End of the Class

I really enjoyed this class. I thought that it was really well put together. I think one of the things that I liked most about it was the fact that it was more of a discussion than a lecture. I didn't dread coming here out of fear of boredem. I liked coming here with the anticipation of learning new things and getting new insights. I really liked Killing Yourself to Live. I have told many people about it and they want to read it as well. I was talking about selling my books back the other day and my boyfriend told me to not sell that one back because he wanted to read it so badly that he would buy it off me. Needless to say I didn't plan on selling it back in the first place.

I will definitely miss this class and all of the things that I learned in it. However, over the summer I plan on taking Comp 106 so I will be using the skills I learned in this class to improve my futre work for that one. Also I plan on entering in the writing awards so I will be using all of the skills and tactics that I learned in this class to tweak work from prior classes before entering them.

I am glad I took this course because I absolutely love writing and now I feel as though I have a better grasp on my writing projects. I know I will use what I have learned in this class throughout the rest of my college career and beyond.

My Nemesis

My nemesis is no doubt my mother. For more reasons than one she always has been and always will be. We fight as if we are teh worsdt of enemies and we laugh as if we are the best of friends. I always denyed it when I was younger and people said that we are just a like. How could I be just like this woman who drives me nuts?! Well turns out we are exactly the same. As I grow older and we learn more about eachother, I find that this is a learning process for both of us.

My mothers parents were both dead by the time she was my age so she can't really say that she knows how I feel about dealing with a pressuring mother during college years. And I know more times like this will come that she isn't farmiliar with because as she came to these benchmarks in her life, she didn't have a mother. As I come to them, they will be new expieriences. So we will both be learning and growing together.

Although her parents were alive for her wedding, she didn't have a big wedding by any means(she was 17. No big wedding for people who get married that young). But when my wedding comes, it will be huge and there will be a lot to deal with that she didn't do for herself or have a mother help her do so I feel that will be out next major battle. Thankfully, I have a few years to prepare for it. But I kow we will fight on all different topics concerning my wedding and I know that we will grow closer in doing so. We both take the bad of each other to see the good of us together. I feel as though there isn't any better definition of my nemeisis than my mother.

Ira Glass

I understand his points and I completely agree with what he is saying but he totally bores me. I feel he could get his point across in about a minute and it took him over 5. However, it takes a lot of learning and courage to be able to look back on your past work and really critique it harshly. Think about if it's anything that you would produce now and if you would change it and how. I really like the fact that he can laugh at something he thought was great before and think that it is awful now.

I would be lying if I said that I've never done that with my own work. I have looked at stories and poems I wrote back in middle school or early high school and laugh at them. Or even just laugh at how my thoughts were back then. My friend kept a "note box" with all of the notes we passed back and forth between us and one of our other friends in middle school. Last summer my friend moved away and we open up this note box for good times and we were suirprised. We laughed a lot for sure but to look back at how our mentality was back then is unbelievable.

I guess you really don't notice how your thoughts and points of view change and evolve unless there is hard evidence to look back on like a story or poem or even a radio news cast. You never know what you might learn when digging through old work that you would have never expected to make you feel that way.

Open Mic Night

I really enjoyed the idea of open mic night however, I wish ther had been more people than had been in our class there. I think that it would have been really cool with a spot light in a different area too. But for the first one is went really well. I enjoyed hearing other people read. If there is another one and it is more widely known to this one, I would really like to go again.

The End of KYTL

I really enjoyed this book overall. I liked his witty sense of being and that he was basically a cocky guy. Usually that would not appeal to me in a person face to face but I liked him in that way as I read his thoughts.

I think some of the strenghts of this book was that he went off on tangents of random thoughts as if that was the way he was actually thinking about it. In some books this may cause for a weakness but I think it really gave us an insight into his character.

The onyl weakmesses of the book was that he refered to a lot of bands and singers that I didn't even recognize the name let alone what he was saying about them. This was slightly irritating in the sense that I felt like I was constantly left out of an inside joke but I could still grasp the main idea of everything else. After finishing the book, I realize that I haven't missed out on much, information wise, but I may have comparatively.

I would definitely recomend this book to others. In fact I already have. I have a copy of his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs at home that I bought for my boyfriend but I have personally never read it. I will definitely be taking a closer look at it after reading this.

I would say this is a good book to use in school because it is an easy read and balancing school with reading a book is never easy. This is a book that could be assigned that students would actually read instead of half read.

Part III of KYTL

I thought that pages 141-194 were basically filled with nothingness. Which in turn makes me realize that the whole book is basically filled with nothingness which is perhaps why I like it.

I liked how he refered to Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. I havethe book and haven't read all of the part he is talking about that refers to Lenore however it does state that he will never be able to satify a woman and that thats okay because a woman will never satiafy him. (or vice versa. I don't exactly remember.) But this idea in general seems to explain all of his relationships he has throughout the book.

