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I'm a very opinionated person, so you should never give me the ability to share my opinions freely. (My responses on the PARCC survey? That's your fault, government, for giving me the ability to tell you how I feel without getting points deducted. I hope my criticisim came across as constructive, but I highly doubt that.) So here it goes:

I don't know if this counts as symbolic in nature, but I'm going with it. I hate reading. I'm not going to deny it. I'm going to be completely honest. I hate it. Now, if you asked me this five years ago, I would've had a completely different response. I loved reading in fourth grade, that was my biggest reading year. I read 500 page books in 2 or 3 days; I would stay up all night just reading for hours on end. But, over the course of five years, that passion has crashed and burned in the flaming pits of hell. I compare reading to cross country. Here's why:

• I have to force myself to run or read, and I don't enjoy it.
• It never ends. Once I'm done with a run or a chapter, there's always another one waiting for me.
• I am always counting down how much longer until I'm done.
• It is time-consuming. Why do I have to run 4/5 days of the school week just to be injured halfway through and quit? Why do I have to read a whole 500 page book when I can watch a 2 hour movie instead?
• I have to fake that I like it.
• I'm only doing it because otherwise I won't graduate.

Now I have more reasons that aren't comparable to cross country.  For example, I only like the big teen sci-fi books like The Hunger Games or Divergent. I think any book that hasn't made it to the big time, hasn't for a reason. And so that also makes it hard to find books to read, and so that is why I hate reading.

I really genuinely like this picture. I searched "annoyed woman typing" on Google Images and I was not disappointed. Not only do I hate reading, I also hate blogging. I actually might hate it more than reading. I'm not going to lie, I am enjoying this post mainly because I get to share my opinions and this blog is not about anything I read. (I hate that "read" present tense and "read" past tense are spelled the same way. I wonder what genius thought this would be a good idea while creating the language of English.) I was always that kid that lied on the summer reading charts at the library, and in every reading chart I've ever received from a teacher. Thankfully, my mom always signed it anyways. But, blogging brought reading charts to a new level because I could no longer fake anything that I read. I actually had to read and then write about it. I also had to remember to do my blogs on time and fake that I liked the book that I was reading. The faking that I liked it wasn't that hard, but doing the blogs on time was. I really wanted to take a hammer to my computer every time that I had to blog (except for now because, again, I am enjoying this post). I wouldn't have actually done it because it's our family laptop and it's a MacBook Pro and it was free because my grandma gave it to us when she got a new laptop, but I still would've metaphorically taken a hammer to my computer.

Here's some advice: when you search "multiple emotions" on Google Images, choose the one of SpongeBob because everybody loves SpongeBob. I feel like if these faces were rearranged in a different order, it would perfectly represent my school day. Freshman year was extremely FEEB. (Feeb is a word my best friend and I made up that means "mixed feelings" or "mixed emotions". Why doesn't the English language have a commonly used word for that? I don't know, but feeb solves that problem.) I felt very feeb because I loved my entire day except for 4th and 5th bell. I had a two 4th bell classes, one for each semester, and somehow they always seemed to stress me out more than any high school class should. And my 5th bell was just Mr. Hayes, so... But, even besides my normal schedule, freshman year was a year of new experiences. I got my first injury, which caused me to have to quit cross country half way through the season, which I am actually extremely happy about. I learned that I will be one of the last people to get my driver's license because I don't get it until the summer of next year, and people will already have their licenses before I even get my temps. (Go June birthday!) I hate how strict they are at after school activities in high-school. I actually got injured mainly because of this. I already had a knee injury, so I thought that my coaches would think that I was faking it and being a wimp, so ignored my shin injury and honestly thought it was a minor injury. I would bring it up if I wanted to get out of running laps or something. But guess who ended up with a stress fracture? ME!! I was also very feeb because I became a lot more reserved and less outgoing, and that was one of my biggest character traits. So I definitely am feeb because I don't really want to let that part of me go. I get very emotionally attached to my personality. That's also why I refuse to face my fear of bees, because I don't want to lose that characteristic. That was a lot more deep than I wanted it to sound... Now I realize I've been typing for almost an hour, so I'm going to stop now...

The Daughters Take the Stage

I finished my book "The Daughters Break the Rules" awhile ago, but I realized I didn't blog about it because of the column blog. But, instead of blogging about the end of that book, I thought I would blog about the beginning of my new book, and the third book in the series, "The Daughters Take the Stage". This one follows Lizzie and Carina's friend, Hudson, the daughter of the famous pop singer Holla Jones, and her journey into the spotlight. Hudson inherited her mother's voice when it comes to singing, but since she suffers from stage fright, her talent is hidden from the world. Hudson tries to overcome her fear and start her singing career, but is really struggling. This book is about Hudson trying to "take the stage", while also continuing the plot lines of the two prequels.

