Currently

I'm reading the Murder Room.

This week I read 173 pages.

My favorite sentences are as follows:

"Bender's face pinked with excitement."
-Bender is a strange guy who's face is like a chameleon.  When he's mad it will turn red and now it turns pink when he's excited.  I like how he's got a color for every emotion!

"Valjean is hauled before the bishop for punishment, but the bishop says theres been a mistake, he gave Valjean the backet of silver as a gift but the ex-con forgot the silver candlesticks." 
-This is my favorite line of this whole book.  Its a segment from a book mentioned in this book and talks about a man who stole a basket of silver from a church but when he was caught the bishop went along with it and added more silver so he could start an honest life.  Its touching.

"They go into the woods but they don't come out."  Spooky.  This is a classic horror story begginning with the gullible people being lured to their demise by a killer in the woods.  I like it because it hints to a future conflict with a sadistic serial killer who will be ver tricky and hard to catch.

The Murder Room

     I still don't get what this book is supposed to be about.  I think its about the whole history about how this society of crime solving people came together, but it presents the story in a really weird way and its getting on my nerves.  Since the last reading there has been more background info on cases, but now its starting to mention the vidoque society more which is the name of the group of people.  So far it has shown the three first cases and then gone into detail for each of these whith no apparent prupose for the plot.  The society meets once a month and each time they have a new case without even solving the previous one.  I think this book may be a prequel to another book where they actually do stuff and this was just meant to give the details on how it was started.  I think i may stop reading it soon because it is just so pointless that i can't stand reading it anymore.  We shall see...

The Murder Room

     This book is rather dull.  Its got a good storyline, though rather mixed up and tumultuous, with three main characters that work together as one perfectly functioning machine of crime solving glory.  First of all, there is Frank Bender who is a prurient sex addicted artist/psychic who uses his gift of "seeing" how a human head would look and then creating a bust of that person for police identification.  Then there is Richard Walter who is a criminal profiler who is Benders complimentary friend and co-worker.  They usually have some tension since Frank is laid back and has many girlfriends in addition to a wife who is okay with his girlfriends, while Richard is an uptight man who always wears a suit and tie.  These two would never have been able to funtion if it weren't for the third character: William Fleisher.  He is the glue that holds the group together and offers his wide range of associates and informants to the group in order to solve the crimes that they are solving.  The group is really well described and the background is really well described.  But it seems like thats all this book is- background.

The Murder Room

This week I started the book "the Murder Room."  It's a pretty good book, but mostly just stories of what has been going on and backgrounds on the characters.  Honestly, I'm pretty confused because it keeps skipping around to a lot of different stories and characters.  In my opinion it is not a good way for a story to be written.  But it's about a group of people who gather on the third thursday of every month who gather to solve a cold case that has been unsolved for at least two years.  The thing is, they have opened with a passage about the murder room but then gone off to stories about murderers and two people specifically.  Although, it mentions three main characters to begin with.  As I said, I'm confused and its really starting to annoy me.  Once I finish the book it should all come together so i can put it together for you.

Currently for week 5

" To hear delly describe it, I had next to no friends because I intimidated people by being so exceptional. Not true. I had next to no friends because I wasn't friendly."

-I liked this sentence because I thought it was funny how the author used a kind of parallelism with a twist. The speaker doesn't like how her acquaintance put it since it made her sound better than she thought she was.  I'm not really sure how to describe why I like it as much as I do, it is ineffable.

"Nepetrov was used to playing highway chicken and winning."
- This passage is from The Silent Man.  I liked it because highway chicken just sound like something that could be suspensefully funny.  I'm a man of simple tastes and humor is what i mainly look for in a sentence.

"'Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance.' He eyes Peeta for a moment. 'Except maybe Peeta.'"

-  This sentence is my utmost favorite because it singles out the one kid who isn't as able.  The sentence is basically a corollary of he cliche about high school student being picked last on a sports team, and, given the seriousness of their situation, it was unexpected and amusing.

