I think we'll still be traveling together

Reaction Post: much unlike a reaction paper...so uncomfortable. well, my simple reaction to this one fourth of one year assignment is: Good try. I like blogging, mhmm. But nobody reads anybody else's blogs, and that makes me sad. I could start I guess, but I'll just do a book report instead. I think I'll talk for a minute about...reading. I think this assignment definitely made me read more consistently. my usual habits include starting a book, reading it for a couple days, starting another book, reading it for a couple of days, starting 8 more books, and then I'll finish one and remember that I should finish those other books too. and then I'll read a lot, like a lot for a week or so and then stop (and thank you, baby). ah yes, how truly sweet it is.
The books I read:
Breaking Dawn. oh yeah I forgot about this one hm.
East of Eden. probably one of the longer books I will ever read. but I loved it, I really did.
Pygmalion. so that's how it goes.
The Stranger. I feel like this book needed to be longer, but I liked it.
Of Mice and Men. I thought that that phrase came from the book. no, other way.
The Great Gatsby. I'm still reading this.
Total reading time: about 38:38. I'm sure those 38 minutes are correct.

you know, I think I'll keep this blog. It can be my statistics blog. how much I read, how much I run, wins/losses etc. ok well, have fun everybody.

This is to commemorate my fourth post this week

The Great Gatsby is really good. I forgot to talk about the introduction in my last post. "...the twenties, which have become trivialized and vulgarized by people who weren't there...The Twenties were not a ten-year binge during which everybody got rich and danced the Charleston in speakeasies while drinking bootleg hooch." I lol'd haha there goes all I know. I'm liking parties and whatnot. yay parties and whatnot. I'm on page 50. I read for two hours.
so total for this week: 5!

if this would happen to be the last post of this assignment, my total numbers come out to about 38:30. mhmm.

If you're listening

I went to the book sale at the fair grounds this weekend. I could only go for like, 15 minutes so I didn't really find anything. I was looking for a specific type of book. These pictures are an example of what are called Pelican Books. oh my gosh they're so cool. I pretty much just love the graphics. they're little books on specific topics. I found some in Madison at this used bookstore. I didn't buy any. I was sad. anyways. Interesting fact: you know when we watched Fahrenheit 451? a lot of the books they burned were pelican books. oooo. censorship. well, I read my bible last night for one hour. I read psalms 75-I think 85ish. and then I just read some of my hi-lighted passages. I always just go back to what I know. but I love it. so, if you're keeping tabs, this is my third post this week. yeah.

Up for Two.

I made a movie with my dear Lauren Eaton today. She was playing Bethy. I was a crazy person. I think I just acted like Bethy. haha funny. about reading I guess. Still with The Great Gatsby. I don't feel like talking about it. I'm using this title again because I need to. One more hour. hahaha.

My Number One.

woot. first blog comment. unfortunately, I like blogging a lot, but nobody reads this. it's really sad. oh wells. oh wels. awesome religious discussion about Jesus Christ Superstar. I don't think Joe got it. anyways. I read Albert Camus's The Stranger, and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. I forgot if I mentioned that or not. Of Mice and Men is good though. I like John Steinbeck a lot. I should probably read The Grapes of Wrath. but yeah. this is probably the last week of blogging right? well. OH MAN. I need to quadruple pot yet!!!!ah!!!! well. I'll just post four times. I also am reading The Great Gatsby. yay. I liiiiike it. classic. so, I read one hour. yay.

even if you don't mind.

poor shithead. hopefully Mr. Strusz gets why that's funny. otherwise it's just completely inappropriate. anyways...I read The Stranger by Albert Camus in probably like and hour and a half. I don't know, it was a good book, but I don't really feel like I got that much out of it. I mean, it wasn't all that "entertaining like all nonfictions are" right?...not so much. I think a little like him, so maybe that's why I didn't really care that much. It's more interesting if it's not the same thing. Other than that...I took a nap at 9 o'clock last night. not a good idea. I guess I'm just used to not sleeping.

and our best laid plans will stand alone on our side.

