19 MINUTES POST # 6

Last night I was sitting on my bed getting ready to go to sleep, for a first it was 11:30, which I think is the earliest I've gone to bed all year, BUT then I looked down on my floor. What did I see? 19 Minutes just sitting there, I hadn't read it in awhile so I thought it was a good time. I ended up finishing the whole thing... all 137 remaining pages. I'm not even sure what I should say about the ending, I'm still so shocked. The ending makes zero sense to me and it honestly makes me mad thinking about it. Anyways, the book ended with Josie confessing that she had been the one that killed Matt instead of Peter??? At first I actually wanted to hurl the book across the room, go to sleep, and pretend I just never read that book. But of course I started thinking about it and I guess I've started to understand it a little better. 

Throughout Josie's younger years she had been best friends with Peter who was labeled a "nerd", a "freek", and a "queer". When she was in about 7th grade she became friends with the popular girls and in 9th grade Matt Royston, the popular varsity hockey player asked her out. Her life completely changed. Josie wasn't like the other popular kids but she needed so bad to fit in that she left Peter standing in the dust alone to fend for himself against the bullies. As Josie said, she wasn't strong or brave enough to be friends with Peter. I do believe that Josie and Matt loved each other. Even though Matt was verbally and physically abusive to Josie and to many others, I think that she loved him, but most of all she saw Matt as a way to be popular. There's a passage from the book that says that Josie loved Matt but she hated that she loved him. I think that she was just under so much pressure she saw shooting Matt as an escape from him, the peer-pressure, and even as a way to show Peter that she was sorry and was still deep-down inside his friend. I don't think that shooting Matt makes Josie a cold hard criminal, I think that she was just a confused girl who spent all her energy trying to be someone she was not and trying to impress everyone. I've read four of Jodi Picoult's books so I understand that her endings are extremely surprising and meant to make the reader think beyond the words on the page. This was the second best book I've ever read, the first being My Sister's Keeper. As much as I love this book I can't help but hate it at the same time. I guess this shows that not all stories end with happy endings. 

19 MINUTES POST #5

By now I think I'm quite old enough to understand the usefulness of a book mark but apparently not. Well of course when it came time to reading 19 Minutes... I couldn't remember what page I had left off at, which is extremely annoying. So I spent a good amount of time just trying to find the exact spot to start up my reading up again. While I was rereading I started to catch small details I had missed the first time. I have a tendency to read really fast because of the urge to get to the ending and find out what happens but I usually end up missing important details along the way. One very important detail that I missed reading the first time was that Peter's mother and father have a really tough relationship. It is now clear that the death of their first son, Joey, who was the golden boy and the all-american perfect son, greatly affected their relationship with Peter. At one point during the book Peter's father even makes a comment about how he wished that it had been Peter who had died not Joey. AH HA! And looks like this is where I left off before. From my new reading I learn that Peter's father hasn't been going to visit Peter in the prison like he's been telling Peter's mother. Peter's mother finds this out one day while she is visiting Peter at the prison and he makes a comment about how his father never comes. This surprises Peter's mom so the next time the dad leaves to "go see Peter" she follows him. She then discovers that the dad has been going to Joey's grave site the inter time!! I was shocked at this and almost mad at the father because I thought that it was selfish to go visit the dead son while he should be visiting the still living one. That's about all the new information that I learned so far.

Annotated Citation #2

"Replacing Animals in Medical Education." Good Medicine Magazine Vol. XVII, No. 2, pp.6-9 Spring 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-126&artno=0000277759&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Replacing%20Animals%20in%20Medical%20Education&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&Ink=Y&ic=Y

This article differs from that of James Randerson in that this article talks about Jennifer Dankle and others and about their personal experiences with animal experimentation in schools to fuel medical education. This article shows strictly the negative sides of animal experimentation but in that of James Randerson talks mostly of the positive side. The article talks of how Jennifer and others were presented with the task of dissecting live dogs for medical school. They say that the event changed their lives and they became emotionally scarred. A good outcome is that more than 90% of all medical schools have stopped using animal experimentation for medical education. The PCRM and other animal rights groups have been very involved in petitioning against the schools. There has also been  a lot of propaganda such as ads, banners, billboards, and protests against the schools which have proven to be influential.

Annotated Citation #1

My research question:

Is it ethical to conduct experimentations on animals?

