Process Memo

First and foremost Id like to say that this class was my most enjoyable of the semester! thank you for that Ms, Novak. I really enjoyed the freedom to write whatever we felt like writing about majority of the time. For me, when I am given a prompt that I dont really want to write about, it becomes extremely difficult and redundant. With the option to take my papers and blogs wherever really helped me improve the subject of my writing, and how to making it more appealing to the audience. The other important thing that I have learned throughout the semester is MLA more in depth. with the jeopardy style MLA games, and the multiple activities we did throughout the semester, it really helped me brush up my knowledge pertaining to in text citations, and citing your sources. I really enjoyed the fact that you were lienant and understanding, especially when It came time for papers to be due and you were gracious with extensions. (MUCH appreciated!!!). I actually enjoyed coming to class unlike some others I was enrolled in. the fact that you and the class were so easy going made it comfortable and easy to work in a groups and such.

Packer and Forney

In response to Packer's short story:

Although the short story seemed to jump around, I like how the main character Cynthia came to many realizations about herself throughout her journey; such as only "pretending" and the fact that she is a lesbian, whether she wanted to admit it or not. I think from the point where the girls get naked in the dishwashing room, it is obvious that she might have been crushing on Heidi. It is kind of sad that instead of opening up to Heidi about her sexuality, her mothers death, or any of the other things prevented her from having a relationship. heidi was "open" with the things she wanted. I think it was almost a kind of sad story, with the underlying theme of things lost. such as her mother, heidis mother, heidi, the groceries, her father. etc.

In response to Forneys comic strips:

The comic strips about health care were kind of neat, because it shows the character really wanting to do her part even if she is discouraged by being the only one trying. that comic depicts a lot of the struggles that many people may encounter through their journey into their jobs, or goals in life. what i liked most was the last comic strip with the sunglasses, saying is it cool now?

the second comic strip seemed to be the same kind of thing. pressure to fit in, or the theme of the characters being embarassed of who they really are, and what they enjoy. If the character would have lied and said something besides "fighting nuclear power" then maybe she would have had a chance. but thats not the real her.

Proust Questionaire

From my characters POV:

1. What quality do you like most in a women?
I really like the motherly, nuturing side of a women. I think females should acquire this trait, especially since it is something that we are born with.

2. What quality do you like most in a man?
On the contrary, men should be manly and chilvarious. They should hold doors, and protect women, whether it be their daughters, sisters, mothers or girlfriends.

3. On what ocassions do you lie?
I lie if i am running late! For instance: someone asks me where im at, and i will say on my way! even though I am not done getting ready. Then i will blame being late on traffic or something along those lines.. oops

4. What talent would you most like to have?
I wish that I was a good dancer or singer.

5. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To be financially stable, with a large circle of friends, to be close with family

A little late!

In response to Surrounded by Sleep, By: Ahki Sharma

Although I personally do not have any siblings, I could imagine the immensity of closeness that you would feel with them. While reading this short story, it struck a nerve even in me (siblingless). I cant imagine the grief that Ajay and his family would feel. I can empathize with him in one aspect of this story, and that is the fact that sometimes situations occur in our life, and they effect each person in the family differently. Ajay's mother was in denail, seemingly ignoring the fact that the chances of her eldest son getting better were slim to none. Ajay on the other hand was young enough to where it didnt effect everything about his life. Part of him wanted to just move past this whole situation, even if it were almost impossible. He wanted to feel as if he had a normal life that didnt revolve around his brothers accident.


In response to Mrs. Turners Lawn Jockeys, by Emily Robateua


In my opinion, this short story had a pretty good way to indirectly bringing controversial issues to the light. Although the story never once said it was dealing with the issue of race, it did so quite well. Giving humanistic characteristics to these Lawn jockeys, i found quite humurous. It adds a sense of lightness to the story, instead of keeping it serious and formal. The young son cant please his father by doing anything normally. At the end of the story though, after he and his sister had painted the lawn ornaments,and his father noticed there color had changed, he laughed. The fact that the author used the jockey's as the pawn addressed racism in a different way than using a person. The lawn jockeys wanted to be painted white so that they "werent looked at so differently"

