Give the Gift of Writing

Dear Mom, I’m writing this letter as a little Christmas gift to you. I have many reasons why I love you so much, so here is a few of them: 1. You are full of love 2. You make me laugh 3. You’re a patient person 4. You’re good with kids 5. You’re a great listener when I need to talk 6. You’re a really hard worker 7. You’re a giver 8. You do for other before you do for yourself 9. You do everything around the house 10. Your loyal and honest 11. Whenever I do wrong you help me do make it right 12. You don’t worry about what people think, you do your own thing 13. You never gave up on me 14. You help me do the best I can in life 15. You never ask anything in return after helping someone else 16. The kindness you show people even if they don’t deserve it 17. Your someone I can come to when I need it 18. You lead by example 19. Even when you have a hard day, you keep going 20. Your wonderful cooking 21. Your generous personality 22. Your love for family 23. You raised me 24. Your absolutely beautiful 25. Your love for God See, there are many reasons why I love you and the things you do. And believe it or not there are still many reasons that I have in mind. You are just a great person all together, and I just want you to know that I appriciate every little thing that you do. Sincerely, Teyondra Rawls p.s. Merry Christmas!!!!

(Writing) About a Boy

1. Kids are cruel: I don’t think that kids are necessarily cruel, but I do believe that kids can act be cruel. Kids will sometimes do things on purpose to get under your skin, and they know exactly what they are doing. They can get into things that you think that they can’t, or they can even get into small places where you wouldn’t even imagine getting into. Sometimes they even say things that you don’t expect them to say. But even though kids might be a pain in the butt you can’t help but love them anyways. No matter what they do or say. 2. Lies are hard to keep track of: I believe that lies are very hard to keep track of. Once you tell a lie you have to think of even more lies to go along with the first lie, and then you’ve lied so much that you forget what the first lie even was. So basically it’s pointless to lie in the first place. If you would just tell the truth the first time, then it would have been over with. I honestly think that people would rather keep making up lies, because they think that they will get in trouble for whatever they did or said. But what they don’t understand is that if you lie and the more you lie, then the more trouble you will be in. If you tell the truth then you will be disciplined, but if you lie then you will be punished.

If...

1. What makes a teacher the best to me is that they are understanding, and that they are trustworthy to the students. 2. To me the most important quality in a friend is honesty and loyalty. 3. The one thing that always makes me smile is looking at family photos. If you could be any age for the rest of your life, what age would you be?

Inspiring Image

I finished the painting Of her long golden hair Her pale white face And her tall skinny body She’s a masterpiece The most perfect human That I’ve ever seen In my whole life I wonder if she knows How much I really And truly love her But it breaks my Heart to know That she doesn’t Even know me If she did know me Would she love me For who I am Or would she refuse My love for her Every time that I Look at her I’ll Get butterflies in My stomach and my Mind goes crazy for her Who am I kidding She’ll never go for A guy like me I’m a joke A loser A failure I just wish that I could get to know her Her likes and dislikes What makes her smile What makes her cry And what makes her mad My, if only I could Tell her how much I love her That’s it I’ll just walk up To her and explain My love for her No pressure I’ll do it first thing In the morning When I wake up I’ll stoop down On one knee And hand her A dozen roses While I sing to her And I might even Do a little dance No, no No dancing Dancing is too much I’ll just stich With the singing Wow, I just can’t Wait to wake up Tomorrow morning And see that beautiful Smile on her face I love her no matter What anyone says And if I can’t have her Than nobody can

Movie Questions

1. I actually have three favorite movies. I like the movie Now You See Me, because it makes you think. You're always wondering what's going to happen next. I like the movie Australia, because it's my favorite sad movie. I loved the story behind it. I like the movie Radio, because it's inspiring. It makes you look at everything differently. It shows you how you should treat people no matter what their problems are. 2. I usually don't care for slow movies, and some romantic movies. 3. I watch movies a lot at home, the movie theaters, and other people's house. 4. I need a blanket and pillow, something to drink, and something to snack on. 5. If my life story was made into a movie... then i should become a millionaire. 6. YOU ARE 33% EXTRAVERTED. You are moderate in activity and enthusiasm. You enjoy the company of others but you also value your privacy. YOU ARE 67% AGREEABLE. You are generally warm, trusting, and agreeable, but you can sometimes be stubborn and competitive. YOU ARE 67% CONSCIENTIOUS. You are dependable and moderately well-organised. You generally have clear goals and are able to set goals aside. YOU ARE 25% EMOTIONALLY STABLE. You are sensitive, emotional and prone to experience feelings that are upsetting. YOU ARE 75% OPEN TO NEW EXPERIENCES. You are practical but willing to consider new ways of doing things. You try to seek a balance between the old and the new.

