The Ending

As we come to a closing to the book Just the Three of Us by Julia Blackburn, she remembers of when her her parents passed away, her father died of a cerebral haemorrhage.  She has learned to accept that even if she did not have a normal upbringing and that it was based on broken relationships that they were still her parents and that they loved her, they had there odd ways of showing it but they still did. Her parents alcoholism and affairs with other women, and then her mother and her sexual tendencies. But by the end of the book, Julia has learned to forgive her parents for there bad parenting and has learned from them so she can apply this knowledge to her own parenting skills. 

Just the Three of us #5

In the novel Just the Three of Us by Julia Blackburn, where I am at in the novel the reader has already picked up on relationship issues as stated in previous blogs but that was when she was young. Julia also talks of the present and her relationship with her mother but not to the reader but to these "faxes to Herman". Herman was a boyfriend and when they broke up and is now her best friend. In a way the reader can sense that she still misses Herman for his guidance, she says;" "one part of me longs for my mothers forgiveness, the other part is hungry for retribution. What happened, happened. But Herman, you know that, you were there! Are you there now? Are you reading this fax as it grumbles its way through the machine on your table? can you tell me what to do?"(31). Here Julia Expresses her feelings about her mom to Herman and mentions "you were there! are you there now?" suggesting that he was there for her when they were a couple but was he there now for her that they were only friends? That she wants him but Julia also need him in a way. In her faxes to this mysterious man the reader can't help but wonder what had gone on between them that had caused there separation but still allow them to be so close as friends. could this perhaps be the work of her mother yet again?

Just the Three of us #4

In this memoir by Julia Blackburn the reader continues to see Julia's problems and where they came from. From the start of the book I remember thinking that it was her dad, her dad was mostly the main reason she had so many issues. Now that I am significantly farther in the book, I can see now that her mother is definitely the main reason. Her mother had problems herself and didn't try to hide them from her daughter. 

Right now in the book, Julia (as a adult) remembers back to the time when she was about to give birth herself to her first child, that her mom gave her a notebook that she had kept during her pregnancy with julia and throughout her childhood. Ones first though is; oh thats nice of her mother to do, give her a little heads up for what's to come right? No, in this book are accounts of her dreams, "In another dream she drowned the baby in the bathtub and then went to a party where she had a lot of fun"(44). This quote from her mothers notebook is not only creepy but also sad that she could think of her own baby that she created like that, but then it is no surprise because the reader can infer that the only reason why Julia's mother wanted a baby so bad(which she had) was to keep her marriage together, or to possibly make her husband love her more and keep him from being unfaithful. In the notebook that Julia is given, her mother writes just after Julia's 1st birthday about how she is really gonna take motherhood on she states, "Must quickly learn to master the problems of motherhood in the minimum of time, because I am not one of those silly women who make babies a full time job. I am an artist first and a mother second--only to fulfill myself as an artist" (45). Here this shows her mother's priorities as a mother and her work and is a clearly a unfit mother. what this must of felt for Julia to read was hard, not that she probably already had an idea that this is how she thought but to have the proof before her and that her mothers feelings had been this way since birth. Her mother didn't even get a chance to know her or give her the chance to be bad. 

Just the Three of Us. #3

In this memoir by Julia Blackburn, one picks up on the suttle differences Julia and her mother have in the beginning but the reader doesn't actually start to come into the actual problems of their relatioship. Where I am in the book, Julia has opened up and has really started to talk about her mother and all of the lodgers that come to stay with them, and also how much they mean to her mother and what it means for her when she is at home.

Julia reads from her diary and remembers all of the different lodgers that's had stayed with them, she remembers that her mom considered her to be compition when there were men in the house when she was only 15 or younger and these men were in there 40s. Her mother put the blame on her 13 year old daughter for having a man walk out on her, Julia states "she said it was my fault and I was trying to be her rival by flirting with him. Its true I liked him, he was very nice to me, but I don't think I flirted in anywayu I was thirteen" (27). Then Julia goes on to tell more of what her mom has told her in the past about the constant stream of men that enter there lives. She says "I can't help seeing him of course, but I am forbidden to even talk to him and sometimesmy mother tells me I must leave the room if he comes in" (28). Here I think that her mom is the person with the real mental issues and is forcing them onto her daughter and will cause them to have a broken relationship with her daughter.

