An End is Nearly the Beginning.

Man, I'm going to miss doing this. I'm going to miss everything.

I learned a lot from doing blog posts and posting on others' blogs. I noticed improvements and various opinions that others had to say. By posting on my blog, I get to receive different opinions for the story or character.

Blogging online is much better than writing in a notebook. Writing in a notebook is time-consuming, and what's written inside is secluded from the outside world; not everyone can see the entries written inside. Luckily, by writing online, people (not only from the United States) can see your work and make positive criticism to improve your blog posts in the future. You can also receive persuasive ideals or opinions from others - even disagreeable bloggers who dislike your ideals. However, the experience is great.

However, there are backlashes to online blogging as well. By writing online, you can also receive bias opinions from others, and even 'trollers' who spam your blog or fake something in it. All your personal thoughts become known to the outer world as well, making your private thoughts exposed to people internationally. There is also a limit to cursing or harsh criticism.

Teenagers do take advantage of internet. Usually, profanity or cyber-bullying occurs at the teenage years, but sometimes we say sweet things as well. Maybe an "I love you" or "I know you'll do well". People really do use internet to say things they wouldn't say in reality, but it isn't always a bad thing.

I can't imagine keeping this blog up on a daily basis. Well, I can imagine, but I'm as slouchy as ever, and soon in my future years I'll be a busybody. However, if I'd make another one, I'd make it about my life or special occasions with my friends. I'd also make an art blog on a different site to show off my (sexy) skills. Personally, I think that blogs are great. The problem is getting it to be popular or something.

Love & War 2 (SPOILS)

A little fetish I had a few years ago that actually turned into a short online novel.

The novel "Love & War 2" was created by the pen name Cera Rain who makes movies based off of game characters of "Maplestory", a 2d-game that has been very popular since the seven years it was made. "Love and War", the first series of the story, was actually a movie that spoke about a young woman named Cera who was a famous match-maker and could easily create a couple based on her advice. However, a group of pirates wanted to be rich, and realized that Cera had the key of a sacred treasure kept hidden in her heart. Cera faced many obstacles in order to escape her death and actually was in love with one of the pirates, Levi. However, during the sequel, Levi disappears, leaving Cera behind on the verge of selling her home.

Although I didn't like romance books as much as other genres, this one was interesting to read. The story didn't focus on boys entirely, and you can understand her emotional standing. However, the cons to this story is that it's predictable. Almost like every other story or movie, where a girl meets a new guy and falls in love with him, and they get together and fall apart, and then another guy steps in and falls in love with her, but her heart still pleads for the first guy. Truly predictable, like a Korean drama.

I doubt there's any main philosophical ideals. Maybe something like, "should I sell my painting that my deceased parents have kept for so long?" or "should I give up on Levi?" but there's no strong one that I'd want to talk about at the moment.

Love and war are somewhat similar, aren't they?

Beyond the Chocolate War.

An amazing story to a story beyond.

Beyond the Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is a sequel to The Chocolate War. It's difficult to summarize both books without spoiling, so I suggest you take note of some spoiling.

The overall summary for both of these books is that in the setting, Trinity High School, a group of teens named 'Vigils' force other students to do tasks that vary from really easy to horrible. The leader of this group is Archie Costello, a guy that reins enough power as school bully. During a fundraiser to sell chocolate, Archie enforces a task to not sell any chocolate at all to a transfer high school student. However, for the first time in Trinity, someone refused to take the task. That man was the protagonist, Jerry Renault. As for the sequel, I recently started and I cannot explain all details fully. So, instead of focusing on thoughts of the book, I plan to describe mainly the original series, The Chocolate War.

The Chocolate War was definitely an interesting story. Despite the fact that it has a corny plot (something along the lines of "who'd want to read a book about fundraising chocolate?"), it had lots of action and description I literally felt like I was watching a movie. The story also pointed out supporting characters and their various perspectives, and though it made it a bit confusing, it was a book worth reading.

When I first thought of Jerry, I realized that he's a VERY quiet character. Normally, a protagonist would speak out more often than average, even though he just entered the school. His behavior and actions moreover speak out for himself. He is a perfect character with a sense of justice; he becomes responsible for all that's done to him and acts honest at usually interesting times to make a clear point. When he defied the Vigils, everyone around him started to get up on their senses. Did they have to do these assignments? Clearly not. Rebelling was a perfect option.

