Response to God Bless Alameda

So I was looking over reader and I found a response that was interesting. This was a response from Rokhsor to Aleah that was talking about Alameda.

I am shocked. If anything, Alameda is the coolest place to be and just because you do not like it here, does not make it dumb or stupid or anything like that. I am tired of people calling Alameda bad names. If you do not like it, then do not talk about it. It is as simple as that. Just because people live in Oakland and it’s where all the “cool people” live, does not make everywhere else dumb...First of all, if Alameda is bootsy, then what are you doing at an Alameda school? I am not trying to sound rude at all but it is the first question that popped up in my head. Since Alameda is bootsy, then you might as well find a good school at Oakland. Oh yeah, since it is so much better than Alameda, then it shouldn’t be that hard to find a good school in Oakland that is offering the same kind of things that ASTI is.

Ok. Before I start, I want others to know that I am not trying to take any sides, this is just my opinion. So, some people might know I live in Oakland, so I probably might be biased towards Oakland.  I have never lived in Alameda so I do not really know how it is. I also do not really hang out in Alameda as much.


 I agree with Rokhsor that Alameda is a nice place that is not stupid or dumb. I like to kid around with Rokhsor saying that Oakland is better, but she does have some points. If Oakland is so cool, why would you go to school to Alameda. This was the thing that always got to me because it is true, why would I go to school in Alameda? I still don't even have a good complete answer for that question. One thing I did not really agree with was this. By the way I read it, you are trying to say that there are no good schools in Oakland. If you are trying to say that, I could differ. There are many schools all over Oakland, and all of them have a different styles of teaching and just a different style overall. All schools are good in their own way, some help more in different ways. 


I love Oakland, but I also like Alameda. Alameda is a nice place to chill and be safe. Even though I like Alameda, there are some things I dislike. From what I heard is that Alameda is turning "ghetto". I thought this was funny because you can not really turn ghetto out of the blue, especially Alameda. Maybe it could, but have some doubts about it. It is more like there are people in Alameda who are ghetto, not Alameda is turning ghetto. Last thought, I would prefer to live in Oakland than Alameda just because I have not really experienced Alameda as much. If I did live there, then maybe it would be the other way around.  Merry Christmas and New Years to everyone. :)

LCD #3 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

So I just finished reading this book and I can say many things about it. First of all, at first I was not really interested in it, but reading a few pages, I was hooked. This book has a writing style that is very unique that hooks you immediately. It was really well written from characters, to the plot, to the conflicts. The main conflict was throughout the whole book. I am happy to say that I feel like I read a book about an autistic kid that overcomes many things and grows to be more matures. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a short engaging book.

Today's discussion was at it's best from the past weeks. We had many more options to talk about in the book since we read the whole book. We talked about a few things. We talked about things we did not really understand. We also discussed about Christopher being with his mother and father. Also since Christopher has had many encounters with the police, we talked about the police. We talked about how police compare and contrast from different countries, cities, regions, years and etc.

One point that was brought up many times in all the the discussions was the comparison with this book and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. If may not know, this book was also great. I recommend Of Mice and Men also. Anyways, some group mates were bringing up this point. They said that two of the main characters are very similar, Lennie and Christopher. Both characters have a certain illness were they act like a kid or do not understand things very well. Some keys things is that they both like dogs. During both book, they get to interact or have a dog, and they both love their dogs.

This discussion was a great one, too bad it is the last one for this book. Last comment of book, buy it, borrow it, anything; just read it. This will be the last post for this book, bye bye book. I am looking forward to another discussion about other books or anything else. Since this might be one of the last posts of the year, I would like to leave with a Happy Christmas and Happy New Years everyone. :)

LCD #2 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

So far, the book has been great. It has been very original and interesting to read. It feels as if it were really written by an autistic kid. I am almost till the end of the book. Many things have happened and finally we found out who the killer of the dog is. By now, I sort of feel like I understand the main character, Christopher, or like as if I know him. this book is very well-written. Almost done with the book. Two thirds finished, one third left to go.

