Letter 18: A New Book and Some of My Talented Classmates

Hello, Tim!

  So we heard that you knew about this already, our blogs are officially … accessible?

  Keeping a blog, to me, is like keeping a diary. I chose my favorite background (book shelvesssss) and a font that is not too glossy or extravagant, nor is it too plain; my style.

  Does this mean from now on, you will be reading our replies on our blogs? Cool! Looking forward to your reply!

  This is somewhat the second month after school started, and various events are already blooming about before our eyes: seven people of our class will have to finish a picture book, the class singing contest is right at the corner… I had a feeling that this semester would be as eventfully memorable as the last; if otherwise, it would be EVEN MORE memorable!

  So far, we have practiced for the singing contest for two classes already, and it dawned on me numerous times that our class is consisted with extremely talented people. For example, Aubrey was born in German, so it is guaranteed that she can speak at least three languages as well as a native speaker can; Buzz is a man of art, of romance. He draws, he plays several kinds of musical instruments, he writes awfully romantic love poems; Melvyn is an incredibly intelligent talkative. You can chat with him about almost everything, and each time you talk to him, you can always expect to learn something new, even when you believe that you know more than he does; Allison is confident, talented in art as well. She loves fashion so much that she makes clothes for her Barbies (I bet you’ve seen at least of them from Allison before); Samuel, though showing less enthusiasm in school subjects, he is knack at technological knowledge. He gets absolutely invested and absorbed into the fields he is interested in (just take his picture book video our class made last semester, and I believe that no one would question his love for technologies). William is the annoying-and-charming type of guy, and he draws really cute human figures. I could have gone on and on, but none of those would alter the fact that my friends are all so amazing with charming personalities. While I have none of them, I know that I can only be strict on myself when it comes to the subject I’m more confident about (and my favorite subject): English. At the same time, I know I’ll have to find another hobby, not only to be more competitive in the future but also for a more accomplished and an extraordinary life. THAT, is what I long for.

  On Tuesday, we got a new book for our “Literature Circle” project, which is entitled, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”. Below is the cover of the book:

Oops, wrong side. Here:

I have mixed feelings for books when the characters or the figures on the book covers are intentionally turned upside down, since they often result in super-confused readers. 

  The novella of The Tiger’s Curse, Tiger’s Promise by Colleen Houck has the same problem:

  Same with a book I used to own: Clementine by Sara Penny Packer:

  The book, judging by the intro at the back of the page, a dog was murdered, and a fifteen-year-old kid, Christopher, was determined to find out the murderer. But after reading into the first few parts, it’s not just a detective fiction. Close, but not quite. Maybe I’ll talk about it some day…

  Recently, our English lesson got to the topic of cellphone addicts. One small question first: Is it “cellphone” or is it “cell phone”? We were talking about it for a while but seemed like both have been used :D

  Anyway, we got to watch an episode of drama, called “Black Mirror” episode 3, “Nosedive” (Yay EHP perks) which is a series of nearly-morbid lifestyles in an alternate universe of the world. This episode was about people living under a set of “rating system”, in which people lived with a scale from one to five, rated by other people via social medias with their cellphones or tablets. The higher score you own, the higher you sit on the pyramid of social statuses. This led to people buttering up one another, being immensely hypocritical. The Internet used to be a place where we can express ourselves, but in that world, their feelings get trapped inside a cage, built up with the standards and the expectations of the others. This concept of “rating” people might not seem so severe in real life, but it surly was developing into a concerning issue, while some people are craving for the likes on social medias, as they are supposed to be some sort of approval, and that’s where their desire lay. This episode of a dystopian fictional reality was made to serve as a magnifying glass to show us how terrible the world would be if we rely too much on social medias and the opinions of the others. I believe that’s why the show was called “Black Mirror”, since it showed us the dark side of human society and just how much darker it could transform into.

  To explain the whole plot would take so much time, so that’s mostly what it is about. Have you heard about the show? Though the settings were somewhat too peculiar, the show is certainly enjoyable.

  Tim, Thank you for your reply on our blogs, but I have one more question: When you said that my writing was “a ramble of an idle mind”, do you mean that I had written it without much interactions with my audiences(readers), or were the words too casual, and should be written more formally, or was it too detailed but with little useful information that it was almost like rambling? I would really like to improve my writing skills so thanks a million for your advice!

A pun a day keeps the doctor away!

Sincerely,

Hugo 2/22/2017