The diagnosis

It was much like any other winter day. My sister and I were only thirteen years old at the time, and it was a school day. The temperature outside was below freezing, which made it extra hard to get moving that morning. Both Lindsey (my twin sister) and I were sluggish in the cold winter mornings, but lately I had been noticing she was more lazy than ever. Regardless, we got ready. Our morning routines consisted of showering, brushing our teeth, brushing our hair, and attempting to put on mascara. Make-up was a fairly new concept to us, but we loved experimenting with it. It was a tuesday, which meant Pizza was being served in the lunch line, and I had a math test. I really hated algebra. My sister was going to get checked out early that day because she had a doctors appointment. Lucky her. I barely ever got checked out early, and especially not as much as Lindsey did. At 11:30, Lindsey left our English class, to meet our mother and then go to the doctors. It was just a checkup so I basically forgot about it, especially as I filled my head with algebraic equations for the last fifteen minutes of study time I had. I had two more class periods, and the last class of the day was my math class. After the test, I packed up with belongings and waited for the dismissal bell. What felt like ten hours later, I exited the classroom, grabbed the books I needed from my locker and headed towards the parking lot where my mom and sister would be waiting for me. As I approached the parking lot, I couldnt spot my moms car. After a few minutes of intense searching, I stumbled upon my Fathers car. I got inside. My father never picks us up from school. This was odd.

"Where's Lindsey and why didnt mom pick us up?" I asked, as I turned my fathers's direction.

"Well Jamie.....The doctors are running some tests on her still." He replied, as he avoided my eye contact.

"I thought she was just going in for a check up. Is she sick? I said.

"They are trying there best to figure out what is going on. We are meeting your mother and sister at Bayside Hospital right now."

I knew. I knew right then and there that something was going horribly wrong.

Thanksgiving

I remember one particular Thanksgiving, shortly after my parents divorced. Switching back and forth every other weekend and every other holiday was still something was seemingly new to my twin sister and I. Although we lived with our mother, we still we're extremely close with our father and enjoyed going over there. Especially for holidays. That was, until, we arrived at his doorstep Thanksgiving morning in 2004. My mother had driven us the fifteen mile distance between our parents houses since it was my fathers year to have "us girls" for thanksgiving. As normal, my mother said her goodbyes, waited until we got to the door, and drove off. What had all of us confused though was the shiny red car in the drive way. Had daddy gotten a new car? I hadnt recalled that. My sister and I both walked slowly to the front door, pondering who's car that was! I went to turn the doorknob and the door was locked. We rang the doorbell and shortly after, a middle-aged blonde lady answered the door.

"Who are you?" My sister asked, immediately.

"I am Shelby. Your fathers...friend" The blonde lady replied. She had glanced around furtively for a moment while she tried to pick out the right word to describe their "friendship".

My sister and I said no more. The blonde lady, my sister and I all turned around and walked inside. My sister called for my dad. A few seconds later he came around the corner. He must have been able to tell we were confused, and frustrated that another lady was there. When my father has a women around, he tends to not pay as much attention to us girls. My sister and I ditched the awkwardness and went in the backyard to jump on the trampoline. We spent two hours outside, gossiping about Shelby. It was like an episode out of the parent trap while the twins are spent bashing 'Meredith' their dads evil new girlfriend. When the food was finally ready, our father called us inside to have us wash up.

We all assumed our positions at the dining room table. As our dad made all of our plates, we decided we should go around the table and say what we were thankful for. Shelby went first.

"I am thankful for the oppurtunity to meet you girls, and spend Thanksgiving with your dad and you girls." She said with a fake grin on her face.

My sister went next. "I am thankful that my sister and I are the only two girls in my dads life that will never go any where."

As my sister said this, Shelbys face dropped, along with my fathers fork. Apparently this was an inappropriate statement, but I think Shelby got the hint. We never had Shelby as a dinner guest again.

Last weekends Football game

Saturday of last weekend was on of course that was memorable. I was with a big group of my friends. I had my twin, and my bestfriend with me and a group of about 10 other friends. We were all decked out in our garnet and gold, tailgating all around the stadium. Gametime started at 3:30. Me and my sister made it all the way to half time without having to go to the bathroom. We told our group that we would be right back and then we made our way through the crowd to the bathrooms. My sister was in front of me as we were walking and out of no-where I witnessed a guy come from nowhere and push her. Obviously I ran up to them and asked what in the world was going on. This fellow seminole, about 28 years old then begins screaming and pointing his finger in my sisters face. He then screamed "Youre a fat ugly bitch". This was NOT OKAY by me!!!!! The guys girlfriend (im assuming) popped up from nowhere also and began to taunt the both of us. Me and my sister are both yelling, and thats when he pushed her again. I went to get the cop that was standing only a few hundred feet away and pulled him over. This behavior under NO CIRCUMSTANCE is okay by me. How pathethic is that grown man for randomly picking a fight with a young girl. And yet again, makes himself look even more like an asshole when he shoved my sister three different times. We had never even seen these guys in our life before, and now all the sudden this guy wants to fight her?! After getting the cops, and telling them what had happened, my sister and I just decided to leave it be and go back to our seats. People that ignorant and violent would not realize they were in the wrong if we tried to rationalize. People like that are the reason that Men get a bad rap. When we got back to our seats, and we told the group of people we were with what happened, they were just as appauled as we were.

