Do something you think is valuable have to be something pricey? Or can it be one always-memorable moment that stays in your thoughts forever? Modern day society is infatuated with new technology as new gadgets and gizmos are all the rage nowadays, but do you think that without them you wouldn’t be happy? Do you cherish the moments that stay present in your mind for a lifetime, or the technology-savvy new objects that are placed at ever-rising expensive prices?
I pull a jet-black hoody over my head and shut the door behind me. My black Labrador, Daisy, gallops out from underneath me. As she almost trips me she grabs the old and ripped ball in her mouth and utters a playful growl. She stares at me with happiness and joy. She rips the ball around, tearing more and more pieces of it off as she does. She wants to play, and the games will finally begin.
It all started back in July when my brother bought me a dog for my birthday. He was coming back after graduating from college, and on his way back from Colorado, he saw a sign for Labrador Retrievers. He knew I wanted a dog, and hastily chose the rambunctious one, knowing I would like her, and got on his way back to Massachusetts. When he first brought her to me, she ran to me and tackled me, licking me vigorously. She quickly became part of the family.
As we start to play, she runs circles around me, toying with me with the soccer ball falling half-way out of her mouth. I grab her, wrestle the toy away and kick it across my yard. Her spindly puppy legs fly out immediately to chase the ball with ease. She, with lightening speed, gets the ball back to me within seconds. This is the routine with her almost daily, and it’s what I love.
As I turn on my glossy iPod, I am still drowsy with sleep. Its azure plating shines from even the dim light in my bedroom. I rise with some soft rock and finally get on with the day. Since it’s not even six o’clock in the morning, I need everything I can to start the day off in as best of a way as possible. By the end of the day, I’m listening to some fast-beat hip-hop and heavy rock to get me ready for my game.
I first got my iPod a year ago for Christmas. It shone luminously when I first saw it, still in its case. I tore open the case as gently as possible, careful not to scratch its gleaming plating. I opened it and my face was in a grin ear-to-ear. Within the next week I had 300 songs and an abundant amount of videos and pictures saved to its memory. My iPod was now to be put into regular use almost daily, even after going through a washing machine three times.
I sluggishly step into my father’s car still with the sound of soft rock tuned into my ears. As he revs his engine of his “Tank,” a Chevrolet Two-door pickup truck, I am oblivious to the sound over the guitar solo by Coheed and Cambria. He then pulls out of the rain-slicked driveway and we embark on our journey. It takes a good forty minutes to get to school, being that I live in Palmer, but I manage with the help of my iPod. The shuffle setting is like heaven as I lay back and relax. I do this prolifically throughout the weeks. From the bus ride to long soccer games, or to the long rides to school, my iPod is always in my pocket playing some beats to either calm me down and relax, or get me pumped for a game.
What is, in actuality and reality, valuable? Spending time with my puppy and listening to my iPod are two completely different things, but are both invaluable. From my routines in the morning, my iPod gives me relief and relaxation during the late nights and early morning drives to school. Even on my way to games, it gets me pumped and ready to play. My trench-coated puppy is the same way. Sleeping in my bed with me at night, and playing with me during the day with her ripped soccer ball, she is loveable and playful yet always with me to comfort me in bad times, but keep me happy in good times. Even though there is always something I can do with my iPod, I prefer my dog-playing-days over any iPod usage ever. Even during the cold winter nights when my iPod is half frozen and not working, my dog is there to warm me up, sitting on the couch with me until we both fall asleep.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
First Quarter Outside Reading Book
First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Fine Creative Media Inc. 2005.
Novel Genre: Adventure
Treasure Island is a story of greedy pirates, lust for treasure and sheds light on some of the inner community of piracy. The storyline is narrated by a an adolescent by the name of Jim Hawkins and shows descriptively throughout the book how a young boy in the 18th century would retell an epic adventure. Set in England, Jim finds a map in an old pirate’s room and is convinced it is a treasure map. He and two other men are set on finding the treasure, but are set up for failure from the very beginning.
Angus Fletcher writes;” The unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Silver and Jim helps transform what seems at first to be a simple, rip-roaring adventure story into a deeply moving study of a boy’s growth into manhood, as he learns hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, courage, and honor- and the uncertain meaning of good and evil.” I like how Fletcher describes some of the deepest parts of Treasure Island and am astounded by how he writes this, as it seems very much so like the writing of Stevenson’s’ but in a much modern form. Fletcher picks the bowels of this book and completely puts them in a view that describes the troubles in Treasure Island.
Treasure Island is written like it should be, in a descriptive old English and is perfect for the description of many of the events throughout the book. Stevenson writes like a boy would, describing much almost in a poetic manner and shows certain emotions like fear and independence as I expect Jim would have. Stevenson shows the adventure a teenage boy would have and flows very well throughout the book, even at its roughest parts the book still shines.
“It was Silver’s voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended on me alone.” (75)
As I read Stevenson’s Treasure Island I was infatuated by its style of description. Being written in the 1800s, it is easy to see how such a book can still be read for centuries to come, as it contains a flow some have only dreamed of writing and its descriptions are amazing, containing some of the best writing I have ever seen. I will certainly look to see if Stevenson has written any other books and give them a shot at reading them.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Fine Creative Media Inc. 2005.
Novel Genre: Adventure
Treasure Island is a story of greedy pirates, lust for treasure and sheds light on some of the inner community of piracy. The storyline is narrated by a an adolescent by the name of Jim Hawkins and shows descriptively throughout the book how a young boy in the 18th century would retell an epic adventure. Set in England, Jim finds a map in an old pirate’s room and is convinced it is a treasure map. He and two other men are set on finding the treasure, but are set up for failure from the very beginning.
Angus Fletcher writes;” The unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Silver and Jim helps transform what seems at first to be a simple, rip-roaring adventure story into a deeply moving study of a boy’s growth into manhood, as he learns hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, courage, and honor- and the uncertain meaning of good and evil.” I like how Fletcher describes some of the deepest parts of Treasure Island and am astounded by how he writes this, as it seems very much so like the writing of Stevenson’s’ but in a much modern form. Fletcher picks the bowels of this book and completely puts them in a view that describes the troubles in Treasure Island.
Treasure Island is written like it should be, in a descriptive old English and is perfect for the description of many of the events throughout the book. Stevenson writes like a boy would, describing much almost in a poetic manner and shows certain emotions like fear and independence as I expect Jim would have. Stevenson shows the adventure a teenage boy would have and flows very well throughout the book, even at its roughest parts the book still shines.
“It was Silver’s voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended on me alone.” (75)
As I read Stevenson’s Treasure Island I was infatuated by its style of description. Being written in the 1800s, it is easy to see how such a book can still be read for centuries to come, as it contains a flow some have only dreamed of writing and its descriptions are amazing, containing some of the best writing I have ever seen. I will certainly look to see if Stevenson has written any other books and give them a shot at reading them.
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