The Most Watched Video

I have recently read an artical on CNN titled "'Gangnam Style' is the Most Watched Video in History." Many people have been raving about Psy, the singer of 'Gangnam Style.' Psy has become very well known for his single and also for his unique dance moves. The catchy song has reched 1 billion hits on Youtube just the other day. It has blown Justin Bieber's song 'Baby' out of the water.  Justin's song only has 803 million views and is expected to reach 1 billion in 2014. This proves that Psy is a musical favorite in the United States. There are many videos of people copying Psy's crazy dance moves. Not only can you find different clips of the dance moves, you can find different videos of the song in mant different ways such as:  the English version, the version with lyrics, and different versions of other individuals trying to remake the song. 

I personally enjoy the song 'Gangnam Style' because it is kind of catchy. Even though I don't       actually know what Psy is saying, my friends and I always try to sing along. I find the song catchy and very fun to dance along with. I really enjoyed when we performed the song at halftime with the light show at the last home football game this year. What do you think of the song 'Gangnam Style' by Psy? Do you enjoy the actual song or the dance moves better?

The Color Purple

I recently read the book The Color Purple. It was a book about a girl named Celie and how her life was. The book was so sad. In the beginning of her life her father rapes her and she ended up having two babies which he took from her and gave them away. After her mother dies she then takes the role of wife to her father. She does have a sister named Nette who she is extremely close with. As the years go by it tells about how a man wanted to marry Nette but the father was so stuck on keeping her he made the man take Celie. Celie took a lot of physical and mental abuse. Once she got married her husband raped her too and said hurtful things to her. Her husband had kids with another woman and the kids threw rocks at her and got Celie in trouble with her husband a lot also. My favorite part in the book is when Celie and her husbands ex-wife find all the letters he hid from her and then Celie starts speaking for herself and starts to stand up to her husband. I like the book because it shows a quiet and abused girl becoming a outspoken and warmhearted woman again. It was kind of like a bride taking off her veil in sense of you don't see me and who i am & then once its off you do. The ending was a surprise for me and made me think the Celie changed people. I think every woman should read this book.

December 19 Snowstorm

On December 19th the midwest was pounded by a snowstorm.  The storm extends from Minnesota all the way to Florida.  There are tornados expected in Alabama.  The Omaha, Nebraska utility crew worked throught the night in white out condition the restore power to 38,000 homes due to the storm.  Near Des Moines there were 30,000 homes without power.  Today is expected to be windy with blizzard conditions throughout the day.  Christmas is aproaching and this snowstorm didn't help with traveling.  In our area we recived about seven inches.  The bad part about this storm is it was right in the middle of semester tests and pushed every test into one day which I think sucks.  What do you think?      Merry Christmas

Heaven is for Real

A book I have read is called Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  In this book, Colton Burpo experiences heaven, and survives to tell about it.  Colton is the three year old son of Todd and Sonja Burpo.  Colton goes through a near death experience, and visits heaven in the middle of it.

After many days of pain, they took Colton in to the doctor and found that he had a ruptured appendix that has been poisoning his body for days.  Colton was near death, and the doctors rush him into an emergency surgery.  Somehow, Colton survived.  The medical reports show that his heart never stopped beating, but it was a very close call.

Over the next few months, maybe even years, Colton starts to explain what happened to him during his surgery to his.  He goes on to tell his parent about heaven.  He says that he actually saw the nail marks in Jesus’ hands, and that he even got the chance to sit on Jesus’ lap.  Colton continues to go on describing heaven and all of the people that he got to meet while he was there.

I thought Heaven is of Real was a really good book, and I would recommend it to everyone.  It was sad to hear of the boy’s near death experience, but all of the stories he told were very interesting.  I loved reading about how the Colton described heaven.  Overall, it was a great read and I would tell anyone and everyone to read it too.

Hush Hush

I recently read the book Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  Hush Hush is a dark but yet romantic book about a girl named Nora Grey.  Nora is a teenage girl who always seems to do the right thing.  She is very studious and has a plan laid out for her future, but all that changes when she meets Patch.  Patch was a new, attractive and mysterious, student at her school.

At first Nora finds Patch to be intolerable, but eventually falls for him.  Somehow, Patch seems to know more about Nora than all of her close friends do.  Nora experienced several life-threatening events that somehow all seem to involve Patch.  This makes her on edge and very curious.  She becomes obsessed with figuring out who Patch is why he is so determined to be a part of her life.  Her curiosity and determination the figure out Patch puts her in many dangerous situations.  She finds out many unexpected things about Patch, but it would spoil the book if I said them.

I thought that Hush Hush was a pretty good book.  All of my friends had read it and loved it, so I figured I had to read it to find out what they were all talking about.  I would recommend it to all teenage girls for sure.  It kind of reminds me of a Twilight type of story.  There is romance, but yet many challenges and some action like all of her near-death experiences.  Also, Hush Hush is only the first book of the series.  The rest of the books are Crescendo, Silence, and Finale.  I have only read the first one, but I can’t wait to read the rest!