Just the Three of Us: 2

In my outside reading book, i have gotten to know Julia(main character) quite a bit by now. She has relationship issues with her parents and is ver confused by them and one can see that through her memories when she looks through her past diary. Now that i am a bit farther into the book, the reader sees now that Julia has some self-esteem problems in addition to her relationship issues, "I look in the mirror above the sink. I don't see a face, just the details of a face--I smile at the mouth and it smiles back. But not in a very trusting way" (13-15). Here Julia looks at herself and sees herself but she just sees herself as a whole, or just a random person not the individual that she is. Julia doesnt see herself as anyone special. As i read through my book her mother came up, and we start to look into her mom and thats where her self-esteem problems may have developed.

As I read, Julia started to talk about how after her mother and her father slit her mom started to lodge people, specificly men. Her mother starts to have relationships with these men, 

"There was Bob the architect, he was the first and my  mother was sure he wanted to marry her; then Richard, the American painter with a withered leg; Ian, David, another Richard, Ken the conman and of course great-uncle Guy for a while..."(16).

seeing these relationships come and go and seeing her mom heartbroken and then happy again can make a girl confused and not know what to do. Through all of this (even though this really isnt that much) one can see that this is and will create problems for Julia and one can predict that it will only get worse for Julia and maybe even cause something to happen between Julia  and her mother. 

Just the Three of Us: 1

 Just the Three of Us by Julia Blackburn is a memoir about a herself, her drunken father and her relationship with her mother when her father left. From the very start of the book Julia states that "He (her father) was disastrous in so many ways, yet I never felt threatened by him. I could be frightened of the madness and the drunken rages, but I never doubted the honesty of his relationship with me and that was what really mattered"(3). She doesn't really know what to feel about her father and that he is a kind man and has love in his heart yet he has those "drunken rages" that scare her. 

This book reflects on her good and bad memories of her parents, then speaks her mind about the situations. Also the reader see's Julia's father and his problems and her mothers bad decisions and the reader will begin to not only see what went on in Julia's life but the reader is able grow with the character. 

The Epilogue?

Not many auto-biographies end with a Epilogue but Obama ends "The Audacity of Hope" talking about his days up to giving the keynote address at the 2004 democratic convention. Obama also talks about how he had to get used to being spotted out in public, his new found fame and how he wondered how all of this really came about. By the end of this chapter he thinks of his old friends advice that had really helped him along the way:

"It's not that compromise is inherently wrong. I just did'nt find it satisfying. And the one thing I've discovered as I get older is that you have to do what is satisfying to you. In Fact that's one of the advantages of old age, I suppose, that you've finally learned what matters to you. It's hard to know that at twenty-six. And the problem is that nobody else can answer that question for you. you can only fingure it out on your own".

This auto-biography was a interesting read. I expected a different feel to it. I thought it would be more of Obama recalling memories and his life growing with his mother and his dad being gone and then eventually his grandmother, but it was'nt it was him recalling his life in politics and how it changed his life and how it forever will. 

Family

              Family is the 9th chapter in "The Audacity of Hope" this chapter, Obama talks about his own family life and the common challenges that he and many Americans has faced. Obama also talks about how both he and Michelle were working parents that needed to balance there home and family commitments with there business commitments like many families in society. Saying this in chaper 9 he goes on to challenge republicans saying that having the "traditional" family lifestyle is not big idea anymore, he goes on to say "traditional family is under assault from hollywood movies and gay pride parades--with tales of women consigned to permanent singlehood, me unwilling to make lasting commitment, and teens engaged in endless sexual escapades"(381). Obama makes a good point, the "traditional family" barely exists anymore just because of all those things he previously listed and because many people know what they want and what they dont't want, with technology being as advanced as it is, people have the opportunity for those things. Theres no denying that American's lifestyles have changed in the past 50 or so years and they always will.

OTW

In On the Water Front the characters all disagree on what they think a traitor and what a whistleblower is. Terry (the main character) thinks that being a traitor is a bad thing, that your "ratting" out your friends in the beginning of the movie, but when it came to Idy and Idy's brother died he starts to change his mind about the definition about a traitor. Terry does the right thing and tells on Johnny Friendly and is true to himself. He risked his life, job, friends, and everything just to do the right thing.

