The End!

I finally finished Confessions of a Shopaholic and it had a romantic, heart-warming ending. Last week’s reading ended in the beginning of her TV debate against Luke Brandon. Rebecca stepped on stage prepared for the worst, sweaty and nervous, but the debate turned out to be much different than she expected. She pulled out some intelligent-sounding facts and strong opinions and surprisingly Luke Brandon agreed with her. He put down the company that he was supposed to be supporting…on national television! The TV station liked Rebecca’s performance so much that they told her that they would have her come on the show once in awhile to answer peoples’ call-ins about their financial troubles. She delightedly accepted the offer and the cherry on top of the sundae was when Luke Brandon asked her to go out to dinner that evening for a “business meeting”. While at the TV studio she recognized her bank manager and they had a civilized talk about how she was going to straighten out her financial problems. They set up a meeting and Becky started to realize that she needed to face her troubles rather than run from them. After arriving back at her flat she went through a pile of letters, that would have scared her to death just a couple of days ago, and she got ready for her evening with Luke. She tried to dress very sharply and in a “businessy” sort of manner, but when she got to the restaurant she realized that it was more of a romantic feasting spot and she spotted Luke dressed in a more casual but dressy suit. They had a wonderful dinner and fabulous night. Luke showed an attraction to Becky when he put his hand on hers at the table and their attractions towards each other quickly spiraled into a whirlpool after they had a romantic kiss and got a hotel room together. We will just leave it at that…Becky had a new found lover and she finally took steps towards fixing her financial problems by using her money from the article and TV appearance to pay off her debts. This was a really great book!

Life takes a turn for the better

In this week's reading, life for Becky has finally made a turn for the better. She told her parents that she was being stalked by a man named Derek Smeath, but she didn't tell them that he was her bank manager. This helped her to disconnect from her hectic life and relax for a bit. The following morning she was talking with her dad over coffee and he mentioned that a big company had recently done really well and many people were profiting greatly from their stock in the company. Their neighbors had asked Becky the last time they had seen her if it would be smart to take their money out of that stock and she had advised them to do so. Sh fealt really bad about this terrible advise because they could have made $20,000! After looking through some paperwork though, she realized that this company was actually scamming people, so she called up the Daily World newspaper and said she had a great story to write. She was told to have it done by the next day and she did just that. Her article was published and she was excited that her life was finally going in the right direction. Just when things felt like they couldn't get any better, she got a call from the Morning Coffee studios asking if she would appear on their show. She gadly accepted and couldn't wait to be on tv. While sitting in the hair and make up chair of the Morning Coffee studios, she is told that rather than just talking about her article they decided to add a little twist to the show by having a heated debate instead. They infrom her that she will be debating against a representative from the big company that she slammed in her article. And guess who that person is...Luke Brandon. Becky gets really nervous as her enjoyable morning on tv has just turned into a nervous mess.

Will Things Ever Get Better?

So, Becky Bloomwood is finally going on a date with one of Britain’s richest bachelors and she is totally pumped. The date has a pleasant start as they step into a taxi and head towards what Becky suspects is a very posh restaurant. But…it turns out that they are going to Pizza Express for dinner. He offers to take her somewhere nicer, but in an attempt to seem kind and appreciative, she chooses Pizza Express instead. They share a bottle of champagne and have a nice discussion as they wait for their food. The only problem is that in an effort to appeal to Tarquin, Becky lies about herself and what she likes. She claims to love Wagner’s music and horseback riding and hate shopping. All of which are completely untrue. As they are discussing, Becky creates a fabulous story about how her dead aunt created a foundation for violinists in Mozambique. Tarquin finds this very interesting and quickly pulls out his check book to write a 5,000 pound check for the organization. He writes it out to Rebecca Bloomwood because Becky claims that she doesn’t know who to write donations out to. He hands over the check, but Becky can’t get herself to grab the check. This is the rectangular piece of paper that could clear away all her debt and she can’t get herself to grasp the paper! He simply burns it in the table candle and they continue their discussion. Later in the evening, he gets up to go to the bathroom and leaves his checkbook on the table. Becky starts leafing through it and to her surprise looks up to find Tarquin staring at her. She is very embarrassed and the date quickly ends. She gets home and talks to Suze about the date. Tarquin had already called Suze and told her that it just wasn’t going to work because he didn’t think Becky was interested in him. He said this to cover up the harsh truth and let the situation down easily. Becky feels terrible about what she has done and in an effort to cure her pain she of course…goes shopping. After loading her arms up with department store goods, she goes to the cash register to find that none of her credit cards work because they have all been cancelled due to the fact that she hasn’t paid her bills. She is very disturbed so she goes to her parents’ house to find some peace and quiet.

