Gym Candy 2 - Pat Murphy

I have been getting very far in the novel “Gym Candy,” by Carl Deuker. It’s very interesting, and I see a great resemblance to one of my high school best friends. I don’t exactly want to mention his name because you could easily look him up. But he was an all star in grade school JFL leagues, and was watched by high school couches. Just like Mick, my best friend made it on varsity freshman year. But like anyone in sports, not playing or not being the best stinks. Being a human, we strive to win in my eyes. Like Mick, I love supplements!!! I have probably tried almost everything at GNC as far as creatine or protein powders. Unfortunately, I am very jealous of Mick. His daddy pays for his supplements; I always have paid for my own stuff which can add up if you have ever been to GNC. Mick, than joins his local gym… As I stated in my first couple sentences, this book reminds me of a friend of mine. Well, as soon as he was old enough to go, he joined Gold’s Gym. But as far as a trainer who suggests steroids? I believe that’s very illegal and he should have lost his job!!! That part upset me, when someone wants to be all they can be, I wouldn’t suggest an illegal solution that will destroy his body. The book is kind of slow moving, so I’m hoping him being on drugs really gets things stirred up!!!!

Fahrenhiet 451 - Free Week

For my free blog this week, I chose to do it on the second part of Fahrenheit 451. Last Blog, I lift off where Clarissa was killed and how she is the opposite of Mildred. Throughout the book, Ray Bradbury has many technological predictions. It’s awesome how someone could write a book in the fifties-sixties and it’s a futuristic book and today his predictions came true. Such as a robot dog, ear buds, wall televisions, and even the nuclear bomb. He tried to make the book symbolize the cold war and it does in a few ways. Such as, he uses “censorship” throughout most of the book. People were not allowed to do whatever they wanted; their “fire-proof” houses were burned down from the books. The books’ ending is quite interesting, it ends with a nuclear bomb hitting the city and Montag was watching from the woods, with the people who had memorized entire books. They state that they are going to start a new world and try to redo things without judging and everyone being happy. I recently just finished a paper on happiness in the book, and for mine I chose to write about Beatty and his mind games towards Montag. He sort of tricked Montag into doing what he wanted throughout the book, such as burning the houses, he claimed that’s what we have always done. Beatty was the smartest character in the book, he explained the books to Montag, and used his knowledge to “better” the world. Overall, the book was pretty different. I liked it some ways, but the overall story was quite bizarre.

Gym Candy - Pat Murphy

For the book project I decided to pick Gym Candy. I am kind of behind because I finally just got the book so I am going to have to read it in a matter of two weeks which is fine because it is about everything I love. It’s about a boy named Mick Johnson. It begins off with Mick explaining his early years and how he was introduced into football. I believe this book is going to be very interesting, because I read an online summary which says it’s about a kid who had the decision between not playing on the football team or taking steroids and maybe playing college football and making it big. Unfortunately, I believe that if I was in this situation and steroids would truly get me where I wanted to go I probably would take them. But thank god I have never needed anything like that or even have gotten into this situation in my life. I am really curious what it takes for him to realize he doesn’t need the drugs and where he goes from his high school football team. This same thing happened to a lot of my friends in high school and this really would let me know their insight on the subject without actually asking them why, or what happened. I am extremely siked for this book and I already know it is going to be a good read.

Fahrenhiet 451 - part one summary (Free week)