Twilight

Although I am not an avid Twilight fan, meaning I have not read all of the books or have seen all the movies, it has become an increasingly popular movie and subject in the environment around me. Even if I personally never jumped on the twilight bandwagon, my friends most definitely did. They are obsessed with Edward Cullen, wanting to marry him, have named their animals after Bella, and completely conformed to the idea's of vampires. I personally see the movie with an immature plot. One that was directed for someone much younger than the group of people that the movie has targeted. I still choose to watch Twilight (and write about it for English class, if the circumstances permit) because even though I remain nuetral, I still have acquired the information about the movie, the background plot and what is going on. I can recite enough information to sound like I am just as obsessed as my friends are. Twilight is not an awful story plot- but it is one most definitely that we have seen a hundred times. A love story. Minus the wolverines, vampires and vampire fetus'. When you add those intricate details into the story, that is when it becomes something that no one saw coming. The love story is placed seemingly in comparison to the vampires placed in the movie. I dont quite understand how someone can become so obsesssed with the movie and the lifestyle of vampires, but it falls in the category of things I dont understand, with Justin Bieber.

Controversial Issues at hand

Unless your living under a rock, most humans understand the controversial issues that are brought forth in society. Just to name a few: abortion, gay marriage and the economic budget in America really hit home with the immensity they bring forth.
It seems to be that most states objectify with the right to marry a partner of the same sex. Why should same-sex marriage be allowed when it has been shunned since the beginning of time? There are even biblical references stating that it was intended for one single man and one single woman to get together and reproduce.

Writing with conviction

Obviously (late post) I have been fooling around with several idea's in my head for the last week or so. When given the prompt to think of three things I could write about with conviction....I had nada. But ive finally came up with a few ideas. They are definitely not as convincing or heart felt as those of which the clips we watched in class. anyways here my list.

1. Gay rights
2. Importance of Living a healthy lifestyle
3. Abortion


Topic 2:

Of course we have all heard someone or another try to preach to use the importance of how we live our lives. We are supposed to eat properly, exercise, and sanitize our hands every time we touch something in order to stay healthy. Although some people may try to push these ideas down your throat, they are doing it with good intentions (usually). As our world is progressively getting more advanced technology, finding out more information and research tools than we have ever had previously, and the variety of the healthy foods available to us everyday; living healthy should be easier than ever. Right? So why is it that a reported 62% of American's are obese? The first way to promote healthy living is to start without yourself. It is recommended that the average american gets up to thirty minutes of exercise in, at least three times per week. The beneficial aspects of exercising are more than ytou could imagine. Of course-getting into the habit of going to the gym in your spare time instead of lounging around doesnt sound that great, but once your body recognizes that you are trying to do it some good, you will literally be able to feel it. When working out, your body is sending "feel good" messages to your brain; in turn, your body begins to release endorphins. These are the hormones related to happiness. These is essential for a healthy stress relief tactic. On top of the mental health aspect, you begin to subject your body in a physical routine in which is burns more calories throughout the day, kickstarts your metabolism and keeps it going all day long, and helps to tone and sculpt your body. Living a moderately clean and sober lifestyle protects your body from the effects of alcohol, drugs and nicotine. With advertising becomming much more confrontational and subjective now a days, Americans are held accountable for the negative substances they introduce to their body. Cigarrette Ad's are more informational now than they ever have been, displaying the effects that smoking cigarettes can do to your body. Drinking ocassionally, or only in social settings helps the function of a healthy liver. Another important tip into promoting a healthy lifestyle are the foods you eat. Of course we all have the cravings for chocolate or something greasy like a hamburger every now and then, and thats okay. But it is certainly not a way to keep your habit of eating. A simple suggestion is just to start cook and eat at home more often. Because you personally are preparing your food, you are concscious of what is going into your food. This often results in a healthier meal, and control of the portion size you will eat. These tips are all just a way to jumpstart into a proactive and refreshing lifestyle. If you would like to dive in deep and change the way your living you- go you!!! make that change today and create the healthy lifestyle you know you need

