A plague o' both your houses!

While reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, in class, the character Mercutio stands out to me. To me, Mercutio can sometimes act like the character's sub-conscience, and at others, can be playful and funny. Mercutio is also very loyal to his friends, namely Romeo. Mercutio gives good advice, and supports Romeo whenever he is being rash or doing things blindly. I also like Mercutio because he is a character that isn't from one of the houses, but is involved.

Mercutio is a good friend to Romeo, and he shows it in many different ways. On 1.4.58-110, Mercutio is good-naturedly teasing Romeo about an ominous dream he had. Mercutio stays upbeat and energetic, while telling Romeo not to worry. Mercutio is trying to calm Romeo down. On 2.4 Mercutio also shows his friendship with Romeo by looking for him while he is with Juliet, and by distracting Romeo when they find him. Another time and the last time Mercutio shows his loyalty and friendship is on 3.1, when Romeo takes up the battle meant for Romeo. Mercutio gets killed in the process, but he is trying to save Romeo from a impending battle between him and Tybalt.

Mercutio also gives very good advice to Romeo and others. He also can afford to give insight on the two house's quarrels because he is involved but not related. "Thy head is full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarreling." Mercutio said this on 3.1.23-25. He is talking to Benvolio, and I think he is saying their heads were wired to fight, but after so much fighting, they have become helpless, and dependent on fighting. I say they have become dependent on fighting meaning that is all they know at this point. Mercutio also says on 1.4.17-18 "You are a lover. Borrow Cupid's wings and soar with them above a common bound." Mercutio is telling Romeo that he should follow his heart, and fly.

Loving Hate

In Romeo and Juliet there are many reoccurring themes. But the one that I noticed, especially in class when we were discussing oxymorons, was love and what each character in Shakespeare thought of it. Romeo has powerful thoughts on love along with Juliet, Capulet, Lady Capulet, Benvolio, and Paris. I think through these characters Shakespeare is trying to say that love is for the strong-willed and for people who are willing to commit themselves to love. Each character has their own opinion but together they show how confusing and powerful love can be. 

In 1.1.176-197 Romeo talks about his love for Rosaline. Romeo uses oxymorons like "feather of lead, cold fire, and loving hate" to describe love. Reading these makes me think that Romeo is kind of a helpless romantic. Romeo is expressing his love and his thoughts on love saying that love is very difficult but worth it. When I hear "cold fire" I think of something seemingly warm and friendly that turns out to be nothing like you expected. "Feather of lead" can mean that love is light like a feather, but can turn into a feeling of burden. Or,  in the term "loving hate", loving can be a verb or a noun. You can either love that you hate something, or lovingly hate something or someone. What I mean by lovingly hate someone is that you respect them enough to not blindly hold a grudge. Romeo is feeling all these things about love, and Shakespeare is expressing his perspective through him.

Juliet also believes that love is not a thing to be played with. In 1.4.103-105, her parents ask her to marry someone she does not know. She does not disagree right away. Instead she decides that she will meet him and see if she likes him enough to marry him. I think that Juliet is being mature in not jumping to conclusions. If she were to immediately turn down her suitor, then find out that they could have loved each other, she would forever regret that. Juliet is also catering to her parents' wants because she did not turn down the offer. She is adhering to her belief in love by waiting to see if she truly loves this man before marrying him.

Fooling the Coast Guard?

On Sunday, the Coast Guard had received a distress call from a sailboat with four people on board off the coast of California. A family of four were reported from the boat, which had failing electronics. They abandoned the ship after floating out 65 miles out to sea. For the past 48 hours since, the Coast Guard covered 20,000 square miles of ocean searching for this family. It was later reported that the call came from further north than they were told. Coast Guard member, Thomas McKenzie said, "We weren't able to find any vessel, any signs of debris, we couldn't find anything that would indicate there had been an incident." The message from the man on the ship was, "Coast guard, coast guard, we are abandoning ship. This is the [Charmblow], we are abandoning ship." The Coast Guard was unable to find any boat under the name Charmblow, and they discovered that no one was reported missing. 