10th Blog Posting

Becky Bloomwood’s life is not going well, but luckily she gets a fresh start the next day as she goes to her job. While trying to proofread a boring stack of papers, she is gladly interrupted by a coworker who wants her to go to a personal finance fair. She is lenient at first, but the mention of a free champagne luncheon intrigues her. While scanning the sheet of information, she notices that Brandon Communications, Luck Brandon’s company, is hosting the fair. She decides to be a mature person and just proudly face him, if she encounters him at all. That Friday, she arrives at the personal finance fair, in a happy, “TGIF” mood. Given her bad luck, she of course is spotted by Luke Brandon who walks over in an attempt to start a conversation. Becky quickly ends their talk and walks away with the excuse that she needs to interview people for the magazine. In an attempt to escape Luke Brandon, she walks up to two, friendly-looking people and addresses herself, saying that she is interviewing people for her magazine. Becky is horrified to realize that the two people she is conversing with are the people from her bank that continually contact her about her overdue bills. She is embarrassed because she has made so many excuses as to why she hasn’t paid her bills on time. They eventually recognize her and she quickly leaves the fair after an awkward and humiliating encounter. Becky arrives home to find Suze, her roommate, reading a magazine with a list of Britain’s top 100 richest bachelors. Becky takes a look at the article and finds Luke Brandon on the list, but she is soured by his picture. She also finds Tarquin Cleath-Stuart on the list, Suze’s cousin. Tarquin has always had an attraction to Becky, but she has never really liked him much, though this list quickly changes her thoughts. He had asked her out to dinner a couple nights ago and she had hesitantly said yes. She had been dreading the dinner, but after seeing that his net value is 25 million pounds, her view is quite different. She dreams of marrying him and having lots of money. She is now thoroughly looking forward to going on a date with one of Britain’s richest bachelors.

Annotated Bibliography

Should the United States send birth control programs overseas in order to help correct overpopulation?

Xenia, Jillian. "Overpopulation". TakingITGlobal. 7 Dec. 2008 .
This article is written by a 17 year old Canadian student named Jillian Xenia. She talks about the causes of overpopulation in our world. The resources in our world are not evenly distributed and this leads to malnutrition and poverty in certain third world countries. The women in these third world countries don’t make enough money to pay for birth control, so they continue to have babies. A vicious circle is created because overpopulation leads to poverty and poverty leads to overpopulation. Female illiteracy is another issue because if more women in third world countries were educated, they could make better decisions for their family in knowing that they shouldn’t have more children than exceed their family’s resources. Religion also plays a deep role in overpopulation because many belief systems tell females that using birth control or having an abortion makes you a sinner. She ends the article by stating that what it all comes down to is inequality. If we all work together and educate each other we will have a much stronger world.

Bedard, Paul. "Third World Birth Control Tops Gore's". WestLake Solutions, Inc. 7 Dec. 2008 .
This article is about the views of Al Gore and how he has found a connection between overpopulation and pollution. He believes that over-seas birth control programs can help the overpopulation issue, which would then assist the pollution issue. He states that there are three solutions to overpopulation. First, he said that cutting child mortality rates will encourage families in developing countries not to have so many children. Second, making birth control information more easily available and culturally acceptable will help. Third, empowering women both socially and politically will allow them to participate in childbearing decisions. The article ends with a quote from Al Gore, “‘I can’t imagine that we would allow this [global warming] to happen.’” This article illuminates my topic by describing a significant effect of birth control programs in third world countries and how this doesn’t only affect overpopulation, but how it may also effect global warming.

