Princess Book Review

The title Princess, though seemingly enticing and safe, is rather the opposite and tells a tale of brutal oppression that females of the Muslim faith endure on a daily basis.  Sultana, a feisty Princess of the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia whose life this biography revolves around, secretly indulges her audience in the truth of what it is like to grow up and live in the walls of a beautiful palace that more closely resembles a jail of discouragement and sacrifice.  Through Sultana’s gripping story one can begin to see clearly what the Muslim traditions of Saudi Arabia represent and how the women are cruelly controlled in a world where male dominance is the strictly followed word of Allah (God).

Princess is written by Jean P. Sasson (Sultana’s American friend) to keep the real identity of Sultana a secret so she is not punished by the males in her family or society.  The book starts in childhood and follows Sultana through motherhood.  Although this book mainly focuses on her Royal Family, the book also strips away the cloak of secrecy shrouding the truths of some of the most frightening stories ever to be revealed from women in the midst of it all.

While remaining informative and compelling, this novel also manages to be an incredibly easy read because of the fact that the author does not waste her words and tells things as they are.  The story was so crushing and I was flabbergasted at the way the women were treated having grown up with our revered freedom given to every American citizen (male or female).  The author bluntly states by the seventh page, “And so it comes to be that women in my land are ignored by their father, scorned by their brothers, and abused by their husbands” (7).  The audience of this book sees this sad fact to be true as Sultana shares her story of life as a slave to men starting with a story about her only brother, Ali.  Ali, because he is a male, gets everything he could ever possibly want. Even if he does something awful, his sisters are most always the scapegoats for his wrongdoings.  This proves to be the case as a kind Pakistani cook grants a young Sultana with a shiny apple and after refusing to hand it over to her brother, he unthinkingly slaps her to the ground.  Even after Sultana explains that it was her apple to begin with, her father lashes out with harsh punishments by taking away all her toys and allowing Ali to control what she eats.  By appealing to the readers through her use of pathos by telling stories such as these, Sasson is undeniably triggering emotions and therefore, hoping to stick in the minds of her audience long after she is finished saying what she has to say.  She wants to make her point very clear, and with such heart wrenching matter, she is easily able to do so. 

This book also ignites and uncovers the inner woman’s rights activist in any reader with a compassionate heart.  As is the Muslim tradition, after menstruation begins, the new woman is forced to veil so that she is seen as one who is worthy and ready to be a wife.  Sultana states, “Life changed quickly.  I entered the souq area as an individual bursting with life, my face expressing my emotions to the world.  I left the shopping area covered from head to toe, a faceless creature in black” (79).  The fact that women must cover their faces seems demeaning especially when they are forced to go out into the burning sun with a black veil that is absorbing every ray of heat.  Their male counterparts, on the other hand, breeze through life in whatever garments they feel will be most comfortable for them while forcing their women to drown in a sea of black.  The mistreatment doesn’t stop there, but is rather never-ending and involves polygamy, abuse (mentally, emotionally, physically, and sexually), and webs of complex lies and hatred.  As Sultana’s philosophic side comes out, she has Sasson reveal that, “By treating women as slaves, as property, men have made themselves as unhappy as the women they rule, and have made love and true companionship unattainable to both sexes” (7).

There is nothing that is too shameful for Sasson to write about and through this blunt narrative we begin to see Sultana as one who longs to be free, but never will.  Her luckless story is one that can only be described as a tragedy.  This book is an absolute must-read because it is fast-moving, raw, and crafted to perfection.  It sheds light on the true fault of men is their need for dominion over women and only when the cycle of gender slavery ends can the world truly succeed.  Women, as we see in countries such as America, are just as good as men.  They are smart, brilliant human beings and in my thoughts, God (if there is such a force or being) would never subject the females of the world to be subservient to males.  This kind of hatred needs to end, but Sultana says that we, as free women, make it worse, so the question really is: if this can be fixed, how?       

The Dark Side of Eminem

"The Dark Side of Eminem" contains Eminem's life during his beginning, his collapse, his re-birth, and his fulfillment of his prophecy of being a rap king. This book describes all of Eminem's significant life events that occurred and how these life long memories shaped him to be the talented musician he is. As the reader, you realize the amount of racial violence and descrimination, verbal and physical abuse, and hardships that Marshall Mathers had to suffer through. All of the these awful experiences is what fuels and creates Marshall to be the type of angry white trash superstar he is. The terrible occurrences is known as "The Dark Side Of Eminem". Born into an unstable, constantly moving home Eminem grew up with only his mother and as a child, he was always moving homes to stay with family members, Debbie's (Marshall's mom) boyfriends, or any other friends that would take the single mother and her baby under their roof. This book, in detail, explains to it's audience how Eminem's childhood contributed to the creation of his forever angry rhyming mind. The first chapter "Ground Zero", talks about how the area where he grew up was extremely racist, violent, crime-filled, and eighty percent African American. The book says how his hometown Detroit was a perfect location to raise a fatherless, angry, bullied, abused, poor, white trash honkey rap superstar."Since 1950, its population has shrunk my a million. Over 10,000 houses and 60,000 lots stand empty. A third of its citizens are beneath the poverty line. Many live in zones of hardcore unemployment, prospectless. In the Seventies and the Eighties, when the race lines of other American cities blurred, Detroit's hardened. It was de-industrialized, dead-beat. 8 Mile Road was the scar that showed its character." This book shows Eminem's experiences of being a toddler and adolescent in this dangerous and destroyed city is what had a contribution to his corrupted mind. With countless interviews and song-lyrics by Eminem, "The Dark Side Of Eminem" explains how each life-event helped fuel Eminem's want for revenge and constant search for a way out. This is a biography on the painful, the tough, and the battered and bruised side of Marshall Mathers, the dark side. It's a giant explanation on how this man built up enough drive and fuel to conquer all the struggles and challenges that have faced him through out his life. I recommend this book to anyone how enjoys to read about an underdog and his climb to the top of the mountain of success. This is all the evil, negative occurrences that Marshall Mathers took part in or had to suffer through, the road to his dream of success.

