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.

The Kite Runner Book Review

The Kite Runner

The author of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hossein wrote this amazing book. This book is about a kid named Amir. Amir and his father Baba have a servant named Ali. Ali has a son named Hassan. Hassan and Amir are good friends. Throughout the story, they both go through trouble with a pair of guys with their leader Assef. Time passes by and Amir and Hassan get separated. Amir moves  to America. In America Amir gets his education, wife, and career. Amir returns to his country to settle things. In his old country, he finds everything very different from before. he meets new people there and tries to help a certain some one.

Khaled Hosseini has a very unique style in his writing. His style  He uses plenty of irony, details, and setting. This book is rich with irony. He also puts many detail into the characters and setting. The details that he writes about certain characters gives many feelings towards them. For example, it gives many feelings towards some characters like Hassan and Amir. This makes the book more sentimental and feel like you actually know them. The details towards the setting is amazing. This makes the setting feel like you are there. This is important because it gives a feeling or  mood towards all of Afghanistan. Also, he uses plenty of foreshadowing. the foreshadowing in this book is full of suspense. This makes you want to read more. In many parts, the foreshadowing . He does not exactly write details about the characters, but more describe their personality. This increases the interest into the book. One example of this irony is when Amir is in the hospital in Afghanistan.

The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip.

This is an example of irony. This is irony because Hassan used to  have a harelip in the same spot where Amir now has it. I think this signifies as revenge. Irony plays a big role in this book, there are many more examples.

One key person with many perspectives on him is Amir. Many people have different thought on him. When he was a kid, he stood up for no one and was full of fear. I believe he just wanted to redeem himself to Baba, or just make him proud. Since Amir is trying so hard to redeem himself,he does not care or pay attention much to Hassan. Even though Amir wants to stand up for others and himself, he has a hard time doing it. I do think he is a total selfish not person, but sometimes he is. He thinks about himself first, which at times is not bad but at the same time it is.

This book reminds me of The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. These two books are similar but have some differences. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the setting is based on a reservation for Indians. There, the main character is Arnold. Arnold’s parents were alcoholics and the mom did not stand up for Arnold when his dad was drunk. Arnold is best friends with the toughest guy in the reservation named Rowdy. They both have a great relationship. Arnold then moves to a white school which sort of breaks apart their relationship. In this school, he is picked on because he is the only Indian. He start to fall for one of the girls there. He then joins basketball varsity. He starts to get recognition because of varsity basketball.

One thing that really clicked with the similarities is this. Amir used to read Hassan stories or books to him. Their relationship broke because they moved away from each other.While in The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, it is similar. Arnold used to draw pictures, portraits, and scenes for Rowdy to see or give them to him. The reason they sort of stopped talking was because Arnold moved to a different school and stopped talking to him. In both books, for some reason they had a certain hang out by a tree. In The Kite Runner, the tree spot was were Amir would read Hassan the books or stories. The tree spot in The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was for Arnold to show Rowdy the drawings or to climb the trees. If i could recall, I believe that Arnold also carved their names on the tree just like Amir. One big similarity in both of these books are the main characters. Amir and Arnold are very alike. They both are fearful. For example, Amir is afraid to stand up for others and himself. Arnold is the same, he was afraid of mainly standing up for himself. They both had a best friend that somehow separated. Amir had Hassan, they both separated. Arnold had Rowdy, but they both separated. Finally, they both depended on their best friends. Amir sort of depended on Hassan to stand up for him when in need, and he did stand up for him. Arnold depended on Rowdy for protection or help in school. The Kite Runner and The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are very similar books, and I recommend both of them.

This book is intended for different audiences depending on maturity. Since many events happen in this book, some of them are some crucial nasty moments in the book. I think this book is intended for eighth graders or high schools, or any adult. This book is very sentimental into the graphic events. This book is not for kids that are immature or too young. They would not understand and praise the reason of this book. They probably would not recognize the irony, foreshadowing, and graphic events. This book is intended for people who are mature. I say this because the events in this are no laughing matter, which immature people would maybe laugh at.

Overall, this book is great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting book. Two thumbs up and a 9.75 out of 10.

The Kite Runner #3

Wow! This book was really what I had not expected. Many saddening events happened that just came out of the blue. I was amazed by all the irony and events in the book. I never knew so much symbolic irony could happen in one book. This book was enjoyable to read, not much other books like this one. Even though the end was sort of dull or an ending I did not like much, it still gave a certain mood or relief towards Amir. My final thoughts have changed about Amir. He used to be a very weak spoiled little kid. But now I think he changed in many good ways. He is now more happy, helpful, courageous, and could recognize his mistakes.

The irony in this book was so juicy. I personally loved the irony in this book, it was my favorite part. Most of the irony comes back from the past in Amir's life. It is either between Hassan, Amir, Baba, and other people and events. For example, one thing that was irony is when Amir was at the hospital and they told him he had a severe cut on his lip, which for me exemplified like Hassan's harelip. Another thing was that Sohrab was a sex slave for Assef, and Hassan was raped by Assef. I could go on and on but I want to keep this somewhat short.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone I would know, or maybe to people I do not know. If I were a librarian, I would tell people to check this book out. The irony, the events, the feeling, the mood, the the characters, the setting; it is all there. All of these great features come in this great products. Now I sound like I am trying to advertise this book, but I am. Everyone should read this book, read it!! I could go on and on about how much I like this book, which is very unusual for me to like books. My final thought on The Kite Runner, I will never forget this book and it will help me think about how my life is. This book gets a 9.90 out of 10 just because I did not like the ending as much. But overall, great great book.

