I Read This (And You Should Too)

     Last year I was faced with the difficult decision of choosing my current class schedule. Due to insane over enthusiasm on my part, I was left with only one elective spot to fill. My favorite class at the time was English, because the teacher was great. So the logical choice was to sign up for Great Books, as he was the only teacher for that course. And I love reading. So it made sense.

     I was skeptical at the beginning of the year, I'll admit. It seemed hard to believe that this would be any different than any other English class (I don't have a very good track record in English. Something about it bores me soooo mucchhhh). But he promised no quizzes, no tests, and like 0 homework, so I kept on, and I'm so glad I did. He lets us choose our due dates, the entire class is a completely open discussion period, and the books we read are chosen by the class. It's not an easy class- what we read is very challenging, and he presents a lot of really hard topics to talk about, but it's for sure my favorite this year. We decided early on that first semester would be dedicated completely to books about, involving, or inspired by monkeys. First we read The Naked Ape, which was SO HARD OH MY GOD but definitely really great. Next we chose to read My Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. We were given about a month to read it, and technically have another week or so, but it's just so great, I can't put it down.

     Very basically, this book is about a young girl's lesson with a telepathic ape after responding to an ad that read: "Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." I wasn't completely sure about it in the beginning, I'll admit, because I doubted a gorilla's ability to give a reasonable plan for saving anything. But I'm so so glad my teacher suggested this to us, because it has changed my thinking completely since I finished it. 

     Everything Ishmael (the gorilla) explains is so simply explained that there's absolutely no confusion to be found after they've been presented to you. The book really explains everything about why we live as a society as we do, and how we should try and make it better, if we can. I don't know if I can really do this book much justice in trying to explain it because it's just so well written, nothing I say can really show that. I cannot properly explain my love for this book, you should definitely read it too.

In Which I Die Under A Pile of My Own Underwear

I'm usually a very organized person.
I have special notebooks and folders and compartments for my seven different school subjects, I keep my books carefully kept together by author, a bit of my soul dies every time different sauces or dressings touch on my plate, my closet is built specifically for the purpose of having a spot set aside just for dresses, blouses, jeans, tights, underwear, and sweaters. I like organization, I like simplicity, I like order. This luckily hasn't affected me too much outside of the occasional embarrassing use of a lint roller, but there is one exception that drives me up the wall day and night.

I

  CAN

 NOT

CLEAN

MY

ROOM

This literally haunts me my entire day. I wake up too early surrounded in rubbish, I spread some random rubbish on my face, then some more rubbish, I pull whatever matching rubbish I find nearest the ground on, I sit down at my rubbish covered desk and work on a rubbish essay I should have finished weeks ago, I eat rubbish for breakfast, I get on my rubbish school bus at 6:30 every rubbishy morning. (Why is the word 'rubbish' so amusing?)

When I say all day, I mean all day. All I think about in the morning is how much easier getting ready would be if I could see the carpet. When I'm at school I dread having to go home and deal with the mess later. When I'm home I just lay upstairs and try to ignore the mess below. When I'm going to sleep I kick myself for letting my room stay so gross for so long.

I really, really need to clean my room. But it's actually kind of harder than it seems. I have no storage- no hangers, only two drawers, no extra bins- but a lot of stuff. I really like stuff. I'll hold onto the most random things for years just because it reminds me of something. Everything in my room holds some sentimental value. Some of it more than others, yeah, but everything is there for a reason. Trash is usually used as a landmark for something I actually need to use. Old papers are kept just in case I need to put them in a portfolio. Failed origami all over the place to remind myself of how much better I've gotten. Old clothing bags kept as trash bags, empty nail polish kept as a reminder to buy new, old tee shirts to help me remember names, hundreds of books in case I get bored, old journals to inspire new. I know I don't really need all of this stuff. I'm sure that I could- and will- throw half of it out at the first sight of bug or blood, but until then, I just always know that I cannot clean my room.

What I'm Reading

Okay! So, as I've stated, I'm a huge reader. I love, love, love it. Like I seriously can't think of anything I like more than reading. I'm sadly lacking anything new to read because, well, no job, messy room, so no money, haha. But I would like to kick start this blog with something I love.

Girl, Interrupted

I cannot get enough of this book. Let me repeat that- I cannot get enough of this book. I love Girl, Interrupted with the force of a thousand burning suns. I can- and have- read this book three times a day everyday and still love it and get something from it. The story follows Susanna Kaysen's life in a psychiatric hospital in 1967. It's beautifully written, and you really feel a connection to everyone in it. There is, of course, the movie featuring Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder that I would be ashamed to not bring up, and though that is a great, great movie, it really doesn't do the thought-provoking nature of this book justice. The book is really super great and I suggest everyone read it immediately.

Introduction

Hello!

My name is Chloë, I'm a current sophomore living in Kentucky. I'm trying to hop onto the whole blogging trend, though I'm afraid I might lack the skill/dedication/inspiration to live up to my expectations. I'm an aspiring writer and a huge, huge reader. This is what I look like:

I'm a hair dye addict, though I usually stick to varying shades of brown. I don't really know what to expect from all this, thought I hope I can contribute something worth saying! Okay, I sound so completely cheesy. Sorry.

On the off chance someone actually reads this who isn't my mom (Just kidding. She has better things to do.), you can also find me on twitter and facebook. Okay, end of post.