For my blog this week, I decided to give my opinion on a new book I am reading for English 111. It’s the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It’s a very interesting book, and after our teacher explained the first part of the book to us, I had noticed a lot of symbolism throughout it. The book starts out as Montag (main character), a firefighter, tells of some of his experiences. He’s a little different than most firefighters though, he starts fires instead of putting them out. He’s uniform has symbolism; it’s a black suit, with a salamander on the arm. The salamander resembles fire; it’s like a fire-ish creature. Later, he meets his interesting neighbor, Clarissa. She’s a little wacky and out of it, she puts him in a very bad mood, ruining his night because she couldn’t stop asking personal questions but she cared and had emotions. He finally gets home, opens his door, finds his wife, Mildred sleeping, but kicks a empty sleeping pill bottle, she had overdosed on sleeping pills, and he had to call an ambulance. It was interesting how the ambulance workers weren’t like professional to me. But apparently his wife does this a lot having her blood pumped out and having new blood put in. Also known as blood doping if you were really interested in sports, Olympians use to do this before competitions. But when she wakes up the next morning, his wife doesn’t remember a thing and shows no emotions. Mildred and Clarissa are exactly the opposite, its emotions and caring vs. focusing on her wall TV’s. I was very upset that Ray Bradbury had Clarissa killed so early in the book, I mean I knew it was going to happen, but I figured he could let us meet her family and get a better sense of why she is the way she is. This is some of the symbolism and summary of the first half of the book. It’s very interesting and a very well known book.

Jessica Davis - Project Blog 4

Jessica Davis started out the book as a good person in my eyes; she was new just like Hannah at the school. Jessica and Hannah Baker started the book as friends. They use to go to Monet’s café almost every day with Alex Standall. But Jessica stopped going, but Hannah thought maybe it was the rumors? Or possibly she will start going again, so Hannah kept going thinking she would hopefully see Jessica there eventually. But Alex made a hot/not list and put Hannah on it as “Best Ass” to get back at Jessica. Soon, Jessica thought that Hannah Baker was with Alex and they were together in a sense. She was very angry at those rumors she had heard. She went to the Monets cafe, and she punched Hannah in the head which scarred Hannah and hurt her deeply. It was not true but Jessica stilled believed it. Later in the story, Jessica was very drunk at a party and passed out. She was out in a room and her so called friend, Justin let his buddy have away with her before he had to go. Sometimes I wonder if Hannah and Jessica would have still been friends that she wouldn’t have been raped and Hannah would have saved her best friend. So many questions and such a good book.

Clay Jensen - "These tapes shouldn't be here. Not with me. It has to be a mistake" Project 3

Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker were the two main characters in the book “Thirteen Reasons Why.” The book starts with us wondering why Hannah had killed herself; well Clay gets a box on his front door step. The box was full of thirteen tapes from Hannah Baker; she was wanting him to know exactly why she killed herself. During the entire book, Clay discussed his opinion about the tapes. He decided once he found them, to listen to the first seven tapes right away and try to figure out what was going on. I think it’s funny he didn’t read number eight tape, because that was the tape that was all about him. He was actually one the thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker killed herself. Clay Jensen was always had a crush on her. But it was awkward between the two and it kept him from knowing about her distress. His reason was that he failed to do what was right like all the others, he may have been the “good guy,” but he failed to step in and help Hannah baker when she most needed it. I still believe he isn’t exactly the one to blame. Personally, people have bad days and get picked on. We sometimes don’t do anything about it and just watch, well Clay did just that and I feel he shouldn’t be held fully accountable for her death.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1SYUvlMKPZBiGO7w6Gma8Dn-XUyN5ZygY3VbTQmqsyNJ-n0NPYs_SX95slHY1RwJ5vzv65rUSIj0WZODSk0-9Cc1fxZhbK3Gk46BtND7ZH9uiYyFnd4rl3PqHUNlrl7XLwUIkWKv4WGF/s400/shia-labeouf-400ds0827.jpg
- Ever since starting the book, I imagined Clay as the Even Stephens character with curly hair.

