Hey Nostradamus!Part Three: Heather Continued

In the third continued of Heather in the novel Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland.  Heather was in the courthouse and thinking about Allison.  Heather phoned Allison so many times, but no answer or a return phone call.  While in the courtroom, her phone rang. At that moment, she felt like a movie stars because everyone paused and looked her way.  Later on, she able to answer Allison called and she wanted to be at some restaurant.  In need of the truth, Heather went to meet with Allison and she ended up paying for the food.  Moreover, Heather has to pay to get Allison’s car fixed.  She has difficulty sleeping and she took most of Jason’s medication.  She woke up one day with all Jason’s belonging next to her, she was sick.  And a phone rang, she hurried and answered, it was Allison and she got new messages from Jason.  Heather wanted to meet at Allison place, but she insists that no clients allowed at her place.  Then she went there with five-thousand-dollar in cash for the messages. Luckily, Heather is able to write down Allison’s car license plate and found her address but with a name Cecilia.  One night she able to follow Allison to her home, she waited and waited. And later, she met with Allison’s daughter and she told Heather that her mom been feeding her with a lies.  From that moment, she drove to Allison’s house and confronts her.  Allison admitted that she was a fake physic and also admits that she has Jason’s letter.  Heather manages to get his letter and take it home and put into a zip-top bag with the rest of his belonging then she fall into sleep.

I read this chapter of the novel I have learn and understand other people thinking when in need of finding the truth.  I also learn that there are smart people in this world that constantly waiting to gain great advantages from people that in need help.  With today financial crisis, people are willingly to do what ever it takes to gain the benefit from other person.  Even a person that really close to us, like family, can play a great trick on us.  My wife and I once experience that and it cost us a lot of money.  Because of family, we have to let it go.  It was a big lost to us.  I think people willing to do anything or at any cost if that was the last resource.  I totally understand Heather feeling in this novel, since her only clue was from Allison, she willing to pay the price.  In return, she did gain some happy moment in her life.  But if I were her, I would call a police and hopefully get her money back.  Instead of not doing anything and let she go free.

Hey Nostradamus!Part Three: Heather

In the third chapter of the novel Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland, the author introduces a girl name Heather.  Heather works as a court stenographer and spends most of her day drifts away by listening and writing in the courthouse.  As her boredom life’s goes by, she met Jason at the Toys R Us while standing in line to pay for her merchandise’s.  Then, they continued their conversation at Denny’s.  After conversations led to the next, they bonded together.  As Jason entered her life, those boredom days vanished into mid-air as the morning fog disappeared at sunrise.  It has been almost three months since Jason disappearing; she keeps questioning herself, but it seems to be useless and clueless.  Sometimes, Jason’s dad stopped by the to house or called to ask Heather, if there were any news about Jason, nor no answer from the police.  Later she followed an images of Jason that been created by Chris from a software to Washington, yet the analog appeared to have Jason similarity.  She ended up met a person that has closed figured of Jason, but is not Jason.  Her desperate become concerns; she stopped by Jason’s apartment and packed most of his personal belonging into a zip-top bags.  While there, someone phoned her, as she picked up, the line went empty.  Later, someone phoned her again and this time she able to talk to the caller.  Her name was Allison and said, she got a weird message from and unknown feeling; she gets this number from a weird sounds that keep telling her to calls.  One day, Heather ended up meeting with Allison, and the message that she received was from Jason.  Heather heard the message from Jason once before and is the same messages that Allison telling her.  Later, she talked to Reg about the messages that she received from Allison, but Reg never believes in physic.

After reading this novel, I can understand that in finding an answer to our lost love's one, people like us in need of some hope, and if any clues can set us free from an unanswered questions we willing to do what it take to get it.  I feel her pain, because Jason was everything to her, and at her ages, there is hard to find someone that can understand her as much as Jason.  With his disappearing, she was lost and left with an unburdened questions.  I hope she can find her answer.  I felt her pain, when she tried to call someone that hold an answered to his disappeared and no answer, or a called back.  How can someone play such a game to other people life? Specially, in Heather situation,  she needed help like any of us, but that one person never call back.  I also felt her frustration, if I was her, I probably threw the phone away and go on with different clue, if any.