Randerson, James. "Caring or Cruel?" Guardian Newspaper Limited 31 May 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 

http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-126&artno=0000281381384&type=U&key=&title=Caring%20or20%Cruel%3F&res=T&ren=Y&gov=Y&Ink=Y&ic=Y

James Randerson is a science correspondent for The Guardian, a newspaper based in London, England. James Randerson has a PhD in evolutionary genetics and works at UC Irvine, Department of Earth System Science. This article was written to explore animal experimentations. The article supports both sides of the argument, if animal testing is indeed cruel or if it is caring. The Guardian Newspaper was given a special opportunity to have access to an animal research area in the United Kingdom and talk to scientists about their research on monkeys. Specifically in this case these scientists are doing experiments on monkeys brains and how they react at learning new things. To do these experiments parts of a monkey's brain region is destroyed, the part that specifically links to monkeys' behavioral abilities. The scientists claim that these experiments provide vital insights to schizophrenia, OCD, ADHD, and depression. The scientists also argue that they do not abuse the animals, they are not starved or malnutritioned and they have plenty of space to move around in their cage. The scientists also argue that what they are doing is not testing new drugs or products on animals, they are trying to understand the basic brain architecture of primates that in the end can help the human race avoid brain diseases if possible. Though other critics argue that animal research is old-fashioned and that computer modeling and brain scans, and tissue culture are much more advanced and useful than destroying parts of the brain, drilling small holes into the skull, and injecting a toxin into the brains of animals.

19 MINUTES POST # 4

I haven't had a chance to read that much since the last time that I blogged but I have found out some new information. I am about a little over halfway into the book so far and it just keeps getting more intense. Now Alex has recused herself from the case because Jordan, the defense lawyer, wanted to use Josie as a witness for the case. It turns out that Jordan was not even planning on using Josie as a witness but he just said that he was going to in an attempt to get Alex off the case. There are a couple new developments in the book that are very important. First of all we discover that the paragraphs before the beginning of new chapters are not written from the perspective of Peter, as I had thought before, but they are from Josie's point of view. I was really shocked at this because it seemed that it was clearly Peter who had written this because in the paragraphs it talks about depression, suicide, the fear of not being popular, and parents who don't understand. This all makes perfect sense for Peter who was suffering from all those things but now that I have found out that it is Josie's thoughts I can see how these things and feelings could also be related to her. By finding this out it makes the book even more interesting and intense. The second thing that we find out is that Alex and Patrick, the detective on the case, start having a relationship. It starts off with them meeting at random places and times and then ends with Patrick coming over with a bottle of wine and kissing Alex. I think that this is really good because there needs to be a little happy things in this book because it's all pretty sad right now. I still haven't found out if Josie truly doesn't remember anything or not but I hope to start to find out soon. 

19 MINUTES POST # 3

I'm about 200 pages into the book and its getter better with each page. I have really begun to like how Jodi Picoult switches the time period around in the book. I think that this helps the reader understand more about the story and can help the reader understand the characters more. As I read further into the book I'm learning more about Peter Houghton's personal and family life. We learn a lot more about Peter's relationship with his older brother Joey who died by getting hit by a drunk driver. Because of Jodi Picoult's way of changing the time period and doing throw backs the reader can actually see how Joey acted and thought instead of just trying to imagine him from the reactions and thoughts of others. I'm also learning that Josie and Peter were actually friends or at least casually talked sometimes up until the shooting. One thing that I really want to find out is why Peter "saved" Josie, why he wrote "Let Live" under picture in his school yearbook. I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of secrets revealed at the trial. I think that the end of this book its going to be very surprising and I'm excited to finish it. But most of all I want to know why Peter did the shooting. I know he was picked on and he was bullied but I think there's a different reason why he did it. 

19 MINUTES post #2

Well as I have continued reading this book I've began to love it more and more. I love Jodi Picoult's writing style, more specifically how she has the time period move around, sometimes the certain chapter you're reading were events that happened 5 years ago or sometimes its just in the present tense. This makes the book even more entertaining. So now that I have read more of the book it is clear that Peter Houghton was the one who did the school shooting. The book has progressed into more of the actual legal part of the book. Peter is charged with 10 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. His mother Lacy, knew it would be bad but when she finally hears this news she's devastated. Peter's trial will soon began and a lawyer is hired. It is now clear that Josie doesn't remember anything about the shooting. She knows that her boyfriend was one of the kids killed and that she was with him in the locker room at the time but after that she says she doesn't remember what happened. Personally I don't believe her, I think she does remember but for some reason she's pretending not to. I think that it could maybe be because she's trying to help Peter, her old childhood friend. I'm not quite sure why she would want to do this but I'm really excited to see what unfolds. I also find it very interesting that Josie's mother will be the judge in the case. She used to be good friends with Peter's mother and also the fact that it was at her daughter's school makes it even more interesting and more controversial. I hope that Josie will testify in court and say something shocking. Then there will be a lot of drama and Josie's mother will have to deal with it. 

