tj.thedevlins.org

welcome

Hi. I don't post that often. I've had this blog since the fourth grade. Enjoy.

dailies

I don't know why I changed the layout. It didn't take as long as I expected. I guess I did it to kill time - which I failed at doing.

Hi. It's been about four months since I've made contact, and nothing has changed. ...I suppose I can't say that, but that's how the sentence ended. I could talk about how my mother was diagnosed with cancer and how she's have a tumor removed on Tuesday, but I'm not going to. I could talk about the fact that I'm taking a college class and actually learning things I could apply to real life, but I'm not going to. I could talk about how I recently qualified for the Pepsi tournament again (bowling), but I'm not going to. I could mention that my sixteenth birthday is in ten days, but I won't. What will I talk about? I have not one clue. Talking about things that actually happen in my life isn't cool. That's not what the cool kids do.

I think I'll mention that I read an article from Details magazine and thought it was magnificent. Regardless of the fact that it was about Robert Pattinson, I found the writing style to be intriguing. I actually read all six pages.

I probably sound like Holden Caulfield right about now, and I hope it doesn't annoy you as much as it annoys me. I completely hate Holden Caulfield, but that "life just sucks" feeling is swimming through my veins. That's all I have to say about that.

See you in four months.

So basically, changing the layout took me about five minutes. Thanks again to the ever-mysterious thebikiniboy for the layout. I've actually used this one before and decided to go back to it. Perhaps one day I'll fully learn to make my own, but it's doubtful.

Now it's bed time. I've got bowling in the morning.

Whoah. Neglect, much? It feel like I haven't posted in years! School's been crazy thus far, and I barely have time to post anymore. We've recently started a school blog that I've taken charge of, The RocketBlog. It's basically an online newspaper, but we're focusing on reviewing books and movies. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

In other news, I plan to change the layout soon. I just have to find some sort of free time. Between my brothers' football practices, drama club, bowling, the RocketBlog, oodles of homework, and other fun-filled activities, it's hard to keep up with this one. I'll get it done eventually ;)

Seriously though, check out the RocketBlog (link above). It's rad.

I finished reading The Catcher In the Rye last night. I had never read it before, and honestly, it was one of the most annoying books I have ever read. It was basically The Perks of Being A Wallflower for a much earlier generation, and apparently it is 'the epitome of teenage rebellion'. For one thing, The Perks has a plot, and it actually pulled you in. Whereas, The Catcher was just about this whiny little girl of a sixteen year old boy who can't handle the world around him, so he insists on complaining and bringing out the negativity in every aspect of the human race. The only person he seems to have any true liking for is his little sister, because she's the only one around him who hasn't grown up and seen the big-bad-world, and as soon as she shows some backbone, Holden says, "I really hate her right now." If I mention the fact that the main character was kicked out of six (?) private schools, then you've just basically read the entire book.
I think it is far from the perfect example of teenage rebellion, because there is no sane teenager out there who would think the same things this main character does. Coincidentally enough, at the end of the book, the main character checks into a mental-health facility. I had to read the Wikipedia page about the book in order to understand that, because it was far from clearly noted in the actual book. I think I got more joy out of reading the Wiki-page than I did from reading the book. The entire time I found myself thinking, "Okay, when will something interesting happen?" and nothing ever did.
If anything, I'm glad that I read it because I can finally understand references to it that other books have made. This book has been identified as one of the best novels ever written in the English language by Time Magazine from 1923 to 2005. It just so happens that I strongly, strongly disagree.

I have to do summer homework so I can be in advanced classes at school, and it pretty much sucks. All of the work is due on the first day of school, and there will be tests later on in the week. If we fail the test, we're booted from the class. Fun, right? I've had to read two books, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven. For the first book, I had a thirty page packet that included questions from each chapter. After the packet is finished, we then have a choice of projects to do. Two friends and myself are writing a rap about the main characters' lives; we just have to find time to work on it. For the second book, we have to write journals about each chapter. It's ultimately not too bad, but I hate having it sit in the back of my head for three months. I feel that at this point I should mention I'm procrastinating. Now, pardon my lack of transition to this next topic...

Uh, I think it's pretty ridiculous that Disney has picked up the whole vampire trend. The people there have really lost all creativity and originality. The last good thing they've come out with was probably Meet the Robinsons in 2007. From my neck of the woods, the movie really didn't receive that much attention, but I always find myself fighting tears at the end. The quote before the credits (see below) really gets to me, I absolutely love the optimism. I hate that Disney has lost that spark, ya' know?

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Walt Disney.

Now, I reeeeeally need to get back to reading. Save me.