MAREBEAR

Greek Orthodox Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  All the Greek churches came together at the Rose Bowl in celebration of this event.  It put a big smile on my face to see hundreds of children running around and playing games.  Familiar faces surrounded me as I entered the park.  I jumped out of the car and rapidly recognized the hot day ahead.  I put on several layers of sunscreen.  I quickly unloaded the truck.  I could hardly wait until all my friends arrive.  Two o’clock came around and all the guests finally arrived.  Rock climbing, moon bounces, crafts, and games filled the kid’s area.  While on top of the rock climbing mountain, I spotted all my friends coming towards me.  I scaled down to greet them.  As lunch began, my father served potatoes, meats, vegetables, and traditional foods such as mousaka and pastichio lunch at my picnic table.  The sky began to darken and many people begin to leave.  At around eight o’clock, my mom and I hit the road.  As soon as I got home, I fell asleep on my comfy bed.

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara is a story that tells about a young girl named Sylvia who is experiencing hard times.  Miss Moore tries to help Sylvia and the other children by taking them out into the real world and trying to show them that by being educated, you can become rich.  I agree with this to a certain extent.  I believe that by being educated, there are more opportunities for making money.  There is a clear separation of society and it is known by the characters.  “Must be rich people shop here” recognized Q.T. and others agreed.  Also when Sylvia says “but I feel funny, shame”, she knows that because she is poor, she feels out of place.  The sailboat is a very symbolic object in the story.  It shows the true difference in the views amongst the two societies.  When one would pay fifty cents, the other would pay a thousand dollars.  Amounts of money mean different things to different people.  For example, “thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill to.  Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats?” asked Sylvia.  I believe that the lesson to the characters is that by being educated, you can become rich, but I believe that the lesson to the readers is that the value of money changes depending on how wealthy you are.

                How can you punish someone for something that is not there fault?  How can you walk away from a poor child in need?  I know that I could never bear the guilt that would be put upon me if I did do that.  In “The One who Walked Away from Omelas, a young boy is treated horribly and is ridiculed for something that he cannot help.  We do not specifically know if there is something wrong with him.  Guilt is a strong emotion that is hard to erase.  I feel guilty when I do something as simple as turning my television on when I am supposed to be sleeping.  To watch a child and use him as an outlet for fear and anger, would never be lifted from my conscience.  The people of Omelas believed that if this child came out into public, it would ruin their view of the beautiful world that they lived in.  They allowed the child to stay locked up even though he clearly did not benefit from being locked up the way he is.  In our lives, sometimes we don’t see or believe the things we don’t want, in order to keep our thoughts happy and peaceful.  When I here about soldiers dying in war, it is very hard to watch the news stories and sometimes I change the channel because it is extremely difficult to comprehend the loss of lives in the name of peace.  When we chose to ignore a problem, to save ourselves from feeling guilt, we can in turn hurt others.

                You must clean your room for the party tonight; do the laundry; separate the white from darks; use the special smelling soap; take a shower; comb your hair; brush your teeth; and don’t ever forget to say please and thank you; heat the oven for cupcakes at exactly 350 degrees; never leave something cooking in the kitchen unattended; be polite at all times; always use your napkin; never use your hands to eat; and don’t ever forget to say please and thank you; your jeans should never have holes; all clothes should be ironed and pressed; everything in your life should be fresh; when at the market only pick the ripest fruits; and don’t ever forget to say please and thank you; always look presentable; be on your best behavior; when the guests arrive, greet them at the front door; take there coats into the back room; hang them neatly up one right beside the other; when it is time for dessert, the plates will be collected by the server; and don’t ever forget to say please and thank you!

There is one special person that I admire the most in my life.  Loving, kind, and always there for me when I need her.  The one person that I can come to with any problem that I have.  She always looks at the brighter side of life and tries never to be down.  I know that my sister and I sometimes drive her up the wall, but I admire her for putting up with it.  Being a wife, mother, and lawyer requires intelligence and patience, which are two qualities that are hard to achieve.  Intelligence can come from studying, working hard, and being focused.  By being a personal-injury lawyer, she puts up with a lot of different characters.  Her life is very stressful at times and my sister and I just add to it.  I am amazed how she can put up with us and her life and still remain the calm, cool, and collected person that she is.  I am very proud to call this wonderful and unbelievable woman, my mother.