I think the author of this article wants you to feel bad for the Coast Guard, almost, and annoyed at the person who made the false call. McKenzie points out that 'making a false distress call is a federal criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of the search.' This is showing how much of a mistake making this kind of call was. It's a waste of time for both sides, and it's costly for both of them too. The article also has a statistic, 'the Coast Guard handles, on average more than 20,000 calls for assistance a year. Of those, an average of 18 international false distress calls and another 121 are suspected hoaxes, according to Coast Guard figures.' The Coast Guard has to treat every call as if it was an emergency, because for all they know, it is an actual emergency. The people on the other line could be fine, while the Coast Guard is worried sick about the possibly sunken ship and lost family. Just for the Charmblow case, they ran 34 searches, got the Navy involved, the Air National guard, as well as 10 Coast Guard boats and helicopters. 

I think that this is very serious, and I think that it's horrible that people would fake an emergency like that. Yes, I have made prank calls before, but only to my friends. The way the coast guard has to deal with the case, only to find out it's not real and theres no danger, it's just too much. I feel bad for the Coast guard. I also wonder if any other government-issued safety department has been prank called. My guess is probably, a lot of times. I think that if people have nothing better to do, they can go watch tv or something, instead of wasting someone else's time. If the Coast Guard were to get more prank calls, they wouldn't be able to tell which were serious and which were fake. It would be like the boy who cried wolf. 

Coast Guard calls off boat search after questions raised

Would your friends invade a fortress with you?

In the book Virals by Kathy Reichs, the main character Tory and her three friends Hi (Hiram), Shelton, and Ben are transformed into mutant wolfdog-human creatures. Tory and her friends work together to figure out the mystery behind an old murder. They also work together to hide their mutant powers. As they solve the mysteries, their friendship grows stronger. Tory is also respected by her friends, and shown to be the leader many times over. Throughout the book, their friendship and Tory's leadership is strengthened because of their adventures.

In the beginning of the book, on page 106 Tory and Hi are joking about prom. Hi asks Tory if she's shopping for prom dresses, and they joke about it from there. "Thanks", Tory responds dryly. "You'll still be my date, right? Or do you have a playoff game that night? I'll understand; we need our star quarterback on the field." Hi isn't actually a football player, this just shows their relationship. Tory also says, but not out loud, "Despite the ribbing, I was glad to see Hi. We had identical schedules and spent most lunches together. Joking with someone about being cool was more fun than being unpopular alone."

On page 187, Tory and the guys are deciding whether or not they should search for the people who chased after them. Tory says, "We're a team, guys. We're smarter than the creeps who did this. We can beat them." On the next page, Hi says, "Why do all your brilliant ideas involve felonies?" This shows that Hi respects Tory's ideas, and thinks they are very smart, but also thinks they are dangerous. Tory is the one that organizes their break-ins, proving again that she is considered their leader.

Tory takes a lot of responsibility throughout the story. On page 289, Tory plans out how they will retrieve information, and on page 415 Shelton says, "She's going to say 'tonight', isn't she? Every time I think I'm done for the night, Tory says we have to invade some fortress." Shelton wouldn't go against Tory's ideas, and he probably agrees with most of them. Tory's friends trust her, and they look up to her.

I have had many friends and role models that I looked up to and respected. None like how Hi, Shelton, and Ben looked up to Tory, though. They were connected by secrets. But I have friends that will always have my back, and would hopefully stand with me when invading a fortress, although that may be too much to ask. I also consider myself one of these kinds of friends to others. I hope people look up to me, and respect me. I may not be as smart as Tory, or genetically enhanced, but having good friends will always be something we have in common.

Let me hold your crown, babe

I chose the song King of Anything sung and written by Sara Bareillies. I love this song, and I feel like the music video really fits well, but I won't let that cloud my interpretation of the song lyrics. The character in the song is listening to someone else speak, someone who tries to be their knight in shining armor. The line "so many things I'd say if only i were able, but I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by" tells you that the subject is feeling almost ignored, like she can't speak her mind. Another line says "so let me thank you for your time and try not to waste any more of mine, get out for here fast". The boy she is talking about is probably ignoring her, and she is sick of it.

The chorus lyrics are "who cares if you disagree/ you are not me/ who made you king of anything/ so you dare tell me who to be/ who died and made you king of anything". Compared to the message Sara Bareillies might have been trying to send in the first verse, this is confusing. Here it sounds like she is saying no one can control her, and she is her own person.

The line "you are not me" really stands out to me.  The subject doesn't care what others think, and will go her own way. Maybe in the first verse, the subject was being told what to think or do, and she was looking for a way out.

