Reading Ahead

You know those people who read the last page of a book to see what happens, well I hate to tell you, but I'm one of those people. While just scanning the pages of Catching Fire, I happened to go to the last page where the last sentence caught my eye. It reads:

But Gale is not one to keep secrets from me. "Katniss, there is no District Twelve."

Sorry to be a spoiler, but I had to read the rest of the page after that. Apparently a lot goes on from the page I last ended at to the end of the book (clearly if there is no District Twelve anymore). Now knowing this bit of information I'll probably end up finishing the book this weekend, if time permits. What could have gone on in District Twelve that has now made it nonexistent? Only reading will tell.

Currently

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Pages This Week: 152
Pages This Semester: 942

Sentences of the Week

1. "Time and space lose meaning as the fog seems to invade my brain, muddling my thoughts, making everything unreal." The Hunger Games

2. "Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there can't ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing is." The Hunger Games

3. "During the last year of her life, Harriet had changed. In some ways this change could be explained as the change that everyone goes through in one form or another during their teenage years. Harriet was growing up." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I chose the first sentence as my sentence of the week because I thought it was interesting how in the book the fog was poisonous, taking over the bodies of those it reached. It would be weird if the fog that brought us school delays was poisonous, then we definitely wouldn't have school that day.

Let The Games Begin...Again

The minute Katniss is raised up on the metal plate into the arena she is surrounded by water. Without even thinking she jumps into the water and starts swimming towards the shore. While Katniss is swimming she begins to realize most of the other tributes haven't moved an inch from their original places, mainly because none of them know how to swim. Most of us don't think about it, but swimming is really a vital thing one needs to know. I can't imagine not knowing how to swim, maybe just because I was taught at a young age, but I do it all the time especially in the summer. Many people in today's world probably get ridiculed for not knowing how to do something so simple a five year old could do. As Katniss realizes most of the others don't know how to swim, she is very grateful she has had the opportunity to learn how to do so.

Currently

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Pages This Week: 154
Pages This Semester: 790

Sentences of the Month

1."People always have secrets. It's just a matter of finding out what they are." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2. "You've got to move more quietly," I say. "Forget about Cato, you're chasing off every rabbit in a ten-mile radius." The Hunger Games

3. "Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there." The Hunger Games

I chose my favorite quote of the month from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo because I find it to be true and relate to everyone. Sometimes you just have to dig a little deeper to find out who someone really is.

Return to the Arena

As Katniss continues to try and lead a normal life and act as if Peeta was the love of her life, things keep getting worse throughout the country of Panem. Uprisings are beginning in more of the districts, mainly because of Katniss and the berry scenario in the games, causing President Snow to become frustrated and unhappy with her. Just when things were finally looking better, everything turns to the worse.

Every 25 years, there is an event called the Quarter Quell in which a special round of the Hunger Games is played to remind those of the dark past of Panem. Well, unfortunately the last Hunger Games, in which Katniss and Peeta won, was the 75th game meaning it's time for another Quarter Quell. President Snow announces that this year the event will involve the reaping of all the Hunger Games victors from each district and then they will all go back into the arena to fight one another. It takes Katniss a minute to realize what he has just said and then it hits her, she's going back into the arena. Since she's the only girl victor from district 12, she automatically is chosen as the girl tribute from district 12 for the Quarter Quell. However, there are two male victors from district 12: Haymitch and Peeta. Haymitch knows that Peeta will end up going in because if Haymitch himself is chosen, Peeta will volunteer to take his place. Katniss is also aware of this so she and Haymitch decide that their goal is to keep Peeta alive.

As Katniss leaves for her second time taking place in the games, she isn't even given the chance to say goodbye to her family, let alone Gale. This tears her apart because she knows she will never see them again after these games, she's positive she's going to die. If I knew I was going to die, the only people I would want to be around would be my friends and family so I can't even begin to imagine what Katniss is going through. Maybe, just maybe, things will turn up in her favor again sending her back home safely to her family.

A Cold Case

Once Mikael has arrived in Hedestad, Sweden, home of the Vanger residence, he is greeted by freezing temperatures and brutal winds. If I were him, I wouldn't want to take a job for a year where I would have to wear over ten layers of clothing just to stay at a comfortable temperature. Although since he is getting paid a couple million for the job, I probably wouldn't blame him for taking it.

