Eat Pray Love Pages 161-196

Every morning after meditation everyone participates in a chan called Gurugita. Liz hates it and cannot get the hng of it. The entire hour and a half chant is horrible. So she goes to see a monk for advice. He basically tells her that she can stop if she wants to but because she feels so strongly about it he recomends she continues to do it, so she does.

One morning she wakes up late and as she hurries to leave she realzes her roomate has locked her in. So she has no choice but to jump out of the window. She hurrys to the gurugita just in time, while her leg is dripping with blood from the fall. During the chant Liz starts to think about her nephew who has a few health issues. She dedicates the entire chant to him and helping him sleep. This helps her get through the entire thing and she actually enjoys it.

After this expirience, Liz decides to stay in Ashram for the full 4 months. She finds a new kind of meditation called Vipassana. And you are not suppose to make a move no matter what, just fight through the pain. One afternoon Liz meditates in a beautiful garden but doesn't realize it is infested with mosquitos. Instead of moving she meditates for 2 straight hours. Liz is determinded not to let any negitive thoughts flow through her head. When they do she repeats "I will not narbor unhealthy thoughts anymore"

Liz meets a 17 year old Indian girl named Tulsi. She tells Liz about how her family expects her to marry very soon. She attends weddings where people can ask her questions to see if she would be a good spouse for their sons. But Tulsi hates it and wants to rome the world like Liz.

Liz was discussing with her friends how she feels about David. So one of them gave her a note and sent her up to a tower alone. There, she talked to her husband (Spirtually) and offically moved on with her life.

Later, Richard finally leaves Ashram. After he leaves she decides that she talks way too much. She is making it a point to be as quiet as possible during her stay. But God does not want people to change their character. So she just has to make small adjustments like refraining from interupting or cursing. However she finds a job that fits her perfectly. A new group of people come to Ashram and she has to welcome them and help them whenever they need it.

It was sad to see her friend Richard go. I actually liked him because he put sense into Liz's head. It was a really good idea for her to stay in Ashram because she's making alot of progress. Meditation sounds like a really cool thing to get into. It seems impossible to sit still for hours at a time. At first I thought that she was in India to find out who she is herself. But, it ended up being about God. She now has a better connection with him and is a happier person because of it.

2.23 Diction Exercise

Neil Gaiman Stardust:

(a)
jut
old
winding
sharply
rushing
stocky
treacherously
graze
high
rough

(b)
Level of Formality: Pretentious, graceful
Connotation: lyrical, expressive
Concretness: concrete, you can picture everything in your mind

(c)
Stardust's smooth, constant, and descriptive words convey how much he appreciates the land that surrounds him.

Eat Pray Love Pages 117-161

Finally, four months has past and Liz is on her way to India. At 3:30 am she arrives in Ashram in front of a temple. There she meets Arturo, he is there to welcome her to india. Right away she hears her favorite Sanskrit hymn from inside and joins in. She ends up meditating for the rest of the morning.

Later she thinks back to her old yoga classes in New York. Yoga is suppose to unite your body and mind into one while you find god. Yogis believe that everyone has a supreme self who is at peace. But all of the stresses in life prevent you from finding it. A Guru is basically a basically a greater yogis who can teach their ways. Liz is determined to find one during her stay in India.

The days in Ashram are hard work and long. They being at 3am and end around 9pm. Thats why it is not recomended someone going through hard times visit. The Indian women are dressed in silk saris and gold bracelets. On New Years they chant together and celebrate. Everyone is given work and Liz's job is to scrub the floors. Most of the people working with her are Indian teenagers. But Liz does end up meeting someone her age, Richard from Texas.

Everyday starts off with meditation at 4am. At first Liz cannot get the hang of it and frustrates herself. She lets her mind wonder to negitive things. However, finally she is able to expirience real meditation. She describes it as a blue electrical energy waving through her body. She thinks it is an amazing expierence. India is very different from Italy in the fact that they eat less. All the food given to them is vegetarian and they are instructed to eat lightly. Richard actually gives her the nickname Groceries because of how much she can eat.

One night Liz begins to think of her ex husband again and we are back to square one. She goes to the bathroom to cry by herself. The next morning she cannot meditate again. Her texas friend gives her a long lecture about how it will take time to get over her divorce. He makes her realize that she is controlling and doesn't like when things go her way.

