Rope Burns, by Robert Scott

This story, which takes place between 1997 and 1999 through California and Nevada, is a true crime story about the most twisted couple in American crime history. James Daveggio was a registered sex offender and a drug abuser. Michelle Michaud was a mother of two from Northern California and a prostitute on the side. They have both been arrested several times, Michaud for prostitution, and Daveggio for molesting young girls. Together they became the the most worse couples in American history. In September of 1997 they started their spree of kidnapping, incest, torture, rape, and even murder.
Daveggio and Michaud would ride around in their "mobile torture chamber" which was designed by taking all the back seats out of Michaud's green minivan and transforming it into the ultimate torture place. The couple would go from California to Nevada in search of young ladies good enough for them to kidnap, torture, rape, and maybe even kill. The powerless young ladies are forced to do unmentionable sexual acts for hours, or even days, in order for Daveggio and Michaud to fulfill their sexual fantasies and then are dumped in the middle of nowhere, dead or alive, and the couple go on to finding their next victim.
After months of "playing it safe", the couple decide to take their "sport" a little bit farther, which, eventually, leads to their capture by the police. May 19,1999, they were both convicted of the rape and abduction of Juanita Rodriguez and have also been charged for the first degree murder of Vanessa Samson. Now awaiting trial, they face a conviction that can possibly lead them to the death penalty.
I actually really enjoyed this book. I am very interested in things of this nature. For most books, I begin to fall asleep as I start to read, but this book kept me interested, not wanting to put it down at any time. This was actually a book I had to read for Forensics class, and I am glad I chose this book, otherwise I probably would've fallen asleep by now ;).

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Jacob Jankowski -- the narrator -- is 90 or 93. He's not sure. But he clearly remembers his life as a vet for a traveling circus back in the 1930s, during the Great Depression.

He falls into this circus world quite by accident, propelled into the unknown by a tragedy that changes the course of his life. As story moves between his dull and helpless present, where Jacob is either 90 or 93, sitting in a nursing home, reduced to eating red jello (when what he really wants is a crisp cob of buttered corn), and back in memory to his vibrant, dangerous, and exciting past, traveling with the Benzini Brothers Circus as a young man, we see the entire trajectory of a life -- what it was, and what it has become. The world that Sara Gruen creates is rich in detail and emotion...I found myself hating the villains, dreading the inevitable tragedies, and of course, rooting for the love story at the center of it all.

This was a quick read for me...I enjoyed it and snuck in a page or two at odd moments in the day, and when I couldn't stand it any more, just finished it off in one big reading binge one night. It made me think of my father, the indignities of growing old with your best days behind you -- and I applauded every rebellious thing the old narrator did to subvert those who were working to keep him warm, safe, and well fed, when what he really wanted was just one more adventure, just one more day outside with the sun on his face.

A Patchwork Planet, by Anne Tyler

I am halfway done with this novel and yet it is so compelling and such a fantastic read. The story takes place in Philly and in Baltimore. A young man named Barnaby has had a troublesome life starting from his early adolescence. He used to break into houses and steal mementos and look through photo albums. He wasn't your typical robber. His parents think he is a disgrace and always brings up the money he owes them from his childhood days. He has a daughter named Opal and sees her about once a month because his ex-wife disapproves of his lifestyle. He lives in a basement, has a car that is always in the repair shop, is late visiting his daughter, and is in debt. Although he has flaws, he is an amiable, sensitive, and strong individual that works for much needed company called Rent-a -back that is beneficial to the elderly, which aims to help them with household duties. While waiting at the train station to visit his daughter one day he eyes this lady that he believes to think is his angel. After a few casual conversations she offers him a job at her aunts house. He accepts her offer and soon begins to date her. His life is starting to improve. He has a new love life and is saving up his money to pay his parents back. Since his life is turning around his ex-wife is allowing Opal to live with him for a few days and we will soon find out how that goes.

It's Hip to be a Nerd

Who knew that being a librarian would be so darn cool?

I mean, I always knew that librarians were subversive types, "free people read freely" types -- the ones who not only had the keys, but also the gosh darn maps! -- to all of human knowledge...

Here's a quote from the Library Avengers...[oh, you know, just some superhero librarians that I ran across]:

"Librarians can catalog anything from an onion to a dog's ear. They could catalog you. Librarians wield unfathomable power. ...People become librarians because they know too much. Their knowledge extends beyond mere categories. They cannot be confined to disciplines. Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the masses. They preserve every aspect of human knowledge. Librarians rule. And they will kick the ---p out of anyone who says otherwise." -- Library Avengers

And a story from the NY Times that demonstrates that the library is THE place to be in the 21st century. Haven't figured out what you want to do with your one, sweet, precious life? Be a librarian! I just registered for a class called "Information Retrieval." If that doesn't sound like a wild ride...

One last link: Librarian.net. I am trying to figure this site out...it looks like Twitter, del.icio.us, and blogspot, all rolled into one...

Portnoy's Complaint, by Phillip Roth

[This is my sample book review, so please follow this format: title and author in the subject line, a brief summary of the book (all of it, or as far as you've read), and then your comments and reactions, like this;]

I was in 7th grade when Portnoy's Complaint was published, and I remember the uproar it caused. No one ever forbade to read it, but I realize now -- almost 40 years later -- that the only reason no one forbade it is because no one in my family read it.

Portnoy's Complaint, by American Jewish writer Phillip Roth, is the long ramble of a disturbed and sexually frustrated man, Alexander Portnoy. The narrator tells his psychoanalyst one family story after another, methodically proving and explaining why he is so manic, so sexually obsessed, so deviant and so odd. Can anyone blame him for being what he is, when he comes from such a twisted family? The prose style is comedic -- Lisha and Courtney will testify that I was sitting at my desk softly snorting and laughing as I started reading this novel -- but there is an undercurrent of melancholy and loneliness that I find very human and therefore very appealing. I am about halfway through at this point, so I've moved through the sexual obsessions of an adolescent boy and am now witness to the sexual obsessions of an adult male. Through his explorations of his Jewishness, and his family dynamic, and his own vulgar and voracious appetites, Alexander Portnoy seeks to discover who he is; I find that I am completely caught up in his quest.

My bookclub read this book about four months ago, but I did not go to that meeting because I hadn't yet read the book. It's a book I've known as a landmark, an "important text" in modern American literature, but here I am, only just now getting around to reading it, nearly 39 years after it was first published. On Time Magazine's list of 100 most important novels, and cited by critics everywhere as a "must read," I cannot imagine myself recommending the book to my young students, but I hope that they discover Alexander Portnoy someday, perhaps when they are safely into their their twenties, thirties and beyond.

Greetings, Earthlings

Yes, here we are, in the computer lab, looking at our blog. Send me an email from your active email account, and I'll send you an invitation so you can post to this blog: afletcher@busd.k12.ca.us Do that right now, so I can work on that while you work on your tutorial.

Here is where I want you to begin. This is going to take some time, but I expect you to print out the certificate indicating you have successfully completed this tutorial by November 9th -- end of first quarter.

The tutorial -- created at Indiana University in Bloomington -- is entitled How to Recognize Plagiarism.

This tutorial does not teach citation methods or style; we'll cover that in detail later, but if you are anxious, I will post a list of style guides that are excellent. In fact, you can ask Santa to bring you one this year. But for now, let's start on learning how to recognize and avoid plagiarism by clicking on the link above.