Spring Break Review

Here is my list of things I did:
1. Found a new mentor for my senior project
2. Started my essay on when America became a Democracy
3. Finished chapter 1 and half of chapter 2 for my book
4. Wrote 2 blog posts and did planning for several more
5. Bought my prom dress and shoes
6. Decided that I'll stay at the local community college instead of going straight to a 4-year university

As you see, I didn't finish a lot but I started a lot. (That's kind of the problem with me.)

However, I did start and that's always an uphill battle too.

My new mentor is a girl that I met at the Iowa Young Writer's Studio last year. God, in July it will have been one year since the best 2 weeks of my teenaged life! Anyway, she's awesome and she's giving awesome advice. I just need to get in contact with my other mentor but my emails to him keep bouncing back! Ugh!

I decided that America did not become a real democracy until 1920 because over half the population couldn't vote until the passage of the 19th amendment (giving the vote to women.) A democracy needs a presumption of equality and, with half the population considered unequal, it was not a true democracy until all of the population were legally allowed to vote.

I found out more about my characters and have been working on the story. Goodness, the chapters need to come pouring out the next two weeks or I'm toast! I'll share the summary of my book later this week but what I will tell you is that it is called The Mortician and it's a fantasy novel.

I got major ideas for my blog. I just need to get through April and then I'll be good to go to start up turning the blog!

I didn't intend to go shopping for my prom dress after my psychologist appointment on Friday but my mom figured we might as well try to find something now especially with prom being exactly one month away on that day (May 4th.) My mom and I went into Betsey Johnson and I fell in love with this beauty:



After being waitlisted by Sarah Lawrence and rejected by Hamilton, I've decided to stay here in California and work on my Associate's Degree at the community college. I wish I could leave but... it's not going to happen. I'm going to work on being a special ed. teacher here. I want to move out so I don't have to move to another city with my mom and her future husband but my mom says that it's unreasonable to think that I could have a job that could pay rent and go to school. I'm still going to look into it.

See you guys later! April's going to be crazy for me (just fair warning.)

Happy... What?

Even though I'm an atheist, I still celebrate so I figured I'd wish you a Happy Zombie Jesus Day!!

Mockingjay vs. Mockingbird: Is There Really a Difference?

I have been reading articles centering around parents' concerns over their kids reading and watching violence. Mostly, their concerns about children and The Hunger Games trilogy.

I understand that The Hunger Games is a violent movie and an even more violent book dealing with serious themes. However, those who are concerned with their children's fascination with these books are looking at them with a one-sided point of view.

The Hunger Games does not condone violence, and if you really read and look into them, they are actually quite against it. A major theme of the book is how violence destroys people and humanity itself. The Hunger Games give the lesson that violence is not something to revel in, as the citizens of the Capitol do because it brings devastation to others. It depicts the emotions and especially the terror.

The books keep kids engaged but it uses the beheading and stabbings to show that violence leads to horrible consequences.

An argument that I see pop up is that people are worried about the future of kids who are obsessed with books like these. One person brought up the point "do you really want the United States to fall and have this oppressive regime?" However, just because I watch and read these things doesn't mean I want them to happen. It's in fact the opposite.

The Hunger Games serves as a warning to me and to other children that we need to be sympathetic to each other and not let anything like The Hunger Games actually happen. I watch movies, television and read books where people drink a lot. However, it is my personal philosophy not to drink. Their fallacy would mean that people read books and watch movies, wanting to be a part of that world. A lot of people like The Hangover. Not many people want to have a morning like The Hangover.

Adults talk about how The Hunger Games will influence their children. But, there is a reason why Katniss, the protagonist, is so admired: she may be able to kill but she is reluctant to. She only fights back when someone forces her. Shouldn't we teach our children to defend themselves if someone is trying to kill them?

And, while The Hunger Games may be violent, it has various warning about the consequences of violence. The scenes show the turmoil that violence causes. There is a scene in the movie where a character, Haymitch, looks very distraught as he watches a family take joy in giving their son a sword and chasing his sister around. The emotions surrounding that scene alone should demonstrate the theme of devastation by violence.

The violence may draw readers in, but the lessons will stay with children forever.

Violence is in life and parents should not try to shelter their kids from these lessons. Would parents rather their kids learn these lessons in the real life when they are shocked by the brutality of life? Many people say that these books are desensitizing their children but, if that's the case, then footage and stories of war and pictures of the 9/11 attacks might desensitize children too. Does that mean we stop teaching history because life is unfair and cruel?

The Lord of the Flies is violent, as well, but we still require students to read it in order to take the lesson from it that violence is horrible and that humans, children, can do bad things (same lessons as The Hunger Games.) If parents are so worried about violence in books that their children read, then why do they encourage reading The Lord of the Flies or The Catcher in the Rye or The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird?

So, they would rather their children read nonviolent books, huh?

The Lord of the Flies involves children killing each other.

The Catcher in the Rye involves a depressed runaway who goes to a prostitute and then later has a nervous breakdown.

The Great Gatsby involves a womanizer and a murder at the end.

And, finally, To Kill a Mockingbird which centers in a racist town where a black man is falsely accused of a rape and the young woman accusing him is being abused and sexually assalted by her own father.

Read up kids! No violence in those, now is there?

Violence is a part of life. Violence in literature serves as a warning so violence in real life can be cut down.

Despite the murders in The Hunger Games, parents need to look behind those and see what is really behind the summary. Katniss sacrificed herself to save her sister's life. Shouldn't she get some credit there in family values?

The books and movie may contain a lot of death but so does reality.

Just because some books have the label of "classic" doesn't mean they are any less desensitizing or violent as The Hunger Games.