Twelve/Two

Twelve places I'd like to visit and the two people I'd take to each: 1. Greece-Future husband and kid 2. Australia-Ellen and Hugh Jackman 3. Paris-Terese and Michelle 4. Rome-Vicky and Jerry 5. Costa Rica-Sammy and Chelsey 6. Peru-Morgan and Jessica 7. Brazil-Kim and Tom 8. Chile-Shannon and Eddie 9. Egypt-Sabrina and Ronny 10. Barcelona-Alexia and Anne 11. Fiji-Zaria and Tara 12. Maui-Haley and Jessica Twelve historical events that happened when I was two years old: 1. President Clinton trips & tears up his knee requiring surgery. 2. 23rd People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby wins. 3. Tiger Woods wins Mercedes Championships. 4. Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, 50 die. 5. "Titanic," opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC. 6. Michael Jackson & Bee Gees inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 7. Terrorist double suicide bombing in Jerusalem, kills 14. 8. Microsoft announces it will invest $150 million in Apple Computer Inc. 9. Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh formally sentenced to death. 10. Princess Diana's funeral. 11. Oprah Winfrey announces she will continue her show through 2000. 12. Mark McGwire signs with the St Louis Cards for $26M.

Keepin it Real

1. Yes, because it wouldn’t make sense to write about what you don’t know. If you wrote about what you don’t know, then you wouldn’t know what you are talking about. You’ll sound dumb giving advice about something that you have no experience with. I think that if you’re ever to give advice to someone, then you have to actually go through that situation. That way when you give advice you can tell that person how you got through the situation. 2. My first tip would be not to push the kid too hard. Parents tend to keep a tight grip on their kids. Maybe because the parents want them to be successful, or the parents want them to have a better life then they did, or because the parents love them too much to let them go, or even because the parents don’t trust them. Keeping your grip too tight will make things worse. The teenage might become rebellious, or even crazy. Some parents expect too much from their teenagers, but parents need to learn how to give their kid some personal space. My second tip would be to just listen to what your teenager has to say. Teenagers never want to talk to their parents about things because the parents never want to listen to the teenager’s side of the story. Parents always think that they are making up some kind of excuse, or the kids lying, or even because the parent just doesn’t want to understand. Sometimes the parent doesn’t care about what the kid has to say about the situation, or they assume that they already know what’s going on. My third tip would be to love you child. A lot of times teenagers might feel emotionally abandoned by their parents. Sometimes parents don’t always think about the teenager’s needs, and just assume that they can do for themselves. Parents need to understand that not only little kids need love and attention, but so do teenagers. 10. I don’t think that family should ever be involved in your relationships. If a family member is venting to you about their relationship situations and wants a little advice, then that’s okay. But I don’t think that you should make yourself officially part of the situation. It’s not your job to be a marriage counselor and fix their problems for them, because that can always make things worse than they already are. I personally don’t like getting involved in my family members relationships. When they talk to me about their problems I always tell them to do what they think is right. I would suggest them to try different things, but I would never tell them what to do or what not to do. 22. I think that life is full of everything, but it’s what you make out of it. Nobody has a perfect life. Yes there are some that have better one’s then others, but even theirs is not perfect. Everybody has their disappointments in life, but not everybody let’s those disappointments stop them from living their life.

