reading strategies

Although this isn't the hardest book I've ever read, I have had to learn some new strategies to get through this. I guess one of the main things that I've had to do while reading this book that I generally don't have to do is reread things on my own. I've read passages, said, "ok I have absolutely no idea what just happened," and reread it until I figured it out.

I've found that annotations really help me do this. If I'm having trouble connecting something, I can look at previous annotations rather than having to search through half a book. It makes it easier, and it also helps me notice things I would not notice otherwise. Finally, I think discussing the book with my tablemates has helped me quite a bit. They notice things that I don't notice, clarify things that I was confused about, and I can do that for them.

NY Times

101. How often do you cry?

I'm just going to say straight-up that I cry a lot. If I feel any extreme emotion, I'm probably going to start crying. It's just who I am. I also seem to get into cry-worthy situations more than most people. Movies and books make me wail. When my parents are angry at me, I cry. When I'm frustrated, I cry. When I'm tired, or stressed, or worried, I cry.
I feel like I cry this much because I just feel better after I've cried for awhile. I feel like it takes some of the pressure off. It doesn't explain why I cry when I'm really happy, or relieved, but it explains most of it. I read somewhere that crying is unscientific, that there shouldn't be any correlation between emotion and overproduction in tear glands, but here I am. It probably irritates my friends that I cry so much, but I don't think it's going to change.

comments

James:Political News Story
John:News Article

political response

Brexit: What would 'no deal' look like?

When looking for an article, I was searching through CNN politics for something that appealed to me. All I could find was healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. I didn't want to write about healthcare, and, moreover, I didn't want to write about Trump, so CNN wasn't much help. Then I turned to BBC and looked in their US politics section. Still, all I found was healthcare and Trump. I decided that if I were to write about something that wasn't healthcare or Trump, I would have to leave the US. So I did. I looked in UK politics, and that was how I wound up with an article about the Article 50 negotiations.
Simply put, the Article 50 negotiations are the negotiations taking place in the UK after Brexit. There are three main issues that need to be addressed. They are:

1. The Exit Agreement. This is outstanding payments and relocation of EU bases that were in the UK. Technical stuff.
2. Trade agreements. This article states that "It is not yet clear whether trade will feature in the Article 50 talks," but trade agreements would talk about how leaving the EU would cause trade problems.
3. Transition Agreement. The UK wants to be gone by March 2019, or, the bare minimum of the Article 50 time frame. But the Prime minister says, "No one wants a cliff hanger," and that she would prefer a "phased process of implementation." I would have to do a little more research to be able to explain this fully.

A lack of agreement in the Article 50 negotiations would basically mean full separation, or, as BBC put it, "red tape." Passports would be required. A license to trade in other countries would be needed for each individual country; an EU license would no longer work. They would fall back onto World Trade Organization policies. Passporting agencies in London that could once operate around all of the EU (channeling lots of money into London) would suddenly be confined to London. They would lose free trading rights with their biggest trade partner: Ireland. In short, the UK would lose €60bn should a "no deal" scenario happen.

It is too soon to know what the UK and the EU will do, but I am sure that a "no deal" scenario would wreak havoc on both parties. They will both lose money, trading opportunities, and straight-up convenience. What I believe is that a deal will be made, but it may take the full two years. Neither party really wants a "no deal," but neither party wants to bend either. And I do think that if the UK is unhappy with the terms, they will walk away before they agree to it, no matter the consequences. And I think that this will cause issues in the future that the UK is not able to see, because they may need those advantages the EU can give them in the future, and they won't have them.

comments

James: Learning Reflection
Riley:My Progress Q1 W4

free post

Dear Hair,

I'm sorry for all of the times that I cut you. It must hurt, doesn't it? I refer to you as "dead ends," and I chop you off.  I'm sorry for all the times I burn you, to take the curl out of you or to put special curls back in. Does that hurt? Does it hurt when I tie you up and pull you around? Does it hurt when I stick metal bars in there to hold you back?

Just know, dear hair, that no matter what I do to you, I will always, always love you. Because no matter what I do to make you look different, you're part of what makes me me. And I will always respect that.

With love,

Laura

literacy reflection

Writing has always been something that has been a little bit of a breeze for me. It was something I had always done because I wanted to, and I incorporated any school writing into that. But at this year has gone by, I have been forced to shift my focus from low-key personal narratives to formal research projects, which has been hard for me. Usually, I can make my writing flow purely because I like writing. But since I'm not as much of a fan of research papers, that insurance left, and I was forced to find other ways to make things work.

In terms of reading, not much has changed. I'm a little better at reading poetry than I used to be, but other than that, I'm still reading my books for six and a half hours every week and just enjoying it. The only thing that was different was when Dr. D gave me Arcadia. It's really hard, and even though it's an eighth of the usual size of my books, it's taking me ten times as long. But I think that reading a book like this is good for me because half the time when I'm reading I just read a book a night and I don't get anything out of it but the plot. This book forces me to slow down and think, something a lot of other books don't do.