I really enjohyed pages 188 -191. These are the pages that consist of his conversation with the old man in the bar at Best Western. I really liked the way he looked at life. My favorite part of his out look was how you don't really know a person until you see them get angry. I really think that this is true but had never thought of it until I read this part of this book. I know I've been friends with people but once I've seen them get angry, I never forget that other side of them.

His book is taking a slow wind down in this part, yet he still keeps you interested with his random thoughts and ideas.

What's up with what's been going down

Recently I have been asked to be the JV pom pon coach at Garden City. I am really excited to work with these girls and I can't wait to get the season going. We had tryouts last week and I have a team of 13 girls. This is a small team but they had 8 last year so I'm thankful that it has gotten larger. Some of the girls on the team were really upset because they didn't make Varsity and that is understandable, but I think they now are understanding that JV is very important, especially for developing skills for their chances to make Varsity next year. Overall it is a good turn out and I can't wait to see how the season goes. They did really well last year and I have a lot of talented girls this year so it should turn out well :]


I also got a raise at work last week. Although it was on 1.5% increase, I an glad to no longer be making minimum wage. I really like working at Potbelly Sandwich works because its a very friendly and positive environment so it's never a dull day.

Today I got to school for my first class at 9:30 and have been here ever since. I usually got home on Monday and relax or do some homework or do other things but I decided to see if I could get more done if I stay at school. It worked. I definitely got a lot of thigns done today that I had been putting off. I love my desk at home and my room to do my homework in but soemtimes I just get distracted, especially if it's nice outside. Seeing as I didn't have anything to do today at school besides homework, it worked out nicely. I feel really accomplished :] I'm thinking I might do this every Monday seeing that the end of the semester is coming up quickly and I have a few large assignments to do.

Summer is calling my name. I cannot wait for it to be warmer outside. I don't mind work or school or anything when it's warm out but when it's cold I just can't seem to get motivated for anything. But once it's warm, it's like everything changes. I do a lot more cleaning and exercising and everything. Which doesn't exactly make sense for the cleaning part bcause that means I'm indoors but I'm just glad to be getting it done.

Post Secret

Honestly, I found the website very depressing. I stopped readsing after:

"At my college we have a bulletin board inspired by PostSecret. One day a photograph of a sunset was posted. Written across the photo in white ink it said "sometimes I wonder if anyone would care if I didn't wake up in the morning". A few weeks later another photograph was posted. This was a photo of a sunrise. In white ink it said "yes, I would". . . I wish I could tell the person "thank-you" because the sunset was mine."

I found it extemely sad and do not understand why anyone who was seeking help would read it. I feel it would only fuel their upset thoghts and emotions. Apparently it makes people feel better to annonmously admit thier secrets but I don't think that would really help me if I had something that deep to hide. I think that this blog has a lot of people who really are trying to escape thier secrets but I also think that somtimes people put things on there just to be funny like this:

However, that may not be the case. I read a lot of websites like Texts From Last Night and FML and it's usually people tlaking about embarassing or awful situations and are kind of laughing about them. So maybe that's why I look at this website as depressing. If it were me, I would put it on a website and make a joke of it like people do on other sites. But like I said before, apparently it helps some people so if it does, I'm glad it works for them.

My poem that's looking for constructive criticism

Limerick:

As I walk the distance alone at night
I venture for the nearest light
Wild wind blows throughout the streets
The rhythm of the Earth’s heartbeats
And all along I’m filled with fright.

My Haikus

slushed snow melts slowly.
the cold lurks around for months.
winter stands still far too long.

frosty cars pass by.
everyone hurrys along.
the cold bites them all.

Both of these haikus go together. I feel that the pretty part of snow goes away so fast and that the slushy, brown part stays longer than anything. It is cold for months on end whereas summer never seems long enough. Also, the cars that go by, especially early in the morning are usually frosty. Everyone moves quickly because they subconciously think they can escape the winter cold, however, they cannot avoid it. Whether it be form your house to your car or your car to your job/school/store you will get some of the winter cold no matter what.

Reflection of Poems

The first poet I started reading poems from was Lewis Carroll. I absolutely love Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass but I had never read any of his poems. I chose to read "The Walrus and the Carpenter" and "Jabberwocky".

I liked "The Walrus and the Carpenter" because it uses a lot of personification. It brings to life the sun and the moon and the oysters. It's like a fantasy world that you get to peek in on for a short while and then once it's over, there isn't much place left for you to carry the story on. So as quickly as it starts and you're dragged into it, it ends just the same.


"Jabberwocky" was similar, however, you didn't just peer into a world but it was a world that came with an entirely new vocabulary. But the funny part is, you can almost make out what the words are. I understand the story being conveyed but most of the words are imaginary.

The other poet I explored was Shel Silverstein. She writes children’s poems, but I had never read this one before. It is called "The Razor-Tailed Wren". It seems to be a child’s view of a lawn mower. When it says not to leaving anything sticking out, I think of how when I was a kid and my dad would go to mow the lawn and I would have to make sure I didn't have any toys or anything out there otherwise it would be destroyed.

