Final

1) My favorite pieces I've written in this class are when I was given a prompt to make poems. I really liked the assignment where we were given a painting to write a poem about. I also liked the assignment where we were told to adapt lyrics  from a song and write something with it. I liked it because I always listen to songs and think of what (I think) would be better lyrics or I get inspired by songs.

2) I've read a lot this quarter. A book that has been comforting to me is the book Fangirl. It is about a girl who fangirls while she is in college even though some of the people around her are trying to tell her to act more mature. The thing was she was mature but she still made time to fangirl and talk about the things she loves. That makes me feel better because I am a fangirl for life. I have fangirled over something for the entirety of my life and I am coming to terms with it. I think that in some ways fangirling is a good thing and could work well for me. For me it means I am passionate about a lot and I can get excited about the things I love.

3) When I started my blog I was really excited. Sometimes I get so intensely upset or passionate about something that I need to express my feelings and this has been a really good outlet for that. I also have enjoyed reading others blog posts because I think writing is a lot more honest than talking to someone and it gives people time to collect their thoughts. I'm not sure if people actually read my blog. I know I like reading others because it's kinda like reading someones diary.

4) I mostly liked writing my poems in my journal. I'm fine with you reading it but I don't think I'd like it as much if others did. I get really self conscious about my writing.

5)

 You were constant
    but now you have the consistency
    of sand
    slipping through my fingers

6)


I'm trying to think of rational ways to tell you 

that you have become my universe.

How do you tell someone that they pull you together completely?

That they keep you in orbit.

That they created the tides that tug at your insides.

You can't.

Because what if it all unhinges, 

and your planets aren't aligned?

And your sun burns out because you relied on it too much?

Now it's all dark and you can't even see the stars in their eyes anymore.

7) I think I will continue writing poems and songs because it has always been a really good outlet for me. I hate talking with people about my problems but writing them out or changing them into a poem really helps me. It is always really relieving to get my thoughts out of my head and transferred to something else.

8) I think the best advice I have would to be confident. I haven't always been very confident in myself, and I'm still not. But don't second guess yourself because if it is how you feel then it is always valid and important to someone. A lot of people have talent that they hide away in journals or in their rooms and no one knows how talented they are.

Photos of the Millennium.

I remember when I was in New York and my mom and I made a long trip to ground zero. We made plenty of mistakes on the subway and had trouble finding it because of all the construction. By the time we were finally there I was just exhausted and had no interest in being there. It was in the middle of December, windy, and misting outside. But when I reached the area where the buildings once stood, my heart sank. When you stand at the bottom of a building in New York and you take in it's enormity you feel so small and a little helpless. But standing where the Twin Towers once stood and you're only able to imagine the enormity of the buildings is an even worse feeling. I kept looking up and imagining the buildings and all the people. But sometimes it's easy to think of people as just...people. Things you pass everyday and background images of your life. When I finally looked down at the caved in part where they had made two fountains where the towers once stood and I saw the names of all of the people who died, is when I lost it. Reading a name and realizing that the woman might have had a daughter or son who had received the news or a husband or mom was just so horrifying. I cried so hard. I was too young to grasp the emergency of the situation on 9/11 when it occurred. But when I was actually at the location and reading the names, the sitaution became too real and too hard for me to handle.

The Thing About School...

I'm going to be an annoying teenager ranting about the flaws in the system for a few minutes while I'm still worked up.
I have come to terms with they way my mind works. I like letters and words and sentences and stories. These are the things I am good at and that I enjoy. I know this. I've known this for awhile. So why should I have had to take any math classes beyond the basics? Why will I  have to when I start college? I can't think with numbers or math or science. My mind doesn't travel from point A to B. My mind takes a short break at Q and remembers an interesting fact from H. I can't see things as black and white. There will always be gray. I think in "maybe's" and "if's". So why is the school system trying to fit a square piece into a circle hole? Why are they frying my brain? I can't think that way. It's driving me insane. I'm taking College Algebra right now so these feelings are more than fresh.

Lyric Shuffle.

I wrote three different poems from the lyrics. 

