My Best Friend's Death

People are only scared of what they don't know, and there was much I didn't know. I understand death more clearly now, I don't have to fear it, and I don't have to fear God or heaven
When I was 14 years old I lost my best friend and my entire world fell apart. I thought about things a 14 year old should not think about, like when I was going to die, how I was going to die, and everything in between. Becoming closed off was the next big thing to happen to me, as I didn't want to get hurt by anyone again. I just figured a simple solution would be to keep everything in. It got to a point in my life where I needed to fill that void, so I filled it with everything that came along my path in life.
Because of this, my relationship with my friends and family suffered...and I suffered, emotionally. I was not very stable in my thoughts and it was just a very unhealthy period for me. Being as young as I was, and this being such a traumatic incident in my life, it left me shocked, to say the very least.

http://mbsp04.storyspot.com/story/21255

DESTINY: Gilgamesh tablet 11

In this tablet we can learn more about Utnapishtim´s identity. He tells the story of how he became an immortal. I found very interesting how this story is extremely similar to the story of Noah´s Ark in the bible. I think this is so incredible since although the epic occurs in a different region and civilization from that from the bible, the story of Noah is exactly the same. After all this, Gilgamesh still wanted his immortality so Utnapishtim decided to test him by giving him two tests. Gilgamesh fails both of this tests and as a result he cannot earn his eternity. I learned a lot from this tablet about destiny. Destiny is already defined and everything happens for a reason. If life wasn’t like this, maybe it would be really boring……!!!

Looking for Paradise.....Gilgamesh tablets IX and X

Tablets 9 and ten are really interesting and make the book more philosophical. In these tablets Gilgamesh is really scared of death after the lost of his companion Enkidu. As a result of this, Gilgamesh decides to go in search of Utnapishtim.
“Gilgamesh wandered in the wilderness
grieving over the death of Enkidu
and weeping saying, “Enkidu has died.
Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?”
Gilgamesh felt the fear of it in his belly.
He said to himself that he would seek the son
Of Ubarturu, Utnapishtim…..” pg 48

Utnapishtim is an immortal, which can be related to Noah, since he and his wife were the only ones to survive the Great Flood. In effect, Gilgamesh goes to look for him to find the secret for eternity and immortality. Gilgamesh has to pass through many obstacles to get to Utnapishtim, until he finally gets there. When the two characters meet, Gilgamesh asks the immortal the secret he seeks, but Utnapishtim instead gives him a lecture about how you cannot run away from death since death is part of every human´s destiny.

“How long does a building stand before it falls?
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
Share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for what matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.” Pg 64

I really like this last part of these tablets since I believe that Utnapishtim is extremely wise. Someday we will all die, destiny is like that. We cannot do anything about it, life has to end sooner or later. Death can´t be planned it is something that just happens, and it is unstoppable. I think that we should not be scared of dyeing, but we should try to make the most out of our lives by having fun, giving thanks for what we have, taking advantage of all the opportunities life brings, and being with the persons we love. Death is just something that will happen eventually to all of us, and destiny cannot be changed neither modified, but your life can….so do what you want before it’s too late!! :)

Gilgamesh tablets VII-VIII

Tablets 7 and 8:
In these tablets according to Enkidu´s dream, the Gods (such as Anu, Enlil, and Shamash) meet in council to discuss about what Gilgamesh and Enkidu did. Since these two characters killed the bull of heaven and Huwawa, and violated the Cedar Forest, the Gods decide to punish them by ending with the life of poor Enkidu.:(
“I dreamed that the gos were offended and held a council, and Anu said: “They have killed the Bull of Heaven and killed Huwawa. One of them must die, the one of them who felled the tallest cedar.” Page 37
After Enkidu had this dream, he started getting really sick and knew he was going to die. This misfortune is filled with sorrow and injustice since both characters went to the forest and killed the bull and the guardian, but only one of them is going to die. As a result of this, Gilgamesh weeps since he really loves his companion and also because he is scared of dyeing. This shows us readers Gilgamesh´s true personality. He is always looking so strong and confident, but inside he is a man filled with fears, like all of us. Meanwhile, Enkidu shows an extremely human characteristic which is revenge and regret. Enkidu is in such despair that he curses everything that made him part of civilization (such as the prostitute).
“May the garbage of the city be what you eat.
May you drink what flows along the alley gutters.
May you importune in the alley shadows. May you have no home.
May you sleep on the city doorsteps. “ pg 46

