Saturday, August 28, 2010

Blog #7

This summer, I read another book for English class called "The Secret Life of Bees." It contained several subtle arguments, mainly the difficulty of living with an abusive father, segregation, and religious views. The main character, Lily, has no Mother, but instead lives alone with her Father who is very strict and punishes her for the slightest things. The book describes Lily's pain when she realizes her Father doesn't truly love her, and so she runs off to live somewhere else. Her nanny (who has taken car of Lily since she was born) goes with her. Along the way the nanny, who is black, is often mocked and mistreated by white people, even put on jail! They eventually arrive at the Boatwright sisters' house, a group of sisters who make their living from bee farming. They have their own religion that basically revolves around a statue of Mary that they believe rescued them from slavery years before, and protects them from harmful incidents. All of these scenarios argue the author's opinion about the effect they have on people.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Blog #6

We all know about eating disorders. We picture the bulimic: the person that binges on food, then takes laxatives or vomits to get rid of it all. Or maybe you see the anorexic: the extremely underweight, malnourished individual that never eats and yet constantly insists they are fat.

I was once the anorexic. At thirteen I thought, like most girls, that I was fat (even though I wasn't) and needed to "lose five pounds". If I just lost five pounds, I told myself I would be thinner and happier. But after I lost five pounds, guess what? I wasn't happy! I thought if I lost just five more pounds again then, THEN I would be thin and happy. With each of my five-pound-weight-losses, the lower my weight goal became. I ate barely anything, yet exercised constantly; I was weak and tired and cold all the time; all of my clothing began to hang on me, and my bones stuck out. I refused to eat any sweets, and was even afraid to eat carrots! It got to where if someone wasn't watching me eat, I would throw away my food and not eat at all. Yet, I still was afraid of gaining weight and becoming fat! My Mom became increasingly worried about me, and booked an appointment with my doctor. I absolutely denied that there was anything wrong, even though I was obviously starving and there was definitely something wrong! Well, you can guess what happened from there: the Doctor diagnosed me with anorexia nervosa and told me if I didn't gain weight by my next appointment a few days later, I would have to quit swimming and possibly become hospitalized because exercise would worsen my condition. Also, my pulse was extremely low and i had heart palpitations, all signs that I could and would have a heart attack and die if I didn't take a decisive course of action and choose life over being "thin." But I was too scared to eat; I couldn't stop being anorexic, but i didn't want to keep on living that way. Because i was unwilling and too scared to recover, the only option I saw was dying. I think a big part of me accepted that i was going to die; my starved brain that was slowly being consumed by own body in order to glean what little fat it could, wasn't thinking straight. I think as, little by little my bodily systems were shutting down, my soul was withering and I had no motivation to do anything but serve Anorexia. When I went to my next appointment, I had lost more weight, and a few days later they put me in pediatric ICU on bedrest with a nurse watching me 24/7. I was forced to gain weight back (ever heard of ensure? I had to drink 6 a day! haha) before i could go home...which ended up being five days later. Then I had to go to an Eating Disorder outpatient group two days a week to fully recover.

By now you're probably thinking "How could an eating disorder like this be viewed in any way but negatively!" It's true that eating disorders are miserable and deadly, but my own personal experience with anorexia taught me more about life and getting my priorities straight than anything else I could have gone through. Being so close to death, I suddenly wondered why being thin mattered so much; something I had thought would make me happy had caused more strain on my family and I than anything we'd ever encountered! I suddenly didn't even care about getting "fat". It wasn't worth losing my life over, and it definitely wasn't worth all the grief that it caused my family!

Now, I never consider myself as fat anymore. I would consider myself fully recovered, and I think if I had never gone through anorexia I might have always been unhappy with my body and thought of it as fat. My nutritionist taught me about the importance of a healthy weight over being thin, and the importance of eating healthfully. She also inspired me to choose a career as a nutritionist so that I can help other people recover from eating disorders.

Almost dying, but then making it through also showed me that there must be a reason I am alive :) I could have died, but I didn't and that makes me feel like I have a purpose.

So there you have it! A somewhat-too-long account of why eating disorders can be viewed in more than a negative light.

Blog #5



The Box Man chooses to be "lonely" as a homeless man, instead of live along with other people as society says he should do. Most of us find it a bit odd when someone goes against the norm; A culture has set standards which people generally go along with, usually so they will "fit in" and be accepted. When the Box Man chose to live opposite of how others said he should, taking the risk of being different and disliked, in the end he was happy because he knew he was living true to himself. He wasn't living to please what others wanted for him; he knew that he could never be satisfied chasing after someone else's dreams for his life.