The highlighted parts are the ones I took from songs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's strange to think that sandy beaches used to be just rocks

Kind of like how I used to be whole pieces but now I'm just broken parts

Tangled knots and misguided thoughts

A story with so many beginnings and brand new starts

I'm trying to find myself in all this jumbled mess

I’ll just keep on making the same mistakes hoping that you’ll understand

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You're the fear, I don't care
'Cause I've never been so high
Follow me through the dark
Let me take you past our satellites
You can see the world you brought to life

Like we're on a different wavelength

Just coasting on whitewater

This is fine

This is fine

I need to train my mind to be stronger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Give me your best

We'll figure out the rest

When I'm not looking for anything too serious

You can tell me when it's over

If the high was worth the pain

Its a mystery

An infinite

A never ending story

That starts with you and me

and ends with just me

repeat.

101 Facts About Me

1)     My name is Leslie Maness

2)     I am 18 and a senior at Kickapoo

3)     Usually when I talk about being a senior in high school I make a joke about being a senior citizen.

4)     I’ve played soccer for as long as I can remember and stopped my senior year.

5)     I tore my ACL and that kind of ruined it for me.

6)     I like to sing and write my own songs.

7)     I have a scar in between my thumb and pointer finger from running up a hill while playing my Gameboy color when I was little.

8)     I have a scar on my right elbow from my “skater girl” phase where I made my mom buy me a skateboard.

9)     I can’t skateboard

10) I’m rarely embarrassed. My friends hate it.

11) When I was little my mom and I found a cat in the park and I made her take it back to our house

12) I named my cat Kiko and it jumped in my bath and scratched me once.

13) I spent my whole life thinking Kiko had run away and last year I found out that my mom had let him out because he kept peeing on her shoes.

14) I also found out Kiko was a boy last year.

15) I remember my mom and I living in a small duplex when I was younger.

16) There was a kid that lived in the other half of the duplex but I don’t remember his name. I just remembered that he had a gumball machine and love for Transformers.

17) One day I was hopping the fence that divided our backyards and I ripped my pants.

18) My mom used to make chocolate milk every morning for me before day care and preschool.

19) Sometimes before bed my mom would let me fall asleep on the couch while I would watch the TV show Cheers. I didn’t understand anything that happened in that show but for some reason I liked it.

20) I used to go to day care at a lady named Carolins house.

21) She would watch Soap Operas during our nap time. She had a giant TV and watched it in the same room we napped in. I would usually just stay awake and watch them.

22) One time she washed my mouth out with soap. I can’t remember what I said. I think I called a boy stupid. I do remember that it tasted awful.

23) Carolin would give everyone jaw breakers but my mom wouldn’t let me have jaw breakers so she never gave me any.

24) There was a field of cows that you had to pass to get to Carolins house.

25) My dad and I lived in a little yellow house.

26) The backyard was huge (or at least felt huge as a little kid) and there were a lot of rabbits.

27) We were walking distance from Baskin Robbins.

28) One time I tricked my grandma into buying me bubble gum ice cream because she didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to chew bubble gum.

29) My dad’s house had a basement and he liked to play records. I remember him playing the Go Go’s most distinctly.

30)I would force my dad to let me play “hair dresser lady” where I would proceed to put unnecessary amounts of mousse in his hair.

31)We would also play “library lady” I think in this game I just gave him books. I was really young and entertained easily.

32) I really liked Scooby Doo when I was younger but it also scared the living daylights out of me.

33) My dad and I would watch Scooby Doo and play Candyland together.

34) I grew to fear ghosts and the child psychologist I went to suggested that my parents give me a spray bottle and a tube of glitter. I would spray and sprinkle them every night before bed because my parents told me it would keep ghosts away.

35) When I was 3 or 4 I would read a cook book every night before bed and sleep with it under my pillow at my dad’s house

36)I think that jinxed me because now I can’t cook

37) I’m running out of time to write this.

38)I am a procrastinator

39)I had my heart set on leaving Missouri but then I visited the Mizzou campus

40) It has a pool with a freaking lazy river which is a bit over the top.

41) I have really bad anxiety problems.

42) I haven’t had a nightmare in a really lomg time.

43) I think I’m going to a Smallpools concert in Tulsa next Friday.

