Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore Post Reading Post

"We all have the same hardware, but not the same software."

In Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore the main character Clay what you could call a "tech nerd." Clay becomes unemployed and looks relentlessly for employment. He soon becomes a worker at a bookstore.  Oblivious of the adventure he had stepped in he soon discovers a secret society.

This novel has interesting look into the world of technology and mysteries. In the story we meet Clay, a young man living in San Francisco. Clay has a  thing for technology especially different softwares. As we get to know him more we see his love for things blogging, aesthetics, and Google. This quote applies to him in various ways. If you look at it just as the quote reads you can see it as his love for technology. We all have hardware without it we couldn't have software. Software makes up the hardware which are things that are physical. Phones and computers would be hardware but yet if you don't have a software you can't operate either. The irony between the two is that you can't have either you have to have both because they depend on each other. If you think about the relationship it's almost like the operation of humans, without your body you're nonexistent but without vital organs you can't function. The meaning that can be told through the book is the struggle of deciphering codes for secret messages. In the novel Clay defines codes and without knowing simple trend or softwares to actually define the hardware Clay may not have been abel to solve any of the puzzles that were thrown his way.

To my everyday life this shows that people are all made of the same parts but no one is the same. There are many people in the world and not one of them are the same to another. As I'm getting older I have began noticing different people and their circumstances. The diversity in the world is something that exists but sometimes isn't excepted even though we're all human. The thing is we all have different beliefs, genders, ethnicities, race, and sexualities. When people identify themselves with the software of who they are and isn't excepted they're upon with disdain. Women who try to cross the barrier that men and society has set we get looked at as if we've done something deplorable. In society we all have different views on everything even if we have similar hardware we all have different softwares.
 "Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering."

- Bill Gates

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore Pre-Reading Post

Write a blog post that explains what books can do for a person, especially related to yourself.

Books are an immortal light to an author's vision. Books have lessons and meanings behind them. For many books can take you on a journey to the past or the future. Books have always been a way to get lost in in someone else's imagination. When I read books my favorite thing is to seek out the message behind different events.

In books I've always learned values and morals through characters. Character development is something that shows me how someone changes and that change is alright. Reading books have always brought me comfort especially when I can relate to the main character and their inner conflicts. One of my favorite things about reading is that you can choose any date or time that want it to be. I've always loved the nostalgia of the past even though the past was anything but perfect. For people, being able to live in a time where they don't exist is something that gives them the chance to. I personally love stories written about the twentieth century because people like to say they were "simpler times." While I loved the aesthetic, movie, fashion, and music from that time it wasn't easy or simple for anyone. Books show the problems of these times, the racism, sexism, and homophobia. Reading can also introduce new aspects of creativity. Before I got into middle school I didn't read that often and my creativity was at zero. But since the seventh grade I've found reading to be intriguing and it has made my imagination and creativity brighter.

I think everyone can say that they have a book that is immortal and can never get old no matter how many times you read it. In books you can always have a different outlook than someone else. Books are almost like the gateway to emotions. When you read a book and then there's something to the words that make them more than words but it makes them art. When you can then take that art and apply it to your life you know that you've experienced the depth of a book.

 "If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all."
~Oscar Wilde

Post Reading: Brave New World

         Fear and ignorance are both ideas that live in our head. I feel that ignorance however is more detrimental due to fact that you are not in the know about how you are controlled.
         In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the citizens are under an illusion that the world that they live in is a perfect world. The truth about their government is that anything that could bring them knowledge or realization is taken from them. The government has taken away people’s right to read, have religion, or even have a natural human relationship including sexual reproduction. To me this is should be feared more because in this form of government you would be too ignorant and blind to even realize what was happening to you and why any of it would be wrong.
         In the novel they’re many things that take place that aren’t accepted in society today. They have the idea that Henry Ford is somewhat of God and should be worshipped and this is believed because religious texts were prohibited under the government. In the society of Brave New World the use of the drug soma is present when the characters face internal conflict and wish to be free from their thoughts. The drug however isn’t illegal in their government, this is because it makes it easier for the government to control the mind of the people which makes it less likely for rebellion. Since drugs are abused by the citizens the high of the drug causes a fake happiness and this makes the ignorance from the citizens increase. In the novel children are allowed to perform in sexual excursions and is passed off as being play today we look upon this in disgust. Many people today have knowledge to know that sexulizing children is not right but in their society they see nothing wrong with it because this is what they are taught and supposed to believe. Babies are also subjects to tests from the moment that they are born they have beliefs that are meant to be engraved in their minds. Without the freedom to think for themselves as adults a caste system is created between the different classes of people and what they feel is right and wrong.
        I feel that the author's use of ignorance being happiness can be seen in living today. It shows that the things that we find happiness and brilliance in can be dangerous and harm us. People like Lenina were always blind to everything and believed that the idealistic world that lived in was honest and true. In the end without knowledge, people are unfairly controlled and stripped of their rights.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

-Albert Einstein

Triangulation Essay

Could you imagine a world without creativity? Could you imagine having no identity or rights to your own mind? That’s what countless writers have illustrated in the mind of society today. The dystopian ideas of everyone being the same, everyone being a slave to society, and even their mind. But what happens when rebellion sparks?

