Monday, November 21, 2011

Blue is for Nightmares Essay


Blue is for Nightmares by: Laurie faria Stolars is a very impressive book so far. Laurie captures you and pulls you into the story with her amazing description as she brings you into the picture of the characters’ situations and dreams. The settings are well depicted as well as everyone in the story. As I read I could picture the characters and the scene and felt like I was there watching the few chapters I have read play out before me. This book really grabs you and hooks you in as a reader using suspense, relatable characters, seemingly realistic situations, mystery behind some of the characters, and the one thing we have all feared at some point in our live, our nightmares.
The characters seem like people you would know in everyday life. Stacey’s grandmother passed away, and Drea is Stacey’s roommate. There’s the “campus hottie” Chad, who is Drea’s on and off ex, and the common jealousy of the friends, who in this case are Amber and Stacey with their jealousy upon Drea. How Stacey describes Drea as the girl that “even after midnight, with no visible trace of make-up, not a smidgen of cover-up, hair knotted up in a rubber band, she still looks perfect- angled cheeks, salmon-pink, pouty lips; loopy, golden hair; and cat shaped eyes with curled, let black lashes” It seems like normal college campus drama lives everyone faces at some point in the lives, making it very easy to relate to, but Drea and Stacey’s deceiving behavior and lies makes this novel mysterious.
The mystery in this book is majorly effective and gets you thinking. The depth and extent Laurie goes to make you picture and think and keep in thought of different facts she mentions throughout the chapters goes well noticed. Stacey performs spells, in which are supposed to help her, and dream about who ever she may please, but they sometimes go wrong. The deceiving actions, thoughts, and well-stated quotes puts a hold on things when trying to figure out and question the characters of the book. There is a man in the book who pops up in Stacey’s nightmares as she has these nightmares consistently, and the author keeps his identity a secret. Drea has a secret someone and whispers of which Stacey cannot hear or see, but has dropped most of the situation.
The writing style is truly magnificent. The dialog in which the characters speak show how they truly are, ay deceive some people, and is definitely easy to relate to and follow since these people could be someone that you could relate to in many ways, making it a great young-adult book. The story line isn’t jumbled too much to make it confusing, but brings you into her dreams and other places, making almost a perfection in the story line and transferring you swiftly through the book.
Perfection is a great way to describe Blue is for Nightmares. The suspense, mystery and fulfillment of the book, dialog, and characters is truly exceptional. After reading just a few pages, Laurie faria Stolarz wowed me with her stellar achievement in writing, and I am immensely impressed. I highly enjoy reading this book, as well as I highly recommend this stunning novel.

Friday, October 14, 2011

What Does it Mean to be an American?

What does it mean to be an American? Are we contempt with everything that we have done in the past, or is the past simply behind us? What have we truly accomplished with our country? Should we be proud of what we have done? No, we shouldn’t be proud of the bad we’ve done, but we should be proud as of where we stand together united. Our country has come so far from the start.  I’m astonished by our history and proud of where we stand, but on the other hand I am rather ashamed of what our history has been in its past and how it had affected people before, as well as currently.

Hatred, abhorrence, loathing they’re all just repulsive words. Do people truly understand what the word means or how it affects everyone, one and all? The hatred “Whites” had against “Blacks” was just horrible, as well as disgusting.  How we could never get along set us back. People felt shunned, were killed, beaten, and/or were treated like some viral spreading disease. It was as if the outside was so much more important than whom they really were. The most unfortunate thing is the reality so many people have lost their lives in this tragic battle to have the same privileges as others. Whether they were beaten, hosed, shot, or maybe taken to jail. However, somehow most Americans overcame everything to make a safe environment in the USA.

Freedom, it’s a word no one I feel truly appreciates. Everyday there’re people dictated, or under rule of monarchy while we have a democracy with rights. Without our great leaders we could’ve fallen behind. Simple things like my religion, who I am, who I want to be, what I want to say, and what I believe are important to me to keep.

We’ve come so far in our country’s history and hope it continues to push forward and not parish. I’m thankful for our cultural diversity and everything else many doubted we’d ever being able to have. Everything I like, have, obtain ability to do and do are important for me to be allowed to express. I still can’t put how thankful I am into words with the fact of everything I can have and do now before everything was so intricate. Everything that’s happened in our country made us stronger, and overall I’m proud to be an American.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Essay #2 YouTube Celebrities

Author's Note: I wrote this essay on YouTube celeberties simplyfor the enjoyment of it YouTube has been a place where I could display my "talent" as well as be able to be entertained by other people'stalents, abilities or uniquness about them.


YouTube has become big lately and has been a link to many recent singers, dancers, and many other people in the business. There are also just many people who are just very well known that you could see them and you could say “Oh I know hi! He/she’s the ___________ guy! Every YouTube celebrity has some kind of talent or uniqueness to them that has lead them to their fame on the internet.
           
            There have been many recent singers that have been discovered by YouTube such as Justin Bieber, Greyson Chance, and Cody Simpson. They each had their reasons for becoming well known, and that reason was their talent in singing and instrumental abilities. Both Cody and Justin could play guitar and sing well while Greyson could sing as well but he could play piano. This was their reason for their lead to fame, and also in their case fortune.
          
            Many people on YouTube are also known for their creativity or comedic point of views. People like Shane Dawson, Lucas Cruikshank, and The Annoying Orange. Shane had made a YouTube channel showing parodies or major songs such had “Last Friday Night” by: Katy Perry and “Sky Scraper” by: Demi Lavato. He has made many videos of just random ideas he comes up with as well, which entertains many people. Lucas has created a fictional character named Fred Figglehorn and uses his computer skills to alter his own voice to a squeaky kindergartener’s voice of Fred. He shows the life of Fred in his videos and his songs. He has even made his own movies Fred: The movie and has appeared on Nickelodeon shows such as iCarly. The Annoying Orange is also a fictional character, but is cartoon orange that has conversations with people, other fruit, and even Pac man characters! The creator also teamed up with Lucas to make a video the orange and Fred. The Annoying Orange videos show the fruit’s point of view in what many people find to be an entertaining matter.
           
            Some YouTube celebrities are famous for the reason of the fact they were already famous to start with. People like Selena Gomez, Demi Lavato, Miley Cyrus, and Mandy are all famous on YouTube for being the famous singers/actresses or friends of various singers/actresses. Miley Cyrus starred in Hannah Montana, The Last Song, and other things as well as being made famous by her father and smash-hit country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Mandy as Best friends with Miley as well as ad a web show with her, making them the well-known Miley and Mandy Show. Demi Lavato starred in the Disney Channel Show Sonny with a Chance and also has a Disney Channel movie called Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. She has albums out as well. Then there’s Demi’s best friend, Selena Gomez. She also is starring in her own show, Wizards of Waverly Place and guest starring in others such as The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. She has albums out as well and is also well known as Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend. These two also have their own YouTube channel on which they post vlogs (video blogs) and random videos. They never had many views until these people lead to their fortune and fame, leading to the conclusion that their reason of fame was their later found fame and fortune off of YouTube.
                     
          As you can see, every YouTube has made a major impact on our everyday lives. Some of these peoples fame traced further than the internet as well. You can clearly see that every YouTube celebrities’ uniqueness and/or talent lead to their fame.