The Hot Zone Book Review-Davis

The Hot Zone

Book Review

Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone tells one of the most horrifying stories known to the world as of 1976.  Richard Preston’s depiction of the real world events set The Hot Zone aside from any other non-fiction work.  Through his own second-hand accounts, Preston creates a seemingly fake horror that grows as the story carries along in his four part work.  Preston opens the journey with the life and travels of a man by the pseudonym of Charles Monet, a Frenchman residing in Uganda who is presented to be the original contractee of Ebolavirus, the hot virus that is known now as one of the most deadly and infectious still to this day.  Post contraction of the virus in what is thought to be from the deep rainforest of central Africa, Charles Monet is followed by plane and taxi only to reveal that this unknown illness kills him within days, as well as other doctors and nurses that study and tend to his gross illness.

The opening events of the virus’s disgustingly depicted engulfment of the Frenchman plant the groundwork for the evolving suspense and mystery of the virus unknown to the world at the time.  Richard Preston builds off of the virus’s epicenter in the microcosm of central Africa to reveal the world’s newest medical research phenomenon.  As this account is set in the era of the catastrophic AIDS breakout, it portrays the reality of the little medical knowledge the world had about viruses that are born within the rain forests of  central Africa.  This background sets so much suspense and curiosity in the reader’s mind, it almost pushes the reader to learn more.  Preston uses his accounts with the characters behind the story to map the scientific and medical advancements that bring this book to life.  As the virus multiplies, so does the setting.  Preston takes the reader across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, where samples of the virus infected blood of Doctor Shem Musoke (Monet’s doctor) were sent for testing.

Preston leads the remainder of the story through more micro outbreaks of the virus in Africa alongside the fatally dangerous research and testing of the hot virus on monkeys in the United States, which leads a team of scientists to travel to the virus infested rain forest of Uganda to find where the virus comes from.  Through each and every page, Preston continues to hold the reader by sheer horror and suspense, not knowing what will happen at the turn of the next page.  Although The Hot Zone is a non-fictional read, the way in which Preston exemplifies the real life terrifying events makes it seem far more made up than anything that could actually occur in real life.

Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone is a must read thriller that will not only tell the shockingly gruesome story of the filovirus Ebola Zaire, but it will leave your mind questioning the significance of human existence in a world exposed to the very unknown dangers of mother nature.

I believe in Plants.

I believe plants nourish, heal, grow, blossom, make people happy. Plants promote good vibes. I believe plants humble, the take only sunlight and water for energy and give so much more. I rely on and consume plants everyday to make me healthy therefore make me happy. Plants are a life form at its purest, with spiritual effects upon people as well as calming and stress-reducing. I believe in the power of plants.

Blink!

Blink

Malcolm Gladwell started off as a journalist and published his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference, in the year 2000. It was a hit and made Gladwell a popular lecturer. In 2005, he published his second book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. This book really caught my eye and from cover to cover, it was a really easy, informational read.

The title says it all. This is a book about a collection of studies done over a period of two years and is basically about first impressions, intuition, and underlying keys that can all be decoded with amazing accuracy. The key is deciding what information to hold on to, and what information to get rid of. Gladwell discusses “thin-slicing”, or rapid cognition, which is the focus of his book. Thin-slicing is the ability to decide what is really important on the spot, and how decisions that are made in the blink of an eye can be just as good as well thought out ones. He tells many stories about his experiences, other people’s experiences, and studies done about “thin-slicing”.

The way Gladwell writes is intriguing. He tells stories in pieces, so that the reader has to keep reading to find out what happens. At the end of each story he comes to a conclusion as to why thin-slicing did or didn’t work and the accuracy of the method used or the study done. I learned so much about the power of decision-making and what you can tell about a person or situation in the blink of an eye. In this book, Gladwell describes how a coach can tell if an athlete will double-fault before they even walk on the court, how artists can pick out an identical fake without any information about the piece, and how long a relationship will last with only three minutes of observations and amazing accuracy.