19 MINUTES post #1

For my outside reading this quarter, I chose to read 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I had already read My Sisters Keeper and The Tenth Circle so I was very excited to start reading this book. The first time I heard about 19 Minutes was when I was at camp last summer and a girl in my cabin was reading it. She said it was her favorite book so far she's ever read so I decided to read it when I got back home, unfortunatly I never got around to reading it. Luckily now I get to read it! So far I have read up to page 93 and so much has already happened. Throughout the book the time is constantly changing from present to past and back to present again. I think that this makes the book even more enjoyable and the reader can really start to understand the character because they can see what happened before the main event or climax happened. This book is basically about a small town, Sterling,  in New Hampshire. This small town is suddenly shocked by a devastating school shooting where 10 people end up dead and many more wounded. Josie Cormier and her mother Alex, the judge who will be judging the case in relation to the shooting, seem to be the main characters. There is also Lacy Houghton and her son Peter, the kid who did the shooting, who are also main characters. It seems that Lacy and Alex are best friends or at least used to be when their kids were younger and played together. Also as far as I can tell Josie and Peter are were no longer friends when the shooting happened. It is interesting to see the different points of view and emotions the characters express. I'm really excited to read more and see what happens next. 

DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT

Well as you already know I'm in book club and for our first book we read a book called "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: African Childhood" by Alexandra Fuller. At first I was really hesitant to read this book because to be honest it seemed boring and educational, not really my cup of tea. But since we kind of HAD to read it I decided to cram it all in like a day before our meeting. In the end I was actually really glad that I had read it! It was much more interesting then I had ever anticipated. I felt a personal connection to her story because my uncle is from Ireland and moved to Africa (lived in Kenya and in South Africa) when he was just four years old. He spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years there until he went back to Ireland for college. He has often told me that he sometimes isn't who he is or where is "truely" from, some of the same problems that the author faced in her book. Another thing that made the book even better was seeing Alexandra Fuller speak. I thought that she was a really amazing speaker, very charismatic. I actually listened to everything she had to say and I'm glad I decided against my first inclination, to take a nap. She had so many messages, ideas, thoughts, and beliefs to convey. She had a very interesting take on life and I think that because of her odd childhood she is the person she is today because of it. I learned so much from her book and speech that I will take with me forever. 

MY SISTERS KEEPER

This weekend over MEA I had a lot off down time to just relax and hang out around the house. Well over summer my dad's entire family took our annual trip to north carolina. My cousin, who is the same as me, and I spent a lot of time together. Something we have in common is our love for good books so whenever we get together we share out latest new read. A couple summers ago we discovered Jodi Picoult, we have been obsessed ever since. I had read a couple of her books before but this was the first time I had read My Sisters Keeper. I absolutely adored it, it is now my favorite book hands down. Well over MEA I decided what I would reread it! And guess what? It was even better the second time. I've never been a person who enjoys rereading books because I always thought it was pointless and time-wasting but I discovered that you can learn a lot and catch things that you missed the first time. This time I also decided to read it at a slower pace, usually when I get a good book I read it the first night. I am an extremely fast reader but sometimes I do not read every word and miss some important details or meanings. By rereading this book I not only learned more about the book itself but I also taught myself good reading techniques for the future. I plan to race out to barnes and noble some time this weekend to get 19 Minutes which I'm really excited to read. Now you can look forward to my next post :)

DON'T GIVE UP

The song I chose to write about this week is called Don't Get Up by Eagle Eye Cherry. The reason why I chose this song is because it is very uplifting and it immediately puts me in a better mood. When I'm sad or discouraged I listen to this song and it gives me hope. One of my favorite parts of the song is "All our dreams are gone  With a loss of faith  We're still hanging on  For another day  It's so hard to see  That it's going to get better  And when will that be  It's hard to say ". The reason why I like this extract so much I feel like it begins the song with that idea that maybe things aren't going right right now but it will soon get better and to keep hanging  on. Another part I like is "We must believe  That if we give we will receive  Yes we must believe  That it's going to get better". This is the second verse of the song and I feel like it just reenforces the idea that things are going to get better. Finally there is the chorus, "Don't give up  Never give up  We won't stop  Giving all we got." Once these lyrics are sung I feel so much better and full of inspiration. Also all the fears of failure or sadness disappear. 

