I only have two chapters left in this book, and quite frankly, it's turning out to be really anticlimactic. Apparently what happened is the author started writing this book, but he just kept going and going and it got so long that he decided to turn the last book in the series into the last two books in the series. So now all the rabid Eragon fans will have to wait another three years for the fourth and (hopefully) final book to come out. Y'know, I don't know if I'll actually read it or not... Whatevs.
Ooh, but guess what happened this section! Eragon made himself a sword! You know how the oaths are always coming back to bite him in the butt? Well that happened to someone else, the elvish smith. She vowed to never make a sword again, but then Eragon came and needed one. So in order to get around her oath, she had to take over Eragon's body and make the sword using his hands. And they also had no time, so they had to do it in one night. Which they magically could. Very handy. And then Eragon named the sword Brisingr, which means fire (LAME!!), and it bursts into flames whenever he says it's name. That's really boring, though. There are so many warlike, scary-sounding things he could have called it, and he chooses fire? If I had a sword, I'd name it something exciting like... I don't know. It'd be better than fire, though.
~Marcella
PS SUPER AWESOME AIR-HIGH-FIVE FOR REBECCA!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Brisingr 2
Eragon is really annoying. That's really all I can say at this point. So in the last two books, all he did was swear oaths to people that he would do things for them. And now, he's spending all his time fulfilling these oaths. Like, it's seriously all he does, travel around and do stuff he's sworn to do but put off until now. He's the last Dragon Rider, okay? So he's like the most famous person ever and the only one who can get rid of the evil, immortal king. But is he going to go off and save the world? No! He's too busy fulfilling his oaths! He doesn't even know what he's doing half the time, too, because his teachers are either dead, in hiding, hundreds of miles away, or a combination of those, and so he's making up spells left and right and trying things out that he'd never be allowed to do if someone was actually paying attention to him because he's got no idea what he's doing. And of course, everyone loves him because he always manages to get everything right, anyways. He's the kind of person who would probably make me want to hit him if I ever met him.
I should probably give you a brief plot overview, actually, so you have some idea what I'm babbling about. So there's this guy, Eragon, and he has a dragon, Saphira. They're like the unifying force between all the different races in this land-Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Urgals (who are basically trolls), and they're trying to unite to defeat the evil king Galbatorix. Galbatorix's best fighter is Murtagh, and somehow he got a dragon egg and hatched it. The leader of the rebels is Nasuada, and Eragon has sworn his allegience to her, so he has a connection with humans. He has also become blood-brothers with the heir to the dwarvish throne, named Orik, and underwent a transformation so he has all the powers of an elf. The elf princess is named Arya (Eragon has a crush on her) and Eragon's cousin, Roran is a great warrior for the good guys. The book starts out with Eragon, Saphira, and Roran rescuing Roran's girlfriend Katrina from the clutches of Galbatorix. Saphira flies back to the good guy's camp with Roran and Katrina, while Eragon decides to explore Galbatorix's castle and then run home. Arya meets up with Eragon on his way home and they run together the rest of the way. When they get back, they are soon attacked by a horde of evil soldiers who don't feel pain, and so it's insanely hard to kill them, and also by Murtagh and his dragon. Eragon and Saphira drive off Murtagh but many good guys are killed before they are able to defeat the painless soldiers. Then Roran and Katrina get married because Katrina's pregnant, but Roran has to go on a mission soon after, so he tells Katrina to go to safety. Meanwhile, Nasuada tells Eragon to go to the dwarves to help them pick their king, but makes Saphira stay behind. That's about it so far. It's very complicated, no? If you actually managed to get through all that, you get a virtual air high five.
~Marcella
I should probably give you a brief plot overview, actually, so you have some idea what I'm babbling about. So there's this guy, Eragon, and he has a dragon, Saphira. They're like the unifying force between all the different races in this land-Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Urgals (who are basically trolls), and they're trying to unite to defeat the evil king Galbatorix. Galbatorix's best fighter is Murtagh, and somehow he got a dragon egg and hatched it. The leader of the rebels is Nasuada, and Eragon has sworn his allegience to her, so he has a connection with humans. He has also become blood-brothers with the heir to the dwarvish throne, named Orik, and underwent a transformation so he has all the powers of an elf. The elf princess is named Arya (Eragon has a crush on her) and Eragon's cousin, Roran is a great warrior for the good guys. The book starts out with Eragon, Saphira, and Roran rescuing Roran's girlfriend Katrina from the clutches of Galbatorix. Saphira flies back to the good guy's camp with Roran and Katrina, while Eragon decides to explore Galbatorix's castle and then run home. Arya meets up with Eragon on his way home and they run together the rest of the way. When they get back, they are soon attacked by a horde of evil soldiers who don't feel pain, and so it's insanely hard to kill them, and also by Murtagh and his dragon. Eragon and Saphira drive off Murtagh but many good guys are killed before they are able to defeat the painless soldiers. Then Roran and Katrina get married because Katrina's pregnant, but Roran has to go on a mission soon after, so he tells Katrina to go to safety. Meanwhile, Nasuada tells Eragon to go to the dwarves to help them pick their king, but makes Saphira stay behind. That's about it so far. It's very complicated, no? If you actually managed to get through all that, you get a virtual air high five.
