Blood Diamond Cont.

Danny Archer has had a rough life. He lost both of his parents in his early childhood, and lost them painfully. He pretty much just wants to continue living, but a rich man. He also needs a little action in his life, so he smuggles blood diamonds. I enjoyed watching him on screen because he is an attractive actor. I really felt his sympathy when he was telling Maddy about his parents. When he said that, I didn’t feel as bad for the people he killed so he could stay alive. I wanted him to get that diamond so he could have a better life than he has had.

There are 300,000 children soldiers in Africa. That is really hard to believe and very sad. The “older” rebels warp their mind while they are still young. They get the children believing that shooting people is O.K. It is terrible. There are a few places in Africa that help the children recover from that scary state of mind. It does help, but we need more of it. I wish the world would just stop fighting and live in peace, and then we would not have to read sad books and watch sad and gory movies in class. I never knew that diamonds were found the way they are in the movie, and how they are smuggled from one country to the next.


The part of the movie that made an impression on me the most was when Dia was forced to shoot the innocent man. It was sad that he didn’t even know what he was doing, but even sadder when later on; he shot people without feeling any loss of emotion. At the end of the book where he “comes back” mentally made me happy. It gave me hope that the children that are soldiers now can get better and become good people once again.


We have responsibility for buying the diamonds. If we didn’t buy them, innocent men wouldn't be shot for trying to take one just to make a little money for food. We could also go to Africa to help the children soldiers become “normal” again. This would be better than leaving them how it is now.


Word Count: 370

Blood Diamond

Because I am basically done with my Junior year of high school, I have had a lot of free time this three day weekend. I have spent this weekend reading and watching movies. One of which was the Blood Diamond. I figured it would be something good to write a blog or two about so here it is. Enjoy!

Danny Archer lives in South Africa and is a former mercenary. He still “works” for his former colonel finding diamonds. One day while Archer was in jail, a tall black man named Solomon, a fisherman from Mende, joined him. Solomon was mining for diamonds when he found a huge pink stone. He ended up burying it, so he could find it later. When he was doing that, a rebel saw that he had a huge diamond. Luckily for Solomon, the mine just started to undergo an attack. When Archer and Solomon were in the jail, the rebel that saw Solomon bury the diamond pretty much told the whole jail that Solomon had found a huge diamond, though Archer was the only one who actually believed the story. So he told Solomon that if he went with him to find the diamond, Danny Archer would bring Solomon’s family to him. Solomon agreed.

Danny Archer meets a beautiful girl named Maddy Bowen at a bar. They dance and get acquainted. She is a journalist and wants to know what exactly Danny Archer does. All he can get out is he sells blood diamonds. She is fascinated and wants to do a story on him. He is lenient at first, but decides it will be better in the long run, so he will be able to use her. She helps them find Solomon’s family at a refugee camp, but Dia, Solomon’s son, is not there. They find out he was taken by the rebels. This means bad things. Archer guesses that he has become one of the 300,000 children soldiers. Danny and Solomon go on a dangerous adventure searching for the diamond in the rebel territory. While Danny and Solomon are on their way to the diamond, the colonel decides that he wants it for himself and will do anything to get it; including killing both of the men. In a town near the diamond, a few rebel children are playing some cards. Solomon recognizes his son in the crowd. His son, Dia, almost kills them, but Solomon keeps telling him that he loves him, and that he is his father. Finally Dia gives in and father and son are now reunited. The colonel reaches the spot where the diamond is at the same time as Danny and the gang. They have a shootout and Danny’s team wins, but Danny is shot. So, they have the diamond and are on there way to be picked up, but Danny is too weak and tells Solomon and his son to go on without him. They do, and they live happily ever after…and they become very wealthy.

Word Count: 500

Scorpia: AP Lang Teen Fiction Relief

Scorpia is one of my all time favorite books. It has a complex storyline and lots of intense action. The book is long also, which makes the excitement last. I have always enjoyed the books from this series (The Alex Rider series). There have been four other books preceding Scorpia that all made me want to continue reading. They are all very well tied together relating many things in each book to other books in the series.

Although I thought that all the prequels have been outstanding, this book had a special touch to it that seemed to enhance it a little more than the other books in the series. I believe it was the setting that really sparked the flame of enthusiasm in Scorpia. Although the setting brought me all over Europe, Venice, Italy was the reason why this book was so good. The scenery was so exquisitely detailed I could almost imagine myself in Venice just be reading it. Apart from being beautiful, it also is an engineering marvel with the ways of transportation such as canals as roadways.