The second verse and bridge connect more to the chorus, I think. "You sound so innocent/ all full of good intent/ you swear you know best" makes me think the person scolding the subject is oblivious to the fact that others have ideas also. The bridge is the strongest part of the song, next to the chorus, in my opinion. This is because it grabs your attention, and you can actually understand and connect to the lyrics, "all my life/ i've tried/ to make everybody happy while I/ just hurt/ and hide/ waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn/ to decide". The subject is really under the influence or control of someone else, and she wants out.

This can connect to people under pressure, or people who are forced to continue something their hearts aren't into. Like if someone is forced to play an instrument or sport by their parents. Or if a kid is pressured by tests and studying, they want to be able to make their own decision. The last line in the song that Sara Bareillies says is "let me hold your crown babe". The crown symbolizes the right to speak up for yourself, and the subject wants to be able to have that right. Like how certain rights aren't given to kids until they reach an age. Then they can get their crown.

King of Anything lyrics
King of Anything music video

Some Brotherly Advice About a Fake Alzheimer’s Patient

[SPOILER ALERT {like, every spoil possible}]

In the book White Cat by Holly Black, Cassel discovers he is a worker. A worker is a criminal who can change something about or for someone else. There are Dream, Memory, Luck, Body, Death, Emotion, and Transformation workers. Transformation workers are one in a thousand and the most powerful, and Cassel just discovered that he is one. His brother Barron has been memory working him so he doesn’t remember anything under the orders of his other brother Phillip, and their mom. Cassel and his brothers have a really messed up relationship, and it’s mainly because Cassel is the strongest of the three of them, but doesn’t know it.

Cassel is very strong, for someone who thought he was “the only straight person in a crooked family”. Cassel felt like he didn’t belong, and I think that was really hard for him, especially since his brothers were so distant from him.  Barron always looked up to Phillip, and Phillip acted like Cassel was a waste of time. Cassel tried to prove himself to them, which is really heartbreaking considering how much they had deceived him. I think that although his relationship with his brothers isn’t the best, it helped make Cassel stronger, and eventually strong enough to work against his brothers.

At the end of the book on page 298 Barron drives over to Cassel’s school to have pizza with him. Barron is a memory worker, but the downside is that whenever he works someone, he looses his memories too. Cassel had changed some of Barron’s notebooks that held memories, and one of the memories that Cassel changed was that he and Barron went out for pizza every Tuesday. Cassel says, “Memory is funny. Barron seems relaxed, like he really likes me, because he doesn’t remember hating me. Or maybe he remembers the feeling of dislike but he assumes that he liked me more than he hated me.” I feel really bad for Cassel here because he remembers how his brother tried to kill him; while they are sitting together eating pizza, Barron is acting like he cares about Cassel. Barron hated Cassel because he felt that transformation work was wasted on Cassel. It must be really hard to see both sides of your sibling, and know that they are both partially fake. 

Sandy Hook: Demolish or Renovate?

I read an article on how people are debating on whether we should demolish the Sandy Hook Elementary school, or renovate it. People have very strong feelings towards the shooting that happened at Sandy Hook elementary school, and it reflects in the quotes from parents. One mother said "We cannot pretend it never happened, but I am not prepared to ask my children to run and hide. You can't take away their school." Another mother with surviving children thinks that the building should be crushed because she can't come to terms with sending her kids back to that building. One mother thinks that it should be up to the victims to decide because the incident had the most impact on them. Additionally, there are facts about aftermath of past shootings. For example, Virginia Tech decided to renovate the classroom where the shooting occurred. 

The author tries to make you feel sympathetic yet open-minded about the fate of Sandy Hook Elementary School. The author does this by showing lots of different perspectives of families that may or may not have been involved in the incident. The author incorporates the quotes really well and includes facts that are thought provoking because you can see what happened in past situations. The author wants you to form an opinion based on facts not bias. For example, the article ends with the quote "I think we have to start that conversation now. It will take many, many months to do any kind of school project. We have very big decisions ahead of us. The goal is to bring our students home as soon as we can."

My opinion on Sandy Hook is that they should demolish the building because the memories are very tragic and traumatizing and it would be hard for the students to return. One mother says that she had very good memories there, her kids are older and previously attended Sandy Hook, and she thinks that they should renovate. I don't think that's a legitimate argument because she wasn't a primary victim. I didn't have an opinion prior to reading this article because I wasn't aware that this argument was being discussed. After reading the article, I strongly think that Sandy Hook should no longer be a school because I can't imagine returning to the scene of such a traumatizing event.