There is an explanation for why everything in the corporate world is the way it is, or why military personnel can discover where in the world certain hidden bases are, or what to signs to realize in something as serious as an intimate relationship, or as common as a business relation with your local car dealership. Facial expressions, speech recognition and even our unknown unconscious bias play a part in every decision we make, whether it’s hasty or not. This book was a quick and informational read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in psychology or just a curiosity about understanding how the world works a little better. Right or wrong, there is a key to why things are the way they are, and in Blink, Malcolm Gladwell reveals all the secrets. I look forward to reading more of his books.

Davis Believes This...So YOU shall as well also too believe this

Why are we lead to believe that we need to WORK in an office, and fill a career that is found only to be lucrative in terms of tangible income?  This makes absolutely no sense to me.  These people who are living from the surroundings of the stacks of paper, staplers, and manilla folders of their cubicles are not happy.  I  do think it is completely necessary to have these jobs in our world, but I do not believe that these life-sucking careers have any positive impact on our true inner selves.  I am in the midst of building a future for myself full of happiness, fun, adventures, and experiences that will define who I, Davis Beveridge is as an individual in this world.  I believe we were born in this world to establish ourselves as unique individuals.  

I don't believe in a lot of things, but i do believe in Duct Tape.

For years now, duct tape has been binding the world together.

One Life at a Time, Please

One Life at a Time, Please is Edward Abbey’s provocative attack on issues like immigration, feminism, and overpopulation. Abbey has compiled essays that critique society, as well as travel stories with underlying themes that tie them all together. The main theme of every essay is Abbey’s concern for the environment and man’s relationship with it.

In his essays on controversial issues, Abbey usually proposes suggestions that are wildly impractical and shocking. As a means of regulating population, Abbey suggests that we “offer a brand new Mustang convertible to every girl who consents to having her fallopian tubes tied in a Gordian knot.” Abbey then moves on to suggest less outlandish solutions, as well as offer up evidence to support his views.

Abbey also writes travel essays about his experiences in the southwest. Many of these essays are similar to those in another Abbey book, Desert Solitaire. Abbey again demonstrates his ability to make otherwise “ordinary” adventures spectacular. He employs his usual style, with lots of description and humor, which really brings the stories to life.

While One Life at a Time, Please is an interesting book, I would suggest reading Desert Solitaire first. Get a feel for Abbey and his views before reading One Life at a Time, Please; otherwise, Abbeys extreme views might alienate the average reader. Most of the essays are good, but a few just seem like rehashed rants where Abbeys is trying to hard to be funny and angry at the same time. I would heartily recommend this book to anybody who already enjoys Abbey’s style.

Emy's Hot Zone Book Report

While writing his dissertation for his PhD in English from Princeton University, Richard Preston the author of The Hot Zone became fascinated with the idea that writing non-fiction articles and books can be written as powerful, and interesting narrative literature. Since then, Preston has written books exploring the hidden worlds in nature. The Hot Zone is a scientific, bio-thriller that focuses on and explores filoviruses, Biosafety Level 4 viruses, also known as “hot” viruses. These deadly viruses belong to a small family of “thread viruses.” Throughout the book, he focuses on the Marburg and Ebola viruses and strains within them.

Over a twenty-year period, the story weaves and twists between named victims in African villages, research on these lethal viruses in labs, and other background stories. He describes in detail how these viruses have surfaced, attacked, spread, and then retreated, disappearing back in to their hiding place in the African forest and bush while creating fear that these living viruses are still living, reshaping, and mutating, waiting to enter the human species again in a new form. He describes graphically the result of being infected by this complex deadly virus and shows how it spread within the villages and hospitals. He tells how the victims hemorrhage from the inside out, their organs and tissues becoming liquefied, consequently becoming a corpse before death. He discusses the scientists, lab techs, and doctors, their lives and the fear and risks of working with these hot microorganisms. He also offers up a theory on how this virus started, blaming the monkey trade for setting up a perfect environment to breed a unusual virus by jamming together different monkey species, and exposing them to one another's viruses back and forth. Preston details what these microscopic viruses look like and the precaution needed while working with these deadly strains. He then finishes with the 1989 outbreak of a hot virus in a monkey lab in Virginia. There are many tense moments while a SWAT team of soldiers and scientists wearing biohazard suits stop an outbreak of just miles away from Washington DC.

Preston does a great job of writing non-fiction like a fiction novel. Real life scientists, lab workers and doctors become developing characters and come alive with the Ebola virus as it wreaks havoc on the innocent. Preston captured my attention, advanced my understanding of scientific and social consequences of this deadly virus.

This I Believe...

I believe in protecting the forests. It has come to that point in time where there is very little room left on the earth for every one to keep living the way we are today. Space is becoming a major factor in the development and future of our world. And it has come down to the destruction of our forests. But we need to protect our forests. For the future and the now. These forests are the ones giving us oxygen. And in these time now of global warming and air pollution we need the forests to regulate the dirty air. We need forests to continue with our day to day life.

I Believe In Best Friends

Throughout life millions of people may come and go but there are always those friends that will truely be your best friends forever. In my short 18 year old life, I have said hello and had to say good bye to many people. Friends, pets, teachers, mentors, idols, girlfriends, and even family members, but throughout my whole life, living in Telluride, my best friends have always been there and have never left me. I have fought through and enjoyed more experiences with my best friends then anyone else, even my family. There is no one else that has made more of an impact on my life and influenced me more to be the person I am today, than my friends. I have spent almost my whole life being friends with the same group of guys and it has been the best!

