1. I enjoy this book so far. At first the writing style felt a little dry, but I'm beginning to like how the author includes all the quotes and passages to help piece together Chris' adventure. Especially how Krakauer introduces a new chapter or event with factual information not relating to Chris that connects somehow to him further on. It is remarkable that Krakauer wrote this for him.
2. There are so many words that I want to say because one word is so hard to choose. But vivacious would be mine. Because he is full of life. He is full of life in its raw form. Actually living by his own means, providing for himself, and doing what he chooses. Life shoulod be what you want, and he lives by what he wants and no one else's. Vivacious, grasping all the possibilities and experiences for life and living it to its greatest potential. Other words I would say would be compassionate and misunderstood.
3. The book explains that the human experience should be all that an individual learns for themself. So great a majority of society lives their life based on what others do or say. One must find truth and meaning in life for themself, and where they can find it without distraction would be in the natural world. The natural world they were born into, meant for.
4. I want to relate this to Call of the Wild by Jack London which explains that the wild calls for you and its inevitably within you. you just have to answer the call. Like Chris believes he is called to go on this odyssey.
5.I agree so much with the Chris on his view of the world but I don't know if I would become so extreme as him to go on this type of Odyssey. I definitely want to experience something like this for a certain time in my life. He makes such a great statement to society by this, and I hope I can do something similar in my lifetime.
6. The world is so much simpler in the wild, like the indians way of life, compared to modern day lifestyles.

Drummed Out

The Painted Drum is a not so "colorful" historical fiction about a modern woman, Faye Travers, with Ojibwe ancestry. She uncovers a painted drum in an unlikely place to unlock secrets of her past. She makes it her mission to return it to its origins, where she finds a storyteller who informs her about the sacred drum and what it means. As Travers helps bring healing to the people it blessed/cursed, she also finds knowledge for life itself. This quick overview is more exciting than the book itself, for it is long and drawn out. There is so much time spent on irrelevant matters that distract from the plot and theme. Although the author, Louise Erdrich, makes a great contribution to Native American Literature with information about culture and beliefs, the book doesn't capture the reader's interest. Her writing style is monotonous and melancholy, turning the reader away with boredom. I would say don't bother reading this one because it was pretty average on the book rating scale, even though there maybe some insightful content within.

Forever The Sickest Kids Is True To Their Name

The recent first album of the emo-power-pop-rock band Forever The Sickest Kids , called Underdog Alma Mater, is similar to it's punk others but mainly is a refreshing spin on the genre. Very much a like We The Kings, All Time Low, and The Maine, this band from Dallas, Texas has a great sound. At first you think they can't do anything differently than what has come before them, but they do. With six people in the band, they mix up the musical roles within each song to keep the listener interested and engaged. Lead singer, Jonathon Cook shares his roles with the other members to harmonize and/or pass off the melody with one another. The variety is something new and unexpected which they use to their full advantage. Their first hit "Hey Brittney" is the song that got them noticed by several major labels, providing a good introduction to their capabilites. Their most talented song in my opinion is "Catastrophe" which uses their full energy to its best. This is definitely worth your time and money if you know this genre is what you like.

Part One: The Sit Down

I'm not really informed about the problems of our country.
But I would like to ask him first how he feels.
Because that is like WOW.
And then I would want to know what he hopes to bring to America.
How he will bring our country up and better.
Then I would also want to here what he believes in: his perspective of America, his thoughts on a better country, his thoughts about the world and life.

Part Two: In The Future...

I think our nation will be different in the ways it consumes energy. We will either be more efficient with our energy, or less efficient, but it is going to fluctuate a certain way. The recycling, the oil-use, endless waste...
We will also be different in our morals. I feel they are slipping away from us through the help of the media.
Also, I hope that our education is improved throughout the nation.
The new administration will address the economy issue closely, as well as unification issues America may still be having. The Obama administration will help link the North and the South.

I'm not so sure the world will be a better place. Hopefully it will remain constand or improve. But it is up to the individual I feel more than any leader. The individual must do what they believe is right, and that becomes a leader. I have no idea where I will be in 2035. My life will hopefully be happier.

Halloween Quatrain!!

