Falling Home-Spoiler

I recently finished Falling Home by Karen Smith. The book is about a women named Cassie Madison who returns to her hometown in Georgia after fifteen years to rush to her ailing father's needs. It is very surreal for her to come home and seeing everything as it was before she left. From the people she went to high school with to the inside of her childhood home. She arrives with the mindset that her visit will be a mere several days.

Cassie was so desperate to escape her small hometown of Walton Georgia, due to her sister marrying her ex-boyfriend. She needed to be free of the pain so she packed her bag and headed to New York. She became a very successful businesswoman and was engaged to a successful businessman. When she comes home, she realizes that her life in New York isn't who she really is. She was just trying so hard to prove that she could forget. But who was she trying to prove wrong? Herself. This is the question that eats her up throughout the book. Everyone in Walton wonders why she ever left in the first place. When she arrives, she looks down upon the sloppy Southern ways of Walton. As time goes on, she finds the special place in her heart she calls home and embraces Walton and it's importance and meaning to her. What made her do this? How did she suddenly change her mind in one short visit?

The word of home has a very different meaning for everyone. To some, it is a place of comfort and remembrance. For others, it is a place that is worth escaping from, and never to return. But no matter what feelings, positive or negative, there is a degree of familiarity. There are memories there good or bad that will always be in your mind.

Stand By Me-Spoiler Alert

I recently watched Stand By Me directed by Rob Reiner. The movie is about a grown man, Gordie who is reminiscing about the summer of 1959 after he reads in the newspaper that his childhood friend had been stabbed in a restaurant. His friends, Chris, Teddy and Vern, and him are desperate to find the body of a boy their age, who had been missing for several days. They pack their bundles and start their journey along the train tracks.

The boys bond so much all along the way. They tell stories, they sing, they laugh and they realize what an amazing time they are having: until they discover the body. This changes each and every one of their outlooks on life. They realize that life isn’t all about making jokes or hanging out in tree houses. Those are the things they value and are accustomed to, but they realize life isn’t that easy anymore. “The kid wasn’t sleeping, the kid was dead.”-Gordie. They never realized that something could be so grim and heart wrenching. They couldn’t believe it was real. The boys were so excited about being rewarded for finding the body, getting on TV and in the paper. But after they the brutality of reality hit them, all of that didn’t seem so important anymore.

When the boys arrive back in their hometown, Teddy and Vern were the first to walk off. Chris and Gordie went to the top of the hill where their tree house was located and looked over the distance. Chris says that he’s never going to make it out of the town and Gordie tells him he can do anything. The boys say their goodbyes and Chris walks off into the distance. Gordie states that Chris did get out and became a lawyer. Last week, Chris walked into a restaurant and tried to break up a fight. He was stabbed in the throat and died almost instantly. Gordie says, “Even though I hadn’t seen him in more than ten years, I know I’ll miss him forever.” This really pulled at my heartstrings. Forever. It was amazing to me that even though he hadn’t seen him for nearly a decade, he still says how much he’ll miss him. They had an incredible bond at childhood that cannot be broken. There’s a proverb “You’re not dead until the last person that knew you is dead.”  Gordie will continue to remember Chris for the rest of his life and cherish his memory. All four of their innocence was stolen together. But Chris and Gordie had a special bond. They could talk about funniest things and cry on each other’s shoulders. I believe that no matter if Chris is dead or if Gordie dies, they will be best friends beyond death.

Most intriguing character-Romeo and Juliet

Reading Romeo and Juliet there are multiple complex and mysterious characters who I can't quite figure out. It is sometimes difficult to see what their motive in the story is and which side they are on"Montague or Capulet." Friar Laurence is one of those characters. He is a confidant of Romeo and Romeo often goes to him for advice.

The day after Romeo meets Juliet he goes to Friar Laurence and tells him that he loves Juliet and wishes to be married to her. Friar Laurence is slightly taken aback because just a few days ago, Romeo declared that he was madly in love with Rosaline and will never find someone more fair than her. "Young men's love then lies, Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes," says Friar Laurence in Act 2 Scene 2 in lines 71 and 72. I think Friar Laurence is explaining how Romeo may think he is in love with Juliet but really he only thinks that she is beautiful and is not looking beyond that. This implies that Friar Laurence is bewildered by Romeo's extremely sudden interest in a girl he met yesterday. Then Friar Laurence says in lines 97-100, " In one respect I'll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancor to pure love." It's almost like his opinion completely changed. I think that this means that their love will bring together their families to rejoice and make amends. I think this is important to him and many other citizens of Verona because the ever-lasting feud between the two rival families is causing disruption in the beautiful city of Verona. If the two families make amends with each other, Verona will be restored to it's original state of tranquility.

The question of whether or not Friar Laurence cares about Romeo was brought up and I think that he does care about Romeo. Even though he wants the two families to end their strife, he knows that there are treacherous risks of the young couple getting married. They could most likely be executed due to betrayal to their families. It is also a slim chance that the families will be so forgiving of each other in such a short period of time. Friar Laurence hopes that the feud will conclude but he is also taking the risks into consideration.

