This morning I woke up in a tent.  I haven’t written in a bit, so you wouldn’t know about our adventures in Hannibel, Missouri. 

We tented in a really gross trailer park called Injun Joe Campground.

Hannibel, Missouri is famous because Mark Twain grew up there so we did the whole Tom Sawyer thing.  We even explored the cave that Tom and Becky got lost in.

But, enough about yesterday, and more about today.  We had the misfortune of rain, so we were kind of wet.  My cereal spilled so I was covered in milk and fruit loops.  When we finally packed up and got on the road, we had 7 hours of driving ahead of us.  3 hours into it, we stopped for amazing BBQ ribs in Kansas City, Missouri.  I tried Red Cream Soda, it was unbelievable!

We got into Kansas, and I saw how flat this state is.  I don’t like it, because it scares me.

We finally got to Hays, Kansas.  Our hotel has a water slide which Alex and I had fun with.  I also lost a a dollar in the vending machine.

Huck Finn Review

Tom Sawyer Review

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a sequel to Tom Sawyer, except told from Huck Finn’s point of view.

In this book, Huck escapes from his town, bringing Jim, a runaway slave, with him.  They meet up with the King (who is not a king), and the Duke(who is not a duke). They were actually Con men who tried to get Jim and Huck to believe that the were royalty, which Huck absolutely did not believe.

Once the king and the duke play a big prank to rob the family of a dead man of his money.  Huck Finn must chose between right and wrong.  It’s easier and safer to keep quiet about the ordeal (what ordeal????????), but the right thing to do would be to tattle.  Huck does the right thing.

Huck starts to wonder about helping Jim escape.  It was a bad thing he did according to the public.  He knew that the right thing to do would be to turn Jim in. But he decides to Hell with the public, he was Jim’s friend and he wasn’t letting him down.

Unfortunately, the king and the duke turn Jim in for the money.  Jim is imprisoned in a town jail.  This just happened to be the same town that his friend Tom Sawyer’s other aunt lived in.  She mistook Huck for Tom, and he goes along with it.  Then the real Tom comes and he’s all for pretending and says that he’s Tom’s brother, Sid Sawyer.

Huck and Tom are also trying to break Jim out of jail.  They do it in the most unnecessarily elaborate, and imaginative way, cuz that’s just Tom’s way.  This way takes several weeks.

They finally get Jim out, but they get found out, and Jim is re-jailed.  As it turns out, Jim’s owner died and set him free in her will, and Tom knew it the whole time, and was trying to have fun.

I think that Mark Twain wrote to show people about choosing between right and wrong.  Huck must make this decision many times though the book, and I think it is safe to say that he mostly chooses right.

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This is a sketch of Mark Twain in the charcoal left by a lantern. It is in the cave that Tom and Becky got lost in. And the cave where Injun Joe hid his money.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is about a boy who is very imaginative and brave.

At the beginning of the book, his aunt gives him the chore of painting the fence.  He tells the boys in the town that Tom is like 1 in 1,000 because very few people in the world can paint the fence as well, that’s why his aunt chose him.  Naturally, every boy in town wants to see if they have the ability.  They pay Tom with cool toys like marbles and dead cats tied to a string for admission to paint the fence.  By the end of the day, the fence has multiple coats of paint, and his aunt who thinks that Tom did it on his own, is more than thrilled.

At one point Tom decided that he was going to be robber and that he was going to organize a gang of robbers. He told his friends all about they would rob people and kill them, but not the woman, they would hold the woman for ransom. Even though none of them new what ransom was. Tom imagined that he was going to rob some rich people of there elephants. As it turned out they just went to rile up  some school children.