44)Me and Alora are having a hard time finding a hotel that let’s you check in at 18 so the plans might fall through.

45) I didn’t go to sleep until 2am last night because I kept pushing off doing my homework

46)I’m going to be so tired at prom

47) to be continued...

Song Narrative Poem

You had phases and patterns
Some nights
you were so bright and whole
Some nights
It felt like you were never there at all
But through it all
You made it so that
It never became too dark
And I appreciate that.

I thought of this when I was listening to Atlas by Shannon Saunders. It never says anything about the night or moon but it made me think of a person like a moon so I made it about that.

Teachers+Music

I asked Ms. Orman about her favorite music.


Q: What music or songs reminds you of your chilhood?

A: Anything from the 80's or from soundtracks from the 80's


Q:Who is your favorite singer or group or song and why?

A: Bruce Springsteen songs like No Surrender have a really good message and have a nostalgic feeling.


Q:What music reminds you of someone you love? Your child? Spouse? Parents?

A: Fun country songs remind me of summers with my family.


Q: Do you go to concerts? Which concerts are memorable to you?

A: Not a lot because crowds weird me out. I went to a music festival and saw Bruce Springsteen.


Q: What radio stations do you listen to?

A: I usually listen to NPR. I listen to 106.7 when I want to listen to music because it has a lot of  variety


Q:Which music or artist was controversial to some when you were growing up?

A: George Michael- I Want Your Sex


Q:Which music or artist do you really dislike or refuse to listen to?

A: Country when it comes to artists like Luke Bryant                                                                                                                      

Music to my ears

1) When I listen to music I either feel at peace or really excited. Sometimes it makes me really sad. It depends on how I feel that day.

2) My favorite song changes constantly. Right now it is probably Colors by Halsey because her lyrics are so honest and realistic. She writes with a lot of emotion and is comfortable with who she is and the people around her.

3) I used to listen to Top 20 music. In middle school everyone listened to Pop Punk and so did I. I guess I've come full circle because I started listening to it again in my sophomore year.

4) I like a genres except Rap, Country, and Screamo. I will listen to anything else because I like lyrics and different stories and perspectives.

5) My friends and I do listen to the same music. I think we influence each other and in a lot of ways our similar taste in music brought us together.

6) Without music the world would be a lot of people with bundled up emotions and people not being able to connect.

7) Without music my life would be very sad. I like relating to music and not feeling alone in the way I feel.

8) I admire the music of Twenty One Pilots because their music is different, fearless, and honest.

9) One event I connect to music is when I was in middle school and listened to the band Simple Plan. I thought I was really complicated and that music talked about how being a teen was hard. Now I just think they are ridiculous.

10) I think all music is an expression of feelings and people have that right.

11) I think that music saves a lot of people around the world. People are able to identify and connect with others feelings and I think that is a very important thing to have.

12) Music can add drama and intensity into ant situation.

13) Yes music is poetry. I think that the lyrics "You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece" are very poetic. They are by Halsey.

14) Music makes me forget about everything or make me think about everything.

15) I play guitar piano, sing, and write lyrics so I would love that.

Pillow Talk

Tossing and turning

like waves hitting the shoreline

pull in and push out

I looked at the picture and thought it looked like a messy bed. It gave me a groggy feeling. Like being half awake and half asleep. I was in the back of the room so it was hard to see. But what I thought were the pillows looked like water to me. Like when you are laying at the bottom of a pool and look up at the surface so that you can see the sunlight breaking through. So maybe this person wasn't done dreaming. They are only half conscious and everything is watery.

The Hopper

This painting reminded me of my first day in Paris. I hadn't slept at all on the plane or the night before so once we were in the cab on our way to the apartment we were staying in I rested. Once we got there we got out of the cab and in my sleepy daze I left my purse in the cab. My uncle ran after the cab all the way down the street and got it for me. We then went inside and crowded into the smallest elevator known to man. We then dropped our stuff off and walked until we found a restaurant that we thought would be nice. I was still tired and kind of miserable and very hungry because the plane food wasn't good.  I ordered French Onion soup and it was impossible to eat and I was already grumpy. The cheese was impossible to pull apart. It was delicious but a hassle. The restaurant kind of looks the same as the one pictured above so that's what I thought of.

