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