P.S. THIS SONG IS FROM HOLES AND SHIA LABEOUF IS IN IT... I KNOW YOU JUST LOVE HIM :)

CHANGE

For my post this week I read the lyrics to a song called Change by Tracy Chapman. The lyrics in the chorus are "How bad how good does it need to get? 

How many losses how much regret? What chain reaction What cause and effect Makes you turn around Makes you try to explain Makes you forgive and forget Makes you change Makes you change". The main idea of the song is if you knew you were going to die one day would you change your ways because of that. The song is trying to tell you that you should change your ways if they are bad to good because one day you might find out your life is ending and you might not have much time to make up for the lost time. The lyrics are trying to get you to live your life to the fullest and you shouldn't live your life in regret or in anger to others. I agree with these lyrics because I fully believe in living your life to the fullest and taking each day as it comes. If you spend time regretting over decisions or things you said you're taking away from time spent living in happily and in peace. This song just makes you think about how you're acting and makes you rethink your actions. The song shows you that you must change for the better before it is too late. 

WHY NOT TO GO ON A DATE

I read an article on cnn.com about 5 different reasons why maybe you should stay home and not go on a date. The article talks about the positive side of dating whereas it also shows that some of the time going on a date isn't worth it if you aren't mentally prepared. The five reasons why not to go on a date are you're lonely, you're desperate, you're infectious, you're not over him, or you're drunk. Going on a date as an attempt to make your self feel better because you're only can only make you feel worse if the fate goes badly. If you're just desperate you might rush into things too quickly because you want to "perfect relationship". If you are infectious don't go on the date. You wouldn't want your date to be coughing all over you or something so it's more respectful of you to stay home and reschedule your outgoing. If you start dating and you still fill like your not quite over the last guy then that's a sign you should hold out the dating for awhile. Finally if you're drunk or need to have a couple drinks to settle down because you're so nervous you shouldn't be going on a date. You should be yourself not the someone you become when incoxicated. I think that the study of relationships are very interesting and that you can learn a lot how people function and think. This article I found very obvious to me, I didn't learn anything new I just assumed all of this information on my own. I didn't need this article to figure those suggestions out. This made me realize though that not everyone is on the same page as me and that everyone is going threw different things in their life and at the time these s suggestions that might at the time seem simple to me may not be so simple for someone going threw emotional stress. 

SOMEONE LIKE YOU

This week I've started reading a book called Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. This summer my cousin gave me this book as a present and at first I really wasn't interested in it so there it sat under by bed for a couple months. One day when I wasn't feeling well and was bored so I decided to start it up again. This time so far I've found this book extremely good and very emotional. It is about two girls, Halley and Scarlett who have been best friends since they have met. Halley always turned to Scarlett when things got rough  but suddenly when Scarlett's boyfriend dies in a motorcycle crash and everything changes. Halley has to prove to Scarlett that she can be there for her through these tough times. Not to long after her boyfriends death Scarlett discovers that she is pregnant with his baby. This adds another layer of confusion, sorrow, and fear as the two girls try to grieve and try to take each day as it comes. So far this book is very addicting and I cannot put it down. While I read I feel like I can relate to this characters and their emotions. Even though most of the situations they are going through I have never experienced it seems like I am right there with them handling each obstacle. So far I was very much liked this book and I would definitely suggest this book! 

ZODIAC

I have always been interested in astrological signs in the Zodiac. Also I think one of the reasons why I like it so much is because my mom enjoys stargazing and astrology. Since I was young, every once and awhile she and I would go out at night and lay in the grass as she pointed out all the stars to me. I'm an aries and recently I decided to learn more and the information behind it. Ever since I can remember I always enjoyed reading my horoscope in the back of the magazines. It  seemed the horoscope was always right and always addressed the problems or what was going on in my life at the time. This got me into the habit of coming home from school and checking my horoscope. I compared it to how my day really went or how I felt. When I read this article, which elaborated more on characteristics of Arians, I found about 95% of what the article said was true about me. For example, one of the sections was about possible health concerns and it said Arians are prone to headaches or migraines. I get a migraine about every month and I get headaches quite often. This I thought was stunning. It could be all a coincidence but it just seemed too surreal. There were other creepy similarities about my personality and my likes and dislikes. I found this article very intriguing and I will continue reading and learning about Zodiac signs!