This week's discussion was better from last times I believe. This week, I actually participated some in the discussion. I asked questions, answered some questions and used some quotes. We all participated which made the discussion really interesting and better than last weeks'. Some questions that came up during the discussion were about the plot, characters and about autistic people. These were the main things in our discussion. One example of these questions was," How do police in England deal with autistic kids?" One thing that stood out to me. While we discussed about what was going to happen next into the book, Christian popped in and and claimed something significant. He said," In the beginning, Christopher was talking about mystery novels. He said that the best mystery novels you could find out in the middle of the book. Later on in the book or in the middle of the book, you find out who the killer is." This was very interesting because it was really true.

This discussion brought me to some questions. I still have some questions about autistic people. Before, I did not know that much about autistic kids, but now I am sensing sort of how they are. Also, I have questions about how England is or was during the time in the book. Oh, by the way this is taken place in England. In england there are people that treat Christopher in certain ways that make me question how England is. Overall, I believe this discussion was better than last weeks. The book is great and I would recommend this book to everyone I know who would want to read a book.

Response to Shannon

So I was looking in reader for stuff about Oakland. I found this quote from Shannon that also lives in Oakland. So I thought she can really know how Oakland is. Here is the following quote from Shannon,

I hear that there is some debate on whether or not Oakland is safe or not. Living in the hood for my whole life, I would say Oakland is fine. A lot of people call it a "kill-zone" and say its dangerous. From the parts I've lived in and from my experience its not really dangerous unless you're unlucky and shot as an innocent bystander or you're into some stuff. Most people in Oakland aren't even into stuff. Oakland has actually been very safe for me and lots of other people. There are parts that are very nice like Montclair and the Oakland Hills are all safe as can be...As for the gangs, there are gangs and gang affiliation in Oakland but the difference is its just as much as any other city. Oakland is targeted because of stories that people have heard on the news of people getting shot or stabbed or something. Just as much crime happens elsewhere but Oakland has been targeted.

I can really agree with Shannon. I also live around a "ghetto" neighborhood. Oakland is dangerous for you only if for certain reasons. If you are involved in drug deals, gangs, or maybe in the wrong places at wrong times. Mainly you get into trouble if you are in a gang. Of course there is going to be violence if you are representing a gang because other people represent a different gang. If you are in like a drug deals, this could get into money problems with drug dealers and produce problems.  These are the problems that make cities look bad, or more certainly Oakland look bad.

Do not get me wrong, there is also robbing, jumping (fights), killings, rapers, and all sorts of stuff in Oakland, but this happens everywhere, not just Oakland. I think you have an equal chance of being robbed  in every other city. People just so happen to think Oakland is bad. Also, the news is mainly that makes Oakland look bad, they make it so dramatic and since they only show important things on T.V or news people think its true or bad. Oakland is sometimes a dangerous place, but its is a great place.

Corbally's Short Story: Pearls Before Swine

Kathryn Douglas

Lhadze B.

Jesse Valdez

Luis Alba

Pearls Before Swine

            The silence never sounded as loud when Paul held Abbey’s body in his hands. His eyes widened as he held the bloody ink pen in his hand and watched her cold, lifeless body. The past memories were never so vivid until he was able to see her dead in his arms and panic consumed his face. He knelt over her body and closed his eyes.

            His high school year was the whole reason why he was so violent. Paul and Abbey had been a great couple. Paul loved her; he would do anything for her. He remembered picking her up from her house in his truck and getting out of the car. Abbey came out of her house in her little red dress, nimbly walking over in her heels, putting on the delicate corsage. He was stunned at her amazing grace and beauty. He opened the truck door for her and headed to prom. Paul was nervous and the ride was quiet.