This leads up to various questions. But I began to wonder: is it better to stand up for yourself and possibly others, or demand safety instead? This is at least one of the reasons why the other students did the assignments than procrastinate or not do it.

What do you think?

This is a Story of a Girl.

Part II of my book last week, "A Girl in Translation".

A Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok describes the main character Kimberly, a young girl from Hong Kong who came to America. She lives in a broken-down house filled with rats and roaches, and is often discriminated for her diversities with other students is her class. So far in the story, Kimberly receives a full scholarship to an extremely expensive middle school named Harrison Prep. She improves on her subjects (especially English) greatly, but doesn't fit in, as well as being constantly bullied.

Last week, I didn't really like to read this book. It was reluctantly boring. Kimberly kept comparing herself to other rich people and how she continuously got bullied by her classmates and Mr.Bogart. Fortunately, the book was more interesting this week. Kimberly got into a great private school and she's getting better and better. It's probably because Kimberly's actually putting more effort into her goal that the book keeps getting more interesting.

As the book progresses, I grow more pity for Kimberly, and some envy as well. She works in a factory and she's extremely poor, but she's super smart and was even accepted into a private school for free. However, if I were Kimberly, I'd try to be smart as well to grow up as a middle class, at least. When I read the book, I keep thinking up many emotional quotes I've heard throughout my life, such as "Treasure what you have now" or "Money isn't happiness". This book keeps making me think of my past experiences and how I should be happy to not be in poverty, to be in middle school, or to even have a computer in front of me. If you don't treasure what you have now, you may lose it forever, as it goes.

Kimberly lied a fair amount of times towards her only friend, Annette. It's obvious for one not to speak about a young girl who works in a factory and crams her homework after for her life. But is it okay to lie?

I said it depends. Especially for Kimberly, because her mother forces her to live as a Chinese girl and she shouldn't be "westernized". I don't like to be pitied for and it makes one feel like a freeloader. I care for others more than myself at certain points. But even if anyone lies, the truth will somehow to spoken about at some point later on. There are some things that should be taken personally, and if they're your problems, you should be responsible to fix them - but at the same time, not everything should be done by yourself. There are certain extents between things that should and shouldn't be done.

A Girl in Translation.

A beautiful story, indeed.

A Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok describes the main character Kimberly, a young girl from Hong Kong who came to America. She lives in a broken-down house filled with rats and roaches, and is often discriminated for her diversities with other students is her class.

It gets me angry when I encounter someone like Kimberly. She lacks intelligence of the world. She remained in Asia for such a long time, but it's as if she only knows about Hong Kong. She's so used to living there, and becomes bullied because of that. Especially her teacher, Mr. Bogart. At one point during her first time in class, Kimberly misunderstood what was happening during a test and Bogart assumed she was cheating.

He absolutely fails at a teacher. First, he made a first-time transfer student take a test on the very first day. What if she wasn't on track with the school's progress? She wasn't even properly introduced, like so in normal schools. Second, he didn't bother asking if she needed any help or gave her a warning - she immediately failed. But what I thought was most important was that third, she didn't bother asking the teacher for help.

If I were in Kimberly's shoes right at this moment, I would try asking him (to the best of my ability) for help. Even if I don't speak English, I'd just be like "arbl hooga shlaggn?" or saying a question so my teacher would know that I need help. But what I thought was that if I were Kimberly, I would practice my English. It didn't say that she did study at all, so I would regret not trying to improve on that.

You'd find it crude for me to be like this with these types of characters. I know that though; I don't even know if I would curse out at these teachers or sue the Board of Ed. But it makes me envious how people don't even try to do something and just stand around, yet nonetheless they are better than those who speak out. I know many of my friends that are quiet and force me to do talking when they should be the ones doing it. It's annoying. If no one knows how to speak out, no one would agree or disagree with anything.

◤ The World Ends With You ◢

(Note that there're a couple of spoilers.) Something I am reading other than The Hobbit.

This short book, also referred to as It's a Wonderful World, focuses on a protagonist named Neku Sakuraba who suddenly died, but revives in the "Underground" (abbreviated as UG) of Shibuya (the UG is the same Shibuya, but those who die revive in this area). However, he has no memories of his death. In order to go retrieve his memories, he must play a game for seven days where he has to do missions. He must cooperate with other people to survive.

