My Book Came!

This morning I got my book and was really excited...until I opened the box. The book is huge, chunky huge. So I tried making myself feel better by thinking it's just an appearance and it might be only 300 pages long. Well, no. It's 523 pages long.

Joy...

Well as I attempt to read a huge chunk of this book, Happy New Years Everyone!

Book is almost here

So, yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to get the book, Bushworld: Enter At Your Own Risk. And for some reason I was extremely excited. Oh my gosh, the smell of Barnes and Nobles with the Starbucks in it and the coffee, so nice. I felt fancy just being in there.

But anyways, I went to get the book, and they didn't have it. In fact no Barnes and Noble around me had the book. So they ordered it for me. Finally, in about three to five business days I can start reading. When I get the book, I'm going to try finishing it by the end of the weekend.

I really need to start seriously reading because I've only read the month of December 2007 of Maureen Dowd's articles. But that won't be a problem because I have no where to go until tomorrow.

Christmas Time Is Here...and of course still working on the project...

Finally, Christmas vacation is finally here! But, of course, that means more time to get working on this Maureen Dowd research project. Speaking of Maureen Dowd, I now know that i must always refer to her by her full name. Sounds better and more professional i guess...maybe more respectful towards the author. Oh and I keep forgetting to add a picture of her...well there she is up there now. I also haven't really said anything about her besides the fact that she's a writer for the The New York Times and has written the book Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk. So since I'm still trying to figure out this whole reading situation, for now i will focus more on the author and her history.

So where to start? Well, she was born in Washington D.C. on January 14, 1952. That Must be why she's so interested in following the lives of political figures. Oh cheese, this is a little side tracked but I use to always be confused between the difference between the capital of Washington D.C. and the state of Washington. For the longest time I didn't realize their was a difference between the two. To be honest I know the capital is on the east coast but i don't know in what state...o.k. I'm going to find out right now to end my not knowing-ness.

The capital of the United States, Washington D.C is in...o.k., it's been five minutes and I'm really confused now? Is the capital not in any state. That's so confusing...o.k. I'm going to keep looking.

....wow, o.k. so it's been a while now and I can't figure it out. From the many google searches I've been reading, it seems as if Washington D.C. is not located in any state. But how is that possible, that makes no sense. This country is made up of states so it has to be in some state, if it wasn't how could anyone get to it? O.k., to stop with this side track, I have to ask, does anyone know where the capital is located in the east coast?

Back to Maureen Dowd's life now.

Other then where she was born, Maureen Dowd has four other siblings and she is the youngest of them all. In 1973 she graduated from Washington D.C.'s Catholic University with a degree in English literature.

O.k., this is boring me. I would go through her whole life story but, hello, that's what the research paper is for. Well, I'm being a little lazy actually because all i really want to do is eat and watch t.v. and sleep and talk to my friends

I mean, can you really blame me? I'm an honor/AP student who gets very little sleep. That's not even a force. I sleep so little and I'm never not tired. I deserve a break! I mean, I have homework for the whole vacation anyways...I DESERVE TO SLEEP, EVEN IF IT'S JUST FOR A DAY!

To compensate for my wanting to my well deserved break....my one day break since i have homework for the whole vacation which i refuse to also do on Christmas day...I provided wed sites to help me remember where i found my information of her on.

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/DOWD-BIO.html

http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=278915

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/maureendowd.html

Well, I will update my progress perhaps some other time this week. I mean, I'm still going to have to read for this project and other subjects i have homework for, I'm just going to put this blog on hold. So it's VACATION TIME FOR ME!!!....well until after Christmas.

Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk- a book i will eventually need to buy

Before I find a good picture of Maureen Dowd, I figure I should first show you all the book I will need to eventually buy. I could get this book at the library but I kind of owe them money, and I still haven't returned a book i borrowed in October...so buying this book is the best option as of right now.

This book, Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk, is about, as you would assume, our past president George W. Bush. Well he is still president right? Does he still even count as president after Obama won? When the country announces the new president does the old one still in office just go away...or is Bush still allowed to speak?

Well, I'm not sure about that kind of detail and weather or not Bush is still allowed to give his input on our country but we can discuss this later I suppose. Or maybe someone can answer my question.

Anyways, this book by Maureen Dowd looks into the Bush family and their times in office (both George Bush and George W. Bush). From the many, many, reviews and summaries I've read on this book, I am very excited to read it. Apparently she gets really sarcastic and mocks the the Bush family giving them a variety of nick names such as "mini mi" (clearly directed towards the younger Bush). What she in the book is analyze all the things the Bush family has done for...attempted to do...well the decisions they made and how those decision's have effected the U.S.

Now don't think I want to read this book to get a good laugh at the Bush family. Just because their track record isn't the loveliest, doesn't mean I don't like them...I mean Bush just seems more like the social hang out with type. Not the decision type. Not that i think he has made bad decision...well he has made not the best decision....Oh my gosh though! I can't believe has been president for so long, him and his dad combined together have been president(s) for most my life as of right now! Amazing.

Anywho, this is the book I will read when I buy it. Since I don't have it yet, I've been reading Maureen Dowd's articles. What I'm doing for my project is reading every article she has written from December 2007 to December of now, 2008. From December 2007, she has followed the presidential race and has commented on them. So I am going to see what happens with her writing and all that stuff we will need to do for this project. Then when i get the book, i can start reading.

An article from Maureen Dowd

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/opinion/02dowd.html

This is Maureen's...should I call her Ms. Dowd?....ok, let me stick with her full name...
This is Maureen Dowd's article from December 2007. So far, from what I've read, this is my favorite article...so far...because I've only read two of her articles at this point...but it's ok....She wrote a lot about the presidential race from the very beginning. It is kind of funny because if you read what she wrote, it is like she was rooting for Obama without directly saying so. It is amazing how even from the very beginning Obama showed baby step signes of coming out on top.

This December 2007 article on Obama is really interesting for me because...to be totally honest...I really didn't want Obama to win...as Maureen Dowd would say, I was a "Clintonistas." I thought Hillary Clinton was the only option there should be...then she lost to Obama....BUT! I came around to loving Obama because, well, he is awesome and his speeches are amazing.


Seriously if Barack Obama made speeches everyday, I would totally dedicate time to watching...I don't think I ever willingly watched president Bush's speeches on t.v...they just don't compare to Barack. But anyways, read Maureen Dowd's article, it's good.

Why???

The author I will dedicate the next three months of my AP Language life to will be Maureen Dowd.

Why?

Because 1) Someone beat me to Tom Wolff, it's fine, I gave it up.
2) ...Mr. Walsh suggested her for me and...
3) She seems like she will actually be interesting. She is a columnist for the New York Times in the opinion section.What I think I'll like about her is that she seems very open in letting her readers know exactly what she thinks. It doesn't seem like she edits her thoughts, which is good because from what I've read so far, it makes her writing more fun to read.