Book Review: House of Leaves

 I recently read the books House of Leaves. I heard of it last year, when some of my friends read it for AP Lit and decided to try it out for myself. Everyone who had read it said that they only got about half way because the book got really scary. So, I decided to venture in to the depths that are House of Leaves.

                I would not say that this is a short read by any means. It took me the better half of the term to read this book. I think it took so long, not only because of my busy schedule, or due to the astronomical amount of pages, but because of the way this is written. One look inside of this book and you would completely agree. There are pages that have text on the text, text written backwards, upside down, and every which way possible. 

                The prologue of this book is vital to read; otherwise you will not understand some if not most of the information within the book. It introduces Johnny Truant who acts as literary editor, presenting the compelling and disturbing scribblings and ramblings on an old man named Zampano. Zampano's papers, which are in his apartment after his death, describe a documentary film called "The Navidson Record" of a family moving into a house which proves to be larger on the inside than it is on the outside, in more ways than one. There is also another editor above Johnny, who makes comments on top of Johnny's comments. Johnny finds himself wondering if the old man didn't just make up the whole story about the young family moving into the house, because Johnny is unable to find any proof that the film exists. Now, what if I told you that Johnny is a compulsive liar? He tells the reader how much fun he has making up completely bogus stories for the benefit of strangers. Knowing this, the reader has to start to wonder if the old man, Zampano, even exists, or if he's just another element of Johnny’s lies. And if you follow that line train of thought, you might even start to wonder if the heavy black book you're holding exists. As you can probably tell this book is very confusing; interesting, but confusing. At any rate, if you stick with this book and power through, it is very interesting. My only recommendation is to not read it in the dark.

Book Review: Da Vinci Code

                    I recently read the book, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. I have seen the movie and I thought that I would read the book it was based upon.  This was a phenomenally written book. The plot was really riveting. This book made me want to keep reading. I couldn’t put it down. One thing that I really liked about this book was the conspiracy theories scattered throughout the book. I find conspiracy theories really interesting, so it was really fun to read. It was somewhat confusing when the book jumped from scene to scene. I found it hard to follow where the book was at certain times. I did love how Brown uses descriptions of works of fine art to prove that art can tell stories that history tends to obscure. These works of art include Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Madonna of the Rocks, and Mona Lisa, which hide symbols of goddess worship and the story of the Magdalene; the Church of Saint-Sulpice, which still contains an obelisk, a sign of pagan worship; and tarot cards, which hide themes of pagan mythology. These art objects are constantly viewed by people who see them without seeing their hidden meanings. I would really like to go back and watch the movie now that I have read the book. I would compare the two, but being as I haven’t watched the movie in some time, I feel that it wouldn’t be accurate. I really liked this book and would most definitely recommend it.

Lead and they will follow.

             While filling out an application for NCYL, I was been given the opportunity to reflect on all of my endeavors over the past three years and reflect upon what a leader really is. So, what makes me a leader? What sets me a part from everyone else filling out this application? Well, I don’t know that answer, because I believe that everyone is a leader in their own way, and most of the time we don’t realize it. Maybe, a leader is defined by his or her characteristics.

I believe that I am a very kind, generous, and outgoing person. I love giving my time to help others and I always look for a way to do so. My favorite volunteer projects I do are the ones when I get to spend time with children. During the summer I serve lunch about two to three times a month at a church, down town, in an under privileged neighborhood. At the church there is also a Boys and Girls Club. We serve lunch to these kids as well. I just love playing with the kids and really watching them from the beginning of the summer, to the end and how they grow and develop a personality. This past summer, we did a project with the kids and they drew illustrations of what they want to be when they grow up. As I went to sit with one of the kids I had grown attached to, I looked down at her picture and there I was. She said that when she grew up, she wanted to be just like me. I had known this little girl for a little over two months and in that amount of time I had exuded some amount of leadership to make her aspire to be me. This was a really defining moment in my life where I realized that what you do and how you carry yourself really make a difference in how people perceive you. Since then I have made it a point to always show a positive attitude, because when you’re happy, there’s no doubt that you can make someone else happy.

            Being kind and loving, goes hand in hand with being a good leader.  In the past three years at Kennedy, I have been a part of a numerous amount of leadership positions. My freshman year, I got the wonderful opportunity to be the student director of the spring musical, Sweeney Todd. I got to work side by side with an amazing leader and role model. My leadership did not stop there. My sophomore year, I was Treasurer of the Theatre Department and student director of a speech event. This year, my junior year, I am the President of the Theatre Department, Secretary of the Class of 2013, and student director of a Playtime Poppy production. These positions have helped me grow as a person and increased my responsibility immensely. They have helped me to realize that helping and leading people is what I want to do.

What are you listening to? (part 1)

              When you get to know someone, you start to find out their interests in food, books and music. To me one of the most important aspects of my life is music. I like all kinds of music; hip-hop, soft rock, country, classical, theatrical, and singer-song writer. I love almost every kind of music except hard rock and screamo, hardcore stuff, which is pretty much yelling.

              My favorite thing to listen to is my Pandora channel entitled, “The Best Station Ever”. Why is this the best station ever? Well, my friends, because it has all of the best music on it. The “artist seeds”, which are the artists whose music you have chosen, include Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, The Civil Wars, Regina Spektor, Straigh No Chaser, Ingird Michaelson, and The Moldy Peaches. I highly recommend all of these groups and artists! They are all very different, but when combined into a station, it adds a great variety. The following are descriptions of each group or artist.

Frank Sinatra

                Franks Sinatra is truly one of the greatest artists in history. Part of the original Rat Pack, he paved the way for the swing era. His music is just fun and easy-going. My personal favorite songs are “Fly Me to the Moon” and “It Was a Very Good Year”.  I find his music to be very easy going on the ear.

Michael Bublé

                Michael Bublé has a very similar sound to Frank Sinatra. Made famous by his version of “Feelin’ Good”, he has made a name for himself in the soft jazz genre. I find that his music is so subtle and warm that it makes for great studying music.

Norah Jones

                It is hard to explain in words what Norah Jones’ music sounds like, but I guess you could say very mellow. My personal favorite of her songs is “Come Away with me”. I first heard her singing on a soundtrack to one of the “Princess Diaries” movies. She has the ability to sing any song that she wants, but she still manages to keep her own sound. Norah Jones is a truly amazing artist.