            As they entered the gym where prom was being held, he had a slight feeling someone else was reserving her. Paul and Abbey sat at a table with their friends from high school. They had fun with their friends, but as they left to dance, Abbey and Paul stayed silent. As the night went on, Abbey acted strange. She glanced around as if looking for someone. She suddenly stood up, walked away and never looked back as someone came through the door. She paced towards the other boy with the pig tattoo on his biceps that was standing by the door. Anger boiled in Paul’s stomach. Abbey with no sense of pity kissed the guy with the pig tattoo. Paul jumped in his seat and starred at them. Embarrassment came over him. He got up and left.
            As Paul drove his truck in anger, his mind was still on Abbey and how he witnessed her cheating on him. He started to grimace his malicious thoughts while driving away from the worst night of his life. The guy’s pig tattoo was still fresh in his mind. He wondered who he was, with hatred towards him and Abbey; he repeated slurs to both Abbey and the other guy. While driving, he spotted a pig, and hatred busted inside him. He immediately thought of Abbey and the pain she caused him. Then, on impulse, he made his truck go as fast as it possibly could, and hit the pig. The car shook and swerved. He got out of the truck to see if it was dead, he realized he had imagined it; the pig was merely a hallucination. He wondered why the car had shook if he did not hit the pig. He noticed that he had hit a bopulder that had made the car shake and swerve. A distant bright light came near as he realized what had just happened and released a piercing laughter. A horn sounded and he looked in front of him still laughing, and before he knew it, everything went black.
            After he regained consciousness, he saw a white-walled room. He noticed the numerous amount of wires attached to him. It didn’t take him very long to realize that he was in a hospital. He touched his face and felt his grown facial hair all over. His eyes felt tired and heavy. He looked towards the digital clock. He noticed something strange. The date was 3 years after prom. He did not remember anything that happened between prom night or now. He was about to gasp, but quickly stopped. Something was clamping his jaw shut so that he couldn’t speak. He thought while in pain, I shouldn't have tried to run over the "pig". I shouldn't have lost control like that. In half an hour, some surgeons came in to check and fix whatever was clamping down on his jaw. They noticed it would not take long and began. Paul saw some of surgeons using screws on his teeth. He felt a sharp pain, but it went away in seconds. Soon after his rest and recuperation one of the surgeons got a mirror and asked him what he thought. He saw himself and was shocked. His face was covered with hideous scars. He did not recognize himself.
            Later on, the nurse entered the room and introduced herself. Paul recognized her at the sound of her name, Abbey. Abbey apparently did not recognize who he was, she told him; don’t be so scared, the scars will go away in a while. Paul tried to tell her whom he was, but he was unable to speak because the wires in his jaw caused too much pain. Abbey did not notice that he struggled to say something. She put her hand down on the counter to reach a new pillow for Paul’s head on her tippy toes trying to get higher into the cabinet to grab a new pillow for Paul’s head. She had a ring on her left hand. He shook with fury on his bed when he noticed, and the entire hospital would have heard him scream, if only it weren't for the thing on his jaw. The shiny object on her finger was an engagement ring, with words engraved on it. And Paul knows that it wasn't him that gave it to her. One thing crossed Paul’s mind, his revenge.
            Abbey came in and closed the door. Her white shoes and blue nurse attire annoyed him as His heart beat sped up and face heated. He lifted himself from the hospital bed with sharp pains from every direction engulfing his body. Waiting until she stepped forward, Paul grabbed her and took the pen out of her pocket. He looked Abbey dead in her grey eyes while she stared at him with shock. When he was close to tears he whispered, Abbey. He grabbed her arm and jammed the pen in her wrist, cutting open the flesh. She screamed out for help, but he quickly cupped his hand over her mouth. He said, “Be quiet,” with a murderous tone to his gruff and unrecognizable voice. He caressed her face with malice in his eyes and held the pen up to her neck as she slowly started to lose consciousness. He remembered that horrible heartbreaking day from the past and the crash that ruined him. His heart enflamed and face reddened. The last time he saw her, she was looking at him, deviously giggling and now she was different. Ugly, he thought, that pig man made her ugly, the way she smiled at him, she never smiled like that at me. She could very well be dead to me. Very well be damned to hell dead in my eyes. I want her dead; if I couldn’t have her, neither can that pig. He took a deep breath, forcedly and jammed the pen into Abbey’s soft neck. Her eyes flickered and she was no longer. His hands were soaked with Abbey’s crimson blood. 
            He dropped her and wiped his hands on his hospital gown. Paul looked over her dead body on the floor, dropped the pin and limped to the door. It creaked as he opened it slowly. Once he was outside, he looked both ways of the hall and dashed. Running down the grey halls, memories of the good times flashed into his head and he snickered bitterly. He could see the security guards running towards him, they had heard her desperate cry. He realized that he would not get away and stopped running. The securities tackled him and searched him for weapons. Paul looked up to the ceiling while the guards put the cold cuffs on his wrist and said,” Pearls before swine,” and fell to his knees and hit the floor. Blood spilled out of his mouth and his body was covered in Abbey’s blood. He knew that once he killed her, he had taken a piece of her with him to the fiery pits of hell.