Free write

Im sure im not the only one out there who has come into situations where you dont like the person that someone you know is dating. Im not talking about your random classmate Sally and her douche bag boyfriend Billy. Im talking about someone that is really important in your life-making a mistake with the wrong person in their own lives. My best friend of 7 years is named lindsey. Lindsey is a bombshell. She has a ton going her way; athletic body, smart, funny and gorgeous.the only downfall is she dates the biggest asshole Ive ever met. They have been dating since freshman year of highschool. Of course it hasnt always been smooth sailing. they are that couple that you always hear about; constantly fighting, breaking up and making up. Except the making up part is always pawned off on lindsey. Timmy (asshole) never cares enough to make ammends with lindsey. In fact he tells her point blank he could careless if they are together or not. Linds is so in love with him though that she just tries to forget about the continuous hurtful comments he makes, and continue on. This process happens every 2 weeks about. As lindseys bestfriend there really is a fine line between being helpful and overstepping my boundaries. OBVIOUSLY she needs to stop wasting her time on a cheater and a liar, but she cant help it. What am i supposed to say to her to make her feel better when the truth hurts? "im sorry that you are in your bedroom crying over the same thing you cried about last week but its time to MOVE ON and be with someone who knows how to appreciate you and love you the way you need to be. Timmy doesn't love you" might be true, but ive tried saying this before and she just gets mad at me. With several years of dealing with this situation under my belt, ive learned that i need to keep my opinion to myself. the only thing that my "advice" is doing is ruining the pathway to communication between us. She has to learn it for herself. the hard way. All i simply try and do now for her is to be there when she comes to me, offer a pair of ears to listen. She knows that im available for her, as any friend should be, but i dont get too involved in the situation as often anymore.

Uncomfortable

Although Jamie moved just short of three hours away to Tallahassee, she kept her long time boyfriend, Logan, of four years in Jacksonville. Because of the amount of time they had already spent together, they were not worried about how the distance would affect them so much. After all, the drive was only a couple of hours away and there were plenty free weekends where they could visit. Jamie's bestfriend, Carly, who she also left behind in Jacksonville didnt see the need for them to be in a relationship. Jamie didnt know what had gotten into carly. all the sudden, carly started hanging out with Logan EVERYDAY. Carly would call jamie just to gossip about logan, and then hang up. Day after day, Carly made Jamie feel uncomfortable, like an outsider in her own relationship. Of course, Jamie talked to Logan about it and he said it was nothing more than hanging out,  because his friend Garrrett also hung out with them as well. Jamie TRIED to not let it bother her, but she had a gut feeling something wasnt right; on carlys end. The same situaton persisted on for several months before Jamie got angry enough to finally start making it an issue. She repeadtly tried to talk her boyfriend out of going over there, but since he really didnt have many friends anymore, he looked at it as something to do. everyday after carly would get off of work at 6pm, she would call logan over to hang out. On several ocassions, carly called Jamie to ask "what is logans favorite yogurt? Im going to pick us up some" Or call to tell Jamie a story that logan told her, or even yet would call to inquire personal information about Logan and his family. jamie felt awkward and didnt offer up any information. This really put a strain on Jamie and Carlys relationship, jamie backed out as much as she could without making it too obvious.  Jamie always felt uncomfortable, like carly was trying to one-up her with her boyfriend. After enough bitching, Jamie finally got through to logan AND garrett, and they realized that carly was trying to meddle. The boys eventually stopped going over there,THANKFULLY. Jamie was relieved. Carly must have been pissed off, because she then FREAKED OUT on Jamie telling jamie that her feelings "were wrong", she made a big deal out of nothing and that she was a bitch. jamie was definitely right going with her gut instinct about something fishy being up with Carly. Sure enough, there friendship is now over, and Jamie has to no longer feel inferior in her own relationship.

A Dog's Life

In the artile I found pertaining to a "dogs life", it is narrarated and written by a man who envys the lifestyle of a dog. Fred beings his article  by running through a list of the chores and respsonsbilites he must maintain as an adult, such as make the beds, pay the bills, and do the dishes. He then goes on to explain that although theses things idealistically represent "responsibility" in modern times, it wasnt those things that taught him his real life lessons and responsibilty. As a younger man, he confided in his dog, loved him, walked him, petted him and brushed him for fourteen long years. He put his time and trust into the canine companion and he recieved the best gift of all- the gift of life. The dog owner understood that there is a lot more to life than the things we seem to think matter. the owner also envys Buster, the dog, because buster never had to deal with meetings, traffic, relationships or anything of that sort. This is very true- dogs have it pretty easy. They lay around all day, playing and sleeping; they get there food served to them and they dont have to worry about having a job or a family. I think secretly, especially the "go-getters" of responsibility can envision having the life of a dog- getting your belly rubbed while laying down doing nothing. Even i must admit, that sounds like a nice break from reality. this artile shows us all that there is a little bit of the urge for freedom and a carefree life in all of us- even if we lose sight of this through human's everyday routines.