Life takes a turn for the worse

Just when life is finally good for Becky Bloomwood, things take a turn for the worse. Becky had just been hired for a job as a sales associate at a clothing store and she was looking forward to some extra cash and great clothes discounts. On the first day of her job she spots a fabulous pair of zebra print jeans on the sale rack, but in an attempt to save money she doesn’t quickly grab them off the shelf…though she has her eyes on them all day. Later that day she is working in the fitting room and she spots a woman walk in with the jeans. In an attempt to get the jeans, she tells the woman that there is a three item limit and while the woman is in the dressing room, she hides the jeans and then pretends to lose them. The woman then spots them crammed under the counter and Becky is fired from her job for not following the rules of the store. Just to make things worse, Becky has an awkward encounter with an old neighbor on her way home. In an attempt to dull the pain, she goes shopping and spends a great deal of money. The next day she decides that her new plan of action is to become a futures broker. The following morning she goes to an interview which starts off on a good note, but things become very bad when she is asked to speak Finnish, which was what she claimed on her resume. In desperation, she runs out of the meeting. While on her way home she runs into Luke Brandon, a man she knows through work that she has a bit of a crush on. He asks her to help him go shopping for a new luggage case and she gladly agrees. They have a great time at the department store and then they go out for lunch. While at lunch, Luke tells Becky that the suitcase is for his girlfriend. This unexpected information startles Becky and she walks out on him. Becky is in a very unstable mental state and her life is not going well. Hopefully things will get better soon!

9th blog posting

I am still reading Confessions of a Shopaholic and it just keeps getting better. Becky makes a final attempt at saving money by trying to cook up her own Indian cuisine. She buys all the ingredients and supplies necessary to make a delicious curry and she gets cooking. It takes her quite a while to complete the recipe but she finally finishes and she sits down to enjoy a good meal with her roommate. Her roommate is very appreciative, but when Becky tastes the over spiced curry for herself, she realizes that her friend is just trying to be nice. Becky becomes very frustrated with this cheap lifestyle that she is trying to live and she realizes that it is just not for her. With the help of her friend she decides that rather than trying to save money, she must simply make more money. She attempts to do this by networking with people at a business meeting but she is then pulled away by a friend who wants to discuss her new career over lunch. While sitting in the café Becky notices a hiring sign in a shop window. She realizes that working Saturdays at a retail store is her key to success. She will have extra money AND get discounts on all the fabulous clothing! She quickly applies and is offered the job. What more could she ask for!
Becky is really desperate for money and nothing seems to be going her way…but finally things have! She continues to get calls from the bank and she spits out an excuse for why she hasn’t paid, every time they call. Things are getting desperate so hopefully this Saturday job will help her out. There are still quite a few pages left in the book though, so I highly doubt that this will be the answer to all her prayers. Will Becky ever pay off her debt?

To Save or Not To Save...

I am continuing to read Confessions of a Shopaholic and I thoroughly love it! In this week’s reading, Becky experiences a lot. She is so concerned by all her bills that she decides to take a stab at winning the lottery in order to pay off what she owes. She gets very wrapped up in thinking that she will win the lottery and she plots out in her head how she plans to spend the 10 million dollars that she is suspecting to win that afternoon. She visits her parents that evening and they enjoy a casual dinner. After dinner they watch the lottery on TV and much to Becky’s dismay, she does not win. After this downfall, she decides that she must do something about her money problems, so she goes to the local bookstore and buys a book on how to be frugal. The book instructs that on the first day of their new savings regimen the person should spend money just as if it was a normal day and keep track of all purchases in a notebook. Becky completes this task and discovers that she spent 177.96 pounds in one day! She is taken aback by this number and she decides to really crunch down on her new way of living so for the next few days she brings her own lunches to work and she refrains from shopping much. That weekend she goes out to dinner with friends, but she justifies this spending because it is for the good cause of “breaking bread with friends”. The next day she goes to a museum suspecting it will be free but she quickly discovers that there is a 5 pound entrance fee. There is also a 15 pound season pass so she buys this, planning to come weekly and save lots of money. She also discovers a museum gift shop and buys a large assortment of items, claiming that she is simply doing early Christmas shopping, even though it is March. Becky is struggling to stick to her regimen and she is finding many excuses to purchase things. I wonder if she will ever start saving?

new outside reading book!

The outside reading book that I picked for quarter 2 is called Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. I have read three of her other books and I really enjoyed them so I decided to choose another one of her books. This book is the first book of a series about a woman named Becky Bloomwood and her experiences in life. She is a trendy, young woman who lives in London and she has a passion for shopping. This book is about her troubles with her shopping addiction because she can’t afford everything she buys. The book starts out with letters addressed to Ms. Rebecca Bloomwood, which are mailed from her bank. They are stating her need to pay a bill that she has been putting off for awhile. Becky works at a boring job for a financial magazine. She finds her job as a financial journalist very uninteresting but she needs to pay off her Prada shoes somehow so she has learned to deal with it. In the first chapter, Becky receives her credit card bill and is ghastly astonished to see that she has spent a lot more money than expected. Even though her money is tight, she just can’t resist the sale sign that she sees in a shop window on her way to a business meeting, so she picks up an expensive scarf that she simply must have. She has a few awkward encounters at her business meeting and then goes home to her flat where she is gladly greeted by her roommate. They share a moment of excitement when she shows off her fabulous, new scarf. This is where I stopped reading, and I can’t wait to continue!

