In Your Pants Blogfest

What are you posting?
The current book title you are reading and then add 'in my pants' afterwards.

That's it. Simple, fast, and will be super easy to read everyone elses too. Feel free to add links or picture to the books so others can find them. 

When is it happening?
September 2nd 2013.
  

Divergent In Your Pants!!!

Feature and Follow Friday!

Q: If you could only have ONE – one book – for the rest of your life. Don’t cheat…what would it be?

Tuesdays with Morrie! It teaches so many life lessons and is so powerful. If I ever needed some life advice, or some mere cheering up, I'd read it. I would see what Morrie told Mitch, then apply that to my own life.

Ten Years Later.... Blogfest

      For this blogfest. I've decided to write my post based on the very popular YA book My Sister's Keeper.  For those of you who haven't read this novel, it tells the story of a girl named Anna who was genetically conceived to be an organ donor for her sister Kate, who has leukemia. Eventually, Anna has had enough of this, and decides to sue her parents for making her be a donor to Kate. Ironically enough, Anna is the one who dies (spoiler alert!), and Kate ultimately survives.

For my ten years later entry, I've decided to write a diary entry from Kate's point of view.


                                                                                                                   June 1, 2014
Dear Diary,
Today marks the 10 year anniversary of Anna's death. I also am graduating high school today. As much as graduating brings joy to me, I cannot help but think about what should have been.

The doctors said that I was lucky that I made it to age five. Yet here I am,13 years later, graduating high school and moving into a dorm on the campus of DePaul University. I dream of becoming a pediatric oncologist.

Jesse is currently in rehab for his drug addiction to marajuana. He started smoking when Anna died. I guess it's his way of coping with this. It's been hard for all of us, especially my mom. She goes into her bed at night and cries at night when she thinks nobody can hear her. It's heart breaking. I'm off to go comfort her!

Write...Edit....Publish

I'm participating in the W.E.P blog fest today! As many of you know, I'm applying to college in a couple of months. As such, I have decided to post my essay on the blog as my entry for this blog fest. It has been edited by an english teacher, and this is my final draft. Enjoy!

The Truth About Cancer

         All of us, including me, have a story that defines who we are as human beings.  As songwriter Delta Goodrem once said, “I feel like I lost my innocence to cancer”. I too have lost my innocence to cancer.I was diagnosed with a rare type of sarcoma on my scalp in November of 2011. My treatment involved two major surgeries, the second of which involved general anesthesia, a skin graft, and a seemingly infinite recovery period. Thankfully, I am now cancer free.

Since I have had cancer, I have learned the true meaning of friendship. I had so much support from friends and family. I learned that true friends are people who are there for you even in the most difficult of times. My biggest support resource was my blog that I put together to document this whole experience. As of right now, my blog has been viewed 1,227 times by the general public. People have showed me more compassion that I would have ever thought possible! This blog has been cathartic for me because it acts as an outlet for me when I am stressed about any aspect of this experience.

         Being a cancer survivor has helped me be thankful for my health, and to have a new outlook on life. I appreciate my health so much more now that I know that there are people out there who die of cancer every day. Before the cancer was diagnosed, I used to think that only elderly adults were cancer patients, and that this would never happen to me! Now I know that cancer does not discriminate, and teenagers are just as likely to be diagnosed as older people are. I am also more careful about my health now that I know how fragile it is. I am always careful to use sunscreen, to get regular checkups, and to get as much sleep as possible.

I have learned to be more independent since I was diagnosed. I learned how to advocate for myself, not just with doctors and hospitals, but with my teachers as well. I missed a week of school second semester sophomore year, which explains why my grades went down that semester; however, I learned an equally valuable lesson- how to advocate for myself, which is a lifelong skill. During my absence, I worked on being assertive by emailing my teachers about missed work and then going in to see them when I returned to school. Being assertive and advocating for yourself is the only way to accomplish things in life. Being able to advocate for myself in college is a valuable skill that I possess.

Last but not least, cancer made me a stronger person. Presently, I do not become devastated when I hear bad news; rather, I think to myself, Ok, what’s the worst that could happen? I will just deal with it- I have no other choice. Before this diagnosis, I used to become hysterical in the face of bad news. I used to panic and become incredibly distraught. Now, when life gives me lemons, I am able to make lemonade!

Feature and Follow Friday

Q: Share something you’ve learned about book blogging or just blogging in general in the last month.

Hmm... that's a hard one! 

1. It takes a lot of patience!

2. You meet a lot of different types of people through blog hops.

3. There are annoying people who are anonymous commenters. They harass your blog, don't leave their names, and then leave a completely unproductive, irrelevant, and often annoying comment on a post. I've had this happen, and I have had no choice but to turn off anonymous commenting. Beware!

Back-to-School Jitters

All good things must come to an end, and summer is no exception. I'm excited, but nervous at the same time. I'm always nervous to meet my teachers, particularly this year. My gym teacher is on maternity leave. I don't know when she'll be back. It's always nerve wracking to walk into a classroom where there's a strange, new adult staring at you.

On the other hand, I am excited to be a senior at last. However, I cannot help feeling a bit nostalgic. All these years have gone by so fast! I remember when high school was a scary concept, yet soon it will just be a vague memory. In the words of Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over- smile because it happened!"

In terms of English this year, I am taking a writing class. Senior English gives students a ton of options to choose from, and I was in the mood to improve my writing! We'll see how it goes!

See you for Feature and Follow Friday on Thursday!

Feature and Follow Friday!

Q: Back to school. Create a reading list for the imaginary English Lit class you’ll be teaching this semester.

1. Elsewhere- Gabrielle Zevin

2. A Time for Dancing- Davida Wills Hurwin

3. Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom

4. My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Piccoult

5. A Child called "It"-Dave Pelzer

6. Catcher in the Rye- J.D Salinger
7. Stargirl- Jerry Spinelli

IWSG: First Drafts

This is my first ever IWSG post. I never thought I'd find a use for this group- after all, I am a reader, not a writer. However, I started writing my college application essay recently, and I thought it might be a good idea to join this group. I am incredibly insecure about first drafts, especially this particular one.

Before I start my rant about the reasons why I am so insecure, I'll take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Morgan. I'm 17, and I am an insecure writer.

Yes, that introduction was short and sweet, because I want time to rant. The reason I am so insecure about this essay is because I suck at writing, and because this essay is extremely personal and I only want certain people to read it. I have always thought I was a decent writer, but that train of thought changed this past school year. I had worked incredibly hard on a huge research paper for english. I showed it to my teacher, and she ripped- excuse me, RIPPED- me apart. I was devastated, and convinced myself that I sucked at writing. I dug myself into a hole that I am slowly trying to get myself out of. Anyone else ever have this experience?

Getting on to the second point, my essay is extremely personal- I had a rare type of cancer when I was 15. Because I'm writing the essay on it, I don't want just anyone to look at it. I have an irrational fear of people freaking out, when really there is no need to. Freaking out just makes the other person feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable. Trust me- I've learned the hard way. I'm almost scared to ask strangers to edit it because of that irrational fear.

Feature and Follow Friday

Q: How do you handle a book you don’t like? Do you DNF or do you power through?

I usually DNF, especially if I have backup books. Usually, I take out multiple books when I go to the library so that I always have a backup. 

On the other hand, I am forced to finish a book for school. I always have to force myself to read a book in that case. Reading is never fun when you're forced to read a book you abhor!!