Artist Profile: Georgia O'Keeffe

My artists name is Georgia O'Keeffe.
She was born November 15th, 1887 in Sun Prarie Wisconsin.
Her fathers name was Francis O'keeffe and her mother was Ida O'Keeffe.
They were both farmers.
Georgia was the 2nd of 7 siblings.
She studied art in Chicago and New York.
She was married to Alfred Stieglitz.

5 Major Accomplishments:
She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters 
She was the first retrospective show of a woman's art at the Museum of Modern Art 
She was awarded the Gold Medal of Painting by the National Institute of Arts and Letters 
She was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor 
 and President Ronald Reagan presented the National Medal of Arts to her.

Fun Fact: She lived to be 98!

Georgia O'Keeffe usually made pictures of flowers and animal skulls. She also painted skies and cities. She drew a lot of her inspiration from Mexico. She is associated with American Modernism. 

Three Paintings:
Cows Skull: Red White and Blue


Sky Above Clouds IV

Blue and Green Music




Pieces I like:
Ballet Skirt or Electric Light
I like this piece because you get to decide what it is.



Abstraction Blue
This one is at a weird angle of a flower. I like it because of its colors.

Lyrics and stuff.

Budapest- George Ezra
My many artifacts
The list goes on
If you just say the words
I’ll up and run


Atlas- Shannon Saunders

Your shoulder blades
Your eyes ablaze
The way you throw your head back
When you're losing faith
But finding hope
It lights your face
That helps me cope
Through all of this without a kiss
And I get through all of this without a kiss

From the atlas
Take me far
Leave me reckless
Off the map
Turn the paper
Don't bring me back

My eyes see you
I see you but you don't see me

Holding On To You- Twenty One Pilots

You think twice about your life, it probably happens at night,
Right? Fight it, take the pain, ignite it,
Tie a noose around your mind loose enough to breathe fine and tie it,
To a tree, tell it, "You belong to me,
This ain't a noose, this is a leash,
And I have news for you, you must obey me."

Fairly Local- Twenty One Pilots

Tomorrow I'll switch the beat

to avoid yesterdays dance.

Windows- Lewis Watson

I'm sleeping with a pillow, under lamplight.
Freezing cold, 'cause you always liked the windows
Opened wide.
Just so you know, I'll be here when you make it home.

I'll call you up at like 3am, again
Just to make sure you know that I don't mind waiting,
Although the call will end with us both saying
That we both hate this

Just What I Needed- The Cars

I don't mind you coming here

and wasting all my time

Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver- All Time Low

You're the snake hidden in my daffodils
When I'm picking flowers
That's just my luck these days
Why can't you just be happy for me?
You're the break-lights failing as my car
Swerves off the freeway
It kinda feels like sabotage


Slow- Halsey & Lido
'Cause there's a flaw in the system
I don't really know what but I miss him
It was something in his eyes when I kissed him
Listen, feeling like I can't dismiss him


I Will Follow You Into The Dark- Death Cab For Cutie
If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark


Colors- Halsey
Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so
You said your mother only smiled on her TV show
You’re only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope
I hope you make it to the day you’re 28 years old

You’re dripping like a saturated sunrise
You’re spilling like an overflowing sink
You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
And I’m tearing through the pages and the ink

Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pulled apart at the seams
And it's blue
And it's blue

Everything is grey
His hair, his smoke, his dreams
And now he's so devoid of color
He don’t know what it means
And he's blue
And he's blue

You were a vision in the morning when the light came through
I know I’ve only felt religion when I’m lying with you
You said you’ll never be forgiven 'til your boys are, too
And I’m still waking every morning but it’s not with you

You’re dripping like a saturated sunrise
You’re spilling like an overflowing sink
You’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
And I’m tearing through the pages and the ink

Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
And now I’m covered in the colors
Pulled apart at the seams
And it's blue
And it's blue

Everything is grey
His hair, his smoke, his dreams
And now he's so devoid of color
He don’t know what it means
And he's blue
And he's blue

