Schwartz, John. "Helping a Child to Come Out". New York Times. March 21, 2013.
This article reads the statistics of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and talks about different stories of mothers with children who are. Studies say that teenagers with this problem have higher rates of suicide, depression, and alcohol abuse. Parents try to let them know they have unconditional love and a safe home to be discussed.
The part that I agree with the most is when said, "It's the role of the parents to the and create the open path" because it means that parents should always be there to help provide an easier way to get through tough situations. Even though I am a bit disagreeing towards homosexuality I would never verbally harass another individual for their orientation. However, I'm glad most parents still do embrace their gay child.
 Deadline by Chris Crutcher
What if you only had a year to live, and you knew it? Ben Wolf is an eighteen-year-old who lives in a small town in Idaho. In the beginning of his senior year, he finds out he's dying of a rare blood disease. He's lucky to even have a year. Ben makes a decision to not tell anybody. Not his parents, coach, or his younger brother, Cody, who he has an extremely close relationship with. He also chooses to deny treatment. Ben had big things planned, but suddenly takes a detour to live his final days as normal ones.
Death is a major theme in this book. Ben tries to befriend the town drunk, and although Ben has been helping the priest fix his life, the priest becomes even more depressed and commits suicide. Ben's condition gets worse to the point where he can't get out of bed. He then dies three weeks before his high school graduation.
The story takes place in Trout, Idaho. In a population of 943, Trout is one of those towns where everybody is known by everybody else. I don't think that the plot would be changed if it were to take place in the city because Ben's decision was to keep it a secret and make his last year normal. He says he feels a congruence when he's told that his disease was terminal and he never really saw himself growing up. So I don't think the setting would affect the plot in any way.
Dallas Suzuki is the girl of Ben's dreams. She interviews him for the school paper, and they eventually sleep together and develop a relationship. She later tells him that she was molested/raped by her uncle, and she only slept with him to test if she was ruined or not. Suddenly the story changes when her little brother turns out to be her son. When Ben tells her about his disease, she gets angry and breaks up with him. They barely speak until the of the story. She has a big impact on Ben because he is infatuated by her. She ends up being an important character in the story after she reveals her secrets. Rudy McCoy is the town drunk. No one cares about him except Ben who starts to feels closer to him after finding out they share an interest of Malcolm X. Throughout the story, Ben tries to help Rudy get his drunken life together. He then opens up to Ben and confesses that he is an ex-catholic priest who molested a little boy to the point where he commits suicide. Rudy's never been sober since. As Ben often visits his home with food and supplements, they talk about Malcolm X. I guess Malcolm X helps Ben have a different point of view in the world and agrees with a lot of the things the book overall talks about.
The beginning of the book, which is probably the first hundred pages, consists of the introduction. I thought that it was too wordy. However, part of it was about how Ben joined football but too much of the book was spent too much talking about other things I didn't find relevant to the story. Close to the end when he started to actually get sick, the book barely even talked about it when I thought it was supposed to be the main idea. His arguments with his teacher, which happened every chapter, also got really old after a while. I found myself skipping through parts.
“I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners.” (Page 88) When you know you're dying you look at life differently. You look everywhere for a meaning that you can't let pass you. ". . . If the oxygen mask drops down, be sure to put on your own before helping anyone with theirs." (Page 140) There's really only one person who can be saved. "You put yourself out there in the truest way you can and hope others do the same. You'll connect or you won't, but you did what you could." (Page 288) Don't try too hard to set an example or be a leader.
One major event was 123 pound, 5-footed Ben being on the football team. He tries out focusing to be the best player his school has ever seen. This is one of his decisions to living a normal life. He was going to state for cross country but after finding out about his disease by getting his physical, he suddenly signs up for football. Another major event is when Rudy McCoy dies. After he comes out as being fascinated with young boys and having a history of molesting one, he becomes depressed and eventually commits suicide when remembering the little boy also took his life because of him. The last major event is when Sooner Cowans, another star player on the team, dies in a car crash the same time Ben starts coming out about his disease. The whole town became devastated.
Agreed reviews: "This book was a bit weird for me. I liked that the general fact of the novel, that the protagonist is going to die, is presented at the very beginning but the way it was written wasn’t as agreeable for me to begin with. I think that of all the books that I have read so far, this one was a bit harder for me to read because I kept getting distracted. I don’t think that the idea that an eighteen year old will keep the secret that he has been told that he is going to die is entirely implausible, I think I can relate to keeping something so grand and inhibiting from others a secret." (Michelle, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/275844.Deadline, 04/14/13)
"We bought the book required for a college course. Upon reading the first couple of chapters found that not only does it swear, which we could overlook but it blasphemes our Lord, Jesus Christ. There fore I would not recommend this book to people who are christians because we do not need to blaspheme our Savior." (Randall Guinn, http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B002ZNJWFY/R2DEEIY692MEHK?cursor=3&filter=2&sort=byRankDescending, 04/14/13)
""Put your own oxygen mask on before you try to help anyone else. Life is your practice field. The state playoffs are inside you." I love the way Crutcher seeps deep inside your head and makes you think. Ben is a great character. He is "normal" but beyond this years in the way he sees things in his shortened life. It makes you wonder if it wouldn't be better to know of your impending death." (Caren Cowan, http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B002ZNJWFY/R3LPBLSQ6VZSKP?cursor=4&sort=rd, 04/14/13)
The book was overall powerful and the whole moral of the story is that secrets can kill just as much as a disease. Telling the truth is a very influential part of life. He showed people to live each day as if it were their last, mostly because it was him to have experienced it.
