navy Blue Dress and I while we were doing our project for English class together.

Goodness, there is so much to say about what we did for this project.  You already know what we did and why, and if not you can go look at past posts to find out, but it’s hard to sum up all of our memories and experiences in doing this together but if one thing is for sure, I was sad when it was over. Only until I realized that just because it was over for school didn’t have to mean that it was over for us or the people that we are helping by donating the money.

Even though I previously said that money was “growing on banana bread” for us but I was just making a funny pun because although we made over 200 dollars it would be wrong for me to  insinuate that it was easy or was only a loaf away.  We definitely got rejected by people more than once but it didn’t stop us and if it had then we wouldn’t have been able to meet some of the wonderful people we did.

Navy Blue Dress and I didn’t have to get together to make and sell banana bread very many times to make as much money or have as much fun as we did.  I would say that what we set out to do was accomplished and it gave us a lot of experience in going door to door and in being shut down or happily welcomed.

If we do do something in the future I would love to put up signs at our old middle school and our high school and other places so people can order online and then we can go and deliver the food, this time more than just banana bread, and collect the money there and then donate that.

I hope you have a lovely day and eat something yummy.

Be Good Humans

– Gold Glitter Pumps

Summer!!!

Hello to all! Hope you are doing well.

 

 

Well I officially have 12 days left to school and I am so excited! I can’t wait to get out and not have to stress about everything going on, every single day. It will be so nice to be able to sleep in the first day of summer, and the day after that, and the day after that… I have some big plans for this summer. I will be going to England to study at Oxford for a month. They have a program where you get to stay in the dorms and you take two classes of your choice there, and just basically get to live like a Briton for a month. I am taking creative writing and psychology. I can not wait to go!

What plans do you guys have for the summer? I bet their great!

-Navy Blue Dress

 

Only 14 More Days

There are only 14 more days until the end of school and believe me when I tell you that it could not come sooner.  If I have anything to say about AP English 3 this year it’s that I’m glad that I have had this experience but I don’t want to say that I liked it or not because this year was too stressful and not good for me that I don’t want to say that this class was bad because it wasn’t but this year makes it feel like all of my classes were.

I wish that I could have gotten more feedback on my essay like notes or comments when he returns them to us and I think it would have been really fun to more having fun with english in class instead of read, analyze, discuss, fall asleep, but that’s okay.  I am really glad that my best friend, Navy Blue Dress, had the same class with me.  I don’t remember a lot of specifics that happened this year but I didn’t like any of the books we read this year and my teacher is even having us read one now!  I just hope that he gives us a simple plain-old test on it instead of doing a project or seminar or discussion but one can only hope.

That’s really it about this year but the most important thing out of all this is that Navy Blue Dress and I only have 14 more days!  It’s like I just want to yell at all of the authorities keeping us there one day longer: Please Let Us Out!  But in a nice way of course.  Hahahaha.

Well, have a good rest of your school year if you’re not out already because then I’m jealous of you, but not when you have to go back to school in the beginning of August.

Be good humans

– Gold Glitter Pumps

Everything Ends

Hello everybody!

We are coming to the end of the school year and with that, mine and Gold Glitter Pump’s project has ended. In total we raised $207! I had a lot of fun doing this project, and it was even better that I got to do it with my best friend. I learned that you really have to plan out when you are going to do things, and you have to stick those dates, or else nothing will ever get done. I also learned how to deal with other people in a polite way, even if they are extremely rude to you.

All in all I had a lot of fun with this project, and I might even continue doing it. I guess that is a really good plus to this project; that since these projects are supposed to help others and give our point of view on things, they don’t have to stop when the project is due.

Well I hope that all of you that are coming up to the end of the school year have a good time! Good luck on finals!

And I am going to put this photo in because it is from my all time favorite tv show, and it has something to do with this post. Hope you like it!

-Navy Blue Dress

What APs Really Mean

Hello everybody! I hope you are all doing well!

So AP exams are fast approaching, and I am scared out of my mind. I’ve spent all year preparing for these and all I can keep thinking is that I should have started studying sooner. As I am consumed with stress, I looked back at this year. When I signed up for my AP classes I knew they were going to be a lot of work, but I didn’t think I was signing up for THIS much. I mean there are good things that came with being in an AP class, but sometimes it is hard to see that through the piles of homework I have. I love learning these facts and other things and being able to use them and talk to others about them. I enjoy learning…to a degree. AP classes sometimes take learning over that degree. At the point where you are up until midnight doing homework because you have APs coming, homework from your AP classes, and homework form everything else, I can’t seem to see the light at the end of the AP tunnel. Aren’t AP classes supposed to teach us things more in depth so we can go out in the world and use them? Well with all of the work I have, I don’t see much of the world. I always looked at people who stay in all the time to do homework as weird and nerdy, but it looks like I have become one of those people.

