Log Entry Mark III

Log of the week of #3
Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen
Chapter 9-13 Question


The session starts with Eliza (still in Netherfield) spending much of the night in Jane's room. During the morning, she sent a note back home; desiring her mother to come see Jane and form her own Judgment of the situation.

Of course, Mrs. Bennet being Mrs. Bennet, she prolonged the two Sister's stay in the estate; believing that Jane is still much to sick to be moved back home.

Other things happened too, Darcy's character was further developed; along with Caroline's and the rest of the Bingley household. But despite that, is still do not understand how a character such as Mr. Darcy can come to be, or how Caroline could end up being infatuated with him.

Again, She was rather distasteful of Lizzy.

Book Review - Looking for Alaska

Review
Looking for Alaska

John Green

As a book, Looking for Alaska is brilliant. It is shameless, enigmatic, resourceful, dynamic and brilliant. It is beautifully paced and the characters are easy to relate too. Certain pages were also filled with metaphors, even the cover page carries a certain meaning.

As hinted in the fourth and final Log entry, I have finished the book before, and am capable of creating an informed opinion.

The plot was interesting and fun to read; with unexpected turns and high slopes. It was one of those books where my prediction of the ending was wrong. As I have said, Dynamic.

Although it isn't up to par to John Green's latest work- The Fault in Our Stars, reading this book was a memorable experience.

Log Entry Mark II

Log of the week of #4
Looking for Alaska

John Green
100 days before  Predict


The chapter starts with Pudge and Alaska, both sitting on a worn leather couch, watching MTV in the TV Lounge.

Alaska explained the origins of her name; saying that her present for her 7th birthday is that she got to pick her own name. She claimed that she chose Alaska as her name because 'It was big, just like how I wanted to be. And it was damn far away from Vine Station, Alabama.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV, cracking jokes about commercials; saying that Blue Citrus needs its own car commercial.

Now let's pretend I haven't finished this book before and had just read up to now.
To quote Miles 'Pudge' Halter; "Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there.' I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I know it's beautiful- and Enigmatic.

Log Entry Mark II

Log of the week of #3
Looking for Alaska

John Green
109 - 108 - 101 days before   Foolery



The chapter starts with Pudge and the Colonel talking about
the upcoming Basketball match between Culver Creek and some Christian school from Birmingham.

He explained that the Culver Creek has the worst high school basketball team in the entirety of Alabama; but even so- they always beat the Deaf-and-Blind school by more than 30-6.

Although Pudge himself hated sports, hated people who played them, hated people who watched them, and hated people who didn't hate people who played sports; he agreed to watch the game simply because the gym would be the only air-conditioned room in the Creek. I know how that feels like; back in 6th grade I used to watch the HS basketball games just so I can steal their oranges.

During the game; the Colonel lead the cheering; made fun of the players of both teams, and was subsequently kicked out of the room. Pudge followed suit.
The Colonel explained he had a 37 kick out streak to maintain.

-------------------------

The next day, he was called in by Dr.Hyde- that told him 'You've got a lifetime to mull over the Buddhist understanding of interconnectedness. But while you were looking out the window, you missed the chance to explore the equally interesting Buddhist belief in being fully and truly present in every facet of your daily life."
He obviously wrote that down before.

-------------------------

On the first morning of October; Pudge and the Colonel woke up late; and was barely in time to get in to French class.
By night; Pudge was introduced to Blue Citrus Alaska's tiny blue two door Lemon-car. They then grabbed six other people who wanted to come with them, and they drove away to the nearest McDonalds.
There, the eight of them group studied Precalc, with the unexpectedly brilliant Alaska acting as their tutor.

Log Entry Mark II

Log of the week of #2
Looking for Alaska

John Green
126 days - 122 days before   Foolery


The chapter starts out with our tall, chicken legged and skinny protagonist, Miles 'Pudge' Halter, waking up to the yelling of his rich-guy-hating roommate and new found friend- Chip 'The Colonel' Martin as he held his (urine soaked) well-worn, once-white tennis shoes by the laces. I mean, imagine the work he'd done to get a hold of those shoes! He lives in a trailer park!

The words,
"Well, now it's WAR!" didn't echo through out the room, no- they're room was much to small for any echoing to happen.

With a terrifying light in his eyes, Chip was determined to ruin the miserable little lives of the people who dared pissed in his pants. And... you know.... Duct taped Miles and dumped him in the lake half naked.