Everything is blue
Everything is blue
Everything is blue
Everything is blue

You were red and you liked me because I was blue
You touched me and suddenly I was a lilac sky
Then you decided purple just wasn’t for you

Moondust- Jaymes Young

The brightness of the sun, will give me just enough
To bury my love, in the Moondust
I long to hear your voice, but still I make the choice
To bury my love, in the moondust

Sculpture

 

I chose the sculpture "Popped Up" by Hungarian artist Ervin Loránth Hervé. This sculpture is located in Budapest. The thing popping out of the ground is an ogre. I like it because it incorporates the land around it. I also like how it proved some shade. I think its a really cool concept of having it look like hes pulling up the ground. It kind of makes you forget that he is actually above ground and not pulling the ground up. I also like how it involves a sort of fantasy theme.

Art Walk

I couldn't find the piece I had online so this is a painting that was painted with coffee since that's what the original one reminded me of.

I used to hate coffee. I never understood why people thought it tasted good. I probably swore a thousand times I would never like coffee. But here I am. Most of the times when I feel truly happy is when I drink coffee with my friend Maynard. I'm very talkative and she is too. We are very similar. When we are together we are usually drinking coffee. Our favorite place to go is Classic Rock Coffee. We think it's funny because usually the other people there are dads or people in their 40's.

The thing I liked about the original painting I had looked at was that it looked like an accident. It looked maybe someone spilled their coffee and said "hey that's cool". It was kind of comforting to look at because it wasn't perfect and sometimes the colors overlapped. I guess a better way to phrase it would be to say it made me feel relieved. Yes it was messy. No it wasn't perfect but it was nice and it was art. It doesn't have to be perfectly and masterfully executed. That's life.

Poems for Paintings

I'm trying to think of rational ways to tell you 

that you have become my universe.

How do you tell someone that they pull you together completely?

That they keep you in orbit.

That they created the tides that tug at your insides.

You can't.

Because what if it all unhinges, 

and your planets aren't aligned?

And your sun burns out because you relied on it too much?

Now it's all dark and you can't even see the stars in their eyes anymore.

Sometimes the world might feel too big for you.

When you're standing in large crowd.

When you fly on an airplane.

When you think of far off places.

When you stand at the bottom of a tall building.

It's ok to feel that way.

Anyone can get wrapped up in their life.

Anyone can forget about others.

But sometimes we need to be reminded that the world is big.

Even if its too big sometimes.

Movie Quotes

"You know how everyones always saying seize the moment? I don't know, I'm kind of thinking its the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us."
-Boyhood

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."
-Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"The world is not a wish granting factory."
-The Fault in Our Stars

"Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us."
-Mockingjay Part 1

**Reel** Life

1) My favorite movie is probably Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The first time I watched it I was with my mom. My mom and I always watch movies together.  When she found out I hadn't watched it she was shocked and made me watch it that weekend. I thought I wasn't going to like it because it came from my parents childhood but it turns out I like most of the movies from the 80's. They can be pretty cheesy sometimes but they're ok. I almost cried when I watched ET in Film as Lit. Anyways, I laughed so hard when I watched it and I liked hanging out with my mom.

2) I'm not really into romance movies. I've watched them and some of them make me cry but they all seem so unrealistic to me. They do make me cry so they must be doing something right. I cried 8 times the first time I watched PS I Love You. That movie tore me up.

3) I watch movies a lot. Mostly with my mom when my step dad is out of town. We snuggle up on the couch and watch movies. We don't really make popcorn or anything because I don't like popcorn. We only eat during a movie if we are watching it at dinner time. I usually drink Cherry Coke and she usually drinks Mountain Dew. It makes me really happy when we do that.

4) When I am at the movie theater I usually get cherry coke and candy. I prefer Kazoozles which are cherry flavored candy wrapped around the fun dip sugar. They're sooooo good and usually only at movie theaters. Popcorn makes me feel sick but I usually steal handfuls of some from whoever is with me anyways. It drives everybody insane.

5)
I am 50% extroverted.
I am 100% agreeable.
I am 92% Conscientious.
I am 25% emotionally stable (ouch).
I am 100% open to new experiences.

I would actually agree with these results.