Justin Foley - "Just Relax" Project 2

Justin was overall, was one the earlier contributions to Hannah Baker’s suicide. Hannah Baker was new to school and she met Justin Foley. She looked forward to her kiss with Justin so much! They had gone to the park, and kissed! But being a bad friend and not a good person, he started rumors all around the school about Hannah Baker taking her shirt off and the two doing more than just kissing. Nobody at the school really knew her so her first impression was started by Justin Foley as being a “tramp.” The huge second thing about Justin Foley that is absolutely horrible, is the case of rape. He was involved in the rape of Jessica Davis when she was passed out. The entire tenth tape was all about this incident. Hannah Baker blamed herself for this, she was trapped in the closet and she blamed herself for not stopping it. She may have been able to, but also at the same time, Bryce could have beaten her or done something stupid. But it all happened when Justin Foley was trying to get his “groove” on and it didn’t happen between him and Jessica so he left the room. Later he let his buddy Bryce get some action, even knowing Jessica was passed out and tried to be the “cool” kid and let his buddy “get some” before he left early. Justin I believe really made a contribution to the suicide to Hannah Baker and would have to live with it forever knowing he let Jessica get raped.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/bouncer%20door/hipsterrunoff/large_070802_nightshift.jpg
-I picked this link because during the rape scene, I thought of Justin almost just waiting outside the door. In my mind, he had his arms just like this and tried to act cool, just like this guy.

http://dealbreaker.com/_old/2009/08/27/Huddle.jpg
- I picked this image because in the Book, I imaged Justin telling all his buddies about the fling with Hannah at the park kind of in a huddle. I think guys sometimes they like to brag about what they have done with girls.

Lastly of the links for Justin - http://personalfinanceandinvesting.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/snowball.jpg
- I picked this link because Hannah referred to when Justin told people he took off Hannahs shirt as a "snowball."

Hannah Baker - "When you try rescuing someone and discover they can't be reached, why would you ever throw that back in their face?” Project Blog 1

For the Thirteen Reasons Why Project, I decided to do mine on the character summaries. Hannah Baker had a hard life. She had Thirteen Reasons why she killed herself and personally I think they were not that great. The book starts out with Clay finding a bunch of tapes in a box on his front porch. Hannah Baker made a collection of tapes and said they had to be passed around or the people on the tapes would be caught. She showed signs of suicide as well, by cutting her nice blond hair and making it short to gain attention. She even admitted she wanted to kill herself to a teacher, Mr. Porter. I believe in the law today, that’s a jail sentence right there. She also did do a few things wrong, like letting Jessica get raped and just hiding in a closet. Also, she lived up to her “tramp” reputation. She has sex with Bryce in a hot tub and it completely shocked me shed even do such a thing! But she totally screwed up with the stop sign incident. She should have tried to fix it even though times were ruff. She did have a few issues at school during the book as well. She was on the hot list as “best ass”, and she had many dumb rumors beginning spread about her only out of pure jealously. Like, Courtney Crimsen spreading rumors around about her being a slut and totally not having any proof. Hannah Baker took the easy way out and overall she had a great way of getting back at those who screwed her over with the tapes.

As I imagine Hannah Baker = http://blog.wfmu.org/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/21/us_girls_046.jpg
- I picked this picture for two reason. One, its a blond girl, and she has cut blond hair (short). The second reason is that she has a tape recorder and is making tapes, Hannah Baker did the same thing, and this is how I imagine it.

This is Hannah hiding in the park with Justin Foley - http://fotosa.ru/stock_photo/Thinkstock_JI/p_2650063.jpg
- I picked this because I always imagined Hannah and Justin being really happy together, and they are in a park.

Lastly of Hannahs links - http://www.hottieshears.com/.a/6a00e550deec728834010534b434c1970b-800wi
- I picked this image, because like Hannah, Britney Spears had problems as well and cut her hair. I honestly think if a girl at my school cut her hair like this, I would personally know they have some issues and need a friend.

Book 2 !!! " Death, Drugs, and Muscle" by Greg Valentino

Now that we are done with Thirteen Reasons Why, we are starting a new book. It’s a free choice book and I’m sure everyone by now knows I love lifting and bodybuilding. I plan someday to be a professional bodybuilder as a hobby and have a successful job. As some know of, I chose to pick a famous bodybuilder than is kind of getting even more famous now. Greg Valentino. He has the record for biggest biceps and most know him as the TLC guy who had the exploding biceps. I actually met him at the Arnold Classic and he’s such a nice guy, I even talk to him on face book. He’s really into his fans. So for this book project, I chose the book Death, Drugs, and Muscle. It’s a autobiography on Greg Valentino and talks about his entire life, the title really speaks for itself, he was a drug dealer, his close friends got murdered, and he’s a record holder for his muscles. I believe this book has a lot of great knowledge in it and has a lot o life lessons too. He learned a lot on his journey through life; he had everything and lost it all. Greg has hit on tons of movies and he’s constantly being interviewed on talk shows about his story. Gosh I’m excited and can’t wait to read this book. It was just released to the shelves in less than a month. Wish me luck on this valuable read. !!!