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are in a cemetery at 12pm one night.  When they see people coming, they duck behind a cave stone.  They watch as Injun Joe kills a man.  A few weeks later, Tom rats out Injun Joe to the court during a trial.  Injun Joe escapes while Tom is giving his testimony.  Huck and Tom spy on Injun Joe and notice that he has a large sum of money that he is trying to hide.  One day, when Tom and his girlfriend, Becky are in a cave, they get lost.  Tom comes across Injun Joe who is hiding in the cave.  When Tom and Becky finally get out a few days later, they discover that Injun Joe died in the cave.  Huck and Tom go back into the cave, and find the money that Injun Joe hid.  They split the money in half, and have a handsome sum of $6,000.00 each.

Tom needed to use a lot of imagination to achieve the things that he did throughout the book.  Who would ever have thought of turning a chore to paint a fence into a profitable opportunity. And the robbery thing, pure imagination.

Tom was also very brave. He and Huck went into a graveyard at night and witnessed a murder. It was very brave to tell on Injun Joe, and Tom knew that if Injun Joe caught him again he would surely kill him.

This satire by mark twain makes you laugh at the imagination a kid can have.

This morning, I kicked off my day by bringing Alex to the pool at 8:00 AM.

Later, we caught a cab and went to the Robie House.  I discovered that Chicago taxi drivers suck when you tell them to bring you to the Robie House (a Landmark building.)  They should know where it is.  The guy needed an address!  Nothing like NYC cab drivers.

When we got to the Robie House, we were brought on a tour that tied into the Wright 3 book we were reading.  Like I said yesterday, I’m not here to teach you about these places, just to say what I thought.  If you want to learn more about the Robie House created by Frank Lloyd Wright, then visit here.

After the tour, we bought delicious meatball subs and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies at Potbelly Sandwich Works. 

Alex told me about his plan to be a supreme leader of a closed-in city that he creates himself.  He decided that everyone would work for the better good.  He would have no army. 

I felt bad, but  I had to break it to him.  His plan sounded an awful lot like Stalin’s, which ended up failing.  Except Stalin had an army.  I told him that Americans didn’t like these kind of plans, and they would kick his little, armyless, communist butt.  I’m not trying to be mean, but it’s true.

The taxis were even worse on the way back.  It took like an hour to actually get one, and when we got one, he asked for directions!!!  What we paid on the way back was like twice as much as the way there.  But, we saw a solar-paneled car on the road that seriously looked like a UFO, so it was all worth it.

When we got back to the hotel, we took a bit a break.  Alex was super-annoying, and after telling him to stop following everything I said with “said the Booger Brained Loser” 3 times, I got so frustrated that I chucked my celly with with an already cracked screen at him.  He ducked, and it smashed into the wall.  The screen cracked more, but it still works.

Later, we went to the Blues Festival.  There was lots of music.  We bought yummy food.  My feet were covered in mud cuz it rained earlier, and I was wearing flip flops.

All in all, the day was fun and I learned 3 lessons.  Don’t use Chicago taxis.  Don’t chuck your cellphone at your brother.  Don’t wear flip flops in the city when it rains.

The Wright 3, by Blue Balliet, is about 3 kids who try to save the Robie House , a famous building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The house was going to be chopped into and sent to 3 different museums.  According to the kid’s teacher, this was murder.  She also asked if the building was art or a home.

I believe that the author’s main intent is that things aren’t always how they seem, and if you look deeper, then you might see the truth.

At first, Petra and Tommy hated each other.  Tommy thought Petra was just some girl who was trying to steal Calder’s friendship.  Petra felt the same about Tommy.  However, when Tommy and Petra got to know each other, they realized that they liked each other, and their assumptions were wrong – they could all be friends.

Petra finds the book “The Invisible Man” twice with the same sentence highlighted.  Calder’s pentaminos seem to speak to him, his hand only pulls out the F, L, and W once.  Tommy randomly picks a spot in the dirt next to the Robie House, and finds Frank Lloyd Wright’s lucky fish.  People might say that these are coincidences, but if you look deeper you will realize that the Robie House is trying to connect with them.

