Finished reading Gulliver's Travels. If I had to give it a grade, it would be a C. The general plot of each of the four parts can be summed up by that pattern I set up in my last post. The only major deviations come in the last two voyages. (In part three, he doesn't tick anybody off! Except me, of course.)
On to Don Quixote!
Take your best shot at my title quote. It's from a cartoon from within the last five to seven years. And before anybody asks, it is actually related to my new book. Windmills definitely do not work the way Mr. Quixote thinks they do.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Must Go Faster!
After a lengthy hiatus (kinda), I AM BACK!!!
Ok, summer for me is simultaneously going too fast and too slow. Too fast because of the reading assignment and too slow because I'm stuck in the house every day, which really sucks.
I've actually finished one of my books. The Merchant of Venice was good. I actually liked it, and I would recommend it to others. Now I just need to figure out what to write about it. I'm not going to spoil the plot of the play. If you want to know what happens, read it!
I'm about halfway done with my next book, Gulliver's Travels, and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not. I'm leaning toward no. It's divided up into four parts, and after reading the first two, I'm starting to detect a pattern. 1: Gulliver goes on a voyage. 2: Misfortune befalls the ship. 3: Gulliver ends up in a land where he is unique for some reason (in part one, everyone else is about 6 inches tall; in part two, everyone else is about 40 feet tall). 4: After some size-related misadventures, he gets in good with the ruling body of the land. 5: Gulliver finds some way to tick off said ruling body. 6: Gulliver escapes to sea and is found by sailors who doubt his story, but then Gulliver produces proof of his adventures. 7: Gulliver returns home.
Each part is good right up until he gets in good with the Emperor or King. Then the story becomes largely politics-driven and I start wishing they would just kill Gulliver, or do something to make the story start moving again.
Two more parts to go, then on to Don Quixote and Catch-22 (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!).
P.S. Once again, guess the title quote. It's from an early 90s Spielburg movie.
Ok, summer for me is simultaneously going too fast and too slow. Too fast because of the reading assignment and too slow because I'm stuck in the house every day, which really sucks.
I've actually finished one of my books. The Merchant of Venice was good. I actually liked it, and I would recommend it to others. Now I just need to figure out what to write about it. I'm not going to spoil the plot of the play. If you want to know what happens, read it!
I'm about halfway done with my next book, Gulliver's Travels, and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not. I'm leaning toward no. It's divided up into four parts, and after reading the first two, I'm starting to detect a pattern. 1: Gulliver goes on a voyage. 2: Misfortune befalls the ship. 3: Gulliver ends up in a land where he is unique for some reason (in part one, everyone else is about 6 inches tall; in part two, everyone else is about 40 feet tall). 4: After some size-related misadventures, he gets in good with the ruling body of the land. 5: Gulliver finds some way to tick off said ruling body. 6: Gulliver escapes to sea and is found by sailors who doubt his story, but then Gulliver produces proof of his adventures. 7: Gulliver returns home.
Each part is good right up until he gets in good with the Emperor or King. Then the story becomes largely politics-driven and I start wishing they would just kill Gulliver, or do something to make the story start moving again.
Two more parts to go, then on to Don Quixote and Catch-22 (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!).
P.S. Once again, guess the title quote. It's from an early 90s Spielburg movie.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Uh Oh.
Yeah, you guys know how I mentioned that I might be getting Eagle rank soon?
Well, my board of review, aka a bunch of guys I don't know start trying to judge my character, is happening tonight... in about three hours. And I'm not sure if I've studied enough.
Crap.
I really mean it this time. Wish me luck.
P.S. Please note that I said "enough." I have been studying, so I'm not totally guilty of procrastination.
P.P.S. As always, keep sending me quotes! They're super cool! (Yeah, that was lame.)
Well, my board of review, aka a bunch of guys I don't know start trying to judge my character, is happening tonight... in about three hours. And I'm not sure if I've studied enough.
Crap.
I really mean it this time. Wish me luck.
P.S. Please note that I said "enough." I have been studying, so I'm not totally guilty of procrastination.
P.P.S. As always, keep sending me quotes! They're super cool! (Yeah, that was lame.)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
We're Ready to Believe You!
OK, I do have an AP English-related post this time, but it's not about my books!
My dad and I were in Indianapolis because we were delivering my Eagle Scout application. After we were done with that, we went to the Art Museum, and we saw the original manuscript for Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I think old Jack might be insane. He taped a lot of pages together and typed up his book as one extremely long scroll. It's 119 feet long. Due to space concerns, they can only display 84 feet of it at one time. You can also see his corrections penciled in. Just thought that might be of interest to anyone who did Beat Generation for the Research Project of Death.
I may be getting my Eagle Scout board of review next week. Wish me luck.
That's all I've got.
P.S. Guess the title quote. It's from a late-80's movie. If you either didn't see this movie, or you didn't like it, then you have no soul. That's all I've got to say about it.
My dad and I were in Indianapolis because we were delivering my Eagle Scout application. After we were done with that, we went to the Art Museum, and we saw the original manuscript for Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I think old Jack might be insane. He taped a lot of pages together and typed up his book as one extremely long scroll. It's 119 feet long. Due to space concerns, they can only display 84 feet of it at one time. You can also see his corrections penciled in. Just thought that might be of interest to anyone who did Beat Generation for the Research Project of Death.