This is...Photo Writing

This is a mother and her two kids worried about what might happen to them Under their murky tent and their crummy clothes they have been deprived of their lives This is the government trying to do what they can with millions who now have nothing A grieving family who has lost everything oh, what would I do if I was in their shoes

Books for Kids

1. Title of Book: Love You Forever 2. Author of Book: Robert Munsch 3. Author's Bio: He has over 20 kids books, and he has won the 'Vicki Metcalf Award for Children's Literature.' 4. Cover: A little two year old boy in the bathroom. In the bathroom he has made a big mess with everything. The two year old sits there on the floor and smiles. 5. # of pages: there are 28 pages. 6. List of characters: mother, son, grandma, friends, and newborn daughter. 7. Setting(s): The living room, son's bedroom, mom's bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and the newborn daughter's bedroom. 8. Summary: A mother raises her son until he is a grown-up. Every night she'll go to his room, and sing to him while he is asleep. When she gets old and sick, the son would hold her,and sing to her. Then he went to his daughter's room, and sang to her while she was asleep. 9. Does this Book: no, no, yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes. 10. Favorite/Interesting sentence in Book: I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be. 11. Appropriate Age: age 0 to 6, because I think that the older you get, the less you like it. 12. Liked as a kid: Yes I did, because it is a cute book.

Mara's Revenge

“So start from the beginning.” “Well, it all started when I was lying awake in bed. I noticed that in my bedroom the air was like ice. I came went out of my bedroom to get an extra blanket when I tripped over my little sisters teddy bear that she left in the hallway. I picked it up and set it back on her bed, and that’s when I noticed that its eyes were red. As I was staring at the teddy bear I felt like I was being hypnotized or something. It was very creepy to me.” Alex started telling Mr. Jones. “Was there anybody else in the house, or were you the only one?” “I was home alone. I mean I am 17 now.” “Alright, carry on with your story,” he said. “Anyways, I ran back to my bedroom. I stayed there until my parents got back home.” “What about your little sister? Where was she at?” Mr. Jones asked me. “She was at some camp with the rest of the family in Arizona. My parents and I decided to stay home this summer.” “Okay, tell me more of the story,” says Mr. Jones. “When my parents got home I didn’t tell them about the teddy bear, but I did tell them about my room being cold. They thought it was weird that my room was so cold in the middle of summer, but my mom just put a heater in my room thinking that it would warm it up.” “Keep going.” “A few days pasted with no creepiness until one day when I decided to walk up to the gas station that was just up the street from our house. I felt like I wasn’t alone. Like I was being followed. This happened every day from that day on. And then one night while I was getting ready for bed I saw a girl peering through the window.” “Did you know this girl that you saw?” “No, I’ve never seen her before.” “Tell me what she looked like,” he said. “She looked possessed. Like by a demon or something.” “Are you sure that’s what you saw?” Mr. Jones asked. “I know what I saw okay. I’m not making it up.” Alex was getting a little upset now. “Okay, okay. Tell me more.” “I went to bed that night, and I had a dream about a murder.” Alex said. “What murder?” “I don’t know. Some guy killing his wife or something. The crazy thing is that the girl that the guy was killing was the same girl I saw in my window. I had a dream about her every night, but I saw the dream of the murder twice. The other dreams were only her and I, but she was as she appeared in my window.” “Did she say anything to you?” “Well of course. It was as if she was asking me for help with something.” “Did she tell you what her name was?” Mr. Jones asked. “She said her name was Mara Wright.” “What did she asked you to help her with?” “She asked me to help her get back at someone. I asked her who, but she would disappear when I did. I would wake up, and go on with my day until I went to bed that night.” “When did she tell you to help her get revenge on Jack?” he asked. “I don’t know. I would say about 11 days later. I asked her who Jack was and she said he was her husband. The next night I had the second dream of the murder. That’s when I realized that the guy was Jack.” “Why did Mara ask you to kill Jack?” “I guess she couldn’t do it on her own. I guess she just needed help.” “Did she tell you why Jack murdered her?” “She told me it was because she found out that he was having an affair. They got into this big argument about it until finally Jack snapped. He took some rope that he got from in the basement, and hung her with it. He made it look like she committed suicide.” “Did you tell anyone about these dreams?” “No. I kept them to myself.” “So why did you kill Jack?” “Because I wanted to help Mara. She didn’t deserve to die the way she did. Jack deserved to die, but I only thought I killed him in my dream.” There was completely silence for about 10 minutes straight. “Alex, tell me what happened.” Mr. Jones was talking in a more sorrow voice now. “Six nights ago I was in my bed sleeping. In my dream it was day time. Mara led me to his house. She stayed with me the whole time. She showed me where to break in, and where the bedroom was were Jack was taking a nap. She told me to take the pillow, and smother him until he was unconscious. Then I carried him down to the basement, tied him up in a chair with some chain that I saw lying to the side. I tied his legs to the legs of the chair with duct tape that I found in the tool drawer. Mara told me to go up to the kitchen and grab a knife, so I did. I went back to the basement and that’s when Jack woke up.” Tears started coming to Alex’s eyes as well as Mr. Jones eyes. “Then what happened?” “Mara told me to take the knife and cut off is hands. ‘Do it,’ she said. ‘He deserves this.’ I covered his mouth with duct tape, closed my eyes, and went for it. All I heard was this crunch of the bones breaking, and when I was done I started having second thoughts about what I was doing.” “But it was too late. You already cut off his hands.” “I know. I just didn’t think that I could really do it. There was blood everywhere. Then she told me to look in this old black trunk, and grab the rope that was lying in there. I looked over at Jack, and saw that his he was crying. I didn’t care. He already knew what was going to happen. I took the rope and hung it over this board that was attached to the ceiling, and then I went up to Jack. I punched him right in his face knocking him out. I unhooked the chains that held him in the chair, and tied the other end of the rope around his neck. I went back to the end of the rope that was over the board, and pulled it down as the rope tightened around his neck. I tied it around the board over and over again until he was just hanging in the air. I looked at where I cut off his hands. The wounds wouldn’t stop bleeding. I stood there for a minute. I couldn’t believe what I just did. I had to get out of there, so I ran back home. I laid in my bed, and went to sleep not even thinking that there was still blood all over me.” “So you were just doing everything that Mara told you to do?” “Yeah. I mean I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyways. Then next thing I know I was being put in the back of a police car. I guess my parents saw the blood on me when I came in the house, and called the cops.” The door swung open as the guard told them there time was up, and Alex had to go back to his cell. “Okay, thank you.” Mr. Jones said. “Alex, thank you for your time.” Alex smiled. And without saying another word to each other, they shook hands, and went their separate ways.

