Face to Face: My Reaction

Honestly, none of this surprises me.

Coming from a Muslim/Arab background in my family, my family and I went through this same experience. My mother feared for her life to come outside in public after 9/11. She did not take one step outside of our small apartment for overr six months. I have dealt with the same prejudice racism and still do sometimes.

I used to be afraid for many years to tell anyone that I was an Arab until the summer before I started high school. I found a guy on youtube whoe is a Muslim and an Arab and he was such a good influence on me. I learned to not care about what others thought of me and that I should be confident and proud of where I came from. It was only a group of idiots that caused 9/11, not the entire group of people who follow the religion. It is just like saying all white Americans are serial killers if we just see an American white man who killed many innocent civilians.

I am waiting for the day when Arabs can walk around America without being in fear of getting hurt just because they are the race and the way they belief is who they are.

My Inspirtations: Music

I have many inspirations to choose from, so I will just start with music.
My favorite band is Mumford & Sons. Their lyrics are very meaningful and touching. They are kind of a religious band, calling themselves "The Gentlemen of the Lord." I, myself, am not very religious but I still enjoy learning and observing how religion can overtake someone's life and giving them happiness. Mumford & Sons used to have depressing lyrics, but that was before Marcus Mumford, the lead vocalist, got married to Carey Mulligan (who was in the recent movie of The Great Gatsby). After the marriage, their lyrics were more about falling in love and staying strong. One of Marcus Mumford's most known lyric is "I have never spent a year better spent in love." Mumford & Sons helps me cope with my emotions and feel better. I stay strong because of them.
My next inspirational musician is Darwin Deez. Darwin is such an odd man, he's tall, awkward, and lanky but I still love him to bits. His lyrics describe me spot-on. His song Alice is my favorite song. Two lyrics that stand out to me are

You put your hair back into that, magic black elastic.

I used to always put my hair up in a ponytail because I was insecure about letting my hair down. I can not exactly remember the reason of why I was insecure, but I do remember how awkward and self-conscious I was when I did leave it down. Another one of his lyric's that describe me is

So evacuate my heart, 'cause inside is total chaos.

I feel like we all have felt that way. We push away the ones that care and love us because we are a mess on the inside and we do not want them to be dragged into it. This lyric will always stick with me for the rest of my life. I have to show I am stronger than I feel like I am.

It is pretty funny how music has had such an impact on my life, but I would not want to trade it for anything in the world.

Reading Response 2: If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

Lucy talks about Connor Pearson, the star of the basketball team and the president of the student council. He was also vote "Best Looking" by the senior class. If it was not emphasized enough on how attractive Connor is, Lucy said that

"In the fall, to raise money, the cheerleaders raffled off a kiss with Connor Pearson and two hundred girls bought tickets....(plus yours truly.)"

Lucy sat at the end of his lunch table while all of the popular seniors would eat McDonald's french fries out of each other's bags. Sadly, Connor was seated next to the girl he apparently only has eyes for, Kathryn Ford, who was Homecoming Queen. This was pretty cliche. In every other underdog love story, the girl falls in love with the popular, super-star athlete who is in love with Miss. Popular Homecoming Queen. But, the author does a good job in using a metaphor to explain how high and mighty Kathryn Ford thinks she is by saying

"...she acts as though ignoring underclassmen is a varsity sport."

I just loved how that comparison was used because it is true.

Later on, Lucy is sitting in her room which is a basement, staring at paintings. Lucy's mother passed away for a reason that I have not found out yet, but she was a very good artist. Her mother's paintings hung all over Europe, and MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art each owned one. Lucy wanted to hang her mom's paintings in her room, but her father said that it might hurt Mara's (the stepmother) feelings. Everything is about Mara's feelings because it is always in danger of being hurt or are being hurt. This is not fair at all because no one considers how Lucy feels. I personally would hang up my mother's paintings. The stepmother can get over it.

The chapter ends off with

"Because if I have a wicked stepmother and two evil stepsisters, aren't I supposed to get a prince?"

Which is the icing on the cake. I adore when authors use references from the title of the book within their story.

The Theme Song of this Reading Response is:
Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend

Reading Respone 1: If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

The story starts out as the first person main character, Lucy, comparing herself to Cinderella. They both have dead mothers, wicked stepmothers, two evil stepsisters, and possibly “friendless.” Lucy was debating whether or not Cinderella was indeed friendless. She did have her animals but Lucy realized

“But do they count as friends? It’s not as if a blue jay can meet you at Starbucks for an after-school latte.”

I really like Lucy so far because she is realistic and I can tell she will have some snide, sassy comments coming up again.


Even though Cinderella’s father was dead, Lucy’s father was not “technically” dead; he is not as present in Lucy’s life. Her father is working on a case that should have been finished months ago in San Francisco Monday through Friday while the rest of the family is living in New York. I can relate to this because my father is working in New Orleans, Louisiana while my family is still here in Springfield, Missouri. I have not seen my father for weeks and I have no idea when I get to see him again.

I guess when a father is not present in a girl’s life, she becomes extra sassy. This happened to me and this is what is happening to Lucy. Lucy’s stepsisters are ridiculing Lucy’s appearance, especially Lucy’s chest size.

“Neither one of my stepsisters seemed at all bothered by the fact that compared to them, I’m Pamela Anderson.”

I thought that was a really good burn and this made me realize, people will ridicule others’ appearance when they are not that good looking either.

Lucy puts herself as a loner, having to sit by herself at lunch, not talking to anyone and so on. She changed schools freshman year and just as she started to make friends there, she had to move to New York with her wicked family. I am a Lucy in the way that she describes wanting friends and knowing how to get them easily, but pulling back and not talking to them. She said

“…and I know all I need to do if I want to talk to them is talk. Just say something. Anything. And it’s not like I don’t want to talk to some of them. It’s not their fault I was dragged kicking and screaming across the continental United States.”

This is along the lines of what I tell myself when I want to befriend someone I have never talked to before. I know I could be great friends with them easily, I just have to get the guts to actually approach them.

I predict Lucy will be able to meet someone and they become instantly close. Hopefully her father will come back to realize how awful Mara, the wicked stepmother, is.

The Theme Song of this Reading Response is:
Two Door Cinema Club – Sleep Alone