I beleive in being free

I believe that everybody in this world should be free. Millions of people in this world live there life with something holding them back or maybe even they are owned by somebody. Although slavery is supposedly illegal now that doesn't mean that it isn't still a huge problem our world is dealing with. There are people who wake up at 5 every morning to go work in a sweat shop for 12 hours and make minimum wage. People deserve better then that if they give so much of there life away to work in treacherous conditions. People are born into slavery and have no idea what it is like to make there own decisions in there life. I think its about time that changes.

We've got Spaghetti... and Blankets...

Perfect Storm Book Review

Willy Hess

In Sebastian Junger’s novel, The Perfect Storm, Junger tells the story about the horrible fate of a sword fishing boat named the Andrea Gail. When returning home from a long fishing journey, a freak convergence of three storms engulfed the ship several hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Junger starts the book by talking about the history of sword fishing. He uses fascinating detail, sometimes a bit gruesome, in order to talk about the risks involved in this dangerous occupation. Sword fishing started a long time ago, and people knew the risks of being out at sea during these dangerous storms. He compares this to the 21^st century sword fishing and how very little has changed. Although there is more and more help from U.S. Coast Guards to saving lives, fatalities are bound to happen. In a storm, such as the one the Andrea Gail was caught in, it is impossible for a helicopter or rescue boat to save these men, mainly because it would just be too dangerous themselves. The winds make it so the helicopter could barely fly, let alone hover in the heat of the storm. Rescue boats run the risks of capsizing in the enormous waves. And yet, so many people still risk their lives to make a living from this job. Junger points out, that the men who mainly come aboard these ships are people who don’t have a very big name for themselves, a family to go back to, or a great life to return to. “More people are killed on fishing boats, per capita, than any other job in the United States,” Junger tells us. He precisely describes the death of a fisherman at sea and how it is not a “clean” death in any way. “When the first involuntary breath occurs, most people are still conscious, which is unfortunate, because the only thing more unpleasant than running out of air is breathing in water.”

Although there is was no way for the story to be told directly by the crew of the Andrea Gail themselves, Junger uses friends, family, and acquaintances to create a story to the best of his ability. He also does a very good job of using details, stories, and journal entries to re-create what happened on that horrible night in 1991.

In addition to the story of the crewmen aboard the Andrea Gail, Junger also includes many side stories of other ships, rescue crews, and civilians contributing to the some 10,000 Gloucestermen that have been caught in horrible storms at sea. He also includes a great deal of science about the physics of waves to the science behind hurricanes to the responses from meteorologists in the Gloucester area, though never straying too far from the main subject of the story, The Andrea Gail. “Meteorologists see perfection in strange things, and the meshing of three completely independent weather systems to form a hundred-year event is one of them. ... thought Bob Case, this is the perfect storm." The way in which Junger uses history, science, stories, and just about anything else he could to create this story is truly amazing. He incorporates language that would have been used by deckhands and captains to make you sincerely believe you are among the crewmen of these tragic ships.

At the end of the story, Junger reaches out to the families that have lost loved ones to the sea, and ends the book with a very inspiring quote, “If the men on the Andrea Gail had simply died, and their bodies were lying in state somewhere, their loved ones could make their goodbyes and get on with their lives. But they didn't die, they disappeared off the face of the earth and, strictly speaking, it's just a matter of faith that these men will never return. Such faith takes work, it takes effort."

In conclusion, I would recommend this book to everyone. The inspiring risk that these men take in order to provide a living for themselves is one that goes completely unnoticed. Junger does a very good job of re-creating the morbid story of the Andrea Gail with little more than a few journals and some stories. He reaches out and touches the hearts of many people who have lost loved ones to the sea, and it makes for an amazing story.

KARMA

I believe in KARMA. Karma is defined in Hinduism or Buddhism as an action that is seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation. There have been countless occasions when I will do something thoughtful or kind because I believe the gesture will be returned. When driving through town, I always stop for pedestrians, even if there are a ton of people and I am in a hurry to get somewhere. This action is not something ridiculous or out of the ordinary, but I worry that if I don’t stop I will have BAD karma. There have been other instances when, for example, a store cashier will hand me back incorrect change, usually a higher amount than I am supposed to receive. While many people would say “thanks” and leave before the clerk noticed, I smile and say “here, I think you gave me a dollar too much.” It’s not that I don’t want that extra dollar – trust me I do – it’s that I feel if I do a good deed I will somehow be repaid later that day. And the repayment is usually much more of a reward than a little extra spare change. I don’t know if my next example is one of the aftermath of good karma or a recipe for bad karma, but I think it applies either way. I bought a Blues and Brews ticket online last year for Friday night only, but when I went to pick up my ticket they accidentally gave me a three-day wristband instead. I didn’t notice until after I had already walked away, and considered turning around and giving it back, but I felt that somehow it was a gift and therefore kept the pass. I don’t think anyone is immune to karma. It’s hard to believe in sometimes when bad things happen to good people, but that can be said to have come from the negative energies of past lifetimes. I believe that you must practice “safe karma” and learn the rules of the game. Karma is similar to Newton’s Laws in physics. Newton claimed that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Karma explains laws of thought and energy, cause and effect. Anyway, there is lots more I can talk about to enhance my belief in karma. And I would love to hear some of your guys’ stories and experiences with karma below!!