I may be getting my Eagle Scout board of review next week. Wish me luck.
That's all I've got.
P.S. Guess the title quote. It's from a late-80's movie. If you either didn't see this movie, or you didn't like it, then you have no soul. That's all I've got to say about it.
Friday, July 4, 2008
I'm Not Weird, I Just Don't Care Enough to Try to Be Normal
Title courtesy of Mrs. Paradise.
Jeez. Is there seriously something wrong with having 20+ comments on one post? But since certain people (Jake and Carmen) wanted it so much, here's a new post.
I'm not even trying to tie this to my books. So this time, let's try naming things that make zero sense, or that, in theory, shouldn't work at all, but are still pure awesomeness.
For my first entry, I give you: SWORD-CHUCKS.
See a picture here: http://www.zestuff.com/8bit/apparel/1393/
And keep giving me quotes. They're fun!
Next time, I'll try to make an entry that is AP English-centric.
P.S. Click on the "Zoom Front" button on that webpage to see the picture better.
Jeez. Is there seriously something wrong with having 20+ comments on one post? But since certain people (Jake and Carmen) wanted it so much, here's a new post.
I'm not even trying to tie this to my books. So this time, let's try naming things that make zero sense, or that, in theory, shouldn't work at all, but are still pure awesomeness.
For my first entry, I give you: SWORD-CHUCKS.
See a picture here: http://www.zestuff.com/8bit/apparel/1393/
And keep giving me quotes. They're fun!
Next time, I'll try to make an entry that is AP English-centric.
P.S. Click on the "Zoom Front" button on that webpage to see the picture better.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
This is good... isn't it?
OK, I am back from my vacation. Good times were had. Yay!
And now, to serious business. I'm making good progress in The Merchant of Venice. I'm at the start of Act 3, and it's looking like I can have the play done by tomorrow night. Now, I need to try to think of what to write about for my paper. Mrs. Paradise, any ideas without spoiling the ending too much?
The play isn't too hard to understand, in my opinion, which raises an interesting question: is there something wrong with understanding Shakespeare better than contemporary literature (i.e., Catch-22)?
And now for something completely different.
I'm going to reply to comments from my last post.
1. Mrs. Paradise: Thanks for agreeing with me, but you are making me wary of when I eventually go back and try reading it again. Also, thanks for the quote.
2. Carmen: The book really is annoying and confusing. I have to admit, part of the reason I picked it up in the first place is because I wanted to know just what "Catch-22" means. Now I know, and it makes me sad.
3. Jake: OK. I'm pretty sure it was about 11:00 P.M. when I wrote that thing. I wasn't kidding when I said my brain was hurting, so you'll forgive me for making a typo that the spell check wouldn't catch, even if I knew there was one (I only just saw it a few minutes ago.). Part of the reason I don't like 1984 is because it has one of the biggest downer endings ever. Thanks for the quote.
Just a couple more things:
1. I think I'll start using your quotes next time. This one was on my mind for a while. Bonus points if you know where it's from. Here's a hint: it's fairly recent, and it's somebody's last words.
2. I've got a Simpsons DVD on. The episode is "Marge Be Not Proud." There's something wrong with seeing Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog telling Bart to shoplift. (Sonic: "Just TAKE IT! TakeittakeittakeittakeitTAKE IT!!!!!")
Until next time.
And now, to serious business. I'm making good progress in The Merchant of Venice. I'm at the start of Act 3, and it's looking like I can have the play done by tomorrow night. Now, I need to try to think of what to write about for my paper. Mrs. Paradise, any ideas without spoiling the ending too much?
The play isn't too hard to understand, in my opinion, which raises an interesting question: is there something wrong with understanding Shakespeare better than contemporary literature (i.e., Catch-22)?
And now for something completely different.
I'm going to reply to comments from my last post.
1. Mrs. Paradise: Thanks for agreeing with me, but you are making me wary of when I eventually go back and try reading it again. Also, thanks for the quote.
2. Carmen: The book really is annoying and confusing. I have to admit, part of the reason I picked it up in the first place is because I wanted to know just what "Catch-22" means. Now I know, and it makes me sad.
3. Jake: OK. I'm pretty sure it was about 11:00 P.M. when I wrote that thing. I wasn't kidding when I said my brain was hurting, so you'll forgive me for making a typo that the spell check wouldn't catch, even if I knew there was one (I only just saw it a few minutes ago.). Part of the reason I don't like 1984 is because it has one of the biggest downer endings ever. Thanks for the quote.
Just a couple more things:
1. I think I'll start using your quotes next time. This one was on my mind for a while. Bonus points if you know where it's from. Here's a hint: it's fairly recent, and it's somebody's last words.
2. I've got a Simpsons DVD on. The episode is "Marge Be Not Proud." There's something wrong with seeing Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog telling Bart to shoplift. (Sonic: "Just TAKE IT! TakeittakeittakeittakeitTAKE IT!!!!!")
Until next time.
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