A Book Like This

When asked to do a music review for class, I tried to think of the most offbeat and interesting artist I owned music by. Animal Collective was the first thing that popped into my mind. As I started to look into more of their music, I decided I wanted to review something more personal that maybe not so many people knew of that I would like to share. Angus & Julia Stone are an Australian brother and sister duo. I stumbled upon them in the summer of 09 with a friend and immediately fell in love. They have released two albums, Down the Way, and A Book Like This, as well as a handful of singles and EPs. I chose to review their first album, A Book Like This, because it is my favorite of the two (if I absolutely had to choose). So without further adieu, I present Angus & Julia Stone!

The album opens with the song "Mango Tree", reminding us of the simplicity of life, with it's soothing folky guitar riffs and Angus's relaxing tone. On the second song (my absolute favorite!) "Wasted" it features Julia's voice. (The duo only back each other up on songs, they don't sing them as a duet.)Julia has the most unique voice; it sounds very child-like and dreamy. Something really interesting about Angus & Julia Stone is that they record separate tracks of the exact same song, with a completely different tune. Angus's version of "Wasted" is also on the album, under the track name "All the Colours", which does not posses nearly the same amount of beauty and musicality as "Wasted". They do the same thing for Angus's "Just a Boy" to make Julia's "Lonely Hands", as well as for Julia's "Hollywood" twin "Johnny and June". I'm curious to know which versions were written first and how they came to creating the second ones.


I especially love their lyrics. They usually seem to be referring to an experience they've had with a greater story behind it. The words they use add to the fresh sound used in their music and make the content of it much more enjoyable. This is a verse from the song "Choking".

"Fine words from a sailor's son
Who's always running away
I don't want your sympathy
Don't quote me another phrase
I understand all your philosophies
But it hurts me just the same"

All of their songs on this album feature quick and light guitar riffs and soft percussion behind it, with the occasional harmonica solo. If you're in the mood to kick back and relax, playing Angus & Julia Stone on a reel always puts me in the best mood. Look on the right side at the top of my blog and click on any of those links to be redirected to whichever song you choose.


Pssst, I also posted "Babylon" and "The Devil's Tears" from Angus & Julia Stone's other album "Down the Way". They're my favorite songs, along with "Wasted", be sure to check it out. I promise it's worth your time!

The Great Gatsby's Jay and Nick

The relationship between Nick and Jay came very randomly, and developed very quickly. So quickly, that their relationship doesn't seem very sincere. It seems like from the get-go Jay is trying to win over Nick. He first invited him over to one of his extravagant parties, where they barely meet. He knows that people spread all sorts of rumors about his past, and tells Nick about his background so that he doesn't get the wrong idea about him. Jay Gatsby is in desperate need of a friend, and maybe he likes Nick because he's more of an "outsider" from this whole partying crowd.

At first I thought they were both benefiting from this. They both seemed to be in need of a friend. When Gatsby's past with Daisy began to unravel, my opinion really changed of the whole situation. In my opinion Gatsby was definitely using Nick to get to his cousin, Daisy. I'm sure that he enjoyed the company of having a friend like Nick, but I'm not convinced in the slightest that he intended to become great friends with Nick, or even stay friends with him after he got what he wanted.

Winter Poem

When winter comes I bid adieu
The time that tells us our fun is through

I count the days till Spring comes back
In my fuzzy socks and knitted hat

November to March my nose is red
It looks as though I should go back to bed

With sniffles as desperate as a puppy dog
And a throat so sore I sound like a frog

Winter break comes soon enough
The perfect time to prepare for take off

Miami, LA, maybe Cabo
Anywhere to take me away from the snow

But school is back and so am I
In the dead of winter I'll do anything to survive

Before I know it February rolls around
The death of winter soon to be found

Reunited once more with my dearest friend Spring
Excitement in the air, you can feel the energy ring

The temperature rises and my sleeves dissapear
100 degrees, the hottest time of the year!

As the leaves start to fall I begin to mourn
I know that soon I'll have to battle the white blustery storm.

Thankful for a Classmate

Honestly, I'm thankfully for having such a great group of classmates in my American Lit class. We have a really great balance of fun and work in that class. Everyone contributes something special and our class wouldn't be the same if we were missing some students. There are some students who I think help me in class when we work in partners, in particular Paulina Pei and Nina Posner. They always have an interesting perspective on whatever we're discussing and contribute a lot to our conversations. We work together efficiently and I'm really glad that I have had the opportunity to partner with them and get to know them better.

I am...a Plow?

