LOTF Chapter 12

Well well well, it looks as though we have, sad to say, reached the end of LOTF. I must say, I was expecting (and kinda hoping for) a much bloodier and brutal ending than what went down, but nevertheless I enjoyed the book overall.

The last chapter reminded me faintly of The Hunger Games, in the scene where Katniss is sprinting through the fire, although she is not, in fact, being chased by a pack of feral boys. On the subject of feral boys, Ralph seems to really revert in this chapter, wildly stabbing and screaming and running for his life. One of the best things about this book is how very harsh and realistic it is, really making us think about what WE would do if we were in their place. My only complaint is annotating. I really don't much care for annotating, I just like to read and enjoy and process the book my own way, but I do see why it's necessary, making sure people actually do the reading and understand important passages. I am quite glad we read this book and will someday give it to my kids to read.

Reading Focus With a Hint of Depression

For maximum effect, listen to this whilst reading-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh7vy7KJb6s

Well, it's been a long 2 hours trying to recover my Reading Focus Chart. That's right, it's all gone. 11 chapters of hard work, down the drain. It's disheartening, I assure you, to have to re-do EVERYTHING but of course, I'll end up doing it. I'm just so....so tired......imagine a two hour pause here, whilst I do my chart.



Sigh......I'm back. Well, saddened as I am, heres some hearty "evil" music for you all to enjoy while I discuss evil in LOTF............... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrX-QmcyhIA
Moving along, here are 3 majorly "evil" things that went down so far in LOTF.
1. The beating of Robert-pg. 114: The boys really lose control here, letting loose their dark sides as they brutally beat and even stab at this defenseless boy simply because they think of him as a pig, prey, and they are so stuck in that mindset they don't realize he's a real human.
“Ow! Stop it! You’re hurting!”
2. The Sacrifice to the Beast-pg. 137: This is a pretty weird one, and it deals sorta with some ancient forms of worship. See, Jack decides to leave an offering to the "beast" so that he may appease it, an offering of flesh. This is a big no-no, as he is worshipping a monster or even Lucifer himself, so the evil here is just palpable.
“This head is for the beast. It is a gift.”
3. The Death of Simon-pg. 152: Here is where even Ralph and Piggy, previously so "pure" join in the savages cruel "Dance" and lose themselves in the frenzy, ending up killing their friend Simon. They turned away from civilization and got a taste of the wild side, and both feel very guilty afterwards.
"The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed."

LOTF Chapter 11

Well, I can't say I'm TOO surprised. (or saddened, for that matter) I've always had a strong loathing for Piggy, hes the type of guy I absolutely despise-Whiny, loud, annoying, nosey, and just a downright brat. It was indeed a very exciting chapter, what with their stupid shell finally being shattered (how an ordinary shell survived this long, I'll never know)

In any case, I was interested by the part where Jack and Ralph tussled, because even though they were both armed with lethal weapons, neither of them dared to inflict grave wounds upon one another. There was the symbolism of the shell breaking, symbolizing Ralph's role as chief has ended. There is also Piggy's death, which does not simply mean the death of an annoying character, so much as a death of logic and reason on such a savage island. Ralph is on the run, and the optimist may hope that he makes it to a ship just in the nick of time, but the realist (me), is sure that this will not end well, that even if Ralph escapes the island, he will still be haunted by memories of smoke, writhing orange flames, and a tribal dance which he left part of himself behind in.
~Charles

Reading, Etc.

Well, I honestly can't quite remember everything I've read this semester and over the summer, but I can try. I read the first 3 books in the Game of Thrones series, the full set of manga for Deadman Wonderland and High School of the Dead plus a lot of Fairy Tail and Naruto. I'd say the most challenging would be A Game of Thrones, as there are so many characters and there is so much going on all at once. Naruto would be the next most challenging, as it too has a lot of characters and a plot so complicated you would have thought it inconceivable. Then Deadman Wonderland and then High School of the Dead.

I have learned that, as a reader, almost everything I read is fantasy. Maybe I'm trying to escape this bleak, unforgiving world and indulge in the untold miracles that can unfold in fantasy. I am a very strong reader, that I already know, but my real weaknesses lie in non-fiction, as I can't focus nearly hard enough to understand and just get bored with whatever material I happen to be reading. Therefore, I should probably try to practice reading one or two non-fiction books as my reading. Speaking of reading...


Reading Log-
Saturady-Work on Literary Analysis, 30 mins.
Sunday-A Feast for Crows and Naruto Manga, 2 hrs.
Total Pages-about 150

LOTF Chapter 10

Chapter 10 was less of a "happening" chapter (up until the end) and more of a "reflection" chapter where Ralph and Piggy have to think of what to do next. It is strongly implied that both of them lost control at the dance and actively participated in killing Simon.