Later that day, after the many struggles Pudge faced in French class, Pudge finds himself in the World Religion class- taught by the notorious (-ly condescending...) Dr. Hyde.
As the one-lunged old man shuffles his way to class, his heavy breathing can be heard in the ever silent classroom. He declared that as he hasn't much time or breath to waste, his will be a lecture class. Little small talk, little scriptures, little worship, more history and information.
I don't really like religion all that well, but religion class might actually be fun and informative if it was more like this. In 50 minutes, he made Pudge took religion more seriously than ever, regardless of whether he believed in one or not.

Personally, Mil- Pudge thinks the Doctor is a genius, no matter how condescending he may seem. I think so too, as a teacher who can keep their student/s interested with the topic alone is a force to be reckoned with. He seldom sounds like a fun guy though, I think I would still prefer Miss Hanna.

We are then later introduced to Sara, the Colonel's (kinda bitchy) girlfriend who is supposed to pick him up for their night at the opera (with her parents I might add), butttt he's dressed shoddily and they ended up being jerks to each other. They're both bad lovers, they deserve each other.

From there, the Colonel found out the reason behind the pissing in his shoes and the almost-killing of Pudge.

Log Entry Mark II

Log of the week of #1
Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green
131 days - 127 days before   Connect



Although I must say that I have never had a going away farewell party with no one attending, I have definitely experienced the nervous-nauseating feeling of moving from school to school. It's not something I experience very often, but it's definitely a familiar experience.

The scene of your parents expecting an explanation or some kind of  confession that would be along the lines of 'This is not what I wanted all along' is also something I've been through a few times.
-
Living in and around Jakarta (where the temperature averages at 27celcius under normal climate) I think we all know what it is like to be in a hot- moist room where the only other option would be the hot blaring sun outside. As well as probably having to do manual labor under those conditions.

The feeling of disappointment you have after you find out that your last hope of salvation (under those circumstances)- the shower, only fires with the intensity of a dripping faucet is definitely something I know. The amount of times the plumbing failed me isn't miniscule, and although it may not always be the shower, I have had a few terrible experiences with plumbing in the past. This is why all bathrooms should have a bucket o' water prepared inside them, complete with a plastic gayung, as to avoid these kinds of situations.
 -
I have never smoked before (and not exactly planning to either), but being surrounded by constant smokers- the nauseating smell of burnt tobacco lingering in your throat is a smell I've had to get used to.

I have never been thrown in a lake with only my boxers and with my body duct taped like a mummy. which is why I can't relate to them as well as the other scenes. But I do know thoughts like 'I might not survive this' and 'Those were terrible last words' are somethings you can quickly pull out of your arse when you're in a situation of danger.

Garlics and Shallots

Many of us know about the classic fairy tale of Cinderella made up by the brotherly duo, the Grimm Brothers. Coincidently, it has somehow a similar story on a story from Indonesia: Garlic and Shallot (Bawang Putih dan Bawang Merah).

The story of the Garlic and Shallot goes like this. There is a girl named Garlic, she was always tortured by her step mother and her step sister. One day, she lost her step mother’s scarf and her step mother sent her and told her to not come back until she finds it. This story, Garlic and Shallot was made in the country of Indonesia.

This story as we said before, Garlic and Shallot is somehow similar to Cinderella. Garlic and Shallot has a part where Garlic, both the Protagonist and the Main Character in this story has an evil step mother and an evil step sister same like Cinderella. They are both patient about their suffering and they’re both wishing something. Though, there are differences like when Cinderella wants (and later gets) romance with a prince while Garlic gets a pumpkin filled with treasure. They both also achieve it differently, while Cinderella gets it by the help of nature while Garlic gets it with the help of God and with her kindness to an old widow.

 If you want to know the rest, read the folklore. You could find it on Folklore books both for kids and the real one, which one you want is fine, they’re both the same.

This story is really good to read because of its very meaningful message. The message of this story is: Always be patient and always be nice to people in need, and one day you’ll be rewarded. Cinderella also has the similar message.

This story reminds me of the book Ranah 3 Warna (Land of 3 colors). The main character of both stories both believe in the saying “Good things come to those who wait.”, and they are both very optimistic and are willing to go to great lengths to satisfy those they care about.

Garlic’s optimism and capacity for empathy is impressive, as she goes through so much verbal abuse. A typical girl her age in modern times will barely hold the abuse that long. They would just give up in life.

So in conclusion, both Garlic and Shallot and Cinderella has the same root problem and they’re both the main character getting rewarded with something they wanted. They are also grateful for it. Thanks for reading.

 

                                           -Andreas Christian

(Not me. He's the writer of (most of) the article.)