Sammy.

“You have to try to make sense of how this happened and how some small silver of something important comes from it.” – Amy Cohen

            On a Sunday afternoon, my mom and I were on the couch reading. My mother then gasped and handed me the New York Times, and on the front of the section it said Since They Lost Sammy. Sammy Cohen Eckstien had gone to my school and was killed by a van on Prospect Park West at the beginning of the school year. The article was about his parents pushing for safer traffic laws in New York City. The article mostly talked about the Vision Zero, but it also talks about how his parents and his sister’s struggle with his death. His mother started the change by taking a borrowed raider gun outside her house. The results were shocking. Ten miles above the speed limit, three people ran lights, and some were just plain reckless. This started the change. Amy and her husband then went to city council meetings to speak about better traffic control, and soon will spark a change.

            The author, N.R. Kleinfield, claims Sammy’s mother is working hard to have Vision Zero into a reality. Sammy’s mother had made small picture books with pictures from Sammy’s short life. She then made 60 of them and the plan was to give one to each council member at a City Council meeting. She then gave one to a local police commission asking them to ticket more speeder. This takes a lot of effort. She put these books in 51 council members hand. She had to be at the meetings, she had to make them, and this requires hard work and determination, proving the authors claim. Another way Sammy’s mother worked hard to make Vision Zero a reality is using her time to moan as motivation to make a change. In the middle of the night when she can’t sleep she rights emails and works on the campaign. I don’t think someone who wasn’t passionate about the cause and working hard would do this. She is strong to push her emotions into a revolution. So, this evidence supports the claim that Sammy’s mom is working hard for a change.

            As I was reading the article, the author really convinced me to become apart of this movement. The author used a lot of statistics, such as “701 deaths in 1990 and 1,360 in 1929.” And “…the number of fatalities fell to 245 in 2011 from 393 in 2001, but worsened the past two years, climbing to a preliminary estimate of 286 in 2013 (a majority of them pedestrians and bicyclists).” These facts really gave some depth into the article and could help a reader understand the severity of the situation. He also uses a lot of quotes from Sammy’s parents. This really gave the opinions and the feelings of his parents. He also used the disturbing side of Sammy’s death. He included the Internet comments, even the cruel ones. Such as “His parents should have conditioned him not to run out into the street without looking.” This raw and unfiltered comment really brought out the truly horrifying side of this story. The fact that the author included this and made me more motivated to step up and make a change. The author had many other fantastically put together craft moves and really brought the piece alive.

            I felt strongly invested in this article even though it was hard for me to read it. When I was in third grade, one of my best friends, Zander, was killed by a truck on his bike. I felt like the author not only brought justice to Sammy, but to all the living and passed victims of car accidents in NYC. The amount of effort Sammy’s parents are putting into this change really inspires me. I felt like because they are doing this, they are helping me feel like Zander going to finally lie in peace knowing that a change has been made so that kids like him and Sammy no longer have to leave the earth so suddenly. I’m so proud of Sammy’s parents for pushing through the pain and starting a revolution. This article really helped me feel like someone finally understands my emotions and anger. This article helped my cope with my thoughts and feelings that I’ve buried inside of me for six years. And it really brought me to closure. I guess what I’m trying to say is this amazingly written article not only gave me information on Sammy and his parents but it touched me emotionally and helped me get through a tough time I’ve never really coped with. This article was my beacon of light in a tunnel of darkness.

            The New York Times always has amazing articles and really brings justice to things we don’t think twice about. I hope Sammy’s parents never give up and find motivation and inspiration everyday of their lives. I hope his sister will go on to do great things and help those in need like people of helped her. I hope their whole family fights for what’s right. I believe in this family, more then I believe in myself. Keep going, keep moving and Vision Zero will become Reality Zero if we all workat least half as hard as the Cohen-Eckstien family. You all inspire me.

***NOTE***

Please read the article for yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/nyregion/after-a-sons-death-parents-turn-their-grief-to-activism.html It's truly inspiring.

-LC

Lana, Kit, And Grace Aren't The Only Ones Who Help Tell The Story

In the TV series American Horror Story: Asylum there is many plots, emotions and character development. But the way that the set and camera work can tell the story and pull the emotions even further. The series is set in Briarcliff Mental Institution in Massachusetts in 1964. A scandal breaks out when a alleged serial killer is admitted into the institution. His name is Kit, but his serial killer name is Bloody Face. There he meets Grace who was accused of murdering her family. Then the nun who runs the institution admits a nosy reporter named Lana as revenge. Lana had snuck in for a story and was then hit in the head and knocked out. To keep her there, the head nun, Judy blackmailed Lana’s partner into signing release forms. Dr. Threadson, the therapist for Kit, then reveals he is actually Bloody Face.

            In the episode “Spilt Milk” Lana finally escapes from Briarcliff with another nuns help. She is walking down the stairs and she makes eye contact with Kit. Kit recognizes her and is about to blow her cover but then he helps her by distracting Dr. Threadson who is also on the stairwell. The camera switches between Lana and Kit. When it did that, it showed the emotions in each of their eyes. When I saw Lana, I could see the situation playing out in her head, by the way she looked into the camera. By the way the camera was following her down the stairs as a close up, I felt like Kit, and when it was on Kit, it made me feel like Lana. The way the camera moved and filmed the scene really pushed the story further and evoked more emotions.

