2. Overcoming A Struggle

Yesterday, I was really in the mood for some Disney, so I got out some old tapes and watched Robin Hood. There are several characters attermpting to overcome struggles. Many instantly think of Robin Hood, who is constantly trying to help the poor in their hard time, there is also the poor themselves, who are trying to survive with hardly any money at all. But, there is one character who works tirelessly to overcome his battle with guilt. Prince John. As revealed in the movie, he came up with the idea for his right-hand man, Sir Hiss, to hypnotize his brother, the king. PJ wanted King Richard to go away, leaving the throne all to himself. On top of PJ feeling slightly guilty about that, througout the movie, Sir Hiss makes PJ feel very guilty, because PJ destroys many of his mother's old things. I believe that, because of the guilt he feels, PJdevelops a bad habit of sucking on his thumb. The guilt doesn't only do that, but it forces him to become obsessed with becoming a great king. He puts all his energy towards catching Robin Hood. Prince John never overcame his guilt, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

1. Natural Disasters

I learned, from a National Geographic article that on December 26, 2004 an enormous tsunami rolled across the Indian Ocean. In just 24 hours, more than 150,000 people were dead or missing. It also left millions of people from 11 different countries without homes. This seriously affected the way that millions of people lived their lives. For me, I would be very distraught with loosing my possesions. Pictures, letters, old projects. Those things help remind me of my history. Without them, it would feel as though a part of me was missing. I can't even begin to imagine what those people felt when they lost their homes, their families and their possesions. It would be interesting if people could go and visit the people that were involved with this terrible disaster, to see how they are now. Or maybe to ask them how the tsunami has affected their day-to-day lives. The hard thing to realize, is that people's lives change dramatically every day due to natural disasters.

O.R 17

For Christmas, I got a book I have waited for to come out. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K Rowling with extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. For those of you who have read all the Harry Potter books, you'll know that in the seventh book, Hermione recieves this book from Dumbledore (in a manner of speaking). At first she is quite confused as to why he would choose to give her that book because it is a collection of stories that are told to young witches and wizards. It is as well known to witches and wizards as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are to muggles(people without magic power). In the end, it ends up being quite an important element. The first story was called The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. It was about this wizard whose father had a magic pot. It provided remedies for the entire muggle town. When the man's father died, he decided to discontinue helping the people of the town with the magic pot. So one day, a woman came to his door and asked him to heal her granddaughter who had awful warts. As soon as he had turned her away, the pot began jumping on its brass leg and started sprouting warts. The wizard continued to ignore the people of the town. With each, the pot took on the symptoms of the townsfolk, jumping on its brass foot the entire time. Finnally, the wizard gives up and begins to help everyone.

O.R 16

So I finished "It's Kind of a Funny Story". It was an alright read, I didn't love it though. The thing that kept me reading was all these interesting people that this boy meets in an insane asylum. Underneath these people's odd quirks, you can see that they are sane. This led me to ask myself... Who really are the sane ones? The people who are constantly trying to hide how they feel and change who they are just to fit in. Or the people who express themselves, no matter how weird and don't care what others think. Who decided that the people who are different should be dubbed insane and cooped up in a mental hospital? Maybe WE are the ones with the problems. I do realize that sometimes people can be a danger to themselves and to others, but aren't we all really? We are constantly putting people down with our cruel words, and we critisize our bodies and how we are which can lead to severe problems. So, with that said...Who really is insane?

O.R 15

I changed my mind about reading the Gossip Girl series again when some books cought my eye in the library. I picked up two, It's Kind of a Funny Story and The Barcode Tattoo. I have already started reading It's Kind of a Funny Story. It is about a teenage boy who is having some problems. I know everyone has problems being a teenager, but this boy, named Craig Gilner, has some serious ones. So far, Craig has gone to his phychiatrist. In the meeting, Craig expressed how everything was so hard. One of the only things he takes joy in is... I know it's weird...going to the bathroom because it is so easy. Craig dreams about how easy it was the last time he was happy.... when he was four. So far, this book seems pretty cool. However, I'm hoping it will get a little more interesting.

O.R 14

GOOD NEWS! Summit can proceed with the New Moon movie! I am already super exited! Robert Pattinson <3 says that although he won't be in it all that much ): it is his favorite and he is really looking forward to it. He says he can't wait to do the scene towards the end where he attempts to reveal himself, which is pretty much suicide for him. For those of you who perfer Jacob to Edward, you should be pretty happy, Taylor Lautner(Jacob) will have a much larger role in this movie than the last. New Moon has werewolves, motorcycles, vampires and so much more. I just have one question, WHEN WILL IT COME???

O.R 13

I have read the Gossip Girl series before, but I wasn't aware they were in a certain order. So I have decided to read them again. I just started with the first one and so far, the story has just been introducing characters left and right. Blaire, Nate, Chuck, Serena. These teens live in New York with pretty much everything they could want in their reach. As long as they keep their public image, they can have anything. Money, booze ect.. But when you can have everything, there is bound to be drama. Serena has returned from a far off school, much to the dismay of her former bff, Blaire who had Nate all to herself while Serena was gone. But now that she's back, who will he choose, Blaire or Serena?