Gardens of Winter

      This presentation was about her art gallery. All of her art was basic at home objects such as a chain link fence or a quilt made completely of paper. She did a good job of keeping on task and the project flowing nicely, although at some points she loses her train of thought and has a few seconds of "uhm.." and paper shuffling. I think to improve, she might work on that and a more grabbing introduction; she kind of just jumped into her information. She did a good job choosing pictures, they were very interesting, giving many different angles of her work.
       Overall, it was a good presentation and put together well. I like the Pecha Kucha presentation because its very straightforward on what the presentation is supposed to be like. I've easily filled in my 10 slides; actually, I have more information than I probably need or will be able to talk about.

Amazing Aquariums in China

       In the latest email I received from my pen pal, Erica, she responded to my love for whales by telling me about an aquarium in Qingdao called Qingdao Polar Ocean World. She said "I used to see whales but it was in a long distant and it was a crowded sight spot in Qingdao. I love animals but they are not easy to see." Upon reading this, I became interested in the various aquariums throughout China; the most amazing one I found was Dalian Shengya Ocean Park.

       This aquarium has the longest underground sea channel in Asia. Here's a picture of it:

       There aren't a lot of aquariums like this in China but the ones there are, are all amazing. Here's some more pictures from them: 

Sources:

Erica. "Hi" Email Correspondence. Email to Sydney Bertalott. 3 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Song, Candice. "China's Top 7 Most Popular Aquariums and Ocean Worlds." ChinaHighlights. N.p., 8       Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Reading Response 3; Identical

       Raeanne and Kaeleigh continue to tell us more and more of their lives, thereby revealing how truly horrible they are. As I stated earlier, Kaeleigh has been sexually molested by the girls' father and Raeanne is doing anything and everything to gain that sort of attention, from him, from anyone, really. The latest development is that of their eating disorders. Both the girls are bulimic.

"Most people/hate to vomit./Can't stand/the protest/of an upset/stomach,/the heave/of bile and/undigested food,/the carve of/acid in the/esophagus./Okay, I don't/like that/part much/myself. But/I do like/the cool of/porcelain on/my face,/the solid/of tile beneath/my butt./Most of all, I like my belly/emptied, even/temporarily,/of food./Of fat./Of pain."

-Raeanne

"Its screaming to be fed. Begging to be satisfied./Its probably weird/to think about an addiction like it's a sentient being, but that's how it feels./Like it's something living inside you. Something you can't get rid of because killing it means killing you./I can't really understand addictions to drugs or alcohol. Things that control you./But an eating disorder is an addiction you control."

-Kaeleigh

        J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 1997, 36(8):1107–1115 has done research on childhood abuse/neglect being linked to Bulimia Nervosa.

So clever

Side note: I just discovered this spiffy thing about my book. I feel like I think this is way cooler than it actually is, but I'll post about it anyway. 

The words pulled out to the side mirror each other each time the narrator is switched. Because they're IDENTICAL TWINS. HA. 

Reading Response 2; Identital

There's been an accident.

A car accident. They were hurt and their family hasn't been the same since. 

The girls' mother is running for office so she is gone a lot of the time, leaving dad at home and lonely. By switching the role of narrator between the girls, Hopkins is able to show how both feel about the accident and how their father has acted since.

Raeanne would do anything for his attention whether its wearing the right clothes or making herself throw up after eating. Kaeleigh, on the other hand, has pulled away from him, with good reason. Raeanne spoke of the night when their father crawled into bed with Kaeleigh for the first time, she said:

"Oh, i did try to tell Mom once, but she closed up like an oyster around that pearl of truth. I guess I could have offered descriptions of Daddy's 'privates' (his word), the way he wears his scars. But hey, if she didn't care, why the hell should I? Instead, I stood by and watched father love turn to what came later."

Hopkins hasn't said anything outright about the molestation or what exactly goes on but by using passages like this and his alcohol problem she not so subtly hints at it. The story keeps getting creepier and creepier. The creepiest thing about all of this is that Raeanne repeatedly says how she doesn't understand why Kaeleigh avoids him and how she craves his affection. But is this secret about their father THE secret? 

We'll find out. 

You know you love me. 

xoxo,

Bertablog.

Identical; Ellen Hopkins

I've began reading Identical by Ellen Hopkins. The covers pretty bleh, nothing exciting. Just the word Identical with a reflection; shocker. But, hey, if you're curious:

I chose this book because her book Crank is one of my favorites. Her writing is almost poetic in the sense that it's written in 2-3 word lines and each time you turn the page there is a new header; small poems that all come together to tell a story. Hopkins' books are generally dark and usually based on teenage girls who get into some trouble involving drugs and other things of that nature and from what I've read, Identical is no different. But dark stories are the best stories because who wants to read a tale with constant happy endings? No one. That's not real. 

Dark. Cynical. Tragic. 

That's real life and my favorite kind of book.

Identical starts out with Raeanne, one of the twins, narrating. Hopkins grabs the readers attention by first speaking of how her and her sister, Kaeliegh, are identical; on the outside at least. She explains how different they are otherwise, calling Kaeliegh the egg, who acts exactly as their mother, and herself the sperm, being just like her father. 

And before diving into the story, she ends with this quote: 

"Do twins begin in the womb? 

Or in a better place?"

Hopkins' writing style is one of those that makes you unable to put down a book because a good stopping point is nonexistent. The story has you hanging on to every word until the very end, where usually there is no magical solution that makes the character's life great and perfect because like I said, she writes truth, real life.

I soon found that both of the girls carry a burden with them; a secret.

 The narrating then switches to Kaeliegh who tells about needing to confide in someone about this secret; but who? I'm anxious to find what the girls have gotten themselves into; and how, or if, they'll get out of it. I'll keep you posted.

You know you love me. 

xoxo, 

Bertablog.

101 things about me :)

1) I love whales. 

2) I hate tomatoes. 

3) If you chase me, I'll start crying.

4) I love to read. Anything and everything. 

5) I know every song from every classic Disney movie, word for word.

6) I like to draw.

7) I absolutely adore whales.

8) I'm having a hard time coming up with these.

9) I hate feet, and the word moist.

10) I'm in an abusive relationship.

11) I'm grumpy 99.9% of the time.

12) I am really bad at keeping animals alive.

13) Like, really really bad.

14) I want to move to California when we graduate because misery and Missouri are synonymous. 

15) I like to watch crime shows while I do my homework because the productive people motivate me.. what?

16) Did I mention I love whales?

17) I have 4 uncles, 5 aunts, 56 cousins, and 2 sisters.

18) I love baseball.

19) Pumpkin pie is the only pie I like, and I hate breakfast foods.

20) Number 10 might be a lie.