This I believe

I believe that we shouldn't take life so seriously. Since adolescence, this idea of "growing up" is pushed down our throats and we are taught that life isn't a game and that we all need to mature. Well fuck that. The only reason we have to grow up and take things seriously is because our society makes it so, life doesn't have to be so mature all the time. If we dropped this perception that we have to grow up and let go of childish things then collective lives of the population would be much happier, fun, and enjoyable. How many children do you see suffering from depression? Not very many. If we clung to the of innocence, wonder, and whimsicality that we possess as a child, the world would be a much better place. I'm not saying we shouldn't take anything seriously and that people shouldn't be responsible, but the complete lack of humor and fun that plagues most adults' lives needs to change.

I Believe...

I believe that there are ghosts and angles. I think there defiantly is another world or life or something beyond this life right now. They appear to us as either a fog or mist like face or body, that is around us. but they could be actual humans. Im going to go into the story when i saw my dead grandpa and how my grandma's sprit has been around. I was thinking also touching on the fact that maybe the soul goes away and the body, physical body, stays and is the ghost part. i was also going to talking about watching a person die... one moment they are there breathing, alive and then its just gone. Life leaves the body but its still warm. The physical features are all the same but there actually is a soul a presents of something invisible.

I believe in yearly vacations

Just getting away from your everyday routine and everyday life is refreshing and gives you a sense of renewal. A break and a new scenery gives anyone time to realize their priorities and what they really want to be doing with their life. The oranges and yellows of a Hawaiian sunset gives you a feeling like none other. How could you live your life and not feel your toes sinking into the cool sand on a hot sunny beach day or try foreign food, tingling your taste buds and letting your senses experience the unknown. Down time actually lets you get inside your own head, lets you question your motives and listen to what your body and mind needs. Especially getting time with the close people in your life. You can never spend too much time with your family, friends, and loved ones. Allowing time to get out, go anywhere, camping or an all inclusive trip to Fiji, you'll get that time everyone needs to let their hair down and feel free of the everyday ties of work and responsibilities.

This I Believe...

I believe that life should never be taken too seriously and that you should laugh and learn from your mistakes.  I am grounding my belief in a story from this last summer, during which I had one of the best experiences of my entire life at a Young Life camp in Malibu, Canada.  But this camp was not all fun for me, particularly the first night.  I had been up for a good twenty hours straight and I am not the kind of person who does well on limited amounts of sleep, especially when you want me to crawl in mud and roll around in dirt at midnight in the forest (where there are plenty of things to trip on and twist your ankles).  While all my group members happily (and annoyingly to me…) exclaimed their profound love for being filthy, I clenched my jaw, bit my tongue, and ran through the obstacle course.  This brought me straight to the freaking freezing cold ocean that is off the fjord.  I was about as ready to punch a hole through a wall as a boy with teen angst and, after jumping in the balmy sixty degree water, I shoved my way to the ladder to lift myself out of the dirt and sweat tinged water surrounding me.  I speed walked back to my cabin, leaving my teammates dripping and hugging. 

                I didn’t know if I was more frustrated that I had to actually do the obstacle course, or because of my sudden attitude change.  Man, I got in that small shower cubicle in my cabin, and pretty much scrubbed my skin harder than any other time in my entire life: Canadian dirt is stubborn stuff.  When I got out, I knew I would have to apologize, but with all group’s prickly stares that prodded at my skin, I turned incredibly warm and fell asleep quickly.  The next morning, I made it my business/mission to apologize for my snippy attitude.  As much as I want to say I regret my meltdown, I don’t.  It taught me the lesson to never go into anything assuming it is going to be sucky.  There are going to be things you don’t want to do in life, but you might as well have fun doing them! J  And, dammit, laugh at yourself when you make dumb mistakes, it is always the people who are able to laugh at tripping, or spilling water on their crotch areas, etc., that are happiest in life: that I believe.    

I believe in a thing called LOVE!

I believe we need referees.

Last weekend was the super bowl and it was a hard fought battle the New York Giants were making a 4th quarter run, to win the game. And it all came down to one pass, one catch, and one call. New York Giants quarter back, Eli Manning, threw a beautiful pass to reciever Mario Manningham. Mario Manningham tip toed the sideline to get two feet in bounds, and possession of the ball. Initially the call on the field was signaled as a catch. But after the first couple of reviews the outcome looked bleak for the Giants Superbowl success. Then it came clear to nearly everyone that Eli Manning had thrown the most perfect pass, and that Mario Manningham had caught the most important pass of his career. And the worst thing to come out of all of this wasn't that that this was the go ahead score for the Giants, as many Patriot fans would think, but instead that the referee had also made the correct call.