I've decided I don't particularly like this book. It's just not fun reading about a recently divorced, depressed women. You think that things are going well, then all of the sudden she's depressed again. And it's about the same exact things as before. There is not really one story, it kind of draws on and on about facts and pointless conversations, so it is hard to summerize. She also asks herself questions alot, then answers them, which is weird. But, I guess if I wrote a biography about myself it wouldnt be very interesting either.

I'm starting to think that Liz and her friend Richard have a thing for each other. But it would probably be bad for her to act on it considering she came to India to find out who she is. I also hope she starts thinking positive again and stops crying about her ex husband.

Eat Pray Love Pages 97-116

In chapter 32, Liz visits Florence for a weekend. She ends up flirting with a man in Italian and is proud of herself. Not because of the flirting but because of her speaking abilites. She finds another really great Italian restaraunt. Later, her friend Linda meets up with her in Venice. They met on a trip to Bali. Linda is older than Liz but she is very beautiful. Her husband just left her andshe was left to run the family buissness in Venice. It is a pretty dangerous place and she also does not stay very long.

Liz finally realizes that, as much as she loves it, she does not belong in Rome. She is still trying to figure out what defines herself.

Luca Spaghetti's birthday arrives on Thanksgiving and he claimes that he wants turkey. But, he does not know how long it takes to make a Thanksgiving dinner. His birthday consisted of three different languages: English, Italian, and sweedish. But, some how they all managed to understand eachother and have a good time. As they go around the table and explain what they are thankful for Liz cannot find the words. So she basically says she is thankful for her old and new friends. Everyone around the table starts to cry.

After that night Liz finds that she has outgrown yet another pair of pants. She has gained a total of 23 pounds while in Italy. That does not bother her at all because she knows it will come off when she goes to India and she was very thin to begin with.

During Liz's last few days in Rome she finds more amazing food. She looks back at her time spent on eating, learning the language, and enjoying the sceen. She does not regret any of it and is a happier person.

I actually learned alot of facts about Italy in this first section of the book. It is deffinalty alot different from the US. It's nice that Liz had a good time in Italy but i feel bad for her friends that she is leaving behind to go to India. I'm wondering if she feels that she doesn't belong in Rome, does that mean she might end up in India, or Indonesia?

Eat Pray Love Pages 61-96

Liz begins to make new friends and finds happiness out of little things. For example she bought food from an old lady and prepared it herself. She goes to a soccer game with her friend Luca Spaghetti and learns a few new swear words in Italian. Meanwhile the entire time she is working on her italian.

Liz starts to feel like he belongs in Italy more when a young girl asks her for directions somewhere. Which means she is not viewed as a tourist anymore. That being said, she deicides to go on "vacation" to Naples. Her and her friend Sofie go for a day. It's not a very nice place but i did eat the best pizzia in the world. Liz starts to realize that she is gaining weight. It does not bother her because she looks healthier.

Just when you think things are going well Liz starts think about her ex-husband again. She writes him an email explaining that it is okay for him to look for someone else and that she is sorry. She says they were not right for each other and they had and unhealthy relationship. He respons agreeing with her, so she offically knows she can move on. After reading the email she breaks down in sobs while her friend Giovanni conforts her.

Soon her sister arrives for a visit. You can kind of tell Liz is a little jelous of her. Her sister is very smart and organized (She reads encyclopedias for fun). She is currently training for a marathon and has husband and a few children. With her sister's book smarts they explore the churches and art of Rome.

I like that Liz is starting to be a happier person. It's not fun reading about a depressed, recently divorced women. I love reading about Italy though. It makes me want to travel to Europe for a year!

Eat Pray Love pg 40-60

While in Italy it becomes obvious to Liz that she stands out. She has blonde hair and pale skin and people from other countries look at her differently. But that does not stop her from making friends. She plans t meet up with a few people she was told lived in Rome. Liz also made a friend in her new italian class.

After about the tenth day in Italy she starts to feel sorry for herself again. And you come to find out that she suffers from depression. Her therapist and doctors gave her many different types of pills to take. They said that she will be dealing with it on and off for the rest of her life. Fortunatley she does not want to take the pills and is determaned to prove the doctors wrong. However, Liz still suffers from self esteem problems and has many battles with herself.

Learning that Liz has depression issuses make things clearer now. I can kind of see why she just randomly left her husband. And why she was sobbing on the bathroom floor. I hate that she had a perfect life and she just left it all behind. But I am hopping that good things come for her during her year long trip.

Gaga is back!