The plot literally takes you on an adventure throughout Europe through the eyes of a fourteen year old British spy. The excitement begins when Alex crashes a party in Venice and gets in a tangle with a Siberian tiger. The plot is bizarre from now on including the main conflict of the story of how Scorpia is trying to mass murder every child in London. It is because of this action packed plot that I have loved this book so much. At the very end of the book, Horowitz threw out a thrilling but chilling twist with Alex getting shot at the end. Ending the book like this basically forces you to read the next book in the series, Ark Angel, which I plan on reading as soon as school is out. I was kind of expecting a twist like this at the end because of the foreshadowing earlier about how Scorpia always gets its revenge.

Although I feel like I say this for every book I read, this truly is a great book. I was never bored of it; from, cover to cover I was heavily engaged and interested in what was going on. One thing that I really liked about this book is the fact that it is Teen Fiction and I have had to read Non-Fiction only in AP Lang, and this was a nice change of pace. Obviously I would recommend this to anyone because of how entertaining and electrifying it is.

Word Count: 427

Beatlemania

          In this post I will write about the history of one of the greatest bands of all times.

         The Beatles were an amazing rock ‘n’ roll group that began not in the United States, but in a little town in England.  They were each born in the early 1940’s in Liverpool.  All four were in their early twenties when their careers really got started.  Lennon started a band, along with five others called “Quarrymen” named after their high school.  McCartney joined the band in 1957 and Harrison in 1958.  They changed their name to the Beatles in 1960.  John Lennon and Paul McCartney are very nice fellows.  They both agree that they each get by with a little help from their friends.  They were a close group, and around 1960 is when they started to become a hit.

            But what really got the Beatles famous was Brian Epstein.  He became their manager in 1961.  The Beatles were an amazing group, but Epstein helped them rise to fame. The Beatles became famous nationwide fame in 1961 and worldwide in 1964.  After the Beatles made their first United States appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, their albums sold unbelievably fast.   John Lennon once said, “We’re more popular than Jesus Christ now.  I don’t know which will go first, Rock and roll or Christianity.”  All this talk of fame led to the term “Beatlemania”

            The Beatles’ were well liked mainly due to their well written songs and interesting sounds.  Lennon and McCartney wrote most of their songs.  What was different from the Beatles’ songs and earlier rock ‘n’ roll music, was theirs had more meaning.  They had some good song ideas that pleased their audience.  Another crowd-pleaser was their very different choices of sounds used.  They used suggestive imagery and artificial sounds. This was new concept to rock ‘n’ roll, and the fans were definitely curious. Some of their more famous songs include “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Come Together”, and “Something.”  Their documentary Let It Be, won an Academy Award in 1970.  The Beatles were at the top of their rollercoaster ride.

            The fame was too much for some of the members.  According to John Lennon, “Rock ‘n’ roll was not fun anymore.”  This was one reason for their soon to be break-up.  Two other reasons were business and personal related.  Some were mad that they didn’t get to be the lead singer. McCartney announced the breakup on April 10, 1970.  This was a sad day for the millions of Beatles’ fans.  They each later led their own groups or performed as soloists.  They were each good enough to be put in the spotlight of their own band.

Word Count: 444

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I just finished reading this book in my free reading time so I figured I would write up a little book report-thing on it! Enjoy! 

*************************SPOILER ALERT*************************

Mass homicide committed on an island encircled by obscurity leaves characters on their toes to the point where they start killing each other in their strive for self-preservation. General Macarthur was correct when he said that “This is the end....” This was not only true for himself but true for all of the guests other than the murderer of course. This is repeated at the end of the book by Philip Lombard, “This is the end, you understand. We’ve come to the truth now. And it’s the end.” I believe that this is the quote of the whole book because it is truly the end for the inhabitants of the island.

Throughout the story I did not believe that the murderer was one of themselves and that there had to be another person hidden on the island. If they were right, and they were, I had decided it must be Armstrong. This hypothesis was partially correct because Armstrong worked as a partner in crime with Wargrave, although, Wargrave was the master murderer behind the whole plot. Armstrong helped by pronouncing Wargrave’s death when he really was not dead.

