Dead Untill Dark

Love, fate, blood, fangs, betrayal, and deception, when reading Dead Until Dark one will encounter all of these. I can really get into this book, and I think the reason I can get into the book so well is because the main character is a blond hair blue eye waitress, Sookie Stackhouse, in a small town where nothing really happens. Which in my opinion sounds a bit like me. Then one day, a vampire enters the place in which Sookie works and her whole world gets flipped upside down and all around.

If you are a fan of the Twilight books, then you should read this book and the seven that follow. I have read almost all of them and they are great. There are dark twists and turns, with a touch of love, and romance. This book and the following ones are a bit more, shall I say, grown up then the Twilight series. Charlaine Harris, the author, seems to be deeper in her writing. She really knows how to through adventure, love, and fighting all into one book and suck a reader in. Another great asset to this book and the whole series it the mystery that is intertwined within. There is a murderer loose and the murderer is killing many girls within Sookie's home town. And Jason, Sookie's brother, is the main suspect.

I received the book, Dead Until Dark, as a Christmas present from my best friend, and i have not been able to keep my nose out of the book series that Charlaine Harris has written. This book series has become so big and so widely read that it has been turned into a HBO series. I have watched the first season and can not wait till the next season comes out.

So if you find your self wanting to read something with love, but that is really juicy, exciting, and mysterious, read Dead Until Dark. I can almost guarantee you will get hooked in and want to read more and experience the mysterious new life of Sookie Stackhouse.

Antigone the Great

Would you put your life at risk for someone you love? Would you stand by them after they died, even if doing so would bring upon your death as well? Antigone, in the book Antigone, did both for her brother. She was noble, brave, and stubborn. Antigone was a true hero, and she took a great stand for what she believed in and she did not back down.

I like to think that I am as strong as Antigone. I would be there for my brother no matter what, just like she was. Even if my doing so would cost me my life in the end I could feel good about myself because I was selfless, loving, and noble till the end. If anything, Antigone was just that. She was stubborn and strong willed.

I highly recommend the book Antigone for everyone to read sometime in their lifetime. The lesson a person can learn from the book is a great lesson. I myself learned that you have to back your family no matter what, and that whatever you do will come back around and get you. Creon learned that everything comes back to get you, he was punished greatly for the selfish, prideful way he acted. Remember that if a person does not have their family what do they really have at all.

My Stand

When I was younger everyone seemed to think that they could walk all over me just because I was nice. A few people treated me kindly, but few that treated me as an equal. Most of the time I got ran all over at home. Friends of my mom would come in and treat me like a little servant, and she would not say anything. She was just as guilty of treating me that way as they were. Mom would always make me clean her room, make her bed and vacuum her ceiling and floor once a week. I was expected to do all the cleaning and let her take all the credit for it when people saw how nice the house looked. I just lived with the feeling of being taken for granted. I took care of Dakota every day. I had to get him up and cook him breakfast and get him dressed for school all while Mom slept. Then at the end of the day it never failed that she would insult me. Even after all the work I had done she called me fat and lazy. By the time I was 13 years old all of the years of being pushed had filled me up so much I was about to over flow. As I entered our house one day after school at about 4 in the afternoon, Mom began yelling at me. She was right up in my face saying, “Chelsea, put your books down. You need to do the dishes. Oh, and why did you not wash all the clothes last night? I just cannot believe how lazy you are. You do not think of anyone but yourself. You are so selfish!”

At that point I snapped like a twig under an elephant’s foot. I could have snapped at anyone, but mom was the one that pushed me when I was full to the brim. At that very moment, I looked her square in the eye and said, “No! It is your room and your mess, so you do it! You have been home all day while I have been at school. You should have done what needed to be done. You are not going to push me around anymore. No one will push me around anymore!”

Finished with my spurt of rage, I was filled with a refreshing relief. I was still standing toe to toe with my mom at the front door, but I felt like I was 10-foot tall.

Seconds later I was stunned, I had heard the crack of skin against skin before I registered the pain across my face. My head was tilted sideways, she had smacked me hard. She had no idea of what else to do. I stood there in the door way with the door still open and thought for a minute about all the events that just happened. My face hurt but I had won our little fight. Looking in her eyes, I could see she was flabbergasted by the fact that her little girl had stood up to her for once. After pondering about our entire scene a little longer, I smiled and went to my room. When entering my room I noticed that every part of my room seemed brighter and extravagant. I was a new person, and from then on I refused to let anyone walk on me like a doormat.

