Recent Decisions

On a random side note, I hate that reading gives me a headache, as it is my favorite thing to do.

Moving on...

I've decided to exercise every day until the 22nd of this month in the hope of trimming down my waistline (not to mention my abs, thighs, and various other parts of my anatomy). I've also gotten back into the Weight Watchers lifestyle. From today until the 22nd, I will chronicle my progress at the end of each day.

I'm really hoping to be able to get into my black velvet formal, since I'll need it for the captain's dinner on the cruise.

More later,

Chelsea

My Journal Reflection on The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for Young Adult Lit.

The Outsiders is a powerful tale of friendship, rivalry, and the duality at the root of human nature. Those who have read it all know the story on the surface, the chain of events from Ponyboy being threatened by the Socs while on his way home, to the fire in the church, followed by Johnny’s death, then Dally’s, and everything that led up to Ponyboy Curtis working on a theme for his English teacher, Mr. Syme, that began with the words “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home….” This book is a world of its own, though it is set somewhere in the American Southwest during the 1960s. The story oozes with a life of tumult in a time when big changes were taking place in the world.

It is hard to believe that a book with such a specific context could be as timeless as Hinton’s masterpiece is in The Outsiders. I believe that it is so timeless because of the story that runs beneath the surface of the plot. The characters’ absolute humanity makes this book universal in nature. Our world still has class struggles, gang violence, and we live in a world of rattling changes hurtling toward mankind at breakneck speed. More importantly, we’re still human. The true, ongoing battle that connects us all with these characters is the battle we fight with the duality of our human nature. No human being can really exist as a two-dimensional character. We are all real, three-dimensional characters with varying degrees of internal and external conflict in our stories. Our lives are our stories, and we are naturally multifaceted creatures. Battles are constantly fought between the ego, super ego, and the id, to put it in psychological terms.

I don’t know of a person who willingly, openly shows all sides of their personality to the world. Everybody has filters, secrets, and everybody lies. I don’t mean for this to sound dark and condemning. I’m just saying that we all have veneers that are presented to the world, as opposed to the complete Gordian Knots of thought and emotion that we can only truly see for ourselves. Hinton did an excellent job of portraying this universal truth with the sympathetic characters she created. I believe that this work is timeless because it paints a faithful portrait not only of Southwestern America in the 1960s, but also of universal human emotion.

Finished The Giver

So, I finished reading The Giver today. There was a lot I'd forgotten, so I'm glad I decided to re-read it for Young Adult Literature (henceforth abbreviated as YAL), rather than just winging it and reading the assigned novels I've never read before. I think, at least I hope, that this class is going to be a very enjoyable one.

I started Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass today, so we'll see how that goes. I like it so far!

More Soon,

♥ Chelsea ♥

I'm Starting Young Adult Lit. for Next Semester

And I have to read:

Walk Two Moons by Creech

Out of the Dust by Hesse

Zel by Napoli

Monster by Myers

Catcher in the Rye by Salinger

Romiette + Julio by Draper

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book 1 by Pullman

The Giver by Lowry *

Feed by Anderson

Weetzie Bat by Block

Speak by Anderson

Hatchet by Paulsen *

The Outsiders by Hinton *

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Kinney

Joy? Any thoughts, opinions, and/or suggestions?

*Indicates a book that I've read previously, but that I still need to re-read for the class.

Finally Able to Relax

I'm so excited that the past semester finally ended! Now, I have time to market my book! Also, I now have time to work on organizing and streamlining my life. This is a much-needed change. Chaos has been eating my life and stressing me out for years now. My dad recently bought me a copy of Time Management for Dummies, so I'm reading it and applying the elements for organizing the office to my room, my car, and my dorm. Hopefully, I'll have everything ironed out before the new semester starts.

I'm also excited because this break will allow me to get work done on Poisoned Apples and Retraction. They are my foremost writing endeavors at this point. If you would like to know more about either one, click here.

I'm also excited about having time to RP (role-play) since I'm on break. Yay! I think that RPing is a great way to keep in the creative habit. I'm also doing a new thing on my official blog. I'm forcing my writing muse into gear by responding to various creative writing prompts that I find online, as well as through e-mail subscriptions, and in books that I own.

I hope everyone is doing well, and that you all have a happy holiday!

Thanks for Reading,

Chelsea