At the end when we were told that Wargrave was the murderer behind everything, I was completely surprised because he was the one who took charge in trying to discover who the murderer was and who suggested it was one of the people amongst them. I think he was trying to make this a mental challenge for himself because had he not put his ideas on the table the others wouldn’t had suspected someone among themselves until much later. Also I believe his job would’ve been so easy that is would’ve been boring and he wouldn’t of fulfilled his lust of causing death.

Armstrong, as I stated above, was the murderer in my mind, because he was the doctor of the lot. He administered drugs to the others, he brought an obscure item, the hypodermic syringe, and he was always one of the “mini-courts” possible suspects. Although many people were mentioned during the “mini-courts” only Armstrong was continuously brought up as a possible suspect for each death. This hypothesis disappeared when Armstrong was murdered, but brought back when Wargrave explained that Armstrong became his partner in crime. Apart from Armstrong I had no idea who possibly could be the murderer.

At the start of the book, like most books starts out very slow, with the introduction of characters. This made me think that I had chosen a bad free reading book and that I wouldn’t like it much. This thought did not last because as soon as the rising action started the suspense kept me up at night. I could not wait another day to find out who the murderer really was, I had to find out that night otherwise I knew I wouldn’t be focused the next day at school, because I would be thinking about who I thought the murderer really was. As you can tell, I very much enjoyed And Then There Were None.

Word Count: 532

Future Cities Part 3

Imagine living a beautiful city with clean energy, no traffic, and self-sufficient water supply. That city is Stad Van de Toekomst.

Our energy comes from various clean and renewable sources. Our maglev turbines are extremely efficient turbines. The low friction magnetic bearing allow the turbines operate with as little as three kilometers per hour wind speed. Two water power systems harvest energy from the ocean and the river. The first, water current turbines, work like wind turbines but underwater which is better because of the constant flow of water. The second energy source is the wavebob which creates energy from the constant wave motion of the ocean. Another energy source is the power sidewalk, which flex when people walk on them. This motion is then converted into energy.

Citizens enjoy relaxing and revitalizing at our world class parks designed by the best architects, planners, and artists. Because of the constant new, colorful, and exciting additions to our parks, they are a great place to visit multiple times.

Our city is traffic congestion-free due to electric, computer-driven cars and our mag-lev. These cars, which fold up for storage to reduce parking space usage, are available at one of our many storage stations and recharged from the electricity grid and efficient solar panels. These cars are computer controlled and use sensors to determine their proximity to other cars and buildings, as well as to drive as quickly and safely as possible.

Our police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances operate on the same system. These emergency vehicles are given priority over all other cars so they can respond to emergency as quickly as possible without endangering other drivers on the road.

Food for Stad Van de Toekomst grows in farm towers located throughout the city. This growing process eliminates the large energy consumption coming from moving produce from city to city, which also lowers costs.

Our school system is considered the best in the world. We offer the highest pay for our teachers, large funding for the school, and only ten students per teacher allowing individual learning goals to be reached.


The revenue used to fund our city is created by taxing our prosperous businesses, industries, and families about €5500 and sales taxes would be 6%.

Our water is stored in underground tanks which store up to 200,000 liters. The water is pumped from the Rhine River and the North Sea into one of our two electrolysis plants, where it is split into hydrogen and oxygen. The pure hydrogen and oxygen is cooled to a liquid and piped through the city under the mag-lev superconducting magnetic railway, cooling it as it generates heat from conducting so much energy. Those pipes will lead to one of Stad Van de Toekomst’s two Hydrogen Fuel Cell plants where the oxygen and hydrogen recombine, creating pure H²O and 10-100 energy kilowatts of energy per cell.

Word Count: 478

Future Cities Part 2

Each house in Stad Van de Toekomst will have their shower water drain directly into the toilet; when flushed, the black water will be piped to one of the Electrolysis Plants. Every building will collect storm water and grey water and pipe it through their filtration-purification system to remove all the particulate and kill all bacteria. To have each house in our city reach a closed water system would be impossible if Stad Van de Toekomst was to utilize the hydrogen fuel cell and Electrolysis.

Many Electrolysis Engineers would oversee the two Electrolysis Plants, overseeing that the plants run correctly and efficiently. The engineers would also work on advancing the study of electrolysis, searching for a way to make the process more energy efficient.

A new kind of engineer produced in the creation of our city; this engineer would be a Hydrogen Fuel Cell engineer. They would oversee the HFCP and work closely with Electrolysis Engineers. They would also look over the piping from the Electrolysis Plant to the HFCP, and the HFCP energy distribution.