Just like The Hobbit, there are many resemblances. Neku always wears headphones, especially while speaking to somebody. In my opinion, I find his headphones to be the "wall" between him and, well, other people. It's like he ignores people by simply listening to music...or that 'glass wall' that he can never pass through, metaphorically speaking.

I can describe Neku as a nihilistic person, according to our philosophy terms we learned recently. Neku doesn't cooperate with his partner and often wanders off by himself. He's very independent, and didn't really care for other people at all. However, as he progressed with his teammate in the game, he was able to learn about friendship and trust, and what it meant to break it.

I'm awfully sure at least someone who reads my blog post felt like they were betrayed or betrayed someone else, even if it was a small thing.

Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves and Orcs.

The LOTR series is truly a magnificent fantasy story.

The book I am reading, The Hobbit (or There and Back Again) by J.R.R Tolkien is the prequel of the Lord Of the Rings series portraying Bilbo Baggins as the main character/protagonist. He is known as a "hobbit", an elf half the size of a human that love to drink and party. So far in the story, Bilbo is forced to travel with Gandalf, a very powerful wizard, along with 13 or so elves, with Thorin, the leader of the pack.

Coincidently, through thorough research I realized that Bilbo was intentionally related to Tolkien's son. It does, in fact, make sense to use a miniature creature similar as a child to be the main character. Bilbo himself tends to be heartwarming but easy-tempered, possibly like Tolkien's son. Bilbo seems to undergo somewhat of adolescence too, and changes his ways of living from avoiding interesting adventures.

Gandalf the-awesome-wizard-of-all-time, is an important supporting character who helps Bilbo overcome his fears, and taking care of him. He can be similar to a father that encourages his son to move on from what he can't do to what he can. Tolkien is similar in a way, too. He obviously loves his son.

Speaking about Hobbits in general, they are very adorable creatures. They love to drink, they love to party, they love everything. They are, what you would describe as peace. As far as I know, they've never been in any specific wars as a race. In the book, they are symbolized as children oblivious in danger and think positively. They live in "Hobbit holes" with adorable round houses decorated with trinkets and such. Sometimes, wondering about Hobbits makes me even think if other Hobbits were to hate one another.

Hobbits are such loving British-accented people.

Bang and Boom.

The book I am reading is called "Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick. So far in the story, a teenager named Steven realizes that his taunting brother, Jeffrey, has leukemia, a fatal cancer that attacks essential bacteria and cells within the body. The main character portrays an unexperienced adolescent that makes regretful decisions.

One thing typical adolescents go through is rebellion of parents. Steven decides to by allowing Jeffrey to do things on his own that goes beyond his parents' rules. The aftermath was a continuous nosebleed that never stopped. Normally, the typical adolescent won't admit his awful decisions until a certain point with his/her parents that often makes conditions worse. Of course, that was portrayed in the story as well.

Another thing typical adolescents go through is young love. Steven falls in love with the -"most HOTTEST"- girl at his high school; but readers decide whether his/her love is true. This girl already has a boyfriend, doesn't think of Steven at all, and is already too clique and seen in way too many soap operas to know the answer. The main character most likely has a close friend that is female.

The last thing is the ability to change. The protagonist/adolescent must learn from experience and decide his/her way of life according to his/her decisions. As of now, the adolescent protagonist hasn't done that yet.

Isn't this "normal"?

Disappointed.

Sigh. (Some spoilers. Yeah.)

Currently reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding, about a bundle of British schoolboys attempting to govern themselves after a plane crashed on a deserted island. So far, Ralph, the leader and main character, tries to figure out the mystery behind a beast living in the island. As of now and the past few days of reading this, I am disappointed and impatient.

I was told by a bunch of friends, classmates and teachers the same speech: "Did you read the Lord of the Flies? It's good". In addition, my sister decided to spoil it to me and told me a fat kid dies. When I found the book in my homeroom library, I decided: "Why not?" and begun my reading. There was no indication of flies, which I felt emotional about, but the saying goes 'don't judge a book by it's cover', only it's the title... so I guess you could turn down this book because there's no flies, right?