On the other hand, what about the people that do conform to society? You know them: they always have the latest fashions; the newest, greatest cellphone or iPod. Is it necessarily a bad thing to conform to society? That depends: are you doing it just to "fit in" or is because maybe you like that particular style of jeans and know that it expresses yourself? There are people that purposefully go against society because they want to feel different or unique, and that isn't any better than those that conform to society just to please other people. You know if you are living according to who you are, or to how you want other people to view you. If you are constantly living just to please that other person, you will never find true happiness. But, if you stay yourself, are confident in your own style and abilities, and follow your true dreams, in the end there is nothing more satisfactory.

Blog #4

What two things are different, but ironically similar? As I ponder this this afternoon, I think back to the wonderful time I just shared with my friends. Each one of my friends is different from the other, and I am different from my friends! Obviously, no one is alike and we are all unique individuals. But, we are all ironically similar too. For instance: one of my friends, Sarah, is German with brown curly hair, blue eyes, and glasses. She is pretty, loving, caring, cuddly and sensitive; she wants to be a doctor. :) Then there is my other friend, Michelle: she also has brown curly hair, but more greenish-blue eyes, and a petite frame. She is quiet, kind, unselfish, and completely adorable, but she is like Sarah in her caring nature towards others and her passion for music. Then there is my friend Bryanna: she is part Mexican and part Korean, with beautiful dark hair and eyes. She is more quiet and reserved, but super-friendly and nice, with a wonderful laugh and smile :) She wants to be a detective or an astronomer, and loves hotpockets and malamutes. Then there is me: I have really blonde hair and blue eyes. I also love music and would consider myself more of a creative person than mathematically or scientifically inclined. My friends and I all play violin, like ice cream, scary movies, and don't plan on having children. We have feelings like sadness, happiness, loneliness, guilt, regret, and contentment. Yet, we are all different: Sarah loves baking, but Michelle hates it. Bryanna loves science, but I'd rather paint pictures. We are all different, yet ironically similar. That's what makes us friends :))

Blog #3

This summer I read the Kite Runner. Now, I was super surprised by the impact this book had on me and what a tremendously wonderful piece of work it is. It gave me a whole new perspective on middle-eastern, Afghan peoples. The book begins with two little boys, Amir (the son of a rich businessman) and his servant Hassan, growing up in Afghanistan together. They spend every day together, running their kites, reading books, and roaming the streets of the city of Kabul. But when the annual kite running match swings around, Amir stands by cowardly as Hassan is beaten an raped by bullies. After that, Amir avoids Hassan as much as possible because being near him causes too much guilt over the fact that he had not helped him when his friend needed him most. When Amir grows up he moves to the States and pushes the guilt over what he had done deep down inside, as he tries to lead a normal life. But his past continues to torture him, until one day several years later he is given a chance to return to Afghanistan and atone for his sins...

This book was extremely heartbreaking, exciting, and as I said earlier, it helped me put a face to the people living in the country. When I hear of the Muslim people, I now picture a nation suffering under Taliban and Muslim rule; they long for help and freedom, they experience life and loss, they have birthday parties and eat meals together. They are people just like us! It also showed me how much they welcome relief and protection from American soldiers, and how much their country needs help and deliverance. No longer does the Iraqi War seem like a distant pointless, never-ending battle, but an opportunity to help someone in need. I loved The Kite Runner!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Blog #2


Fiction is my number one friend when it comes to books. I automatically gravitate to pages that are filled with words of a whole new world that can never exist in real life. But I have managed to pick up a few non-fiction works:



The Bible

A Homemade Life

Founding Brothers

Nutrition and Fitness

Amy Carmichael


The Bible is a history of the Jews--God's people--the life of Jesus Christ, and his disciples. It basically teaches the philosophy that everyone is a sinner that deserves to go to hell, but God died to take the punishment that we deserve for our sins, and rose from the dead and is alive in heaven to meet those who believe in him. Those who believe this philosophy will go to heaven and escape the punishment they deserve.

A Homemade Life is a beautiful book of true stories based on the author's (Molly Wizenberg) cooking experiences. She incorporates her love of food and culinary arts with memorable moments from her life to create extremely interesting stories. Reading this book got me started on reading her blog: Orangette. I now have a whole new bunch of delicious recipes in my repertoire, along with some wonderful tales to read.

Nutrition and Fitness is a topic of great interest to me. I want to be a dietician someday, and this book is one of the many of its kind that I have managed to gobble up and digest thoroughly! It discusses why it's important to eat healthy, and the bad affect unhealthy lifestyles have on your body.

THE END :)

Blog #1







Welcome to my bloooooooog!!!!!


A = awesome at violin
L = loves baking
I = into reading
C = cares about others
I = intelligent
A = always surrounded by family

P = plays piano
E = eager to please
A = art is fun
C = cooking is my hobby
H = has blonde hair