When I think of a plow, I think of a farm. A plow plays an active role in agriculture along with a lot of other things,  similar to a team. So to answer the question, yes I am a team player. Sometimes, however, I take the role of the leader, similar to a farmer. When I was younger I used to be much bossier and more controlling, but I grew out of it. I realized helping out in something can be a lot more work than being the leader of a project, and it's not necessarily about the recognition you receive that defines how meaningful your work is. For example, when I volunteered at PAWS, I wasn't out on the go rescuing all the precious animals, but I worked behind the scenes cleaning them, feeding them, walking them, and just playing with them. At first I thought of myself as just one of the bunches of volunteers doing the same thing as me, but I realized that without my help, people wouldn't be able spend as much time individually focusing on each animal, and I really was ultimately contributing to the well-being of the animals and the organization. Being a plow is nice, but sometimes I like taking charge and being the farmer.

New Direction for American Lit?

Honestly, American Lit is one of my favorite classes of the day. I'm always so tired in the mornings and it's such a relief that my first class keeps me awake but doesn't stress me out. We really can openly express our opinions because people aren't judgmental. Also the atmosphere is so light, it's like a breath of fresh air.


The assignments we've been given have been appropriate and reasonable. It is a bit of a hassle, though, to take notes while reading, and sometimes I forget. We also haven't had to write any papers (which trust me I am not complaining about!) so I'm sort of just waiting to have a giant project laid on me.  I really enjoy the blog assignments. It's a new way of writing and it's pretty neat that we can do this with subjects that are school-related. 


So all in all, I love this class and I really don't have much to say on improving it, because it's great just the way it is!

The Moment I Knew I was an American..

I think the moment i knew I was an American was when I took a school trip to Paris in the middle of 8th grade. Nothing felt too different at first when I was with the 20 other Americans from my grade school. Sure, we saw all sorts of amazing pieces of art and interesting landmarks, but most of the people in those kinds of places are tourists, so we didn't feel all that out of place. 
However, we did stay with an actual French person our age there. Probably the minute I arrived in my exchange student's home I think I realized how different our lives really were. Everything there seemed so much smaller and neater. Almost classier you could say. It was really weird seeing what was in my exchange student, Elise's, closet. All of the clothes she had were darker and very sophisticated, where as literally everything in my suitcase was bright and fun. The French seemed to act much older at an age where in America we're still considered kids. Something about that helped me realize what I still see as more of an American lifestyle that I lived. Things there weren't so dramatically different that it seemed like I was on a whole other planet, thankfully. That would just be strange. I could still easily relate with all of the Parisians easily....well maybe not easily because of a bit of a language barrier. But overall I learned a lot from that experience and learned some of the qualities I possess that make me an American in my opinion.

Everyone's heard if Nathaniel Hawthorne...right? The Scarlet Letter, House of the Seven Gables, the Blithedale Romance. What many people don't know about Mr. Hawthorne is that he was very good friends with Herman Melville, most famous for writing Moby Dick. They talk about their works in letters to each other and make interesting suggestions. It must have been really cool to have a friend (for both of them) that could really analyze your work.
Something that I found even more interesting, though, was about his ancestors. He was a descendant of John Hathorne, the famous judge from the Salem witch trials. Nathaniel decided to add a W to his last name so that he would not be associated with John. This shows that Nathaniel is independent and likes to be thought of as an individual, not judged based on who his relatives are. This reminded me of Nicholas Cage, who changed his name for a similar purpose: so that he could make a name for himself without the help of his famous family.
The Puritans had many uhh....interesting takes on things. One of their beliefs was that if there was a birth on Sunday of a child, that the child was cursed. Benjamin Franklin was called a devil child since he was born on a Sunday. In modern times, I would say we still have little specs of the same concept floating around. One of the biggest things we have nowadays is superstitions, which are a little less extreme versions of what Puritans said. Our superstitions deal more with sillier things like spilling salt or seeing a black cat. However big or small the connection is, there is always a small part of Purtitan roots in our society today.

Us vs Them..Us and Them

All conflicts since the beginning of time have included some kind of disagreements in them; whether it's the petty "he said, she said" scenario, or something a little more serious like clashing political views between candidates for office. Rolling with the political candidate idea...there are a zillion different issues that people feel strongly about, usually because of that party that they are associated with (republicans or democrats). Some of the main conflicts highly debated today are between those pro-life and pro-choice, for gay marriage or same sex marriage, in favor of up-ing the taxes for all (or just the wealthy) and those who would like to cut taxes. Both sides have legitimate arguments behind what they believe, and one cannot fairly say what is right or wrong. Whatever the most "popular" belief is among voters is reflected based on who is chosen for office. Although there are always those dissatisfied with the decisions made at the end of the day, it's important to remember whenever there's a conflict, there are usually people who aren't pleased.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

I'm not going to lie, when first reading about John Proctor, he came off as a stooge. The fact that we were immediately presented with his affair with Abigail gave me the impression that he was an insincere fool. As I read on though, I developed some respect for him because he didn't just go along with the rest of the town in their beliefs of witchery. It seems as though many people in the town go along with the whole witchery ideas out of fear (I'm sure that's new to a Puritan society..) that they will be prosecuted if they don't agree.