Reading up to the 27th page was easy. My first days of reading this went by pretty quickly. Then afterwards, days later, the same problems kept reappearing. It was until then that I thought, wow, this book is REALLY boring. I researched other reviews of this book and a site stated that this one received an award. It wasn't that the book was horrible, but I didn't feel anything. This book isn't that special enough to obtain a Nobel peace prize. The plot wasn't predictable but almost clique. However, at the same time, my emotions kept overflowing as if I wish to be in the book and punch a few characters. So, I decided to continue finishing the book.

While reading the book, I began to think about what this uncooperative, community of pandemonium was. I thought that William Golding was attempting to symbolize the hopeless schoolboys as a society. Ralph, a good leader but receives advice from his unpopular obese friend, Piggy, tries to govern a large group that contain lazy, scared, and disobedient adolescents. Along the way, Jack, a naive choir kid who was expected to hunt food, tries to govern the people with his own ways and then ***ks the whole thing up. He already did this twice, so I hope he dies soon.

Society just never learns.

Reach Me (Revision).

Original Blog Post

So far in the book When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, adolescent Miranda helps her mother win a game show named The $20,000 Pyramid. Her best friend, Sal, unexpectedly gets wounded from a kid on the street, damaging their relationship.

First thought - HELP your friend. Don't just stand there thinking, "our friendship is over. Hey, let me go over that lonely corner". Obviously, you guys can't be best friends if you just stand there looking at him. Moreover, how can that ruin your relationship? You don't even KNOW that kid. Just give yer friend Sal over there some first aid. Done. Third, you should've said something. Honestly.

I'm pretty much glad that kid across the street punched him inside out. Well, I meant if that happened to Miranda. Maybe if this happened to me in reality, I'd be in shock. But it wouldn't necessarily damage my friend's relationship. Yeah, I won't actually go in front of this kid and be like, "little kid, don't do such violent things," or "dude, you're hurting my friend. Punch wars?" but there's no connection between the kid and me in the first place. Besides, a friend that judges you in any way - particularly, in your neighborhood, then that can't be a true friend. I feel as aggravated as ever thinking about this.

However, thinking about this reminds me of society itself. It isn't normal to fight someone who bullied your friend. If this were to happen to me, I don't even know what to do other than to threaten the kid himself. It feels as if nowadays, we treat our friends as nothing. Take popular males and female abundances, for instance - they have many friends. But they don't cherish their friends. When I fought with my friend, I thought, "Fine. I'll just make friends with someone else." But after thinking about it a little more, I apologized to her. She was more than a friend. She was my best friend.


If we don't cherish our moments with our friends, they will disappear.

Yell-Oh! Part 2. Thinking as a whole.

Still reading Yell-Oh Girls! by Vickie Nam, I decided to communicate with other Asian American females via web and in reality to discuss the issues based on the book. Yell-Oh Girls! is a collaboration of different writings written by young Asian American girls describing their hardships and experiences, including family matters, racism, discrimination, and so forth.

Realizing back in the past, racism jokes and puns revolving around Asians - no - all races, don't really exist because people are racist. It's because we, as people, are ignorant. After watching a YouTube video response to a college student describing "insane Chinese people screaming in the library", I realized the reason of these problems. In the video response, the YouTube user describes the truth behind common Asian stereotypes.

The original video was a UCLA girl who rants about Asians in a library. She describes these people screaming about troubles in Japan and their members there, etcetera. What the problem was was her. This girl is not racist. She also states that she has Asian friends. She's just...ignorant. Back in childhood, I always called African-American's black. This is a common, offensive comment towards an African-American. But, honestly, it was too long to state these two words. These types of ignorances aren't just coming from African-Americans or Asians, but all races and genders.

The reason why typical Asians cannot leave their families is because we don't want to. My sister takes two-hour trips to college and she never leaves, much like the typical American who lives in expensive dormitories. We have superbly close connections with our families. Why would you want to leave in the first place?

So who's to blame?

First, being the media. Very few Asian Americans are portrayed in the media. In the foreword of the book, Vickie Nam writes about a magazine featuring Niki Taylor with Asian-styled clothing. She questioned the editor, "if you were going to portray Asian clothes, why didn't you at least use Asian models in the fashion spread?" and the magazine editors did not respond at all. This is a very oblivious scenery. One-hundred percent of Asian stereotypes are portrayed in various T.V. shows, mostly cartoons.