I totally understand Enkidu´s attitude since its normal to be mad if you know your life is about to end. I really liked this part of the tablet since it shows very common reactions. Humans are always regretting our actions and always seeing the negative part of everything, when in fact those actions brought us happiness at the time. For example, he can regret everything, but without all those mistakes he wouldn’t have met his companion Gilgamesh.
Then, Enkidu finally dies and Gilgamesh stays companionless. To honor his friend, Gilgamesh builds a statue and gives sacrifices to the Gods. Then, he morns and weeps like a women and is left alone.
I personally believe that Enkidu´s death is so important since it represents how civilization conquers and destroys everything that is in nature.
I loved this tablets since I think that it is very sad to see how you can lose a friend! :(

GILGAMESH TABLET VI

In this tablet many interesting things happen. When Gilgamesh arrives from the Cedar Forest, Ishtar (beautiful women that looks like a goddess) falls completely in love with Gilgamesh´s attributes. Ishtar is determined to have him so she asks him to sleep with her, but Gilgamesh rejects her since he knows that she is kind of crazy and he knew what she had done to her past boyfriends.
“And you would do with me as you did with them.” Pg 32
In this quote we can see how Gilgamesh rejects Ishtar and tells her that he doesn’t want to end up like her previous lovers. As an effect of rejecting her, Ishtar gets really mad and goes to complain to her father Anu. She asks her father to give her the Bull of Heaven so she can have her desired revenge. At first, Anu does not want to give her the bull, but after she threatens him, he is forced to. At last, the bull is defeated (mostly by Enkidu). I really liked this tablet since I think that Ishtar is a very interesting character with many human characteristics such as revenge. Most of us humans seek revenge when someone hurts us, but the thing is that revenge will come alone without having to plan or look for it.

GILGAMESH TABLETS IV AND V

In these tablets Gilgamesh and Enkidu enter the dangerous Cedar forest. Throughout these tablets we can see and learn a lot about the character´s personalities and their relationship. Before entering the Cedar forest, it is obvious that Gilgamesh has more control and is more like a leader than Enkidu, but as soon as they enter the wild, Enkidu takes the initiative and most power. Enkidu, since he knows the forest and nature better, has to do most of the work such as look for food, water, and shelter.
“They made camp there that night and Enkidu prepared a sleeping place, prepared a shelter.”
After this, they both sleep in the shelter Enkidu built until suddenly Gilgamesh awakens and asks Enkidu to interpret his dreams. This happens for some days and Enkidu always interprets these dreams as good sign that assure victory against Huwawa.
Throughout tablets IV and V we can see the foil. It is obvious that the two characters complement each other, but somehow Gilgamesh almost always takes most of the credit. Thanks to their different wisdoms they are both capable of surviving and killing the monster.
“Enkidu steered the raft and Gilgamesh carried
the head of Huwawa, the guardian of the Forest.”

GILGAMESH TABLETS II AND III

In these tablets Enkidu is determined to go and combat with Gilgamesh, and asks the prostitute, Shamhat, to take him to Uruk. As soon as Shamhat hears the man´s desires, she divides her clothes and dresses Enkidu. Then, the man and the woman begin their way to the city surrounded by walls, Uruk.
On their way to Uruk, they are invited to eat by some shepherds who are amazed of Gilgamesh´s presence. After this, they continue their trip and finally get to the city´s walls. Finally, when Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet we realize the huge similarities and differences between the two of them. Both of the characters have similar physical attributes that make them very powerful.
“Stormy heart struggled with stormy heart
as Gilgamesh met Enkidu in his rage.”
This encounter of both of them can be described and understood as the crash between nature (Enkidu) and civilization (Gilgamesh). The epic is very focused on civilization and how it conquers and transforms everything that is still in peace with nature. Enkidu used to live with animals and used nature as a form of survival.
“He was born on the grasslands and grazed
With gazelles and the other beasts on the grass of the grasslands;
Enkidu the companion will not forsake you.” Pg 15
Now, Enkidu has been incorporated into society, wears clothes, and is more “civilized”, although he still has his wild side.
This stuff is still occurring in present days. Humans are ending with nature and destroying indigenous cultures. For some reason we, humans, believe we are superior, but actually we are not. Enkidu and Gilgamesh, when becoming best friends, show the perfect balance between nature and civilization and how they both complement each other.
At the end of these tablets Enkidu and Gilgamesh receive blessings from the city and depart to the Cedar Forest in search for the monster, Huwawa.

