Conrad G.

Honors English 9 Yellows

31 August 2012

                                                   Can't Get There From Here

For my summer reading, I read a book called Can't Get There From Here by Todd Strasser. In this book, a 
group of homeless children who call themselves the "Asphalt Tribe" struggle to survive in the harsh New York 
City winter. I chose this book because I enjoy metaphorically putting myself into others' shoes, and gaining knowledge and insight from their unique perspectives. The book describes troubled homes, starvation, death, suicide, loneliness, and other negative emotions that may or may not be relatable to some people. I enjoyed every aspect of the book, and would highly recommend it. It is insightful and thought provoking. 

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=752&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbnid=kYsQjgfExQ5CzM:&imgrefurl=http://wwwjeanpages.blogspot.com/2010/04/cant-get-there-from-here-novel.html&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8Ld6ZEaUdiA4IK0wD0n_Xq3ohFZrLVPf7prLZu0KpyZ_n2mChUPG4bCmmL8F82Fw8mxyTFFhhDuw7iEtZsvR-52WIFZmOeMOxjXppu_MoAhM2xPxGqu-c2ebbOOBDgHYgVqOYiupdTMs/s1600/can%2527t%252Bge

My Unique Profile

                My name is Conrad. I attended Harford Day School. My goal for this year at John Carroll is to receive at least a B+ in all of my classes. Last year my English teacher was Curtis Way. He was my all time favorite teacher. He promoted free and creative thinking and discussion in and outside of the classroom. I am a musician. I play guitar, bass, piano, drums,  two kinds of ukulele, accordion, and harmonica. I cannot sing. I like almost all music, from classical composers such as Claude Debussy and Tchaikovsky, to jazz guitarists such as Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt, to death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, and nearly every other genre in between. I always keep an open mind to new music, along with any other creative idea, be it philosophy, literature, poetry, art, or even fashion. I do not care for most country, pop, and emo music. My four favorite bands are Incubus, Pearl Jam, The Police, and Mastodon. I am an atheist, though I enjoy reading religious texts and gaining morals from them. I am a red meat vegetarian, which means I do not eat mammals. I hope that one day I can give up all animal products and become vegan. I try my best to exercise daily, and have joined the cross country team. Although I’m fairly bad at the sport, I am dedicated and have shown up to every practice. My teammates are always very supportive. I play for the Northbay Rugby team. This winter will be my first full contact rugby season.  I sometimes enjoy reading books in my free time, and my favorite author is Ray Bradbury. In Mr. Way’s class last year, we were assigned a five page term paper on any topic to do with America. Taking the project to its fullest potential, I wrote a ten page term paper on anti-societal American literature and how it affects American citizens. I included roughly six pages of information about the Unabomber,  or Ted Kaczynski , which represented how anti-societal literature could affect citizens in a negative way (Kaczynski was an avid Thoreau fan) under the wrong circumstances (Kaczynski was criminally insane). Another four pages were dedicated to a musician named Tom Morello. Tom Morello is the guitarist of politically active rock groups Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman, and Street Sweeper Social Club. He promotes positive and creative rebellion through his music and literature (he wrote a comic book called Orchid, which is about a resistance attempting to overthrow a corrupt leader in a post-apocalyptic earth). He is a prime example of how anti-societal literature can affect people in a positive way (Morello read Aldous Huxley, George Orwell [yes, I know neither of these are American, but they are still anti-societal literature], Ray Bradbury, and Phillip K. Dick in his youth).  I thoroughly enjoy research papers and creative writing. I hope to have a good year in this class.