They are both, of course, deeply upset that not only is their good friend dead, both contributed to his demise. Both are very upset, Ralph a little more so than Piggy. Piggy tries to reassure him but it sounded more to me like he was trying to convince himself. After they both have sufficiently made their feelings known on what happened at the dance, they speak little. Meanwhile, a bright day dawns on the savages across the island. They plan on getting some meat soon (shocker), but Jack also says a line about trying to stay on the Beast's good side. Will there be more sacrifices? I'm not sure but I have a sneaking suspicion something of that sort will happen again. And finally, at the end, Jack and his raiders have aquired a tool to make fire, courtesy of Piggy's stolen glasses. They now have a huge leg up on Ralph and Piggy and I'm sure now have something Ralph and Piggy will be sure to go after.

LOTF Chapter 9

Well, the blogs just keep comin. Chapter 9 was a letdown but also a major victory to me, I'm not sure how it seemed to you all. I was disappointed that Simon had died in such a brutal fashion, I liked him and his pondering quite a lot. However, my topic being evil, I have become a bit obsessed with Roger and am now captivated  by his actions and his sadistic mindset.

It always bothers me when I know something characters don't, and when Simon wasn't able to tell Ralph and Piggy about the Beast I was frustrated with him and his odd ways of walking right into a crazy tribal dance. But, it was still a pretty cool way to go, stabbed multiple times by what used to be your friends with the flickering flames cackling at your blood pooling in the sand. It went very quickly from a casual get together feast to this full-blown war dance that even then spins out of control. This was rather off to me, but perhaps it's my "civilized manners" not comprehending the savages behaviors. Another thing which is pretty neat about Roger and Simon-they are essentially Christ vs the Anti-Christ, respectively, which gives me reason to believe that something Simon has done will come back to bite Roger. Or perhaps the allusion could be a lot less subtle and have Simon be full-on resurrected, that would be pretty cool. In any case, not a whole lot of evil this chapter as opposed to savagery.

LOTF Ch.8

Well, one very trippy chapter done, ladies and gentlemen. Chapter 8 is one of the weirdest chapters yet, featuring a speech by a talking pig's head, a pig getting a spear rammed up her butt, and Jack and his gang of wackos leaving Ralph's group to form a savage "tribe" of sorts.

When Jack left I wasn't particularly disappointed, but I was interested by how Roger went with him, probably because without restraint, without civilization, Roger will become something of a insane killing machine. We get another example of his sadism this chapter when he shoves a spear up the pigs butt. Now, perhaps it was a mistake, but I very much doubt one would fail so catastrophically at hunting that you would accidentally shove a spear up the rear end. It was a cruel thing to do, feeding, no doubt, his sadistic inclinations and a great source of amusement. And then this pig's decapitated head strikes up a conversation with Simon, in a manner of arrogance and experience, plus his sly way of speaking, that reminds me very much of how Lucifer confers with Jesus on several occasions.The head also refers to itself as "the Beast", another name for Lucifer. Simon resists best he can, but ends up succumbing to the darkness. Also, it sounds almost like he puts the head on, like a mask. Which reminds me not only of Leatherface, but of an anime called Deadman Wonderland. Anyway, thanks for reading.
~Charles

LOTF Ch. 7 (Plus, I need your help)

Another thrilling installment of my ongoing required reading of LOTF. (Should I do commentaries? I think that'd be fun, comment a suggestion, perhaps?) Anyway, chapter 7 just seems to keep tensions high and all the readers on their toes. There is a disturbing development, probably the most famous, I know, I just was really......disturbed by it. I'm referring to, of course the scene where Jack and his band of merry nutjobs start to pretend Robert is a pig, and Ralph joins in on the fun. At first it's all good, everybody's having fun, but then Robert's squeals of delight turn to ones of distress.

Ralph and the hunters go ballistic, screaming "kill it! kill it!", etc, while jabbing at this little BOY, notice he is not a pig, with their spears. I was sure something like this would develop honestly, and I was not disappointed. I mean, in reality, if it was ME embroiled in this whole ordeal with being stuck on an island, etc, I have an honest feeling that I'd end up killing, perhaps even backstabbing, in order to survive. However, I probably would be suicidal at this point, so I might even beg someone to kill me instead. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the agony of choice. In any case, I was terrified by Ralph, the leader himself, stoop to such low levels, turning completely wild here and losing control. I'm also very interested to see what Roger will do next, the way he is so quiet and his rather suspicious behavior on the way up the cliff, I have a feeling he is a true force to be reckoned with.

