Good-Bye May Seem Forever, Farewell Just Like the End . . .

1. I liked writing the personal essay. It was different. I think the strengths of the genre is the ability to be creative with a truthful event. I think the weakness of the genre is that at times, you're someone limited as to how creative you can be. As the writer, you're limited to how honest your telling of the story would be within the confines of the event. This compares to fiction in only a few ways, I think. We can be creative like in fiction, but like I said before, we're limited to the truthfulness of the events. Nothing really surprised me that I didn't already know before. I found it difficult to write the ending though.

2. I think reading is very important. It gives you the impression that you're more intelligent than your fellow lads because of the extensive range that your vocabulary encompasses, much like True Overholt, that revile bastard of a person. It also though, expands your creativity as a writer, and opens your thoughts to more ideas.

3. The favorite piece that I wrote was a poem from the beginning of the year. It was a metaphor poem, and I thought that was pretty cool. My favorite genre was the short story. The greatest challenge the play. I didn't care for the play because it didn't seem like anything that would go well on stage. It just seemed like a nice story to me. I will have a bigger range of writing which will be valuable.

4. Coke or Pepsi: Cocaine.
Li'l Wayne or Little Debbie: Neither.
McDonald's or Arby's: Neither.
Chiptole or Taco Bell: Neither.
American Idol or MTV: American Idol.
Buffalo Wings or Florida: Flordida.
New York City or Los Angeles: New York.
Name you like for your future daughter: Grace Bennett
Name you like for your future son: True
What is or what will be the first country you see outside the continent of North America: London
Disney movie you would be most likely to watch on your 21st birthday: Drunknk.

5. Can you figure out what Disney movie my blog title comes from? No I cannot.

An Unexcitingly Titled Blog

1. One thing in life that I value is being happy. It's cliche, but life is way too short to surround yourself with people/places/things etc. that make you unhappy. I try to apply this value to my everyday life becasue when I die, the last thing that I want to worry to worry about is whether or not I was a happy person. That should be the least of our worries. However, in today's society, happiness has become almost a superficial state of mind that is only achieved through wealth and success. But in reality, my reality, I think happiness can come out of the satisfaction and joy that comes with fulfilling your dreams.

2. I don't have a specific news story that impacted me, but rather a collection of stories that have come to be due to the ongoing war in Iraq. It troubles me to think that---the world police---we are in their country intstructing them on how to setup a proper democracy when we've never been more divided as a bi-partisan. It really makes me sad to think that more people vote for American Idol competitions than the presidentia election.

3. The most important thing in 2008 for me is not fucking up during the first semester of college. It's important to me to finish out highschool successfully and on a good note, but starting off the first semester of college is key.

Toward the Future/From the Past

1. This was the first play that I have ever written. Though, I did enjoy it more than I though. However, this style of writing is much different from the myriad of essays and other forms of writing that I have grown tired of over the years. The biggest limitation to me was the implication of stage directions/designators and how/when to use them. Some pleasent surprises I found in writing a play that it goes very quickly---which was nice. There wasn't much dabbling with the inner emotions of the characters, but rather extracting those inner emotions through body language and tone(s) of voice.

2. One main thing in my life that I could write about, similar to Ms. Tan's essay, is the relationship that I have with grandfather. He's taught me a lot of things and I try to emulate the qualities that he practices in his everyday life. The quality I have the most admiration for is his how he isn't very fickle at all. He will tell you what he thinks, but in a manner that will guide you towards achievement. One way that I could represent his influence could be from selecting from a handfull of converstations that we've had and re-create the moment in an original way.

3. Advice that I would give to a young kid would be to respect everyone's differences no how unrelated you may be. This also correllates to being who you're meant to be---not how others see you. With an open mind you'll be much more inclined and open to meeting new people without an already altered sense of judgment only because everyone shares that stereotype. I would guess that this would be a hard thing to stay focused on, but in the long run, all of the respect and compassion that you've shown for others will be so beneficial to your well being as a person.

Assignment #11

1. Besides the characters, the theme is the most important element in literature. However, the characters and the theme directly correllate to one another becasue without well developed characters, you cannot further the theme. The theme in a story is what the writer is trying to convey to the reader. I would think that it is commonplace for great works of literature to have thorough elements within the theme.

2. I think good literature lasts because it can appeal to so many people. Nowadays, people can change so quickly and personalities are complex. When a writer can reach out to so many different groups, his/her work will last forever because there is always a new group with appeal to the work.

3. One thing that I would like to leave behind me is the impression that I lived my life without any regrets and did what I wanted to do. Striving to do things that make you happy will ultimatley make someone's life much more enjoyable. I think sometimes people hold onto an idea and pursue a dream that they know isn't for them because they think people will feel different about them---that's not what I want to do. Writing can have a big role in this because it is a creative outlet for what I think needs to be done.

I am a thinker, and I think thinks

1. An issue that concerns me today is the growing abuse that we continue to put on our planet. Whether you believe in global warming or not, there is a growing problem that needs to be fixed. Our society today is fixed on getting more and more and making things bigger and bigger. However, we're not thinking about having more for the future. We're not setting up our children to have a fullfilling life. Commercial farms have ruined family farmers and have also created a lesser product while maintaining less quality. Another example is the amount of expanding that we're doing in order to create more space for organizations that really have no purpose. As a result, amazing parts of the world are being destroyed. The biggest problem though, is not the issue itself, but that no one seems to have any urgency to fix it. We, as a whole, have the power to change this, but no one steps up to the plate.

2. Alberto Granado. This guy was, and still is ahead of his time. He didn't care whether or not the people were sick and/or poor. He just wanted to help them and do all that he could. I think today, we're missing people like that---peope who would sacrifice their own well being to help others out. Thats something admirable.

3. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. This book was pretty amazing. It was a satirical look at society and all the explanations that we need to give to everything because we are never satisfied with the true beauty of the world.

Assignment #9

1. To me, happiness would be being comfortable with yourself. Forget money, and material possesions, I'd be fine without any of that stuff. When a person is comfortable with who they are, then they can focus on what really matters (making themselves happy) and then really start living life.

2. In my life, happiness is doing things that make me happy and never second guessing my decisions. I believe that that is an important concept in life because if you have any regrets about what you have done, you can never fully move on and fulfill your dreams. My greatest source of happiness is knowing that I have tried to follow this belief since I can remember. Knowing that I'm doing what makes me happy is all that i need to know.

3. My dad's best friend is a good example. He's one cool cat and he always tries to explain things which he thinks will help me out. True Overholt is one cool cat too. His carefree spirit and exuberance for life inspire me to do great things.

4. I really don't know who I impact in terms of their happiness. I would like to think it is a lot of people, but I really have no way of knowing. Hopefully my creative writing group has become happier because of my presence.

5. The greatest need in my life is to be happy. I don't want to live life running around all sad and angry all the time because that is pathetic and I don't want to be pathetic because being pathetic is horrible. Nobody likes horrible things because people want to be happy. That's why I want to be happy, so then everyone else will be happy.

Assignment #8

For my photostory, I really don't have any ideas. I think writing something that has to do with showing how time moves so fast, or the different chapters in our lives would be cool. I have ideas for music, and probably some photos too, but as for the writing, like I said before, that's up in the air.