Romeo & Juliet

              Romeo and Juliet is a story about love and hatred. Which are the total opposites of each other. Put both of them together, and it makes any situation bloody, and violent. But in the midst of all this fighting  Romeo and Juliet young, and have nothing but love for each other. Is this a bad thing?
             Love is very fragile. Anything you are told can easily break you. There are gonna be people who want you together, and people who do everything in their power to break you apart. But if it's true, nothing can tear you down. You'll be able to withstand everything and anything. If you have to second guess yourself, then it's probably not meant to be. Because if it is true, you just know.
            Can young people be in love? Or do they just think they are? For me, it's both. I think anyone, no matter what you're age is, can be in love. I just think when you're younger, you're very selfish. And to be in love, you have to think of someone else before yourself. You can't be self centered, you have to put their happiness before yours. But I also think since we are self centered, we can't be in love. We might think we are, but we're probably not. Especially because for us, looks are what matter most. So we're not in love with the person and their personality. We're in love with the way they look or how popular they are.
             Baz Luhrmann did amazing job portraying love and hate together. He shows how easily things can fall apart, and how easily things can fall together. He put the movie into a modern time to show us how this may relate to our lives, and how fast we can fall if it's true and meant to be. Even though I didn't understand everything they were saying, Luhrmann made their actions, chemistry and body language clear so you can understand what was going on. He used the settings to really help what was happening in the scenes. "While Luhrmann had faith in the relevance of the story, he knew that to reach out to a new audience he would have to make it hip and sexy. That meant a dramatic setting, an analogy for the originial violent, Verona."

Shug

              Shug by Jenny Han is about a girl named Annmarie. Annmarie is going through a seriously tough time right now. She's in a very awkward stage, and it's very hard for her to deal with. She finds things wrong with her, and seems to think there's nothing good about herself. She's very harsh on herself. And some of her closest friends aren't acting so nice anymore.
              Self-esteem is a big problem for teenage girls. Even if they're one of the prettiest girls, they tend to find a flaw with themselves. Twelve to fourteen years old is a hard age to deal with. It's when you're the most impressionable, and vulnerable. You believe everything that you hear, and are always looking for things you can perfect.
               I think celebrities don't help with self esteem. They set an image of what every girl is supposed to look like. This is why a lot of girls feel so low about themselves. They see these beautiful girls, on T.V. and in magazines. They think that's what they should/want to look like. But, they don't realize that it's all fake. Photoshop, tons of make up, lighting, is what make these girls so beautiful. And even they probably don't like something about themself.
              Image takes away from what really matters-personality. The way you look shouldn't affect other peoples opinions about you. What happened to when how you treated others was all that mattered? Apperance has become such a big part in peoples life. It's either something people are constantly worried about, or something people are constantly judging you on. It's very unfortunate that some people overlook inner beauty. You might be missing out on a really amazing person!

All-Star Mentor

http://pagesofreality123.blogspot.com/2010/12/edward-cullen-is-so-2008.html
          Thai definitely deserves to be an All Star Mentor. Not only does she write deeply, but she writes beautifully. You can tell how much what she is reading impacts her life, and how she really feels about it. She puts so much thought into each one of her posts, and really pushers herself to write more, which really inspires me. I chose this post because I felt like it was so true, and I agreed with her completely. She explained her feelings in detail, and elaborated very well! Thai has such well written posts, and will inspire anyone to go above and beyond to write a fabulous post!

http://peaceloveandpages.blogspot.com/2011/01/poetry-response-speak-now.html
           I absolutely loved Ashley's post on the song, "Speak Now". She unpacked and interpreted the song so well. We share the same passion for Taylor Swift, so it was so cool to read about how this song made someone else feel. Her theory was very smart, and something most people don't think about while listening to a song. She dug real deep to find what this song could mean. I liked her theory, because I can relate to it. Which is what writing is mostly about, being able to relate to someone else's story.

http://untoldstoryinsideyou.blogspot.com/2011/01/too-much.html
          Zarrin's post on Slam by Nick Hornby was very thought provoking! I read this book over the summer, so I liked how we had different views and opinions on this book. Another thing that I liked is how she used vocabulary words, which shows that she actually understands how to use them, and is using them to help her become a better writer. Her work is very detailed, and hardly ever goes off topic. She has such a strong voice in each of her posts, and her personality and opinions really show.