6) Alora said a toned down (in the quirky stuff) Zooey Deschanel. Which I'm ok with because I like Zooey Deschanel and I watch New Girl. It would open with me on a rocket ship. I am the first female astronaut/Singer. I am breaking all norms and performing shows on the moon. Eventually I will settle down on my own private island away from everyone. My whole entire house would be a library and all I would ever do is read. Then I eventually move to New York and get to be around everybody.

Stuff.

I don't know if we're allowed to make random posts on here or not but I've felt like writing all day so I'm going to anyways.

When I first heard about Alzheimers I was told you slowly start forgetting things. I had thought that the people that had it would slowly forget life in a chronological order. As in you would start by forgetting every day things. Then you would think you were in your 40's and then 20's and teen years and so on until you forgot how to breathe. I realize that isn't how it is now. You just forget things that are not constant... and sometimes things are constant. You just forget things randomly. There is no order or set timeline. Yesterday after a long plane ride and a long car ride I arrived at my nana and papas house. I got there and my nana got through all my family members with hugs and smiles and looked utterly confused when she saw me. She kept giving me weird looks. I knew it would happen eventually but I didn't know it would hurt me that much. She remembered everyone else... Even my little brother and sister. She's known me way longer. Anyways, my mom kept dropping hints about who I was and kept saying my name and eventually it came back to her. Now she knows who I am and I feel ok but it still hurts. Sometimes you feel things already but then they happen and they're a reality and you feel so intensely. I'm sitting in the living room of my grandparents house typing this and my nana has said goodnight to me 3 times now because she can't remember she already has. Sometimes it's funny. That sounds bad but thats how I deal with things. Sometimes finding the humor in things makes them less sucky. But it's funny because she's so sweet and oblivious. She'll ask you 3 times in a row if you play basketball and you can give her a different answer every time. Or today my mom asked her if she wanted to go to Red Lobster with us and she said no. My mom jokingly brought it up later that she said no to Red Lobster and my nana got so flustered because "SHE NEVER SAID THAT".  I don't know how to end this post. I just really don't want her to forget me.

6 Word Stories

I always have a protective shell


I try to dance to Beyonce

The "Thing" About Feminism... (Readers as Writers post)

I'm currently reading I Am Malala and feeling very inspired by this book. I think it says a lot about womens rights and gives wonderful insight into what womens lives are like in other places around the world. It has really made me think about feminism. I am already a feminist but this finally gave me room to collect my thoughts enough to say some things I want to.

 The thing about feminism is that you do not have to be the one feeling oppressed. I hear a lot of girls say "I'm just fine so why should I stand up for these 'made up' problems. The ignorance just shocks me. "I'M fine so there MUST NOT BE A PROBLEM" is all I hear. If you feel that you personally do not need feminism, you are wrong, but that is fantastic! Here's the catch, there are more people in this world than you.
 Feminism is also about being able to step outside yourself and think about her, him, and them. It is about standing up for wives being forced into marriages where it is "acceptable" to throw acid on them. It is about little girls who can't have an education because she can ONLY be a wife and mother. It is for boys who are raised to believe that there is something wrong with them if they don't like sports or are told to "man up" when they cry. It is about the women who get in trouble at school for "exposed" shoulders. It is about women being told that they "had it coming" after they got raped. It is about other people. It is about others being oppressed. Let me say it one last time. It is about OTHERS.
Think outside your unproductive bubble. Stretch your mind to care for others.

In the News(papers)

"Equal Justice Under Law"

Yeah... if you're a middle class white male. Sometimes I tend to be a little "down with the man-ish." I think that the justice system is rigged to work in favor of those who have money. 

Dreams Change

I saw this and laughed out loud. I thought it was so funny because these were my aspirations in life at one point. When I was younger I was so positive that I would have THE coolest checks ever. I was so convinced that I would have super cool cartoon checks or kittens or something. My dreams haven't come true yet. I have plain checks. Actually they might be purple. I don't ever have a reason to use them.

