Outside Reading- Post #2

One thing I need to correct from my last post was the relationship between Malachy and Angela. Although they were in love at one point and had a child, they didn't want to marry, but it was a forced marriage so they had to. Their life in Ireland is harder than they thought it would be. The whole family is still depressed about the death of Margaret. I found it was weird that the family thought they could escape the sadness of loosing a child by moving back to Ireland, and that they thought their lives would be better in Ireland. They didn't want to move at first but then Angela's family sends her money so that they can come "home" to Ireland. When they leave they know their leaving a life of freedom, yet they hope it will soon become better. I think this is a poor decision on their part because everyone is striving to move to America, they had a place to live and just enough food to get by, and they left it for a sceptical life. Once they're there they are not welcomed. In America everyone noticed they were Irish so they didn't fit-in, and now in Ireland they we're referred to as the Yanks so they didn't fit-in in Ireland. Malachy finally found a job that only payed 19 shillings which is worse than the pay he was receiving in America. The house they live in is crowded, and now their family of six was going to have to starve.

I really don't understand their move back to Ireland. They didn't have it that great in America, but it was the land of opportunity and almost all of the other immigrants were in the same situation. In addition if Malachy can't hold a job in the "land of opportunity" how is he going to hold a job in Ireland where money, food, and work is scarce. To make it worse Angela's family wasn't even nice them when they moved back to Ireland. I think the decision wasn't thought over enough and ultimately no one is liking the move so far, hopefully it will get better. This relates to what we were doing in class because JGC and Rawlins moved to Mexico to try and find a better life, but Angela's family was doing the opposite.


McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: touchstone, 1996.

Outside Reading- Post #1

The memoir I’m reading for outside reading this quarter is Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. This book is about the life of a poor Irish family and their struggles through life. The family’s life is portrayed through Frank’s point of view. The story starts out with the move back to Ireland. The parents had met in New York, both as immigrants from Ireland. Once they met they fell in love and started a family. Their family consists of the mom, dad, frank, his brother Malachy, his twin brothers Oliver and Eugene, and his sister Margaret. They were all born in America, but soon after the twins were born the moved back to Ireland. Although Frank did have a sister, Margaret, she dies before the moved back to Ireland. After this Frank just describes how hard their life in Ireland was, growing up as a poor catholic boy.

After this first chapter of the book I already love it. Frank’s style of writing is so innovative and funny that you really feel as if he were there talking to you in person. I believe he also has a trade mark saying that he says, “Her arse”. He has said it multiple times already and I can’t wait to see if he continues to use this through the memoir. Already I would recommend this book to anyone in the class. I feel this is one of those books you just can’t put down. Hopefully the rest of the book is just as good as the beginning.

McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: touchstone, 1996.

Week 5- Jennifer Hudson's Relatives Killed

The article I read was about the deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mom, brother, and nephew. It was said that Jennifer's nephew, Julian, had been reported missing since Friday morning, and was later found dead in an white SUV. Along with Julian, Jennifer's mother and brother were found shot to death in Ms. Donerson's (Jennifer's mom) home. Many of the details of this case have not been released to the public yet, which could be a good thing. This event is most definitely tragic for Jennifer, and many others. I too think this is terrible, because from what every one who knew the Hudson family, said that they were all wholesome, polite, and hard working people. Personally I feel that people who lead lives like the Hudson's don't deserve such a gruesome ending to their lives, unfortunately that isn't always the case. The fact that most of the details of this case haven't been released is a good thing because then the public doesn't have as much to talk about. The public has already blown this story up and told as much as they possibly can, but for the sake of The Hudson family, keeping most of the detail secret would be in their best interest so that the media can say what's wanted and then move on. The reason I choose this article is because now a days it seems like murders are happening all the time. Most of the people killed in these murders did nothing to deserve this fate, and these murders just cause problems and grief for the families and friends of the deceased. This obviously isn't the most important issue in our country right now, but it still has importance and needs to be discussed so that we can find a solution.

Blumenthal, Mitchell L. "2 Relatives of Jennifer Hudson Reported Slain". New York Times News Paper. October 24, 2008.

My citation issue

I'm having trouble indenting the second line of my citation. It shows up when I write it and in the preview, yet when it's posted there is no indent. Can any one help me?
Thanks!

Week 4- Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist

The film review that I read was about the movie Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. This movie is about a teenage boy, Nick, who is depressed about the loss of his girlfriend, Tris. He tries to win her back by making her music mixes, but instead of Tris listening to the mixes, she throws them away. After weeks of trying to win Tris back, Nick’s band mates force him to come play their gig on a Friday night. On that same night a band Where's Fluffy is also playing a concert, which is why Norah and her friend Caroline are in New York City. Norah attends Nicks band’s (has no official name) concert, and while trying to make Tris jealous, Norah and Nick share an extremely long awkward kiss. They then spend an adventurous night together battling obstacles while trying to find Where’s Fluffy. The author of the review I read, Roger Ebert, portrayed this movie ask dumb, boring, and lacking plot. He then goes on to criticize the acting of both Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Dennings) as stupid. I however completely disagree with this review. I too saw the movie, and although I am a teenage girl who loves romantic comedies, I truly enjoyed this movie. The plot was interesting and had many unsuspecting twists. While watching this movie I never once became bored and wanted to stay and watch. I felt that this movie was very well made and the acting was superb. Nick and Norah have amazing chemistry, and I couldn't imagine any others playing the rolls of Nick and Norah. I would recommend every teenage girl to go see this film.

Ebert, Roger. "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". Chicago Sun-Times. Film

Review. October 2, 2008.

My Picture

Week 3- Bill Murrays Devistating Divorce

The second I saw this title I was extremely intrigued by the devastating news. This story is about the terrible breakup of Bill Murray and his wife Jennifer Butler Murray. Jennifer filed for divorce during may of 2008, and in the papers she accused Bill of being an alcoholic and being addicted to marijuana. This is such an unfortunate divorce because they were married for 11 years, and personally I felt they were perfect for each other. Yet the great thing is that instead of Bill being depressed for a long time, he's engaging him self in his new movie, The City of Ember. I feel that the allegations made by Jennifer were preposterous. Ever since I saw the amazing move Meatballs Bill was one of my favorite actors/comedians. He has been an amazing man, and has graced us with many great movies and episodes of SNL. I'm truly saddened to hear about this divorce. Although I am a Bill Murray fan, I also felt the need to blog about this article due to the augmentation of divorces in our society. I have many friends who's parents are divorced; sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not. I feel this is an issue in today's society because either people aren't taking enough time to consider their love, or yet just evidence that marriage is a hard thing. I picked this article because it involved a current issues, and is a big deal for Bill Murray fans. This connects to Siddhartha because in chapter 7, Samsara, Siddhartha must fix whats wrong with his life (right intention) so that he can proceed in the eight fold path, and this is the same as what Jennifer is doing. Unfortunately Jennifer felt that for her to proceed happily with her life, it didn't involve Bill so she fixed her problem.


"Bill Murray Looks for Renewal After Devastating Divorce". CNN News. News article October 9,
2008.