The name's Wulf- Beowulf.

I will be the fitst person to tell you how much I hated Beowulf when I read it in 9th grade Honors Lit with Ms. Scott. In fact, I remember loathing everything I was forced to read that year, except for one of my summer reading books (The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver), which I adored...until someone stole my copy :( . Over the past 3 years, I have had to go back and re-read some of these books, such as Farenheit-451 (which I hated when I first read in 7th grade, again when I read it in 9th grade, and still when I read excerpts from it in 11th grade). But now that we have started reading Beowulf again, I find myself enjoying the stories a bit more than before. They do have a breathtaking quality to them, one that I was to young to enjoy before.This discovery has lead me to wonder why schools teach some books so early. Just because we are in advanced classes in middle school, doesn't necessarily mean that our teachers should be introducing Honors and AP level books to us! A perfect example of this can be seen in my 7th grade honors Lit class, where the first required reading book was The Good Earth. UGGH. If you were to ask me today what that book is about, all I can tell you is that there’s an Asian guy who is poor in the beginning and he marries this ugly girl, but then he becomes really rich and has lots of whores as wives. The End. Oh and there was something to do with Opium in there, but nobody really pays attention to illicit drugs anymore. Never have I read a book that was harder to read into or understand.
This is similar to how I used to feel about Beowulf. But not anymore! Now I see him as more of a olden James Bond, scouring the Danish and Geatish (is that even correct?) lands to rid them of mythical creatures and the offspring of Cain. Pride becomes and issue sometimes, but this agent has no fear. He is abandoned by his team every now and then again, left for dead, but he comes out alive when they least expect him to. He improvises well, using whatever he comes upon to defeat his enemy, and can always be called on to help. I bet his driving was horrendous, too.
I never saw any of this when I read Beowulf in my freshman year of high school. If I had, I might have actually wanted to read the end of the book (stupid dragon) and ask questions about why everything was happening the way it was. But instead, I read what I was told (skimmed would probably be a better word), did my assignments, and handed the book back in as soon as I was allowed to be rid of it. I never saw Beowulf’s death as fate, or the monsters symbolic of his fears/ emotions. (503 words right there :] ) I actually feel happy that we reviewed Beowulf before reading Grendel, and remorseful that I didn’t give it more of a chance in 9th grade. Can we try The Good Earth next?

Things That Don't Work featuring Tone Words.

1. My Blog
So far, this blog has been a successful failure. Why? Oh, I don't know. However I spent part of the half day this week attempting to fix it. Hopefully it works because if not, I really and truly may scream. I will be very IRATE if this fails to work. Also, I will be very DISMAYED.
2. Not Subtracting Z Scores from .5000
This is how you fail a Statistics test. Although, I do find it somewhat AMUSING that I helped alot of the class on understanding this subject. But then I took the test and completely bombed it. Thankfully, Ms. Raji is letting us retake it, making me feel very RELIEVED.
3. This Weather
Ok, so this would be where I throw in a funny story that nobody will really think is funny. Thats ok, because this story delights me. Nearly a year ago, my mom bought me a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500. I named the truck Oakley and she has been my partner in crime ever since. However, Oakley is not perfect. The previous owners took very good care of this truck, and even renovated some things, such as the installation of power windows and locks (kind of). When they were doing these things, they also tinted the windows. When the back window was put back in, the mechanics did not properly reseal the frame. Do you know what happens when your car window is not properly sealed? Well, I can tell you. What happens is water leaks in through the cracks in the sealent, and collect inside the vehicle. Have I ever mentioned that mold DISGUSTS me? I guess we all know what I get to do on the next sunshiny day :)
4. Driving to a Cornmaze in the Middle of God-Only-Knows-Where and North of Cartersville and Calhoun When You Have to Be Home By 11pm.
This past Saturday, I figured out how Odysseus felt when sailing home. Some friends and I decided to go to Cagles Dairy and Cornmaze. Did you know they have two locations? One is about a hour away from Alpharetta, while the other is about 3 hours away. Well, when we left Cartersville (I have some friends that live there) for the dairy, I assumed we were going to the Cornmaze near Alpharetta. Long story short, I was very, very late getting home, and am now very, very grounded for the remainder of the week. FRUSTRATING, yes, but I am still THRILLED that I got to go.
5. Bill Long going to Georgia Tech
Bill is one of my best friends, and is currently a sophomore at Tech. While I do like this quite a bit more than when he moved to freaking Michigan to live with his dad, I still never get to see him. If only he lived closer than 45 minutes away. That would be JOYOUS.
6. Trying to Eat a Full Entree from Ippilitos
As much as I love Chicken Eggplant Parmigiana and Chicken Parmigiana, I can really only eat the spaghetti that come with one of these entrees, which is quite DISHEARTENING. What a pity.

Hopefully this works :)