Candy candy in my bag

Running from house, like it's tag

Ring the doorbell, wait for treats

Oh no run! It's crazy Pete's!

Two Trees In The Fall

"No more.
I can't live in your shade."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I can't see myself anymore under your branches.
There isn't any light."

"You mean after all the fruit I've provided for you?
The leaves I've shed for you
You're just going to untangle your roots?"

"I need to replant, find new grounds.
I can't be your faithful sapling anymore."

"When the Wind knocked you over, I extended my branches to catch you,
You fell into my canopy, where I nurtured you. This soil is rich and wholesome--"

"But you save all the nutrients for yourself,
Don't make this about you,
I just want to see the Sun."

Poetry Terms

Rhythm: recurring at regular intervals, cycle
Rhyme Scheme: patterns of rhyme throughout poem
Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound at beggining of word
Anaphora: word or phrase repeated at the beginning of lines
Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds, not limited to first letters of word
Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds

October Seventh Two Thousand Eight

Love is like breakfast.
You need it every day.
It can be sweet and delicious,
It can be plain or absent.
Sometimes it is better on Wednesdays than on Mondays.

When you are in a rush, you forget about it,
you miss out, and you carry on hungry

Love is Loving Lovely Poem

The Kiss
I hoped that he would love me,
And he has kissed my mouth,
But I am like a stricken bird
That cannot reach the south.

For though I know he loves me,
To-night my heart is sad;
His kiss was not so wonderful
As all the dreams I had.
-Sara Teasdale

http://www.poetry.com/LovePoems/lovepoem.asp?id=210

Mushrooms and Butterflies

I went walking

with a butterfly at my heel

the wind picked it up

and it caught near my wheel

the wheel spun to the ocean

and the tide took its reel

I stayed by the lakeshore

but my wound didn't heal

floating over the waves

a bird from brasil

I strummed a little faster

now what's the big deal

I went walking

with a butterfly at my heel

where the dandelions grow

and mushrooms so surreal

fluttered by the polka-dots,

turquoise pink and purple teal

let me in --

was the shrooms' appeal

took my wheels

to my next ordeal

will you stop walking

with a butterfly at your heel?

followed the tracks

to the river with zeal

the railway runs deep

stepping on steel

the train swims by

skipped rocks as i kneel

pebbles fill my ocean memory

leaves that fall, and fall to feel

I went walking

with a butterfly at my heel

a hankerchief on a stick

clouds drift hovering unreal

passed by a still dog

waving goodbye to his eyes teal

can't you see?

I WANT TO MAKE YOU FEEL

sun rays illuminate the wings

of the butterfly at my heel

I have nothing to give

or eat with my meal

what do you want from me

the answers I can't reveal

hurry, take what you can

time, you can not steal

passion for the day

don't try to conceal

I kept on walking with the butterfly at my heel

it never deserted me, it kept me real

followed me to the swingset

getting high on swings

only thinking about ways to get higher

don't mess with these things

Butterfly do me a favor,

I wish to borrow your wings

catch me tomorrow

"try to" she sings

catch me by automobile

romance left,

burden right

"driver, I want neither left nor right"

out of sight

take me to the mushrooms and butterflies

I'm growing sick of alibis

swinging high

like something real

life's too easy up so tight

when my kite

reached its height

gravity, the one thing that keeps us on the ground

can't you see? I want to make you feel

Poem Review

The Summer I Was Sixteen
Geraldine Connolly

The turquoise pool rose up to meet us,
its slide a silver afterthought down which
we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles.
We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy.

Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted
up from ladder rungs across the fern-cool
lip of rim. Afternoon. Oiled and sated,
we sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete,

danced to the low beat of "Duke of Earl".
Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles,
we came to the counter where bees staggered
into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled

cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses,
shared on benches beneath summer shadows.
Cherry. Elm. Sycamore. We spread our chenille
blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears,

mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.