Romeo and Juliet

I'm currently reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The book explores the many elements and perspectives on the subject of love and it is sometimes difficult to think about who's right and who's wrong. Many characters have completely different opinions about love and it shows vibrantly throughout the text.

Romeo is in love with Rosaline, a Capulet. She does not feel the same way about him and this makes him feel sad and depressed. He cannot seem to get over her and believes he will never feel this way about another woman again. He refuses to move on because he is so infatuated with Rosaline and does not want to give up on her. Romeo's best friend Mercutio strongly urges Romeo to crash the Capulet's party with him so Romeo can meet new women and get over Rosaline. Romeo isn't interested because he only loves Rosaline and does not want to get involved with another woman.

As I read this scene I was thinking, should love be handled carefully? Should it be something that is light and isn't serious or should it be emotional and intimate? At some point do you just have to move on from the person you love? In this situation I think that Mercutio is only trying to make his best friend feel better so he can feel confident in himself about love and he won't let love bully him. I think Romeo has to move on otherwise he will never trust himself again and he will never get over Rosaline. Romeo fell in love with Rosaline too much and now he can't get back up on his feet and start fresh because she is the only woman he sees. I think it's important for him to go to the party to see that there are other women and she clearly isn't the right one.

Nonfiction

I read an article on BBC called "China Acknowledges Cancer Villages." The article was about how in some villages in China, they acknowledge that people in those specific villages are sickly. They basically label the whole village as a "sick village" where the majority of the people are sick. Cancer villages are also determined by how much pollution is in the area.

The author stated that lots of these villages are located near factories and polluted waterways which increases cancer rates. Harmful chemicals from other countries are also found in China. These toxic and poisonous chemicals have caused many environmental catastrophes that have to do with water pollution as well as the air being polluted. What will become of these villages? Will they be evacuated? Will no one be allowed to enter them?

I feel as though this issue was so differently handled than it would be in America. In America, there are many hospitals and homes for sick people. These villages are almost isolating all the sick people and keeping them all together to make sure no one else gets sick. I think this may be a very convenient way to handle this issue because it is known where people are sick and where the places are that should be avoided. It is interesting to see how it is so different from America because people get cancer for many different reasons all over the place. It is not like one town has cancer and the other one doesn't.

The Basketball Diaries

I'm reading The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll. The protagonist, Jim, lives life to his personal definition of the fullest and does whatever he pleases whenever he pleases. He's grown up making poor decisions and he enjoys the life he lives. He doesn't feel like he is missing anything and he is perfectly happy with the life choices that he has made so far in his lifetime. He does drugs and drinks and steals regularly and he never seems to have any thoughts on what he does.

I think naturally, some people don't really care about the decisions they make or what their actions are, they just do it without having a thinking process. I think Jim feels as though he needs to have a tough attitude because he resides in New York City and knows the only way he will make it there is if he is tough and wise. On one hand, it is helpful that Jim is experienced in this particular way because it makes him street smart and he can have some knowledge about the streets in New York City and how they operate. On the other hand, drugs and alcohol are obviously not a good path to go down because they completely mess with the brain and physical and mental health.

A controversial issue in today's society is the legalization of marijuana. Many people think that it's harmful and should be completely banned and others think that if people want to smoke marijuana then they should be able to without any trouble. Personally, I think that if you are not hurting anyone or causing anyone any trouble, then you should be able to do whatever it is that you wish. It is completely one's own choice if they want to do drugs or drink alcohol and they should be aware of what it is doing to their body.

Is everything really going to be ok?

One of my favorite songs is Don't you worry child, by Swedish House Mafia. After reading the lyrics thoroughly, I see that the song is saying that everyone goes through very tough times and they may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what the issue is, there will always be a brighter day or time. That there's a plan for everyone's life and how things will turn out.

Here is an excerpt from the song:
"Don't you worry, don't you worry, child.
See heaven's got a plan for you.
Don't you worry, don't you worry now."
Yeah!
After some thinking, I thought is everything really going to be alright? I've heard many stories where people's lives are just a downward spiral. Kids who get abandoned at a young age and never have a mentor so they grow up not knowing what they are supposed to do or think. People who have had numerous traumas all their life and it never seems to get better. One trauma after the next.  When looking at someone's life, it seems that there may be some bright times and some dark times. But to that person, they may never see the bright times. They may be so consumed in their depression that they don't believe there will ever be a bright side. Is there one set tone to one's life?

Lots of parents always tell their kids "It's going to be alright." It's probably the most common phrase that's ever been heard. It's obvious that you don't want someone to fret. Telling them that may just lead to disappointment in the long run. Lots of times, people blame it on " You told me everything was going to be okay!" Other times, it actually comforts someone when someone else tells them everything is going to be alright. Even if they are having a rough patch, they sort of rely on the fact that someone told them everything was going to be alright. Sometimes, that's how people pull through.