I personally think that its ok to be a tattle tale when it comes to life or death like Terry in On the Water Front. I believe that he did the right thing because someone died because of him and he should feel bad for what he did. I believe that its ok to speak your believes because everyone is entitled a opinion, whether one agrees or not is not the issue.

blog Question: All My Sons

In All My Sons, the characters in this play make choices based on the needs of their family and the needs of society. Every Character is different to which one is more important to them individually. Joe Keller tells Annie's father to just cover the cracks on the engine heads and send them off because he did not want to jeopardize the business for his son. He wanted leave something behind all for his son. On the other hand Joe Keller's son: Chris, would never have done that. He believes in telling the truth and in being in the war, he doesn't want to cause anymore harm to the soldiers and to society. Chris shows this by offering to take Joe to the slammer. 

I personally think that one should think about what choice has the most impact and how significant it is on either the family or society. If one was to put there family first and it killed many or it hurt the country somehow then its not the time to put ones family first. In Joe Keller's position I think he should have told the government that they're were cracks because those twenty-one pilots did not have to die so Chris Keller would have a company and some money. I think it was a poor decision that not only impacted them as a family but the families of the fallen fighter pilots. 

Race

In the Audacity of Hope by: Barack Obama, one of the chapters talks about Race. Obama being mixed with a unique racial background, his mother being white and his father kenyan, then also living in many different locations such as Hawaii, indonesia, and in America it has giving him many different outlooks on life and the social order. Obama talks about how America has come far but there are still racist acts, and that he calls upon not only the colored people of america to step forward but to everyone to clearly disapprove of these acts. 

I really like this part of the book, being a bi-racial citizen this impacts me, I need to know how are president feels and how he will act on the issue of race and racism in our country. Its not just a touchy subject but something that should be handled seriously. I also like chapter because are country is growing everyday and its not how it was anymore. The minorities are becoming the majority, and so race is obviously going to play apart. 

in-sight to his presidency?

In the Audacity of Hope its the auto-biography on his political career, not of his whole life much to my displeasure but this is also interesting and something I think we should all read. We should get to know as much as possible of our presidents past, present to learn from our countries mistakes. I think that this book would give us a in-sight into how he may run the white house and how these next four years will turn out.

Right now in the book, Obama is talking about his new career into politics and he is just getting into the rythem of his new senate position schedule. He talks about all the things that are in his scheldule, but what jumped out at me was a small comment, he wanted to catch a flight home before the girls went to bed. Reading that I thought "He really cares about his family if one: he thought to do that and two: he would remember that and want to put that in his book, third: he puts so much into family, that I think that he will definitatly be thinking of our nations families and what they need/afford. 

The Audacity of Hope.

Barack Obama wrote The Audacity of Hope, This book so far is unlike any other autobiography I have ever read because it is so straight forward on how he thought and acted on certain situations he also talks about what he did to try to make his ideas and goals come to life. This novel has a lot of voice and the reader can really understand the emotions that Obama went through, and the determination to succede.

One thing I think is interesting in this book is that it has a prologue and a epilogue. The prologue was just setting up for the whole book and what its about. What I got from it is that this book is based on the conversations that he has had with all of the people across the country about politics while campaining. The first chapter is "Republicans and Democrats" here he just talks about how America is very divided and that most people don't have time to worry about politics because there just trying to make ends meet, and what to do to change that. 

Staff infections catch NFL's attenntion

The article that I read for this week was about how the NFL is taking a serious look at their teams and how safe they are for their players. Last week the Cleveland Browns player, Kellen windslow jr. came down with staff infection. The likely cause of the infection was from the team, since there were several others that came down with it in a time span of a couple years. Also Peyton and Ely Manning have also came down with this serious infection before. This staff infection has been a on going problem for the pass couple of years. The NFL is taking a look at these cases because a staff infection is serious and if not caught in time could be deadly. I think that NFL should have already been paying close attention to the cleanliness of their teams and maybe  a closer eye on who is abiding by the regulations, so they could have avoided all of this sickness, and possibly a law suit. I also think the NFL has taken a sloppy job to taking care of this problem. 

TIME magazine

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1853828,00.html

photography

I was wondering through time magazine and saw a picture of this little girl staring into the camera sitting in a empty room on a couch... thats it. It was calm and collected yet spooky and odd. It drew me in and I started to read.

