Music Review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPB7uzKuh4

Okay, so I chose a song called Watercolour by a band named Pendulum. I had never heard of them, or the song.
I went to youtube and typed in unlistened to music. :P Yes, it's silly, but it worked :) And plus I like watercolors :)
When first listening to the song I was doing other things. I was doing homework or whatever. The point is, I was listening, but not analyzing it. So, the song went on and I thought 'Wow, this is a really sucky depressing song.' Can you tell I didn't like it? Well I didn't. I decided to stick with it though solely for the reason that I am said to change my mind so often about stuff that people could not keep up with me. I wanted to prove them wrong. Even if it only was for this silly blog and for this one time.
The next time I listened to it. I was laying in bed and I analyzed it but did not watch the video.
The lyrics seemed to match the morose and depressing mood to it.
Pendulum is probably very emotional. The song is about fear and getting away from where he is at. It can be tough to deal with life at times, but you have to stick with it and get it under control. While watching the video for this...it gets worse. It just brings it together to some up the depressingness. It is drab and gray. Literally, there is a lot of gray and dark blues. Colors can really make a difference. Suddenly there's a beam of light....and from there, it gets better :) the video makes a difference in how you visualize it. So, enjoy :D

Jay and Nick

Nick Carroway. Who is that? Well, thats the main character of the book we seem to be following. Nick is a very approachable person. He's the person that if you got lost, you would ask him for directions, not the scary guy next to him. Nick is known for this quality because so far, throughout the book we see many characters, who have little knowledge of who Nick is, approach him. Some of these people being Tom and Daisy. Tom and Daisy hardly know Nick, yet they invite them into their home.
Jay? Who is he? I think he was hardly mentioned in this book. Oh, wait. That's Gatsby! The man of the book. We first meet him at the party. And not just the party, but his party. He is the rich man who throws parties every so often.......But,  many people don't see the reason of his tolerance for uninvited guests, since that's what most of them are. He tolerates them because he hopes one day the girl of his dreams will show up. Wait, isn't she already married? Yes, she is, but she knows her husband is cheating on her. She obviously stays with him because she could never give up the luxurious life that she lives. The question is.....Couldn't Gatsby provide better for her? Wouldn't it be worth it. I think yes. :)
Nick is sort of like the middle man here. He is asked to monitor their relationship. He is asked favors from Gatsby. But is Gatsby's friendship a fraud. Is it a faux friendship only supported by the fact that he needs Nick to help him with Daisy? Yes. It is.

winter poem

Glittery,
The snow that falls from the sky,
twinkles and shines.
It twirls in the air,
Flittering about,
It lands nice and softly,
where it slowly begins to melt away,
It melts to water,
And where does it go?
It trickles away into the cracks in the ground,
It is absorbed by the dirt and then dried out by the sun,
The process begins again,
The snowflakes have the same semblance,
but if you look closely you will see,
just how different the flakes are,
There intricate designs,
seem something of a detailed emroiderer,
Seeming to perfect every detail,
but yet, never making any two quite the same.
The beauty of snowflakes,
is a mystery to all,
why do we adore something so cold?
It gives us comfort to be able to love this,
if we feared it,
Where would we be right now?

Thankful for a classmate

First of all, Happy Turkey Day!
I am thankful for many things. My family, friends, house, food, and everything. Among these things are my classmates.
I am thankful for Kennedy. She helps me in this class. She helps me study and is always there to help with questions I don't get and vice versa. She's also my bus buddy :) We ride the 62H together when she's by her dad's. She doesn't live that far and also came to my graduation party. :)

I am thankful for Helen. Helen also helps me in American Lit, but also in Chemistry.
I am thankful for Jiayin.
I am thankful for Ben.
I am thankful for just about everyone in this class, but it would be pretty boring if I listed the names.
The point is, I'm glad to have you guys in my life. This is going to be a class to remember. :)