As most people know, last night the Grammys aired. The thing that i was most excited about was Lady Gaga's performance. She was carried into the event in an egg, held by about 6 models. They claimed that she was incubating and couldn't come out untill she was ready to perform. It was a pretty weird thing to do. But her outfit was nothing compared to the meat costume worn to a different award show. Anyway, she sang her single, Born this way, which just released friday. Overall it was an awesome performance and i loved it!

Close Reading

The Lonely Field

The painting Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth grabs your attention with simplicity and mystery. The main focus of this piece is a woman in a soft pink dress. She is lying unusually in an empty field looking back at an old house. The grass seems to be dried out because it is a brown color, instead of the usual vibrant green. The woman's body is in a contorted position and her hair is flying away from her head. This leads me to think that she had just fallen. The way she is looking off toward the house makes it seem like she was runnig toward it. Her face is turned away toward the house so her expression is not apparent. But, the placement frantic hands make her seem almost fearful. It is obvious that this is not just a leisure day of relaxing in the field. She is attentive, and ready for something to happen. The color of the grass and the grey sky gives the mood a dark and grim feeling. These colors give off a vibe that a bad situation is taking place. Christina's World is an extremely expressive painting meant to be interpreted however the viewer sees it.

Eat Pray Love Pg 1-39

Eat Pray Love is about a confused 30 year old women. In the begining she is by herself crying because she cannot decided if she really wants to divorce her husband or not. They both said by the time they were 30 they would have a kid. However, she doesn't feel its the right time and she is not happy with her life. Eventually she makes the decision to go through with the divorce and her husband dispises her.

After the initial break up she falls in love with another man. She starts to depend on him and that pushes him away. They have an on and off relationship for a while.

Alot of these first few chapters are background information to help you understand her a little bit better. She loves the italian language and wants to learn it. This woman is a talented writer. Someone offers to pay for her to take a trip to italy and write about it. And after going to a guru, he says that she will visit him in india. With her husband's (soon to be ex) approval she makes the decision to move to Europe for one year. Four months in Italy, four months in India, and four months in Indonesia. Later, she has arrived in Italy, paid off her divorce settlements, and quit her job.

Response to Teenagers, Friends, and Bad Decisions

The article basically says that teens drive differently among their peers. It makes it sound like kids are worried about what other people think when they drive. I personally get distracted when my friends are in the car. But the main reason is because I am having a conversation and its hard to focus on two things at once. However, when your friends are in the car they can do tasks for you. For example, changing the song on your ipod or reading a text out loud. Maybe some people drive recklessly when their friends are around but that just shows their maturity level.

Love this guy

Super Bowl

I was happy to see the Packers win the super bowl over the weekend. But, myself not being much of a football fan i focused my attention on the entertainment. I thought Lea Micheles performance was awesome. In my opinion they should have had her take Christina Aguilera’s place. While I was watching the singing of the national anthem all I could think of was how horrible it sounded. I expected more out of such a successful and talented artist. It wasn't until the next day I heard that she messed up the lyrics.

Oh well, you win some you lose some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42ky0fycHA

Pages 210-258

The Winklevoss twins are at a rowing championship in England. It is a very big deal to them and they are honored to be there. However, a Dutch team beats them by 2 seconds. After the race they are congratulated by the host. They start talking and the host brings up facebook. He says his daughter has one and gives it praise. This infuriates the twins. Facebook is not only popular in the United States, but it has traveled across the world.

Now Eduardo is furious with Mark and Sean. After working hard in New York and setting up meetings with advisers he felt really good about himself. Until, he called Mark to tell him the good news only to be shot down. Mark did not care about the progress Eduardo had made. Sean jumped on the phone to inform Eduardo that he had set up a few meetings with advisers also. Mark continued to stress how Eduardo should move to California. After sending Mark a complaint letter and getting no results Eduardo decided to freeze the account. Mark would not be able to cash checks or take money out of the account.

To sum up the end of the book, Sean Parker and Eduardo Savern are both cut from facebook. Sean gets arrested at a party with underage drinkers and drugs. Mark decides he brings a negative image and fires him. After Eduardo freezes the accounts Mark cannot trust him anymore. Eduardo is also no longer apart of facebook anymore. The Winklevoss Twins ended up suing Mark for 65 million dollars. Eduardo finally got the credit he deserved. He will forever be the "cofounder". Facebook continued to progress and today there are over 2 million users. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest 25 year olds in the world.