Second is the people that spread these stereotypes, followed by the people who believe these and use them. Remembering the ignorance of people, sometimes people should educate them. Maybe they don't know where Asia is. Heck, others probably don't know true Asian culture.

So, the definite culprit?

I don't know. But most likely the media.

Yellow. Yell-oh. Yell "Oh!"

The book I am currently reading is Yell-Oh Girls! by Vickie Nam. In this book contains past experiences of Asian American girls that faced racism, discrimination, family matters, and many other complex issues they've encountered in Asia and America.

Being an Asian American myself, I can understand the pain these people suffered - not because I'm Asian American, but because I faced many of these problems as an Asian American. This is some really complex wording, so just pretend you understood.

Connecting this to real life and my past experience, all I can remember is some inequality in elementary and junior high. In my past elementary school, there were different races, and different colors. During class, I would hear things along the lines of, "hey, you Chinese, right?" and I would reply, "Yeah/Duh". To be honest, elementary didn't matter...except for the times when they said I looked very Chinese, which is obvious.

During sixth grade, racism literally exploded. Combusted. I had an African-American friend who'd say mean, provoking things like, "you know, your toes...they look so...Asian. They don't look right. You're really yellow, too." Looking back at the past, she was a bit innocent, though. But most of our time, we would talk about how black/yellow/racist we are. This isn't really the most shocking part.

I was nominated as 'task manager' (in our school, each class had a folder which contains all the classmates' names and our teachers would comment whether an individual was off-task or excellent, and whether the entire class did good or bad in general) during sixth grade, as well. It was a really big thing to do that year - everyone wanted to see whether their teachers commented well or not. My science teacher warned me not to display it like that and put it in my backpack, but I couldn't help it; my teachers wanted it immediately and I had to leave on time with it. One day, a classmate screamed and tried to steal the folder from me. Of course, I tried my best to pull it away. He screamed, "You stupid Chinese motherfu**ker!" and I was seriously provoked by such rude manner (maybe I kicked him really hard one or two times...). My science teacher then found me with the folder in my hands and I was fired from task manager. I was crying desperately, not because I was fired. I actually felt more relaxed being fired. What I hated the most was the racial comment this so-called 'classmate' said towards my face. I took the comment independently, however, which I regret. Sixth grade was the worst grade I have ever experienced.

I received many stereotypical comments overtime during junior high, too. In seventh grade, I always received a 94+ average on all my classes but math. I was in Accelerated Math, but it only made it worse. I had high to low 80s during that year, along with my other Asian friend. Other Asians received 90+, but they knew how I felt. The others would state, "aren't you Asian? Aren't you supposed to be good at math?" and I would be a little offended. My mother and sister were so tense on me. At one point, I was on the computer watching a show, and my mom gave me food. Beforehand, my sister forced me to sweep the floor, and I just stopped when she was in front of me. She said, "what? Go CLEAN it!" and, of course, I did. When my mom gave me my food, she went back into the living room with my sister. My sister literally talked in a tone that I could hear, and said, "You know, this girl...she swept, right? Then she stopped and left the garbage on the floor". Mother, went, "she's stupid. So lazy. And she's getting so lazy; back then you'd study right after you do homework and you don't play games on the computer". She said it in a disrespectful, rude manner. When she was on her laptop, I was eating and crying while she was behind me. I kept weeping until I ran to the bathroom. I couldn't believe she'd speak of me like that. I kept cursing to both of them in my mind. Too bad I'm not sis, freaking as*hole, I would repeat in my mind. I even planned of running away when I felt like I couldn't stand it anymore, but I would just be in more trouble. Even remembering this would make me cry, as I'm writing this. I'm different compared to my sister, after all.

I'm not sure about other people, but the most truthful stereotype is that Asian mothers are scary and they over-stress you.

Yellow. Yelloh. Yell

-- Templeton

The current book I'm reading is called The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. So far, the main character Willie Upton has to live in her ancestral home in Templeton, New York along with her hippie mother known as Vi. Afterwards, biologists find a new prehistoric monster that was discovered as a new species in Lake Glimmerglass.

To be honest, I find this book possibly my most challenging one to understand. There are tons of unnecessary subplots, story is hard to follow, and too many unanswered necessities. I had to reread quite a lot to understand a chapter. The only thing that I can explain right now is Willie and Vi's relationship.