Journal Star- public can weigh in on organ donation bill

While flipping through the journal star, I noticed an interesting article title. I managed to keep reading after being frustrated with the addition of a new law/bill we are passing in the Springfield Capital Courthouse. Our legislature is aiming to make everyone a donor. The bill would be making everybody a organ donor over the age of eighteen, and it would only be able to avoided by people is if they were to go to the doctor and he would be able to show valuable reasons why you shouldn’t donate your organs. My opinion is this is absolutely garbage. It’s totally ruining our freedom, I bet by the time I’m eighty years old, living in the United States will be like a prison. They keep passing laws after laws that aren’t necessary, and they need to find better time for the jobs, like how to get out of dept. I believe giving our organs or being a donor is a very nice thing to do, but it should be our choice, it is our bodies not the governments. I believe there is a new movie coming out, called repo man or something. I saw the preview and it was awesome, but to relate that to this article is that it’s about the government taking people’s organs who they felt don’t deserve them. With dumb laws like this coming about like wild fire, there is no doubt this could happen in the next century. Overall, I really hope this bill is not passes because its taking away our freedoms.

Guided - Conversal issue - 13 Reasons Why

-Choose a controversial issue from the text, and take a stand on ONE SIDE of the issue. Discuss your reasons disagreeing or agreeing with a decision a character made in the novel regarding the issue.
I believe the biggest issue in the book is Hannah committing suicide because she felt all alone inside. I believe she should have tried harder to get help. She was making signs, such as the hair cut. But that isn’t good enough. I mean I’m sure you really don’t know if you’re going to do it until you do. She made the tapes and maybe she should have just told her parents what was going on even though it may have been the toughest thing in the world to do. I really don’t feel all that bad for her honestly. She took the easy way out. She is a quitter. She may not be a catholic but in my religion, suicide is a moral sin. It’s the same as taking a life and it’s against the law. Maybe she should have looked at her faith and remembered what she does have instead of what she doesn’t have. Friends come and go and she needed to realize that. Being cool and popular isn’t everything, I mean it’s great but it shouldn’t affect your life. I don’t really believe that it is totally her classmates fault and the teachers and her environment. It was really just her mental attitude towards it all. She let it get to her so much, it killed her. I do the same thing all the time, letting things get to me. But I remember what I have, a lot. I mean I do feel bad for her getting teased and not having friends, but that doesn’t mean to just kill yourself. This is probably a bad way to look at the situation, but has anyone thought about how bad those kids feel who made a few mean jokes to her? I mean the book shows them in her perspective so I portrays them as ***holes but I hope that the end is a twist that it explains how I’m seeing it this way.

Essay article – “what steroids did to me” = my opinion on it

It briefly explains he’s friends and there side effects of the drug. One of his closest friends did the “juice” for over a year. Before he was a nice, fun, loving kid to be around; but after he was angry and would resort to violence. He beat his girlfriend, got into random dumb fights with everyone, and started committing crimes for no reason. Another incident is a kid committing suicide after beating his girlfriend. The man whose article this is about took them for many years. He’s role models took them, so why not him. Well, inside the arena he sees the positives, jacked, lean, huge muscles that increase in size in a week. But outside the arena he doesn’t see what they go through. Well, I currently know a lot of people who use steroids. They can be used an oral pill and not injected so I’m sure most of my classmates have met someone who has taken them or is on them. I have a few stories; a great close friend of mine was self conscious, so he started taking prohormone cycles after another. He would just freak on everyone all the time!! Like I swear I had to throw that kid off atleast 5 kids because they would mumble something about him at a party and he’d freak out. In my opinion this is a very scary subject. Steroids are scary and the side effects are dreadful. I read in a sports illrusted that they are the most addicting drug because the results you get are so great you will never want to stop. The will power over the results is not great enough. That’s very interesting and I hope none of you fellow bloggers ever get urself into the world of steroids.