Some of the new water pertaining technologies in our city are farm towers, wave bobs, and autonomous pipe robot. The advantages of farm towers are that they reuse storm water to water the crops inside. Wave bobs will be placed slightly off shore, and when waves rock it, the hydraulics are pumped to power a generator that could power 1,500 modern day homes. The autonomous pipe robots would go through pipes, checking for cracks and the water quality level if needed.

Stad Van de Toekomst would use a piping system to transport gases, liquids, and sewage, because it’s a very effective system. In addition to this, we would have size-variant robots that patrol the pipes, checking for pipe leaks, water quality in potable water pipes and other possible problems.

Our city will reuse any form of water, if and when our population and water demand grows, we will pump more water from the Rhein River. Every building will collect, reuse, and sanitize water with their filtration-purification system, in addition to receiving water from the HFCPs. The HFCP and the Electrolysis Plant will be utilized to create energy and clean water in an environmentally friendly way. Our engineers would oversee that the city of Stad Van de Toekomst is efficient and eco-friendly.

Word Count: 386

Future Cities Part 1

Recently I posted a recent example of my writing about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Therefore I figured I would post an example of my writing from 8th grade. Enjoy comparing and contrasting!


In Stad Van de Toekomst, all the stormwater that drains into houses gutters will be piped away to our Electrolysis plant. Once the stormwater is processed through the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant (HFCP), it will be potable water for the city’s population to use. To reduce runoff in our city, instead of using concrete for our streets and sidewalks, we will use recycled tires, which will absorb water and filter it through the tire’s fibers. We will also encourage people to use mulch in their lawns, which will also absorb the runoff water. To make sure the environment is not being harmed by runoff, we will ban all pesticides and fertilizers that are not organic or environmentally friendly, because it is logically impossible to halt it altogether.

Drinking water will be held in our city’s underground water tanks. Pipes from one of the two HFCPs will supply the potable water for these tanks and pipes will transport the water to all buildings.

The black water in Stad Van de Toekomst will be piped from each building through a large filter to take out the chunks of waste. Then it will then be piped to our electrolysis plant where the H2O will be split into pure hydrogen and pure oxygen, the waste being left to be burned in our plasma arc technology.

A common problem today is sanitizing water inexpensively and in an eco-friendly way. We would use the processes of electrolysis and the hydrogen fuel cell to transform any water into potable water. Many cities also face a shortage of water, due to either lack of water or population growth. Stad Van de Toekomst would completely avoid this problem by reusing all water, from waste water to storm water, and piping extra water from the Rhein River when needed.

Word Count: 331

Breckenridge Vacation

One of my favorite memories is when all my family and I went skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado. We arrived in Denver a couple hours before dusk, so we went to Hertz and rented a SUV. From Denver we headed toward Breckenridge only stopping at a grocery store to get supplies. After dark we arrived to our lodge and started unpacking quickly. We then walked around exploring the town and you could feel the difference in air pressure. Lights lit up the slope and you could see the snow that was glistening, perfect for skiing.

The next morning we all took lessons for half the day to get used to the mountain because before this trip we had never skied on a mountain before. Lunchtime snuck up on us quick and then we had to decide whether we should do lessons the rest of the day or not. In the end we decide against more lessons so we could ski down any slope we wanted to. That night my dad arrived in Breckenridge from and meeting for work and we all were excited to see him.

The next couple days were spent skiing whatever we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it. A lot of the time I, myself was up on the blacks diamonds which were fairly difficult. In comparison of Breckenridge to Iowa, our double black diamonds are just as hard as those blue slopes in Breckenridge.

Our second to last day was spent half skiing, but also after lunchtime we went on foot and toured the city. We rested ourselves a lot that night for the long drive and flight for the day to come. Finally on the next day it was time to leave, we drove back to Denver and caught our flight back to Iowa. Hurray! I was glad to be back where it was a little warmer. We had a ton of fun on our skiing vacation Breckenridge, Colorado.

Word Count: 326

Bi-lingual Literature

Recently in Spanish class we read the House on Mango Street in Spanish. I remember reading this story before and now that I read it again in Spanish, I figured I do a little write-up about it for a blog.