Hey Nostradamus! Part Two: Jason ( the Second half )

In second half of part two: Jason, “Hey Nostradamus!” by Douglas Coupland.  It all started when Jason was answering a phone called from a hospital; he was informing that his dad in a hospital due to a broken ribs from falling on to the kitchen floor.  He was in shock to find out that his dad remembering his number without looking at the phone’s contact list.  One of the nurse, asked if he can stopped by his dad’s an apartment and grabbed personal belonging, so he can used it while his stayed in the hospital.  Without an option for Jason, he went to his dad’s place.  While there, he found a picture of himself and his mom on the counter, he found that was a very strained feeling of him to have both of their pictures in the apartment.  Moreover, his dad’s place was also similar to Jason’s apartment, it had a very strong smelled and an untidy stated.  While at the hospital, he was curious to find out the reason that his dad was calling him a murder.  First, his dad doesn’t want to answer, but in the end he said to Jason, “Your soul was perfect.  If you’d died in the cafeteria, you’d have gone directly to heaven.  But instead you chose murder, and now you’ll never be totally sure of where you’re headed.”  Jason was not buying his dad’s ideology and then he left.  Unfortunately, his deepest conscious minds flashed him back to the last two weeks of the shooting.  The fourth person that could behind the shooting has recorded a video tape and sends it to the Police, Medias, and the School Officers, but that person nowhere to be found.  With all the suddenly change in Jason’s life, it hit him the most, and it also bring a great challenge in his family.  And those Youth Alive!, tried to talk with Jason, but they were out of his memories since the day that they turned on him. A week later, his mother decided to sale the house and moved to different place.  A couple months after he moved, Jason received a letter from Cheryl’s parents saying that they’re sorry to all the things that he gone through, and they’re should listening to him instead of the rumors.  And later, he got a letter from Cheryl’s brother, Chris. In the letter, Chris told him that his parents believed in the rumors and causes them to hate him, and he also told Jason that the rumors started in Hospital where all the shooting victims were treated.  Life was rough for Jason, it almost been eleven years.  But stills affect Jason’s life today.  He went out party with some friends, and he while there he blanked out.  But this time, he was almost got murder by a guy name Yorgo.  During his blanked out, Jason didn’t know what he did, but this Yorgo, Russian, guy want to kill him.  Fortunately, Yorgo tripped and fell on his face, and broken his tibia.  At that second, Jason was holding a rock and his memories flashbacked to the day that he killed one of the killer with a rock.  Jason able to withhold his thought, and walked away from the killing because he was able to bring himself into the reality of this world.  Meantime, he back into his real world, at the beach with Joyce on his side.  Another of emotion hit him when his mother phoned him and told him about his brother dead, Kent.  Kent died because of a car accident on Exit number 5 as he recalled.  He drove to his mother house, but found no one there, except Barb, Kent’s wife.  As he walked to her and asked about if she called anyone.  Barb said, “No.”  While Jason about to make a phone call, Barb came up with some insanity idea, she wanted to be pregnant with Kent’s blood.  Jason thought that was the craziest idea, but somehow he ended falling into her thinking, but for Jason, they’re have to be marry first before he can do anything with her.  So, they flown to Las Vegas to get marry, but life is not going too easy as it all planned.  They ran into a friend, his name was Rick.  They so afraid everyone going to find out about their marriage and reason in Las Vegas on the day of Kent dead, then Barb told Jason to go to the room while she accompanied Rick on a Black Jack’s table.  Two or three hours passed, Barb showed up in a room and she admitted to Jason that she killed Rick in order to keep their secret Las Vegas trip.  They were quiet on the way back home.  And when confronted with family, they act normal as if nothing was happening.  A month later, Jason’s mother phoned him and told him that Barb is pregnant with a twin.  He still sits in front of a beach with Joyce on his side as his memories drift into the air.

Reading this novel is  a great challenge for me because I have learn so much from reading this book and also I have a great opportunity to write my own reflection about the novel.  My professor said, “English has no right or wrong answer as long we’re have some kinds of proof to back us up and English enable us to withdraw our thinking to the highest level of understanding.”  This second half of the novel really makes me think about life in general.  How can someone able to get marry on the same day of her husband dead? And how can a blood brother able to marry with his own brother’s wife?  I guess this only happening in the fiction navel world.  I totally disagree with a character, Barb.  I think no matter what the outcome, she should not kill someone for any reasons.  Please don’t get me wrong, I think in order for us to kill someone the reason has to be between life and dead.  Not because to keep the secret and what to make it worst, there is no such thing “Secret.”  Because the truth will come out and it will damages our life even more.  I also learn that telling rumors about other, like Youth Alive! can cause damages in a friendship relation.  I think, one we’re call, “Friends,” we should stay on their sides and if the situation is out of hands, we’re can give a great advice to our friends; hope it can bring their life into the reality.

