It's the Final Blog

Looking at all my blog posts, I realize that I have changed so much from the beginning. When I first heard about the blogs, I couldn’t wait to dive right in. Over the past months, however, I lost interest and only did them because I had to. But enough about that, more about the blog itself. My feelings for it aside, I am very proud at how it turned out. My favorite part of the blog, however, was the building of it and the customization. I absolutely adored being able to put practically anything I wanted on my blog. Especially my “Give a man a match, he will be warm for a minute; set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life.” quote. But as for the blog assignments, I could’ve done without those. So, what I guess I’m saying is, if I had a blog for personal needs, I would add a bunch of games and such to it, but never write in it. But, if I had to choose one blog post I am exceptionally proud of, it would be “My Unique Boo Radley” that I did at the beginning of the year. The reason this stands out to me was because one, it was one of the posts that I enjoyed doing, and two, it’s about one of my most favorite things in the world. And, my views on it haven’t changed a bit. I still strive to be a better musician and to add to my musical knowledge until the world runs out of knowledge to give me.

I never really considered all the blog assignments to be one big year-long assignment. I just saw a series of separate assignment done the same way. But that’s probably a side effect of not absolutely loving the whole blog idea as I did when it first started. As a result, I treated each post as a separate assignment, never referring back to past assignments unless prompted to do so.

And so comes the end of my blogging. I can’t say that I will miss it.

Memorable Stuff

As I look back at the trail I blazed through my first year in high school, I can't help but feel proud of myself. Although not all of it is good (see current Biology grade), most of it is. But, focusing on English, the most memorable assignment I have done is probably the Poetry Out Loud. It’s something I have never done before, and I worked really hard on it. I was also really surprised to get that 5^th place (even though everyone above me tied, so really an 8^th place). I think the one thing that would‘ve made it better was if I could’ve recited “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. Instead, I recited “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, which was an awesome second. It’s a long poem, so it took a while to memorize. I still even remember most of it today. All in all, if I remember one thing from English this year, it’ll be the Poetry Out Loud recitation contest.

Poetry Stuff

My experiences with poetry have been few and far between, limited to once-a-year units in various English classes. But just from that, I know what poetry is, I can usually tell a deeper meaning to them, and even have two favorite types of poetry, one for reading (limericks) and one for writing (concrete poems). Oddly enough, though, my favorite poem of all time is neither a limerick or a concrete poem. It is “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert W. Service. I don’t really know why I love this poem, I just do. I first read it in 8^th grade English and have never forgotten it.

Nowadays, I’m kind of partial to poetry. I neither love it nor hate it. Because of the English level I’m at, I don’t expect to be reading many limericks or concrete poems for school, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying them when I get the chance.
Now here is a random concrete poem I just did.                   
                   head
               headhead
               headhead
                   neck                       hand
                   neck                       hand
    armbodybodybodyarm        arm
   arm bodybodybody  arm    arm
  arm  bodybodybody    armarm
arm    bodybodybody       arm
arm    bodybodybody
arm    bodybodybody
hand   legleg      legleg
hand   legleg      legleg
           legleg      legleg
           legleg      legleg
           legleg      legleg
           legleg      legleg
           footfoot footfoot

Conflict

One very important conflict in this play is the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio. In this duel, Tybalt kills Mercutio, angering Romeo, who gets revenge by killing Tybalt. Prince then banishes Romeo from Verona. This person v. person conflict is important because it deepens the hatred between the two families, kills off two characters, and forces Romeo and Juliet to develop to cope with Romeo's banishment.

This scenario doesn’t really happen in these times. The type of conflict, however, happens all the time. Person v. person conflict is common in any society, and it happens everywhere, on all levels. It can range from a simple verbal disagreement to a cold-blooded massacre. And they are too numerous to count.

The Darkness in R+J

The story of Romeo and Juliet has struck inspiration in many directors, songwriters, and authors. Because of the many different ways the story can be interpreted, it is almost impossible to find a movie, song, or book that has no connection whatsoever to the original story, no matter how subtle. With that being said, I now proceed to the darkest side of Romeo and Juliet. The song Inside the Fire by Disturbed is about two lovers, one of whom takes her own life. The other is faced with the decision to take his own life in order to be with his love again. Throughout the song, the Devil is whispering in his ear to go through with the suicide, baiting him with his love.

Devin
Won't go to heaven
She's just another lost soul,
About to be mine again
Leave her
We will receive her
It is beyond your control
Will you ever meet again

Devin
One of eleven
Who had been rendered unwhole
As a little child,
She was taken
And then forsaken
You will remember it all
Let it fill your mind again

Devin lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me
For eternity
Release your life
To begin another time with her
End your grief with me
There's another way
Release your life
Take your place inside the fire with her

Sever
Now and forever
You're just another lost soul,
About to be mine again
See her,
You'll never free her
You must surrender it all
If you'd like to meet again

Fire
For your desire
As she begins to turn cold
For the final time
You will shiver
Till you deliver
You will remember it all
Let it fill your mind again

Devin lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me
For eternity
Release your life
To begin another time with her
End your grief with me
There's another way
Release your life
Take your place inside the fire with her

[Guitar Solo]

Give your soul to me
For eternity
Release your life
To begin another time with her
End your grief with me
There's another way
Release your life
Take your place inside the fire with her

Devin
One of eleven
Who had been rendered unwhole
As a little child
She was taken,
And then forsaken
You will remember it all
Let it fill your mind again

This is similar to Romeo and Juliet in the way that they both commit suicide, as said in the prologue. I don’t know how or why, but the fact is they do.

Connecty Thingys

So far is the play, it seems like almost everyone’s personality is taken to the extreme. Romeo is very romantic, Tybalt is extremely aggressive, Benvolio is the ‘peacekeeper’, the nurse is dirty-minded, and Mercutio is very imaginative. As a whole, I think they all represent different parts of human nature. As for something I can personally connect with, I don’t think I can. The language and the characters are all new to me, and some of it is very confusing.

At home, I get the reading done, and try to understand what I can. The definition pages and the Shakespeare glossary really help, though. I have heard from a lot of people that you should read aloud when you’re reading Shakespeare, so I think I’ll try that.

And That's a Wrap!

Like all great novels, Great Expectations has many complex, interwoven themes that all enhance an idea. Consequentially, there are many different views of said idea, and mine is just one of them. But, from my perspective, it seems obvious that the main theme is the classic 'money cannot buy happiness' bit that has been driven into my brain for as long as I can remember. However, this theme’s corniness does not undermine the fact that it is very true. Money can only buy things with, well, monetary value. And happiness doesn’t have a price tag. To be happy, you don’t need the newest videogame, or the biggest TV, or even the computer I am using to compose this post (it‘s an awesome computer, by the way). All you need are friends and family who love and support you. Only then, can you find true happiness.