With all that being said, I am still taking AP classes next more…I am even taking one more than this year. Sound masochistic? It probably is, but I am looking at all the benefits that I will get from taking these classes. I won’t have to take them college, so that frees my time there. And then there is the fact, that like I said before, I do like to learn. I also love the people in my AP classes. Sometimes people that are in regular classes don’t want to learn and it is distracting to those who do.

I can proudly say that I am an AP student. I like others being proud of me because of the things I am doing. Like anything, APs have their ups and downs, I guess it is just up to each person on what to do.

-Navy Blue Dress

Wow

Last night Navy Blue Dress and I went to this project showcase after school.  You know how Navy Blue Dress and I are doing the banana bread project?  Well, you got to choose what you did for you projects and the showcase was to see what other people had done for their project.  We helped set up everything and afterwards people started setting their things up.  The people at tables had more of a walk-around and see what each project is about and then there were also seven or so groups that presented in front of everybody.  We had a lot of fun and some of the projects and people’s ideas were impressive and/or creative and fun.  The only problem was that the presentations were taking too long and we had already been there for three hours not including school.

Overall, it was neat to see all of the projects and we also got extra credit for our class by doing this.  We had no expectations when we went since we didn’t really know what to expect.  I also had a problem, or something working in my mind because if we were to present or even be at one of the tables it seems so simple or plain to say that we make homemade banana bread, sell it door-to-door, and then donate the money.  The problem is that it is so much more than that between meeting both rude and lovely people and everything that we’re learning while doing this.  I didn’t know how we would be able to express that to anyone though and have them truly understand.  I told Navy Blue Dress and she agreed with me and I said that we should do something bigger or something to show people its worth or even go along with our idea of selling things at school.  We don’t know what to do but the awesome thing about our project is that it doesn’t ever have to stop.

If you have any ideas to help with this conundrum then it would help so much!

Be good humans.

–  Gold Glitter Pumps

Not Only Valentine’s Day

 

One thing incredible that the Grapes Of Wrath show is how to give love freely and in different forms.  And that none of what I am about to talk about has to only take place on Valentine’s Day.

The Oakies, in the book, never hesitate to give to the next stranger even if they have nothing to give.  They understand that they way to survive is a team effort and to keep everyone afloat.  You not only give to someone else but you must do it with your whole heart.  The people and the Joads don’t give grudgingly or half-heartedly but they would never think to keep from others what they can keep for themselves.  One really good example is when Ma has made breakfast for the family and she has cleaned everything and put it away and when someone comes walking down and stops to say ‘Good Morning’, she offers coffee and breakfast, both of which have been put away, dishes clean, and are in very short supply.  It’s even more awesome that these people were brought up that way and they are teaching their children the same things.

Although the Oakies tried to give freely and by doing this giving love and generosity, the people already living in California were hard-pressed and was trying to take everything from the Oakies because they wanted the Oakies to leave.  The funny thing about this is that if they hasd just treated them fairly and like descent human beings then the Oakies would probably have been able to support they family and make money quickly and move back home or to another state to start life over.  Instead, the Oakies were forced to not only stay in California but roam the land as well while they would get enough to only continue to move from place to place on an never ending cycle.

You see, one group of people have everything but are unhappy and angry while the other has nothing and lives to give more and more and are happy to have their family beside them and strangers, who quickly become friends, all around them.  I feel like more and more people these days are starting to view the world as a every-man-for-himself when that is exactly why we get problems like the Love Canal, Pollution, Bankruptcy, Crimes, and so many more.  It’s kind of funny actually because Capitalism is based on the ability to improve one’s situation and better oneself but we tend to loose sight of other people and focus only on ourselves and then blame the system.

Don’t forget about those around you.  Don’t be self-centered and hang your head in the corner while you pity yourself while someone needs you help and can’t do it on their own even if it is just to make them smile or take them out and get their kids off of it for a little while.

Let them know that you won’t leave them and you will help them get through it.  Extend yourself for others and you’ll be amazed at how far they’ll go for you in return.  Ma did this for the family that they found along the road and never wanted to stop helping them.

Be good humans.

–  Gold Glitter Pumps

Here We Go Again

Hello everyone! Hope you all had an amazing Easter and got to spend it with those you love.

On Thursday in English class we are going to be writing an in-class essay. This essay is going to be a style analysis on The Grapes of Wrath, which we have just finished reading. My problem with this isn’t that we have to write an essay, its the whole in class part of it that I don’t like; and its not just this essay, I have always hated in-class essays. I don’t like them because they don’t give you as much time to think and develop your ideas. I am the type of person where I don’t see all of the writing style very easily, so writing this in class is a bit of a challenge. My teacher says that this is in part to prepare us for the AP exam, where we will have to write a style analysis essay in a limited amount of time. I completely get that part of it and am actually thankful that we are getting to practice before we take the exam, but it still scares me to do it.

What do you guys think about in-class essays? Have you ever had to write one?

-Navy Blue Dress