Jackson and the Pips

In Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, I started thinking about why things get so complicated. If you took away all the other character plot lines, this book would be so simple, but because Percy’s actions will affect the other characters, everything is complicated.

In life, you’re always going to have people egging you on or bringing you down. There will always be people to please. You have to figure out who matters, and who doesn’t. Who do you need to please, and who can you ignore? Is anyone important? Is no one important? Who will help you with your goal, and who won't, and does that even matter?

There is this point where Percy seeks the help of a character, that he knows will upset his closest friend, and jeopardize his relationship with her. He still seeks the characters help because he believes that reaching the goal is the most important thing, as much as he loves his friend.

People like to take things personally. The friend that Percy upset thought that Percy had reached out for the other character as an act of defiance to their friendship. I don’t know if she realized it was for the greater good. I don’t know if she cared. I know its sometimes hard for me to believe that what I know is right is what I want.

It comes down to judgment.  You can’t let other people rule who you are and who you want to be in life. You have to be smart enough to figure out who you are and who you want to help shape that.

Little Boys and Disney Channel

I am reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In the story, a young boy named Hugo Cabret lives alone in a Paris train station. He has no parental guidance.

Almost everything we know we learn from out parents. We learn what is suppose to be good or bad, smart, silly, a joke, or serious. Hugo was lucky enough to have a parent for the 10 years of his life, but there are a lot of kids who don’t. It’s interesting to think about where these children get their influences for the rest of their lives. Where do they get their values and morals? Somehow, from somewhere, these children do grow up.

I recently have had an eight-year-old move into my house. He is engrossed with every show on Disney Channel. Being someone who use to watch Disney Channel, I couldn’t believe how much I missed as a child. These shows are ridiculous. They show these situations where there will be backstabbing or cheating or something, and then the characters will go around solving the problem in the worst way, and then everything’s fine.

Small children don’t understand that the problems and results they are watching are scripted. Things wouldn’t actually work out the way that it does in the show. I realize I took a lot from those shows, why shouldn’t this eight-year-old?

You see kids growing up in the modern world, and you just see all the influences they take in. Their parents don’t always have control. Hugo may have had a father to teach him, but now he is alone and he has to be smart enough to apply what he knows to his life. 

The Long History of The Catcher in the Rye, It's Relevance, and Annoying Bratty Teenagers.

          The Catcher in the Rye. Oh what a book. Honestly my whole life I thought the book was called Catch Her in the Rye, and even once I learned the real title I thought the book was about some kidnapper who hid in a field of grain. Anyways, I have seen such a mix of emotions to this book. Most of the people I have talked to don't seem to like it very much. Some politely state that they don't enjoy the book (Teddy Ostrow) and some scream in horror, pull a face, and run away (Peter Diller). I have met one person who likes the book, and he said "Every time I read it, I get something different from it".

         Something that I think is extremely interesting is that the story is over 60 years old. I have to ask myself if the book is still relevant to today. Honestly, I think it is. The book was published at a time when kids were suppose to be "seen and not heard". It was ground breaking to have a story about a mid-teenage boy wandering around the city, buying drink, getting hookers, and ridiculing others. 

         I think part of the reason why some many people hate the book, is because the writing is just rambling with long paragraphs and the story doesn't really go anywhere. However I believe that this book is suppose to be the mind of a teenager, something tabooed at that point. Our minds are not interesting, our minds are not formulated, our minds never shut up. Thats what I think the point is. 

        As I said to my dad "I don't like it, but I can relate to it". Hearing a bratty teenager complain page after page, however annoying, was strangely familiar.