In societies of those presented in the movie Antz and the stories “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem live in ignorance, fear, and oppression. Government doesn't give you the power to make your own choices and creates the idea that everything is done for the good of the people. Oppression is the systematic way that the citizens are controlled and abused. In both Anthem and Antz your job placement is defined by government to stifle and ideas, potential, or excellence anyone may have. In “Harrison Bergeron” the government uses masks, weights, and earpieces which were known as handicaps. Handicaps were meant for everyone to have the same level of abilities and thoughts it kept everyone from being better than anyone else. Many people believed the government to be honest and true and some were simply not afraid to speak out against the government, however three brave souls had the courage to do so.

Harrison, Z, and Equality were the names of the young men who attempted to reform society. The three courageous males had felt the sadness and oppression that was bearing on their shoulders. All had outside of the box ideas and ways of thinking. Harrison a 7 foot tall fourteen-year old who lives in a world filled with masked beauty and handicaps. Equality a twenty-one year who lives in less modern yet futuristic world where originality is scorned upon. Z who stands at only a few centimeters is tired of living in a colony where he doesn't matter. While all these characters have their differences they all have the same want and intentions and that was to be emancipated from the servitude of their government. The three not being average as everyone else had open eyes of the ways of their oppressors which soon lead into the start their rebellions. All three resulting in different ways the government was effected.

As Equality makes new scientific discoveries and Z attempts to find himself and love Harrison makes plans to create rebellion in a much different light. While both Z and Equality have philosophies and knowledge that surrounds their rebellion the insurgence Harrison came from place of violence and control. He does get freedom, while it’s short lived. In the end while Harrison was killed by the Handicap General, the leader of his government. Equality proposes light, his new invention to the world council and when he learns they have no means of improvement of society and soon flees the scene into what he knows as uncharted land. He is followed by Liberty whom he has fallen for. As they venture off into the woods they soon discover an old home and starts a new life and civilization. Z becomes known as war hero to his fellow ants and soon embarks on a journey along with the kidnapped princess. He returns soon to save the colony from the annihilation of the government he becomes renown and every ant gets their individual rights.

Utopia isn't a place that can be reached due to the fact everyone has a different idea of what a perfect civilization is. In a homogeneous world without creativity or imagination it stifles people as individual. Individuality and identity should be defined through the feelings and thoughts of a person. The dystopian stories show us a look into the future where freedom isn't a choice and thinking for yourself is wrong. The tales teach us that your freedom is a right that shouldn't be taken from you.

Brave New World Pre Reading Blog

The first mentions of utopia came from ancient Greece in 1516. The word's roots literally means "no place". In every society that has ever been mentioned through the countless stories that I've read nothing is ever perfect to everyone, there is always an outlier. Nothing can be perfect in the eyes of everyone because everyone has a different idea of their perfect society this is why an utopia can never be achieved.

Recently I've had a feeling that the America that I live in today is almost distopic. I look around and realize the country that I've been placed in a place stolen from another culture. A country were people were once enslaved. A country were women and men aren't equal, cultures aren't appreciated, and people are poor and homeless. I listen to people speak of materialistic as if they somehow make them better than people who can't afford things. It seems that people are blinded by the privelege America has given them to see the bad and sadness this county has caused people. Sometimes I sit and think of these facts and then I start to see a place that is far but idealistic for the future.

In my perfect society I see equality amongst all people but in a way that creativity isn't stifled. Creativity would be a big part of my society art, music, and new inventions anything that was new and innovative would be rewarded and praised but mediocrity wouldn't be. With this equality men and women  would be equals to each other and have respect for each other without misandry or misogyny. There would be no crazy beauty standards that people would have to abide to to seem attractive or wanted. Men and women would know about the cultures of others and respect them but would refrain from appropriating the ideas of others and claiming them as theirs. In my idealistic society people would be able to marry who they want, women and women and men and men and they wouldn't be judged for loving who they love. I would want to live in modern society where technology is prosperous but isn't taking jobs from people rather than helping make people's jobs easier. I would want people to learn and know the pain behind civilization and all the people who struggled everyday. This I'd my idealistic idea of how things should be people being having complete individuality to express themselves.

These are my dreams for America.  It's hard to be a woman in this country and being black is just as hard. Sometimes I think that if everything in this country stays the same then what are the chances for future generations? What are the chances of my future? I like to keep an open mind that things can change and that we'll live in world were people  are excepted no matter who they are and choose to be.