New Computer

I love my new Computer.
It is way more expensive than pewter.

I love the keys,
I can type with such ease.

I love the speed.
It is a fine computer indeed.

I wish you could see
When I opened it I screamed with glee

Oh how nice my new gift,
It sure gave my spirits a good lift

I must go now for I want to play.
I hope you have a great day!

We Are Half Way Done

Sophomore year, a year that I will never forget. Even though we are only half way through it is already unforgettable. I must be honest i was so afraid of coming into high school. I kind of went into a whole stereo type feeling where i was scared that the new sophomores would get picked on by the previous sophomores. I am very happy to report that this did not happen at all.

This half of the year has been intriguing. I have made so many friends of so many types that it is hard to believe. I love my classes and I have many of my friends in all of my classes. Having friends in classes make enjoying school a bit easier.

Everyone is so nice. The teachers, the students, the janitors, the lunch ladies, everyone says hi and helps each other and I love that. I could not figure out my locker combination the first week of school and three other students helped me out. If I have problems with any of my homework and i can not reach a teacher a fellow student will help me. It is like we are all united as one, the Batesville Pioneer family.

Although I am ready for college, I do not want to leave the high school. I am happy that I still have two more years to enjoy the high school. I am going to make many memories and take advantage of my time here at Batesville.

Leadership

Leadership: the ability to lead others. Having the quality of leadership is great and can be very helpful. With leadership you can help others but you can also hurt others as well. In the book Tragedy of Julius Caesar we see an example of corrupt leadership. Cassius talks a group of men into killing the noble Caesar. He is able to manipulate these men and get them to from an alliance against Caesar. After he gets all the men he wants in the group he leads them on to stab Caesar. Cassius even talked Caesar's friend Brutus into killing Caesar. Cassius knew how to lead these men and talk to them so that they did as he wanted them to. Cassius was jealous of Caesar's power so he used his ability to understand men's wants to murder Caesar.



This kind of corrupt leadership occurs all the time. It happens in governments, towns, cities, homes, schools, and friendship. I myself have experienced corrupt leadership first hand. A few years ago two of my friends got into a huge dispute over some guy and I some how got drug in the middle of it all. My friends told me i had to choose, that I could not be friends with both of them. I could not decide so I walked away. Then a few days later one of them came up to me and started telling me that the other person was running her mouth about me and spreading horrible rumors. I was infuriated! I completely shut the girl, that was supposedly spreading the rumors, out of my life. I never answered her phone calls, I ignored her texts, and every time she came near me i would turn and leave. What I did not know was she did not really spread any rumors the other girl had lied to me. She had manipulated me and lead me to her side. I thought that I could trust her but after her leading me on like that I knew better. I had to set the situation right with the other girl whom was the true friend.



I explained to her what i had been told and i apologized a million times. I felt so bad. I had been manipulated just like Brutus in Julius Caesar, but i did not go to the extreme of killing my best friend. I learned from my experience and my true friend and i have never been better. Life is tough and corruption is out there so be careful and never betray the ones that you love.

Fate - real or hocks

In the book Julius Caesar fate is the key component. Shakespeare used fate in all of his writings. From noticing this I believe that Shakespeare himself was a firm believer in fate himself. In the book Julius Caesar everyone seems to have no free will and the run their lives according to omens, soothsayers, and dreams. It is like they are taking the easy way out and letting an outside force,fate, control every aspect of their life.

One of the multiple examples of fate in Julius Caesar is when the soothsayer runs up to Caesar and says, " Beware the ides of March." Caesar thinks nothing of it and moves on. Then when the ides of March come, on March 15th, Caesar is murdered. He was warned but did not really think and just as the soothsayer predicted tragedy happened at the ides of March.

Before Caesar's death his wife also tried to warn him of his death. She claimed that she had a dream that suggested something terrible would happen but her dream was just waved off as if there was no meaning. Then as fate would have it a very terrible thing did happen to Caesar. Fate was after Caesar and he could not avoid it.

Later in the book in act four scene three Brutus is visited by the ghost of Caesar. The Ghost tells him, "...thou shall see me at Philippi." Brutus excepts this omen as an omen of defeat. Then later at Philippi Brutus is defeated and kills himself. He acted as if there were no other option but for him to die.

After reading this book I can confidently conclude that Shakespeare believed in fate and wanted other people to see fate in his writings. Fate is uncontrollable and as shown in Julius Caesar what is going to happen will happen no matter what.