You Shall Know Our Velocity

I absolutely loved You Shall Know Our Velocity! I thought the characters were perfect as well as the whole plot line. The actual idea of the book makes me wish it actually happened and it was a real account, but it’s not, which is a shame. Anyways, right at the beginning of the book, I feel in love with Hand because of his random knowledge and personality, but I should have known better. I ended up with a feeling of wanting to punch Hand in the face because he was actually really rude and immature throughout a majority of the book. Will, on the other hand, had a different kind of immaturity. He couldn’t deal with real life and live in the present. He is so stuck on Jack and in the past, he gets into his own mind too much and plays out a different life than the one he is actually dealing with.
I loved Will’s character though because I think that’s how everyone really is to a certain extent. I mean, if people could hear my thoughts, they would probably think I’m along the lines of a psychopath. Although I like to think that I am not as bad as Will, I often find myself drifting into my own little world, talking to people who are either dead, or not with me (this is all in my head of course, I’m not blabbering all of this aloud). So I guess I sometimes live in my own perfect reality. In my mind, I am brave enough to say everything I want to say to the person who needs to hear it. I am the gallant, beautiful warrior who is always able to save the day somehow; not in a fairly tale kind of way, but in a realistic, miracle-like way. It’s all rather juvenile, but we all need to keep our inner child at work. Regardless of people admitting it or not, everyone wants to be the hero in their own life story and sometimes to make that come true, they have to prepare themselves in their head, like Will.
Though out this whole book, I was so jealous of the freedom Will and Hand held. They went wherever, whenever and simply took the journey as it came at them. However, I will probably be more selfish with the money, but I suppose if it was tainted like Will’s, I would be quicker to give it up. People can always talk game, like they are so selfless and charitable, but I would like to see how many people would actually go through with their words and actually give away money. I mean, so many people say if they had a million dollars, they would donate some of it to a cause. However, we all know that would slip most people’s minds and they may or may not follow through with the charity until they have already purchased themselves a new car, house, or traveled all over the world in luxury.
This book makes me want to take chances and live more on a whim. However, right now is the time for college and I guess this is an adventure in itself. I just hope someday, I am able to make my journey and maybe even live some of my fantasy world I have going on in my head, not caring if people think I am crazy. If they think I’m a little off the rocker, they can deal with it.

Intertextuality

The example of intertextuality that I found was actually kind of easy because I was listening to this song was stuck in my head when I came to class. The song, “Love Story” by Taylor Swift is a really obvious example of intertextuality in music.
The song references Romeo and Juliet because it describes a typical love between two young people whose love is forbidden by the father of the girl.

“That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles,
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don’t go.

And I said, Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby just say yes.”

Another intertextuality used in the song is the scarlet letter. The idea is that the girl is a scarlet letter because the boy isn’t supposed to be with her. I’m not sure if the scarlet is supposed to represent that it is a sin to be with her or more of the idea of anyone who wears a scarlet letter is untouchable; not really that she is untouchable in a bad way because the original idea was to show that someone committed adultery. I think it is more of the idea that she is different because he dad loves her so much so no one should be able to have her.

“Cause you were Romeo, I was the scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
You were everything to me
And I was begging you please do go.”

So overall, this song has two references to another story. Also, the whole concept of the song is taken from Romeo and Juliet whether or not it was referenced.

Blue Highways Response

When first beginning to read Blue Highways, I was very unimpressed and found it rather boring. I felt as if he would drag out every little detail and overall, I really didn’t care. William Least Heat-Moon seems to have a very different personality; one I rarely encounter. He is one with out of the ordinary questions and filled with responses that have a deeper meaning (if that makes any sense). So in the beginning, I was just really annoyed with his style of writing and I actually set down the book for a few days.
After a few days, I began reading where I left off, but this time with a new perspective and having a more open mind. Now I enjoy the book a bit more, however it’s still not at the top of my list. I think now that I am getting into the book he is meeting more interesting characters, so it makes the book more bearable and interesting. My favorite has been the man who carries the bullet in his pocket and the couple who is building the boat. I loved their outlook on life.
I am still lost as to why he is going on this trip. Maybe it was said at the beginning when I hated the book, so I didn’t absorb anything from the first few pages. He seems like a very lost man, hoping to find himself (or someone else…a grave or person he was looking for? I didn’t get that part). So anyways, the book isn’t too bad, but this Heat-Moon is odd; there is something about him that I feel kind of unsure about. However, I think everyone can relate to the feeling on trying to find something, but not knowing where to begin or look.
Even though I consider Heat-Moon odd, I am actually slightly jealous of the fact he has no boundaries; he just picked up and left. I wish I could travel the country and see everything America has to offer. I actually think I would approach it like him too. I have always hated the tourist aspect of big landmarks and cities, so I would travel to small, unknown towns and find their glories. Each one has a story, probably just as good as any other tourist attraction. So I suppose I will keep giving this book a chance and hopefully he finds what he is looking for.