 "Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle."
- Kendrick Lamar  

Borderline Post Reading Blog

"Rumors are way more exciting than the truth, so they're what people believe."

In Borderline the main character, Sami  is faced with a many obstacles. Sami and his family are from Muslim heritage and are discriminated by their community. Sami also doesn't fit in at his school and is being bullied. All of these issues  dwindle in meaning as his father is arrested  for terrorism.

The news begins to spread all around the town. Sami begins to deal with the people around him speaking negatively of is family and his father. The interesting thing about the whole situation is that many people don't stop to question if any of it is true or not. Most people see it easy to believe that a man of Muslim heritage is capable of being a terrorist. Also something I know is that people love drama most people find it entertaining    or exhilarating to see it played out. Many people aside from Sami and his mother saw the whole scandal as truth due to these factors. Eddy, Sami's bully is one of his many peers who finds the news of Sami's family true. Sami is mocked by the accusations of his father and even when they turn out to be false everyone's still suspicious. Rumors like these, are created by stereotypes and while they may seem invalid they happen everyday.

In my everyday I hear rumors, as do many people. I'm a quiet person and I happen to hear many things around my peers. While I wish that I didn't find gossip to be entertaining it is one of my many flaws. I can personally speak upon myself when I say that humans sometimes succumb things like drama. Humans often look past the truth because seeing a rumor as the truth is much more fun to believe. I hear things in the hallways and see fights and for some reason I find it easier to watch or listen than to leave. We also find comfort in seeing that someone else's life isn't as bad as ours. I believe that it comes with being a person that we have certain weaknesses and we've been subjects of listening or even being apart of gossip.  While these things are harsh they are some of the darker sides to being a human.

"Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

-Benjamin Franklin

Borderline Pre-Reading Post

Write a blog post that defines the difference between the "truth" and the "whole truth."

I believe in the truth. Honesty can sometimes be hard to admit. When people want to avoid lying but they don't want to tell the whole truth they usually tell bits of the truth. The whole truth I believe is when you tell truth from beginning to end almost like a summary. In life I believe that the difference between which option you pick depends on the circumstances.

For me I have told the truth but not the whole truth before. My thought process was that if I don't lie and tell parts of the truth I would be able to get by with things I've done. I personally I don't believe in lies I feel that they're one of the most distrustful things a person can do. However it's in our human nature to lie as well. People usually don't tell the whole truth because they know it could hurt someone or it could get them out of trouble. I try to keep my hands clean of anything that is even close to this concept because it can get messy at times. From my own experience I've found it difficult to tell the whole truth about grades. By doing this it  comes back to bite me when progress reports are released and my grades aren't bad but not as well as I've  portrayed them to be. By not telling the complete truth it taught me that even though I didn't lie I still messed up and that instigated a sticky situation.

The whole truth is the concept of telling events that have truly happened  from beginning to end. Telling the actual truth sometimes takes a lot of courage and strength because it's not always the easiest thing to do. I feel that when you tell someone something that is true it's almost as if you're free from guilt and self conscience. When you lie or don't tell the complete truth you could be put in bad place with the people around you and could become resentful towards your actions. In my life I have always been tought and have learned through my own experiences  that honesty may not always be easy but it is always the right thing to do.

" It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."
-George Washington

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Post Reading

“I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical, but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”
In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time the main character Christopher has a very logical way of thinking things out. In the novel Christopher solves a mystery of his neighbor’s dog, Wellington. Throughout the novel Christopher takes you through his thought process of everything that he does in his everyday life and while solving any mysteries that happened during the book. Christopher has also been diagnosed with asperger’s syndrome which means that it is hard for him to communicate with other people and he often takes things in a very literal sense. He never understands things in a figurative sense like idioms for example they confuse him. Christopher believes in the logical use of prime numbers as well. Prime numbers don’t have a divisor greater than one and itself. In many way prime numbers are like the mysterious ways of Wellington’s investigation. When Christopher found out that his mother who was believed to be deceased was alive and sending letters to Mr.Shears the only answer that made sense as to why his mother who; should have been six feet under was sending letters was because she was in fact alive. In the end Christopher reached the goals that he set out to reach through his logical and reasonable thinking.
In life you can never question why things happen the way that they do or how fate works it just does. Prime numbers just for some reason happen to work just like life does. In my life I try hard to think things through in a rational way. I’m known to be very optimistic, kind, and maybe even nerdy but the way to be able to stay sane in life is to not to let your emotions come to par with certain things. Emotions are hard to deal with because they have a way of making situations messy at times. In my mind there are many ways that things can play out however the right way to do is always the way that you naturally go toward or fated to do. In my fourteen years of life I have been verbal altercations a few times this is an example of a time when  logical thinking would have been the better decision to make. When us as people act on emotions rather than logic we sometimes dig holes that is are hard to get out of.
In both the novel and my own life I have learned that logic can be a systematic and rational way of thinking. Christopher taught me something valuable and that was that emotions may be a good way outlet for your feelings rational thinking is an amazing way to deal situations.

