Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

            This week I listened the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. This is my first time reading something like this. I quote enjoyed the tone of the book from what I got to listen too. I also like that the events from one part of the world came back and affected another part of the story. I only was able to get to the part where they got into the infinite improbability ship, but just from listening to that amount I know if I get to finish I will love this book.  The jumping between characters and stories I also found quite nice, though I did get a bit lost here and there. I wish I could write more, but I need to finish the story first. All I can say is this will be an unpredictable adventure.

Our Future

Our Future

            In my lifetime and the future beyond can go two completely different ways, a future of progress and science or a future of destruction and pollution. I want to believe that the world will become this great land and we’ll have flying cars, clean energy, peace, and equality.  I so desperately do. I can’t though, because I know that people have agendas and those agendas most of the times it isn’t about having a better state for everyone. It’s about how to be better off for them. How can they profit even more for less work, without caring about the consequences in the future. I see a future of pollution if we don’t change how we do things today. A future where water will be scarce a higher cost for energy and oil. Destroyed habitats. Mass extinction. Political corruption (more than we have now).  In order see the future I want to see we all need to acknowledge the faults in our systems around the world and fix them. That is the future I see.

A Wizard’s World

This week I read half of a Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern and half of Harry Potter the Sorcerer’s Stone. I feel sad that I only got to half of the first novel; it seems like the second half was really going to be something worthwhile to read. What I did read I enjoyed. I enjoyed the opening chapter about this mysterious circus that is only opened at night and that two wizards in training will battle it out.  I only got to the point where Celia found out who her rival would be. I must finish soon.  

Harry Potter on the other hand I have seen multiple times. This is my second time reading it, though I don’t remember reading it the first time to be completely honest. I’m surprised at how similar the movie is to the book, though there are minor changes in dialogue that I wished stayed in I was over happy. Harry potter is a great book for children due to its morals and characters within the story.  Harry is just ordinary child in terms of his abilities. He isn’t as smart as Hermione or as quick thinking as Ron. He truly only becomes unstoppable with the help and support of his friends and family. That is what makes Harry so strong. Within the story they touch upon the dead and the reality of ghosts or spirits. When Harry was fighting Voldemort in the graveyard his parents came, or more specifically the ghosts of his parents came to save him. Once again when harry “died” fighting Voldemort in the last book; Dumbledore was there to help him back up. It makes you think if there are actually ghost in real life.

Witches, Witches, and more Witches

Witches, Witches, and more Witches

            This week I chose to read a short story about a retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella with a twist. The twist being she has magic. No fairy godmother, just a tree, a bird, and Cinderella herself. I thought it was quite interesting that instead of the girl kind of relaying on others to get to her prince, she mostly got it done by herself, with the uses of her spells. 

            In class we watched Kiki delivery service, I movie I have watch multiply times and love more each time I view it. Thought she is a witch, the movie still has her going through things we can all understand. Fitting in, finding your place in the world, and gaining confidence in yourself to be whoever you want to be. Which to me is a great way to get your audience to connect to a character even though you don’t have powers.

            Another movie I saw was Suspiria. It was my first time watching it and it was very interesting type of witch movies. I didn’t really know it was a movie about witches until the last act of the movie. You assume something bad is happening in the school, but if I wasn’t told this movie was about witches then it would have taken me by surprise to find out that the headmaster and the other teachers were all witches. Very nicely done movies in terms of visually and in story as well. I find it nothing more evil than a teacher taking advantage of their students.

The Distance of the Moon

The Distance of the Moon

For this week I chose to read, The Distance of the Moon by Italo Calvino. The story about how the moon used to be close enough to the earth that people could climb onto the surface collect the moon cheese. I like how this story used elements from science fiction in terms of how the moon could every be so close to the earth that people could just climb into the surface from earth. It sort of reminded me of old folktales people would pass down to their children and their grandchildren explaining how things or events happened in the past.      

 I found the author’s way of thinking very creative in terms of how the people would get on moon well done.  Another element the author explores unrequited love, between the main character, his deaf cousin, and the captain’s wife. Which ultimately makes the moon go further away. His cousin gives the final push to the moon with the pole they used to get the main character down. Leaving the captain’s wife on the moon forever.  He can only catch glimpses of her during the full moon making him and the wolves howl in despair.

Song in Minor Key

Song in Minor Key

This week I thought I would try something I have never read before, a two-page short story. I rarely read shorty stories because I feel uncomfortable just being trusted into a story or left with an ambiguous ending. So reading while reading this very short story, I tried to keep that out of my mind. After I read the story, it is defiantly one of the clearest short stories I have read this semester. There where no wired alien creatures, no strange planets that our character was on. I was able to actually follow the story with no problems, which I enjoyed greatly.

It starts by explaining where he is laying down and about his past away from earth. How he longed to return after they banished him away due to his crimes. They months, years, days he spent wondering on other planets looking toward ours and his past. I enjoyed how the author kept mentioning the gun tucked between his pants and his shirt touching his ribs. It showed how he always is on guard.