Crazy With Love-7th blog posting

One of the things I read this week was an article called “I Love You! I Hate You! Study Finds Brain Draws Thin Line Between Love and Hate”, which I found on FOXNews.com. It discussed the way our brain is structured to respond to love and hate. The study showed that both the love and hate circuits in our brains have identical structures. Professor Semir Zeki, from the University College London, carried out the brain scan study that helped the researchers come to many conclusions about love and hate. Zeki’s team scanned 17 males and females brains as they looked at pictures of people they hated and people that they liked. In both situations, researchers found that zones within the cerebral cortex were deactivated. The cerebral cortex affects our memory, consciousness, attention, and thought, so this helps to explain why we sometimes act so weird during times of anger and love. The only difference in the results was that with love, a large portion of the cerebral cortex was deactivated, and with hate, only a small portion, located in the frontal cortex, became deactivated. I found this really interesting because I have always wondered why people sometimes don’t act like themselves when they are around a person they like or when they are in a frustrating situation. This may not be the answer to everyone’s weird ways, but it at least numbs the pain to know that the last time you said something really dumb to your crush, it may have been out of your control.

Get Your Vitamin D Kids! (6th posting)

I recently read a health related newspaper article in the Star Tribune. It was titled Vitamin D: Sun can’t give enough and it discussed the recent findings that children need more vitamin D in order to prevent serious diseases. Pediatricians now advice that kids need twice as much vitamin D as before; they now suggest 400 IUs (international units) every day. Dr. Theresa Kovarik, a pediatrician at Health Partners, commented on these new discoveries and added that many women are vitamin D deficient and a woman’s child is born with only 70 percent of their mother’s level, so many babies are being born extremely deficient in vitamin D. The article also discussed ways to get vitamin D, such as drinking milk, eating a nutritious breakfast, taking supplements, and spending time outside. It can be tough to get outside during the frosty days of winter in Minnesota, but just to give perspective, only four glasses of milk gives you 400 IUs and on a sunny, summer day you can easily convert 10,000 to 20,000 units into your skin. Also, eating a nutritious breakfast, such as fortified cereal with milk and fruit, or two eggs, two slices of whole-grain toast, and 8 ounces of orange juice can give you 140 IU of vitamin D. These suggestions help the goal of 400 IUs to seem much more achievable.
I really enjoyed reading this article and learning about a new health discovery. I had recently heard something about this topic so it was nice to read about it and receive more clarification of the issue. Also, my childhood pediatrician was Dr. Theresa Kovarik so it was cool to see her name in the paper and read her wise words about this topic. I learned a lot and enjoyed reading this article.

Fifth Posting

This week I decided to blog about an article that I recently read on sciencenewsforkids.com. It was called Homework Blues, and it discussed the affect of a person’s mood on their ability to solve problems. The researchers performed two experiments to collect data. In the first experiment they took 30 kids, ages 10 and 11, and they gave them 20 problems. For one round of experimentation, they were put in a room with upbeat music playing, affecting their mood in a positive way, and for the second round, they were put in a room with gloomy music playing, making their mood more sad. The data showed that when the kids were in the room with sad music they were able to solve the problems at least a second quicker and they were able to get more of their answers correct. In the second experiment, 61 kids, ages 6 and 7, were faced with the same scenario. Once again, the kids who felt sad or neutral performed better and more quickly on the problems. I found this article really interesting, because I didn’t realize that mood could affect your performance in school and at home. I found this concept a bit puzzling at first, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized that when I am happy I feel more easily distracted and I have more trouble focusing on my homework, so it really does make sense. This was a very interesting and thought-provoking article that I really enjoyed reading.

