Free Writing: Book Review for Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett. And to all those who hate it when I say yay( that means you zanini brothers.) YAY YAY

Last month, I read a terrific book called GOING POSTAL, by Terry Pratchett. I personally loved this book and the author's style of writing, which somewhat random, but very intelligent and witty. This book is about an ex-criminal, Moist von Lipwig, who is taken to his execution and is "hung"by a master executor who makes it look to the crowd like he was hung, and make it feel like he was hung.

After waking up and finding out he is not dead, he is taken to Lord Veterinari's office, where he is given an offer, to get the postal service of the city working again, which sounds much easier than it actually is. In order to get this service truly working again, he must beat the clacks: a series of towers in which messages can be sent to other cities fast, it is prone to constant maintenance and is very expensive. After getting the Post Office started back up, he meets a girl who works at the Golem Trust Fund, Adora Dearheart. During one of his dates with Adora, he suddenly gets this feeling that the Post Office is burning, and rushes off to find the Post Office burnt down. Moist soon "finds some money by the will of the gods", and uses it to rebuild the Post Office, and to say that they are back, Moist challenges the clacks to a race, an impossible stunt, but what the owner of the clack company doesn't know, is that there is a dark secret about the clacks, that could lead to their own demise. Will he get the girl, will he beat the clacks, and will a secret society of postmen accept Moist as their new Postmaster General, read the book and find out!

I would reccomend this book to any one over the age 11, as it does get somewhat complicated, and someone who likes to read a book that will keep you laughing over and over again. I personally loved this book and all other books I have read by this author, including Making Money, the sequel to this book, because of his stories that have not much to do with the other, but all on the same fantasy world of Discworld, and his constant cast of characters, including Rincewind, Commander Vimes, and Death him/herself. If you have a chance, I suggest picking this book up at your local book store or library, because you will be going postal about learning the end if you don't!

Survey!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! वेट अ सेक वहत? Wait a sec what?

On Monday, in LA class, we took to quizzes on what kind of thinker we were are, and how moral we are. The quiz on what kind of thinker you are was given as a quiz in which it gave you an example of an activity, and say if you would not like to do it, wouldn't mind to do it, would like to do it, would really like to do it, or would it be exactly like you to do that. The moral quiz would ask you a question and it would give you answers, of which one you should select, and the answers ranged from the extremes moral, and immoral.

On the thinking quiz, my result came to be a musical thinker, and the moral quiz, I was supposedly 77% moral. I think these results fit me very much, because I am a very musical person, as I play four instruments, and because though I am not completely moral, I am more than half moral. This will help me to study better now, as I will now know that I learn better with music, for example, making a song out of what I have learned. Also, knowing that I am not completely moral, I will try to be even moral.

Finally, we took a memory quiz, in which I learned that I am better at remembering long term things, though, I have trouble with remembering short term things, even if I had just been told about it a few minutes ago. This will help me knowing this, as now I know I have to work on my short term memory even more. I really enjoyed these quizzes, and I wish there was more of these for me to take.

Storytime with Benjamin Haugen! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

"Okay guys, one more time from the top", yelled out band leader, Jake," a one, a two, a one two three four!"

Just as he finished speaking these words, Jake Karp, our singer, Rex Shannon, our bassist, Garrett Schubiner, our guitarist, and I, the drummer began to put together a compilation of notes, drum beats, and a voice, to create a symphony of sound that we wrote and called,"Fiction". When we arrived at the transition to the second verse, Jake's mom burst in and screamed over the song at us,"Will you knock off that noise! Some of us are trying to read and do things that require piece and quiet upstairs, so I suggest that you start looking for a new garage to practice, because you are no longer allowed to practice in this one!"

Jake replied pleadingly,"Mom, please give us on more chance, I promise we will turn it down!"

"Of course you are going to turn it down, just like you were the last seventeen times I came down here, stop practicing now, or else you lose all privileges for the rest of the week," Mrs. Karp retorted angrily.

After a bit of grumbling and apologies, the the band and I left Jake at his house getting a lecture from his mom on how to use a volume know on an amp. The next day, we quickly set out to find a new garage to practice in at school, most of our friends said there mom would not like it, until we met the nerdiest kid in school, Max Rauenbueler, who said we could use his garage as long as he could be in the band as the drummer. We were reluctant at first because hanging out with him would have our popularity level go from the top to the bottom, but we were desperate, and as I was better at guitar than drums, so we agreed to let him in to get me back on my first instrument as well as to get a new garage to practice in.