Ok so this week finished the Silent Man and have started The Murder Room.  I read  about 65 from The Silent Man and 100 exactly from the Murder Room for a total of:

This Week: 165

Total this semester: 1772

THE LAST SILENT MAN POST

The moment has finally come where I have finished the book and can now stop blogging about it.  The book was good, but I didn't like having to write about it each week when i already knew what was going on.  So anyways, back to the book, the ending was pretty good.  There wasn't much suspense, just a short incursion.  It as a little disappointing... and so was the part after that!  The guy ends up standing at an airport flipping a coin for where to go next.  Terrible.  There was a major disappointment which you'll figure out if you read it but it left me with a vague feeling of emptiness that a book shouldn't give off.  Decent book, bad ending. The end.

Claims of the Day

1) Emerson's chubby cheeks, varying moods, and melodic giggles highlight the sincere, playful, and cheerful innocence of children.
2) The painting “Bold as Love” by Scott Cicero portrays an intense and dramatic expression through the spiritual flow, soothing colors, and compassionate movement emphasizing the complex design.

3) In this photograph, the contrasting colors of the bench and the grass, along with the thoughtful camera angle, communicate a sense of appreciation and respect for the nature that we seldom acknowledge."

4) The music group Ok GO and dance group Pilobolus' smooth and elegant costumes along with the modern aspects of movement portray the lyrically pleasant mood of the collaboration in the music video.

5) The educationally stimulating childrens' game Questionaut incorporates pleasantly jubilant music with whimsically quaint animation to create an inventively playful adventure.

The first claim is from the blog "Lucky" and its link is: http://freefifteen.blogspot.com/

The second claim is from "Back of Napkin Blog" and its link is: http://almostfacebook.blogspot.com/

I liked these two because the word choice was flowing and pleasant sounding while most others were either nonexistant, too long, or was not nice sounding.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but twelve will do

Brush Strokes: Relaxed
Interpretation: Nostalgia
Colors Scheme: Complex, Simple, Complimentary
Feeling/Mood: Pleasant, Sincere, Passionate
Layout: Focused, Segmented, Mesmerizing, Unassuming

In this painting of a couple meandering down a sidewalk, the relaxed broshstrokes and comples simplicity of the colors embody a feeling of pleasant passion which mesmerizes with its unassumingly focused design.

Three poems of my choice

1) Surprised by Evening- Robert Bly

2) The Trail is not a Trail- Gary Snyder

3) Poem to be Read at 3 a.m.- Donald Justice

These trails all have a mellow tone and a nice story.  Story is the most important aspect in any poem, song, or movie followed by tone.  Poem to be read at 3 a.m. was a bit funny to me since it was just depicting a drive through a town and what the writer happened to notice.  Especially when he states that the poem was for whoever had the light on.  That made me laugh and so i decided to like that poem even more than others that I have read so far.

Currently

Pages read: 203
Last week : 212
This sememster: 1607

Best sentences:

"Nepetrov was used to playing highway chicken and winning."

"It was a molotov cocktail on sixteen wheels. Now it was lit." If you don't know what a molotov cocktail is it's a spirit in a bottle with a rag that it lit, thrown and burns.  This was refering to a semi truck carrying gasoline that flipped over and skidded on the ground.  I liked this metaphor because it impedes a sense of ominous foreshadow.

"The road was clear, aside from a big tractor dragging a load of brics towards him."

Silent Man

     I haven't had as much time to read lately, mostly because i haven't found a book that can really capture my interest as well as the Hunger Games.  This book just keeps dragging on and i keep having to write about it.  If your getting as sick as I am about this repitition, don't worry it will be over soon.  Anyways, the protagonist has established a meeting with a lead to the terrorists and is heading to meet him.  Meanwhile the terrorists are almost done completing their bomb which may work or may not.  If i go any further into detail i may give something away and ruin the story.  In general, it's a big race to the finish line with no definate winners and with an atomic bomb thrown into the mix.  Fun stuff.

Silent Man... Still

     This book is taking a lot longer to read than i previously thought, but nonetheless maintains my interest.  The part of the story has mellowed down a bit with no major events occuring.  Terrorists are trying to find ways to devistate America and theres a slight chance their plans could either work or be a complete dud.  One of whom may be having second thoughts about starting an international nuclear war... we'll see how that turns out.  Meanwhile, the hero has plans of his own and is following leads that may lead him to the missing bombs.  I'm nearing the end so it will all come together soon, but I'm really appreciating the two sided story line with a view point from both the terrorists and the heroines.  It helps drive the plot as much as it helps to enhance comprehension.