~Marcella
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Brisingr
by Christopher Paolini
This is the third book in the Eragon series. It's fantasy, which I used to read all the time, but now I don't so much. I read the first two books a couple of years ago, and they were really good, so now I'm excited to read the final book. It's super complicated, though. There are so many characters and places and things with long, unpronounceable names, and it's really hard to keep track of them all, especially because the last time I read it was six months ago. Luckily, the author must have realized the difficulty of keeping everything straight and included a ten-page summary of the first two books.
So I actually just started this book. It started out with Eragon and his cousin Roran comparing bruises from their various battles. I almost rolled my eyes. It's such a guy thing... they were all, oh, your scars are nothing! I have a bruise! No, I have a bigger bruise! No, I have a more painful scar! I mean, that's not exactly something to brag about, who's in the most pain. They're really quite stupid if you think about it. I mean, the plot of these books is incredible, I love it, but every once in awhile there's a part like this that just makes me think, why do I even bother?
~Marcella
This is the third book in the Eragon series. It's fantasy, which I used to read all the time, but now I don't so much. I read the first two books a couple of years ago, and they were really good, so now I'm excited to read the final book. It's super complicated, though. There are so many characters and places and things with long, unpronounceable names, and it's really hard to keep track of them all, especially because the last time I read it was six months ago. Luckily, the author must have realized the difficulty of keeping everything straight and included a ten-page summary of the first two books.
So I actually just started this book. It started out with Eragon and his cousin Roran comparing bruises from their various battles. I almost rolled my eyes. It's such a guy thing... they were all, oh, your scars are nothing! I have a bruise! No, I have a bigger bruise! No, I have a more painful scar! I mean, that's not exactly something to brag about, who's in the most pain. They're really quite stupid if you think about it. I mean, the plot of these books is incredible, I love it, but every once in awhile there's a part like this that just makes me think, why do I even bother?
~Marcella
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Transfer of Power
by Vince Flynn
Continuing the trend, this is the second book in the Protect and Defend series by Vince Flynn. I'm starting to get a little sick of his writing style. It actually reminds me of McCarthy's, believe it or not! I mean, he uses punctuation, but he always uses the, um, declarative sentences, was it? Where he starts it with the noun? It's a very straightforward way of writing. Also, he tends to get into excessive detail about things that I don't understand. Actually, he just likes guns a lot. So every time someone has a gun or uses a gun or even thinks about a gun, he has to describe the make and number and how much it weighs and where it was made and all these annoying little details that I really don't care about. And since this is a book about how terrorists take over the White House and then the CIA has to get them out, there are a lot of guns. I swear, a quarter of the book is just the descriptions of guns. I don't think I'm going to make it through all 11 books in this series if it continues on like this.
On the other hand, the story was really good. Like I said, these terrorists come in and take over the White House, 12 of them against the entire US. Flynn tells half the story from their leader's point of view, which I like because I can totally see where he's coming from, instead of just assuming that he's an insane, deranged maniac. Then again, he actually is an insane, deranged maniac, so maybe I'm imagining things.
Oh yeah, and remember Garret? He got sniped off at the end of the book. Made me very happy.
Merry Christmas!
~Marcella
Continuing the trend, this is the second book in the Protect and Defend series by Vince Flynn. I'm starting to get a little sick of his writing style. It actually reminds me of McCarthy's, believe it or not! I mean, he uses punctuation, but he always uses the, um, declarative sentences, was it? Where he starts it with the noun? It's a very straightforward way of writing. Also, he tends to get into excessive detail about things that I don't understand. Actually, he just likes guns a lot. So every time someone has a gun or uses a gun or even thinks about a gun, he has to describe the make and number and how much it weighs and where it was made and all these annoying little details that I really don't care about. And since this is a book about how terrorists take over the White House and then the CIA has to get them out, there are a lot of guns. I swear, a quarter of the book is just the descriptions of guns. I don't think I'm going to make it through all 11 books in this series if it continues on like this.