Home, the one place where I don't feel alone.

Where the blue crystal skies

& the green hills lie.

Is where I want to be.

If only I was in Italy.

The fresh clean air

and the soft wind in my hair

Make me feel at ease

If I could, I would never leave

But Brooklyn is where I must be.

Although, knowing where you going

is knowing where you're coming from

& I come from the place

where the sun is in your face.

But I also come from the place

where the beach is your backyard

Life isn't all that easy, it's actually kind of hard.

Puerto Rico- you're where my heart is.

All the times I had with you when I was such a little kid.

You'll be with me forever,

when it gets hard.

& when the hard gets better.

Ireland, oh, the stories that I hear

Of how beautiful you are.

the hills and hills of grass

and how the time can just pass

the sweet smell of nature

Its something you can't deny.

You don't want to leave so badly, you almost want to cry.

This is where I come from.

There's more than what meets the eye.

You have to look deep inside.

To see, where someones true beauty lies

I'm proud of who I am.

As I go through life saying "I can"

as long as I follow my dreams

even through the pain and screams.

I might not know where I'm going, but I know where I come from.

Poem

Pep Rally

Why do they force us to come to these stupid pep rallies?

I don’t want to be here.

I’m not feeling peppy, and the pep rally isn’t helping.

These things are only set up so that the cheerleaders can show off,

And all the boys can drool over them -

Especially Andrea Herkimer.

I don’t actually hate Andrea, since we’ve never spoken.

           This poem has always been one of my favorites. It wasn't just a poem that I read, liked, and moved on to the next one. It actually made me think. I felt like I and other people could relate to it on many levels. It had a much deeper meaning then what it came across as.
           I feel like this poem explains how most teenage girls feel. We're upset most of the time, envy other girls, and want boys to like us. This is hard to deal with because we feel like we have to be perfect. Image, jealousy and popularity are such a big part of girls' lives, which is why this poem was so easy to relate to.
           I think this poem is go for girls out there who don't revolve their life around their image, but still want to be noticed. I think every girl wants to be noticed, drooled over, and told how amazing they are. But when you're not on the cheerleading team, popular, or as outgoing as other people, it's very hard to get attention.

Sweethearts (Spoiler Alert)

          Sweethearts by Sara Zarr is about a girl named Jennifer Harris. Jennifer has never fit in anywhere, and always relied on her best friend, Cameron Quick to get her through things. But after he "passes away", she is completely lost. Most of her memories were with Cameron, and they now have become a part of her. But she can't seem to remember a lot of things about him, because she feels like her memories have gone with him. But even after Jennifer, aka, Jenna Vaughn, grows up, she still finds herself thinking about Cameron. She has a boyfriend, friends, what else could she ask for?
         This book was really intense for me. The compassion and devotion Jenna has toward Cameron really amazes me. Even many years after not seeing him, she still thinks of him as her best friend, and cant let go of him. I find it so amazing that Jenna remains to stay devoted to Cameron, and never forget about him. It's sad when someone passes, and you just forget about them.
         It also taught me about the impact you can have on someones life. If you do something nice, or are always there for someone, they'll always remember you. It won't matter what you looked like, but what you did and the difference you made in their life. Being there for someone can change someone. Especially if they don't have any friends, just a smile will make their day. So think before you do something, because they'll remember it forever.

Fancy White Trash

            Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling is about a girl named Abby who has to deal with the problems in her everyday life. She doesn't really have any role models, because basically all of her sisters are either pregnant, had a baby, or just bad. The people that Abby is surrounded by impact her life in many ways.
           Abby is different than the people in her family. Abby wants to learn from her sisters' mistakes, instead of following in their footsteps. She has a good head on her shoulders, and wants a better life for herself. However, it's not easy when you don't have a positive role model or a good living enviornment.
           I think this is why a lot of kids have problems. Most people aren't strong like Abby. So they usually follow in their family members steps because that's what they feel comfortable with. They think it's the right thing to do, because their parents do it, so why can't they?
           But, this can go two ways you can look at this as a bad thing, or a good thing. Sometimes when kids see how are their parents lives are, it makes them want to work harder. It makes them want to be better than that and go farther in life. Either way, it's good to have someone that you can look up to.