            In the same episode, Grace and Kit come home to the house that Kit and his old wife Alma used to live in before she disappeared. The house is in ruins. I felt like the set really was a symbol.  I felt as if it symbolized Kit and Grace’s life in the asylum, corrupted, dirty, and broken.  The door is locked but the inside is ruined and destroyed. I also felt like this is a symbol for Grace’s emotional wall. She lied to Kit about murdering her family and said her stepfather did it. She said that she didn’t want Kit to judge her. She wanted Kit to just know she was damaged but not how much. Her inner demons wear locked away from Kit and she couldn’t share them. So those are some ways that the set helped tell the story even better.

            In American Horror Story: Asylum the camera work and setting really help the story deliver it’s message and evoke more emotions. I really enjoyed the series and the plot was well planned out. The characters were complex and the emotions wear raw. I can’t wait to watch the third season!

I Never Want To Lose My "Dog" To A Two Faced "Fox"

The book Fox is about a dog named Dog, a magpie named Magpie, and a fox named Fox. Magpie injures her wing and feels that she will never fly again. Dog then helps her fly again by letting her ride on his back as he runs. The two become very good friends until one day when they are approached by Fox. Fox persuades Magpie to leave Dog and run with him. Magpie at first hesitates, but then she agrees. They leave Dog behind and run onwards. But, when Magpie and Fox reach far away from Dog, he shakes Magpie off his back. He then tells Magpie that she and dog can now know what it feels like to be lonely, and he runs off. This books shows that people can have two completely different personality traits.

            In the book, Dog is innocent and caring, as well as wise. In the beginning, Dog shows Magpie that there is a solution to her problem, and her life isn’t over. He related to her broken wing with his blind eye, but Magpie basically replies (with an attitude) that Dog knows nothing because she is immobilized, but dog is just half blind. Dog became silent. Dog was caring because he related to Magpie and showed her that she wasn’t alone, which is a really nice thing to do. Dog is innocent because he didn’t mean to “insult” Magpie, when he applied his problem to hers. Even though it might have been lost in translation, he didn’t mean to hurt Magpie. Dog was wise because he let Magpie have some space after she snapped at him. He let her take in the options in front of her and think about what she had just said, instead of arguing and defending himself. Dog could have left Magpie, but he didn’t even though she had said some harsh things. These actions prove that people can have two completely different personality traits.

            Fox is lonely as well as spiteful. In the book when he abandons Magpie, he says that now her and Dog will know what it’s truly like to be alone. This basically shows that Fox is lonely because if he weren’t lonely, then he wouldn’t be jealous of Magpie and Dog’s relationship. He’s spiteful because he basically took Magpie away from Dog in the sense that if he couldn’t have a relationship and be happy, no one could.  Usually those traits don’t mix. When you are lonely you try to stop that loneliness and you make friends. When you are spiteful usually you have more power then others and something you love is taken away. These two don’t mix, showing that people can have two different personality traits.

            All in all, Fox taught me that you can’t judge someone on they’re first impression. When Magpie trusted Fox without getting to know him, she ended up in a pretty bad situation. I also learned that knowing your true friends is what is most important, and to always keep in mine that you can make new friends, but its very important to keep the ones that have been with you forever. I hope I am never in this situation when it really matters. Dog was all that Magpie had, and she lost it forever. I don’t think I would, or any one else would, want to be like Magpie and they’re most important person in they’re life. This book taught m to never lose sight of what’s important. I hope I can really take this message and carry it with me throughout life, unlike Magpie. 

Good Bye 2013: An Amazing Year in Reading

2013 was the year I really started to love reading again. I fell off the wagon in about 4^th grade when The Babysitters Club became too juvenile for my interests. Nothing else really appealed to me, until I discovered the young adult library of my seventh grade ELA teacher, Ms. Healey, was full of different genres, and different authors that I had never seen before. Authors like Ellen Hopkins, Rainbow Rowell, and Stephen Chobosky became important to my life. But overall, the book that really gave me true joy was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky.

            The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about a fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie. Charlie is depressed because his friend, Michael, committed suicide the year before. He is entering high school and befriends two seniors named Sam and Patrick.  They take Charlie under their wings and give him confidence, joy and a way to accept himself. This book was written in letters to an unknown “friend” and this craft move made me think that Charlie was writing them to me. I felt like I had to listen to help Charlie. I felt like I was someone he was relying on. I also really enjoyed that this book wasn’t predictable and it showed me that anything could happen. This book really started my reading life off with a bang.

            My reading life started with a well-known and highly praised book. But it ended with a hidden jewel. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell pulled me in from the first word and made be begging for more until the last. Eleanor is a soft-spoken new girl being bullied and Park is teen his friends just don’t understand. They begin to notice each other and build a relationship. This book was one of my favorite books in 2013 because it had a mix of poetry, letters and a taste of real life. I really enjoyed the character growth especially with Eleanor, and Parks rebellion really inspired me to be who I am. I almost lost it with the cliffhanger ending Rainbow Rowell left me with. And this book really made me think and infer about the characters. I’m hopeful to continue to let Rainbow Rowell lead my 2014 reading life.

            My 2013 has been an eventful year with my life and reading. I’m making it a serious goal to instead of going online when I’m bored, I will read. I also hope to discover new books that will become my new favorite and keep inspiring me to make good life choices and to embrace reading.