The fourth poem I looked at was called "I'm Just Stepping Out..." by Felix Dennis. At first I thought it was as if someone was just leaving for a short time, and maybe hiding somewhere. As if they just wanted to be left alone for a bit. But once I read the end where it says "Yet should you search your heart with care, Though I'm gone, you'll find me there." I realized it was about death and although it is sad, it is definitely true. As far as structure, I really liked the way the words flowed together.

What Inspires Me

My family is very large and with a lot of people comes a lot of love and encouragement. We definitely don't all get along all of the time but we all get along with at least someone all of the time. We are full of many hopes, dreams, and expectations and even if they aren't all met, at the end of the day they are always there to support me and help me out.

What's happening in my life

I am taking 15 credits this semester. Along with that I also work 20-24 hours a week at Potbelly Sandwich Works. I absolutely love my job. Somewhere in there I also squeeze in being a member of the Atomic College Pom Team. If you are aware of what pom is, this team is coached by the same coaches as Garden City. If you don't know what pom is, I can't really explain it to you but you can watch some routines on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XISfRQaFSE << Atomic College Pom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_DRdmTkZP0 << Garden City VArsity Pom

Besides all of that, I have an amazing boyfriend, Frankie, who I've been with for nearly two years. I'm kinda fond of him :] so in my spare time I spend time with him but spare time is definitely scarce in my life. That's pretty much my life in a nutshell; or at least what's going on with it at this point in time.

The Princess and the Pea: The Queen's Story

When my son was born I swore to give him the best I could. I gave him the best of toys, sent him to the best of schools, and promised him the best wedding as soon as he found the perfect princess to marry. Yes, my son is a prince; a prince who is quite deserving of a princess to marry, not some plain woman. As soon as he had finished school, he went out to find his princess.
He came home a few weeks later with a girl who seemed relatively nice, however, she didn’t seem like a princess to me. She wasn’t very pretty and she surely was nowhere near as sensitive as a princess should be. She sat upon the lumpiest chair in the castle and didn’t even seem to notice.
I immediately pointed this out to my son, “She cannot be a real princess! She isn’t sensitive enough. She sat on the lumpy chair and was not even bothered.”
“I don’t feel that that was a decent test,” he retorted. “Let’s try a different one.”
So that evening, after supper, I slipped away with a pea and tucked it underneath her mattress. When she went to bed that night, I didn’t hear any noise from her room until morning when she awoke.
“Did you sleep well?” I questioned.
“Oh yes! It was the best sleep I’ve had in the longest time,” she responded.
No sooner than the words had left her mouth, she was on her way. A girl who could sleep on a pea was not a real princess.
My son was upset for a few weeks but then he went off in search for another princess. He found one that once again didn’t seem to be a real princess. However, they gave her the same test with the pea and the mattress and once again she said she had slept well. This repeated a number of times and yet none of the girls he brought home were real princesses.
My son, the prince deserving a real princess, sulked around the castle for days on end. He felt he would never find a real, beautiful sensitive princess. Until one day, there was a visitor at the castle. A beautiful girl, who had lost her way, stopped to ask for directions.
“I’m sure we can figure it out,” I assured her.
I escorted her in and told her to have a seat while we figured out where it was exactly she was trying to go. But as she sat down, I noticed a disturbed look on her face.
“Is something wrong?” I asked
“Oh no,” she said. “It’s just that this chair is quite lumpy. I would be more comfortable standing.”
My eyes lit up! Could it be? Could this beautiful girl be the princess my son had been searching for? He had to meet her. I told her that it was getting late and insisted she stayed for dinner, sleep here tonight and in the morning, we would send her in the right direction.
At dinner, my son was thrilled by her. It was the most I had seen him smile in weeks. As dinner ended, I excused myself, along with the pea in my hand, and slipped it underneath her mattress. Soon afterwards, I bid her goodnight and resided to my room until morning.
As soon as the dawn broke I hurried to her room to find her already awake.
“Did you sleep well?” I questioned; more eagerly than I anticipated.
“Not in the slightest. Please excuse me your majesty but you should do away with that mattress. There is a certain lump it in that I just couldn’t get comfortable around.”
I was thrilled. She was a real princess! I quickly called for my son. Once he got to the room, I asked her to repeat how she had slept the previous night. As she did, his eyes lit up, just as mine had. It was then that I realized the confusion in her voice and on her face.
“You see m dear,” I began “Only a real princess could be as sensitive to the lumpy chair and the pea under the mattress as you are. You must be a princess. A real princess! You are the perfect woman to be wed to my son!”
She was as excited as we were. She then went on to explain that she was trying to reach another kingdom in which she may find a prince to marry. Her kingdom had been entirely wiped out by an earthquake and she had no one to show her the way.
A week later, they were wed. And as expected, it was the best wedding for the best prince who had finally found a real princess.

introduction

My name is Lucy. I am currently a sophomore at UMD. I was originally on the dark side, yes I went to MSU for a semester. However, it was awful so now I'm all about UMD and I love it.