On the other hand, the story was really good. Like I said, these terrorists come in and take over the White House, 12 of them against the entire US. Flynn tells half the story from their leader's point of view, which I like because I can totally see where he's coming from, instead of just assuming that he's an insane, deranged maniac. Then again, he actually is an insane, deranged maniac, so maybe I'm imagining things.
Oh yeah, and remember Garret? He got sniped off at the end of the book. Made me very happy.
Merry Christmas!
~Marcella
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Term Limits
by Vince Flynn
Another spy thriller from my grandpa :) I actually liked the other one better. This one is good, but there are so many characters... I can't keep them all straight. Also, the author of this must be really, really smart, because he keeps going off into these random tangents about the sciencey-technical parts of the book, and I have no idea what he's talking about. So then it's harder to figure out why various bits are so important, and I end up piecing together what happened from what people say about it afterwords.
Another thing I don't like about this book is one of the main characters, Stu Garret, who is the president's chief-of-staff. You know how there are some people who, when you're around them, you just automatically get annoyed with them, and they rub you the wrong way no matter what they do? This guy would do that to me. I was in a bad mood when I finished one of the chapters of this because it was all about this guy, and he was annoying me so much! He has this super angry personality, and everytime anyone says anything to him, he has to disagree, and he blames everyone else for his problems. Like, he was yelling at these Secret Service agents for two pages straight because their senator was sniped, and it wasn't their fault at all, but he was all, I'll have your badges for this, you'll never amount to anything if you can't even keep this guy safe! I want to jump in the book and slap this guy across the face.
I'm hoping he dies before the end of the book. That would make me so happy...
~Marcella
Another spy thriller from my grandpa :) I actually liked the other one better. This one is good, but there are so many characters... I can't keep them all straight. Also, the author of this must be really, really smart, because he keeps going off into these random tangents about the sciencey-technical parts of the book, and I have no idea what he's talking about. So then it's harder to figure out why various bits are so important, and I end up piecing together what happened from what people say about it afterwords.
Another thing I don't like about this book is one of the main characters, Stu Garret, who is the president's chief-of-staff. You know how there are some people who, when you're around them, you just automatically get annoyed with them, and they rub you the wrong way no matter what they do? This guy would do that to me. I was in a bad mood when I finished one of the chapters of this because it was all about this guy, and he was annoying me so much! He has this super angry personality, and everytime anyone says anything to him, he has to disagree, and he blames everyone else for his problems. Like, he was yelling at these Secret Service agents for two pages straight because their senator was sniped, and it wasn't their fault at all, but he was all, I'll have your badges for this, you'll never amount to anything if you can't even keep this guy safe! I want to jump in the book and slap this guy across the face.
I'm hoping he dies before the end of the book. That would make me so happy...
~Marcella
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold
This is an incredibly depressing book. It's about Susie, who is raped and killed and buried in a hole by her neighbor. She goes to heaven and from there watches her family as they try to figure out who killed her. It's actually pretty creepy, the way she watches everyone from heaven. For years and years, she follows around her sister on dates with her boyfriend, sees her dad go almost insane, floats helplessly as her murderer attacks more and more people.
I liked how realistic it was, though. I mean, they never catch her killer. Her sister gets married, her dad has health problems, there is no happy ending, at least no stereotypical Disney-movie happy ending. Life goes on, though.
It's a good read, I guess. In some places it drags on, and the plot just keeps on going and going and going... I have to say, I liked the beginning and the end a lot more than the middle. Susie makes all these connections up in heaven that no one on earth would have seen. It's kind of like when you're reading a book where you know things the main character doesn't, so you can solve the mystery or guess the ending, but they don't figure it out until the last chapter. Only, in this book, Susie does know everything, and she has to just watch helplessly as people make the wrong decisions, or guess the wrong answer, or make wrong conclusions. When I'm dead, I don't want to have to watch everyone else mess up. I'd much rather just hang out in heaven and wait for them to show up.
~Marcella
This is an incredibly depressing book. It's about Susie, who is raped and killed and buried in a hole by her neighbor. She goes to heaven and from there watches her family as they try to figure out who killed her. It's actually pretty creepy, the way she watches everyone from heaven. For years and years, she follows around her sister on dates with her boyfriend, sees her dad go almost insane, floats helplessly as her murderer attacks more and more people.
I liked how realistic it was, though. I mean, they never catch her killer. Her sister gets married, her dad has health problems, there is no happy ending, at least no stereotypical Disney-movie happy ending. Life goes on, though.