Character sketch

For our short stories, I am introducing a character by the name of Jamie. Jamie is a very pretty girl. She is average height, about 5'6, long brown hair, green eyes and an athletic build. Jamie has ran track her whole life, including for both her middle and high school. She is an identical twin, and her sister and her are very close. They are best friends. Jamie and her sister live together in Tallahassee florida and both attend Florida State University. They share an apartment that is a couple of miles away from campus. Jamie is extremely intelligent, always priding herself in her good grades and her schoolwork. She graduated highschool with a (weighted) 4.7 gpa. She wants to become an orthodontist, and is attempting to be accepted into the dentistry program.  On top of running and school, jamie just likes to hang out with her friends. Both her and her sister grew up living on the beach, so they go as often as they would like. Jamie is more the outspoken twin. She has no problem sticking up for herself or her sister for that matter.

Free writing

Every Tuesday and Thursday I have two classes. First, I attend my statistics lecture and after that, with a forty-five minute break in between, I have ENC1145 (this class). Since my classes are pretty spread out, it takes me about ten to fifteen minutes to walk to class. As you can tell this still does not kill much time. Today, as I was leaving my statistics class, I walk in front of Thagard health center and they are offering free flu shots for all students. This caught me eye for 2 reasons. 1) I have such a weak immune system and I catch the flu almost every year. and 2) I still had thirty minutes to kill. Although shots aren't that bad, the period of waiting and prepping the surface of my arm before the shot, is the part that makes me nervous. I have to look away as the shot is being thrusted into my arm. The contact between the needle and my skin dont hurt as much as I had pysched myself out to. I filled out a short form, showed them my student ID and then I sat down with a nurse. As I looked away while she was giving me the shot, I saw about thirty other students getting shots as well. The shot was over before i knew it and then i picked up my things and started walking towards Williams building. While walking, my arm immediately started to tense up and start burn. I texted my mother, and told her that I had got a shot. She texted me back instaneously asking why in the world I got the shot...since it has given me adverse reactions in the past. My mom then texted me again and said the last time i got the shot, when i was younger, I actually got the flu the worst i had ever had it. Now, instead of feeling like i did a proactive thing today, i feel like the immunity shot will backfire......

The kite runner

My favorite coming of age story is the book, the Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini. It was a required reading for my English class during my junior year, and like a lot of the books in the selection for class readings, they seemed dull. Plus, I wasn’t really a fan of war novels. Reluctantly, I picked the book up and began reading it. From the moment I started the book, I didn’t want to put it down. (As cliché as that sounds). The main character, a young boy named Amir becomes friends with his father’s servant’s son, Hassan. Although they spent majority of their time together, they were more like frenemies (friends and enemies). Amir treated Hassan more than cruel, but never thought twice about it because he was higher up the social ladder. Amir only tried to make his father, Baba, happy, and win the kite competition.

                Further into the book, on the day of the kite competition Amir is only focused on winning. On that same day though, Hassan was raped by several other young boys. Although Amir usually torments Hassan, he is shocked. His innocence that day was lost, and winning the kite competition fell onto the back burner. Other controversial coming of age issues throughout the book included the war, the issue of race (Hassan was of different descent than the rest of the town of Kubal and therefore got bullied) and the death of Hassan’s “whore” mother.  Throughout these controversial years in the boys lived, not only did they grow up, but they lost their innocence and gained a view of the real world. The reason this I consider this to be my favorite story is because of the way that it was set in a completely different area, time, place, and situation that one I can relate too, and it still affected me emotionally throughout the trail of events.