Currently

I have read 212 pages this week and 1404 pages all together

I am currently reading The Silent Man

My favorite sentences are as follows:

"'That is your earpeice. I will give you exactly one more chance to wear it.  If you remove it again I'll have you fitted with this.'  He holds up some sort of metal headgear."  I think this is funny because kids are always resisting, so this guy decides to find a find a way to threaten them into submission.  Since this is a book and not actually happening, I think it's ok for me to laugh.

"Plutarch's attempt to cheer me up- laced with the news of another four, possibly five, murders- somehow backfires."  Yes murders are tragic, but in a book where a clueless man is trying to cheer someone up with news about them is not quite so horrible.  I thought this line was funny and decided to include it.

" To hear delly describe it, I had nest to no friends because I intimidated people by being so exceptional. Not true. I had next to no friends because I wasn't friendly."  No explanation needed.

The Silent Man, Part 2

I've read even further into this book and there has been a surprising turn of events.  The terrorist stole two bombs, but while they were transporting them over the seas, one was lost over the edge of the boat.  Now they may not have enough nuclear stuff to make a bomb.  Mean while the protagonist made a complete mess of things and will now be unable to find the one who tried to assassinate him.  Both sides are losing and that seems to be for the betterment of everyone.

The Silent Man

I haven't read too far into this book, only 160 pages or so, and yet it is incredibly captivating.  It's more of a guy's book with more action and suspense than most books.  It reminds me a little of the Bourne movies.  Anyway, the story of what i've read so far is that nuclear material has been stolen and is now in the hands of someone who wants to destroy all of america and apparently has a plan do due so... hence the nuclear material.  There's a weapons dealer who wants revenge on the protagonist- John Wells- and attempts to murder him and his partner/ girlfriend- Exley. This may sound like the typical guy movie with shootouts, explosions, a bad guy, and the goodguy getting the girl, but that's because it is.  Each chapter is a different view point of characters in this book, which allows for a total comprehension of whats going on.  Overall its a good book and I've liked what I've read so far.

The Tree

Check out this picture I took of a crooked tree up at 'the property'. It's an 80 acre plot of land that my grandpa owns and we go up there sometimes and ride ATVs/dirtbikes. There are three different fields which are all surrounded by trees and connected by the dirt paths which we ride on. I was walking through the woods when I saw this tree and thought it was peculiar.  I took the picture and when I looked at it I could see this ring of light.  I thought it was oddly spectacular and decided to share it.

Week 2 Blog views

BLOGS THAT I VISITED:

1: Norwegian Wood
2: The Adventures of Streamer Man- this ones awesome.
3: Lucky
4: The Blanket Fort
5: Back of Napkin Blog
6: The Ozone Layer
7: ETYAFTER
8: As Told By Ginger
9: Charlie Bucket
It won't let me comment on any of the other blogs though...

Week #2

     This week:
Books: Mockingjay and first bit of Quicksilver

Pages: This week: 427, Running total: 1,129

Sentences: see other post

Quicksilver

     I tried to read this book, but i could not.  It was incredibly dull in the beginning and could  not capture my interest.  It was simply too uneventful for my tastes, but i'm sure it would have gotten better eventually; I just don't want to go through the first few chapters of dull inactivity which is like nails on a chalk board...  This books reminds me of Jane Eyre which we had to read over the summer, the first part was excrutiating.  Once i got to the middle it lessened into a medial instead of major annoyance.  I do not wish to pursue this book any further.  I think this may be my most brutal review of a book... so far.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

     This week I read, is that the correct past tense for reading? I don't like how it is the same as present tense. People were too lazy to change it, Mockingjay.  This is the third and final book for the Hunger Games books, which may just be the best series i've read, red? readed? have read?, in a long time, if not longer.  This book was not as good as the others in the series in my personal opinion.  While you're reading the book its not as obvious, but once you reach the end and reflect on what you have just read, you may find that the book was rather depressing.  Many die and some things that may have seemed like they would happen don't. Others do though and it's a nice change of pace.  My description of this book i extremely vague as i have just realized, but once you read the book you will know what i am talking about.