This article was about a normal photographer, loretta lux. she captivates people with her work. she photographs children because "they have no reservations, they are the most honest models." she says. Lux pays attention to form, shape and color. What I like the most about Loretta Lux and her work is that it is a mystery, the viewer is the one to decide what it is supposed to represent, or mean. I like that because every individual is different and interprets everything differently and its good to see what others see in something, it can introduce you into a new way of looking at things. 

Time magazine

Carolyn Sayre

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810329,00.html 

what is home? the journey home.

          I was thinking about going home from school today and then I had a question, what is home? Is it a place where ones family is? where one has  a nice bed and food in the frig? or is it where did one come from, India, england, japan? so I decided to look up an artical on home. 

This Artical sat down with asian journalist and asked them where is there home? Some answerd. where they live now, others answered there native land and the question was easy. But what about the rest the journalist? Some had a  hard time, some did'nt know whether to say there native land because they dont speak a word of the language or any of the cultural traditions or whether to say where they live and spend there life now. This question may seem easy. I agree with ithis story because it is saying that many people are going to be thinking more and more of home and where that is, and this could have alot to do with fining oneself. I know alot of people are trying to do that. 

Time magazine's Asian journey home. 

#2 Is Odysseus a modern day Hero?

If Odysseus was in modern times I think he would be considered a hero in some ways, because he has a loving devoting wife at home that is very loyal but at the same time he is off having an affair with Circe on an Island. In todays Society that is frowned upon because its immoral. An addition to that Odysseus is very fickle and at one moment he is crying for his friends that have passed but in the next moment he is having sex with another women and again in todays society the people want some one that can make up there mind and stick to a idea or emotion.
If odysseus was in modern times some people would think that he would be a fit hero for the people because he is able to think on his toes and devise a plan to get him and his crew out of danger for example when they are stuck in the cave with the cyclops. Another time that people would call heroic is when he goes back for his two men that are on the island with the lotus eaters, he saved them, because one doesnt know what the lotus eaters would have done to them. so in some ways the people would think that he is a hero but in some ways people would think that he is not a hero. It really depends on how one looks at it.

Ordinary people by john legend lyrics

I picked this song because everyone has these feeling and emotions, anybody can relate to this song.

Girl im in love with you
This ain't the honeymoon
Past the infatuation phase
Right in the thick of love
At times we get sick of love
It seems like we argue everyday[Bridge]

I know i misbehaved
And you made your mistakes
And we both got room left to grow
And though love sometimes hurts
I still put you first
And we'll make this thing work
But I think we should take it slow

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

This ain't a movie no
No fairy tale conclusion ya'll
It gets more confusing everyday
Sometimes it's heaven sent
We head back to hell again
We kiss and we make up on the way

[Bridge]
I hang up you call
We rise and we fall
And we feel just like walking away
But as our love advances
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I Still want you to stay

Chorus
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 3]
Take it slow
Maybe we'll live and learn
Maybe we'll crash and burn
Maybe you'll stay, maybe you'll leave,maybe you'll return
Maybe you'll never find
Maybe we won't survive
But maybe we'll grow
You never know baby youuuu and I

[Chorus]
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Heyyy)
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

I like this song because when people think this way they should take it slow and analyze things and figure out whats the best thing for them. I feel like alot of people do not do that, they just want to get things done and over with.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=179082328204202015

John Mayer's "stop this train"

Hello everyone, The short piece I chose were song lyrics to john Mayer's "Stop This Train" and I chose John Mayer as the artist because I know what his work has a lot of similies and metaphors in them and his songs can be very relatable to everyone in every situation.


No I'm not color blind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind but...I just can't sleep on this tonight
Stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly won't someone stop this train
Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own
Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't but honestly won't someone stop this train
So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game to find away to say that life has just begun
Had a talk with my old man
Said help me understand
He said turn 68, you'll renegotiate
Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train
See once in a while when it's good
It'll feel like it shouldAnd they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark.
Singing stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take this speed it's moving inI know I can't
Cause now I see I'll never stop this train

This song is great because its talking about how he is scared of growing up, or moving away or anything that anyone has to do by themselves. I noticed that in the beginning of the song he is scared, he has a problem and he talks to someone about his problem and comes to a realization that. He can't stop whats gonna come and he needs to take and deal with it the best that he can.
Listening to this song anyone would want to deal with any problem this way.