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.