Quote:
“Who is the mortal able to enter heaven? Only the Gods can live forever. The life of men is short.
What he accomplishes is but the wind.” Pg 16

I really like this quote since I think that is very true that we are all going to die someday and we will eventually be forgotten, what we accomplish will be nothing and all of our possessions won´t matter.

Blogs

A.According to this author where does the word blog come from?
According to the author of this article the world blog was created some years ago. At first, in 1997 John Berger designed a web site in which he wrote all his thoughts and this site was called “Weblog”. After this occurred, in 1999 Peter Merholz, decided to separate the word and came up with two words-“We blog” This is how the word blog was created.

B.Why might the writer object to a book about blogs? What is the difference between a blog and a book?
¬The author of this article was planning to write a book or anthology of blogs. His plan was not accomplished since he realized that books and blogs are very different. Books are very tight and constricted while in blogs writing gives more freedom of expression and it does not have rules. In blogs you write whatever you like or what you feel. Blogs are very fast to read while books are slow, longer and require more of your time. Most of the time books inform you of situations, but blogs are mostly to write your thoughts and reviews and to deviate from the right limits. In effect to all this reasons and dissimilarities, the writer states that writing a book about blogs would not work.
“Making a book out of bloggy material, if it could be done at all, would kill it, wouldn't it?”-states the writer.

C.How have blogs changed recently?
Throughout time, blogs had changed a lot. Before blogs were not so accessible but now they are. In present days blogs have become much more popular and cover more information since technology and ideas have advanced. Now there are blogs about almost everything-e.g. gossip, sports, books, and other topics.


D. Why might you read a blog rather than a book, or a magazine, or a newspaper?
Blogs are very different from books, magazines, and newspapers for many reasons. People may prefer to read a blog rather than this other sources for many reasons. First of all, blogs make readers understand information in an easier way since they are clearer and sometimes may be more concise. In difference with books, magazines, and newspapers, blogs contain links that take you to other pages and more information by just clicking on a button. Also, blogs are written in an entertaining form that sometimes lacks of punctuation and uses emoticons and abbreviations- E.g. idk (I don´t know),  (happy faces), and others…

E. Is there a reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
There may be a possibility to doubt the objectivity of a blog depending on the person that writes the articles since the person may have a biased opinion. Since a blog is a space in which everyone can submit their thoughts, the information may sometimes be too preferential to a certain group or idea. In the world there is a huge amount of blogs since blogs are open to anyone who is willing to create one. This leads to the possibility that many of the information you find in blogs may not be reliable.


F. If you kept your own blog, what would you title it?
I already created my own blog and I decided to name it “Capture a Memory…Don´t Forget” I decided to name my blog like this since in this blog I will write many reviews and thoughts that will capture a/many memories and thoughts about the books I read and what I like about them. This is like a reading log which will record a lot of ideas that will help me, as well as others, to remember about various literature pieces and to not forget.


G. Find three blogs that mention our summer reading.
For summer reading the pre-AP 9th grade class was assigned the reading of Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Three interesting blogs that I found for this book were:
http://www.beyond-ishmael.com/members/beyondishmael
http://www.ishmael.com/welcome.cfm
http://billtotten.blogspot.com/2009/04/ishmael-by-daniel-quinn.html

Welcome!

Hello! and welcome to my reading blog. This blog is designed for everyone who likes to read. In this blog you will find a variety of book reviews that will be very helpful and entertaining. This is going to be a very open blog in which you are encouraged to post your responses and thoughts. Hope you like it! and remember....LIVE :P LOVE <3> LAUGH :)