The Berenstein Bear Family

The Berenstein Bear family had always been a public figure. The books based off of their life had thrown them out of their regular bear life of cave life and into a mansion worth millions of dollars and an abundance of wealth. One day the whole entire family left a high profile restaurant with spaghetti stains all over their clothes. The paparazzi jumped on this opportunity immediately and all the headlines were calling them the BerenSTAIN Bears. The bears were very embarrassed.

This story was inspired my recent realization that the family's name is actually the Berenstain bears... not the Berenstein.

I found this article really interesting. A 70 year old woman had written into a newspaper about the relationship problems she was having at the time. I thought it was so funny (for lack of a better word) that this lady was having relationship problems. This lady was still putting herself out there and dating. I also liked the Journalists advice about the emotional abuse she was being put through. I understand the confusion that comes along with being psychologically/emotionally manipulated. It is very hard to identify the problem and you are often being left feeling like it's your fault. It is not.

Be a (blog) Reader

I read a few of Aloras blog posts. I liked what she had written about faith. I agree with it. We have talked about it a lot before. I also like the post she had made about The Fault in Our Stars.

Confusing Conclusion Story

"In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together."

They felt misunderstood, and rightfully so. People thought that just because they could not speak that they had no thoughts. This was difficult because when you don't speak you have a lot to listen to. You gather information and you listen to whatever you can. When you have to listen to everything you are bound to form opinions. The two mutes probably would not have been friends otherwise, they were polar opposites. By consequence they were and it made for interesting discussions via sign language. They were extremely smart and well informed. No one really gave them the time of day because barely anyone in the town knew sign language and writing took too long. The boy had always yearned for more than the life he lead. He wanted more friends, more privileges, more people that wanted know what he had to say. The girl was accepting of her fate and easily fell into a pity party. They both had the right to feel the way they did. The boy only communicated with his family, his teacher, and the girl. He was very good at sports. Crazy good. One day he decided he'd had enough and joined a local baseball team. No one talked to him at first but after a few games his popularity soared and he was the talk of the town. People payed attention to him now. They took the time to listen to what he had to write. Everyone found him interesting. The girl sat back idly. She watched as her best and only friend rose to popularity and forgot about her. After a month she'd finally had enough. She decided to move away and start college in a city. The boy never even realized she was gone until one day the local newspapers headlining story was of a mute girl from the town who had graduated with highest honors from Juilliard. He didn't even know she liked music. He finally realized that once you start speaking and get wrapped up in yourself you forget about those around you.

"Don't tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

Famous First and Last Lines

"In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together."

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

By: Carson McCullers (1917-1967)

She wrote this when she was 23 (WHAT??). She was heavily influenced by music and intended on studying music at Julliard until she fell ill. She then changed her mind and studied Creative Writing at Columbia University in New York. 

From what I can tell, this book is about a deaf-mute man making friends with misfits in a small town. He has this other mute friend but she goes crazy. After that happens he goes to this house of the town misfits. The house is owned by a person who is crazy about music. It's based in the 1930's so there is also some racial tension involved.

I would be interested in reading this book. I think it would be cool to read something in a different perspective.  I also think it was written in a very interesting time. Something I would be unsure about is that it is realistic fiction. I have a lot of trouble reading realistic fiction. I can do it, but it is still a challenge.

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody"

The Catcher in the Rye

By: J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

I didn't know that he was alive in 2010!!! I thought that was really cool for some reason. Salinger really struggled with the newfound fame created by his writing. He became somewhat of a recluse. He grew up in Manhattan, I'm jealous.

The Catcher in the Rye is story about a completely narcissistic teenage boy. He doesn't apply himself in school and flunks out everywhere. He is very smart and conscientious. Even though he has those qualities he tends to exaggerate, contradict himself, and overall just blow smoke. The book is mainly just about a privileged teenage boy trying to figure things out.

I love this book. I chose this as my ending quote because I love it. I feel kinda cliche for loving it but oh well. I recommend this book because I feel like everyone reads it differently. I thought it was satirical and making fun of teenagers for thinking we have it all figured out. Some people I've talked to thought Holden was not the "phony" and that he was a smart cookie. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who is a fan of structure in a story. This book has no plot or exposition.

