I read "Gay Couples Face a Mixed Geography of Marriage" by Kirk Johnson. It is an article about Henry D. Johnston and Alex Irwin that are a gay couple. They live in Idaho and just 2 miles away from Washington, where gay marriage is legal. They have decided to not get married and to wait and fight until gay marriage is legalized in their state of Idaho. Although I myself am not gay, I have many friends and relatives that happen to be gay. This has made me into a strong believer that gay marriage should be legalized. While I was reading this I thought, "How have these others states not legalized gay marriage? Its about time these people came to their senses and legalized it."
First of all, there are multiple states were these couples can get married and just return to their state where it isn't legal. Wouldn't it make sense for these states to legalize gay marriage? That is what Henry D. Johnston and Alex Irwin are trying to show us. They are merely 2 miles away from Washington. But, they have decided to not move out of their state of Idaho. By doing this, they are showing us that it would be so easy to just walk over there and get married, but they won't do it. By doing so, they are saying "We are staying loyal to our state, but keep in mind that we can just walk over to Washington and get married. So, wouldn't it be easier to just legalize it here?"
Now, there are the people that are against gay marriage. Here what I have to say to them: "How does this apply to you?" Obviously, these people are straight so it wouldn't affect them if gay marriage was legalized. It angers me to see these people protesting about an issue that isn't even theirs. But, in all, I am happy to see that more and more states are legalizing gay marriage. Eventually, I believe the issue of legalizing gay marriage will just be something that teachers go over with their students.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
How to make it through high school in an all boys boarding school
The book "Spud" by John van de Ruit is easily my favorite book of all time. John Milton (nicknamed Spud) finds himself in an elite boys only private boarding school. Little does he know, the Crazy 8 (Spud and his dorm mates) are in for a bizarre year. Now, Spud got his nickname since he is a pre-pubescent boy in high school, and gets made fun of mercilessly because of it. While I was reading this book, I realized that although Spud having major setbacks in becoming respected in the school, he still finds out how to work his way around being massacred daily.
First, Spud gets pretty lucky since he is in the same dormitory as the biggest kids in their year (Rambo and Mad Dog). Since he is in their dormitory, he is in their group, keeping him safe from anyone else. Second, he becomes good friends with a few of the teachers, including the crazed English teacher nicknamed The Guv. With these two friendships, he is covered by both schoolmates and teachers. Finally, he has to have a reputation of his own as well, so he uses his "spudness" to his advantage. He joins the choir, and it turns out the he has an amazing high-pitched voice, which will work to his advantage in the future. With these three basic things: friendship with fellow schoolmates, friendship with teachers, and a bit of a reputation of his own, he finds a way to make it through the first year of this crazy boarding school.
I got hooked on this book and couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Luckily, when I finished the book, I found out that there are 3 other books in this series. So, I found these other three books and I eventually finished all of them as well. The other three books: "Spud- The Madness Continues", "Spud-Learning to Fly", and "Spud- Exit, Pursued by a Bear" are all as amazing as the first one. Each character have are so complex that you start to think you know the character, then suddenly it is like a different person. Another reason I love "Spud" is because the school is absolutely crazy. He likes to think of himself as "a island of sanity in a sea of madness", which I definitely agree on. Spud is such an amazing book, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is able to process a book that you need to be a bit mature to be able to read.
First, Spud gets pretty lucky since he is in the same dormitory as the biggest kids in their year (Rambo and Mad Dog). Since he is in their dormitory, he is in their group, keeping him safe from anyone else. Second, he becomes good friends with a few of the teachers, including the crazed English teacher nicknamed The Guv. With these two friendships, he is covered by both schoolmates and teachers. Finally, he has to have a reputation of his own as well, so he uses his "spudness" to his advantage. He joins the choir, and it turns out the he has an amazing high-pitched voice, which will work to his advantage in the future. With these three basic things: friendship with fellow schoolmates, friendship with teachers, and a bit of a reputation of his own, he finds a way to make it through the first year of this crazy boarding school.
I got hooked on this book and couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Luckily, when I finished the book, I found out that there are 3 other books in this series. So, I found these other three books and I eventually finished all of them as well. The other three books: "Spud- The Madness Continues", "Spud-Learning to Fly", and "Spud- Exit, Pursued by a Bear" are all as amazing as the first one. Each character have are so complex that you start to think you know the character, then suddenly it is like a different person. Another reason I love "Spud" is because the school is absolutely crazy. He likes to think of himself as "a island of sanity in a sea of madness", which I definitely agree on. Spud is such an amazing book, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is able to process a book that you need to be a bit mature to be able to read.
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