Vacations Week 1

First Week:
On the first week of vacations, I went to a Quinceaños and it was quite cool... The next day I felt tired, very tired. I didn't do much else this week, but I did go to Michael's house one day. Other than sleeping and playing video games (Skyrim) I also went to the mall a couple of times and also to the movies. I'm still looking forward to Christmas though, I expect alot of gifts and family time that day.

Fart...

          It happens every time! But I do admit that it is my fault why… Every time it smells bad or nasty the blame is on me (it is not a surprise anymore though, I just act like it wasn’t me). Any time that my family and I are in the car or in an elevator (or any other enclosed area) the urge comes to me! Maybe there’s something wrong with my body or maybe it’s just the food I eat… but they smell horrible I have to say.

This once when we were in the car on a Sunday evening coming back from a restaurant (that I don’t remember the name of) the urge to fart was so strong that I couldn’t hold it for more than 2 minutes or so… when I couldn’t keep it for much longer I decided to let it out slow so it wouldn’t make any noise and I could blame it on the bay that smells really bad too (we were driving at the Cinta Costera on the moment). As I did so, my parents knew exactly what had happened and who had done it, they always know when I fart… they also blame it on me when I don’t actually fart.

Fart...

It happens every time! But I do admit that it is my fault why… Every time it smells bad or nasty the blame is on me (it is not a surprise anymore though, I just act like it wasn’t me). Any time that my family and I are in the car or in an elevator (or any other enclosed area) the urge comes to me! Maybe there’s something wrong with my body or maybe it’s just the food I eat… but they smell horrible I have to say.

This once when we were in the car on a Sunday evening coming back from a restaurant (that I don’t remember the name of) the urge to fart was so strong that I couldn’t hold it for more than 2 minutes or so… when I couldn’t keep it for much longer I decided to let it out slow so it wouldn’t make any noise and I could blame it on the bay that smells really bad too (we were driving at the Cinta Costera on the moment). As I did so, my parents knew exactly what had happened and who had done it, they always know when I fart… they also blame it on me when I don’t actually fart.

Memoir Monday: Stop Worrying, Start Chillin

Memoir Monday

            When I heard that my Dad was getting an operation I was quite concerned and worried about what could happen and if something could go wrong. As I was told more and more information, my worries kept rising… it turned even worse when my mom started talking to me with these complicated medical terms that I knew little about, like gallbladder for example.

            “Francisco, no hagas planes para estes viernes, que tu papa va a estar cansado,” Mom alleged to me across the dinner table.

            “Ok, Mama. Me voy a quedar en la casa entonces,” I answered back and stood up from my chair.

            Agh! I know I’m supposed to be helpful and all… but I really wanted to go out this Friday! I walked back to my room kind of stomping like a small kid on the long Persian rug that covers the marble floor on the hallway… hope my mom didn’t see me though.

            When I got to my room, I sat on the black couch that’s right in front of my television; I wasn’t thinking about anything or anyone… my mind was blank and empty except for one word… operation. I tried to keep my mind of the subject but it was useless, everything I thought of ended in the same thing, operation.  When I had had enough, I went over to my dad so we could talk.

            “Dad, can you tell me exactly what they’re going to do to you?” I demanded with a serious expression.

            “Ok, they’re going to take out my gallbladder and some other stuff… why? Are you worried?” He answered all suave.

            “No…” I lied and went back to my room.

            I threw myself against my bed and threw my socks to the floor. Why should I worry? Not even my dad seems to be upset or concerned… I guess it’s just me then. I focused on Facebook and on my television to make my mind not think about the operation anymore… but it came back to me when I stumbled upon a picture of a doctor on Google images.

            I looked over to my right in order to see what time it was, 9:45 my clock read. Since I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I just went to sleep so I could forget of everything, but first I thought of how my dad wasn’t even worried about the operation… I seriously need to stop taking things so seriously, life’s too short to worry too much.

The Catcher in the Rye... Still Relevant Today?

The Catcher in the Rye… Still Relevant Today?