Hey Nostradamus! Part Two 1999: Jason

In the second chapter of the novel, “Hey Nostradamus!” by Douglas Coupland, the author describes a life of Jason Klaasen after a massacre took place 11 years ago.   He is living in the past and everyday seems to be a common day for him, a day without his wife, Cheryl; a day between him and his dog, Joyce.  He sees the world in different angle, as like he was trapped in the world on the day that he lost Cheryl.  He lost interest in society and ended his day in front of a beach with his dog.  While, he was there, at the beach, he writes some letter in the back of his bank slip.  As he was writing, Cheryl memories flashback to the day of a killing took place.  On that day, he walked to see Cheryl at the Cafeteria, but the unexpected things happened and totally changed his life.  He heard some popping sounds and thought it was from someone celebrates Halloween.  Irony, he was wrong.  As he walked, other students ran out from the cafeteria and the girl yelled at him about three guys were shooting students in the cafeteria.  That moment, he rushed to Cheryl location and later found his love, his dream, his wife, Cheryl was shot.  Jason remembered that he killed one of the killers with a rock that he threw from a distance.  He sat there with Cheryl in his arm, motionless to everything that just happening.  Cops came over, but he never let go of Cheryl’s body, until they’re pulled them apart.  That day, Jason lost his wife and on top of his pained and sorrowed; his dad called him murdered.  Luckily, he has his mom on his side.  There were some big argument between his mom and his dad about Jason killed a young boy, the killer, at school.  Moreover, he also described about the town has turned on him.  Everyone student from Youth Alive! thought that Jason has a rolled in the killing.  As words passed to the media the whole town against him, he talked about his stayed at the police station and sadly enough his mom has to stay at the motel, so she can be saved from people.  Couple years later, Jason found out about his brother, Kent passed away in a car accident.  The author also described a Jason’s dad, Reg, he is spending his times to pray for Kent on Exit number 5 where Kent dead took place.   All these years, Jason’s life is heavily affected for the lost of Cheryl, his wife, and his brother, Kent, and the feeling that his dad never on his side.  He has nowhere to turn to, except sitting here in front of a beach with his dog, Joyce and keep writing his sorrow on the back of his bank slip.  Fortunately, he saw one of the girls from school name Demi. They both begin to talk about the past and that is the only way to ease the pains that they have inside. 

After I read this story, I feel the pains and sorrows that Jason has gone through.  I heard from my doctor saying that, “Pain is not permanent and bad memories are lessons to learn.” I’m sure so many of us live in our own past, but the true is, the World is still revolving around the Sun.  Just like one rap song from Tupac, “Life Go On.” Well, I am one of the people that sometime dreams of my past and I pretend to live, but dreams are not reality.  Dreams are bad and some are good and anything that are unpleasant, I try my best to forget and move on in life because life is full of adventures for us to exploit.  I say all this that doesn’t mean I don’t feel any pains from Jason.  I do, especially when his dad doesn’t take his side and call him murder after losing the most important in his life, Cheryl.  While, I was in Camp Pendleton, so many Marines came up to talk to me.  As one of the medical support personnel, I try my best to give them advices that can bring their morale back.  Especially, when in combat, everyone has gone through so much in life.  To be save from any harms, we’re have to stay focus in life and deal with the problems a little each day and hope  one day we’re can ease those problems.

Hey Nostradamus!

           In the first chapter of the novel, “Hey Nostradamus!” by Douglas Coupland, the author described a life of a young girl named Cheryl Anway that lived in Vancouver.  She was a part of Youth Alive at her High School. And later found in loved with her future husband, Jason.  They’re both were young couple and soon flown to Las Vegas to get married.  In the story, Cheryl described her routine typical day at school and everything seems to be normal just like any other day.  She usually went out for a lunch with her group from Youth Alive, for lunch and discussed they’re sins.  One afternoon, she decided to meet with Jason at the school cafeteria and talked about they live.  In the novel, Cheryl also prayed to GOD and expressed her thought about GOD.  At lunch time, she went to see Jason in the cafeteria instead of going out to discuss her sins with other friends.  While, she was eating in the cafeteria, a popping was heard.  First, everyone thought it was just a firecracker, but they were wrong.  A moment later, three other students rushed in with weapons on their hands and started to shoot.  Other students got under the tables and so was Cheryl.  These three kids continued pulling the triggers as walking toward Cheryl’s table.  The over head sprinkler and the alarms was on, water mixed with bloods.  Blood was everywhere as Cheryl continued praying for GOD.  Unfortunately, she was shot on her upper body, she described everything around her was motionless as she was laid there painlessly leaving all her loves one behind.