I like that Mr. Proctor isn't afraid to express his feelings to Reverend Parris. Yes, I know that the Reverend is supposed to be preaching from God, but John is smart enough to realize their may be more going on with the girls than the town's idea of witchery. He is much more open-minded than the rest of the town. 


John, I think, is actually a good person. Like I said before, he wasn't presented as a good person initially, but based off of some of the things he does (and doesn't do) I think it's fair to say he's a hero. He testifies for Mary, which was very kind of him since she is so young. Even though he cheated on his wife one time with Abigail, he has continuously refused to do it again, as hard as Abigail tries to seduce him. Everyone makes mistakes, and as long as John has learned from his I don't see what would make him a bad person in any sort. John should be classified as a hero, and I think that his personality and ideas will have an impact on Salem.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Religion has played a great role in people's everyday lives for centuries, whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or a great variety of other religions. In a sermon delivered by Johnathan Edward, a Puritan preacher, "Sinners in the Hands of God", Edwards speaks of how God should be feared, and how terrible one will be treated by Him if they sin and how they will suffer in Hell. I believe that the Puritains only followed this religion out of fear that if they did not they would be damned to Hell. I mean, God is supposed to be this great being who inspires hope and helps those in need; not something anyone should be scared of! The Puritans tricked those of their own kind into being responsible and well-behaved in order to fulfill their destiny of reaching heaven when they die. In my opinion, using the fear tactic in order for people to do the right thing is manipulative and unjust. 


Edwards wants people to be afraid, but no one should be scared of life; if someone makes a mistake they should take it as a lesson and learn from their wrong-doings. Let's take the typical scenario of a big high school with a lot of gossip going around. If someone starts a rumor that gets out of control, God is supposed to forgive them for committing this sin instead of automatically thinking "Well, you blew it...have fun in Hell!", because let's face it, everyone gossips. But why would God punish someone so harshly for something no one will probably even remember in a few weeks?  I mean to be sent to Hell is a bit tough in my opinion. From what I believe in, I know that I should never be scared to live life, and God will always forgive me for whatever wrong-doings I perform as long as I can forgive myself first.

There Goes the Neighborhood

I have to say, I loved growing up in my neighborhood. Across the street from me there's a small park tucked away (as well as a big one only a few blocks down) that I would play in all the time. And whenever I'm in the mood to go see a movie, only two blocks away there's a theatre! If you turn the corner by the theatre, there's a whole strip of restaurants from all around the world, Italian, Thai, Japanese...it's all delicious! One of my favorite things about where I live, however, is that one of my best friends, Kara, lives only around the corner. We grew up together, practically as sisters. Over the years we have established our own friend circles and began seeing less and less of each other, though we talk all the time and pop by each others houses quite often. It's nice to know that when I'm locked out of the house I always have a place to go.....not like that happened yesterday or anything.....


There was another girl who lived on Kara's street our age, though I don't remember much about her. Her name was Samantha, and when we were about 4 or 5, she died in a strangling accident while playing around with the chords attached to the blinds. I was too young to understand what had happened, but I remember my parents and neighbors being upset.


On my street/the streets by me, the houses ranged from your average, nothing special house to beautiful big homes. Since the economy has tanked, suddenly all of the more expensive houses have gone up for sale, as well as some of the normal houses. There have been new projects and suddenly two lot mini mansions have been popping up, with new young, wealthy families moving in. Since I first began high school I've been able to take advantage of this opportunity, and I now have a few families I regularly babysit for. So in all, I'm happy that my neighborhood has been changing, but to me there's really nothing that different about it.

Introductions

I have been playing the flute forever. Well, maybe not forever, but it sure seems like it. I first picked up the flute at the age of five. Over the years, I've competed against flutists of all ages and levels. People always ask me if I'm going to play flute professionally when I'm older, but the funny thing is, I don't really have an answer. Although I do love the flute, over the summer I picked up the guitar and found I have a strong passion for it. I've been playing for hours almost everyday, trying to teach myself everything I can.

Every summer I go to sleepaway camp InTheMiddleOfNowhere, Michigan for a month. We take activities like sailing, archery, rock climbing, waterskiing, outdoor living skills, and much more. It's my favorite time of the year, and the people who go there are the ones I consider my best friends. We all know each other in a different way than we know our friends from home because we live together. Sadly, this year was my last year as a camper, but since all of my friends from there live in the North Shore, it's easy to take the Metra out to see them when we want to get together.

When people first meet me, they often ask me what my family origin is, because although my skin is not very dark, it has an olivey undertone and my hair is almost black. After I explain to someone that my family is from a variety of countries scattered throughout the Middle East, their response is usually something along the lines of "so you're not Mexian?!"