Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials might be a book that has fantasy has magic, but there’s something about it that gives you the sense that you’re in the book. How can something that you know will never come true, draw you in to the point that you can’t tell if you’re reading about a scene, or living a nightmare. I think that is the real appeal to a book like this, because there is so many of its kind, that have a fantasy setting with suspense and action, but not many of those books can seem down to earth. Not many fantasy books make me feel like I could actually be a character in the story, walk with the characters, talk with the characters, and live with the characters.

                In short, Scorch Trials is the second book in the Maze Runners Trilogy. In the first book there is a group of boys and one girl caught in what is called the Maze. The main character of the book is Thomas a boy who started a chain of events when he showed up that no one could understand, which included the first and only girl to be in the Maze, Teresa. Thomas really only had 2 friends when he got to the Maze, Teresa and Chuck. Chuck was the kid that no one really liked, and tried desperately to make friends. This is one of the  connections that I think everyone can make to the book.

                Think about the toughest time in your life, or even just the one time you something so embarrassing that you didn’t want anybody to make fun of you. Now, how many of your friends stood by you right then and there, never wavered. Then, how many of your friends joined the crowd, and then showed up when everything had cleared up, when no one remembered the latest mishap. Now, my guess is that you had one maybe 2 or 3 if you’re lucky that came to your side. That’s what Chuck was to Thomas, Chuck never wavered from Thomas’ side, no matter what came his way because of it. Then imagine losing that friend, imagine losing your Chuck. Most people lose a friend because they move, or you switch schools, but Thomas lost Chuck because he was killed. Now Thomas has to try and sleep at night knowing that his best friend was killed. Imagine that, then think about your brother or sister being brain washed to believe that they never had known you.

                That was what Thomas was dealing with after Teresa was taken. Teresa and Thomas had a special relationship, because they could communicate telepathically, meaning they could talk just to each other in the others mind, but Teresa was taken away and was brainwashed to believe she didn’t know Thomas at all. So what would you do to cope with such a tragedy as this.

                As you can see, there are many ways you can put yourself into the book to make connections with the characters. I truly think this is what makes a book good, when you can find ways to implement yourself into a world that is as impossible as any.

The Rising and Falling of the Twin Towers

            The Twin Towers are more known for 9-11, than any other reason. It is known for the disaster that occurred, not the architectural marvel it was of its time. The Twin Towers were the tallest building at the time they were built, there was 65 feet deep of dirt dug up under each tower to make the foundation. That 1 million cubic feet of dirt, later became Battery Park City. These monuments might be known more for the tragedy that took place 11 years ago, but they still are some of the most innovative monuments in history.

            The design of the Twin Towers was done by Minuru Yamasaki, with help from a company called Emory and Associates. Yamasaki used a relatively new idea when designing the towers, using what’s called a tube in tube foundation. Tube in tube is the concept of using reinforced perimeter walls around a steel column. The outer walls are supposed to protect the interior from the elements, including the high winds and high elevation. The concept did not prevent swaying though, as the top of the towers could sway up to 3 feet in any direction. The steel columns were sprayed with fire retardant material to prevent fire from spreading, and the columns were meant to hold the entire weight of the towers. These ideas were surely innovative, and allowed for the construction of huge towers, but the safety lacked in some matters, and that brought up the question, was the complete collapse of the Twin Towers preventable?     

            Many New York Fire Chiefs believe so, and I would have to agree with them. I think that if you listen and think about what  say you will agree too. I have to begin by saying that it is not all the designers fault that the design was poor for safety. The Port Authority demanded that there be 10,000,000 square ft. of office space, which called for the 110 floors in each tower. To achieve this, Yamasaki knew that he couldn’t use standard building procedures or follow the current building code, that specified almost everything, including the make and model that most of the equipment had to be. The Port Authority did not have to follow building codes, so they followed what was just of draft in 1966 when construction started, of what was called performance codes. The codes didn’t specify what make or model anything had to be, just that it could pass certain requirements. For the tower to reach the 110 stories it needed to, it would have to be lightweight, which left almost no room to put concrete on the steel columns as a way to keep fire from spreading quickly. If you look at close up pictures of the rubble from the twin towers, you can see a lot of steel, but nearly no concrete. This is why the fire spread so quickly through the towers. The fire retardant spray was scaled off the steel, left the fire spread through the air vents and the foundation of the towers.

                The design behind the twin towers looked good on paper, and truly made America a powerhouse for many years in the economical world. The tower stood as the tallest building in the world, but when you’re at the top, everybody tries to shrink you back to size. So, what do you think would have happened had the Twin Towers never completely collapsed?  What would’ve happened, if we put safety, quality, before quantity?

Fall DWA

Climbing Down

6/2/12

Dear Journal,
       I started my journey up Mount Everest today, with my 2 brothers and my father. The day was predictable for the most part, we got ready early in the morning to prepare for the long day’s climb and set off around 7 in the morning. The weather was clear, and there were no obstructions. If the rest of the expedition is like today, we’ll probably make it up to the peak by the end of the week, but what fun would that be.

6/5/12

Dear Journal,
        The travel today was very rough, so we could not climb very far. Every step was a battle against the crackling wind. The blinding snow made it impossible to see any more the a foot in front of you. The icy touch of the mountain reaches every part of my body now, and the taunting smell of smoke sitting by the fire doesn’t help, because I know that there is no amount of heat that bring my body back to its original state. Even more depressing, in all the commotion, we lost my brother, Steven. My heart had dropped down the mountain at the realization. I have two options now, grieve for the lost of my brother and stop the climb right now, or I could make the loss of my brother mean something, not let his loss be in vain.

6/6/12

Dear Journal,
        We decided to continue our quest right away, but now we were climbing for a bigger reason. There was a bitter taste in my mouth all day. I couldn’t get rid of it, no matter what I tried. I was unaware of the weather all day until just now. I contemplated everything walking up the mounting today. I’m lucky I didn’t get lost in thought and become another victim of the mountain.

6/8/12

Dear Journal,
        We are nearing the top mountain, but it feels like we are only moving at a snail’s pace. This is becoming the hardest of the journey for me. Hope is at its highest, rising as we get closer to the peak, but , the fact that my brother won’t be at the top when we get there, it’s bearing on me. The knife in my heart was sinking deeper with every step up, my backpack using its full force to drag me back down the hill.

6/11/12

Dear Journal,
        We reached the top of the mountain today, the peak, the plateau. When your literally on top of the world, you have nowhere to go but down. I can only get lower than I already am, and I can’t imagine anywhere lower than the feeling I have right now. The only thing I can hope for, is that when I go down, I can pick myself back up.