It's a good read, I guess. In some places it drags on, and the plot just keeps on going and going and going... I have to say, I liked the beginning and the end a lot more than the middle. Susie makes all these connections up in heaven that no one on earth would have seen. It's kind of like when you're reading a book where you know things the main character doesn't, so you can solve the mystery or guess the ending, but they don't figure it out until the last chapter. Only, in this book, Susie does know everything, and she has to just watch helplessly as people make the wrong decisions, or guess the wrong answer, or make wrong conclusions. When I'm dead, I don't want to have to watch everyone else mess up. I'd much rather just hang out in heaven and wait for them to show up.
~Marcella
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Annotated Bibliography
*NOTES
I changed my research question from what we originally discussed in class. There were very few articles on my previous topic, so I switched to one that I was more confident about. If it has to be under one of the topics on our SIRS assignment, you could probably classify it as Medical Ethics.
I fixed my citations, so this should be better now.
Research Question: Should marijuana be legalized for use in medicine?
Bailey, Eric. "State Issues Guide to Legal Pot Use." Los Angeles Times 26 Aug 2008: B1. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.
This article describes the new guidelines set down by the state of California for legal marijuana use. Eric Bailey, the author, has written several other articles concerning legal marijuana use and how the guidelines set down by California have affected those who use and sell it legally. This particular article particularly talks about the reactions of various people who these guidelines affect, including California’s Attorney General, Fresno’s chief of police, and leaders of pro-medical marijuana groups. Most are pleased with the guidelines, because they will help police identify legal marijuana users and therefore be able to concentrate on recognizing and persecuting illegal drug dealers.
Adams, Jill U.. "A Balm for Pain." Los Angeles Times F-6: 18 Aug 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.
This article talks about the various medical uses of marijuana, both current and past. It has apparently been used since prebiblical times, and is now used in such fields as neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, and nausea treatment. Several studies are quoted in which marijuana significantly helped patients feel better, although some of the improvement may have been due to the patients being high. It also describes the controversy that the best way to deliver the pain-relieving ingredient is to actually smoke the marijuana. Jill U. Adams has written several articles in the LA Times concerning medical use of marijuana and
also about the benefits and dangers of prescription drugs and the risks of energy drinks and baby formulas. She has a Ph. D. in Pharmacology and in addition has researched neuroscience and psychology.
-*--*--*-
McDonough, Jim. "A Weed By Any Other Name Smells the Same." The Christian Science Monitor: 16 December 2002. Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 8 December 2008 http://www.sirs.com.
This article is the reaction of a conservative Christian group to a new study about a theory parallel to the gateway theory (that marijuana is a starter drug that leads one to the ...)
TO BE CONTINUED
I changed my research question from what we originally discussed in class. There were very few articles on my previous topic, so I switched to one that I was more confident about. If it has to be under one of the topics on our SIRS assignment, you could probably classify it as Medical Ethics.
I fixed my citations, so this should be better now.
Research Question: Should marijuana be legalized for use in medicine?
Bailey, Eric. "State Issues Guide to Legal Pot Use." Los Angeles Times 26 Aug 2008: B1. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.
This article describes the new guidelines set down by the state of California for legal marijuana use. Eric Bailey, the author, has written several other articles concerning legal marijuana use and how the guidelines set down by California have affected those who use and sell it legally. This particular article particularly talks about the reactions of various people who these guidelines affect, including California’s Attorney General, Fresno’s chief of police, and leaders of pro-medical marijuana groups. Most are pleased with the guidelines, because they will help police identify legal marijuana users and therefore be able to concentrate on recognizing and persecuting illegal drug dealers.
Adams, Jill U.. "A Balm for Pain." Los Angeles Times F-6: 18 Aug 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.
This article talks about the various medical uses of marijuana, both current and past. It has apparently been used since prebiblical times, and is now used in such fields as neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, and nausea treatment. Several studies are quoted in which marijuana significantly helped patients feel better, although some of the improvement may have been due to the patients being high. It also describes the controversy that the best way to deliver the pain-relieving ingredient is to actually smoke the marijuana. Jill U. Adams has written several articles in the LA Times concerning medical use of marijuana and
also about the benefits and dangers of prescription drugs and the risks of energy drinks and baby formulas. She has a Ph. D. in Pharmacology and in addition has researched neuroscience and psychology.
-*--*--*-
McDonough, Jim. "A Weed By Any Other Name Smells the Same." The Christian Science Monitor: 16 December 2002. Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 8 December 2008 http://www.sirs.com.
This article is the reaction of a conservative Christian group to a new study about a theory parallel to the gateway theory (that marijuana is a starter drug that leads one to the ...)
TO BE CONTINUED
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