Halloween spirit(s)

The best way to make a Halloween costume is to take a plain white sheet and a pair of scissors. Next cut two holes where your eyes are supposed to be at. Then put the sheet over your body and you will become a ghost. Another costume is to wear a black suit with a wife beater underneath, and a black pair of suspenders. Then wear a nice pair of black dress shoes. Next smooth your hair back, and put on a black and white homburg hat on. Now you are a gangster from the 1920’s. Power Recipe Ingredients: 1 werewolf hair 1 vampire’s fang A drop of ghost’s sweat Directions: Whoever drinks this potion has power over the world, but it only lasts for 6 years. Love Recipe Ingredients: 2 mermaid scales A drop of goblin’s drool A drop of witch’s blood Directions: Whoever drinks this potion will fall deeply in love with the first person he/she sees the next day. This will last for the rest of their life. All of the Halloween costumes that I remember of are a: ninja, witch, gangster, pirate, goddess, queen, and power ranger. My favorite Halloween treats are: payday, snickers, kit kat, suckers, reese’s, peanut m&m’s, and gummy candy. My favorite Halloween was the time I…was with the rest of my family and we started going trick or treating in our neighborhood. Then my mom took all the kids to meet up with one of the family friends who had kids as well. Next we all spent all night going door to door, and neighborhood to neighborhood. When we got back home we were all too tired to do anything. But when my mom said that we were allowed to eat only 5 pieces of our candy, we all jumped up to pick what we wanted. Before we picked what candy we wanted we had to put all of our candy together in one big trash bag, so we did. When we did the trash bag was almost full to the top. After we all picked out our 5 pieces of candy we gave it to my mom to check it out before we ate it. While she was checking my candy I asked her why she had to check the candy before we ate it. She told me because people were stupid these days, and they had no common sense. I didn’t say anything else about it, I just went along with what she said and ate my candy. After we all ate our candy we went to bed. In December was when my mom threw away all of the candy that we didn’t eat. We were all so mad, because we had to run all around the place to get all of that candy. We didn’t think it was bad because it was only 2 months old, but my mom said it was 2 months too long. Never again did we get that much candy at Halloween, and even if we did my mom would probably throw it away anyways.