The officiating in that game was spectacular. But did we hear anything about that? No. In this society we are quick to look for blame, and very slow to give out praise. Too many times we hear, "Ref, get off your knees your blowing the game." And very rarely we hear how well an official did. We need to stop taking things for granted, because quite frankley not only did Mario Manningham make the biggest catch of his career, but that referee also made the biggest call of chis career

I believe laughter is the best medicine.

A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.
~Hugh Sidey

Whenever I am having a tough day I get out my phone and open up iFunny. The pictures are hilarious and make me laugh so hard, that I forget my bad day.
"Laughing is a celebration of the good, and it's also how we deal with the bad. Laughing, like crying, is a good way of eliminating toxins from the body. Since the mind and body are connected, you use an amazing amount of muscles when you laugh."
~Gerry Fielka, Venice Beach, California

Laughter is a great thing, that's why we've all heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." You can even argue that its infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. It can bring people together and can really lighten up dull and tense moments. It's also been proven that humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. This priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.
Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
~Mark Twain

This I Believe...

I believe that people should hunt for their meat, rather than buying it at the store. Meat is a product that should come from the wild instead of under flourescent lights. Hunting is a better choice because it is cheaper, it is healthier, there will be no problems with the meat industry, no hormones in meat, less fat, you'll know where you're meat comes from and what is added to it, you have to work for your food (who knows what will happen if Americans have to work for something other than money), it's a family activity, people will get education about guns, and there is more products coming from the animal other than meat. So yeah, that's a long list of things I'm gonna put in my essay, that's as far as I am...YEAHHHH

Emily's I believe...

I believe in random acts of kidness....

Random acts of kindess are often unnoticed and looked over but they make the world a better place. Holding open a door for someone, or giving up your seat on a bus to an olderly women, or even something as simple as asking if someone if there ok or giving advice is something everyone should do. Not only does it make the other person feel better but it makes you feel better about yourself. And often times someone else will see you do it and take it into concederation, and might just display a random act of kindness too. If every person in the world did one random act of kindess a day this world would be just a little happier. :)

This I believe

This I Believe....Society is bad

The worst invention of man is indeed what we all live in. The society that we have created has turned human nature into something that is looked down upon in the world today. The truth is that the world is a chaotic horrible place of extreme beauty and death. But, with the coming of society, a mask has been draped over the real world that does still exist. People that used to value the world for it could provide in terms of pleasure and recourses, now look upon it in terms of society(money, and scavenging the world for its good). The best places to go are the ones that could yield a high value. The world is an amazing place, but because the people are now involved with the workings of society, they are absorbed into this false reality of the world, and no longer value what the earth really is. I'm not saying that leaving society is the best idea, but that the best idea is one free of society.

Let Go

I believe that people should not live with regret; not dwell in the past. Everyone makes mistakes, so rather than ripping yourself apart, just get over it. Shit happens. People need to use their mistakes as an opportunity to learn something and make next time better instead of a set back.

I have been put in many situations that have made me question myself. Why did i do that? Was it worth it? When I was at the Mountain School, I was fortunate enough to travel to Ecuador and Peru. On both trips, I got extremely sick and couldn't do a lot of the activities that my classmates did. I mean it kind of sucked. But there wasn't really anything I could do about it, so I did my own thing to try to enjoy the time I had left. In Ecuador, I sat in a hammock by myself in the cloud forest and played set by myself. In Peru, I decided to just do everything anyway. Looking back now, I still appreciate those trips more than anything, even though I was sick.

I don't know if those are the best examples because those are more living in the moment ideas. But i like the idea of not dwelling in the past. I have learned that it does no good.

I believe

I think that im going to write about change or art.. I cant decide! I think that change is very important. Nothing ever stays the same, or can happen the same way twice, and time is always moving forward. But change doesn't necessarily mean that everything has to be new. Old things, trends, and ideas can be brought back and be reinvented but nothing will ever be exactly how it was. It has changed. Through the rain and the sun and the wars and the revolution, everything in the universe is constantly changing. Our world is exactly like a human brain, always gaining more information, we just have to decide what to make of it.

Guys.. I think im going to write about art. Change might be too big of a task to tackle. I believe in painting. Oil paints are beautiful and rich. The first stroke is so tentative; beginning a new creation. But when the strokes fall into a perfect rhythm, my thoughts illuminate. Smearing the paint on the canvas becomes not just a task, but a thrill and gives me true joy. It makes me happy in a way that I will try to describe to everyone. I love that art is personal and international at the same time. more to come...:)