Daily

Oakland is a great place to live at. If you may not know, I live in Oakland. Oakland is so much fun, so many things to do all day. You can go walking around, play sports, or just hang out with some friends. There are many places where you can go, the park, stores, or just outside. Many people out there say," Ohhhh... Oakland is dangerous, do not go outside or you will get shot." No, this hardly happens where I live, sometimes. Most danger is not during the day, it is during the night. What would you be doing at night all alone anyways. Overall, many stuff are to be done in Oakland and enjoyed, and it is my pleasure to be able to explore this amazing city.

My daily routine is all done in Oakland. First, wake up and get ready for school. Next, go to Alameda or ASTI. Go through all the periods of the day and then head home. Either I do most of my home work or just half. Mainly, my friends and I go to the park or just skate for a while. Sometimes we have those really lazy days and just sit down and watch T.V. or play video games. By the end of the day I would be in a good mood and start to finish up my homework. When I am done, take a shower, watch some T.V. and go to sleep. Most days are like this over the weekdays, but on weekends it is always different.

I do many different things on weekdays. On Saturdays, I would go to different malls, go out to eat, or maybe even do some community service. Yes I said community service. Community service is so much fun when you are with friends. I do community service about every sunday and it is so worth it. On sunday I usually go to church, go to this one class, and theater. Most sundays I go to the Alameda theater with a group of friends. I sort of feel bad for the people who have to sit in the same room when watching the movie. We always are so loud in the theater. We make many comments out loud that make me start to roll with laughter. Even though that is not in Oakland it is near it. hehe

Response to Fermin

So I saw this post from Fermin's blog and I thought it was very interesting. This blog post was about death, or fear of death. I chose this quote because I think many people can relate to this. In the following quote, Fermin is talking about how he is not feeling safe around Oakland.

 I'm not really scared to die. Sooner or later you will die and cant do anything about it. I live in East Oakland and to be honest, I sometime just don't feel safe walking through the streets. If I see a car that is going really fast and filled with guys wearing a common color, I say to my self, "these guys are gang members". If I see that, I just hope that i wont get shot and killed. But,  If that would ever to happen, it is what it is. 

I choose this quote because I can really relate to it. I also live in east Oakland, but not so deep in. I live in a place called Jingle Town. In Jingle Town the sort of gang colors are black and yellow. I also feel the same way Fermin does. Many times, strange cars pass around driving slowly with many guys in it. When I see this I just don't look at the car and mind my own business. When this happens, I feel some fear but at the same time I feel like nothing will happen.

I also am not scared of death. Well, I would not say I am not scared of death, I am just scared of the way I die. For example, I do not want to die from torture or something very painful. I would not mind to die from a gun in the head because that is better than feeling a lot of pain. So many people are afraid of death for some reason. I understand that you do not want to die young, but that does not mean you have to be scared of it. I am scared of growing up too fast and not enjoying life. I might sound like I am trying to brag or looking down on people who are scared, but I am just pointing it out, which is not so good either.

The Kite Runner #2

This section of the book surprised me in many ways. Many events happened throughout this section of the book. In this section it feels like you are going through his life and events. The events are very detailed and mysterious. Some events I did not expect at all to happen in the story, or at least this early into the book. I am not allowed to say any spoilers, so I will not describe any of the events. Also, this section made me think about some predictions that will happen. So far, I am still satisfied about reading this book. It has many epic events that lead to other events.

One quote that really struck me is one from the beginning of the book. The following quote, Baba is talking to Amir about the main sin in life, stealing.

When you kill a man, you steal a life...You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?

This quote sort of convinced me to believing that stealing is the biggest sin. These are very great arguments to making it convincing. One thing that makes me believe that stealing is the biggest sin is that you could say this to anything. For example, if you stand close to someone, they or you could say get away your stealing my air, or something like that. That is what led me to not believe that is the biggest sin. Even though these are great arguments, I still think that there are greater sins in life.

This book has made me realize how other places are. The author makes where he is from sound really bad, but I believe there were also good places during that time. If you may not know, during that time is when where they lived was being invaded by Russians I believe. There was much tension between them and Russians. Also, there are some characters in here that make many people from over there look nice. But also there are people that make it sound a very bad place. One person that makes it sound nice is Rahim Khan. The person that makes it seem very bad is Assef. I believe these two characters give a big role into the feeling or mood of the setting.

Response to David's blog

So I was looking around for an interesting post on google reader and I found this amazing song from David's post. His song made me shake for a while but then I understood it. The song title is B.I.T.C.H or Broken, Ignorant, Tramp, Confused, Hateful. Here is a quote from his analysis of his song,

In each verse, I give a little detail about what it is this person does. In the first verse where it says, "Don't you turn off the switch," she is desperately begging for someone to help her. In the second verse where it says, "I throw your self-esteem in the trash, not the recycling bin," it means she insults people so badly that it scars them for life. The pre-chorus is talking about misunderstanding of why her life sucks. Finally, in the chorus she is completely miserable and does not know what to do, it's like her life turned against her because of how bad she was living it. Btw, the title is an acronym (B.I.T.C.H.)

 When I skimmed through this song I thought it was about something emo (not dissing). After I read this quote or analysis I thought about it for a while. I can see that the inspiration for this song came from someone that David did not dislike but had no respect for her. This song is all about her, how she needs help but can not get it. For example when David stated," I throw your self-esteem in the trash, not the recycling bin," means many things. I thought about it as like how trash never comes back, and recycling does. So her self-esteem is thrown in the trash so it would not come back and form again, keywords here would not come back. I hope this is sort of understood.

This song was very creative. I enjoyed reading this song because it is so unique. It is unique because I have not heard many songs like this that has this type of feeling towards a person. I was surprised when I read this song. If I could rate this song I would give it a high score. But how could I rate a song that came from someone's heart. Oh, and I also liked the title of the song, very creative title. Overall good song, kudos to you David.