And the Beat Goes On

Eric Kropten- Wonderful Tonight This song reminds me of a school prom in the 70's. Everybody is dancing with their couple except for this one girl who is just sitting there on the bench waiting for some guy to ask her to dance. The guy is looking around in the middle of the dance floor looking for a girl. Finally he walks up to her and asks her to dance. She says yes, and they slow dance for the rest of the night. Dwight Yokum- Fast as You This song reminds me of a fun and wild country party. I imagine that a guy is trying to hook up with this girl that he met at the party for the first time. He also reminds me of Elvis. ACDC- You Should Be This song reminds me of an old concert. I imagine people waving their hands in the air, bobbing the heads, and screaming the words to the song. I also imagine the band on stage going crazy and sweating a lot.

Music to (Our) Ears

Teachers: 1. Guns and Roses, and BEG's. 2. Journey, and listening to music from her teen age years. 3. Kids-Matchbox 20 Spouse-Queen 4. Yes. Berry Manula, and because she got to get out of Buffalo. 5. None. Her kids control the radio. 6. Disco and rap. 7. Country music, Kesha, and Lil Wayne. Mine: 1. Church songs, destiny's child, usher, old school, and classic rock. 2. I don't have one, because there are a lot of artist and songs that I like equally. 3. Micheal Jackson reminds me of my aunt, dub-step reminds me of my brother, and church songs remind me of my mom. 4. No I don't. 5. I listen to whatever is on, because I don't control the radio. 6. Nothing. My family has always been that kind of family who will listen to almost anything. 7. Country, opera, scream o, and metal music. Also Kesha, Lady GaGa, some Katy Perry, Justin Beiber, One Direction, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Tyler (the creator), Miley Cyrus, and some Tayor Swift.

Music and Writing

5. Yes my friends listen to the same type of music that I do. I think that this means that we were meant to be friends, and that we have a lot in common. 6. Without music, the world would be...LOST!!! The world would go crazy if there was no such thing as music. Music is how people get by peacefully with their life. 7. Without music, my life would be...USELESS!!! I wouldn't even have a real life. Music is my way of expressing myself, and it's the only thing in the world that truly understands how you feel at that moment. 10. Metal, scream o, opera, and country music absolutely should not be tolerated, because they're annoying. 11. I don't think that music has the power to heal. I just think that it has the power to help you through your situations whether they're good or bad. 14. Something that music does for me that nothing else can is that it takes me to my own little world. I feel like I'm not even in the reality world anymore. I can block out everything else that is going on, and just concentrate on the music that I'm listening to.

