Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love Sarah Dessen books. Definitely some of my most FAVORITE out there. It's just the way she writes them, and the stories are also good for teaching morals, self-confidence about boys and the difficult obstacles for life. Any girl could relate with the characters in her books. I related to this book especially. :) Love, love, love it. Read it. Do it now if you haven't already. :D



P.S. I named my kitten after the main characters baby sister, you'll have to read it to find out what it is though!



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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a great book to read. Kept me turning the pages and interested, it was really different reading a book from a boys point of view instead of a girls, like the books I've usually read. Good kind of different. I love her writing style and how it takes the reader through some of our own history, but adds a twist to the everyday scene of Gatlin, South Carolina. Really, really good read. (:



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Hidden from the world today,
Seven stones waste away.
One bright blue with a violet hue.
One dark red, heavy as lead.
One deep green, not as sweet as it seems.
One harsh black, don't give it much slack.
One fire-light yellow, this one won't be mellow.
One clear as glass, with a shimmer your eyes won't pass.
One a gun-metal gray, this one will leave you praying.
Each stone cold as death, cursed with beauty to take your breath.
Be careful, should you come across these stones, no matter how good you may be or how well you are known.
They'll pull out the sins from your very bones.
From your very bones.

ENGLISHH(:

Tithe by Holly Black

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tithe was a very interesting book. It showed another side of fairy tales that you wouldn't normally think of, the darker side of those cute little pixies and fairies you're used to. The author, Holly Black, gave an often used genre of fantasy a unique spin to mix with reality. It was a great read, and I liked the main character from the beginning since most of my family lives in New Jersey, so does she. :) It was nice to know the enviroment she wrote about so well and I didn't have to imagine much. Great read, always keeps you guessing.



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Grotto Falls at Dusk

I stumbled across this site when I was bored one night and this panorama caught my eye in particular. The water falling over the rocky edge into a shallow pool with effortless beauty was something anyone would pause to look at. The pebbles that form the bottom of the pool reminded me of the place down by the river where we used to swim, nicknamed “The Rocks”.  The huge rocks on either side coming up from the land beneath it to form the secret room seem like they would be rough to your fingertips, should you brush your hand across the surface.The feeling of the occasional patch of moss, thriving in the environment’s thick moisture, slide beneath your fingertips easily. And outside, past the jagged boulders is a lush green world of various shades of color. The overcast sky gave everything below it a contrasting brightness in each pigment. You can imagine the crisp air, fresh and clean of the plague of cities. This is the beauty of nature, nature that still lasts – where humans have not touched and manipulated. This world is different than the place we live, here in Batesville where the air smells of a food processing plant most mornings and the air is sticky and humid during the summer. Where there is trash lining the roads and patches of woods, still clinging to their territory as long as they can. Of course, it is like this in most cities now. Take an extreme, New York City for example. There are tall buildings, trashy streets; seldom do you see a park or even the smallest patch of grass left to live. Nature isn’t appreciated now, in the era of man and woman, where as structures of glass and metal stand in the way. We must not forget where we came from and what real beauty is. Simplicity and imperfection is the most amazing of all, nature teaches it best.

56 Leonard Street

56 Leonard Street

    Amazing. Daring. It’s the spitting image of the future and our cities. These are things that come to my mind when I look at the building as its peak reaches for the sky. This is what architecture should be. It’s modern and sharp, mimicking our every advancement in technology and the search for the newest “cutting edge” today. It’s eye-catching, making a bold statement with it’s long and mismatched geometric pattern against the skyline, whether it be dawn or dusk, the darkest night or brightest day. This building seems almost alive with the flow of various rectangles of glass, giving insight to the inhabitants within.    Referring to Andy Warhol, Jacques Herzog has said, “He used common Pop images to say something new. That is exactly what we are interested in: to use well known forms and materials in a new way so that they become alive again.” The architects, Jacques Herzog & de Meuron, are consistently showing their talents and their visions in all of their work. This 57-story building at the intersection of Church Street and Leonard Street in the Historic District of Tribeca of downtown Manhattan, where it will house 145 residents in condominiums described as "houses stacked int he sky". Each condo will have a different, unique floor plan to itself and an outdoor area. It's incredible.

This will be a beautiful addition to the New York City skyline and I am so anxious to see what will happen. Now, as this article says, construction is going to begin on this building. Oh my Oprah, it's actually going to be built! What will the future be like with buildings like these on the horizon? Buildings of glass bringing the essence of the modern world to life, it's something I want to do as I get older and go to college. I want to make my own contribution to this new age in architecture, it's like leaving your thumbprint on the face of the earth.

    Buildings like 56 Leonard Street are going to change the way the world looks today, and I can’t wait to see it evolve and blossom. This is just the beginning.

I, Too, Sing America

In the poem, I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes the tones I see are very forward-looking and patient. The narrarator sounds as if he's ready to endure and be patient because he knows that soon enough, there will be no prejudice in society; That in the future, whether a man or woman has light skin or dark skin- we will all live in peace and civility.
It says in the second to last stanza,
 'They'll see how beautiful I am. And be ashamed--'
Which is giving off the tone of pride, showing that he's proud to be who he is.