LOTF Chapter 6

Chapter 6 was very intersting to me as it seems we  finally learn more about this exotic "beast" that all the hooligans are always blabbering on about. My guess here is that its the corpse of the paratrooper /rescuer/Jurassic park re creationist is going to be the big, scary "beast." I sure hope the kids do something intelligent for once and use the parachute once they find it for a useful purpose.

Of course, I also wish that the kids would quit listening to Ralph just because he has the  conch, it really  bugs me. Speaking of Ralph, things arent lookin too hot for him at the mo, his mental state seems to possibly be deteriorating at an  even grater rate, as he goes a little off the  handle when he thinks of the fire being out and screams at the boys to get to the fire. He also seems to be having hallucinations of some sort, where a smoky shadow flits across his vision in the blink of an eye. I'm not sure if this is really important, but it may be some sort of foretelling for the coming of disaster in the form of fire or darkness, or maybe its  just Ralph being ever more obsessed with fire and smoke, he has such an odd affection for it. Anyway, thanks for readin,


" From here on out, this world shall know true pain!"- Pain of the Akatsuki

~Charles

Reading Times

Wednesday-30 mins
Thursday- 30 mins
Sunday-1 hour and 30 mins

I read a little LOTF and some Deadman Wonderland manga

Total pages-147

Evil Afoot in LOTF

Well, as the title obviously implies, my topic to "track", so to speak, is evil. We see a lot of not necessarily evil things going on, dissent and some minor feuds. However, there is an instance where the word evil is actually used to describe some sinister looking trees. It seems also to show in this book that on that on the whole, the night is full of terror and fear and is driven by some evil force. This said "evil" seems to spread fear among the boys, giving them nightmares and also just spooking the living bejeezus out of them. I

If I really had to guess who would end up the main "villain" responsible for this evil, it's probably gonna be the ever-irksome Piggy or that shifty guy Simon who seems to just disappear for a while to suddenly come back, though he never says what he as been doing and really doesn't say much at all. One of those two, I bet, is going to end up killing one of the boys, or doing something malicious and bring the hand of evil upon them. Well, thanks for reading.

~Charles

Midterm Review

I am pretty clear on much of our material studied in class, but I think a refresher course on things like theme and writing processes would benefit me and many of my classmates, frankly because it was late and everyone was exhausted, a big biology test, among other stress issues made it difficult to focus. Reviewing this material, which I'm sure will be on the exam, seems like a good idea. Also, since we did short stories what seems like forever ago, I'd request we go over on it. Basically, a short version of this blog is that we should do just a general overview of all that we've done thus far, at least as far as short stories go.

Reading Times-
Tuesday November 22nd- 1 hour
Wednesday November 23rd- 1.5 hrs.
About 100 or so pages

I read a bit ahead in Lord of the Flies and also found my Feast for Crows book and read that.

LOTF-In Class Mayhem

Well, things in class didn't really go so well once we were let loose to think up our survival plans. No one really seemed to focus on the essentials, like food and fresh water, and we ended up trying to vote on what sort of governmental structure we would have. Things got nuttier all the while, with suggestions and cannibalism all being thrown around. If we were seriously thrown onto an island, however, I think things would either escalate very quickly to "survival of the fittest" if we lost our cool, or would go pretty well if we stayed calm and rational. We have some great minds in our class, but we also have some sadly naive ones as well, and unless they faced up to harsh relaity, we'd be in some deep trouble.

I find the subject of kids on an island and human nature to be extremely interesting, as understanding the human psyche and the true, primal feelings deep down seems just so complex and intriguing to me. An issue I can foresee us having is the urge all humans have, to mate. At this point, it goes into speculation, so buckle up. The girls would probably be bullied into harvesting fruits, etc, while all the guys go out and  hunt. Now, what's going to happen if one of the guys in our camp just up and decides to rape one of the girls? What kind of law enforcement would we be able to deploy? And what happens if the whole camp descends into anarchy and thievery and rape and even murder occur? Surely, we'll have  to end up spreading our population across the island, but it should be in some form of consensual engagement. Truthfully, I put our chances of  obeying the laws and everyone  surviving at about 20%. If we don't cooperate, how will we function? Another thing that will probably happen-the class will divide into sects, at least into "Nerds" and "TryHards", perhaps even further than that, who knows? In either case, there would need to be separate rulers and separate villages, and trade would have to be established. It could all get very complicated here, but it's all guesswork, eh? So, no worries, no ones standing over you in the middle of the night with a sharpened coconut shell............................................................just yet.