            The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is an infamous book known all around the world, usually when a book is famous it is because many people have read it, but this one is also famous for been recalled as one of the books that has been banned the most. Within the pages of this book lay scenarios displaying “vulgar and obscene language’, drunkenness, prostitution, delinquency and references to sex it has also been accused of being: ‘anti-white’ (1963-Columbus, Ohio) (Chasan 2). After this been said, it is quite obvious that The Catcher in the Rye is not a book for children of small ages therefore it can only be read with a certain level of maturity coming from the reader. The Catcher in the Rye may not be an affable book to many of those who have heard of it or even read it, but it is still a coming of age book that I personally believe must be read with care and responsibility to analyze its pages in order to gain further understanding of the message J.D. Salinger was trying to transmit through the pages of the book. As a reader, I believe it is a must read, even in these times of terrorism and delinquency since a book doesn’t simply lose its meaning with time; yes, it still is relevant to this times.

            If one does right to read the book and analyze it carefully, one will get the message, but if one doesn’t read the book and analyze it carefully, one will not get the message whatsoever. I feel that the book must continue to be read because it shows the struggle of a young adult, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield struggling with his life without any direction to turn to in his existence. As I read, there were many things Holden did that I found strange and confusing since he not only lived in different times, but he was also alone in the streets of New York City. As time passed, I continued to gain different insights into Holden’s life and what he was thinking of doing next. An element that rose from the book or from my understanding of the book, is that one should always forge connections to other persons so you are never left alone like Holden was. It also concurred to me that the world is full of “phonies” just like Holden says.

            I think that as a teenager myself, all teenagers can distinguish something they can relate to in the course of Holden and the fact that he thinks of everyone as phonies. However, Holden eventually realizes that human relationships are very important and that they are worth the sacrifice of isolation. I say this is an accurate feeling that most teenagers can relate to. I believe that as a teenager, we are simultaneously repulsed and drawn to the adult world, and that this book vividly displays this conflict. Therefore, I have no more to say other than that this book should continue to be taught to teenagers, in an instructive manner.

            Even though this book has been banned in many places for its obscene language and explicit content, I believe that it is a very good book for young adults and teenagers because it is a coming of age novel. If I hadn’t read this book, I wouldn’t be aware of all the things that could happen if I went the wrong way with my life, but since I read it and analyzed it, I am now aware of the many things that can be avoided easily if one is careful enough to see them come before they strike.

            In all I believe that The Catcher in the Rye is still relevant to this times and will continue to be relevant throughout the future as more and more teenagers will continue to read it. Even though it has many obscene and vulgar scenarios, it teaches young adults that one must form strong connections with the people around you so you are never left alone without any hope; it also teaches many other things throughout its course that teach values to teenagers. I really enjoyed reading the book as for it will be one of my favorite coming of age novels, I also recommend it to all the teenagers who have it at their disposal.

Book Review: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Memoir Summary: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

In the memoir, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is an infamous British detective obviously known for being good at cracking and solving mysteries. Alongside with his partner, Watson, they work to solve and unravel every and any cases citizens find themselves stumbling upon. Throughout the story, Sherlock and Watson help desperate citizens with problems or situations they do not fully comprehend and suffer from.

The story is told from Watson's point of view. Watson is an elegant, smart British doctor who serves as Sherlock's friend, as aforementioned, partner, and flat mate. John H. Watson, was born on the 7^th of July in the year 1852, he is mostly known as Dr. Watson. Watson is described to have a strong build; it is believed this is so because he was a former athlete in a rugby team. Before Watson and Sherlock met, Watson served in the British army as Assistant Surgeon for the army’s medical department in Afghanistan, but later, he was dispatched because he sustained injuries in battle—  his shoulder and his leg; the leg injury explains why he is described to have a limp and carries a cane with him everywhere he goes. Although Watson’s history is well noted, Holmes’ is not as well documented, I find this bizarre because in my opinion, Sherlock does more of the work out of the two and is also more renown, the known information about Sherlock is only that he was born in the year 1854, but even his exact birthdate wasn’t specified. He is described as bohemian to his lifestyle and habits. Watson also says that Holmes is an eccentric man. They are quite the opposite in some ways, even though he is very smart and an analytical machine he is somewhat stubborn... Not in a bad way though, in a dangerous way. By this I mean that he won't give up a case even if it's completely impossible to unravel. It is also said by Watson, that Holmes takes use of cocaine when he does not have any stimulating cases; Holmes states that cocaine stimulates his brain when it is not in use.