So last week was pretty much a blog failure. I meant to post four times, but I just didn't. But! I did finish East of Eden finally and finally feel compelled to actually say something about it. see, I don't like when I have to say how I feel about a book if I haven't gotten through the whole book. it's just a thing. I also don't like when people rephrase me because I said it right the first time. I don't care if it didn't make sense. I don't care if this doesn't make sense. anyways, East of Eden is overall a good one. I'm a big fan of perspective. and this one had a lot of good perspective. People are crazy. We're all just crazy; perspective shows that. So you choose your line, and you live above it. So close to that breaking point...Not as widely practiced and preached eh? "And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." or maybe your limbo pole is just a bit lower than that...ya poltroon. I've taken to using a dictionary as I read. You don't get the whole story if you're not positive of what the words mean. The majority of the time the words you don't know won't really affect the story as a whole, but you can completely misunderstand a sentence, and that's just not the point. I'm also a big fan of Essays. They're probably my favorite things to read. I love when you can quote something and use it. It just makes me feel like my quality of life has improved. I'll have to rerent it from the library. I wrote down page numbers, but forgot to check them. ahI guess I've lost my compelition to comment. I always do that. I think of something I want to say and then I just never say it. but I know what it is. So second aspect of my blog failure is the whole finishing up books that I've started thing...I finished one. So in turn, I checked out three more books from the library today. "Every man has a view of what it will be like to be retired...or reads the neglected books he always pretended to have read." So I was thinking, when do people really read all of these books? and really, when are you going to discuss them? or when am I going to remember to throw a book reference in there? oh wait. I think about book references all the time. never mind. haha. "I never read. I hate reading. oh wait...that's a total lie." I'm already halfway through The Stranger by Albert Camus. and then I also checked out The Great Gatsby and (TITLE TITLE TITLE) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. [The bridges that stand between you and I Come over tonight When the pen in our hands and our best laid plans Will stand alone on our side Of mice and men on our side. We the Living love!] So I don't even remember how many books that puts me at. I usually maintain a steady eight I think. Mime done.

Up for Two.

maybe time for another break. breaks suck. meh nevermind. I'm not going to write about how I feel. the title just means a lot to me. that is all.

So I'm going to end up not finishing any books this week. but I'm not done yet. maybe one. I read and hour and a half since wednesday. so totally: 30:30. numbers.

radish stories.

Just launch yourself as far as you possibly can and hopefully not break your ankle. I read kind of a lot. I think 65 pages because I really was like, oh I need to get on this reading thing. and then I found out that I love this book. east of eden still, but I think I'll finish it this week. it's very very long. and it's not just read to get through it either. I have to reread things and stuff. well yeah. I read for 2. hours. This is post number one.

down to the river where they caught a wild alligator

ha. our big white van broke down. no, i think we're just out of gas. good one. this week's actual post on reading: i read Do Hard Things more. it's interesting. makes me feel like doing...never mind. uh. i think i read 2 hours this week, but for the sake of that stupid ten minutes i counted somewhere in my running total, i'll for 1:50. i'm tired of this. total: 27:oo. arrrrrright. pirate time! i'm going to dedicate the next week to finishing books that i've started. i'm also going to post four times (Get ready for four posts please.) because i failed at posting for actual last week. oh! i found this really interesting-looking book called In Fact i believe. it's an essay type thing on Creative Nonfiction writing, but i didn't have enough Barnes and Noble time on the conjunctive'd family hands. that means something i promise. But anyways, i only got to read part of it, but i found it funny that it said (paraphrased) 'Never use any other word for walk or talk other than walk or talk. My sixth grade teacher told me otherwise, and she is still telling her sixth grade students otherwise.' "Never use big words where a diminutive one will suffice."
the time was up there if you didn't catch it.

Little girls in Jelly shoes got the Ferris Bueller blues.

Well, I borrowed a book from my fabulous Hannah Schermerhorn called Do Hard Things. let's start a rebelution! well, it's forwarded by Chuck Norris. Hell yes it's forwarded by Chuck Norris. You should believe in God because Chuck Norris believes in God. This book is basically about being ambitious and such. Not going to lie, I didn't read very much this week, so I don't really feel obligated to blog much this week. but I didn't blog very much for last week either. well, at least i blog. I also read song of songs last night. aw. This week, I probably read for a total of One (count it) ONE! hour. so the running total is: is: 25:10.

I meant to post this last week. but then my computer was like, "No!" so that didn't happen. no worries. I've been meaning to blog more anyways.