Reading Times-
Sunday-2.5 hrs
LOTF
Deadman Wonderland Manga
Total Pages- About 215

The Wubz

Dubstep is a relatively new genre of music, but is quickly gaining momentum as more and more people are drawn in by its powerful "drops" and the innovative new syncopation. Dubstep is, I'd say, kind've like hardcore Electro. The songs usually have no singing, an interesting feature that some artists defy and some do not. Many dubstep songs are remixes of other songs, though artists like Tristam and Skrillex and others do original pieces. Dubstep songs are usually pretty darn long, lasting from around 3-11 minutes each. Some groups, such as Monstercat, bring a collaboration of dubstep artists and their best songs together into hour-long mixes. One of my favorites- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTD1jfPUMw

Dubstep is about as controversial as My Little Pony (which I also recommend) on the Internet, with fanatics and haters widespread. Oh, and I almost forgot the structure of Dubstep. Usually the songs start out with a trance (slow repeating beats), followed by some rising tension until the song reaches its climax at the "drop". Dubstep drops are always the fastest, heaviest, and most powerful beat section of the dubstep song, and sometimes the song can have more than one. I highly recommend dubstep to all reading this post, as it is a growing and ever-improving music genre that is exclusive to the Internet and it needs as much support as it can get.

~Charles Out

Reading Response

Well, looks like its back to reading responses. I think its high time SOMEBODY said something about manga. I am relatively new to manga and Japanese culture in general, so if I make a mistake don't hesitate to correct me. While I LOVE reading books like "Game of Thrones", I sometimes dislike having to think of totally everything myself. Sometimes its nice to sit back and enjoy fights and understand concepts with the aid of images. Manga utilizes pictures, yes, but not in a childish manner. These pictures are often necessary to portray a certain scene or moment in the story.

Seeing fights drawn out, seeing the sweat and blood caking a corpse's face, wondering at beautiful bolts of lightning streaking across the page....well, that's just what reading is meant to be. I am a huge supporter of books and manga alike, so please don't everybody go nuts. The way the artist behind Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto-san) does his work, he really wants to convey a message of tolerance and of never giving up, and as a Brony I stand behind him. Everybody go check out Naruto the manga and the anime as well, I promise you won't regret it!









Reading Times-
Monday-15 mins
Tuesday- 20 mins
Wednesday- 15 mins
Thursday-10 mins
Friday- 1 hr
Today (Saturday)- 30 mins

I read mostly Naruto manga and Game of Thrones this week- about 200 pages.

Reading Response, etc.

Reading Times-
14 mins. Monday "The Garden of Forking Paths"
6 mins. Tuesday "The Sniper"
15 mins. Wednesday "Cathedral"
2 hrs. Today (Saturday) "Fairy Tail"
Total pages- about 235

I read the short stories "The Sniper", "The Garden of Forking Paths", and "Cathedral" for my short story readings. Well, the Garden of Forking Paths made no sense whatsoever, so I highly doubt there will be much of a thesis from that. Cathedral seemed to mostly just be about understanding and accepting others and their differences, which I think would make for a lame thesis. The Sniper, though, touched on the importance of loyalty and of duty to your country, as well as the possible repercussions of them.

I noticed that the unknown sniper, the protagonist, seems to be in an area of civil war, and sided with the side that he agreed with the most and was willing to go to great measures to protect and raise up what he believed in. His brother, the counter-sniper, also did the same, but chose a different side, a different team. Their battle seemed almost symbolic in the way that it showed civilian casualties, betrayal, pain, and the glorious sunrise. I'm not quite ready to fully delve into a thesis, but I shall think on it and get back to you, loyal audience. That civil war was truly "brother against brother"

Reading Times

Saturday-1 hr, Fairy Tail Manga
Sunday-1 1/2 hrs., Fairy Tail Manga and HOTD Manga

Total of 2.5 hrs, 'bout 280 pages.

POV

I've noticed that usually the best stories are written from  a third person POV, and also noticed that sometimes the author likes to switch it up a bit and change POV from 3rd to 1st or something of the like. In the short story about the girl stuck in the mud, which I can't remember the title of, it really annoyed me how the author just kept switching POV. It seemed every other paragraph was a switch, which is much, much too frequent, I think, to be an enjoyable story. The 1st person POV wasn't even that necessary to to the story, and again, it was increasingly irksome that it would change so rapidly throughout the story. Well, there's my weekly rant-I'm sure there shall be another next week.
~Charles

Participation

Reading for Week-
15. mins Mon. (Short Story)
15. Wed. (Short Story)
15. mins Thurs. (Short Story)
1 hr 45 mins. today (Short Story + Fairy Tail)
About 40-50 pages of short stories, about 292 pages of Fairy Tail (Manga)

