So I'm very sorry that I'm writing this blog post in late I was writing my blog post on Thursday and I was checking my spelling when I spelled significance wrong. I clicked delete and my entire post was deleted! It took me an hour and a half to write it and it was already 11:30 so I decided not to write it again (I'm very sorry... I was just so depressed knowing my work had gone down the drain).
Over the years I've kept hearing my teachers and others around me say "Don't judge a book by its cover." I've tried many times to do that, yet there are many circumstances where I judge people from what I hear or see them do. If he did this to her or she slapped her for whatever reason, it's all the same. We don't try to find the reason why whatever happened, happened; we shouldn't be too quick to judge others.
In Midnight, the 7th book in the Vampire Diaries series by L.J Smith, Damon was turned to a human and now he's trying to go back to the Dark Dimensions. Meanwhile, Stefan is still recovering from being imprisoned in the Dark Dimensions by Shinichi and Misao, two Kitsune siblings. For the first few days of being a human... again, Damon sat in his room the whole time. One day Elena decides to bring Damon his food but she finds herself being threatened with a knife at her throat. As soon as Damon realizes who it is, he lets go but there are marks from the knife. After a conversation between them, Elena finds that she can't put to words how she's feeling, even though she knows that she loves Stefan. Yet, there's something about the way Damon is that sparks something in her...
"'Darling, what are you doing--?' Elena cried, then stopped, wide-eyed, two scalded fingers flying to her lips. Standing in the doorway, not two yards away from them, was petite Bonnie McCullough... Elena knew exactly what she was thinking. The whole house had devoted itself to making Damon comfortable-- while Damon stole what rightfully belonged to Stefan: Elena. Plus he'd lied about not being a vampire anymore. And Elena wasn't even fighting him off. She was calling him 'darling'!"
Yes, Bonnie had entered. She heard Elena call him "darling" and she saw the blood on her throat. She didn't bother to ask why because minutes later, she had run downstairs, still shocked, to tell the others. She had drawn conclusions about the relationship between Damon and Elena that raised awareness in Matt and Meredith. It wasn't until Stefan came downstairs that everything was cleared up and Matt, Meredith and Bonnie apologized and felt bad for having jumped to such conclusions about Damon.
Damon is still searching for the star ball, his passage to the Dark Dimensions. After finding it, he's faced with a hunter-slayer. He gingerly walks up the stairs to escape with the star ball. Certain that he knows who this hunter-slayer is, he reaches the top of the stairs. Just as he suspected.
"'So Damon, what's it going to be?' asked Meredith."
Meredith, Elena's friend turns out to come from a family of hunters. There had always been something about Meredith that made this fact not as surprising as it could've been. Aside from being a hunter, Meredith was a Black Belt Shihan, and a Taekwondo Saseung and had been studying both since she was 3 years old. Everyone had known how brave Meredith was but not that she knew this much about combat. Just because she was a friend of Elena's didn't mean that Elena knew everything about her. But there are more secrets to come... I haven't uncovered them yet but I will. According to the blurb: "And Meredith... of all people, Meredith turns out to have more secrets than all of us combined. How could I not have guessed so much about her?" Judging that you're a person's closest friend doesn't mean you know everything about your friend, but it doesn't mean that you can't trust them either.
Right now, Elena, her friends and everyone in Mystic Falls has to stay cautious because of the evil that has arrived there. Jumping straight to conclusions could end up instigating fights between them, drifting them away from their mission: to destroy the Kitsune siblings and evil in Mystic Falls. Bonnie learned that she shouldn't have instantly ran to tell the others about what she saw happen between Damon and Elena. Damon learned not to underestimate the knowledge Meredith had. I don't know if I'm in danger or anything but I'm constantly learning not to judge others too quickly. It's a matter of asking why to know the reason behind some one's actions, yet if the task is so simple... why do we fail to understand? Because we never ask. If we do ask, it's too late. Being too quick to judge others is a problem in places like school where the myriad of students drift to their posses and heavily judge others for the most insignificant things like appearance. Like always, time is a factor that has a huge affect on life. Judging someone or something at the spur of the moment can cause you to see things that aren't really there. I think that L.J Smith is trying to get at something here, you use your eyes and ears to judge others but it's your mind that makes the final decision about what to think. In the end, it's not your eyes or ears that judge, but your mind. Don't be too quick to judge others or you'll regret not having asked why before running off.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Ideas for My Writing
I'm starting a list of ideas for things I could write about. I guess you can use them to inspire you but they're mostly so I can have some ideas ready if we have another independent writing project.