In House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros creates this character that is said to be ‘special’ by the three sisters in “The Three Sisters.” Her strength that is portrayed through out the book, is that she is a dreamer.Her name is Esperanza. It’s not a very good name, as she recalls it in the story “My Name.” In Spanish it means sadness, it means waiting; it means a muddy color, or the number nine. She wants to change her name into something that is more like her. She received the name from her great-grandmother, who was born in the Chinese year of the horse. She was a wild woman, more like Esperanza. Ended her life a sad one, looking out the window wishing she could be free.But she knows that she can to better. She doesn’t want to be ashamed like she is now of her house on Mango Street and have to tell people that she lives there. In “Mango Says Goodbye Sometime” she believes that she is there by mistake. Sometimes there are little stories Esperanza makes up in her head. One that she describes in the last story proceeds, “I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong.” She later concludes that she is “to strong for her (Mango Street) to keep her there forever.” This statement seems to me that she thinks she is too good for Mango Street. That she is going to move on and take her books and paper, and write books. Her strength is sort of like her already knowing what she is going to do with her life, get out.The stories that are told about the people of Mango Street have helped Esperanza become what she is by the end of the book. Also to confirm her strength, that she most certainly does not want to stay on Mango Street, but to proceed with her dream. The last couple of sentences describe this: “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”

Word Count: 395

Blogging

Blogging about blogging is an interesting topic. Personally, blogging is not exactly fun, but for many it is a great way for people to get their thoughts said. In this post I will talk about blogging and things that I have noticed about blogging.

Blogging for our AP Lang class seems like one big procrastination session for everyone. If you look at our blogs about a week before they are due, you will probably notice that we haven't posted for at least a month. This is because blogging is something that takes time. You have to stop whatever you are doing and sit down to take the time to write a blog post. Because of this time commitment, and relative boring-ness of writing, is why I believe AP Lang students have put off this task for so long.

If you look at our blogs on the day before blogs are due, you will most likely see "Joe Schmo posted 10 minutes ago" This is because everyone in the class that have procrastinated their blogs are now scrambling to get them done. Ill admit I am a part of this scramble. I noticed this a few minutes ago when I logged onto blogger and saw that all the people that I was linked to on my blogs had post within hours ago.

Something about blogging that I have found very frustrating is the highlighting tool. If you scroll through my blog you will see that I am a victim of this highlighting holocaust. For some reason, some of my blog posts have become highlighted in white. The problem is because once something is highlighted, you cannot un-highlight it. There is  no option to un-highlight your text, something that has frustrated me for the entire year.

If anyone knows how to fix this problem, PLEASE comment on this post and let me know how to un-highlight my posts!

Word Count: 316

Cuban Missile Crisis Part 2

The reason why the Soviets were in Cuba was because Castro wanted some defense to prevent another invasion, reminiscent of The Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro began receiving military aid from the Soviet Union. This came after Cuba became openly communist in 1960. At that time Cuba took millions of dollars of United States property located in Cuba. The United States subsequently ended diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Kennedy used the original Eisenhower administration plan to “dispatch Cuban exiles living in Nicaragua.” CIA officials poorly trained their soldiers and anti-Castro Cubans. On April 17, 1961 1400 troops got smashed by Castro. The CIA had poor planning on their part because the planes sent for backup arrived an hour late. The pilots forgot to set their clocks to Cuban time. This led to the loss of Bay of Pigs for the United States allowing Castro to gain more control over Cuba.

John F. Kennedy attempted to make the United States a safer place. He added 300,000 troops and 40,000 in Europe to try to protect the United States. Still, Kennedy agreed with Castro not to invade. Even though the Soviets felt threatened by the United States missiles in Turkey, the Soviet Union demanded the removal of the missiles. The United States then got the Soviet Union to remove their missiles only after Castro protested. As a result, in 1963 the Soviet Union and the United States, along with nearly one-hundred other nations “signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to end the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.” Americans now felt like they didn’t have to worry.

Due to a failed invasion and good negotiations, all nuclear powers are able to live in harmony with the creation of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Before the Test Ban Treaty was established, nobody really knew what was going to happen next. Looking up in the sky and expecting a bomb to appear seemed probable. The United States once vigilant could now take a deep breath and stop worrying about a nuclear attack. Nuclear testing of atomic bombs was intolerable above ground. Luckily, there were no casualties from the Cuban missile crisis and it resulted in a learning moment for the entire world.

Word Count: 371

Cuban Missile Crisis Part 1

Here is an essay I just wrote about the Cuban Missile Crisis for AP United States History. I posted it because I wanted you guys to see an example of my current writing.