            After I read this story, it brings back a lot of old memories during my time serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I found it very heartbreaking that this really happening in our country.  I would never expect that young kids can do such a horrific moment in their life, and how can they taking a life of an innocent people? I guessed I was wrong, I saw many combats during my tour in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We’re carried weapons (Me and my marines) for a reasons because we’re protected our freedom and our ways of life.  How can these kids get weapons that can do badly damages in our society?  I believed any problems we’re face in life, is always an alternative answers and I believed taking someone life is not the greatest answers.  It was a very sad story to read and I hope we’re can learn from our past history. 

The Library Card

            In the short story called, “The Library Card,” by Richard Wright. He described how the library card changes his life.  First, he didn’t read a lot of books, until he came across a newspaper; he was so amazed by the way other white people criticized this white man, H.L Mencken.  He wanted to know about the reasons why H.L Mencken was treated as Negro.  Back in those days, African-Americans were not allowed to use the library, so he began to ask other white boss if he can use their library to check out some books.  Somehow, he found his way to get the library card, after he read all H.L. Mencken books; he kept check more books, and more books.  He read at night and self taught his way to become a great reader. Those books had changed his way of thinking and understanding the life of the slavery in the South.  Furthermore, it opens his eyes to the world of knowledge and he began to understand that life in the North is much different than people in the South. He also learned that an African-American in the North was treated differently than in the South.   So, he began to save money and found his way to the North, where he wanted to be free from a world of a white man.

           After reading this story, the author inspired me to read because the author taught himself by reading books.  For me, I don’t read much and this is my problem.  I don’t know that, people can gain knowledge through reading.  I was so amazed by the author determination, regardless of bring an African-American, he still found his way to read and educated himself.  And another thing that inspired me was, the author hidden his feeling inside him and be able to act normally in front of the white men and that is amazing.  If I were him, I would not be able to do the things that he did.  I cannot imagine the life he has gone through.  Everyone has a problem for themselves, but what matter is that how can we’re facing it.  My problem is lacking of reading and I hope I can read more books and build myself to become a better reader. 

Only Daughter

        In the short story called "Only Daugher," author Sandra Cisneros described the problems she faced of being the only daughter in the family and how she wanted to win her dad approval as a writer.  As a kid, she was forced to be alone because of her gender different and she used that time to read.  To her father's eyes, college was a good place for a woman to find a husband.  After several years in college, she graduated with English major and still had no husband.  After being a professional writer for ten years, her father never know that everything she has written was for him.  She wanted to her father to introduce as," My only daughter, the writer." On one Chirstmas, she flew home to Chicago to meet with her family.  She was delighted to show one of her stories that has been published and translated in Spanish.  After her father finished reading, he looked up and asked:"Where can we get more copies of this for the relatives?"  Those words meant so much for her and it was the most wonderful things happened to her because he had granted her approval for bring the only daughter and a writer.

       After reading this book, it encouraged me to get through in life in several ways.  First, is the issued that I'm facing today.  Even though it is not related to her 100 percent, it inspired me to pass through during this financial crisis.  Then, I tell myself that I will to finish college with a degree that I have always wanted. Lastly, I want to show my mom that I can do something useful in life.  She always wanted me to go to college, but instead I jointed the U.S.Navy and that wasn't good in her's eyes.

My Reflection from Superman and Me

After reading this short story called Superman and Me, I'm totally agree with the author point of views.  The most fascination idea that inspired me the most was the way the author described the world in a paragraph.  Also, the way how he loved books through the influence of his father.  I can related this feeling experinced when I was trained to hunt with my father.

The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me

        This weekend I have a chance to read one of a short story by Sherman Alexie called, "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me." The author described his life as a child in Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state.  First, he described the living conditions as hope, fear, paychecks by paychecks, and the help of government food assistant.  During his childhood, he saw his father as a passionate reader and books collector.  For the loved and the inspiration toward his dad, it bond him to love books as well.  As a child, he has tried numerous time to read a book, but the words seem too difficult to comprehend.  Later he learned that paragraph is like a fence around the house that held a group of words together.  Then he started to look at everything around him as a paragraph.  Meanwhile, he began to read a comic called, "Superman."  Without knowledge of reading and understanding abilities, he looked at pictures then began to imagine saying the words out loud and that was the begining of his reading ability.  He wanted to be save from the land of opportunity, so he began to read.  He read whenever and wherever he has free time.