Rough Draft

Let the Northern Lights Erase My Family
Just like that I am gone for the world. One heart attack and I’m done. Hopefully my Clarissa and Jeremy will be able to care for themselves. Clarissa is a strong woman and will not let this take her down and she will care of Jeremy. If not, I know Pankaj will do anything for Clarissa; he absolutely adores her and he is a good man. If only their mother…
I watch as the funeral proceeds and wonder if Jeremy understands what has happened. Soon he will be returned to the Home for Retarded Adults where he is comfortable and Clarissa and Pankaj can relax and take in the new situation. Looking down at the funeral audience I see one person missing and a part of my heart goes out to her. Why did she ever leave me? I thought I did everything right. I loved her in the best way I could. I suppose it is Olivia’s style; her way of living. I can’t continue to hold this against her. Maybe, not that I want this to be true, she is dead. We held a funeral for her after she left us, convincing people she had simply died, so maybe she did. Maybe I will find her and see her here in heaven. However, she will probably run away from me, yet again.

Pankaj and Clar return home, to my home, to her childhood. She relaxes as Pankaj starts a fire, but I can see worry in her face. She quickly gets up and heads toward my study, originally Olivia’s. Clarissa begins rummaging through the drawers and pulls out my address book. She quickly realizes that I hadn’t placed her address under Iverton, but under the ABC section for Clar. It’s where my daughter belongs. After reading through her long list of addresses, she moves on, opening and closing desk drawers.
She finds old papers and random knick-knacks, briefly looking at each. Finally she hits the bottom drawer. I watch as she takes out the manila folder. Anyone would be able to tell that the Clarissa’s written across the front was Olivia’s handwriting. She begins shifting through the folder, pulling out report cards and notes from school, watercolor paintings, and other childhood memories. I smile to myself as I remember her younger days, wishing desperately to go back to how things were when she was young; before her mother left.
I force myself to stop daydreaming and watch as she pulls out another piece of paper. As she reads, I read too. And it hit me. I realize in an instant things would change. Clarissa starts to panic and clears the desk. I should have known better, I should have told her. None of this was going to end well. I watch as she reads the birth certificate over and over again, hoping to understand what it says. I want to reach down and grab Clar into my arms and hold her tight. I wish with all my heart and soul and yet there is nothing I can possibly do.
Clarissa makes her way to the shower in shock, not ready to accept what is happening. This is too much for her, I need to be there. This is my fault. Pankaj finds her sitting in the shower, soaking wet and takes care of her, like he should. She eventually is put into her old twin bed from her younger days. I can only assume going through her head trying to make sense of everything and come up with an answer. I just continue to watch her lay there, wanting so badly to tell her everything. Father’s are supposed to protect their children from hurt, I should have warned her. But I thought I was protecting her, by keeping it from her.
Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted when Clarissa’s voice pierced them. “He should have told me.”
Pankaj stared and answered, “He was protecting you. He—“
“He was a liar.”
The words cut through my heart. Am I supposed to feel once I’m dead? My heart is in pain. My poor Clar thinks I’ve lied to her all this time, when I only wanted to protect her. Now she wants the truth, but if she hadn’t found the envelope she never would have known. I am dead and my daughter hates me. A few hours later, after fighting with myself and finding a new hate for myself, my thoughts are interrupted again, only this time by Pankaj.
“Are you awake?”
I see Clarissa move a little and she answers yes.
“I knew.”
“You knew what?” Clarissa responds.
“I knew about Richard. That he wasn’t your real dad.”
My thoughts explode. Pankaj knows? How could he possibly know? There is only one way he could know and that is from Olivia. How could she burden him with something like this?
Clarissa pushes on, “How long have you known?”
“A long time.”
“Like days?”
“Long. Since we were—“
“Engaged?”
I can hear in Clarissa’s voice that she is getting frustrated.
“Teenagers,” Pankaj responds
“What? How?”
“Your mom told me.”
Those words stop me. I begin to think back to Olivia and how much pain she caused our family and now this? After my death? She is behind all of this. She always is. She will never stop haunting my children’s lives.
I catch the end of the conversation and feel almost a shift in the universe. I know my daughter and I can tell she is closing herself off. She has always had some of her mother in her; I have always been hoping it would just be the good. Unfortunately, I feel this time it is going to be different.