I am a Plow

If I was a plow, which according to the title of this blog, I am, I would be amaaaazingly colorful. I would be lime green and neon purple. I would have hot pink and baby blue polka dots, and bright yellow stripes. Yes, I like colors. :) I would also be kept shiny and spotless and would have to be washed often due to having to work and often times get covered in mud... I would be a strong plow and also reliable. I wouldn't break down, or decide to not work because I was just to lazy, I would follow through with my commitment. Iwould be a plow to rely on and would always try to be the best that I can be. If you used me on a farm, I would help cultivate your crops. I would be super important for something like this. I could determine you getting the crops you need to sell, or possibly the crops that end up on your dinner table. I would sit there, and when you don't need me anymore because you stopped your farm or whatever, don't hold onto me, send me somewhere where I will be of some use. I would not enjoy spending my days rusting away in your barn with your stupid cows and pigs, and God knows what else. Send me somewhere to continue my life, to help others. To have an exciting life, to make memories. Although it may sound childish, the best part about being a plow would be being painted amaazing colors. :)

A Direction that the class needs.

This has got to be the one and only class that has ever asked me this. And for a question like this I would have to stop and think for awhile. I would consider how the class is moving along, how we spend our time, and think about whether or not the homework is helping us or not. We spend our time doing many things each and every day. We usually start the class with a journal, a crazy topic or line from a book that Mr. McCarthy picks and we write and expand on it, or we continue the story line. Either way, its a good way to get us to work on putting our thoughts into words and practicing our critical thinking. This is definitely a plus. So moving on to homework. Yeah. I hate it, I'm sure you do too, but we have to think, is this really neccessary? I think it depends on the homework assignment. The vocab pages from or books, DEFINITELY. I don't know about you guys but it helps me alot. Scarlet Letter reading, ehhh not so much. I'm a really slow reader so it puts me at a disadvantage but others really like it, this is just , my opinion. We are moving along at a relatively fast pace. We are on our second book of the year and we reflect a lot, we even have a flat out Philosophy class once in awhile. Do you recall: Is it possible for any one person to know everything? That was fun, and caused a big debate. But anyways, a direction the class needs is to continue working hard and doing work in class in order to reduce the homework load. Not just in this class either...

Modern Slavery in our World Today.

So this week's topic  is modern slavery. Slavery as we know it in history might not be identical to the forms we see of it today, but the roots of it are there. One of the reasons is the bad economy that we have today. To work a person with minimum wage, I consider it to be slavery. Say you're working a job at McDonald's and your checks haven't come in yet and your pay is delayed two weeks. Those two weeks you are considered to be working for no pay. Which is in turn slavery. You depend upon that pay in order to pay bills, etc. But you don't get the pay and that's when things take a turn for the worse. Back before 1865, when slaves worked on plantations for no pay at all, there life was much, much worse than this. You may have your pay delayed a few weeks, but this is nothing compared to the life African Americans led, who were thought to not even be human, who worked for no pay, who lived in horrid living conditions, who suffered greatly and who were not given the standard citizen rights....So the next time your thinking: Wow, my job sucks and my pays been delayed for three months; think back to these times. You see how far we have come and it makes you think: I can live with it since at least I treated the way I should be, rather than like an animal. I may not have the best, most reliable job, but eventually I will get paid, which is more than can be said for the African American slaves of the 1800s, who suffered through their whole lives and never had a reason to keep going. Whom the white people treated horribly and saw no wrong in it. Think that: Yes, I can manage.

Hawthorne, Salem, Puritans, and how their roots remain.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a Puritan in Salem during the early 1800s. His family was involved with the witch trials and he was ashamed of them so he added the 'w' to his name. He was previously Nathaniel Hathorne. His father died of Yellow Sea Fever when he was only four and his mother thought he should pursue an isolated career. Because of this he loved books and all things related. He graduated from Bowdoin college and his first book was FANSHAWE.....it was unsuccessful though. Years later, he earned enough money from writing to marry a woman named Sophia Peabody and move to the Manse in Concord. He wrote many other books and novels and on May 19th 1864 in New Hampshire, he passed away.

