The Closet -Bossy Pants Tina Fey

In the book Bossy Pants Tina Fey explains how she had a friend who was gay but he still hadn't quite "come out of the closet." People say "come out of the closet" but what really is the closet? A place to know who you are but not wanting to admit it to the world around you. A place to be scared of not being accepted. The closet is such a dark place and maybe it takes people so long to come out of it because they cant find the light. Without the light how can they find the door.

This society puts so much pressure on people for being different. But then why do they say be your self, if who you really are isn't good enough for them.  Coming out of the closet isn't that easy. It seems as if the closet would feel like a safer place to be, you alone accepting yourself. But if you accept yourself what does it matter what they think?

No matter what, you are a human being and you shouldn't hide from the world in a closet just because someone doesn't accept you. So really what " not coming out of the closet" means is the pressure that this society puts on someone will lead them to be something they aren't and make them hide their true emotions.

Partial Spoiler alert- The Sorting Hat- Harry Potter Year 1

I am reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. In one chapter Neville goes into Gryffindor house with his legs locked, after Malfoy had casted a spell on him. After that Neville says he doesn't deserve to be in Gryffindor, but Harry replies yes you do, the sorting hat put you here, and this is where you belong. I found this interesting how they all know the sorting hat is right. And he knows where you belong.

But really he just knows where you want to be, and that reflects who you are. For instance later on in the series I remember Dumbledor telling Harry, that the sorting hat had almost put him in Slytherin, but Harry had wanted to be put in Gryffindor so badly that they put him there. This shows Harry didn't want to be a dark wizard or be led to a selfish future, but he wanted to be noble and courageous. So if Neville thinks he doesn't deserve to be in Gryffindor even though he wants to, he is wrong.

Life isn't always about who you are, but who you want to be. What you aim for in life reflects your thoughts, and opinions. As long as you follow a path in life where you know is right and reflects your values then you are who you want to be.

Memories- Homecoming by: Cynthia Voigt

"Oh yes i loved my children. I had a lot of love to give those day, to my husband too. But it got turned around. I got turned around. I let myself get turned around." Her grandmother waved her hand lightly brushing away the cobwebs in the corner of the room.

 In this scene Dicey is speaking with her grandmother, who is telling the story of how she has no one to love in her life anymore. I thought that at the end when her grandmother brushes away the cobweb in the corner it shows she is brushing away the memories she once had with her children. A spider takes a very long time to weave her web. She has to be careful, this is her home. Just like memories you have to be careful, memories take a long time to be built. And what happened once will stay with you forever. 

A spider web will be destroyed in the wind, rain, or by human. But spiders rebuild them. So they are never without a place to live. Memories may be ignored but the essential ones will never be forgotten. Memories build who we are, with out them we have no experience no knowledge of right from wrong. Life can't be lived properly with out memories. Just like a spider can't live with out its web.

Her grandmother stills loves her children, even when she says she doesn't. If she didn't love them, then she wouldn't be lonely. Because she would know there was no one out there anymore that could make her happy again. But she knows they are still out there and more then anything she wants to see them. Her thoughts may say no, but her gut says yes.

I think its really interesting how Cass goes back in time to find a very important unknown secret. This secret could be anything! She doesn't even have an idea of its subject but yet her mind takes her back over 500 years to go on this adventure. Now her reason to this is the Terces Society needs this secret to go on with all of their missions.  But what I think is that she wants to learn about herself and her past. She recently found out she was adopted this filled a void she had for on long time, but not completely. She still didn't know who her biological parents were. I think that Cass felt if she figured out this secret then her life would be complete and she would know everything needed to know.

Not true. When she went back in time she spoke to the Jester (her great great great great... grandfather) and asked him for the secret. He told her he had no such thing as a secret yet and he would tell once he had one. They found a place were 500 years from now the secret would be kept safely. Under a special lodestone. After Cass had heard this she thought, I know where the secret will be now so my mission of the past is complete. Yet she stayed in the past world. I think she wanted to figure out more of her family. Just what would happen that would lead her to life.

Later on she finds the loadstone inside of it is a clue. It says
As Above So Below
She is confused. Later on she receives a package thats say her name on it dating from many many years ago (it was even on the mayflower) In it is a big treasure chest once it is opened she finds a million gold coins, jewels, golden goblets. But she is very dissapointed, this hasnt givin her any information on her past just riches. I think that the chest was a prize and that the clue inside the loadstone was the secret. As Above So Below means to me what happened once is connected to what is happening now so if you want to find the secret you don't need to go 500 years back, but you need to find what is most important and learn that if you look too closey at the past and what you wish for and can't have then you will not acomplish anything you have to move forward in life.

Just a Thought Away-Pseudonymous Bosch This isn't what is looks like

In the book This isn't what it Looks Like, there are 2 characters a boy and a girl, Cass and Max Ernest. They are apart of a secret society that deals with spies and cracking codes. Currently Cass is in a medically indused coma. In her coma she has dreams where she goes back in time to try and find out a big secret of her past. She doesn't know what its about, just that it is very important. I thought that it was very interesting that the most important things happening in her dreams would show up in real life. For example she finds a fortune teller who uses tarot cards to see her future. While she is dreaming this, Max Ernest is in the cafeteria having his tarot cards read aswell. The difference though is that the girl is making fun of him by lieing about that cards he has.

This really interested me. Thinking the path happening in the real world seems to be a big lie. Whereas in Cass's dreams its very true. This had me thinking, if everything is the opposite in sleeping and awake, then sleeping is just a distraction (not in the sense that people shouldn't sleep.) Cass is going in the wrong place to find the truth. Her mind is sending her to the place it is happiest in. If everything goes well in the dream world it mean nothing bad can happen so really, there is and never will be a secret.

If she came out of her dream state of mind, she could find the things that were wrong and didn't fit. Leading her to the secret. What i believe in is that to get rid of your problems you cant hide from them, and from then on expect everything to go right. You have to know that hiding from them will just delay you. And even though Cass wants to know the big secret, she is just the smallest bit scared to know.