I come into class, prepared most of the time, unless I have unforeseen problems like printer difficulties. I always try to participate in the class discussions, though I do admit not all of my comments are always popular or even relevant. I really dislike working in groups with people that are not my friends, as it is often impossible to work with them as they don't fit into my cadence  of work, and end up distracting me or vice versa. If I continue to do my work and perhaps focus a little more in class, I will be able to grow even more.
~Charles

Reading Log Thing

This week I read-

20 mins. Monday
15 mins. Tuesday
45 mins Wednesday
1 hr Thursday (internet went out D: )
15 mins Friday
Total Pgs- 82

Plot of Plots- A Game of Thrones

30 mins-Monday
30 mins- Wednesday
1.5 hrs- Today (Saturday)

Total pages read- 76



The plot of A Game of Thrones, possibly the most complicated and interesting book series I have ever read, is more knotted than my headphones after putting them in my pocket for ten minutes. The exposition is never boring, which is a pretty big achievement, a far cry from anything I've ever written. Usually it opens with a death or some new information, and from there the action builds. The rising action is really created when there is a very important piece of information only a few characters know, and then all the others make decisions while misinformed, and they learn said information later. The viewpoints also tie in nicely with each other, even though the viewpoint is switched constantly every chapter.

At the climax of the story is usually a shocking death or massive battle, though mini-climaxes occur frequently and their falling action falls quickly. If you were to draw the plot, it'd look something like a mountain range, though it does tend to pick up speed mid-book. From there, it rises up and down and up and down, though there are sometimes flat zones in which a character does little or is depressed or both. Thanks for reading, see ya on the other side.

I Am A Writer Who......Uhhhhhhh

I am a writer who is perhaps a little on the forgetful and abstract side of things, my papers tend  to drift away from  the topic at hand, but I at least am keepin' it fresh and new, eh? I also am a writer that is heavily impacted by the music I listen to at the time of writing. For instance, a happy-go-lucky song just came on my shuffle of Naruto music, so this blog is aught to be friendly and warm. Writing non-fiction papers is just agonizing to me, as my inner self longs to break free from the oppressive topic and move onto more amusing and interesting things. I can sometimes really enjoy creative writing, and am quite disappointed at the lack of it in this year's English. I also tend to use quote "flowery" language in my stories/papers, and to me if it doesn't have long-winded descriptions and a touch of charm then it isn't worth putting in. Things like waterfalls and scrapyards can be totally transformed by the way that you describe them, and writing from a boring, totally neutral point of view, just giving information, is once again a serious threat to the approval of said story. Well, that went pretty randomly, thanks for reading and try to focus, even though often focus leads only to boredom.

Pain vs Tobi- A Battle of Gods

The Sage of Six Paths had the Rinnegan, the most powerful of the visual jutsus, as does Pain. Pain, (Spoiler Alert) is six corpses with black chakra receivers planted in their bodies. Pain is controlled by Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan, as does all the corpses he controls. Tendo Pain, the most powerful of the Six Paths of Pain, (the six bodies controlled by Nagato) is able to use "Shinra Tensei" or "Almighty Push" in which he makes himself the epicenter for a wall of energy that pushes anything away. He uses this technique to destroy the entire Leaf Village in one shot. The other five of the Six include; one girl who specializes in Summonings, a robotic guy who can fire rockets and missiles from his head and arms, a medical guy who can repair any of the other Pains, a guy who can suck souls right out of people, and finally a guy who is able to absorb any ninjutsu, as well as chakra straight from his opponents body. He is able to push or pull, manipulating gravity to his advantage. He was able to stand against Naruto in Six Tails form, and seemed to be actually enjoying it. The only reason he was beaten, I think, is because he wanted to take Naruto alive and as such did not kill him when he was pinned to the ground, totally at his mercy. Tobi, on the other hand, is able to use Space-Time ninjutsu and can sort of teleport around and make parts of his body disappear as well. He can control the 1-7 Tailed Beasts as well, since they were captured by the Akatsuki beforehand. Now, we have 7 Tailed Beasts and one guy who can teleport around versus the legendary Rinnegan and a team that can be healed at any time by the medical Pain. Also, it is still unclear whether the Rinnegan can control Tailed Beasts, but I mean, why not? It's pretty much an upgraded version of it anyway. If Pain were to control the Tailed Beasts, then Nagato probably wouldn't even need to be there to win. Even if he couldn't control the Bijuu, I'm pretty certain that a Planetary Destruction coupled with the other five Pains attacking at once would be pretty much the end of Tobi. Pain is unstoppable, and I find it impossible to believe he would be beaten by Tobi.
 Another note- the way Hidan was beaten was clever up to the bombs, I really doubt Hidan would be caught in this kind of trap. Besides, there's no way Shikamaru could hold the Shadow Possession Jutsu all the way into the forest exactly where he planted those bombs.