The Puritan Church held the most power over the state. It was the greatest influence and was in-charge. In my opinion, it is ironic how the Puritans had left England to become more free and independent, but they did not give the freedom of religion at all! As we all know [because we have read the Crucible] during this time, the Salem witch trials were going on. This was a major part of their life considering so many met their  death because of vengeful [fake] accusations. But I have also found that there may be another reason for this. Ergot poisoning is in rye bread. Rye bread was eaten because wheat was too expensive. The symptoms of this are: hallucination, choking, violent fits, and itchiness. I personally doubt it to be this, but it could have been the cause.

Salem as whole was expected to be very disciplinary and controlled. The children, as the adults, did chores, attended church, etc. Also, you were not supposed to show emotion, which is TOTALLY crazy. Emotionless. Children learned to read, but everybody was only allowed to own the Bible.

Puritan roots are still in our world today. During the witch trials, hardly anyone questioned the girls that were throwing the accusations around. They believed that children never lied. They believed they were innocent and pure.....It's sad to say that some parents still think that about their children. They are thought of as to never lie, and against another person's word, they are always the truth-tellers, of course I know that children and teenagers are not! I mean, I am one, and I have my perspective. We aren't innocent. I'm sure we've all lied before. Adults just don't see it.

Also, adultery is a big issue. Some states want to repeal the adultery laws that were from old Puritans, but others still have the perspective that it is a sin. In many states their is controversey about whether or not to repeal these laws.

The Moment I knew I was an American

I would make the guess that the moment I realized I was an American was when I as in kindergarden or first grade. And I guess Christopher Columbus was included. So basically at my old elementary school from about kindergarden-5th grade, Christopher Columbus was portrayed as a heroic explorer that founded America and made peace with the Native Americans. And in the illustrations everybody was all smiles. Him, the Native Americans, the pilgrims, etc. We all know pretty much the full story now. Now that we can handle it, they start teaching us little by little how he was a murderer. They build on year after year. Until this year where we read his actual journals or whatever in American Lit. Now we know it all.

So anyways, we talked about it in  kindergarden and that was probably when I realized I was an American. We talked about how he came from Europe to America, except he thought he was in Asia(India). We talked about how he was the reason for us being here today. How he was nothing but good to the Native Americans. How he brought them new food, and corn, etc. We didn't talk about his downsides......such as mass murder, disease, etc. We talked about how he is the founder of this country. How he is the reason we live here and are proud to call ourselves Americans. But if he was the reason we are called Americans I'd rather not be called one because of all his horrible actions. I would not like to be called an American if it is solely because this man 'founded' our country. I want to be called an American because I live in this country, because I respect and am loyal to it.

Us vs. Them

There are many ways to interpret this...
It's very general. But one example of a situation of this is the time I had friends over for our annual block party...
It all happened this summer and the drama that followed still partially continues.
It was a nice sunny day when my school friends arrived, we were swimming, eating cotton candy and just having a good time. Then I explained my evil plot. The night before a girl was saying rude stuff about people. So, to set her straight I planned to throw water balloons at her :) but then, since she's 3 years old at heart, she tattle to her dad.....one thing you should know about him, is that he is rarely NOT drunk. So of course when he came over to yell he reeked of beer... But he continued...an we almost lost our tempers at him, but that wouldn't have been good at all. The girl, had friends that were mine but I haven't talked to them since, which I honestly don't mind at all. I have a life and proved I don't need them. To this day it remains: Us vs. Them.
The end.

Stoogee!

John Proctor. A horrible man. A good man. He's both and for different reasons. Abigail. Trouble. 17 year old Abigail is into 30 year old man. EWWW. Horrible. Just like Proctor.  He had an 'affair' with Abigail when she used to be the servant in the Proctor household. He was already married to Elizabeth Proctor and had kids. But he committed lechery. How can someone like this be considered a hero?? HE CAN'T! In my opinion, no 'hero' would do something like this. A hero does the right thing even when it takes courage. This was far from the right thing. :P

Okay, okay. Enough about the bad. He was maybe a half decent guy. I mean after all he did all he could to save his wife. He went to court with Mary Warren and pleaded the judge for a deposition. He rushed and tried to say all the right things to save her. Something a hero would never do though, is risk someone else's life for that of their loved one the way John Proctor did. He would have murdered Mary Warren in a heartbeat if it meant safety for his wife.