Flash fiction

Senior prom was approaching faster than we all thought and dates were for the most part predicted. Having no boyfriend, the closest thing to a date would have been my best friend Matt. Matt and I became immediate friends sophomore year as he transferred to my school. He was a hilarious, good-natured guy that everyone fell in love with immediately. Luckily for me, Matt and I made future plans that if we didn’t have prom dates come senior year we would go with each other by default. Since I had no one in mind, Matt was my clear option from the beginning.  Matt however, was of course going to tease me the two months before prom. I would ask him who he was taking and he would list a bunch of random girls out of the blue.  Every time he tormented me with different girls, it felt like I was getting punched in the stomach. This threw my plan way off track…

                I was on the way back from the gym with one of my girlfriends, prom steadily approaching I was trying to get in perfect prom dress shape. We reached my house, with everything normal; grabbing a glass of water, turning on the television. I headed towards my stairs leading to my room only to find Reese’s candy, so happens to be my favorite, in my path. So much for the perfect prom body. As I made my way up the stairs there was a huge tarp of paper leading up the stairs as well, along the wall. As I ran to my room the letters spelled out, “Will you go to prom with me? Love Matt.” At the end of the tarp laid two more giant Reese’s bags and a bouquet of pink roses. I was shocked and so happy. I felt like the load of bricks instantly lifted off my shoulders.

                Prom approached fast and all those Reese’s caught up to me. I was going in for my last fitting  and the Alteration worker told me that I should “fast the next few days.” Thanks, but my prom is tomorrow. Now knowing this information and knowing I will be stressed beyond belief the next day made prom unexciting. The pit of my stomach was now empty and I wasn’t allowed to fill that pit with food for the next 24 hours. Prom day arrived and I was all dolled up, ready to put on my $350 dollar prom gown. I was nearly about to faint from starvation but barely slid into my prom dress. Unfortunately for Matt, prom was a horrible experience given the fact I was a raging bitch. Thank god it was my senior prom and I won’t be doing that again. I pray for my husband-to-be on wedding day.

What did you learn today?

every day when my dad called me when he got off of work, he always asked the same series of questions. he always started out the conversation with "whats up" followed by "how was your day". once we got a little further into the conversation he would always bring up my schooling. im assuming this is because he is a teacher and its his second nature to wonder what his daughter is up too every day. he would then always ask me "what did you learn today". i absolutely hated this question. for multiple reasons. one, because around the time that he started asking this question every day it was in middle school. i took silly classes that didnt teach me too much, at least not like the class options i could choose from in high school and college. although i paid attention in class, i still never felt like i learned something ground-breaking, or noteworthy. of course there were some days that i felt like i learned a whole new subject of something and on those days i would be eager to let him know. but the rest (most common) days that i really didnt have much to say about what i learned, i lied. i exagerated. i twisted the truth. i would tell him basically any assignment that i had in the last few weeks and would tell him all about it like i had done it today. another reason i hated this question is because i felt like regardless of the subject of conversation, it always ended up with that question.

The year she found out the tooth-fairy wasnt real.

Almost every child in American society believes in the tooth fairy. You grow up believing in all these fictional characters that bring you gifts in return for your baby teeth, or being a good girl even when Santa Claus isn’t watching. What American’s tend to forget is that there also comes a point in a child’s life when they realize that these legends are fake and their dreams and sense of reality are destroyed. The year Brittany found out about the nonexistent tooth fairy is one she will never forget. Brittany was young, about 9 years old. She was a late bloomer and had only been losing her baby teeth for two years now. Brittany had a hand sewn tooth fairy pillow decorated by her great-grandmother. When Brittany felt her tooth becoming loose, she would dig in the bottom of her wooden trunk and grab the pillow. After some prodding and pulling, the tooth would fall out. She immediately ran and put the tooth in the pocket on the pillow. The nights that Brittany had lost a tooth, were the nights she had the most trouble falling asleep. The anticipation was almost sickening. She was always trying to catch a glimpse of this so called fairy that flew into her room and without waking her up, removed the tooth from the pillow and then slipped a generous five dollar bill. On that particular night, after washing the tooth, she ran to show her mom. Her mother’s friend Michael was over having dinner with her family. Michael was a single guy, mid-thirties and a total bachelor. Michael wouldn’t have a clue what to do if a child fell into his lap. Michael seem just as excited as Brittany’s mother when she showed everyone at the table the new gap in her smile, and the tooth in her hand. Maybe it was the wine that Michael had been drinking with his meal, or maybe he could remember his own tooth-loss stories. Brittany’s mother told her it was time to get in the shower and get ready for bed. Before getting in the shower though, Brittany delicately placed the tooth in the pocket, and jumped in the shower. As any nine year old does, they take fast showers. It was a maximum of ten minutes from the time she got in the shower, until the time she got out. When she dried off, she changed into her pajamas, said goodnight to her family and went to bed. Right before she drifted into unconsciousness, Brittany placed her hand in the pillow just to get one last glance of the tooth. To her surprise the TOOTH WAS GONE! In its place was a four times-more-generous TWENTY DOLLAR BILL.  Brittany knew this wasn’t adding up. Why would she receive four times the amount she normally does, and it wasn’t even a front tooth. Plus the most obvious factor is that it had only been ten minutes since she placed the tooth there, and it wasn’t even while anyone in the house was sleeping. Brittany brought the pillow out to her mother and explained what was happening in a manic way. Michael must’ve been the culprit because he pulled her mother aside and explained what he had done. Apparently he was feeling nostalgic about the tooth fairy and felt he could leave a little extra cash and Brittany wouldn’t notice.  Boy was he wrong. Brittany learned the truth that night, that the tooth fairy wasn’t real and the excitement that she normally felt about losing a tooth, never came again.

