another blog post alright

Honestly the last book I started to read was the hunger games which I have read before. I did a blog post on it, but I do not want to write about it again. I stopped reading it and I haven't started a new book yet. So I really don't know what to do. The most recent thing I have read that is close to fiction since rereading part of the hunger games was this short story about a guy trying to find OFWGKTA member, Earl Sweatshirt. OFWGKTA is relatively new rap group that has just started their rise to fame. A member of the group, Earl Sweatshirt at age 17 disappeared and no one knew where he was except the rest of the rap group. Now people know, but this was a short fictional story about finding Earl that I can try to write a decent blog post about.

One topic brought up in this story is the comical use of political figures and leads me to other thoughts. In this case it would be music. I do not remember who it was they were making fun of, but I do remember parts of the story. So basically what happened is Earl is captured by the political figure that he made fun of in one of his songs. This makes me think about how far the extent of the freedom of speech can go. For example you can't say a selection of cuss words on public television. I think think this completely defeats the purpose of freedom of speech. Where ever you are, you can say what ever you want. You may be charged with disturbing the peace, or charged for threatening if you use it in the wrong way. But in general, public television is definitely one of the places freedom of speech should kick in.

Why? Because the United States of America was and is a place of freedom. People in other countries can be executed for speaking out. America promised our immigrant ancestors who came to this country freedoms. And one of those freedom was the freedom of speech. The U.S is not most stable country in the world, but some of our freedoms is a reason to be proud of our country.

I do admit that cusses on television have eased up a bit. I remember when they couldn't say the S word on television and I hear it all the time on comedy central. Another topic that can be brought up is movies. Movies are different because they have ratings on them. You must meet the required age for the rating to see the movie. That is a whole other discussion, but what I'm talking about plays a role in movies too.

Sorry I couldn't write about a book exactly. Next time I promise I will. 

Rereading Hunger Games until I find a new book

As I'm reading this book again, the question that came up early was, what would you do for your family, and at what cost? 



In the book Katniss, time and time again, takes tremendous risks for her family. She hunted at the risk of getting shot, she illegally sold items for money, and she took her younger sisters place for the reaping. Wow, I mean she really cares about her family. I mean, should she really risk that much? Should she being doing these things, even at the risk of death? 

There's a saying, "would you steal bread to save your family from starving"? Now, strait up I would say yes. I would definitely steal that bread. I would take that risk. But when I think about what could happen to me. I think otherwise. What if it's not just stealing bread? The consequences could be much worse than a few months in jail. It could be death. Would risk your life for your family? 

In the book when Katniss takes Prim's place for the reaping, she knew she could die. She knows the rules to the Hunger Games. Battle to the death. Is it worth it? And this makes me think about why Katniss would do something about that for your family? What is it about family that is so important? What is it about family that makes you cry at their funeral, but not when you hear a random person die on the news? It's a hard question to answer, but I would say the connection and care. Family is one of the few things you can surely say is yours. This is your family, and no one else's, and it never will be anyone else's. Maybe because family is what you grew up with, and taking that away is worth stealing.

I have decided at this point in the book, that yes, in some cases I would take risks for my family. I still don't know if I would put my life at risk. But I do know that your family is the one of the most important things in your life, and you need to keep it strong.

The Woman in Black

Recently, if you haven't noticed, everybody got back from London almost 2 weeks ago. One out of the various things we did there was we had an option to go see a play called "The Woman in Black". Already that sounds a bit scary. Now this play was adapted from a book that I wish to read soon since their wasn't much time for reading on our trip, but I did read a few summaries online. Hopefully this great play is close enough to a book for you (Ms. Rear) and I think it is.

Anyway, "The Woman in Black" play is about a man who wants to put on a play on a horrifying and true, ghost story that happened in his life. I don't want to give too much away, but basically the man is haunted, and to give you a better picture, at the end of the play everyone in the theatre was either shrieking, crying, or like me, terrified to the point of loud guffaws. Back to the actual story, one of the things it made me think about was how you can never tell fully what someone's been through.

In the play, when the main character is introduced for the first time, he acts quite normal. Maybe a bit nervous and quiet, but overall you would have never guessed that he'd been through the horror you see later in the play. And now that I think about it, I judged him. And probably more than half the theatre judged him. I don't know about you, but I don't like being a "judger". But now I think, how can you not judge someone? It can be harmful, but we do it to people everyday. My question is, what does that say about ourselves?

In real life people make jokes about saying stuff like, "Hey, don't judge me, man." I don't think it's joke really. I mean, it's all fun and play, but what's funny about expecting someone is stupid just because they are homeless or because of race? I think calling someone stupid is one of the worst things you can do (if you're serious). Friends do it to each other all the time, I do it. But imagine somebody genuinely thinking your stupid. Now imagine somebody genuinely thinking your stupid because of your race.

I'm going to read the book as soon as I can get it from a library or something, but I think watching the adapted play was good enough for now. I'll do another response once I get the book.