The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I chose to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(by: Stieg Larsson) because the happenings in the author’s life intrigued me. Shortly after writing the 3^rd book of the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, the author was murdered. This made me wonder if there was a secret in the 3^rd book that wasn’t supposed to be known. This book is challenging for many reasons; such as many story lines, big words, and interesting characters.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery.

One reason why this book is so challenging is the word choices. In this book, there are many big words in which I have never heard before. Also because one of the main characters in this book is being sued, there is legal lingo used. Not knowing what some of the words mean makes reading the book difficult for me.  When a word is used that I don’t know or in a context I am unfamiliar with, I find myself beginning to be confused as to what’s happening. It keeps me from being fully engaged in what I’m reading.

A second reason why this book is challenging is many different story lines are taking place. The entire book is written in 3^rd person but because they talk about so many people it’s easy to get confused. This makes reading challenging because the book may be talking about one person but then they switch to another person’s story and if you don’t pick up on when the story change or remember what back round goes with which character Its very easy to get lost.

The third and final reason why I found this book challenging is the scene. This book takes place in a foreign country and because the places and names are so different than our own it is often hard to under stand. For instance in this book there is a man named Blomkvist. I found my self getting confused toward the beginning of the book because the author also used the word Bolsheviks. At first, I didn’t distinguish these two words as different words so I found myself slightly confused.

All challenges aside, this book is fantastic! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to really get into a mystery series. At first when I started reading this book I wasn’t really that interested. I didn’t understand how the story lines tied into the book as a whole. But as I kept reading I began getting more and more into it. Just learning about the characters can be interesting because they are so different from us. Once I got more toward the middle of the book though, I just didn’t want to put it down! I can’t wait to read the next two books and strongly advise anyone looking for a book to read, to pick up  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.


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Pull Up Yo Pants!!!

Pants on the ground, Pants on the ground, looking like a fool with you pants on the ground.

Although I believe many people have heard the song Pants on the Ground from the American Idol auditions in 2010, many people are still not acknowledging the lyrics. In this original song, Pants on the Ground, a General talks about his dislike of seeing men with their pants hanging down below their knees. I think many people should really consider taking this mans words of wisdom, and think about maybe wearing a belt the next time they leave the house!

When I walk down the street the last thing I want to see is some guy’s underwear hanging out the back of his pants! So many guys, of the younger generation, have started picking up on this fashion statement. The only problem is, is that they don’t realize that this is a fashion don’t! If I wanted to see your butt, I would tell you! But since I haven’t asked you to show me your buttocks, and I assume no one else has either, I would be so happy if would just allow me buy you a belt!

Now the real question is, why do guys think it’s cool to wear their pants that low? Do they think their butt is just that nice, that they feel the need to show it off? If so, I would much rather you just wore some nice spandex! Does having your pants pulled all the way up make you feel a little hot? In that case, wear some shorts you idiot! Do you think that this fashion statement attracts the ladies? If you do think this, you are sorely mistaken! I believe I speak for most of the females in the world when I say, “You do not look attractive. You look stupid!”

So please, next time you leave the house remember to wear a belt! If not for me, for the entire population of the human race!

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Makes Me Giggle!

I love walking down the street and seeing things that just make me smile or giggle! The best thing about life, in my opinion, is watching out for those small random things that just make you want to smile!

Just last night my parents and I went over to Vito’s for dinner! When we sat down we noticed a table filled with senior citizens. At least 15 of them! When taking a closer look, we noticed that one of the ladies had about a three inch high Mohawk! Except instead of the Mohawk going down the back of her head, this ladies Mohawk spread from ear, to ear, up and over the top of her head. The rest of the hair, on the back of her head, was brushed over into a side ponytail! It’s just the little things that make you smile! You could just tell that this lady loved her hair! Good for her, everyone should be confidant enough to do their hair however the heck they please!

Another thing that you see almost every day that just makes me want to giggle are dogs, and their owners. People always say that most owners look like their dogs, but for some they just look so similar I want to laugh! When you see a short wrinkly dog walking down the street and trailing slowly behind is an old wrinkly man, doesn’t it just make you smile? Or when you see a little Yorkie with long straight hair, and walking on the other end of the leash is a little person, also with long straight hair. I just love seeing people who look like their dogs!

I think my favorite thing to see is old people. I just love walking down the street and seeing a little old couple walking side by side. You can just tell by looking at them that they are just so in love. I can never help but smile! Or on the opposite side of the spectrum, when you see little kids! I love seeing children with no teeth on a whole half of their mouth! And they are always just smiling away because they are so excited they lost some of their teeth!

I think the point of life is just to capture the little things. Any situation can be worth smiling about if you just find something little that makes your day! Always know that if you look close enough, there is always something to see!

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Character

Just two weeks ago many juniors, including my self, were asked to send in an application for national honor society. Although this blog may just sound like Maddy being vain, I wrote what they asked me too! Please don't take this as me thinking that I am all that! I can assure you... I am not!


I think to be successful you have to have a love for learning, the confidence to ask questions, the optimism to confront challenges in your day and a willingness to work. I believe these are traits I use everyday.

I like school but it doesn’t come easily for me.  I have to work hard to get a B or an A.  In middle school I struggled with math and missed taking Algebra in 8^th grade.  I vowed to catch up.  As a sophomore I took two math classes at the same time to do so.  It was hard but worth it as I am now in pre-calc and looking forward to taking calculus next year. 