my first crush

I can still think of myself being the giddy school girl who realized that maybe boys did have cooties anymore, and they could actually be kind of cute. It mustve been around the age that girls were "supposed" to start having crushes because my mom was constantly asking me if i liked anyone at school. she asked me day in and day out on the way to check the mail, like a ritual. and i never spoke up to tell her i actually did like someone. i decided one day though, that it was finally time to tell her. i almost felt kind of guilty hiding it from her for several months. Have you ever heard the expression that moms know everything? i swear my mom did. so my plan was set. i was going to wait until the next day as we were walking and i would wait for her to bring it up. the next day came around and as we were walking to the mailboxes, the nervousness i remember feeling was almost taking over. my mom opened her mouth and as she did the words
"How was your day at school Honey?"
"My day was good."
those were the only words i could utter out because i was so shocked that she didnt ask about boys.

"Well did you learn anything interesting at school today?" she asked.

I answered my mother
"no"

she kept talking but i zoned out. i thought that if i couldnt work up the courage to tell my mother, then i would never be able to work up the courage to tell my crush, alex. i waited for a few minutes but never ended up asking me that day. i didnt know why she didnt ask. i began to have the feeling that she knew and she just wanted me to speak up. i never told my mom that day. the next day at school, this was all still fresh on my mind, and like always my favorite part of the day is when we had class together so we could hang out. he was the tallest boy in our whole grade, and linky. he had dirty blonde hair and long bony fingers. he had a long face and green eyes. he was definitely cute. he was awesome at basketball and his basketball shoes always matched his outfit.

coming of age

As I’m sure we are all aware, every child goes through a period in which they transition from childhood into adulthood. This process usually comes about with a significant experience that tends to shape them for the rest of their adult lives. Some may argue that certain races, ages, or genders are affected differently, but I would have to disagree. Whether you are male, or female, you encounter the transition that matures you into an adult way of thinking and acting. This is a circumstance in which innocence is often taken away. The short story read in class by Okri, and the television series “My so called life” are both perfect examples of this.

In the story "In the shadow of war" by Ben Okri, the coming of age theme is very present. The short story is one in which the son, Omovo, is introduced to the harshness of war, that his father tries to keep from him. Omovo often listens to the radio where the hourly news comes on to give updates on the war. His interest in the war, and his search for what is really going on, causes Omovo listens to the radio whether his father is present or not. His father discourages Omovo from listening to the radio stating that "it’s bad for children to listen to news on the war". As almost any child would, Omovo begins wondering why he is prohibited from the truth surrounding him. Once he travels into the forest after the "witch", he becomes introduced to the extreme causalities of the war. He see’s dead mangled bodies in the marsh of the river, and he learns the truth about the witch; she was simply aiding the wounded war victims. He also witnesses’ immense amounts of malnutrition, and the brutal treatment that the Nigerian soldiers put forth. After the fiasco in the forest, Omovo wakes up back in his house where his father explains that the soldiers brought him back from the forest after he blacked out. I believe that this is when Omovo realizes that his father may not be on the pedestal that he was once placed on, and that his childhood was seemingly robbed from him that day in the forest. Sometimes there are certain events, or scenarios that you cannot erase from your head. The harshness of that day is something that his father was trying to protect him from, but also something that cant be taken back. Situations like those have a way of introducing you to the real world very quickly.

In TV series “my so called life” there is an episode in which Angela (the daughter) becomes discontent with her father. After her father gave her tickets to see the Grateful Dead, a band that she is not fond of, he asks for them back. Angela had sold the tickets already and was furious that her dad was asking for them back. This is more a tale of adolescence, but can still be tied into a distinct time period in which transitions begin taking place. In my opinion, Angela felt as if her and her father were on different pages. Since we have all been (or still are) teenagers at one point, we understand that this is an awful feeling. All children want their parents to understand them. As we are growing up, we all tend to go through phases. These phases, in my perspective are necessary to the shaping of the adults that we become.  

