Is It Just Me...?

Is it just me or were we only really assigned 8 blogs and suppose to have 9? I am under the impression that only eight blogs were assigned and then turn around and now we need nine when we are only suppose to have eight. In fact I am convinced that we were only suppose to have 8 because we are only given 1 a week, so I guess this blog is for next week so Mrs. Ramirez can get them in by the end of the nine weeks. If anyone actually had nine honest blogs please let me know so I can figure out what it is that I am missing so I can make it up and actually have nine honest blogs then. If you are in my shoes too, please comment also so I don't feel as bad about missing one.

Freedom and Nature of Humans

"Free people don't know the value of freedom, that's the problem." This is the quote from White Tiger that has  stuck with the closest, so far. We were raised "free" but all we can see is all our restrictions. For this, I give the credit mostly to how we were raised. We don't know what we never learned, and we didn't learn what we weren't taught (whether by our own doings or by others). People are so blinded by their own situations and circumstances that they can't even see outside their own little worlds, and half the time they are completely unaware of their surroundings. If people would only open one eye and see that they have it good, they could help others that don't. That goes against what they were taught though, to fend for themselves and take care of them only. We are so stuck in our one little spot that we don't even notice the world passing by us. We take so much for granted. We take our freedom for granted. Sadly, most of us won't realize this at all unless they are ripped away from it. You never know what you have until it's gone. I was taking where I live in the country for granted for the longest time until just recently when I was with my friend who lives in town. We were at their house and they mentioned that they never really ever seen stars, only airplanes. So one night I asked them to take me home for once and they did. When we got out at my house, I told them to look up. They got so excited; the expression of joy on their face was so convicting to me. Now every night, I look up at the sky and say "Thanks" to God for blessing me with the stars that no one else seems to see. Take advantage of what you once were taking for granted. Don't wait until it's too late.

being on top

I chose to read White Tiger for my outside reading. It's about an entrepreneur in India and story to the secrets of his success. I can relate with Belram's (the main character) background to an extinct and I agree with his philosophy. He started out small and built himself up by himself and made a name for himself, and that's what I am having to do. He considers himself "half-baked" since he didn't finish school, and in a way I am still half-baked because I am not finished with school yet, but I will eventually be fully cooked in school but still half-baked in life because I will never stop learning. Even though he didn't finish school, he couldn't be any more right when he said that no person remembers his schooling like one who didn't finish it. You go to school for 12 years and then go to a university for 3 years and then get a job where you have to wear a suit and are still under somebody else. Self taught is the best kind, and if you are a self taught entrepreneur you are on top, there is no one  above you. You have to find your own way that's best for you and live your own life. You have to your own things (or in Mr. Rasco's stock market watch, stocks) and not copy someone else because if you do, you will always be one step behind your information and almost never pass them and get ahead.

behind the cover

I know that you are not suppose to judge books by their covers but that is the sole reason that I chose the book i did for this reading project to be quite honest with you. I chose White Tiger by Aravind Adiga simply because I liked the title. I wanted a book that was more on the uplifting side, and I LOVE cats in general but especially white tigers (lucky for me that our school's mascot is a tiger). So just by the cover titles of the books the choice was clear for me; in fact, it was so clear that I didn't see any other options. It is the only book that pounced out at me from the list and I have my mind set on it going to be a good book for me. So I bet you all can guess which book I ended up getting. Yes, White Tiger, obviously. In fact, I am not alone. I have had others come and tell me that they too have picked books, especially this book in particular, just because they liked the cover. I do believe that judging a book as a good book by its cover can help your outlook on it as a whole because if you are determined that it will be a good book, your mind will probably make it a good book for you. However, if you are doubting if it will be good or not, giving it the benefit of the doubt and not judging it is probably the best way to go so you won't already have the mind set that it's not going to be good, and then you can enjoy it more than if you judged it as a not so good book. Because it is in fact what's behind the cover that counts.