J.D. Salinger

   I enjoyed learning about J.D. Salinger.  The fact that he was out of his mind makes me want to learn more about him.  "He drank urine, his daughter writes, and sat in an orgone box." (Smith 1).   He was so set on doing his work, that nothing could interrupt him.  Salinger was also a very controlling man.  He was self centered.  He seemed like a cocky person.  He would abuse his wife Claire.  "Keeping her a virtual prisoner in his house in Cornish, N.H., refusing to allow her to see friends and family." (Smith 1).  Salinger was a great writer but I think is completely insane.  He lives in Cornish and never comes out of the house.  He is married to his third wife Colleen.  I thought it was interesting learning about him because it is kind of scary how someone can look so sane and be the complete opposite.  It's kind of hard to believe that he stays in his house all day and never comes out.  He is still writing but no one knows what he is writing about.  I think Salinger is one of the weirdest writers I have learned about and that is why I enjoyed learning what type of person he is.

Works Cited

Smith, Dinitia 

           2000.  Salinger's Daughter's Truths as Mesmerizing as His Fiction. The New York Times

Hunter S. Thompson

I thought this reading was funny and disturbing.  Hunter S. Thompson and his attorney take all these different drugs like ether, mescaline and more.  They even drink rum an tequila while doing these drugs.  They are both really high, hallucinating thinking they are seeing bats chasing them while they're driving on the freeway.  I thought this book was great.  It was funny that they stopped and picked up a hitchhiker while they are high.  Hunter starts to get paranoid that the kid will call the cops on them because they are both really high.  I liked how his attorney was absolutely crazy.  Getting even higher than Hunter,  he threatens to blowup the salesman's house that they bought their equipment from.  This excerpt was fun to read and I think it was the best reading we did so far.

Aldous Huxley

In the Doors of Perception Aldous Huxley spoke about his use of mescaline.  "I was on the spot and willing, indeed eager, to be a guinea pig"(Huxley 1).  He wasn't afraid to try the drug at all, in fact he was excited about trying it.  He thought the drug would make him hallucinate, see all these crazy things but it never did.  Instead he would notice color more, the bright colors would pulsate.  I liked how he described the flowers in great detail, you can really see the image in your head.  "I was seeing what Adam had seen on the morning of his creation-the miracle, moment by moment, of naked existence"(Huxely 1).  Seeing things on mescaline was like seeing it for the first time.  Everything seemed more interesting.  Mescaline lets you see the most simplest things that you wouldn't notice if you weren't on it.  I thought this author was very interesting.  The way he described everything he saw with great details, from the walls to the books.  The way he described the colors he saw really gave you a picture in your mind.

Bibliography

 

Huxley, Aldous

1954.  The Doors of Perception.  Great Britain: Chatto and Windus Ltd.

Thomas Dequincey

I enjoyed reading Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas Dequincey.  I liked how he let us know the pain of being an addict and the reasons why he became one.  I thought it was interesting that with all of his hardships, he still managed to become a well educated man.  I also think that he was arrogant, showing off that he knew how to speak Greek fluently when he was thirteen.  This reading also taught me not to judge people so quickly, I learned that not all people do drugs for fun.  Some people do it to relieve pain and they become addicted.  I liked how he says how bad wine is, yet when he did opium he had trouble distinguishing dream from reality.  I enjoyed this reading and found it really interesting

The Mets

I just finished watching the Mets play tonight.  They lost the series to the Phillies but took the final game.  Mets were destined to win tonight because Johan Santana was pitching.  He was looking a little shaky in the first inning but eventually settled into a groove.  He won tonight with the help of Carlos Delgado who hit his 31st and 32nd home runs.  Both home runs were bombs.  Santana pitch 7 1/3 innings and gave up 2 earned runs.  The Mets were able to hold their lead and win the game 6 to 3.  I liked the way the Mets looked coming into the series, because they swept the 3 game series with the Brewers  who have the 2nd best record in the NL.  The Mets were held to only 2 runs in the first two games against the Phillies.  This was ridiculous because the Phillies starting pitching isn't that good.  Everything is good because even though they lost the series the Mets are still 2 games up in the NL East and hopefully they will stay that way.