Thank You, Harris Burdick

The House on Maple Street “It was the perfect lift off.” “We’re ready in 3-2-1, blast off!” dad said. It was the perfect lift off I thought. We were finally heading for space, and we were leaving all of our worries behind on earth. I couldn’t believe it. After 14 years, dad has finally succeeded at making the whole house shoot off into space. Mom and I never believed that he could do it. I mean he has been working on this since I was three years old. Mom would always tell him that he needed to get a real job. I guess she was wrong. I remember one night, when I was about 8 years old, my parents got into this big argument about how dad will never accomplish anything in life, and that mom wanted a divorce. They were down stairs in the living room; I was sitting on the middle of the stairs. Awhile later mom got laid off at work. Now we had nothing. Dad almost went to jail buying illegal parts to make the house rocket, and both of my grandparents died on the same day of the same thing. A heart attack. “How are you feeling son?” my mom asked me. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine mom, thanks for asking.” My mom is always worrying about me. After she found out that I was getting severely bullied at school, she has always made sure that I’m doing okay. “Well do you need any water or food?” “No I’m fine right now mom.” “Ronald Bruise you better let me know if you need anything,” she told me. “Mom, I don’t need anything, I’m fine.” “Honey, if the boy says he’s fine, then he’s fine. Give the kid a break,” my dad told her. “I just want to make sure he’s really fine.” “He’s ok, and if he needs anything, I’m sure he will tell us about it.” One thing that I hate the most is when my parents sit there and talk to each other like I’m not there sitting with them. “When will we get to the moon?” I asked my dad. “We should be there in maybe an hour or so, why? Do you need something?” “No dad I’m fine.” “Okay, just making sure.” And in goes the music. The longest I can go with listening to my parents is about 45 minutes until I put my music in. Have you ever had those kinds of parents who just talk too much, but they really don’t mean any harm to it. Well those are my parents. They don’t think you mind when they talk a lot, they think that you are okay with it. Ahhh…sweet peaceful music. BOOOM!!! I pulled the headphones out of my ears as I jump up. “What was that? What’s going on?” “Calm down son we’ve made it,” my dad says. I relax back into my seat, and sighed. Thank God, we’re finally here. “So what first?” I asked both my parents. “First I say welcome home Bruise family, welcome home,” said dad with a big smile.

6 word memoir

1. My whole life is a joke. 2. Live your life to the fullest. 3. Family is all I have left. 4.All I care about is football. 5.Caring for others every single day. 6.Don't forget that I'm still crazy. 7.All I think about is myself. 8.Turned on my family for her. 9.Strong wrestler and a good actor. 10.Tall and skinny with six kids.

Through the Window

1. Straight ahead I see a play set surrounded by grass. Behind it is a tall, brown, wooden fence. On my left is a metal fence and grass everywhere. Also a tall tree with leaves on it. Something different today is that the grass is getting taller. Sometimes a dog from the house behind us will come over to play with our dog. In 2003 I remember watching everybody playing outside, but I couldn't because I got in trouble. Something that I can't see at all, but I know it's there is the swimming pool from the house behind us. You can see the water slide, but not the pool itself. On the right you can see another metal fence with a little white dog on the other side of it barking at us all the time. 2. Straight ahead I see tall green grass blowing with the wind. On my left I see two little kids playing around with the dog. Something different today is that there are no other animals in the field. Sometimes there were deer that would be eating the grass. This is the summer time in 1952 at 2:00 in the afternoon. In the distance is a little town of 200 people. The town is surrounded by other fields of grass and crops.

Artist Profile

My artist's full name is Maurits Cornelis Escher, but he is known as M.C. Escher. He was born on June17, 1898 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. He died on March 27, 1972. His parents were George Arnold Escher and Sara Gleichman Escher. His father was a civil engineer while is mother didn't work, but stayed at home. Jan, Author and Giorgio Arnaldo are his 3 siblings. He went to a technical school and Haarlem School of Decorative Arts. He studied architecture and graphic art. His best and only friend was Bas Kist. They have been friends from the time they were kids to the time they died. In 1924 he got married to Jetta Umiker in Italy where they both decided to live. There were many major historical events that had happened in his time, but five of them were the Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, Utah became the 45th state in the US, and the Battle of Omdurman(England vs. Egypt). While the world had it problems, Escher had his own struggles like: translating his visions into graphic art, having only certain prints being considered valuable, and having all of his work cancelled at a museum. Some things that a lot of people didn't know about him was that he had died of cancer, and that he was left-handed like a lot of other famous artist. Most of his works were made of lithographs, woodcuts, wood encarvings, drawings, and sketches. He didn't associate with any art movements, because he said he didn't want to be a part of any movements. Escher is famous for all of his works like day and night, relativity, and drawing hands. Day and Night was made in 1938. The white birds merge with a daylight sky, while the black birds blend to create a night sky. Drawing hands was made in 1948. He actually used his own right hand as the model for both hands depicted in the picture.