Some people will look at  the Robie House and say it is a home, and some will say it’s art.   However, if you think harder and look deeper, you will realize that it’s a mixture of both.

The Wright 3 reminds me of Yolanda’s Genius.  When you look at Yolanda and Andrew, they might not look like geniuses, but if you look deeper, you will realize they both are.

All in all, you can’t always judge a book by its cover because things aren’t always meant to be so obvious.

We just finished the book, Yolonda’s Genius by Carol Fenner.  In this book, a fat, young, Black girl named Yolonda decides that her younger brother is an undiscovered genius.

Andrew is an outstanding harmonica player, and only 6 years old.  The music seems to flow through him.  He was a slow learner, very young, very shy, and very quiet.  Because of this, their mama would not believe that he is a genius.  Yolanda has to come up with a plan to show her mama, and world, Andrew’s genius.

In this book Carol Fenner showed how genius is not always obvious. Most people think of a genius as someone who is very academically smart. A math prodigy for example. Just because they are smart does not mean they are a genius. Unless this math prodigy has the ability to look at old math theories for example and create a whole new theory based on the old one, unless he can do that he is not a genius. Just knowing all the already known facts does not make you a genius.

People might look at Andrew, a small young boy who doesn’t even know how to read music yet, and they might not think of him as a genius. But he is. Yolanda is also a genius and she does not even recognize herself as one. She was able to look at the definition of a genius in a dictionary and recognize Andrew as a genius. She then also comes up with great ideas to get Andrew recognized. She made it happen. She pretended to be a lost child so that she could get back stage at the blues festival, then she got Andrew on stage and he played his harmonica. She is also a true genius.

Andrew reminds me of the other famous Rock  and Roll artists that we learned about at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He is an outsider, and not like everyone else.  Other than Yolonda, no one understands him.

He was also very amazing at music.  For example, he hears popping toast and turns it into a song.  He has the ability to rearrange old material in a way never seen before.   All the best Rock and Roll musicians have this ability.  This means that you take old chords from old songs and mix them together to make a new song.  That is what music is all about.  Andrew is a child prodigy, and just like all Rock and Roll heroes, a true genius.

Today, we were in Cleveland, Ohio. We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m not going to retell everything we saw. It’s not that I already knew the stuff there, it just went in one ear and out the other. I probably would not be able to reproduce correct information anyways. If you are really interested in the exhibits there then don’t ask me, go here.

All I can remember is a giant hot dog from one of the tours.

And of course the Sex Pistols. They got accepted to the hall of fame but they did not want to join so they sent a hilarious letter. This letter really shows how into anarchy they were.

sexpistols rejection letter

Madonna was also accepted into the rock and roll hall of fame. Like most people who are apart of rock and roll hall of fame, she is different. Most of people don’t understand her. “I wanted to go, ‘Don’t tell me what to do just ’cause I’m a girl,” Madonna told People magazine in 2000. “Don’t tell me I can’t be sexual and intelligent at the same time…. I’m happy to have been a pioneer.” She is different, a revolution. She completely changed female music! Susan Sarandon once said, “The history of women in popular music can, pretty much, be divided into before and after Madonna.”

like a virgin album cover

Later, we went to Tony Packo’s, a famous hot dog place in Toledo, Ohio. There were plastic hot dog buns lining the walls with famous people’s autographs. There were also black and white photographs of famous people. It sort of reminded me of the Hard Rock Cafe. Their famous hot dogs tasted the same as any old place, and I don’t get why they are so special. But, the apple sauce side dish was exceptionally good.

Tony Packo's

I enjoyed Ohio. Especially Cleveland. It looked more high tech than NYC. More like Japan or something.

Later, we arrived in Chicago. According to my Mom, Chicago is a city in Illinois. I don’t believe her. If this city is called Chicago, than maybe it’s a city within the State of Chicago, like New York, New York.

