Journal Entry #1 "The Glass Castle"

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls in as extremely powerful book. It makes you see the world in such a different way that you can't believe that this is a true story. At the start of the book the father throws out Quixote, their house cat, out the window of the moving vehicle. He explains to the children that crying will not help because Quixote would be happier as a wild cat. Later in the novel though they have another house cat and she has kittens, the father thinks that it is is alright to drown the kittens. Dealing with your father drowning your kittens, I don't know how Jeanette could deal with that when she is only seven years old. Why could they have not been wild cats? What would have been the problem with that?

Another thing that struck me was the parents think that it is okay that the kids are hungry and have nothing to eat. "It was the only thing to eat in the whole house, and I was hungry" PG 69. Jeannette gets ridiculed for eating a stick of butter with her sister, Lori. She lets her mother know that her children are hungry. The mother throw a massive fit and yells and the father when he gets home. They end up fighting for days and days on end. I've heard my parents fight and I hate it. It's the most pointless thing. The mother is so opposed to food stamps or hand outs though that she doesn't care that her children are staving. The mother thinks that a little hardship will do you good. My parents believe that too, and they have instilled that into me as well. But not for food, for working hard to get a job done, yes. It's okay for the hardship to be put in for things like that. But for your body to be starving and you not feeding it. You need food to survive you can't live without it. I don't think that the mother realizes it.

Also the father keeps spending all the family's money. He keeps Jeannette believing that he will build her the most amazing house, "The Glass Castle". But she is starting to lose faith in her father. She doesn't understand why he is gone most of the days and only comes home once and a while. He spends all the money they could be using to build a "glass castle" on booze. And when he is drunk he gets into the drunken rages and has pointless actions. "Rose Mary, where the goddamn hell are you, you stinking bitch?" He yells, "Where is that whore hiding?"PG 122 after he comes home in a drunken rage one night. They than pick up knifes and almost have a fight with them but Rex, the father, knocks the knife out of Rose Mary', the mothers hand. Having to see that as a young child is a terrible experience, your parents constant fighting and their terrible words being thrown back at one another. But yet at the end of the days the parents are holding each other, laughing, loving, and dancing with one another. I think that fighting among people is fine, you don't have to get that terrible though. I couldn't even fathom having to witness that as a young child.

The book "The Glass Castle" is an extremely in depth book and is fascinating. It tells the life story of the hardship that Jeannette Walls had to go threw and how she dealt with things. She is had what I think was a terrible life so far, but she has made a life for herself, on her own. And she is doing an amazing job at it.

Review for Jack's Mannequin

Jack's Mannequin is from Orange County, California and although the city they come from is massive they don't let their music get lost in all of the bands that have blossomed out of that city. Their alternative rock genre has had there ups and downs over they years and annually participates in "The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk". Remaining to have a positive attitude after their lead singer Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, they have put out two albums since the diagnosis, "Everything in Transit" and "The Glass Passenger".

Everything in Transit, went to number #37 on the Billboard 200. Though the album wasn't a huge success, the album was still very good. It has strong vocals, and most of the album is based on McMahon's cancer. It got positive reviews from Maverick Records and has now singed a deal with them. Although the album is only 45:33 minutes long, it is filled with songs that has everyone singing and enjoying.

The Glass Passenger, went to #8 on the Billboard 200. This album was a massive success. It sold 49, 000 albums within the first week. It has strong songs such as "Swim", "Spinning" and "Crashin'" McMahon was back in full force on this album and had had ten songs written and started mixing them in December 2008. Maverick Records produced this CD and made a wonderful choice. They put "Jack's Mannequin" on the map and they won't ever being going back.

The top five things I would take if my house was on fire.

The top five things I would take if my house my on fire would be:

1. My Laptop

There are 1800 songs on my laptop. I couldn't stand loosing them. Especially one of my play lists, one of my best friends made me a CD and I can't find it now, the only way I have it is threw my computer.

2. My VHS Grease.

Grease has been my favorite movie since the fifth grade. It has an extended version in the beginning talking with all of the actors and actresses.

3. My shoes

I would definitely grab my shoes. I have twenty-four pairs. So obviously I would have to throw some of them out of the windows because grabbing my five other things and twenty-four pairs of shoes would be quite a task.

4. My cellular telephone

I would grab my phone to keep in contact with my friends and family. I also text quite frequently so I would have to let everyone know that everyone else and I was okay.

5. My dog Cleo.

I would run back into a burning house to save my dog. If it wasn't on fire that would be a complete bonus as well. We have had Cleo since she was a puppy and she is now fourteen years old. She is a fantastic Lapso Apso and I love her very much. I honestly don't know what I would do without my dog.

Top Three Musicans

I have choose to do my top three bands. I have chosen them according to likability of my friends. The rating among my friends are very high for all three of these bands, which makes burning cd's quite simple.

1.State Of Shock

I choose the band State of Shock for the reason that, most of my friends like them. They are a combination of alternative rock and pop rock band. They are originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, and have been active in the music business since 1999. They had an album out on June 2004 and were never really big until their new album "Life, Love & Lies" came out in early 2007. They have won several awards including Western Canadian Rock Recording of the Year 2008, independent single of the year and best rock song.

2. Spinnerette

I choose the band Spinnerette because all of my friends that I have shown them to seem to enjoy them. They are an alternative rock band. They are originally from Los Angles, California, and have been active since 2007. They have one album currently out called "SPINNERETTE".

3. Jack's Mannequin

I choose the band Jack's Mannequin for the fact that since I have showed this band to one of my friends he has become completely obsessed with them. They are an alternative rock band. Jack's Mannequin is originally from Orange County, California, and have been active since 2004. They have out two albums "Everything in Transit" and "The Glass Passenger". They have currently been signed to "Sire Records".

S-S-S-Superpower.

If I had the chance to have any superpower, I would choose to have the ability to hear what other people are thinking. It would be a chance to find out what someone is really like. This superpower would be helpful to find out what people actually think, and how they actually relate to the world. Like if they are being someone they aren't really or if they are being a total farbication, or they act how they actually are inside. It would be a chance of pace, even if only for a day.