Cassia's Reading: December 2008

19 ways to keep a healthy level of insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it 'In'.
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks , Write ' For Smuggling Diamonds'.
7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy'.
8. Don't use any punctuation.
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital. And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In the Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives ! They're Loose!'
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love -
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me -
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud one night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we -
Of many far wiser than we -
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling -my darling -my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea -
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Little Women

Some of my favorite childhood books were a small passages taken from the classic novel, Little Women, and turned into picture books. Two years ago, my grandmother gave me the origional book. It, to my suprise, was not a rectangle- it was a CUBE!!! Clearly intimidated by it's size and language, I packed it away.

When I picked it up again this weekend, It was just as charming and heartwarming as I remembered- sufficiently gooey reading. The story follows the four March girls as they grow up during the civil war (A comming of age story!). Friends are made as well as matches, as many old fashioned stories unwind.

The four girls all have very different personalities- and it is interesting how many readers all dislike one of the characters the most: the youngest girl, Amy. (and of course she ends up with the best match! grrr) I think that her somewhat selfish, "helpless," and haughty attitudes are what bother me so much.

I loved this book- read it over a weekend. I recomend it to most JA fans. Five stars

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Feed

Feed, by M. T. Anderson, is a futuristic novel that I found hauntingly familiar and plausible. In the story, the new "cell phone" is a feed, which acts as instant Internet, and all that is attached. Advertisements flood through the minds of the new world, all based on everything that they think about. Nearly everyone has a feed, and those who don't are degraded in the extreme. America's consumerism in the current stage makes this future a very possible outcome.

But in this world of feeds, there are also dangers. The feed is necessary to brain function for even the smallest things after it is attached. So what happens if it starts to malfunction? Normal boy Titus will find out as he spends time with new acquaintance Violet as her feed begins to fail.

I thought that this book was a great take on our future, but it felt like "A walk to remember" meets "Wall-e." But I also would have to say that it got me thinking. I would give this book three out of five stars.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Unwind

The futuristic novel that I have been reading is called Unwinds. It is a story about what might happen if America were to have a civil war over abortions. To end this civil war, the government came out with a "bill of life" which satisfied both parties. It stated that there could be no abortions, but when children were ages 13 to 18, the parents could choose for them to be "unwound." This unwinding is a process in which all of the person's organs and limbs and every part of them would be used for surgeries everywhere. So, in essense, all of the person was alive, just not... whole. It's one of those creapy, nasty books that you can't put down. I love how this book is really deep without leaning to either side of the abortion arguments. The writing is amazing, and I think that it opens doors to some life questions. READ IT!!!!!

Cassia's Reading