Under the Banner of Heaven Review

John Krakauer unveils a violent and shocking tale of fanaticism and the bloody side of religion in Under the Banner of Heaven, an exploration into the Fundamentalist Mormon faith and culture. Spurred on by the murder of an innocent LDS mother and her 15-month old baby by her two fundamentalist brother-in-laws who believed they had been commanded by God, Krakauer dives deep into the core of the religion and the philosophy of the religious extremism itself. Shifting through the polygamy-ridden history of the mainstream Mormon Church, which happens to be the fastest growing religion in the world, the author examines the foundation upon which these extremists are built. Recounting incidents from the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart in 2002 to the perverse history of FLDS communities such as Colorado City, Arizona with engaging and thorough journalism, Krakauer digs down to the bedrock of the extremist’s mind. If you are unopinionated on the Mormon Church before reading this book then you certainly wont be a fan of it after you have. While the author is one-hundred percent factual, he does paint the mainstream Latter Day Saints in a harsher light than they deserve. Krakauer enthralls the reader in the stories of forced marriages, incest, rape and unmovable faith. It isn’t far into the book that the reader’s blood begins to boil. The unflinching truthfulness of the horrors told in Under the Banner of Heaven makes the reader wish they could wipe the fundamentalist Mormon church of the face of the earth. The author asks and then attempts to answer questions such as Where is the line drawn between faith and fanaticism? Krakauer conjures connections between Mormon Fundamentalism and other infamous extremist sects, comparing Ron and Dan Lafferty, the murderers who’s story opens up the book, to Osama bin Laden, Jim Jones, and other mass murderers driven by their faith. He says Colorado City, where the residents are strictly forbidden from watching television or reading newspapers and where 14 year old girls are pulled out of school to marry their uncles, is a “Taliban-like theocracy”. Under the Banner of Heaven is an extremely interesting and thought provoking book and Krakauer’s investigation into the FLDS Church leaves no stone unturned. A great read, as long as the reader doesn’t mind getting enraged by every passing page.

I Believe...

I am still figuring out how to approach my topic it is on hard work/success/how people take the easy way out too often. They all tie together enough that i would talk about how hard work is the only way to be successful and when people do things the easy way they do not get as much out of it. There is nothing wrong with doing something efficiently and fast when you have a time limit but humans have lost the way of really working for what they want and getting it done the old fashion way. if you do every task to the best of your ability and not cheat yourself not only will you feel more accomplished you will more likely be successful. so if you want to be successful there are no short cuts or easy way outs, there is only hard work and doing things the right way.

I Believe in Learning to Change a Tire

Specifically, I am writing that every person should know how to change a tire. I am going to tell a story about how two other girls and I got stuck with a slashed tire on the way to Norwood and we had to change the tire ourselves because there was no cell phone service to call anyone. One of the girl's fathers had recently taught her how to change a tire, and if it wasn't for her, we would have been stuck for a while, because no one stopped to help us. In a broader sense, I am saying that pracitcal knowledge is more important than textbook information. Practical knowledge, in most situations, benefits you more than a fact on the Civil War. Changing a tire is something every person should know how to do, because most likely, you will be in that situation one day.

The Glass Castle

What makes a good story? Many writers spend their entire careers answering it over and over, hoping each time to get it right. But what does it mean to tell your own personal story? What makes a non-fiction hard to put down? The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is the ideal book to answer these questions.

The first page of her story really paints a picture in your head on how her life must have been like, “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had over dressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw my mom rooting through a dumpster… It had been months sense I laid eyes on Mom, and when she looked up, I was over come with panic that she’d see me and call out my name, and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us together…” From the get go, you already know she would rather people didn’t know who her parents are. This also paints a pretty good picture that if her parents were homeless now, how their lives could have been like when Jeannette was younger.

The title, The Glass Castle, gives a very good fairy tale dream that the kids always talked to their father about, and becomes relevant to the story because it is about how it felt growing up with a family that is constantly on the move, running from one town to the next. Jeannette and her three other siblings learned to take care of themselves at a very young age. Both parents rarely worked and when her mother began to teach she would attempt to hide her paychecks from her alcoholic husband by telling her kids to hide some of the cash somewhere, however, she would always give in to his habits and he would end up drinking it all away, leaving their four kids to occasionally scavenge for food themselves.

The tone is phenomenal. The way Walls tells her story is more like a matter of fact, not sugar coated, not unrealistic, but true. There are no unnecessary word play, or irrelevant situations. You feel as if you are in her head, going through all the situations she went through. Imagine your friend telling you about a remarkable event that took place. They kept you engaged in what they were telling you while going into great, but not too much, detail. That is exactly how this story was told.
Overall, The Glass Castle is a remarkable read. It has everything a good story needs: a great story line, an incredible style and tone, unforgettable characters, and gives almost an inside look at a lifestyle most people would over look and label as lazy. You would be a fool not to recommend this book to a friend, family member, or stranger.

Enjoy the Little Things

I believe that you must enjoy the little things. It may seem like one of the easiest things to do, but it is so easy to get caught up in the fast track of life and forget that some of your greatest memories are among the simplest. These simple moments or experiences are those that when you look back, you will realize that they mean the most to you. Small in size, but monumental in meaning. There are so many moments of my life where, at the time, they seemed insignificant. Most of these were from my year spent in Hungary. During my final month before I came home, I felt as if I hadn't done anything my entire year. I hadn't seen all of the historical landmarks, or gone to as many countries as my friends had gone to, but I realized that what I had done, I had loved and I now cherish those memories most of all. My favorite memory is probably one of the simplest and I wasn't even doing anything special. That little memory is one of my best. Stop to smell the roses, watch the sunset, eat your favorite food, and do anything you want, because for all we know, you might not see tomorrow. Enjoy the little things.

