Jo's Old Site

Esther is a blind lady that I met at Laidley Gym last Thursday, and as we were both using rowing machines I told her that I had cerebral palsy and she jokingly said that she had the body and I had the eyes.

I didn’t say anything to that but I wasn’t offended. But soon after Esther had said that the personal trainer that I have most of the time told Esther that I do have a body, and he also told her that I have big biceps.

Esther then told me that disabilities is an ability, and I have to agree because even though we have our limitations, we also have some abilities. I also think that I have seen Esther in the library with her guide dog, when I do my volunteer work but when I saw her in the gym that was the first time I spoke to her.

Nine days ago my mother and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and as my mum told me that she wanted to shop rather than see the movie it was a surprise to see her in the cinema as I thought she was shopping.

Anyway my mother told me that she changed her mind, and she also said that she enjoyed the last movie better than the first, even though she doesn’t know much about the characters as she hasn’t read the books.

But I think it was rather good that either my mum or my sister took me to these Harry Potter movies. Also the Harry Potter movies are special to me, as they have turned me into a reader. And my mum heard other people that were in the cinema say that they enjoyed it.

Last Friday I went to do my volunteer work at the library, and I was sorting through the picture books when I saw a co worker looking up at the ceiling and saying something. Then moments later I found out what she was talking to as I saw moment out of the corner of my eye, and then discovered that it was a sparrow.

I then told the person who was talking to it before that a bird is in the library, and she replied yes it’s a sparrow and we left the door open so it can go out. And while I have been writing I thought maybe this sparrow came in because it was after some bookworms.

I have been waiting for the Harry Potter movie that is called The Deathly Hallows Part One to come out on dvd for quite sometime. And a few weeks ago I was shopping at Plainlands when I saw it and of cause I then brought it. I’m also glad to say that I enjoyed this movie more the second time round.

And I have all the Harry Potter movies but I have to admit that I watched the first Harry Potter movie before I started getting the books

Also the Harry Potter books have made me become more of a reader: as I have read these books several times now and now I’m reading and enjoying books that have been written by other authors too. Some of the other books that I have read and enjoyed are books from The Ranger’s Apprentice Series that is by John Flanagan, and then another author and series of books that I’ve enjoyed reading is  Emily Rodda’s Deltora Quest.

And I now enjoy reading books by Isobelle Carmody, and James Patterson.

As I was doing my volunteer work at the library yesterday, I was sorting out the junior fiction books when I noticed a five year old girl going to a shelf and picking up a story about a fairy. And as she flicked through the pages she noticed that the illustrations were line drawings, and as she felt like doing something and her dad was using the computer she said “dad is this a colouring in book?” And I said “no it is a story book.”

On Thursday I went to the gym at Laidley, to do some strength training and ended up doing six different exercises. I also had two people that helped me with my legs as I have cerebral palsy. I was also surprised to find out what I could do and it was fun. There was only two exercises that was a bit harder than the rest but that can change.

I can read books for hours, but occasionally I go through periods where I don’t read a book at all. And when this happens I then break the pattern by reading a book or two.

Before the Harry Potter books were written by J K Rowling there was another book that I had read and liked and this book was called Storm Boy by Colin Thiele. But unfortunately it didn’t turn me into a reader although I could always read well but I remember doing a book review on Storm Boy in my English Class in high school and I got a mark like eighty two per cent on it.

Also as mum has always remembered me raving on about Storm Boy she saw the video on Storm Boy and mum and dad got me it for my birthday last year, and it is about a lonely boy who lives with his reclusive father on a beach in South Australia and after he meets a Aborigine called Fingerbone Storm Boy then finds three orphaned Pelicans and one of them he names Mr Percival. And it was Storm Boy’s responsibility to look after these baby Pelicans but then when he father thought they were old enough he tells his son that the birds are going back to the wild.

And so Storm Boy had to face the heart break of letting the young Pelicans go, but then after a few days Mr Percival returns as it seems that this is the Pelican that he had formed the strongest bond with.

Storm Boy also had to face other types of changes too, like going to school, and being invaded by hooligans, and also because Storm Boy taught Mr Percival to catch and hold onto things the bird was able to save some people on a boat during a Storm. Then Mr Percival gets shot and killed and Fingerbone found Mr Percival and buried him and he then went and got Storm Boy and after he showed him where he buried Mr Percival he then had something else to show Storm Boy and it was another lot of baby Pelicans. This book and movie had always appealed to me as it is a story about how friendships are formed and having to cope and accept change.

On the 11th of December my sister Liss took me out for lunch and then we went to the cinema in Ipswich Mall to watch a Chronicles Of Narnia movie which is called Prince Caspian and Liss and I thought the actor that was acting as the youth called Eustace was very convincing.

Also in the movie Lucy wanted to be as pretty and popular as Susan and she found a spell in a book that could make her be that but then I think she got scared and came back to the present and Aslan was there and he asked her what has she done and she tells him and why.

Then Aslan tells Lucy that she doesn’t value herself and reminds her that she discovered Narnia first and if she hadn’t the others wouldn’t have found out about it and none of their adventures would have happened. Then a young girl stowed away on their ship as she was worried that she’ll never see her father again and Lucy spends some time with her.

And as this girl was watching Lucy, the girl tells her “when I grow up I want to be just like you” then Lucy tells this girl as she walks towards her “when you grow up you’ll be just like you.”

This book is by Christianna Brand and is illustrated by her cousin who is Edward Ardizzone and is published by Bloomsbury Publishing also the book’s ISBN is 0 7475 7899 0 and then why the two cousins got together is to write and illustrate their grandmother’s tales that were about Nurse Matilda.

 And her other name is Nanny McPhee.

Also there are three highly entertaining stories about Nurse Matilda and the Brown Children and the first story that is called Nurse Matilda is set at home. 

Mr and Mrs Brown had a lot of children too, and quite a few of them were their own but they also decided to adopt children too and we get to know the children’s names as we read the story as Christianna the author only tells the names of the children when they are doing something naughty.

And as these are children who runaway, at the end of each story they are running away, and they can’t stop running because Nurse Matilda had probably banged down on her big stick.

They also want to stop, and along the way they see people that were victims of their pranks. And the Brown Children asks for their help but these people don’t. Then as they work out how to stop Nurse Matilda then turns up, and in the book before she has to leave the Brown Children because they have learnt the lessons that she set out to teach them the children then see her big front tooth falling out, and then after it has come out this tooth  turns into something different in each of the three stories.

Also when she is needed because children are misbehaving extremely badly, her face looks quite ugly. But when they learn how to behave the children and their parents then notice that her face has become quite attractive.