Another time is slack

Oh no. Will Hamilton is dead. and then Adam Trask found his Cathy in a whorehouse. and now the kids are eleven. Aron is in love and Cal is a conniving brother. I wonder who is cain, who is abel. I hope he doesn't actually die though. that would be most unfortunate. I'm not really into this right now. but it's ok. not like it's graded. I read 70 pages. 2 hours 40 minutes. total: 24:10.

mleh.

at the end of all your lines

Sweet. let's bang some tambourines. Get involved. join the scene...woot. alright so I am about halfway through East of Eden. I finally met who it was talking first person with. There was this part where Samuel and Lee and Adam were naming the twin boys. They talked about how nobody ever names kids Cain anymore but it's probably the most famous name. and the Cain/Abel ordeal is probably the most famous story because it's so real. But they also talked about how if a man knew exactly what he was writing (but of course God wrote the bible. what do you think people?) and it was so real then there should be no doubt in the words. but in the KJV bible verse 7 says "thou shalt rule over" in the American Standard Bible (...?) it says "Do thou rule over" and Lee says that this is completely different, but it's really not. it's a command from God to rule over sin. kind of like, "watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." Lee researched further into Chinese history and what are they called? I'll go with Confuciuses...these old confuciuses learned Hebrew and found the word timshel--which means "thou mayest." they think that this means you have a choice..."thou mayest not," and your own way to heaven. foolish confucion (konfusion) heathens. that just means we have a free will and a sinful nature. in the NIV bible, verse 7 says, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." so yeah. pretty much God is just saying don't sin. pretty good. so yeah. I think it's going to be a major theme in the book. "thou mayest" but whatever. I'll deal with it. hopefully we'll get some good Cain and Abel action pretty soon. but their names are Cal and Aron, which is pretty alliterationally convenient. So Samuel is going to die soon because he's old, but I have a feeling he's got a whole lot more life to live. and yeah. I read 165 pages. I had to do math for time: 6 and 1/2 Total: 21.5...so I've gained success?

Just how well my mind's been wandering

"That's why I'm talking to you. You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect." ah yes. Culver's philosophy always bears true. perception is reality. "And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." so valuable. but anyways. Cathy is so crazy. and yeah, this book is taking me forever and ever to read. but I like reading slow sometimes. and Samuel Hamilton is pretty much the man. I just wish I could picture this emotionless eyes thing. hahaha "But mom! SHE BIT ME!!!" haha what was that? I think 4th grade. good times. I also started reading pygmalion in our classic SSR. (New Friday tradition right?) at first I was nervous because Eliza speaks so unintelligibly and so it was written completely unintelligibly so i wasn't sure if I could make it through her lines. but then it switched. so...cool.
Hours: I wasn't quite as good at keeping track this time. 5.
total hours: 15 hours.

that it's always been this way...

I finished Part One of East of Eden. At first I thought the book was going to be about a "bunch" of different people, not really connected. But they actually all connect, so that's good. My favorite part is about the character Cathy. Steinbeck discribes her as a mental monster. she does and thinks things differently than everybody else, but to her it's normal because she's always been different. If you've never had something, how can you miss it? Cathy is also a liar. Cathy is also beautiful. Cathy is also kniving. Just kidding. She's coniving, but she set her house on fire and sliced that cheek open. "I can get so little you can't even see me... Nobody can find me." She was reading Alice in Wonderland on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. and it was censored like in F451. I have no idea how to make that sentance work.

"No one who is young is ever going to be old."
Pages: 59 Time: 2 hr. 20 min. Total: 10 hr.

twilight...sunrises in the east...nope.

Twilight is finished! great for that one. kind of a waste of life. In my defense, I read the first one like a year and a half ago. fads :) I pretty much booked it (punny...) at the end, I just wanted it to be over. I read it for 6 and a half hours. yep.

So now I'm reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. (picture haha not quite.) So anyways. about the book. I guess I don't really like writing about my opinions of a book until I'm finished. I'll throw out some generic goods. Really though, it will probably take me forever to read. It's just that the pages are so thin. like, confirmation bible thin. It discourages me, but I'm reading it consistentlyyy so it should be ok. So far, Charles tried to kill Adam his brother. I thought he was going to. But that would've made it too classic Cain and Abel. need more drama. I'm doing a good job of keeping track of my hours and pages. yay.

So:
pages: 63

time: one hour, eleven minutes.

Total: sorry I didn't count them before. but as far as I've counted: 7 hours 41 minutes.