 Explain a hobby or expertise that you want future employers and colleges to know about you. I've always been interested in art. I've been drawing since I learned how to pick up a pencil. I always drew for my mom and dad, and they still have those drawings. I loved to draw and color until I got to high school and took visual arts. There, I learned how to draw even better and to paint. I also learned how to include details and very nice textures. Now, I'm taking my first year of photography class. Taking photos is probably one of my favorite things to do. We made our own pinhole cameras and we take pictures with them. It's really fun! Then, maybe I'm going to cooking college after I graduate. I really want to work at a five star restaurant and be a chef, or a baker. Making cakes are another of my fave things! I want to decorate cakes or something. This is what I want my future employers, bosses and colleges to know about me. And maybe I could get a job that I love!
 Could your child's education been threatened by teachers on strike? Chicago public school teachers have been on strike for over a week since last monday for the first time in the city in 25 years. They wanted to maintain their existing health benifits and salary increases. Kids were out of school and as much as we don't like it, we disagreed with this protest.
There are two reasons why I opposed the teachers striking. A good reason is because other teachers around the country who aren't able to go on strike have the same problems. My school is probably worse than theirs. We have rats falling off ceilings, dead roaches in the restrooms, no heating.. we even have classes outside due to construction! My school's condition is very bad but we manage to put up with it because we're not allowed to strike. The other reason is that school keeps kids out of trouble. Who knew what your they could have been doing while their parents were out protesting. Some parents can't even afford to keep kids hpme all week. That's twice the food you could have had, because school feeds your kids. And most kids rely on school to keep them fed. So that's why I thought this protest was unnessecary.
This mattered because the kids who were out of school were missing their learning days. Teachers wanted more and more money with a better environment when that didn't even matter. They were not the only teachers with complaints and got unnecessary breaks while the rest of America was working. Parents were also struggling to keep them at home while they had jobs to go to. I don't know why they thought striking was the best decision.
 What is your favorite sport? What skills are needed to become an elite athlete in that sport? As I've already made it obvious, My favorite sport is softball. I've been playing it for four years. It's a sport played as baseball but for girls and it has many similarities however a few differences. Softballs are bigger than baseballs, and despite the name, they're not soft at all. Pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand. Pitchers can either pitch fast or slow. The pitcher's mound is a different size than the baseball pitcher's mound. Softball is very fun to play, but people think it's boring to watch. I don't understand why? What do you think?
My dad always tells me I should eat healthy because I'm a player, but I never listened because I don't run much. Softball requires mental sharpness, alertness and quick judgment to perform. I eat sandwiches and granola bars before my games. Did you know that coffee will increase your alertness? That's really cool, because I always thought it slows you down. It's not only healthy foods that help. You also have to have great eye coordination, so you can tell what ball to hit when it's pitched, hit, or thrown to you. You have to have a lot of skill and strength. That way when you hit and throw really hard fast balls. Last, you have to have good sportsmanship because you're not going to win every game!
Do you have a favorite sport?
 A huge wildfire in Northern California has destroyed more than 80 homes and buildings. It took out about 44 square miles of land about 30 miles east of Redding since it was sparked by lightning Saturday. About 2,500 firefighters are trying to fight off one of the many big fires burning across the western U.S. Lots of residents were forced to leave after the fire, but were allowed to return home Wednesday. 900 other homes were threatened Thursday as the fire burned again to the south. 64 houses have been destroyed mostly in the Manton area. More than 2,100 firefighters were at the scene. The fire had grown to 44 square miles in the hills about 25 miles southeast of Redding. Also in California, another large wildfire in Plumas National Forest was expanded by winds. The fire was about 120 miles north of Sacramento and took up 99 square miles since it started at the end of July and threatens about 900 homes. It was 40 percent contained Thursday. Wildfires are still continuing burning around the west. More info here.
This obviously matters because many families and wildlife have been losing their homes since summer. Trees are getting burned down and that's our main resource since we're still alive because of them. Most people need to be careful where they build stuff because maybe phone lines can get stuck by lightening. Campers also need to be sure their fire has been completely put out before they leave so it won't build up again.
Anybody else have other ideas? Place it in a comment below!
| So today our JV softball team played our first game against Druid Hills high and it was tiring. At first we were leading with 15-3 because every player was walked..until Coach Loper told us to purposely get an out, which was a mistake. The Red Devils caught up by the 5th inning. But we tried our hardest to keep a good defense and at the bottom of the 6th, we won 19-17! The game lasted three hours long, we weren't even done but it was too dark to continue the game. It was a close one, but we did it. :D Go Lady Bulldogs! |  Areli and I during the game! |
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