As Mikael is settling into his new house, a guest house on the Vanger property, he is discovering how it might be a long year in Hedestad. There is one television, but it only gets the few basic stations, there also is no one else on the island except for the few relatives of Henrik that have decided to continue to live on the island. These select few, however, are not the most talkative and aren't the friendliest of people either. Personally, I would find it very hard to stay somewhere where there was no one to talk to except for the people you are investigating for a murder mystery. And to only have a T.V. that recieved a few stations, talk about being a rough stay. Mikael has already started to think about leaving Hedestad, but with all that money waiting for him once the job has been completed, he can never bring himself to actually leave.

Now adjusted to his new living space, Mikael is beginning to start digging into the mysterious murder of Harriet. Henrik continues to bring boxes over to Mikael's house full of items he has collected since the disappearance of Harriet, which just packs on more information Mikael has to look through. I'm no expert when it comes to investigations, but if you ask me, it sounds like there won't be a conclusion to this mystery for a very long time with all of the possible suspects up in the air.

Claims of the Day

Claims:

1. In this photograph, the contrasting colors of the bench and the grass, along with the thoughtful camera angle, communicate a sense of appreciation and respect for the nature that we seldom acknowledge.
2. The aggressive raw movement and the natural connection of the two dancers from two worlds portrays passionate, seductive, and energetic love by not giving up on their one dream.
3. In this painting of a couple meandering down a sidewalk, the relaxed broshstrokes and comples simplicity of the colors embody a feeling of pleasant passion which mesmerizes with its unassumingly focused design.
4. In the hacking of TIME Magazine's 2009 TIME 100 list, Anonymous perform rebellious yet modern and collaborative shenanigans in an effort to deride TIME, flatter the creator of their idol, and demonstrate their villainous capabilities by rigging the list to place moot at the top and make the first letters of the subsequent first names spell out a message both referential to Anonymous itself and taunting to those reading the message.
5. [In this scene from Vincent van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night , his colorful and exciting use of setting, busy but pleasant mood, and inviting cozy buildings]
    portrays [a sense of playful benevolence and lighthearted liveliness.]

My favorite out of these claims would have to be number 5 because I like how it described the setting of the painting and what was portrayed by it along with the adjectives they used.

Most Interesting Artifact:

http://kebcon.blogspot.com/

All Is Not Lost

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-y7oOto14

Elements and Adjectives

• Coreography- inventive, creative, clever, talented, playful
• Costumes- elegant, modern, distinct, smooth
• Space- small, miniature
• Carriage- graceful, adventurous, energetic
• Music- melodic, peaceful, relaxed

The music group Ok GO and dance group Pilobolus' smooth and elegant costumes along with the modern aspects of movement portray the lyrically pleasant mood of the collaboration in the music video.

Interesting Poems

1. "Gee, You're So Beautiful That It's Starting to Rain" by Richard Brautigan

2. "First Kiss" by April Lardner

3. "September Twelfth, 2001" by X.J. Kennedy

I found these three poems that we have read to be the most interesting to me because I like the style and the subject matter of all three. In the first poem, I liked how it listed different subjects and then gave each a letter grade. The second I liked because it gave many vivid descriptions relating to a first kiss that most could probably find to be true. And for the third poem, I liked how it talked about the terrorist attack on 9/11 from the standpoint of someone who did not lose a loved one or was not in either of the twin towers during the attack.

Currently

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Pages This Week: 158
Pages This Semester: 636

Sentences of the Week

1. "People always have secrets. It's just a matter of finding out what they are." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2. "Life in District 12 isn't really so different from life in the arena." Catching Fire


3. "I'm the kind of girl who, when she might actually be of use, would run to stay alive and leave those who couldn't follow to suffer and die." Catching Fire

My favorite quote this week would have to be the first one from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I liked this one the best because it is very true. Everyone has their own secrets, you just have to figure out what they are to learn who that person really is.

Murderer in the Family

As I've been reading Catching Fire, I have also still been reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The book has just begun to pick up by this point in which Mikael has been offered a job from Henrik Vanger, a well-known business man in Sweden. This is just no ordinary job, but after the whole Wennerstrom affair which has cost Mikael some time behind bars, he is very skeptical about actually accepting the offer. Vanger invites Mikael to his home in which he goes to tell him that he wants Mikael to do two things for him: write an autobiography of his life and discover the murderer of his daughter, Harriet.

Harriet is actually not Henrik's daughter however, she is his nephew's daughter. His nephew, Gottfried, was an alcoholic and abused his wife and kids, so Henrik could not stand to watch the children suffer under their careless parents so he took the kids under his wing and called them his own.