I watch as she leaves her loved ones. Pankaj has no idea what is happening, poor guy didn’t even have a chance. Clarissa learned all of this from her mother. Olivia broke my heart one hundred times over, yet I still love her. A woman like that you can’t simply forget.
My thoughts begin to drift as Clarissa makes her journey across the seas. I think about Olivia and the stupid cat she loved so much. How could a woman love a cat, a stray cat for that matter, and not love a man who did everything to make her happy? Everyone was always fighting for her attention: family and friends. Yet the stupid cat managed to win. I wonder what happened to that cat. Did it finally get the shaft from Olivia and run away because it didn’t want to fight for attention or did it just die?
Even thought my thoughts wander, I keep an eye on Clar, making sure she is being careful about everything. Careless Clarissa manages to pick up the best trouble she can find, but she can always get out of it. I see once she arrives at Helsinki, a man by the name of Kari is the bus driver and once at the hotel, he is an employee. He seems to be harmless enough, but she is on foreign land and needs to be careful. Of course, I had been waiting for it; he asks her out for the evening.
Not wanting to really know what my daughter is doing that night, I pull myself away and begin to think of Clarissa’s real father, Eero Valkeapaa. I know Clarissa is on a mission now, she wants to find her real father. I just can’t stand to think that someone is going to replace me. I know I’m gone, but I only hope my daughter can realize I am the man who raised her, I am her dad. I can’t hate her for doing this though. She deserves to know who he is, what kind of man he is, and I know she will ask about her mother. Damn Olivia always creeps up from the past somehow.

Days pass and finally Eero Valkeapaa is no longer a name. Clarissa has found him. She first saw him in a church, which I suppose I’m please. He must be a good man, respectable at the very least. He better treat my girl right and answer her questions. Olivia never gave me much to go off of, so I suppose I want the answers as well.
Of course Eero is the perfect man. I listened to their whole conversation and if Olivia would have stayed with him they would have a wonderful life her. Clarissa would have been happy. I only can hope that she was better off with me. I am so blessed to have her in my life. I feel for Eero as well. He loved Olivia, fell for her spell, just as I did. She left him too, just like she left me. That woman knows who to break hearts, all over the world apparently.

Response 2 and Paper Ideas

Ok, so first and foremost, I would like to point out that Clarissa can eat it. She is so full of crap and right now I don’t think I can put up with her. She did exactly what she hated her mother for! They both are pathetic people who run away from their problems and can’t deal with reality.
Now that I have shown my extreme dislike for Clarissa and her mother Olivia, I’m going to try to take the time to understand their side. It had to be horrible for Clarissa to finally meet her mother and have Olivia not care whatsoever what has happened in her past. I understand Olivia felt grief and repeatedly told Clarissa that she couldn’t understand, but she seemed to care less that Robert had passed away or how Jeremy is doing. That would be the worst feeling in the world having my mother, the woman I look up to, the person I want to be like, just tell me to get out of here. She has no interest in her child.
Like her mother, Clarissa ran from her problems at home and left the people who love her. However, unlike her mother, Clarissa tried to fix the problems of her past; she wanted to figure things out and possibly accept it. Olivia simply left to get away from her past. I think it is crazy how in the end Anna Kristine’s son is the father. I guess now that I know, I can see the connection and should have seen it coming. However, I really am a hopeless romantic and had high hopes for something developing between Henrik and Clarissa, but with Anna’s son being the father it shot that down.
In the end, they both let the northern lights erase their name. They both ran away to the icy areas, each with different intent. Olivia went there with the intention to be rid of her past and erase her name. Now she is a new person with a different life; the life she wanted. Clarissa went there hoping to figure out her past and once she discovered her life she wanted to be rid of it as well. She erased her name and started over. They both ran from their problems and didn’t care if they hurt the people who love them. I figure if you love someone enough, their past won’t matter, so Clarissa should have gone back to Pankaj. I feel like he loved her enough to stay with her because of love and not because he felt obligated. The only small amount of respect I have for Clarissa is the fact she cares for her daughter and in that part of her life she is different from her mother. I am glad she found happiness and has stopped running. I really hope Pankaj honestly does get to meet his daughter someday.