Pillow/Talk

the poor homeless man laid on his restless pillow torn, sad, and depressed. It’s hard living in New York. No job, no money, and no family. I mean, I don’t think that a lot of people understand how homeless feels. Sometimes I wish that everybody was homeless a least one day in their life just so they get a glimps of what it’s like. People just assume that every homeless person isn’t really homeless, or that we are just faking to be homeless to bribe them out of their money. I just wish they were all in my shoes right now, then they would see. It’s not easy living out here with nothing, or with nobody caring about you. I have to go days with out food or water, and all the clothes I have are the ones that Ron gave me. I wish I had a second chance at life, but now I have nothing. “What are you thinking about?” Ron was back from trying to find us something to eat. “Who said I was thinking about something?” I asked him. “You’re always in a deep thought when you’re laying on that darn pillow. I’ve been here for about 10 minutes now, and you didn’t even see me sitting here. By the way, I brought us some left over bagels that George gave me from the café. I already ate mine, but you didn’t see me eat it,” he told me. “Thanks, you’re a great friend,” I said. “No problem, it’s what friends are for,” he shot back.

Your Future's So Bright...

1. One interesting idea from the presentation on Monday was all of the commercials that she showed us that the students at her school made. I thought that they were really cool. Another interesting idea was when we had to choose two of the classes that we thought we might like to take if we went to that school. 2. One question that I might of had was if those were the only classes that they had. I kind of wondered if there were more classes or maybe there were only limited classes that a student could take. 3. In one year I would like to be starting college somewhere, and getting a better education for myself and maybe living on my own. In 5 years I would like to be finishing college and having a job that I love. In 10 years I would like to be married with kids, but still doing something that I enjoy. In 50 years I would like to be riding in an little scooter for elderly people and telling my grandkids stories about when I was younger.

Circles of Life

1. How or why do you think art could be used as therapy? I think that art can be used as therapy, because when your doing art you're concentrating on what you are doing. It is relaxing and calm, and when you are finished with your art you feel like you have accomplished something good. You also don't worry about what you were upset about, and it makes you feel good inside. It makes you happy. 2. What role does art play in your own life? Art plays a role of writing and ceramics. In my creative writing class at school I write things that just come to me. I have to use my imagination to come up with the stories that I write or type. In my ceramics class at school I sculpt objects out of clay. I also have to use my imagination to figure out what i want to make. 3. If you could be any kind of artist, what would you be? Why? If I could be any kind of artist I would be a writer even though I really don't want to be a professional writer. I would be a writer out of any other kind of artist, because I feel like the only way to say what you need to say is through writing. Writing let's everybody know how you feel about things.

Writers Dreaming

3. Yes I do agree that talking about bad things does give them too much power. I think that talking about them makes things worse then they already are. I have had this happen to me before. One day I told a friend something that wasn't to be repeated and I told her that. A few days later I hear from other people that she is going around telling everybody else what I told her not to tell. When I asked her about it she got mad at me for confronting her. Long story short we never talked again. This also happened in middle school so it really didn't matter to me. 5. Honestly I think that I could live this way. I'm already quiet anyways and once in my life i went 4 straight months without talking. I talk too little. I feel like somethings are better kept in my head and not said out loud. I'm already a good listener. When I listen to someone's problems they always tell me that they appriciate me just listening instead of always giving advice. By speaking more I could probably make more friends, but I like the friends I have now so I'm not complaining. 9. One thing I do to occupy my small mind is taking a nap. When I can't think of anything to write sometimes I'll just take a nap instead. When I wake up all of these different ideas will fill my head. Another thing that I would do is think about my future. Sometimes I will sit there and think about the different ways I could die in my life or the college I'll go to or even how many kids I'll have. Then after thinking of those all kinds of ideas will come to me. 10. Yes I agree with this. Something easy for me about writing is coming up with what I want to write about or even making up a story. Something hard fo rme about writing is writing it down the way I picture it in my head and changing something then going along with the new ideas. I think that writing is hard work. I think that it's a process and it takes a while to make it perfect. 11. I do agree that it would be harder to learn new things the older you get, but I don't agree that you can't learn because you're older. I think that people learn something new everyday. Like teaching your grandparents how to use facebook, or even a parent going back to school to better their education.