Don't Quote Me On That

"It's ok not to be ok,
sometimes it's hard to follow your heart.
Tears don't mean you're losing,
everybody's bruising.
Just be true to who you are."
-Jessie J

"Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me
No hope, No harm.
Just another false alarm"
-The Smiths

"A person who is nice to you, but mean to the waiter, is not a nice person."
-Dave Barry

"I don't get waves of missing you anymore.
They're more like tsunami tides."
-Ed Sheeran

"We believe in ordinary acts of bravery,
in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another."
-Veronica Roth

"It amazes me how easy it is for things to change,
how easy it is to start off down the same road you always take and wind up somewhere new.
Just one false step, one pause, one detour, and you end up with new friends or a bad reputation or a boyfriend or a breakup.
It's never occurred to me before; I've never been able to see it.
And it makes me feel, weirdly, like maybe all of these different possibilities exist at the same time, like each moment we live has a thousand moments layered underneath it that look different."
-Lauren Oliver

Memorable Passage

“Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused," then dead.
"I love you, Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be.” 

This kinda seems like a weird passage to pick out I guess because it is not a life changing quote. I like it because I get it now. This is from the book Eleanor and Park (which is an adorable book). It took me a few chapters into the book to actually like it. I ended up loving the book and at the end I felt ripped off because it felt too ambiguous and open ended. SPOILER ALERT: You don't find out what happens... Do they ever end up together? Will they find each other again??? It was eating me alive. As I laid in bed a few nights after overanalyzing all things, I thought of this book and how much the ending pissed me off. Then I realized I completely missed the point. You don't find out what happens because nothing does. They eventually forget about each other because it was just a high school romance. Those are usually doomed from the start. What with all the "complex" feelings and undecided futures. So, I like this quote because the answer to all my questions was right there in print the whole entire time and I was too wrapped up in the love story.

Writers as Readers

2) I really like dystopian books/series. I think it’s cool how the concepts used can seem bizarre but it can really hold true to real life too. Not always in America but in other countries too. The examples are amplified to make the story more interesting but they are nonetheless possible or already happening. Sometimes holding a mirror up to society can be painful but what is needed to make change and I like how books and literature have that ability. The first dystopian book that I remember reading and falling in love with is The Giver. I remember my middle school self being in awe of the whole idea of such a restricted and dysfunctional society. From then on that's what I usually read. I sort of ditched realistic fiction after that. I'm not saying I never read realistic fiction because that is untrue. I read too much to avoid that genre. But I definitely favor dystopian.

 

3) The writer I feel like I identify with the most is J.D. Salinger. I don't imitate him because I've always written like this. But I immediately recognized his writing style as my own after I picked up The Catcher in the Rye. My writing is like one long run on sentence. My thoughts kind of just come out as they please and usually in no particular order. My thoughts and attention seems to jump sporadically. I notice that when I am trying to tell my friends a story I jump to different subplots or related topics. My mind is as messy as my room. That really runs along with my writing style. That’s why everything I write feels like a journal entry. I don't really seem to have a filter sometimes. I feel like my thoughts hold my fingers hostage and I have to write what it says. Even if it is stupid.

 

4) When I was in Paris I did not sleep. I don't know if it was the time difference or just the pure excitement running through my veins but sleep didn't come easily. I read most of the nights. I made it through 5 books while we were there. Luckily my uncle had been to Paris before and knew a famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. Since it was so well known I had assumed it would be a giant store filled with every book imaginable. This was not the case. It was a small little store that was cramped and a little too hot. I still loved it. Up the stairs they had a small YA section and they had a little "Highly Recommended" section. So I picked up a book called The Fault in Our Stars. By the way, many people in France speak English and this copy was in English. So I bought it and got it stamped and read the entire thing on the plane ride home. I cried like a baby.

7) The first real book I remember reading was The Tale of Emily Windsnap. I don’t know why. I know it was about a mermaid and that’s about all I remember about it. What I do remember is that it was the first “page turner” I read. The first book that kept me up past bed time. The one I had to read under the covers with a flashlight in case I heard my mom coming. The first book that had gotten me in trouble for reading in class instead of doing my math problems. I finished the first book really quickly and immediately begged my mom to take me to the bookstore afterwards to pick up its sequel. My sister is reading it right now and that makes me happy.