1. Read poem three times.
2. I selected this poem because I liked the title. It caught my attention and I felt that the subject would be something I could relate to right away.
3. The title fits the work by describing the seasonal setting of the poem and the age of the character within the poem. It is simple but informative, also in first person.
4. Devices the poet utilizes are personification with "pool rose up to meet us" (1), metaphors/similes with "cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses" (13), and imagery throughout with insightful word choices. Like "bees staggered into rootbeer cups" and "pressed radios to our ears." They influence the poem by describing memories how the poet would personally remember them. They helo to get inside the emotions of the narrator, creating emphasis on the ways in which they spent their summer. The reader's attention focuses on the pictures and sounds the words create, providing the feeling of a lazy warm summer with time moving fast.
5. The tone of the piece is reflective, calm, warm, and nostalgic. The poet succeeded in creating this tone by word choice, such as "fern-cool," "low beat," "summer shadows," "blankets across grass," and "old words." Mostly, I feel the author reminisces about the past by the last line referencing the future: "tossing a glance/through the chain link at an improbable world."
6. Leave comments.

Things Happen

Things happen

And you feel like you'll remember them
And you'll have control over them
And you put up signs you made

To reflect how you feel

And to remind yourself
You put them up all around you

They stay up for awhile

But they begin to fall

And it's strange to watch them

Peel from the wall

Titles

Possible narrative titles

Sharing Passions

Meeting An Inspiration

Pageant Pride

You Keep Circling

I'm okay.

Until I'm forced
into the circumference
of you
the reminders
of your memory

are weakening

just keep your

circle away
from me
It is spinning

and restricting.

Personal Narrative Yeaaaaahhh

I can always feel my heart beat faster when I'm in front of a crowd. But this time, the beating wasn't so apparent. As I got up there and looked out across the room, I could feel that this crowd cared about what I was going to do. About what I was going to say. They came to see me. This. Here and now. And that's what calmed my nerves.

Two days prior, there was something hovering around my head, stressing me out. Another thing on my never-ending to-do list. This pageant was something I didn't want to do anymore, basically because I wasn't prepared. I had to write a speech, organize my talent, gather my outfits, and figure out my family history. But now I was here and the moment had come. And I was facing the stormcloud that had made me so nervous.

I spoke out loud, in my own voice with my own words. I told the people listening all about my passions. My passion for words, for art, and the past, which was why I was here. And once I had begun, it was easy. It was easy to talk about something I knew and cared so much about. I was still nervous, but I wasn't scared. I knew exactly what to say, releasing the butterflies in my stomach with each word I spoke.


This is the very beginning of my story.
Does this make sense? Is there information missing which would be helpful to include?
Conventions? What do you like about this?

Mothers

I don't like my mom very much. There are too many things that annoy me about her. Like the way she eats, or makes embarrassing jokes. The way she forgets things all the time or answers all my questions slowly. Probably leading to the fact that she is exactly like me.
Being born on her birthday, I was given her exact looks and curse of curly hair. Though, I luckily have more of my Dad's personality, humor and taste in music. But still, I find myself wanting to keep a distance from her and I can't exactly capture why. I want to appreciate her for all she has done for me. She has always been on my side. She is a wonderful person, fair, honest, and all about balance. But why can't I bring myself to let her in?
If I didn't have a mother today, this very moment, I wouldn't be able to move for awhile. The shock. And then once I could move again, I would not know which direction to move. I would try to with my Dad's help, with my sisters and brother, but it would be very difficult.
I can only imagine. Where to go from there.

My whole family would be brought down, like God stripped the backbone of our lives away from us, and all we could do is pray to not fall apart.
The tradgedy would be losing her before I actually got her. If she was gone and I hadn't let her into my life yet.

So now, I want to know her. For who she is, and who she was. What was her greatest dream that never came true?
"Mom, are you happy?"
"Daughter, are you?"
She is so selfless; it doesn't matter. She sacrificed so many of her dreams for me I can't begin to comprehend.

Mothers and your love, that is impossible to comprehend, ridiculous to measure, I want to let you know that
I don't know. There is nothing I can really say in words. Except that you made everything what it is and your selfless devotion to your daughters and your sons is the greatest accomplishment on this Earth we could ever ask for.

You leave us soon, maybe unexpectedly, but when you go, you stay all around our hearts and you never leave those. Your love is still felt, because of your strength and power, but let us feel it, being reminded not of how it used to feel, but reminded now of the powerful joy felt that never leaves.