-Charles

Terrel's Swell Paper (Didja catch that rhyme? No? I thought not.)

This week I spent around 30 mins. outside of class working on my Literacy Narrative (Thurs.) and I read 2 hours of "The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" today, which was approximately 57 pages. My Writing Group was a big help to me, it really added to what I thought of my writing. I was very pleased with the positive feedback I wrangled out of my group, and was particularly impressed by Terrel's (Am I spelling that right? God I hope so) paper. His was on a book, 1984, I think it was, that held some deep meanings to life. Of course, now I can barely remember some of it, but it was very well written, precise and clear as crystal. Now, my style of writing is a little....well, convoluted, perhaps, and my thoughts and words tend to splatter everywhere, so I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed his paper. He gave me a couple pointers on mine, the biggest being to perhaps tone down the pessimism (which I appreciate, but realism is just a little too real for me to just leave it all out). My other group member, who I won't name, wasn't very enthusiastic or focused on the masterpieces presented to her. Shockingly, it seemed almost a bore to said teammate. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyway, I enjoyed the writing groups because it gave me some good ideas for my paper, though I wish we had actually been allowed to work on it that day. I'm looking forward greatly to the day when the classes papers are presented, because as you all know, I looooove presenting. Thanks for readin'

-Charles

Literary N-N-Narrative

Me oh my, the time has finally arrived for me to figure out what the heck I'm gonna write my literary narrative on. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......perhaps learning some Japanese through the watching of Naruto and Soul Eater? Through many dozens hours of these shows, I can now fairly easily distinguish between Japanese and Chinese, (yes, there is a difference, its not all the same, I promise) and know a couple of phrases and the like. Some are easy, like "Konoha Hinge" or (Hidden Lotus), a really nifty jutsu (technique) that Rock Lee pulls off on Gaara. Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), "Arigato", (Thank you), and, here's a weird one,"Ohayou Gozaimasu"
  ( Good morning), etc. Knowing these kinds of phrases prrrrrobably wont help me if I'm stuck in Japan too much, but at the very least it'll help to have at least a rudimentary understanding of Japanese before I take official classes on it. Latin, my foreign language, might also be another possibility. I started Latin in 6th grade, and to this day, am amazed that I can read any of that gibberish. It was a journey, coming form 2 declensions to 5, passive periphrastic, the ablative and genitive and dative and vocative cases.......Man, I could probably go pretty far on that idea. Whatever my choice, thanks for stumbling through this veritable quagmire of Japanese and technical terms.

-Charles

Reading Response (my, how original)

This week I continued to read A Feast for Crows, 30 mins on Monday and the last two hours today. I read around 68 pages, and I must say, things definitely are taking an interesting turn. What with Cersei and Jaime growing ever further apart, I predict that Jaime will end up killing her in the line of duty. I'm also wondering whats going to happen when one of the Kettleblacks attempts to take Margary's maidenhood, though my prediction is there will be some bizarre twist and it won't happen.

Anyway, I really am disliking Asha, a girl who wants to sit the Seastone Throne. Had I been there, I'd probably end up supporting Euron, what with his superior claim, cool eye patch, and magical Valyrian horn to tame dragons. I'm also anticipating the attempt on Lord Commander Snow's life, as I'm sure Stannis will have some part in saving it. Thanks for struggling through this droll.

-Charles

Bronies and Ponies- A Fairytale?

Well well well, Mr. Miller, it seems we begin again. For those of you that don't know, Aaron rejects ponies and those who delight in them, and recently made a comment on my blog, which detailed the Brony lifestyle and culture. I shall be addressing some of Aaron's key points in this blog, and shall thoroughly finish off and remaining dregs of resistance. Forget all you thought you knew about ponies and Bronies-this will be a journey.

