The First BitA bit less than a week ago I finished reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. And it was AMAZING!!! If you don't know already, THUG is an adult (I think, but it could be new adult) contemporary that covers the topics of racism and police brutality. The story surrounds the unprovoked murder by a white police officer of the main character's (Starr Carter's) childhood best friend, Khalil. That's all I'm going to say about the plot, because you need to experience it for yourself. All in all, I LOVED THIS BOOK. Like, seriously, you guys. I rarely ever read contemporaries, and when I do, I read them extremely slowly. But I flew through THUG! In the very beginning of chapter 1, I was put off a bit by how obviously 2017 it was (mentioning the dab and nae nae, some of my least favorite things), but only a few pages in I was hooked. And then I couldn't stop reading it. I flew through 444 pages in just four or so days, which is really fast for a contemporary (for me)! I also think it's a very important read for all people in high school and older, but especially people like me--white, upper middle class, and highly privelaged. It really is an eye opener and a great story overall. And now, time for an overall statement of how I feel about The Hate U Give: I LOVE IT GO READ IT NOW, DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND READ IT BECAUSE IT IS SO GOOD!!! I'm also rereading the Harry Potter series for the first time after reading it seven years ago, in second grade! It's really good, and there are a lot of things I've forgotten since I read it before. I flew through the first two books in about a week, and I'd probably already be done with book three if it weren't for the fact that I started school yesterday. Also, I've written a bit more in my novel project (working title Kalmok's Revenge) and hit 26,000 words and 100 pages! Now, onto what you really came here for! Map of the DayThe map today (found on a YouTube video that I don't remember the title of) shows that not all maps or flags I showcase here are going to be good--in fact, the point of showing you this map is to explain why it isn't good! Now, don't get me wrong; the map is beautiful. I actually quite like how it looks. The problem, however, isn't whether it looks nice; the problem is whether it works as a fantasy map--that is, a map of a made up earthlike world taking place in a fantastical world.  As you may be able to see, the continents almost perfectly mirror the continents on Earth. Of course, this wasn't done intentionally, so I'm not faulting the map's maker. It seems that it is likely just very easy to accidently draw something that feels familiar (as humans, we love familiar things, especially unconsciously), so it's easy to accidentally draw a mirror of Earth.  Especially when referencing a map of the Earth (trust me, I have plenty of problems with the Mercator projection shown above), it is very easy to match the continents/islands/countries of the fantasy map with the continents on Earth:
Flag of the DayContinuing with the theme of bad design, the flag this week is literally the worst designed piece of fabric to have ever "graced" the world. Meet... the flag of Pocatello, Idaho!  Right away, it's apparent why this flag is so bad. But I'll list it for you anyways!
Linguistic Quirk of the DayPeople often talk about what they're going to do, or what they will do. These people are speaking about the future. What they aren't doing is using the future tense. Because English doesn't have one. Many languages do have a future tense--for example, Spanish which has two (future and conditional)--but the English language does not. When you say you will do something or you're going to do something, you're just adding context words onto the verb(s), which is (are) conjugated in the present tense. Think of it like this (I can't do a section without a list now, it seems):
that thing you humans call a farewellI hope you liked today's blog post! Thank you so, so much for reading it! It really does mean a lot to me.
Do you have any suggestions, comments, or constructive criticism? Let me know in the comments! Want to see more from me? Be sure to subscribe so you receive an email every time I post! Want more consistent content just talking about my daily life/writing/reading/etc.? Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ByronLEllington! Again, thanks so much for reading! I'll see you on Friday!
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