Fourth Posting

In my reading this week, a big event occurred. Jason’s mother finally broke down from all the pressure and she moved into an apartment. It all started out one day when she decided to check on her garden, which she had neglected for many months due to all the confusion in her life. She found all her flowers and vegetables shriveled up and she had a flashback to a time when she was young and her neighbor died, leaving her garden to wilt. After seeing her garden, Jason’s mother collapsed in the dirt and cried. She then went in the house, packed up a couple suitcases and drove to a nearby apartment complex and proceeded to sign a six-month lease. After getting into the apartment, she realized that she didn’t have anything to sleep on or eat, so she drove over to Wal-Mart and the local low-end grocery store to fill up a few shopping carts. After filling up her Range Rover with brown paper bags and plastic Wal-Mart bags, filled with stuff, she drove back to her apartment. The next morning, she went back to her old house, but no one was there. She listened to the phone messages and grabbed a few things for her new living space. This is as far as I got in the story.
I found this passage of reading really interesting, because I can’t imagine the idea of just picking up and leaving a place that you have lived for so long. No matter how sad or mad I was, I don’t think I would be able to do this, because I think it would make me even more emotional. My home is the place where I feel safest and when I am emotional, that is where I want to be. I am interested to find out what how Jason will respond to his mother’s move and how her husband will react.

Third Posting

I am continuing to read the book Crystal Lies and it is getting really interesting. In one of the chapters I read, the author describes the first time that her drug addicted son left home and how it affected her. He left home after getting in a big fight with his father, Geoffrey. The author describes her emotions: “It felt as if a giant pair of hands reached down and tore my life in half on the day that Jacob left home.” This quote struck me as very powerful because it shows how truly deep her feeling was when this occurred to her. It helps you to feel her emotion and understand her grief. The author goes on to explain how her sons drug addiction also led to less interaction with her daughter who had left for college. Having a problematic son had left her less time to focus on her daughter, so she felt some remorse for having slightly ignored her other child, through all the turmoil. This book really shows the true reality of how tough it is to live with a drug addicted person. It’s sad to think that someone else’s problems can negatively affect so many other people. This is a very sad book but it is an intriguing story and I can’t wait to keep reading!

Second Posting

I recently picked up a book at the library with the title Crystal Lies by Melody Carlson. I was walking through the shelves of books and its teal book bind caught my eye; I must confess, I am a sucker for fun colored book binds sitting on the self. I pulled it out from the other books and preceded to read the synopsis, which described that the book was about a mother and her family’s experience with a drug addicted son. I began reading a few pages on the car ride home and I found it really interesting. This quote specifically intrigued me, “Just to hear his voice on the phone reassures that he’s not lying dead in a Dumpster somewhere, the result of an overdose or a disgruntled drug supplier who hasn’t been paid on time. Despite my departure from what used to be my life, I still read the paper and watch the news, and I know for a fact that these things do happen” (pg. 7). This quote came from a section of the book where the author was describing an experience she had once when her son didn’t come home for a week. She was extremely worried and she didn’t even know if he was alive. This quote really struck me, because I can’t imagine being in this situation. To not know where a loved one was for a whole week would be devastating. This passage showed how this teen’s addiction did not only affect him, but also his loving family. In the next few pages, Carlson explained how her life had been turned upside down by her son’s issues. She had gone from a stay-at-home mother living in a fancy house, driving snazzy cars, to a single woman living in an apartment building, driving a dumpy Ford Taurus. I can’t wait to keep reading this book, and so far, this book has thoroughly solidified my prior beliefs that DRUGS ARE DUMB!

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” World-renowned fashion designer Coco Chanel spoke these words. She is known as the woman who created the “little black dress”, defied all fashion boundaries of her time, and epitomized the words classy and chic. She was born in 1883, in Saumur France, to a very poor family. Her mother died when she was 12 years old and she spent the next seven years of her life in an orphanage, which was where she learned how to sew. After leaving the orphanage, she worked at a tailor shop, where she met the French millionaire Etienne Balsan whom she had an affair with. He treated her to the nicer things in life and she soon started designing hats as a hobby. She realized that fashion design was a passion of hers, and in 1913 she opened her first shop, in France, where she sold fashionable raincoats and jackets. Over the years, she expanded the types of clothing she offered, opened new shops, and began to become a household name. She died in 1971, at age 87.
Coco Chanel is well known for her cutting-edge, trend-setting styles during the 1920s, her feminine twist on menswear, her ability to make high fashion comfortable, and much more. Chanel started out as a poor orphan child and worked her way up to a respected woman with her name appearing on TIME magazine’s list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She was a strong-willed person who didn’t let small setbacks get in her way. Coco Chanel is a great role model for women and girls of all ages. I highly respect her flair for being different in a classy way, and her drive to achieve her goals in life. I would love to meet her…but given her current state, I guess reading articles about her on my computer, at home, will have to suffice.

Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy reading my future postings and I look forward to reading yours!