The Lucky One

I recently read a book called "The Lucky One." The book is by Nicolas Sparks. The book is about a man, Logan Thibult, who is serving in the Iraq, and one day he finds a photo on the ground. The photo is of a woman. Logan keeps the photo with him because he thinks that it helps protect him. One day, the photo fell out of his pocket. When he went back to get the photo, the place where he had just been standing, blew up.  Everyone that he was with died, but he didn't. Another reason why Logan believes the photo brings him good luck. Logan left Iraq shortly after that incident. When Logan gets back to the U.S., he begins searching for the woman in the photo. He wants to thank her, even though she didn't purposely give him the photo or do anything to actually protect him. But Logan believes that she saved him.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy romances. If you don't, then you probably wouldn't like this book. I enjoyed this book because Logan goes across the country in search of this woman, when he doesn't know the first place to look for her. He does this only to thank her which is crazy! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I heard that it is really good. Has anyone seen the movie and read the book? Which one did you like more?

Man stands in mall parking lot, fires 50 shots in the air

Last saturday, the day after the elementary shooting in Connecticut, there was a shooting in the parking lot of Fashion Island mall in Southern California. The man shot fifty bullets in the air, luckily no one was hit by the bullets. A man, heard the gun shots and ran quickly behind his car and got his phone out and video taped what was happening.  He didn't really know if it was an actual shooting or if he was just hearing things, his family, daughter and wife were in an ice cream shop stranded under lockdown at the time of the shooting. 

Police never said what instigated his actions of the shooting but it caused all of the stores to become on lock down during that time. One person was hurt at the mall because of fleeing the scene, not because of the shooter. The shooter was put into custody until further notice.

There was also another shooting last week that caused lives to be taken at a mall in Oregon. There were two fatalities at the mall that day. The shooter shot three people on the mall's second floor, the next move he made was down the corridor and back hallway that led downstairs, where the
shooter took his own life.

I don't like that there has been shooting in the United States in the last week, it makes me very sad because innocent people loose their lives because someone wants attention.  It also frustrates that people can just kill innocent people, and then kill themselves. Without even facing the consequences of what they did. For more information go to  http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/justice/oregon-mall-shooting/ or  http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/16/man-stands-in-mall-parking-lot-fires-50-shots-in-the-air/?hpt=hp_t3.

Connecticut Shooting-Finding Peace

Connecticut Shooting



   We all know about the Connecticut shooting in Newtown.  With 26 people dead, it is now a time to try to heal.  It will obviously take time, but many are trying to find answers and help others with their loss. The question everyone is wanting to know is WHY?  What could go through someone's mind to kill hopeless children.  It is completely disgusting to think that a 20 year old could do such a thing.  It seems to be happening more and more in our society.  Think about James Holmes who shot everyone at the movie theatre.  Also, this brings lots of people back to the Columbine shooting.  I've noticed that all of these shooters are young adults in their 20s!  That is so insane!  A young person has their whole life ahead of them and they screw it up by killing others that would have had a long life to grow and flourish.  I just don't understand it and I don't think we ever will.

  More and more details are starting to emerge from this tragedy and the police are answering most of the questions being asked at the conferences.  The authorites are constantly giving updates on this massacre and are now going out one-on-one with families to help them with recovery.  If I was one of these parents, there would be no way I could send my child back to Sandy Hook Elementary School.  These kids would be paranoid their whole lives and be scared everywhere they went.  Seeing your dead friend at school would be an image you could never ever get out of your mind.

  The family members of the victims are speaking out and sharing their child's lives'.  I can't imagine that the parents are able to talk right now without breaking down.  One of the parent's was saying that they aren't mad at the shooter, Adam Lanza.  I would be the complete opposite of that!  I don't think I could ever forgive him.  Right now, it's a time to mourn but also a time to heal. 

  They say everything happens for a reason, but right now, I don't think anyone has a reason for this.  Adam Lanza might have taken all of the answers to his grave.

For more information go to cnn.com

 

The Help

I just finished the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and I want everybody to read it!  I loved the movie, and thought I should read the book.  I don't even like the movie anymore compared to the book.  You may have seen the movie and think that you don't need to read the book, but you do!  It leaves you on the edge of your seat after each chapter wanting to read more.
The Help is about Eugenia Phelan, whom everyone calls Skeeter, and takes place during the 1960s.  Skeeter lives in Jackson, Mississippi.  Skeeter was always different from everyone else.  Skeeter wanted to be a writer.  She had dreams of being somebody, unlike all of her friends.  Most of all southern women care about are chasing husbands to get married.  Skeeter never cared about that, but her mom does.  Her mom is always bugging her about getting a husband.  During this time, the Civil Rights Movement is going on.  Nobody treats colored people well, and colored people aren't allowed to do what whites are allowed to do.  The colored women are "the help" for the white women.  This means that they are their maids, and raise their white babies.  All of Skeeter's friends are married, except for her.  She goes over to her friends' homes and sees how the help are treated.  Her friend, Hilly, treats the help especially bad.  Hilly is one of the main characters of the book because she is the most evil of all southern women.  Hilly is always spreading lies about the help and ruining their lives.  Skeeter's old maid, Constantine, was always dear to her heart, so she doesn't see why the help are treated so badly in other peoples homes.  It doesn't seem right to her.  Skeeter talks to Aibileen, her friend Elizabeth's maid, and Minny, Aibileen's friend who was also Hilly's mother's old maid.  Minny especially knows the evil of Hilly.  Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter wanted to change things.  They decided to write a book about the help in Mississippi, but anonymously.  In the book, they wrote about their stories.  They told stories of what happened when they were maids in other people's homes.   The book, The Help, shows all the things Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter had to go through during their lives.  This book surprised me by how much I was drawn to it.  I never wanted to put the book down.  It's hard for me to pick a favorite part of the book because I loved every part of it!
Has anyone else read this book?  Do you think the movie or book was better?