As a daughter of an over-securing mother, I can understand where Willie is going; Vi as well. The 'typical mother' will obviously make you study to be smarter - say, going to Stanford; rather than an archaeology career where the 'typical mother' thinks you won't bother making a living out of yourself. If I were Willie, I'd probably make a fool out of myself and say that I'm still going to Stanford, and then be ashamed of myself and start regretting later. But really, I think that Vi is going overboard.

This book somewhat reminds me of Life as We Knew It, a book that connects the main character with her mother frequently. Both describe happiness, sadness, and anger between both supporting and main characters.

If I were Vi in this situation, I would try to give Willie some more precaution, and take things more gently. People often make big mistakes, and there are times when anger doesn't solve it.

Being a mother doesn't seem easy.

Chanda's Secrets

// Note: some spoilers.

Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton refers to a 16-year-old girl named Chanda and her mother who are left with family troubles after her father died in the diamond mines. Her stepfather abused her, the other died of a stroke, and the third is an alcoholic. Her life hasn't been peaceful, ever.

The entire story that I've read so far is darkening. Chanda was about to be raped, her newborn sister died at 3 months, and she herself has AIDS. This brings us to the theme of death.

AIDS, known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is the after-phase of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and occurs when your immune system contains less than two-hundred T-cells. This virus is commonly received from unsafe sex, or infected blood transfers. In this book, those with AIDS would be discriminated for having it. You would be shunned, and those connected with you can be shunned, or even kicked out of their house. To me, I think, would be completely rude.

I remember the day it was AIDS day - thousands of people lined up in their seats in a hospital, looking down, as if they were ashamed, or embarrassed, or simply sick. I always wonder how they feel deep down. I feel the same with Chanda's mother as well.

To be honest, I would think that those with AIDS love sexual intercourse (or something in-between) - but I can't help it, my mother constantly tells me not to be one of them. Reading this in the book reminds me of many stereotypical thoughts - that African-Americans love to have sexual intercourse, or that they usually get married at the age of 16, known to be raped, so and so and so and so. However, looking back at all the experiences of past books I've read, I'm assuming that Chanda's mother (whom received the AIDS and passed it on, genetic hereditary diseases) has a reason for it. But, I cannot comprehend why or how at the moment.

What do you think about this?

Posting About Posts - P.D.

Peter Diller's Blog Post

My blog post is about Peter Diller's social issue post and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. In this book, an autistic child named Christopher becomes accused of a dog slaughter. As he slowly finds the culprit, he slowly understands life and (partially) his love for his parents.

What I find captivating in Peter's blog post is that he describes his thoughts in an engaging way - something along the lines of, "oh yeah, I never thought of that..." or "yeah, I think this too". His questions mostly describe this situation. Otherwise, his vocabulary and flow of his paragraphs are very sophisticated. I also tried using research as one of my factors to my blog posts.

I have read this book, and became inspired by this blog post. His research also wanted me to learn more about autism. His post made me think about connected questions relating to autism - whether we should accept autistic people as 'one' of 'us', and I wouldn't know what to do either. My first thoughts would be to gather all autistic children and put them into another community, or provide a better education in a public autism school; but the probability that it'll work remains to the low 10%s.

Or maybe society as a whole doesn't have to do a thing. Maybe scientists and researchers will find a way to cure autism - perhaps, through the use of genetic engineering, or brain inputs. Technology, especially in the medical major, has seriously been advancing since the 1900s. Maybe we can find a way this year. Or next year. Possibly a few decades, or even more. But eventually, we will find a cure.

Of all of the blogs I've read so far, I find this one the most interesting. I say this because of his intriguing, compelling language and provoking thoughts that can really improve our own blogs. His posts may even change the world for a better.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. (SPOILER)

NOTE: SPOILER. REALLY BAD SPOILER.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon refers to an autistic boy named Christopher Boone, and was accused of murdering a dog whom he's never killed. Because of his curiosity, he sets out to find the culprit and afterwards escapes his father.

I find it very saddening for one, because what Christopher does not realize is the human emotion. I cannot understand why he does not comprehend emotions, either - although, it may have been because a moment in life scarred him, which is possible, since he was told that his mother died from a heart attack. I, myself, would be in a trauma as well.