First off, Aaron-chan, the "typical" Bronies are in the age group of 13-30, do you really think they would be quote "immature and obnoxious". Granted, there are and always will be immature and obnoxious people in the world, but it seems to me that anyone who feels a fierce hatred for anyone liking a television program seems the much more immature and obnoxious person, wouldn't you say? Secondly, much as I'm interested in dictatorship and ruling with an "iron fist", we do happen to live in the US of A, and "freedom of speech", as it were, is the "norm" in these parts, so we can't force you to watch the show, we're merely trying to introduce you to a great thing that you've never tried before, it's all for your benefit. On the subject of inexperience, I'd love to know how you seem to know the plot of every episode you've never seen in you're life, and challenge you to structure your arguments on more solid footing. The plots happen to be well-structured, including but not limited to- a massive bear that was about to utterly destroy Ponyville, a goddess returns from the moon to plan to take over the world, numerous instances of dragons, hydra's, even a griffin at one point, etc. If the show comes off as happy, well, it was designed that way. I for one enjoy the happiness of this show, life isn't always documentaries on the Holocaust. In conclusion, Aaron of the Miller Clan, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic isn't just some "happy-go-lucky" cartoon "like Spongebob". It deals with the hidden intricacies of relationships, the mysteries of love, and the power of friendship.

Grease and Philosophy

Hello, all, it's your pal Charles with another thrilling installment of  what I'm sure will be a very long series, Reading Responses. Well, on at least 2 days this week in class I read for ten whole minutes each class. Today I read 2 hours and ten minutes, all of the philosophical tale The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which my aunt decided to bequeath to me one "frosty" Christmas morn. Anyway, the book centers on, spoiler, motorcycle maintenance, and the intricacies of philosophy that somehow connect to that.

To be honest, the book really didn't look all that interesting. After reading about 65 pages of it, it still isn't all that interesting, though the appearance of mental illness certainly caught my attention. The motorcycle trip in the book seems to have taken a turn for the worst, and I'm expecting more grief will follow.  The boy character I really don't care for all that much, ungrateful little brat. I'm predicting he dies somewhere near the end, or maybe he becomes a ghost. There's been a lot of ghost-talk of late, and I can't imagine that's in there for no reason. Whatever the case, I'm sort-of enjoying the book, but not so much that I really feel for the characters.

Another Feast for Crows Response

After another thrilling 2.5 hours of reading today, A Feast for Crows seems to be getting more muddles and confusing. There must be over 50 characters, and some don't know so-and-so is alive/dead and so on, so it can get pretty trippy at times. I'm starting  to wonder is ANYBODY is sane, the Queen Regent, Cersei Lannister herself, seems to be getting more paranoid by the hour. I'm anticipating a crazy end where Jaime, the "Kingslayer" either has to choose between his sister and the good of the realm, but maybe thats just me.

I'm really joyous due to the death of the god-awful Lysa Arryn, she was totally bonkers. I'm still loving the way the words fit snugly together, and I'm really getting a feel for each characters personality. Not a whole lot goin on with Tyrion, the Dwarf, at present, but maybe another daring escape and murder in the privy is in store for him. Thanks for reading,
Charles out

PS- I read somewhere around 60-70 pgs this week

An Hour in the Life of Charles

This week, while other people were flying off their houses and drowning in this massive hurricane, I sat inside, quietly typing away on my laptop, the faint *clickclickclick* barely audible over the roar of the winds.  I was having a chinwag with my pals Prashant ( DJ P-Rash), and Garrett, (no cutesy nickname, sorry everybody). It was oh, say, 4 in the afternoon on...errr...well, that's not important. Anyway, Prashant suggested that we engage in some good ole anime watching, the anime in question being one of my favorites, Naruto. Well, I got myself a big bowl of popcorn while Prashant got himself dinner or something, (he has a strange eating habit: ask him about it sometime). So the show starts after much confusion on me and Prashant's behalf, as the ads were different lengths and Prashant forgot what time we were going to start at, etc. To anyone who hasn't seen the show, there are spoilers ahead, and it may get a bit dry, I know how hard it is to keep up with all the strange Japanese names. Well, Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai arrived at the bridge, to meet with an informant of a Puppet Master they had just killed, who's name was Sasori, so they might find out where their friend Sasuke was. They were instead faced by the main bad guy of the series, named Orochimaru, and his servant, Kabuto. At this point my supple of delicious buttery kernels had run out, so I went into the kitchen to deposit the bowl. When I returned, Naruto's skin was peeling away and the Nine-Tails chakra was, well, oozing out of him. Very confused, I re-winded whilst Prashant cursed me and my love of buttery foodstuffs. Eventually, I got to where I was and watched  Naruto totally going nuts, causing his skin to melt off and for him to become unimaginably powerful. (cool show, huh?) By now I was thirsty, all that delicious popped corn turning my mouth to a barren wasteland. As the second episode rolled, I sprinted away to get my drink. One cool glass of lemonade later, I came back to see it had started. Prashant was, I'm guessing, ripping his hair in anguish as  I moseyed on back to our side conversation. The second episode involved a very long sword shooting out of Orochimaru's throat and resounding smack to Sakura's face. I enjoyed it a lot, and just as it ended my power went off. In a bit of a dazed state, I went off to rage about losing power to all my chums. If you read to here, nice job, you have "reading stamina". Thanks for reading,
Charles out.