Week 4 - Thirteen Reasons Why

For the book Thirteen Reasons Why, I believe it is set up perfectly and it is all thought out. The main character “Hannah,” should be admired. She set it all up perfectly picking people. There was something that stuck out to me that I felt necessary to write about thought. She was being called “Best ass,” it may be a compliment but it is not an appropriate one if that. This happened to me back in high school but it was a little different and people still say the same dumb crap when they see me or think it. I used to be a small little one hundred thirty-five weak kid. With long curly red hair and never worked out. Well, I got really into fitness and lifting and got really a lot stronger and muscular. I got into all the popular supplements, like protein, creatine, etc. But I never took steroids. I really didn’t get a nickname towards it, but everyone would always let me know they thought I wasn’t natural and that they said I was on the juice. It could be a compliment but it really isn’t when people think your private area is small or deformed from things you have never taken. Hannah didn’t want that title “best ass,” and I don’t want the title kid who took steroids and got big. People can be cruel and you just have to be above it.

My Favorite Spot to READDD!!!!!

As far as my favorite spot or spots to read, it would have to be outdoors. My house is kind of in the woods so as far as reading it’s really soothing to hear the nature. Some people think the crickets, frogs, wind, etc is all annoying but I like it a lot. As far as where in nature I like to read, I would have to go with by my pool or sitting on patio furniture laying back to a nice day with the sun. I would have to say that I read my best with seventy five degrees at least and a really hot sun so I can get a tan. Usually in the fall and winter months, I use to be an avid bow hunter. I would use my climber and climb up the tree about twenty feet or so. Than get everything situated and usually I would bring a very small book that I could read while waiting for deer to run around. Reading is so quiet and peaceful, it’s about the only thing you can do while sitting in your tree stand waiting for deer to come. This last summer I was a lifeguard at arrowhead pool. On most days the pool would be empty and we would have nothing to do except wait for people to come, so I would read magazines. I would have to say, I am more into car magazines than I am into books. It’s because I love pictures and I love cars. In conclusion, I am not a huge indoor reader and I don’t want to feel cooped in my house all bored.

The first book that changed my life....

OK, I have read a large amount of books in my life. During the last few years in high school and my first year of college I haven’t really read any book that was not assigned by the instructor of the course. I usually stick to magazines, forums, and the television. That’s probably not a good thing and I’m going to try to work on it. But there is a large amount of books that have changed my life and I’m sure yours too. I walked into my Dad’s office and stared at the book shelf looking for memories and good books I have read. I came to one, it struck me! Its small, yellow, and it said Cliff Notes big across the top. In my senior year of high school at Dunlap we had to read The Great Gatsby. Of course I didn’t want to read the book, I mean who wants to read about something that isn’t up to date and might put you to sleep. NOT ME!!! Well that night I drove to Borders Bookstore and got the cliff notes so maybe I could get away with not reading the actually book and still get the grade. Well it came down the large test after we went over all the chapters; it was 200 multiple choice questions. Thinking I had it in the bag, just so cocky I didn’t read the whole thing and I will still get an A was NOT the case. I failed the test, ended the class with a C+ and got yelled at for hours when I got home. Thank you cliff notes. If you ever look at cliff note book, you will see in the first page, “READ THE ENTIRE LITERARY WORK. THESE NOTES ARE NOT INTENDED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TEXT ITSELF AND IT IS ONLY FOR CLASSROOM DISCUSSION.” Well, I know now there is no substitute for the real book and it may suck a lot to read the long actual book, but at the end the grade makes it well worth it.