Autism is a disorder that affects the brain's growth in social and communication skills. Many of the symptoms include memorization of passages, stress during change of regime, painful noises, harsh times to make friends, so on and so forth. In my opinion, Christopher can also have a related ADHD symptom as well (intensive screaming).

What I find disappointing is the way he's being treated towards his parents, especially his mother. Christopher's mother left her own son because of her uncontrollable temper towards him. Knowing that, anyone can spot that she's irresponsible, no matter what. Besides, Christopher received autism from his mother, who was a carrier. It's not Christopher's fault. If you were to sum it up in an equation, the answer will end up as his mother and father.

I accuse Christopher's father as well for the troublesome part of the plot. One, being that he killed a dog because he was envious towards it and Mr.&Mrs.Shears is completely bogus. It also scarred Christopher's life. Two, he never told Christopher that his mother was still alive. I can understand why he wanted to keep it a secret; however, it's still somewhat bogus (especially since he's a man now).

Despite the fact that the plot is very twisted, it's intriguing.

SPOILERS. When you Reach Me Part II.

My far the most unexpected-moment-story I've ever read. Please note: there are many spoilers.

In When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, main character Miranda realizes that the notes she received were actually from the "laughing man", known to be a crazy person on her block.

My current thoughts to the story all focus on the laughing man. The laughing man, who apparently knew that Sal was going to die and he saved him. The laughing man, who died saving him. It all sounds abnormal, yet makes sense.

First, the reason why Miranda referred to "you" in the book, was because she was writing directly to the noter, the laughing man. At first, I thought the mysterious person who wrote the notes was Sal, or Marcus. The main reason why I thought of it as Sal was because he was a very close friend to Miranda until the pandemonium. Sal may have avoided Miranda because of the notes and him being troubled, or because he felt troubled because he entered Miranda's house, which was almost a diameter away. I also thought that it was Marcus because he punched Sal. It was probably because he wanted him to stop being with Miranda so he can hide the notes. However,it turned out to be neither.

Unfortunately, what I cannot comprehend is how the laughing man knew that Sal was going to die. As intelligent as a person can be, it is nearly impossible for someone to tell the future, especially like that. When reading the last note in the book, I honestly thought that the note was from someone in the future trying to save Sal - possibly, future Sal? Something of the sort. Unexpectedly, it was the homeless guy on the street, practicing his kicks on that corner to prepare for saving Sal. It's seriously tearing to hear such a good old man being treated like a drunk person who's homeless.

But, it brings another questioning factor - why did the laughing man save Sal? May it be because he knows Miranda? Or maybe because he wanted to become a savior when he dies? It's all so confusing. Yet, it brings us to the question - are all homeless people crazy?

No. Maybe yes, if they were drinking enough Tequila to lie on the streets. But the laughing man tried so hard; I can actually picture him - kicking, crying, laughing. It was only for one reason.

To save Sal.

Reach Me.

So far in the book When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, adolescent Miranda helps her mother win a game show named The $20,000 Pyramid. Her best friend, Sal, unexpectedly gets wounded from a kid on the street, damaging their relationship.

Okay. First - dude, HELP your friend. Don't just stand there thinking, "our friendship is over. Hey, let me go over that lonely corner". Obviously, you guys can't be best friends if you just stand there looking at him. Second, how the heck can that ruin your relationship? You don't even KNOW that kid. Just give yer friend Sal over there some first aid. Done. Third, you should've said something. Honestly.

I'm pretty much glad that kid across the street punched him inside out. Well, I meant if that happened to Miranda. Maybe if this happened to me in reality, I'd be in shock. But it wouldn't necessarily damage my friend's relationship. Yeah, I won't actually go in front of this kid and be like, "little kid, don't do such violent things," or "dude, you're hurting my friend. Punch wars?" but there's no connection between the kid and me in the first place. Besides, a friend that judges you in any way - particularly, in your neighborhood, then that can't be a true friend. I feel as aggravated as ever thinking about this.

Who would you characterize your best friend as? Well, if you have any.

Flowers and Demons.

One of the many books I am currently reading is called Flowers and Demons. In this book, a superior demon named Vivi left the demon world and escaped to earth due to mere boredom. Along the way, he saw a baby named Hana (in Japanese, is also referred to as flower) on the street, and brought it to his household. She eventually grew 14 years later.