Column Review

I liked the first column titled, "Something to remember for Thanksgiving" by Mary Schmich. While I do not know what it is like to be poor, nor do I know what it is like to be rich, I can still relate to this column. A lot of times, my parents don't give me what I want. I probably would've been in the same position if I had heard that ice cream truck come by when I was 10. My parents probably would've told me that I couldn't have anything. Then I would've thrown a fit until my mom just gave up and gave me money.  (But by that time, the ice cream truck probably would be gone, so we would go to UDF instead.) But for Mary, I think it's a little different because she knows that this is a special occasion to get something from the ice cream truck because they can't really afford even a $2 Nutty Buddy. Every family has their quotes, and I think her dad's may as well be "We may not have any money, but we are not poor, poverty is a state of mind." I think that is really powerful because he is flat out telling her that they don't have a lot of money, but he is also telling her that they aren't poor if they don't believe they're poor. It's sort of like how the happiest people are not the richest, but the ones who have their family with them. I wish we had some kind of powerful quote like this in our family, because so far, the most powerful quote we have is from my grandma, "If a first you don't succeed, quit." Thanks, Grandma. :)

"The Daughters Break the Rules"

I recently started the second book in "The Daughters" series by Johanna Philbin titled "The Daughters Break the Rules". It's about a teenage girl named Carina Jurgenson (I doubt I spelled that correctly) whose father owns a multi-million dollar company that makes media such as magazines. One magazine, titled "Princess" is failing because of its outdated fashion trends. Carina decides to help put this magazine back on its feet all while struggling to deal with her dad's new "$20 allowance" per week while living in the Upper East Side. (Or a place like it) I'm almost finished and I can't wait to finish it!

Book Finished!!

I have recently finished "The Daughters" by Johanna Philbin, and I was very satisfied with it. Overall, I enjoyed the book and I am going to read the next book in the series, "The Daughters Break the Rules", which focuses on Lizzie's friend, Carina's, life rather than her own. In the book, "The Daughters", Lizzie Summers is a teenage girl whose mother is a famous supermodel, and whose father is described as a significantly less attractive writer for a newspaper. Lizzie is said to be more like her father than her mother, look-wise as well. Lizzie is discovered by a photographer and quickly rises to the ranks with her mother. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but things become a little heated between Lizzie and her mother throughout the book. I am excited to start reading the next book soon!

"The Daughters"

I recently started reading a new book "The Daughters" by Johanna Philbin. It's about three girls, Lizzie, Hudson, and Carina, who are the daughters of celebrities. It tells the story of what they're lives are like under the pressure of making their famous parents look good. I feel like it's an interesting concept, given that the author, Johanna Philbin, is actually the daughter of ex-talk show host Regis Philbin. I think this book was a fictional recreation of some of her life experiences. None of the girl's mom's are really high up on the fame scale, but they're still acknowledged. I feel like that is Johanna's life. Regis Philbin isn't going to be in People magazines every week, but he is still famous. This book has a really interesting concept that I am excited to read more about.

Dover Beach

     "I have to leave now," said Mrs. Phelps, shaking after hearing the poem Montag just read to them. "Thank you so much for having us, Mildred," she said to her hostess in an attempt to avoid being rude.
     Mrs. Phelps exited the home leaving Mrs. Bowles, Mildred, and Montag alone.
     Mrs. Bowles looked at Mildred, who was as white as a ghost after hearing the chilling poem that her husband just read. Then she looked at Montag, who held a stiff posture in order to show that he is not backing down and he doesn't regret reading the Dover Beach poem to the women. She felt awkward and decided to leave as well, remembering to thank Mildred, her hostess, like Mrs. Phelps had done.
     Outside, Mrs. Bowles was surprised to find that Mrs. Phelps was still standing outside Montag's home.
     "Clara?" she asked her. "Are you okay?"
     "No, I am not." Mrs. Phelps responded.
     "Well why not?" she questioned.
     "Can you honestly tell me that you're okay after what Montag just read to us?"
     "Well, not exactly, but what do you think the poem means?" Mrs. Bowles asked the distraught woman.
     "I don't know. But it made me uncomfortable. It made me feel hopeless and depressed. All of that stuff about "The Sea of Faith" or whatever it was, it just doesn't bring happy thoughts to my mind." Mrs. Phelps answered.
     "Well, what ever it meant, I can't help but feeling that it is true."
     "I don't know," Mrs. Phelps responded. "All I know is that it isn't good."