That afternoon, we started to play at his house with me as lead guitarist, Garrett as rhythm guitarist, Max as drummer, and everyone else at their regular positions. Soon after we taught him our main song, we found out that Max was actually a drummer with mad skills, who was quickly able to learn all our songs with ease, and over the next week or so, our band started to sound better than it ever had.

Then, the magic moment, happened, we saw the poster for the Teenager's Battle of the Bands, and we knew at that moment that we had to compete. To make ready for this competition, we soon started making time for extra band and by inviting friends to come see us play at this event.

The day before the event, we were all growing increasingly nervous for this event, and as we started the final practice before the event, Max gave us some tragic news; he was leaving the band. Jake quickly asked why and Max told him that he thought that the band was just using him as a tool for a place to practice, and not as a member of the band or a friend, despite the fact that that was how we began by feeling, but by now, had completely changed. Before we could say that the feeling had changed since the beginning, he left.

The next day at the performance, we, all confused and nervous because of Max's leaving, convinced ourselves that we didn't need him in the band to win. That was when we saw the other bands start to practice, and we realised, there was no longer anymore point in kidding ourselves, because without Max, they were the kings, and we were the servants.

We sent Rex, the most persuasive in the band, to go get Max to come back to the band. Max, who happened to be an easy forgiver, came back to the band fifteen minutes before curtain, where we explained the current situation of how good the bands are. Even with this news, he remained calm, for some reason known, yet unknown to us at the time. After we finished telling him this, we were told that we were on in one minute, and we started preparing.

Walking onto the stage with our hyperactive nerves, we stared out at the crowd; tons of our friends were there, and they were all staring at us strangely because of Max being in our band. But their expressions changed soon enough when we delivered a stunning performance, especially by Max, who had been made so happy when Rex persuaded him to come back, that he knew that he would do amazingly well.

After that, we all congratulated each other on doing such a good job, and waited for the winners to be announced. In the end, we did not get first place, but second, which many people would say is the best of all; and I personally think that first place is to braggy, but second place says to me, to quote Julius Caeser,"Venimus, Vidimus, Vicimus, or in English, we came, we saw, we conquered."

When we went to school the next day, we were glad to see that instead of sitting by himself eating lunch, Max was sitting with tons of new-found friends. As a walked past him to sit with some of my other friends, Max gave me a quick, but very grateful smile, which told me that he would never be sad in this school again.

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank is a touching story about a Jewish girl who writes in her diary everyday and her family during the Holocaust. This book and play is supposed to show what it was like to live in World War Two Europe and to be a Jew at the same time.

The story begins with the Frank's living as a normal family; the dad owns an office building, and the mother stays at home along with the children when they don't have school. Quickly after the play begins, tragedy strikes, and the Holocaust begins, and the family is forced into hiding in the annex of her father's office building. The family is tended to by some close friends of the father who work at the office building. Soon, another Jewish family joins them, the van Pels, and a Jewish dentist, Fritz Pfeffer, which causes this small hiding area to become packed with people. Then, they are discovered by the Nazis, who send them to concentration camps. During this time, Anne Frank dies of typhus, but the father lives. I myself do not remember if anyone else lives, but after the father is released, he goes back to work at his office building, and when he goes back into the annex, just to remember this time, he finds Anne's diary still there.

This play shows the hardships that Jews endured during this terrible time, and the story of a family who had to go through it. The Diary of Anne Frank is recognized around the world as a reminder of how terrible this time truly was, and as the most famous written account of a person's experience of the Holocaust in Europe.

In my opinion, this is a terrific play that is written very well, and could not have been put on any better; the actors showed true emotion, and you could with ease tell what Anne's reaction was to the day that had just happened just by the listening tone of her voice. If I could rate this show between 1 and 10, I would give it a 9.25, as nothing can ever be perfect, but this was truly fantastic, and made you feel as if you were no longer in a theater, but in the annex, hiding from the Nazis with the Franks. In conclusion, I suggest if the chance arrives, to watch this tale of the Franks, Van Pels, and Mr. Pfeffer.