Both of these stories also tie into another theme that was discussed in class, one in which fathers and their children are distanced in the time of adolescence. Omovo grew up very fast that day, regardless of the fact that his father had tried to protect him from that. Omovo probably felt like his father was keeping something from him, which caused a rift between them. Two other examples of this are in “My so called life” with both Angela straying away from her father, but also with Angela’s mother herself. Angela’s mother had to deal with her father skipping out on paying the IRS, in which she decides to take control of the situation. Even as middle-aged adults, circumstances happen which can in turn affect the relationship, even if only temporary.

Recollecting

First grade

In first grade, I don’t remember much. The only things I can recall are that I went to an elementary school that I haven’t been too or even since I left. The name was Ruth N Upson. My teacher, Mrs. Stovall was like my idol. Looking back, I have no idea why I liked her so much, she was just friendly. Every day when my mom picked me up from school, she would bring our dogs and I would run and get Mrs. Stovall so she could play with them.

Second grade

By this point, I moved to Miami. My elementary school was called “Palm cove”. The cool thing about this school was that it was modeled after a baseball team. The teachers were called coaches, the students were the players, and classrooms were referred to as dugouts, and if you got your card flipped you “struck out”.

Third grade

This is the year I started to participate in all my school activities. We had an annual school fundraiser in which every one attached jingle bells to their ankles, arms, and clothes and we ran around the block. It was known as the “Jingle bell jog”.

Fourth grade

I started attending after school care because my mom didn’t get off work until 5pm. Every day after school we had snacks, I usually sat with my friends Mari Carmen, Alex, and chynnel.  We played kickball almost every day with about thirty other kids and I always loved playing. I started to realize that maybe I liked Alexander as more than a friend. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone though.

Fifth grade

This was the year of many hurricanes. All I can remember is my step dad having to get onto a ladder and put up hurricane shutters. The shutters stayed on our house for almost 3 weeks, because the hurricanes were back to back. It was so dark in the house since all of the windows were covered and there were several days in which we lost power. We used flashlights and candles but the house was so hot. My stepbrother Cameron, and I just played board games and my mom and step dad mainly hung out downstairs. The first day that we got to actually leave the house after the hurricanes had died down, a tree fell right next to my step dad’s car.

Sixth grade

This is the year I started middle school. The night before, my mom found a 2 week old kitten, which we decided to keep. We had to bottle feed it. I had to wear a uniform to my school, and this is the year I had my first boyfriend.

Like father like daughter

Although some of you will think this is some sort of personal sob-story, that I’m about to share, I assure you it isn’t. I’ll begin at about the age in which I realized my father was not upon this iconic “pedestal”, that other parents seem to be placed on. Around the year 2000, I was about seven years old, my parents went through a divorce, my mom met someone new, and we moved to Miami, FL. Because of all these transitions, happening seemingly back to back, it was a period in which many adjustments were made. Upon moving almost four-hundred miles away from my father, I suddenly lost about 95% of the “quality time” I had shared with him the past seven years of my life. My dad was no longer just down the hallway, he was in a different city, living in the house that my parents had built together. For several years, I flew to my father once a month to visit, but that wasn’t always in my ideal interest as the older I got. When I got the age where it was “un-cool” to be spending mass amounts of time with your parents, I stopped flying to see him as frequently, and it fell down on my priority list to call him as much. Some of you may think that teenage hormones began to simply eat away at our relationship, but it was almost as if my dad was going through puberty himself. Most children would think that if they were to stop giving as much attention to their relationship with one of their parents, that their parent would smother them even more. This was not the case with my father. My father simply withdrew from the relationship as much as I had. He focused more of his time on athletics, and his job. Over the next several years, my father and I always talked on the phone, every couple of days and I visited when I could. My father, unfortunately, thought that even though we weren’t as close as other father-daughter duos, paying his monthly child support was still “supporting” me. As if money and, a real relationship were interchangeable.  They weren’t. this is when I began to realize that my father was kicked off this pedestal not because he didn’t care, but because he was unsure how to show it. (Not by paying your way into my life)

            Good news though, over the last several years my father and I have definitely improved our relationship. He’s actually pretty fun to hang around. J

First blog ever!

Hello blogging-world. This would be my first entry, im not quite sure what to say, but I must admit I am excited to be able to continue using this as a feature to my English class.