quotes:
"What's the point of driving fast on city streets?
To be the first one to get to the red light"-Mr. Morris
"Mr.Pressman is the most Jewish person I know."-Mr. Farmer
"I have a bunch of freaks on the team this year."-Mr. Borsum
"The most rebellious thing to do is to conform."-Tony Blasi
"You guys know what an oxymoron is? My favorite oxymoron is 'happily married."
Someone in my calc class says her fav. is "fun math."
Mr. Morris responds with "no, that's redundancy."-Mr.Morris
"You guys realize, if I had a bunch of 'Kuechle's in the audience, I'd be a great comedian."-Mr. Borsum
"Without music life is a mistake."-Nietzsche
"Do not believe what your teacher tells you simply
out of respect for your teacher."-Confucious
poems:
If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
more about kipling one of my favorite poets
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hill, for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
more about angelou
poem contributed by a lazy rachel
recommended books: **Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
A beautifully written memoir full of Irish wit and pathos, making it stand out among the garden variety of youthful reminisces McCourt paints a brutal yet poignant picture of his early days when there was rarely enough food on the table, and boots and coats were a luxury. In a melodic Irish voice that often lends a gentle humor to the unimaginable, the author remembers his wayward yet adoring father who was forever drinking what little money the family had. A powerful and heart-rending testament to the resiliency and determination of youth.
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Three stories are told: a young Southerner wants to become a writer; a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and of an awful wound in that woman's past--one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.
this book is really powerful
Power Sleep by James B. Maas
Where you start reading this book will probably say a lot Do your eyelids feel heavy during afternoon meetings? Do you sleep extra hours on weekend mornings? Do you use caffeine to stay alert? An alarm to get out of bed?
These are all symptoms of sleep deficiency--signals that you are operating below your peak performance and beneath your mental capacity. Despite popular perceptions, sleep is not a luxury--it is a necessity. More than seventy million Americans are sleep-deprived, and make crucial business and personal decisions in an impaired state. In Power Sleep, Dr. James B. Maas, a pioneer of sleep research at Cornell University, has created an easy, drug-free program to improve your body and mind for an alert and productive tomorrow.
this was my book award book, it was surprisingly useful.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue.
i loved how much more i could understand of this book just because of my background.
Anne of Green Gables (online version of book 1) & Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery
{Anne of Green Gables} When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, send for a boy orphan to help them out at the farm, they are in no way prepared for the error that will change their lives. The mistake takes the shape of Anne Shirley, a redheaded 11-year-old girl who can talk anyone under the table. Fortunately, her sunny nature and quirky imagination quickly win over her reluctant foster parents. Anne's feisty spirit soon draws many friends--and much trouble--her way. Not a day goes by without some melodramatic new episode in the tragicomedy of her life. Early on, Anne declares her eternal antipathy for Gilbert Blythe, a classmate who commits the ultimate sin of mocking her hair color. Later, she accidentally dyes that same cursed hair green. Another time, in her haste to impress a new neighbor, she bakes a cake with liniment instead of vanilla. Lucy Maud Montgomery's series of books about Anne have remained classics since the early 20th century. Her portrayal of this feminine yet independent spirit has given generations of girls a strong female role model, while offering a taste of another, milder time in history.some more excellent series. it's just been a while since i've read those books maybe i should try reading them again.
The Song of the Lioness Quartet & by The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce
{Song of the Lioness Quartet} This story, all four books, is about the making of a hero. It's also about a very stubborn girl. Alanna of Trebond wants to be a knight of the realm of Tortall, in a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors. Rather than give up her dream, she and her brother--who wants to be a mage, not a knight--switch places. She becomes Alan; Thom becomes a student wizard in the school where she would have learned to be a lady. The quartet is about her struggle to achieve her goals and to master weapons, combat, polite behavior, her magic, her temper, and even her own heart. It is about friendships--with the heir to the throne, the King of Thieves, a wise and kindly knight--and her long struggle against a powerful enemy mage. She sees battle as a squire and as a knight, lives among desert people and tries to rescue an independent princess. Singled out by a goddess, accompanied by a semi-divine cat with firm opinions, somehow she survives her many adventures to become a most unlikely legend.
{The Immortals Quartet} All the orphaned Daine wants when she comes to Tortall is a job. What she finds is magic in many forms, an ongoing war with creatures from legends and nightmares, a new home and, eventually, her unknown father. Hired by the Queen's Riders to help with their horses, she learns her knack with animals is a rare magic which helps her to communicate with the animal kingdom. With that discovery she becomes the student--then friend and sometimes protector--of the great mage Numair. He also helps her to develop her second magical skill, the ability to sense the presence of the immortals, fabled creatures who have come to mortal lands after a long imprisonment. All these changes in Daine's life bring her new human friends as well as animal ones: Tortall's rulers, Alanna the Lioness, the heir to the throne of imperial Carthak, a pygmy marmoset, and the badger god. Often she comes into contact--and sometimes conflict--with Stormwings--half human, half steel birds; dragons; spidrens--giant furred spiders with human heads and an appetite for human flesh; griffins; and the clawed, winged horses called hurroks. Daine is kept on the move as she grows into adulthood and her power, coming to terms with her world and her strange, mixed parentage.
each quartet is a series of four books (duh), but i think i've read both quartet at least three times. these books were the love of my life for awhile. i'm not sure they'd appeal to me as much now, as i read them in middle school, but she is still definitely my favorite fantasy writer.
**i used official sites whenever possible.
when not, i tried to find the next best alternative.