Learning to Drive

So this summer I was forced to do what almost all teenagers in the United States do at 15, I was forced to learn how to drive. And as I sat in the middle row of the classroom for 2 hours 3 days a week for 5 weeks this summer I couldn't stop thinking about that Big Bang Theory episode in which they force Sheldon to learn how to drive (click on the link to see the clip).
However my personal opinion, unlike most of the rest of my peers, is that driving sucks. I hate it, I really do. Not sure if my parents are happy about this or not...
Anyways, that's been the main part of my summer so far, driving and more driving. Can't get my license on my birthday as you have to have your permit for 6 months (would have been nice to know) so I can get it a few days after Christmas. Do you know how much you have to pay for a license these days?! Neither do I, but I know it's a lot. My teacher told us, but now I can't remember... I just know it was quite a bit.
Hope the rest of you are having a wonderful summer. One month left already! I don't want to go back to school, but I guess if I have to. Schedules come out the 18th so at least I know my classes ahead of time, unlike middle school.



~MG

The Fault in Our Stars

For years now I've been seeing many of my fellow schoolmates spending hours with their face in this little blue novel with black and white clouds on the front. The book I'm referring to, as you may have guessed by the title of this post, is The Fault in Our Stars by the wonderful John Green. 

My best friends have been trying to get me to read it for years, but it wasn't until this year that I picked up my first novel by John Green, Looking For Alaska. Then I went on to Paper Towns and, An Abundance of Katherine's. I had TFIOS on hold for a while, but it wasn't in for a while. In fact, I was able to read the three books I mentioned above in 2 months before even getting under 100 on the waiting list. I had just gotten Will Grayson, Will Grayson that I got the email that I could finally read the book I'd been hearing about for so long. 

I can't remember the exact moment when I first opened the book (it was on my nook so I guess I technically never opened it, but still), but I can remember that it was hard to put down. I regret that I didn't get more than a few pages into Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but I must say it was worth it. I found so much hope and strength in this novel when I needed it the most. 

I personally have never been sick, but someone very close to me right now is going through chemotherapy. It is the hardest thing to watch, but at the same time it makes me grateful for my small infinity on earth, that I can spend it healthy and not too worried about how long I have left. Now, the person in question is, at the moment, cancer free, but we still try and make the most of the days we have, even if this infinity is a much longer one than Augustus Waters was. 

I would like to thank John Green for this book, for giving me an understanding of what cancer and terminally ill people are going through, and for giving me a reason to appreciate life again. Even though the world is not a wish granting factory, we have the power to grant our own wishes and make them come true. Only we decide our happiness, not the stars, not the people around us, only ourselves. For the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves. 

If you haven't had the privilege of reading this novel, please do. Also, I would like to mention This Star Won't Go Out, the charity in memory of Esther Earl, one of the inspirations for this book. 

DFTBA, 

MG

Social Media and Technology Changed the World

Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, need I go on? In this day and age popularity and self-worth seem to be more based upon how many likes, favorites, retweets, etc you get rather than the people you have helped or the things you've accomplished. It's gotten to the point that people will only do things because "this will be a good picture for instagram" or "this will look great to my friends on facebook". Even though half your friends on facebook you've met once. Who really knows thousands of people enough to want to share personal details?
Communication has changed so much over the last 10 years that I'm not sure our parents even know what to do anymore but tell us that "face to face conversations are better" or "why don't you write them a letter and not an email?". My parents grew up without cell phones, so they at least heard peoples voices. Nowadays we just text someone. Asking someone out is as simple as shooting them a text. However it can take a long time to get a reply, when just asking them in person or over the phone you can get an instant response. I've been a victim of this, 1 week was how long it took them to reply. Now the situation was more complex than that, but if I had asked them (not on a date, I'm not that bold) in person I wouldn't have been so down for that whole week (only to be told no).
We've put our self-worth into devices and social media. Why? Cause we can! I don't know what kind of technology my children will have, or my grandchildren, but I fear that technology will make people become even more anti-social and almost like those fat people in Wall-e.
I would like to end on these wise words from Albert Einstein, and please, remember that even if your photo only gets two likes as opposed to 20, you are still you and you are wonderful!


~MG

High School

 This year I started high school. I don't know what I expected, everyone randomly bursting into song or doing drugs in the bathrooms? In reality, my reality at least, high school isn't like the movies make it out to be. Sure, there is lots of couples holding hands and making-out, and there are definitely certain groups. However I haven't heard anything about guys holding stereo's above their heads, or girls falling in love with vampires.
 I guess somehow I expected that when we all walked in everyone would couple off. This is not what happened at all. In my direct group of friends none of us have even started to date, let alone get the much-anticipated first kiss. This year I got my first slow-dance, but it was with a friend so I don't think it really counts. I think the point of freshman year is to learn that, first: middle school sucked; second: that high school isn't all about finding a gf/bf, but more about finding yourself. I have managed to at least partially find myself in the halls of my high school, and I have also managed to find new friends among the old.
 The most interesting thing this year? Lunch. Our conversations are much different than last year, and in a weird way... I've got the best friends!

According to google, this is high school.

And this describes my life

As Ellen says, be kind to one another,
MG

The Autobiography of Jane Eyre Review

So, a friend had told me about this web series a while back, and on Friday I decided to check it out. It is a lot like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries  . This one is called The Autobiography of Jane Eyre.
I could not stop watching this, or couldn't until I ran out of videos. This is a modern take on a classic novel, and I must say, they are doing a wonderful job. The chemistry between characters is amazing and the adaption is unbelievably good. You should go check this out so you can get caught up before the next episode!

~MG

Finals

So last week was finals, which means this week is a new semester. I'm finally done with PE! Until next year that is... Now I'm in health, which isn't too bad. The teacher is great and I have a good friend in that class, but it's health. It's a graduation requirement, so...

Anyways, finals. They weren't too much fun, but I had to take them. Also I got out at 10:35 for the last two days, and that was great! What did I do the day I had no finals to study for? YouTube. Yes, for like 4 hours. It was amazing. I will do a separate post for what I was watching, I want to get back into reviews. 

So, hope you all had a good finals week and enjoy the new semester. We're halfway there guys!

~MG

Delirium by Lauren Oliver review

I recently read Delirium by Lauren Oliver. In this novel, Lena Haloway is living in Portland, Maine in a United States where love has been declared a disease. Near their 18th birthday, each citizen is required to have their procedure, which cures them of love, or amor deliria nervosa. Before your procedure, you are to have an evaluation in which you are scored and given a list of approved matches. You choose your match and will be married after you both finish schooling. You are also told how many kids you will have with your match. 

However months before the procedure Lena has been waiting for years to get, she meets a cured named Alex. She falls for Alex, and she falls hard. They get to know each other more and more until they start to share secrets. Like how Lena's mother had been cured many times but it never worked, and how she ended up committing suicide to get away from another procedure. Alex also has a secret, one so dangerous it could get them thrown in the Crypts to rot for the rest of their days.

Definitely check this book and its two sequels out at the library. It is worth the two hours it will take you to finish it if you read slowly... It is such a fast read, I listened to it on audio and it was 11 hours, but it takes so much longer reading it aloud. Go get this book and start reading!!!

“I know that life isn't life if you just float through it. I know that the whole point- the only point- is to find the things that matter and hold onto them and fight for them and refuse to let them go.” 
 

~MG
Two posts in one day!!!