Asking questions is a way of life for me.  Questions help me understand and I have never been fearful of asking them.  In class, I find myself leading the discussion or work on a project to get it completed right. I am usually not the smartest one in the group, but by facing the project head on, I find I learn more and the work is completed faster.  

I have studied music for many years and I love learning new things about singing. This year I decided to take on the challenge of instructing the elementary choir at church. I have enjoyed being the energy for the group to keep these young kids awake and focused on learning new songs.  I have learned how to motivate others and myself. 

Finally I have a positive outlook on life.  You will normally see me with a smile on my face.  School is fun and learning comes easier with a positive attitude.  I find smiling and a positive attitude is infectious and helps motivate people around me.  These are the traits that I would bring to National Honor Society, should I be invited to join.  

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Best things to do for halloween!

Top three things to do for Halloween!

1.)

The number one thing to do on Halloween is go trick or treating! Although I’m sure there are many people in the world that would disagree, this is why I think trick or treating is the best.

All year everyone waits in anticipation thinking about what they want to dress up as for Halloween! Some people dress scary, others sexy, and some just throw something on to fit in! Every house you go to on Halloween is decorated differently! Some have giant spider webs or gravestones, and others have scary music or people popping out from behind pillars. Everyone celebrates differently! Another difference is what happens once the door to a house is opened! Some people make you do a trick for your candy, others in the case of one of my friends houses you must be able to solve a math problem to earn your candy! You never know what awaits you as you step up to house after house on Halloween night! Plus you can never go wrong when people are giving away free candy!

2.)

The second best thing to do for Halloween, is carve pumpkins! Although many people have stopped carving pumpkins because of lack of time or laziness, I think pumpkin carving is a key part in celebrating Halloween! Plus it’s a great way to express yourself in a way that everyone can see! There are so many different ways to carve a pumpkin you just can’t go wrong! On top of that, the luminous light of all the candles always looks way cool in the darkness of Halloween night!

3.) The third best thing to do to celebrate Halloween is roast pumpkin seeds! Although many people don’t even know how, I think it would be a waste to just toss out all of those perfectly good pumpkin seeds! Before cooking the seeds it is important to get all of the yucky orange pumpkin goop off! Then you add a little oil and salt to the seeds and put them in a skillet to cook! Make sure you mix them around and add more salt periodically till they are all lightly browned! This is when they are good enough to eat! And there you go now you have a delicious Halloween treat to munch on while your watching a scary movie on Halloween night!]

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Pumpkins!

I love carving pumpkins! Every year being able to carve out new faces and designs is just so fun! In my family, it’s a tradition to all carve our pumpkins together. All six of us before every Halloween! As stated in my previous blog, I love finding the biggest pumpkin possible to carve into!

This year, with all my siblings away at school and having show choir from 3-9 on Halloween night, Halloween just wasn’t the same. But one of my best friends and I decided that we were still going to carve pumpkins and make the best out of a crappy situation! On the Friday before Halloween, we went out and found two of the biggest roundest pumpkins we could find! We also saw that all the little gourds were selling 10 for only one dollar! After picking out our 10 favorites we scurried back to my house to see who could carve the best pumpkin!

After gutting our pumpkins, we looked though a book that had tons of ideas on how to carve your pumpkin. Ever since I was old enough, I have been carving pumpkins! Yet even after 16 years, I still have not once carved a plain jack-o-lantern into my pumpkin, and this year was no different! I chose to carve a cat face in my pumpkin and even though it was a really tough design, it still turned out really well! My friend decided on a design that had three ghosts and the word BOO! Although she had not carved a pumpkin in awhile, with the help of my pumpkin carving expertise, her pumpkin turned out really well also!

When we finished carving our pumpkins, we took millions of pictures so we could show off our pumpkin carving skills to all of our friends! We put both of the pumpkins out on the front steps of my house and put candles in them! Both pumpkins looked so much cooler once they were all lit up. So of course, we had to take more pictures!

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Dancing!

If you have read my earlier blogs on singing, then you may have gathered that I teach the preschool through 5^th grade Sunday School choir, at my church. Every week I try to switch things up, sing different songs, do different warm ups, anything that will help me keep the kid’s attention. This last week however was interesting in itself, and will probably be a class I will not soon forget.

This last Sunday at church there was an African Methodist church visiting to show us how they would traditionally conduct their services. They opened the service with some African music calling to God. But what really fascinated me was all of them looked engaged. Not one of them looked tired or bored throughout the entire service. On top of that they were all having fun, and saying hallelujah every time something really spoke to them.

After the service is when my class begins. It started off as it would any other week. But shortly after I had started teaching, the children of the visiting church all came to sing with us. They followed along with the motions and tried their best to sing the choruses. It was so cute! I decided it would be fun for them to sing a song for us, rather than the other way around. A little girl came up and said she had a song she wanted to share. Her little brother came up with her and they started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. They were so adorable.

After they were done singing, I asked them to go back to their seats so we could sing another song. The little girl did as I asked but her brother just stood there, about a foot away from me, looking straight up. When I asked him if he wanted to go sit down, he just looked at me and shook his head no. Then not knowing what to do, I asked him if he wanted to stay up by me. He shook his head yes and never took his eyes off me for the rest of the class! The whole time while I was working on the song with the other kids, he just stared. As we sang No Mountain High Enough, all I could think about was how cute this boy was and when he started to dance it was a sight I will never forget.

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