I believe that the most interesting character in “Othello” is Roderigo.  Iago and Roderigo open the book with a conversation about love and jealousy.  Roderigo is in love with Desdemona, but Othello has gone off and married her.  Although Roderigo knows that the love for Desdemona is not mutual he continues his quest to destroy Othello.  I find Roderigo interesting because he is determined and courageous.  While knowing something could not happen, Roderigo pushes himself further toward want he wants and uses his determination to continue this quest.  Othello marrying Desdemona makes Roderigo more determined to find her and try to make her love him.  Roderigo has not directly spoken to Desdemona as far as we know.  Roderigo is courageous when he approaches Desdemona’s father.  When Roderigo goes to Desdemona’s father, Barbantio, about his daughter and Othello, Barbantio does not believe Roderigo.  Barbantio thinks that Roderigo is trying to trick him.  Barbantio states “I know thee, Roderigo.”  He is saying that Roderigo is going to take away Desdemona while he leaves.  Unfortunately upon his return, he realizes that his daughter has run away.  They both go in search of Othello and Desdemona.  Chasing after what you desire can lead to great things and this is why I find Roderigo very interesting!

Honesty, loyalty, intelligence, and a good sense of humor are all characteristics of an attractive person in my opinion.  Honesty in life can take you a long way.  If you are true and loyal to your friends and yourself, life is less complicated.  Dealing with lies can get messy and can lead to complications in relationships with friends or loved ones.  Being intelligent is also a very attractive trait.  Perfect physical characteristics mean nothing if you cannot put a sentence together.  Good looks cannot even begin to compare with the mind.  The mind is a great feature in someone, no matter how attractive their physical appearance may be.  A good sense of humor can distract me from any other characteristics.  If someone can make me laugh, I look beyond physical features.  Appearance is definitely not the only thing that should be looked for in a person.  In my opinion, brains always come before beauty.  Being honest and loyal while being intelligent and having a good sense of humor leads me to my perfect man no matter what they look like on the inside.

                In the beginning of the book, I believed that Mr. Darcy was going to have a dislike toward Elizabeth.  In the third chapter of the book, Mr. Darcy is introduced as Mr. Hurst’s friend.  “Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mein; and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes of his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year.(12)”  I soon learned that he was very judgmental.  In the same chapter, when Mr. Bingley tries to convince Mr. Darcy to dance with Elizabeth,  Mr. Darcy replies with, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me. (13)” Mr. Darcy continues to judge Elizabeth, but through this comes to realize that he is truly fond of her.  “But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes.  To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying.  Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness (24).”  Mr. Darcy’s talk about Elizabeth the first time he met her, kept her dislike for him throughout the story.  Elizabeth’s anger at Mr. Darcy, was negatively affecting him because she refused him when he tried to get close to her.  “Mr. Darcy with great propriety requested to be allowed the honour of her hand; but in vain.  Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her purpose by his attempt at persuasion (26).”  Some of Mr. Darcy’s character traits change throughout the book, such as his feelings for Elizabeth, but others stay the same, such as his attitude toward others.

P.S I didn’t check the blog after Friday

I belong to a Greek dance group at my church.  There are both boys and girls ages thirteen and fourteen.  We meet every Sunday for a two hour practice.  My dance group had been together for three years with no new members.  Last year, a new girl joined our group.  When she walked into the room she looked shy and scared.  She was wearing all black and her hair looked like a bird’s nest.  Her shoes were old and worn and her make-up was way overdone.  The first thought that came to my mind when I saw her was that I would never become friends with this new girl.  I turned to my friend next to me and rolled my eyes.  I whispered “she’s weird,” without hearing one word out of her mouth.  Our director immediately placed her between me and my friend.  I soon discovered that our new member was a great dancer and she was really sweet and nice.  She has since become one of my very close friends.  We would hang out after dance practice every weekend.  I realized that by prejudging a person based on their looks and attire, you can miss out on a lot of fun experiences.  Since then, I have always tried to get to know a person before judging or making comments about them.

Losing a friend is like losing a part of you.  When I was five years old, my best friend, Sarell Diamond, moved away.  We did everything together.  We participated in ballet, liked the same sports, and every weekend we would hang out.  We were like two peas in a pod.  When I was happy, she was happy.  When she got angry, I got angry.  Whenever we were together we were in sync.  One Sunday afternoon, Sarell’s mom came over to my house and told us the bad news.  Sarell and her family were moving out of town.  My heart dropped.  I began to cry and Sarell followed.  We hugged until our arms were sore.  When she finally left, I began to imagine life without her.  What would I do?  Who would I hang out with?  That same night, I called her up and we talked on the phone for hours.  We worked out an entire schedule of when we could hang out.  As time passed, it became harder and harder for us to get together.  We only get to see each other once or twice a year, but I still consider her my best friend in the whole wide world.