LCD #1 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

To say the truth and not take much credit from the discussion, I did not really participate in this discussion. I have certain reasons for this but I am not here to talk about that. Anyways, the book I am reading is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. So far, this book is really interesting and engaging.  To summarize just a little without giving spoilers, this is how it goes. A neighbor's dog is on lawn dead with a fork stabbed in it. So the main character decides to investigate for its killer. This book had some subjects on to discuss.

During the discussion, we talked about most if not all the character so far into the book. We talked about the main character, and just a few characters that popped out no where. Some characters that we talked about were Christopher (the kid), his dad, Mrs. Shears, Mrs. Alexander (old lady), and some neighbors. We analyzed their actions and tried to describe their personalities from them. Another thing we discussed about what this book reminded us. As Troy stated that this book is like Of Mice and Men. He said this because of the characters in the book. He said that Christopher and Siohbah reminded him of George and Lennie. In my head i agreed with this because it really was like Of Mice and Men. We also predicted about what was going to happen next. This brought some different thoughts from different characters to events. One example of the predictions was a suspected killer. We agreed and disagreed, but I think we all might know who it was.

This discussion brought me to some hypotheses and some questions. One hypothesis is the killer of the dog. I can not tell tell because it is sort of of a spoiler if I were to say. What brought me to this hypothesis were the different perspectives of suspects from my peers or group. One question that came through my mind after this discussion was. Overall, I believe this discussion was pretty good or semi-successful, but the book is too awesome.

Response to Alex

So I searched up Oakland on google reader and this post from Alex came up. This quote is interesting because he is talking about a show that was starred in Oakland. This was sort of like a documentary on gangs in Oakland. Here is the following quote.

This was really pointed out to me the other day when I was flipping through the TV channels and I came upon this show named gang wars. This show caught my attention in particular because it was talking about the gangs and violence in Oakland. The show specifically focused on the cycle of violence. Whenever one act of of violence was committed it would be responded to by another act of violence. It is a sad truth that many people in Oakland have to deal with... It is sad to see teens my age getting caught up in this violence. It sickens me to think that they are just throwing away their lives for what a gun, power, females, toughness.

I have watched this show named Gang Wars: Oakland, but I am not sure that this is all true. I think that this   show was not that accurate or true. First of all, they copied I believe the History channel with Gangland, just thought I should point that out. Next is that they make the police seem like they actually want to help Oakland and make the police look nice. In reality, many policemen are different. Some harass people and believe they are in control. Do not get me wrong, there are many policemen that have their heart in the right place and actually want to help out Oakland. There are also scenes where the police are busting through doors to get into houses, which makes it look like the police do this all over oakland, which they do not. Also the commentator makes it sound like Oakland is a really dramatic place to live at. With his deep serious voice, that is creepy after you listen to it after a while. Like when he said," It is 10,000 gang members versus a group of 11 police officer that are highly trained." Oh and my favorite one," [Police]...all they have is hope." This show made me actually bad about living in Oakland at first, but now it seems as a lot of what they said was just exaggeration. Lesson of the day is... do not believe everything you see on the T.V.!

I agree that there is a lot of violence all over Oakland, If it is either by ethnicity, social class, or gangs. Much of this violence comes from way back in the past. Some of it also comes from dumb decisions from teenage boys and girls.