Live in the Moment

I believe that life needs to be lived in the moment, we need to live without past regrets or future preoccupations. By living in the now we experience so much more, we are tuned in to whats going on around us, life would be so much more vibrant. Why should we waste the one life we have not living in the moment. I feel that many people spend too much time thinking about living, planning how to live, not actually living. Life is too important an experience to waste.

SEX

This I believe....:Sex is Nature’s Best Medicine

Josephine Katlyn Bush

I believe that the best of all characteristics shines through when partaking in intercourse. The human body is comprised of full and utter beauty, complex emotions and countless provoking thoughts; yet the one thing that connects everyone of us is sex. It is the common trait in which a human can fully come clean, where no spoken words are needed, and more accurately we portray our thoughts through moans, gestures, ‘o-faces,’ sweat, all in which is often times real loving which is formed with a true connection with another individual in which your sexual role completes a full and devoted emotion.

Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things Review

We are all aware of the idea of global warming, and that we need to be more environmentally friendly. Though many of us don’t like to agree with the idea, or admit to it, the fact of the matter is, our world is changing and we need to make some changes.

In Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough (an architect) and Michael Braungart (chemist) take this idea of change to a whole new level. Those who are aware of what’s going on have come up with methods of change, new ways to do things in a more Earth friendly way. According to McDonough and Braungart; however, these efforts have not been used effectively. The brilliant authors of this book take all of the common endeavors previously taken to save the world and find all of the negative aspects of them. Now, I’m not saying this book is overall negative. After you finish reading it, you’re not ready to commit suicide because you are so upset with what has become of the Earth. Cradle to Cradle is more of an eye opener. It is realistically motivating.

Let’s take the idea of recycling, as an example of one of these failed efforts. It’s a novel concept; however, not very effective. In the process of recycling and safely-or so we think- reusing materials from one product to create another, we are actually doing what McDonough and Braungart like to call “downcycling.” In the downcycling process, the value of materials is dissipated, and the harm is increased. Combining various types of metals and dyes into a new product can be more harmful than just throwing the original product into a landfill. Who would have thought?

So if we cannot reuse things, what is the solution? Well if you take a look at the subtitle of the book, you will figure it out. Remaking the Way We Make Things. Up until now, all of our products and manufactured goods have been built on a cradle-to-grave system, meaning a product is made, someone buys it, uses it, then throws it away. It is nothing but waste. Everything needs to be made on a cradle-to-cradle system, and use the concept “waste equals food.” What this means is that products have no end, no waste, just like nature. We should be able to throw our empty food containers on the ground and allow them to serve as food for another organism. Everything needs to be made to continue in an earthly circle.

I think Cradle to Cradle is a must-read for everyone, those who care about the environment at least. It’s filled with information and real-life examples, which help make these different alternatives actually make sense. I would say the only flaw is some of the information used. Because of the fact that it is written by professionals, parts of the book are hard to follow. If you can set aside a couple of days, and possibly take some notes while you read; however, you will be able to piece everything together, and it is all worth knowing about.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Naomi Major

Book Review: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Aron Ralston writes a fabulous book about his accident in Blue John Canyon. The brave 

mountaineer takes us through his exhilarating experience in his autobiography Between A Rock And A Hard Place. His story became renowned world-wide in May of 2003.

Aron had been planning on going on an adventure full of biking, hiking and canyoneering in remote Moab, Utah. He was expecting an 8 hour trip, and he had been in this area many times before doing the same things. But he had made one mistake by not telling anyone where he was going and for how long. And that was okay until his arm was trapped beneath an 800 pond boulder. He was climbing down in a slot canyon. He had just stepped off of a huge boulder and, when he turned to get down, the boulder came down also. It bounced off his left arm and then made a final resting spot between Aron’s right arm and the two canyon walls.

Aron remained stuck in the desert canyon near Moab, Utah for five days with very limited supplies.  All he had with him were, “two small bean burritos, about five hundred calories total. In the outside mesh pouch, I have my CD player, CDs, extra AA batteries, mini video camcorder. My multi-use tool and three-LED headlamp are also in the pouch (pg. 28).” And only twenty-two ounces of water left.

It had been twenty-four hours and his arm was pretty well gone and there was very slim chance that he would get it back if he did get out. At this point he decided to film himself just in case he doesn’t make it out alive and therefore someone can watch the tape and learn about what happened.

He takes us through his entire story of survival. From first meeting the girls, to getting his hand stuck between the boulder and the canyon wall, to cutting off his own arm, and finally escaping the deadly canyon with blood still dripping through his tourniquet.

It all started in 1987 when he moved to Colorado with his family from Ohio and acquired a love for the outdoors. In 2002, Aron, a 27 year old mechanical engineer knew life had more to it than a cubicle at Intel. So he quit his job and started a life of adventure. He moved from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico to start a new life in Aspen, Colorado which is the epicenter for his addiction to the outdoors.

This book switches off between being stuck in Blue John Canyon and previous adventures and stories. Including, his near death experience of drowning in the Colorado River, being chased by a bear, and his dream to solo every Colorado fourteener in the winter. His book is very detailed and he makes you feel worried for him in some situations. But more than that you are asking yourself how he could get himself into situations like that.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place takes us through his life of hard times, good times, accidents, and successes. His story is truly inspiring. Time is well spent by reading this book.