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”
― Galileo Galilei

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help Essay

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the motion picture called The Help many people are subjects to racism and poverty. Atticus Finch once said “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” Few characters in both the novel and movie take this quote into play, many others too scared of the change that it might bring. Courage, a major lesson in each piece of literature was something that many people each period of time. While the two both have many more things in common they’re also many comparisons in the way that both are taught.

In the novel To Kill a Mocking bird a young girl named Scout tells the story of an African American man who was accused of rape and put on trial in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. The Help was told through the perspective of a young adult living in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. Skeeter seeks to tell the story of African American maids in book that she’s writing. In ways Scout and Skeeter have many things a like; they’re both strong willed and determined girls who don’t reduce themselves to the sexism of both eras. They both have strong feelings for equality of the races and have both have strong bonds with the maids that raised them. Characters in The Help could also be seen or compared to those in To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance Arthur Radley also known as Boo Radley was a reclusive man who did little things to show Scout and her brother Jem that the rumors about him being a bad person weren’t true. Boo could compare with Celia Foote who was labeled false accusations of Jackson’s ladies who labeled as a cheat. Celia tried to do things to be friendly to Hilly and Elizabeth but they refused her kindness. The settings of both the stories take part in their similarities. Both stories take place in the south where worlds like “colored” and “negro” are used often in the segregated America.

While they’re many aspects that they both have in common there are also things that differ in both the novel and movie. In To Kill a Mockingbird the tone could be serious and dreary on the topic of racism and Tom Robinson. While The Help had serious moments it could also be humorous and lively at times even when the subject at hand was just as serious. The Help goes through the motions of showing everyone’s perspective as well. Ablileen, Minny, and other maids got to share their stories in however the Finch’s maid Calpurnia rarely shares many of her opinions in the novel. This is another way of showing the diversity in each story. The biggest thing that sets the two apart is the story line for them both. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of black man named Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white woman. Tom is put to trial and is defended by Atticus Finch where he is convicted in an unjust law system. It also tells stories of Scout, Jem, Dill and the troubles that they all get into. The Help is about a young girl called Skeeter, fresh out of college seeking a career in journalism. She decides to interview black maids in which they all share their encounters working for white families.

                In conclusion both the novel and the movie have a meaning much more significant. Within both fictional works of art the lesson being taught is much more extraordinary. Skin color is not defining neither is gender or the amount of money you have, equality of all is much more important. If you reflect on the courage that Atticus had to defend an African American man. The courage of Skeeter, Ablileen, and the several other maids to not only be women to but to see both races as equal. That’s what they both sought out to teach. When believe in the right thing don’t be afraid to be heard and to make a change especially when it could have a powerful impact on other people’s lives as well.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Think of a time when someone close to you lied to you.  Write a blog post that describes what happened; what did they lie about, why did they lie, how did it make you feel, how did the action effect your relationship with that person.

In life I have learned that people can sometimes make promises that they don’t intend to keep. The question that I have been asking is why lie when telling the truth is the easier and the more honorable thing to do? Being lied to has to be one of the most gut-wrenching feelings. When a person you gave your trust to betray you there is almost no way to describe the feeling other than hurt and disappointed. This a story from a personal experience.

I have always been I a bit of a naive and shy person and sometimes people like that are the easiest to take advantage of. I once knew a girl. The girl an old friend from the past. She was a person who could be described as “cool” among society and peers. It was a time where I felt that we had the most unbreakable friendship. When we hung out I felt almost like I fit in with people like her loud, unapologetic, and popular. I soon learned that she had silently un-friend-ed me, she had went weeks silently drifting from me. I would ask if we were still friends and she’d answer with yes and a small smile. In the end she just dusted me off like dirt on shoulder and went on about our life. I later found the reason she never told me face to face is because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. At the time I felt that she was the coldest person I had ever met. I felt small and self-conscious always wondering if other people would like me. It isn't until today that I now understand that the nameless girl wasn't a liar but I was. Somewhere inside myself I knew exactly what she was doing but I pushed those feelings away because I was scared of being lonely, the funny thing is while doing this I was already alone.

In the end she taught me something if someone doesn't appreciate my unique yet quirky-awkwardness that’s okay because someone someday will. One of those people happened to be me. I haven’t talked to that girl ever since the end of seventh grade year. If I could I’d thank her for teaching me some valuable lessons. She taught me that friends are people who inspire, encourage you, and make you happy. You can make your own happiness. most importantly self-worth comes from within.

“My ultimate goal is to end up being happy. Most of the time.”

-Taylor Swift