Henrik therefore invites Mikael up to tell him the murder mystery of Harriet hoping that he can solve it. The story goes that one winter day the Vanger family all gathered at the house, now where Henrik lives, to have their annual board meeting of their company. Turns out that the same day there was a terrible accident on the bridge, making it impossible for anyone to get on or off the island to the mainland. During this time though, Henrik believes Harriet was killed by someone in the Vanger family because those were the only people on the island and the fact that Harriet has not been seen since the accident that day.

In addition to Harriet missing, there is another puzzling piece to the story. A couple years before Harriet went missing, she gave Henrik a pressed flower in a frame for his birthday and did it the years that followed before her kidnapping. However, a year after her abduction, Henrik began receiving the same exact thing in the mail for his birthday, in which this has continued for forty plus years. Henrik is certain that it must be someone in his family who is trying to get back at him. Mikael finds the story very intriguing, but he has no previous experience in investigation so he doesn't think he is suited for the job, but after hearing how much money Henrik is offering for the task, he decides to take it anyways.

Overall, the book has been pretty interesting. I have always been intrigued by mysteries so this story seems to suit me well. Even though I know what is going to happen after seeing the movie, the saying is right:

Books are better than the movies.

Catching Fire

So if you didn't already know I finsished reading The Hunger Games, and I've decided to read the next book in the series, Catching Fire. From the beginning I could just tell there was a lot of trouble coming Katniss's way ever since she almost killed herself and Peeta in the arena with the poisonous berries, and boy was I right. Already the president of Panem has come to visit her telling her that she must go around saying that she only was going to kill herself and Peeta in the arena because she was madly in love so it doesn't appear that she was doing it as an act of rebellion against the Capitol. Even though she wasn't actually doing it as an act of rebellion, she isn't exactly madly in love with Peeta either, she loves Gale, so this is going to cause some major problems in the future. In addition to this, Peeta has proposed to Katniss hoping to ease President Snow's fears of an uprising, but to him a proposal will not be good enough. Now that Katniss knows this isn't good enough, she just wants to give up because she knows her true love is Gale and anything her and Peeta do will never be good enough in President Snow's eyes. She's beginning to realize that life in the districts is not as different as life in the arena.

Currently

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Pages Read This Week: 161
Pages Read This Semester: 478

Sentences of the Week

1. "You've got to move more quietly," I say. "Forget about Cato, you're chasing off every rabbit in a ten-mile radius." The Hunger Games

2. Take that away and I'm not really sure who I am, what my identity is. The Hunger Games

3. "This is an enormous improvement over the mud," he says. "Clean clothes and medicine and a sleeping bag...and you." The Hunger Games

So this past week I've been really in to The Hunger Games, which is why all of my posts and sentences of the week are from this book. I mainly chose these sentences because I either thought the were funny, cute, or just something I could relate to. The first sentence I chose obviously because I thought it was humorous. When Katniss and Peeta were walking through the woods Peeta was walking very heavily, as Katniss claims to say, scaring everything away. The second sentence was something I could relate to. Katniss was saying how that if she didn't have to hunt she wouldn't know what her identity is. For me if I didn't dance I think there would be a large part of my identity missing. And as for the third sentence, I chose it because I thought it was cute. When Peeta was getting ready to go to sleep he said this to Katniss, which I found to be a little cheesey, but mostly cute.

The End of a Long Road

After watching the deaths of 22 people, and being left to die in an arena, the winner of the Hunger Games has been declared.

Remember how I said that both tributes from the same district could win? Well right after Cato has been killed, the little voice comes over the loudspeaker saying that this new rule has been revoked and that the rule has gone back to the way it was before. Katniss and Peeta do not want to kill the other so they decide they will both kill themselves. Katniss finds she has some poisonous berries left over so they both decide they will take them so their deaths will be quick and painless. With the berries in the cheeks of their mouths the voice comes on again announcing the Hunger Games winners to be Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Hearing that they have won, they immediately spit out the berries and rinse their mouths. Shortly after the hovercraft comes to take them to safety.

After reading this book it has really got me thinking about events that could possibly take place in the future. As crazy as this book seemed, you never know what could happen later on.

A Change of Plans

As the games continue, Katniss has gained an ally, Rue. Together both divide tasks gathering food, staying on the lookout, and finding hiding spots so they are not found by other tributes. Rue proves to be a great advantage for Katniss despite the fact that she is quite younger than her. Rue knows a lot about the natural food the gamemakers provide in the arena and Katniss knows a lot about hunting meat and setting snares, so together they are the perfect team.