- I look through the window on the, surprisingly quiet, G train on my way home. What do I see? I see buildings, of course, but I today I look beyond and I can imagine hundreds of people coming out of school, work, and shopping malls. I think, well the first thing I saw was the buildings but I failed to see the biggest thing of all, the skyline.
- I walked home on the usual route I take. I look ahead at the streets left for me to cross and I suddenly sense an ineasy vibe flow through my body. I decide to walk the other way, thinking that today's path looks too easy to cross.
- The car moves along with easiness, like a person that takes the easy choices in life. The hard roof of the car protects the uneasy driver from the physical dangers but not the emotional ones.
- Though the mirror was small, the person looking at it could easily see the almost neverending problems behind that fragile body
Thursday, April 7, 2011
"If we don't stop what we're doing... it could be irreversible in four or five years." - Michael Jackson
As I look outside the window I see my neighbor's tree is blooming. I stare at the tree as if it were an exotic species. I sigh at that thought, knowing that one day that might happen. The tree could become endangered and people would crowd around it in hopes to get a picture of such a beautifully rare tree. It stands out in the rows of backyards full of nothing but bare trees. As I walk over to my room, overwhelmed by the beauty of the tree, that silent, but powerful, voice in my head reminds me of that quote by Michael Jackson in his movie This Is It.
"If we don't stop doing what we're doing with global warming and the Earth and how we're treating each other ... it could be irreversible in four years or five years or something like that."
-Michael Jackson
We all pretty much know the King of Pop. Not only was he one of the greatest musicians in history, he was one the greatest human beings on the planet. Through his movie he was trying to warn people that this could be the final call; you either change your ways or you live with the consequences and so will the generations to come. He really knew that our ignorance could no longer be tolerated by the planet. He knew that time was now as vital as it was threatening to saving the planet of our ignorance. Global warming is not a new concept to us. We've been warned before that our actions are speeding us up to that point where species like polar bears will only be found in museums. Ever since I saw the movie, that's been the one quote that stands out and inspires me to make a change but it also threatens me. The second part of that quote is what threatens me; the fact that we're running out of time. What will become of the generations that follow?
In the book Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is living in the futuristic version of earth left in ruins by the generations that lived there. She's on a mission to destroy the Capitol, the leaders of their world. She is first moved to District 13 and realizes that they've survived because they are resourceful with what they have. "They're so frugal with things here, waste is practically a criminal activity." Katniss is talking about how resourceful they are with things like school supplies because they don't have much of that anymore. When it comes to eating, what you're given is based on your height, weight and other factors that affect nutrition. "You leave with enough calories to take you to the next meal, no more, no less." If District 13 weren't so strict about saving food, the people living there would be dying of starvation. I think Suzanne Collins is doing her best to warn us about controlling our actions and how many things we're wasting every day. Through Panem, the name of the world Katniss lives in, Suzanne Collins is showing us what she thinks earth is going to be like if we don't stop to consider making a change that will benefit us all.
