Outside Reading #6

"Why didn't he say goodbye? I gave myself a bruise. Why didn't he say "I love you"?" (Foer 207)
This quote is after Oskar listened to a message that his dad had left when the twin towers were hit. Oskar wonders why his dad didn't say goodbye and why he doesn't say I love you. He also wonders why his dad left be hind this strange key. This is something that happens to many of us; we lose a loved one and we begin to wonder why they did certain things or why they ended up where they did. We will never be able to understand why people do the things they do. We can't explain someone else's life because we don't know what was going on inside their head at all times. I think that many of us read to much into things. For example, Oskar keeps reading into his dad's messages and trying to find hidden meanings. This isn't going to help us get over the lose of a loved one, it is just going to drag us down. I think that people try to figure out the life and actions of a loved one because they don't want to let them go. I think that people are afraid that if they aren't constantly thinking about them, that they will forget all of the memories that they shared together. But, I think that if people just remembered the good times that were without mystery or question, then they will remember the person in a better light. I do not think that it is good to question yourself about why a person does this because you will never know of you are right, so you might as well leave it alone and remember the good times.

Outside Reading #5

“I didn’t understand why I needed help, because it seemed to me that you should wear heavy boots when your dad dies, and if you aren’t wearing heavy boots, then you need help” (Foer 200).
This quote really made me think. I mean what is a healthy way to grieve? Is it disrespectful to move on or is it healthy to grieve for a long time? This is a hard question to answer, and I think that it all depends upon the person and their situation. Grieving is a natural thing and we use it to deal with our feelings and emotions. If we don’t grieve or even just sort through our emotions, those feelings are going to come around and affect us later on in life. But, on the other hand, if we spend too much time grieving and our life just stops, that isn’t healthy either because we could fall into depression or just fall behind on life. It is healthy to grieve, but not for a long period of time. I know that when a loved one dies, you feel like you are never going to get over their death. It is hard to know how to move on with your life. But, you must move on. Just sitting in the same place in your life and not moving forward is not going to help anything because all you will be thinking about are your feelings. When you are going on with daily activities, you begin to think about other things. This is not to say that you don’t have those feeling on your mind, but the daily tasks just distract you. And, eventually you will be back to a normal life.

Outside Reading #4

"Dad was just someone who ran a family jewelry business. Just an ordinary dad. But I wished so much, then, that he had been Great. I wished he'd been famous, famous like a movie star, which is what he deserved. I wished Mr. Black had written about him, and risked his life to tell the world about him, and had reminders of him around his apartment" (Foer 159-160).
For many people, their goal in life is to be remembered or to be famous. But, their are very few of us that reach that high glory of becoming so famous that we will be written about in history books or have movies made about our lives. But, reaching that high glory of being famous around the world, does not mean that we are not important. We will always be remembered by the people that love and care for us. I think that this is more important than being liked by a large number of the present population and the people to come. We should realize that we are famous. We may not be famous across a country or the world, but within or lives, we are famous. Our families will always remember us, and that is what being famous is; being remembered by people. It may not be a large number of people, but the number of people that will remember you is not important. The important thing is that we stand out and achieve for ourselves and the people around us. We want to be remembered for doing good things. Would you rather be famous to many people, like Hitler, for killing millions, or be famous, to a few people, for treating people with respect?

Blog Post #4

The twins sang a duet on bicycles, while showing off their biceps. One was bi-polar, while the other slipped in ethanol, after smelling Carbon Dioxide

Outside Reading #3

“I like to see people reunited, maybe that’s a silly thing, but what can I say, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can’t tell fast enough, the ears that aren’t big enough, the eyes that can’t take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone, I sit on the side with a coffee and write in my daybook, I examine the flight schedules that I’ve already memorized, I observe, I write, I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember, being here fills my heart with so much joy, even if that joy isn’t mine” (Foer 109).
This quote talks about how the joy and happiness from others can make you happy. Sometimes, it is like a chain reaction. If one person is in a good mood, they might put another person in a good mood, and then that person might put someone else in a good mood, and the cycle goes on and on. Many people think that they only get joy out of something good that happens to them, but they also feed off of the joy of others. When you see a team win a championship or a student get an “A” on a test, you are happy not only for them, but their happiness brings joy to you. I am not saying that this happens to everyone, but I think that people feed off of each other’s emotions. This can be a good or bad thing, but I think that the emotions of the people around you, affect your mood and feelings.

Blog #3

The trio of triplets were triathletes, who rode tricycles. They won third place, which received a tripod with a tricolored triceratops. The triplets also played baseball. The trio hit tree triples and got three triple plays. In the end, the triplet trio won a triangular tripod for third place.

Outside Reading #2

“Even if it was relatively insignificant, it was something and I needed to do something, like sharks who die if they don’t swim, which I know” (Foer 87). This quote is in a section of the book when the characters are talking about how anything you do changes history, no matter how small the change may be. I think this quote is important because many people feel that if they aren’t changing the world, then they aren’t doing anything important, but that is not true. Everything that we do makes a difference. For example, if your family recycles, you are helping the planet. You aren’t completely changing the earth because not everyone recycles, but you are still doing something to help. I think that this quote really makes people think about their life and their goals. I feel that if everyone knew that everything that they did had an impact on history that more people would strive to do bigger and better things. Another quote that supports this is, “If you hadn’t don’t it, human history would have been one way…””Uh-huh?” ”But you did do t, so…” I stood one my bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: “I changes the course of human history” (Foer 86). The example in the book was about how if you moved one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert, would it really make a difference? Well, how will we ever know? We don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t moved that grain of sand. Foer does a good job of getting into the deeper questions that people have about life, throughout this book.