We are driving to Colorado Springs, CO right now.  On our way we saw billboards talking about a prairie dog town.  We were intrigued, and exited there.  The place was in the town of Oakley in Kansas.  When we walked into the place we were greeted by a life-size Native American with its hand down its pants.  It looked very racist.

The owner, Larry, is an old guy with a tattoo.  He was nice enough, but not the kinda guy I would like to run into again.

Hanging from the walls in the gift shop were several dead animals stuffed and mounted.  The had things like a “Jackalope,” a dead rabbit with horns.  Or the butt of a deer with fake eyes on each cheek.  This seemed kind of wrong since this was a petting zoo and dead animals weren’t there for learning reasons.

Larry showed us some rattlesnakes, he had about 40 or 50 snakes in a box 8 feet long and 4 feet deep.  He took pride in saying that he hadn’t had one escape in 35 years.  I wondered how he managed that because if I was one of those snakes, then I would try everything I could to get out.

He handed us a bag of dog biscuits.  Not like home made cookies, but store bought doggy treats.  We were supposed to feed it to the prairie dogs.  I don’t know much about prairie dogs, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have the same dietary needs as real dogs.

Outside, where Larry keeps his animals, it was sweltering under the hot Kansas sun, with temperatures well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.   Poor animals.  They were all behind metal bars, except the prairie dogs who had holes everywhere.  None of them were in their natural habitat.  We saw the hog clawing at the dry water spigot.  The poor wolves were pacing around the concrete floor of their tiny cage.  All the animals looked miserable.  If there are any animal rescuers out there, buy a ticket to Oakley, Kansas …NOW!

The main attraction of the place was “the world’s biggest prairie dog,” a gigantic statue of a prairie dog.  It was not worth it to see the statue.  Seeing the poor care of the animals just ruined the experience.

I do not recommend visiting this place, unless you are looking for animals to save, because these guys are in desperate need of help. 

Please, if you are an animal rescuer, help these sad souls.

We are now departing (with a four hour late start) on our road trip.  Mom wanted to leave at 10AM, but it is now 2 PM.  Mom thinks that this trip will be fun and I will remember it forever.  She is partly correct.  I will remember it forever, just not in my happy memories.

Think about this.  #1 this is a road trip, and I HATE road trips.  #2 I will be camping everyday for 2+ months.  #3 I am missing Hannah’s going away part, and Kylie’s summer party.  #4 I would otherwise been able to go to Prague, and meet Zali in Budapest.  #5 I am missing a Miki and Lilly Allen concert.  #6 2 MONTHS WITH MY MOM AND BROTHER IN THE CAR.  All my friends and other family members and other family members are saying how bad they feel for me.

I wish that we could just fly to California so that i could see my cousin and not go on a road trip.

I read the book Little Brother by: Cory Doctorow. I was amazed at how Marcus, a 17-year-old kid, could crash the entire Department of Homeland Security (DHS.)  He is only four years older than I am.  He must have a lot to carry on his shoulders, but he is only a child.  His friend Van does not approve of this because he is only a kid and this a job for someone else.  However, when he gets caught by the DHS he is tortured as if he was a grown man.

The reminds me of the Alex Rider series.  When the M16 calls upon Alex for a mission he is a man.  When Alex ask asks to make his own decisions, or for a weapon, he is a child.

Even though Marcus was set back by his age, he managed to overthrow the DHS.  Despite Alex’s age, he still manages to complete every mission, obtain a weapon, and eventually leave the M16.

Winston, in the book 1984, is a grown man.  The problems Winston faces are much like the ones Marcus faces except that he has no problems with his age.  In the end of 1984, Big Brother manages to overcome Winston, and remains in charge of everyone.  But, Marcus who is much younger than Winston, succeeds at overthrowing the DHS.

It definitely says something that Alex and Marcus who are teenagers are stronger than Winston.  What this says is that Teens RULE!!!

Buy Little Brother Here

Buy Eagle Strike The 4th Book In The Alex Rider Series Here

Buy 1984 Here