Every day companies are wasting their money on products that are killing the world to create the next top selling car or phone that, when the planet is irreversibly damaged, will be of no use to us and certainly not them. But I feel that worse than destroying our earth, is the idea that people have in their minds that the smallest act, such as throwing cans on the floor, couldn't possibly have an affect on the lives of every species living on the planet. If this is what you think then you must be blind or you're pretending not to see. It all makes the difference. When you look at the bigger picture, you're not the only one throwing your cans on the floor at that very moment; millions of other people must be doing the same thing. Katniss is a symbol of strength and determination in her world but Panem, for me is a symbol of the damage that will come if humans keep using up the resources on the planet like it belonged to them. Sometimes if we do make a change, it doesn't feel like enough because government leaders and politicians are always in charge. That's what the Capitol seems to represent; the power-hungry leaders that want to control people and would do whatever it takes to get that. We have to stop waiting for someone else to somehow miraculously change the world in 10 minutes because that's not how it works, either. If we wait for someone else, when is anyone ever going to stand up? This is not a problem that can be solved in 10 minutes. The damage we've been causing, and still cause, has taken years to make a significant change in the world but to heal it will take twice as much time. If we really care about life, we must do our best to make a change and actually care about the lives of other wonderful species on this planet. Get up, or are you waiting for me to do so?
"If we don't stop doing what we're doing with global warming and the Earth and how we're treating each other ... it could be irreversible in four years or five years or something like that."
-Michael Jackson
We all pretty much know the King of Pop. Not only was he one of the greatest musicians in history, he was one the greatest human beings on the planet. Through his movie he was trying to warn people that this could be the final call; you either change your ways or you live with the consequences and so will the generations to come. He really knew that our ignorance could no longer be tolerated by the planet. He knew that time was now as vital as it was threatening to saving the planet of our ignorance. Global warming is not a new concept to us. We've been warned before that our actions are speeding us up to that point where species like polar bears will only be found in museums. Ever since I saw the movie, that's been the one quote that stands out and inspires me to make a change but it also threatens me. The second part of that quote is what threatens me; the fact that we're running out of time. What will become of the generations that follow?
In the book Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is living in the futuristic version of earth left in ruins by the generations that lived there. She's on a mission to destroy the Capitol, the leaders of their world. She is first moved to District 13 and realizes that they've survived because they are resourceful with what they have. "They're so frugal with things here, waste is practically a criminal activity." Katniss is talking about how resourceful they are with things like school supplies because they don't have much of that anymore. When it comes to eating, what you're given is based on your height, weight and other factors that affect nutrition. "You leave with enough calories to take you to the next meal, no more, no less." If District 13 weren't so strict about saving food, the people living there would be dying of starvation. I think Suzanne Collins is doing her best to warn us about controlling our actions and how many things we're wasting every day. Through Panem, the name of the world Katniss lives in, Suzanne Collins is showing us what she thinks earth is going to be like if we don't stop to consider making a change that will benefit us all.
Every day companies are wasting their money on products that are killing the world to create the next top selling car or phone that, when the planet is irreversibly damaged, will be of no use to us and certainly not them. But I feel that worse than destroying our earth, is the idea that people have in their minds that the smallest act, such as throwing cans on the floor, couldn't possibly have an affect on the lives of every species living on the planet. If this is what you think then you must be blind or you're pretending not to see. It all makes the difference. When you look at the bigger picture, you're not the only one throwing your cans on the floor at that very moment; millions of other people must be doing the same thing. Katniss is a symbol of strength and determination in her world but Panem, for me is a symbol of the damage that will come if humans keep using up the resources on the planet like it belonged to them. Sometimes if we do make a change, it doesn't feel like enough because government leaders and politicians are always in charge. That's what the Capitol seems to represent; the power-hungry leaders that want to control people and would do whatever it takes to get that. We have to stop waiting for someone else to somehow miraculously change the world in 10 minutes because that's not how it works, either. If we wait for someone else, when is anyone ever going to stand up? This is not a problem that can be solved in 10 minutes. The damage we've been causing, and still cause, has taken years to make a significant change in the world but to heal it will take twice as much time. If we really care about life, we must do our best to make a change and actually care about the lives of other wonderful species on this planet. Get up, or are you waiting for me to do so?
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