A Feast for Crows Response

After 2.5 hours of exhaustive reading, A Feast For Crows seems to just be heating up. Varys and Tyrion, perhaps my two favorite characters, have disappeared after Tyrion murdered his...errr..."wife" Shae and his father Lord Tywin, with the notable detail of Lord Tywin's dying whilst he visited the privy. Anyway, with Tywin dead and Tyrion missing, Cersei Lannister is going bonkers, seeing treachery in her boiled eggs. (That was a jest. While boiled eggs may indeed cause severe choking disorder, this was not the case here.) Arya Stark has arrived in Braavos, a city to me seems a strange mix of Venice but with that huge statue in Jason and the Argonauts. She seems to have met some sort of weird old guy, who also happens to have a skeleton face. No word on Sansa Stark, but, eh, who cares? Nobody likes Sansa. Jaime Lannister still seems to have one hand, and grows more pious by the day. In Sunspear, Dorne, Doran Martell, who is turning out to be a new favorite of mine, is still rockin' out in his wheelchair. His sisters, the Three Sand Snakes will, I suspect, attempt to murder him soon from their blatant rejection of his ideas of peace and the like. Thanks everybody for reading, I know its total gibberish to anyone who hasn't read any of the books.

I read 72 pgs this week

In Defense of My Little Pony: A Brony's Manifesto

Ponies. That's right, your eyes do not deceive you. I and several of our classmates, (feel free to comment your names, pals) as I'm sure you're all well aware, enjoy watching the hit TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Based off of the toys and originally directed for a younger, feminine audience, MLP FiM became immensely popular with males ages 13-25. The creator of the show, Lauren Faust, rather than turning away the hordes of adolescents gathered on her doorstep, instead embraced them, and bronies were born. The term "Brony" is a composition of the words "Bro" and "Pony". Our sort of un-official insignia is the bro-hoof, which looks like this- /)(\ . Why does this need defending, you may be asking yourselves? Because, as haters of the show and its loyal male fanbase have already been quick to point out, the show was meant for little girls. Truthfully, it was, but soon it developed into a show that dads could watch with their daughters. Me and my brony compadres have been called every foul name under the sun, many of which involve the word "gay". Watching this show certainly doesn't have anything remotely to do with your sexuality, though the insults continue. The show urges a message of "Love and Tolerate", which bronys have been quick to adopt a their policy towards haters. Most viewers are everyday normal guys, many of whom you'd never guess partook in this type of activity. Many, like myself, are captivated by the show's animation, sophisticated plots, great array of characters, voice acting, and the fan art, which would include music remixes, original drawings, and fanfiction stories. I decided I'd take this as a little oppurtunity to educate you all, and wish you all an enjoyable weekend :D

P.S.-To any of my friends reading, /)

An All-Out Attack on "In Defense of Food"

In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan , an assigned summer reading book, didn't sit well with me. The book was, well, nauseating, (pardon the pun). In true Southern style, I pride myself on being strongly Conservative. Now, some guy I've never heard of telling me exactly how I should eat my own food sounds absolutely ridiculous to me, and from that point on I started to dislike the book. By the time I was 100 pages in, I was almost seething with rage at this author who, with what I perceived as shocking arrogance, proceeded to shove his beliefs down my throat, and it personally disgusted me. Sure, he made some good points and had some good old-fashioned data, but the way he repeated the results like some loony parrot made me think he was clutching at straws. I would strongly recommend no one reads it of their own free will, its merely a compilation of a couple of studies and one author arrogant to the point of dictating what we eat. Signing off-
Charles

Blog Numero Uno

Blog Number 1-


Greetings, various classmates and/or teachers. My name's Charles, and I'll be your entertainment for this paragraph. I decided to just give you all a little information on myself. I recently became a huge fan of anime in all shapes in sizes, from Naruto to Soul Eater to FullMetal Alchemist. My favorite character from Naruto is Lee, a Shinobi who has no talent for anything but Taijutsu (Hand-to-hand combat). Heres a video of him being awesome, with "Rock You Like a Hurricane" in the background, linksin my profile somewhere. For best results of my writing, I'd recommend this particular song-.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgQ_UOujFbY&feature=autoplay&list=PL4758795ECB9872CA&playnext=10
Anyway, anime and video games pretty much make up my entire life, though in my defense the social aspects of such games really make  them great. Additionally, I'm working on my learners permit, so watch for me on the roads. (Hint-I'll be the guy pulled over.)