The book makes me think about inequality in the world. In the book, demons and humans were separated in their own worlds. It's pretty obvious that if I see a monster sucking blood out the street, I'd be damned if we were equal. But Vivi and Hana are different - okay, maybe Vivi reluctantly sucks blood out of humans. He doesn't do it because he wants to. It's because he has to(; although, it's not necessary). However, it's just like thinking about many things, like why are eat McDonalds? 'Cause it tastes good. Duh.

From one viewpoint, you probably think, "oh heeeelllll no. No demon ain't comin' in my world". I agree with that as well. One, being a completely different thing with different opinions and actions changes the way we can connect with demons. They were also known to bring mad luck and misfortune. Two, because most of their diet consists of human meat. Three, because humans are afraid of things we don't know. And four, because of world destruction, new demon planets, demon terrorists?

However, from another viewpoint, you probably think, "everyone is different. I'm sure that demons are nice. And pretty". I also agree with this. One, being that although demons bring misfortune and bad luck, they have reasons. Two, Vivi and Hana. Vivi isn't a crazy demon that craves for human blood or misfortune. He's literally a lazy rich guy who can wake up in the morning. Three, Vivi cares about Hana, and Hana is a human. Hana is the only one who can make Vivi smile. Vivi wants to protect her smiles, too.

If it's love, maybe demon or human doesn't matter...

Struts & Frets.

In the book "Struts and Frets" by Jon Skovron, 17 year-old Sammy is a guitarist who wants his band to be one of the best - but while doing that, he encounters puberty.

So far, I find this book enjoyable. No, maybe the best one I've ever read so far this year. I say this because I LOVE music. If music never exists, I would probably die of boredom and realize that the rest of society is completely insane for not thinking that. Second, because I have an acoustic guitar at home (which I -never- use because I do not know how to use the thing at all), and it's quite enjoyable just flicking the strings with a guitar pick (and literally pretend that I was cool). But it would take lots of practice to simply start hitting some songs. Lastly, I love this book because it talks about the weird things that I usually think that I'm the only one who has it (ex. this really annoying buzzing sound I hear every time I go to bed). This helps me connect with the book. So. Much. Easier.

Personally, I find myself in a predicament with two characters - one named Jennifer (actually pronounced Jen5 in the book) and one with Sammy, the main character. I can relate with Jennifer because my parents are really picky about who I want to be as an adult, but always end with the I-don't-care-just-make-money face. I find it really selfish of them to think that way, especially how now my childhood have completely shattered, but at the same time, I don't want to be a mugger out in the streets either. There are also times when popular girls - or maybe any girl - has been really rude to me. I remember an elementary school girl named Tiffany (not Tiffany in M.S 51) who is really stuck-up and has her own little "girl group". Those types of people should just...die in a hole.

My connection with Sammy would be our love with music. Despite his talent of writing songs (and staying up all night to listen to an album continuously), I find our love of music similar because I love music so much that if none existed I would commit a straight-up suicide. He also cares for his family, which I obviously do. Well, unless they get me angry enough for me to have the intent to kill them.

The Shadow of the Wind -SPOILERS.-

In The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, the main character, Daniel Aguilar, finds a book named The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. However, Carax's books are being continuously burned. Within Daniel's hands is the only book left from Carax. Daniel tries to find the mystery behind this man and Julian himself.

So far, I find the book intriguing but a need of action in certain parts. For instance, when Daniel met Lain Coubert, (the man who was in Julian Carax's book and was the man who claimed himself to be the one burning his books) action was plentiful, but afterwards, it returns to Daniel trying to find a place to hide the Shadow of the Wind and days with Fermin (a kind friend originally a homeless man out in the streets) to the movie theaters.

Despite this, the book is mysterious itself. Julian's last name is originally Fortuny, and he liked a girl named Penelope, but Julian's friend, Miquel, loved her as well. This was shocking for me because they never spoke about the smaller characters until later. Daniel's life is also following the storyline of The Shadow of the Wind. Daniel's first love (who was a woman 10 years older than him) liked another man, and at the time, had intercourse with her. I find this really sad for Daniel, since he figured all this out after watching them himself. This was the "doomed love" found in The Shadow of the Wind. Afterwards, he meets Lain Coubert, the man who burned Julian Carax's books and was known as a devil. Then, he tries to find his mother. It seems almost inevitable.

If such things exist.