One day, the two decide to split up. Katniss goes in search for some meat while Rue goes to set up a fire for when Katniss returns. While Katniss is on her way back to their campsite, she decides to hum the little melody Rue and her have agreed on for when one of them is near and on their way back (they use this so they are not mistaken for one of the other tributes and accidentally killed). When Katniss realizes Rue is not responding she begins to run, yelling out Rue's name not caring whether or not anyone hears her. Finally, Rue's voice can be heard yelling out Katniss' name. When Rue is in sight, Katniss finds her entangled in a net hanging above the ground. Before Katniss can go to help her, the boy from District 1 kills Rue with his spear. Katniss enraged with anger, shoots an arrow at the boy killing him instantly. Now all alone, Katniss is left to fend for herself again.

The next night, things begin to look better for Katniss. During the nightly routine of the announcement of who is still alive, who died that day, and any other special events, Claudius Templesmith announces a new rule to the tributes. It is that both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive. It takes Katniss a while to realize what he has just announced, thinking it is just a joke considering it has only been one person who could have won the Hunger Games from the time the event began. Finally comprehending what he has said, she yells out Peeta's name without thinking and instantly goes in search for him.

After searching for Peeta day and night, Katniss finally finds Peeta and in not so great of a condition either. She finds him near the stream blended in with the mud and all of the leaves that surround him. Realizing that she has actually found him, she knows instantly that his strong suit during the practice round was camoflauge. Katniss instantly notices Peeta is in very bad condition. Cato has sliced Peeta's leg down to the bone and he is beginning to get blood poisoning. Sounds painful if you ask me, especially since one of my friends from dance got blood poisoning last year from an infected blister.

As Katniss cleans Peeta up from all of his wounds, all she thinks about is how she hopes he will stay alive and that they will win this together.

Week 2 Blog Tour

So here are the blogs I have visited this week:

Apples to Apples
InsideOut
Norwegian Wood
charliebucket
Noodles
Fire Side Reading
The Adventures of Streamer Man
Hidden in a Journal
The lost message of words

Currently

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Pages this week: 165
Pages this semester: 317

Sentences of the Week

1. "Tucking my knees up to my chin, I wait for death." The Hunger Games

2. "If there was any dirt to be dug up, she would home in on it like a cruise missile." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

3. "Salander fitted into this picture about as well as a buffalo at a boat show." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

For the sentences I chose this week, I mainly chose them because they described a character in the story. For the first quote, it is describing Katniss while she is hiding away from the other tributes. Thinking that she is week, she decides to just sit and wait for her own death to come. As for the second and third quotes, they are both describing the character Lisbeth Salander in the book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Lisbeth is a very dark character with a mysterious past. She dresses in all black, has multiple piercings, and keeps all of her emotions to herself. However, she is very good at her job, working for the Milton Security Company. In the business world of people dressed in suits and ties, Lisbeth undoubtedly does not fit in.

Let The Games Begin

In addition to reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I'm still reading The Hunger Games. As of right now Katniss is in the middle of the games, with only ten people remaining out of the original 24. After the first few days of the competition, Katniss has already had several near death encounters.

First, when the competition began Katniss hardly got away from the other tributes. When the gong has been hit, all of the tributes race to get some of the items that have been scattered about by the Gamemakers. All of the items that have been scattered are things the tributes would not be able to find in the environment. When Katniss attempts to grab something, a boy tribute runs toward her with a knife but before he can stab her, another tribute stabs him splattering blood onto Katniss (gross!).

Then when Katniss is walking through the woods, fireballs begin to fall near her. She knows this has been done by the Gamemakers in attempt to make the games more interesting for the audience, and also to kill another tribute. Katniss begins to run to escape the fireballs, but one grazes her leg. Once it has hit her, she stumbles to the ground in pain. Too afraid to look at her leg, Katniss slowly gets up and shuffles to safety.

Also one night when Katniss is sleeping in a tree, she awakens to find two eyes staring at her from another tree. Soon after, she discovers that it is the little girl tribute, Rue. Rue points out to her that there is a trackerjacker nest above her in the tree, a deadly wasp/bee created by the Capitol during the war. Hearing that the Career Tributes are beneath the tree Katniss is in, she decides to cut the branch off that the nest is on and drop it onto them. If one is stung by one of these deadly insects, it could possibly cause death. So Katniss drops the branch onto them sending them all fleeing from the site. Unfortunately Katniss was also stung a couple of times by the bug, causing her to stumble around and halucinate.

So far, the games have been going towards Katniss' favor, I just hope they continue to stay that way. Peeta still is hanging around the career tributes, which Katniss does not like at all. She doesn't want the career tributes to kill him off thinking he is useless, but then again she doesn't want to be the one to kill him either. Katniss continues to puzzle over these questions as the game continues on, but hopefully thinking about them won't distract her too much from the games.