Imagine in twenty minutes, a town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, once filled with fun loving friends and family could be wiped out by a nuclear attack. This impending threat caused uneasy feelings leading the United States into a sense of panic during the Cuban Missile Crises. In a matter of seconds any city in the United States could be obliterated. Soviet missile bases were only fifty miles off the coast of Florida in Cuba. After the United States Bay of Pigs invasion on Cuba failed miserably, Fidel Castro wanted some protection in case of another attack. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important event, changing the way Americans looked at the sky. Since nuclear energy was discovered, President Kennedy explored many different avenues to avoid a nuclear war. Even with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Soviets setting up “Nukes” in Cuba, these events led to a more secure and safer America.

There are many people to blame for the Cuban Missile Crisis including, Castro, President Kennedy, and the CIA. It started with the CIA’s failure with the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Cuban Missile Crisis never would have happened if nuclear power was not invented. Nuclear energy was also known as atomic energy which was created by changes in the nucleus of atoms. Around the 1900’s, scientists first noticed most of the mass of every atom came from the nucleus. Many people at this time found this hard to believe. Still, scientists went on to demonstrate the nuclei were held together by an extremely strong force. This created a large amount of energy. The “next step was to make nuclei let go of that energy.” The first time this nuclear energy was tested was in Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. In World War II was the initial time people used this new fearful force in combat.

Kennedy and his group of advisers wanted to avoid a nuclear war that would lead to thousands of casualties. They then decided to either set up a naval blockade or invasion. Kennedy announced he was “setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed.” To avoid casualties he decided on going with the blockade. Since a blockade was a national law of war, Kennedy referred to the blockade as a quarantine zone. “Kennedy warned if Khrushchev fired missiles from Cuba, the result would be a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” Both the United States and Cuba wanted to avoid conflict. The Soviets knocking on the United States door with nuclear weapons was hard to believe.

Word Count: 466

Angels and Demons Annotated Bibliography

Brown, Dan. Angels & Demons. New York: Atria, 2003. Print. (569)

Angels and Demons is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Both my mom and sister had read it a long time ago when it first came out, but it was a little too advanced for me at the time. I decided to read Angels and Demons for two main reasons, the first because I needed 500 more pages to complete my reading requirement, the second because I absolutely loved The Da Vinci Code, and I figured if I enjoyed that, I would enjoy Angels and Demons. After reading The Da Vinci Code, I rented the movie and as with every other scenario, the book was way better than the movie. For Angels and Demons, my mom has already bought the movie and I plan to watch it sometime late this week, but I assume it can’t be as good as the book.

Angels and Demons fit right into the type of books I like. I like books that are intense and dramatic, books that keep you up late wanting to read more and more. This book did just that. I found myself up until two in the morning the last couple night reading the book. It is just that good. Traditionally I enjoy the mystery genre and this book fulfilled that quite well. I love the deep, complex thought that goes on in professor Langdon’s head while is thinking something through. I find him thinking at a level that I would never even consider in day to day life.

As with The Da Vinci Code,   I feel as though this book is on a much higher level of thinking than other books I have read. This is part of why I love these books. I take special love into the deep religious history that goes into the making of these books. Dan Brown has gained my respect as a hugely accomplished, New York Times Bestseller. I look forward to reading more books written by Dan Brown in the future as the one I have read thus far are simply amazing.

Word Count: 355

"Here's to the Crazy Ones"

Steve Jobs was the revolutionary of PC and Post-PC devices. This one man brought us into the chapter of the Digital age, the Personal Computer chapter, and also began taking us on to the next chapter, the Post-PC chapter. Jobs is often referred to as the “Father of the Digital Revolution,” an apt title considering his invaluable contributions to the field.

Without his driving determination, modern displays and desktop mice would have been delayed for years. Without him, we would have never had the Macintosh. Without him, there would be no Pixar, meaning no Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, Up, WALL-E, all of which were staples of our childhood. Without him, there would be no iMac, there would be no iPod, there would be no iPhone, there would be no iPad, and there would be no Apple.

Steve Jobs was a visionary, someone who makes the unimaginable a reality. Through his foresight, he set the foundation for what today has become the largest publicly traded company in the world. Despite Jobs’ adverse childhood, he was able to find his creative and productive self, and put it to work for the evolution of an industry.

Jobs devoted his life to the advancement of the digital age. No other person in the world can rival the accomplishments made by Jobs. He was a pioneer of an industry, an Age, a culture, and a way of life. Jobs was definitely crazy, and “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” [Think Different]

Word Count: 264