For my paper, I will be writing from a different characters point of view for the novel. I’m not exactly sure which character’s perspective I will write from yet. I could take the easy way out and choose Pankaj, Olivia, or any other main character, but I want to do something different. I think it would be interesting to jump inside Jeremy’s head and see how he feels about the whole situation. Starting with his father’s death and how everyone treats him, leading to his sister’s disappearance and eventual phone call ending in harsh words. I think Clarissa contacts him once she starts her new life as well, so that can add to it. If not that path, I think it would be interesting to watch the story from Robert’s point of view. I don’t know if this is as logical, but it would be him watching from above; Robert would narrate Clarissa’s life and talk his way though her decisions and how he feels through this whole ordeal. He truly loves Clarissa and wishes to be her father. Overall, I’m not 100% sure which route I will be going, but I’m sure it will fall into place.

Response 1

As of right now, I’m really pissed at Clarissa’s mother. I do not understand why she left and I feel like I need closure in order to feel sorry at all for the mother. It seems like the mother was a lonely woman, and lived a sad life, but she didn’t appreciate anything she had right in front of her. So because of that, even if she does have a sad story as to why she had to leave, I feel nothing towards her.
I am just totally baffled as to why any person would leave the people who love her most, leave the people she is supposed to love the most. That is probably a big border for me. I just don’t get it. The mother is totally unsatisfied with her love life; she leaves her first husband, she is kissing Mr. Wells (the theater man), and leaves another man who pampers her. She is also totally unsatisfied with her kids it seems, never paying the attention the children deserved. Lastly, she seems to never be content with one of her friends. I just don’t understand the mother, which I will say one hundred times over. A child never deserves to have someone leave them without at least a goodbye or explanation.
Another border that is hard for me to understand is the feeling she has when she first sees her father. I mean, I grew up with my father by my side at all times; I’m a complete daddy’s girl (which she appeared to be after her mom left and before her “other” dad died). However, now she is looking at her real father and I can’t even imagine how that would feel to want to know someone so bad, but at the same time, not wanting them to interrupt your life at all. I guess she does want him to interrupt her life since she went looking for him though.
I just don’t think her mother ever realized or decided to think of the consequences her actions would lead to. Because of sketchy mothering and hidden past, it has totally screwed up one of her children. Clarissa has to back track to the beginning just to figure everything out. I wonder if she is finding her real father because she wants to know her father or if she is really hoping to get some information on her mother; she obviously wants closure for her mother leaving like I do.

Reading :)

When we read a story, we inhabit it.The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story.And this is possible because the story's voice makes everything its own. - John Berger

This quote best describes the majority of my reading habits. When I pick up a really good book, I tend to attack it and get totally lost in its world. I am so fascinated by the exciting action and life in the book that I cannot put it down until I know everything. I love reading all different styles of writing, but one’s that have truly taken me over and lost me in their world are the mystical works, taking place in a different time or world.
Of course, the top two are probably the most popular right now anyways, but I would like to say I got caught up in them BEFORE the movies came out. The ones I started reading first were the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. As soon as I jumped into their world, I couldn’t stop. I began looking forward to book release dates and buying them the day of. It was probably an unhealthy habit, but I loved it. My other set of books is the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I didn’t start reading them right when they came out, but I caught wind of them from friends and I had to start. Once I did, it was next to impossible to stop. I would seriously stop doing homework for days at a time just to finish the book. If I didn’t read it all at once, I would be thinking about what would happen next and sometimes it became an obsession (but not in a creepy way). These both are my reading for enjoyment books, which normally takes place during the summer or breaks because, like I said before, I tend to stop doing homework when I start a good book.
Other books fascinate me as well, not only because I am stunned that my teachers have chosen them for us to read, but because it is always a book I wouldn’t have picked for myself. Of course, I end up loving it. One of my favorites and a classic is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is set in such a different time, so I should have known I would have loved it; any book written of a different time or place I will love. Some other books I have enjoyed in high school are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Gulliver’s Travels by Lemuel Gulliver, and Rebecca by Alfred Hitchcock. These books all have been enjoyable, so I’m sure the books you picked will be great as well. I have to say that Miami failed miserably when they picked Beyond UFOs for our summer reading book. That book got me absolutely nowhere and it was a complete pain to read. I mean, the author did what he could to make all that scientific data interesting, but it just didn’t work out the way he planned. The other types of books I enjoy are love stories, but I’m a girl so it’s expected. I am not all for Nicholas Sparks’ books because so far I like the movies better, but I like the love stories that get tangled up in the plot of the story. I don’t want the whole story to be mushy-gushy; I am a romantic, but most times I end up pissed because I haven’t found that love yet (I’m young, I know. It will come).
For those who don’t like to read, they are definitely limiting themselves. I think the only reason they hate reading is because they haven’t found the right books for them and they are too lazy to try. I mean, I love books. Without books, no one would have imagination to let them run away to far away lands or travel into a different time. Books are needed to allow people to grow, teach them lessons, and give them encouragement.