The last thing a hero wouldn't do, is die for something pointless. Yes, of course it would have been different if he sacrificed himself for something greater, but here, it was pure stupidity just like therest of the book. Their was no reason for him to die. Self-preservation would have been the better option here. Here, it was all stupidity and he died for nothing because this did NOT affect the rest of the Salem Witch Trials.
Okay.
The End.
Stooge.

Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God

Wow. I would be terrified of this "God". Can we even call it a God? Nope. Sounds more like a monster to me. I mean not just physical appearance....but don't get me wrong, all those hands would be creeepy. Being told I was damned would be just about the worst thing that could happen in a community like that. When God is mad today what does he do??? Make it rain? In this communtity its far more treacherous than that. How about kill off seemingly innocent people? Now isn't that worse than a little rain? I would be the best person I could be if I believed these consequences were real. Also, to think that I was being reformed from "dead in sin" would be too much. How can a newborn baby be considered "dead in sin"? Their life has just started! I wouldn't have been educated to think differently though. I would be taught to go with it. To believe that this "God" is almighty. That he can do whatever he wants, when he wants. So watch out. I would probably learn to accept this and carry out a very religious life. A life that worshipped at his feet! Pathetic! And if I took one wrong turn, I would be dangled over the fiery pits of hell. I would believe that every day I awoke, I was not taken for his entertainment to torture me. To kill me. I would be thankful though, to be alive, which I still am today.
The end :)

There goes the neighborhood....

Soooo....one day during this summer, our neighborhood suffered a really bad flood. It was somewhere around the middle of July and there was a thunderstorm. It rained for almost 12 hours straight. (from about 6pm-6am) In the morning almost all of the houses on our block had stuff on their curbs. We went into our basement and there was about two feet of water to wade through. We lost so much, just like our neighbors. We lost, photographs, clothes, games, etc. This is why I didn't have internet for 2 months! I barely got it back today! Plus our whole basement floor broke and we later found out that we don't have insurance. We are still recovering and we are getting estimates on the total damages. We learned many things from this.....Don't keep valuable stuff in a basement that's floodable. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, because I sure didn't.
Byeeee :P

My Introduction :)

There's a lot to learn about me just like everyone else. My name is Mia and I'm 14 years old. I am a diligent reader who enjoys many books. Some of my favorites are the Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games series. I am currently reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, and Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje. I have read about 30 books this summer and continue to read during the school year. But I think we can all agree its tougher because we get homework and when we are finished with that, we are just exhausted.

Before Whitney Young I came from a small public school on the southwest side near Midway Airport called Mark Twain. I came to Whitney Young and it was a big change for me. I played volleyball there and continue to play it here. We practice everyday till 5:30 when we don't have games. By the time I get home I'm to tired to do anything but I know I have to do my homework eventually .....

This past summer was awesome for me and I hope it was for all of you as well. I went to Disney World in Florida which is my 'second home' in a way. We go every year sometimes twice a year. And we always have a blast there. We go to the theme parks, water parks, shopping, and even visit family.

My family consists of six members. I have a mom, Tina, a dad, Luis, a 12 year old sister as of tomorrow, Caitlyn, a 9 year old sister, Nina, and a 3 year old brother, Max. My sisters annoy me, but that's expected, right? And I heart my brother because right now he's too young to annoy me and he doesn't cry anymore so that's good :)

My father was born and grew up in Mexico. (the name of the city escapes my mind) He grew up with five brothers and two sisters. Later, half the family moved to Chicago to search for jobs and to continue their education here. Later on the rest of the family moved up.

My mother grew up here in Chicago where she has lived her entire life. She grew up with a sister and a brother. She now works as a receptionist for a law firm downtown near a Picasso Statue.

So, this year at Whitney Young will be challenging. Trig is not my thing, neither were algebra and geometry. I heart gym and lunch. :) and I'm looking forward to American lit and Spanish.

And that's about it. I have to end here because 3rd period is about to start and I'm typing this from the library because I don't have Internet at home. Byee. :)