Many times in the course of events Sherlock and Watson found themselves stuck with a case that wouldn't seem to be going anywhere, but at the end they managed to find truth behind it. An example of this situation could be their first adventure, Silver Blaze. In this adventure they were requested by Colonel Ross which is the owner of a horse called Silver Blaze- Silver Blaze is racehorse that has won the Wessex Cup 5 times consecutively- the case says that Silver Blaze was stolen from his training stable, but it is not known by whom... When the facts where all delivered to Sherlock and Watson, they thought deeply about it but could not come to any possible conclusion without looking deeper into the timeline of events that occurred the night Silver Blaze was kidnapped. When they got all the facts together they managed to come to a conclusion, they had agreed that the horse had kicked the kidnapper that had already taken the horse out into the fields, after the horse had done this, it had fled and arrived at a neighbor’s house where it was taken care of while they figured whose it belonged to. This is just an example where Sherlock and Watson were stuck with a case that didn't seem to go anywhere, at least for a while.

After Watson and Sherlock continued to solve cases together, an odd visitor appeared at their door in their 221B Baker Street residence. It was a desperate man in urgent needs of Watson’s and Sherlock’s assistance. This man was called Mr. Grant Munro and he had come to Sherlock and Watson because he was very worried about his wife. The facts about the case were that Mr. Munro’s wife had being sneaking out of their house in order to go to another house that was previously uninhabited. Whenever Mr. Munro would walk by the house, he would see a yellow face staring at him all the way from the second floor of the suspicious house. When he had had enough, he made his wife promise that she wouldn’t go there again because he didn’t like for there to be any secrets between them both… but that same night, her wife had sneaked out of the house. It appears that all this had happened the day before Mr. Munro had gone to Sherlock’s residence. When Sherlock and Watson had gotten enough time to elaborate on the case, they had come to the conclusion that maybe Mr. Munro’s wife’s ex-husband who was supposedly dead might be living there. A day later, Mr. Munro sent a wire to the Holmes residence, Sherlock and Watson went over to Mr. Munro’s residence right away. Angry and frustrated, Mr. Munro, Holmes, and Watson infiltrated the suspicious house only to find that Mr. Munro’s wife was there with an African-American child, she immediately confessed that it was her daughter from her ex-husband and that she was only wearing a yellow mask so Mr. Munro would not see her skin color. To Mrs. Munro’s surprise, Mr. Munro did not dislike the child; he actually took the child in as his own. Even though the case wasn’t really a serious one, Sherlock and Watson still enjoyed solving it together.

As more events and cases took place, my character, Watson started realizing that he doesn’t feel comfortable working without Sherlock Holmes because it is easier for both of them to work together. He comes to realize that he is the ordinary man and Holmes is an emotionally-detached analytical machine, they are both completely the opposite and make the perfect detective pair.

As for the title, I believe it was named this way because the book has a lot of different memoirs in it that tell of the moments were Sherlock and Watson were solving cases. I didn’t find any other meaning regarding to the title since it is quite simple, “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”. The content of the book was organized by adventures; Arthur Conan Doyle decided to make each chapter have an adventure. Within each adventure there was always a case for Sherlock and Watson to solve.

As I began to read this book in class one day, I thought it was very interesting and I found it very intriguing… this is so because I have always liked books that have both a mystery and still get to have adventure in them. I think that it was a very good read for me because it caught my eye in many different ways, for example, I really found it bright for Arthur Conan Doyle to make each adventure in the book more and more mind blowing than the one before it, this way I would be reeled in to keep reading more and more of it without getting bored at all. Some of the lines I loved in the book where this once when Sherlock and Watson were discussing how to act upon a case and Sherlock simply just said “You know my methods, Watson”. This line told me that Sherlock and Watson were so close together that they didn’t really need to consult the things they do. The second one I really liked also was during the second adventure- The Yellow Face- when Watson said “Any truth is better than indefinite doubt”, because it made me think about it over and over again, I thought that it was very smart of him to say that because it is actually true to me.

Overall, it is a very good book and a very well written memoir for experienced teens and people of all ages that like to read books that take a while to understand. I recommend it because it is very interesting and it takes some time to fully understand the things that happen while Sherlock and Watson solve cases.