Memorable Passage

"He had to keep thinking of them because if he forgot them and did not think of them they might forget about him. And he had to keep hoping." This passage comes from the book Hatchet from Gary Paulsen. This passage matters to me because when I read it, it reminds me to keep hoping for the best. It reminds me to never give up and to keep moving forward. It makes me smile everytime I read it because it makes me feel better about myself and life.

I am...

1. I am... a living in Springfield, Missouri. 2. I am... a sister to 3 brothers and 1 sister. 3. I am... a daughter. 4. I am... quiet and shy. 5. I am... always cold. 6. I am... a team player. 7. I am... a risk taker. 8. I am... really good a math. 9. I am... good listener. 10. I am... a good friend. 11. I am... a truthful person. 12. I am... a christian. 13. I am... really mature for my age. 14. I am... excited for graduation. 15. I am... 18 years old. 16. I am... ready for my future.

In the Newspaper

One thing that caught my eye in the newspaper was a headline that said "the way to take a road trip in an old beater." This caught my eye because I immediately thought of a way to make that headline into a story. I thought that it would be a good way to start a story. Another thing that caught my eye is a picture of old US coins from long ago. This caught my eye because I thought it was cool how money then is a lot different from money now. I thought it was cool to see how things have changed through the many years of being a country. What also caught my eye was a picture of all the football teams. I'm a big football fan and so seeing all of the different teams is pretty cool to me. The next thing that caught my eye is an article of heart attacks. It's an article explaining how hospitals have reduced the time it takes to get treatment for a heart attack patient, but they haven't reduced the number of patients that have heart attacks. The last thing that caught my eye was another article. This article was about a Springfield, Missouri man that was being charged of sex trafficking. This caught my eye because I like to read about crimes and things like that because it makes you wonder what happened and if everything ended for the good.

Blackout

Sometimes you remember anything that was a good idea.

Favorite Quotations

1. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." -Dr. Seuss 2. " Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Bernard M. Baruch 3. "In three words I can sum up everything that I have learned about life: it goes on." -Robert Frost 4. "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." -C.S. Lewis

Famous Lines from Famous Books Info.

1. "A screaming comes across the sky..." This line is from the novel "Gravity's Rainbow," which was published in the year 1973 by the author Thomas Pynchon who lived from 1937 to 1966. This author is also known for other works, including short stories and uncollected articles. Summary: World War II is the setting. Strange things are happening around Slothrop. Scientists and Shadow Organizations have noticed a curious correlation between the locations of Tyrone's beneath-the-sheets rompings and the locations of German V-2 rocket assaults. Either Slothrop is singling out these crash sites or the German rockets are following Slothrop around London for another reason. Seeking answers to this question launches Slothrop on a paranoid-ridden tour of post-War Europe, hunting for the mysterious Schwarzgerät and the Rocket "00000", where he encounters a large cast of party-goers, scientists, gangsters and soldiers, dopers and refugees all of whom are just trying to scrape by and cope with daily life in The Zone. 2. "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody..." This line is from the novel "The Catcher in the Rye," which was published in the year 1951 by the author J.D. Salinger who lived from 1919 to 2010. This author is also known for other works, including "Nine Stories" and "Franny and Zooey." Summary: Teenager, Holden Caulfield, is having trouble with yet another boarding school, Pency. Holden is starting to get sick of the school and the people in it. He is trying to find something good that he can remember about Pency and finally leave. After meeting his history teacher, and going meeting with his roommates, Stradler and Ackley, Holden finally leaves Pency in the middle of the night, bound for New York. This is one of the many schools that Holden has been kicked out of, so his parents are really not happy with him.

Famous Lines from Famous Books

A screaming comes across the sky... I heard it from my bedroom window. It startled me so much that I fell of my bed while reading a book. I wondered what it was, so I'm going to go check it out. As I'm walking down the sidewalk I heard it again. It was coming from the alley two blocks away. I was running as fast as my legs could run until I fell. I guess I was running too fast. When I got to the alley there was a man on top of a woman. He ran off when he looked up and saw me. I ran to the woman to see if she was okay. She was dying. I could tell. He has beaten her to death. As she looks into my eyes she says to me softly, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody..." She then closed her eyes. She was just laying there, motionless. I was so scared. What should I do? My mind started going crazy, and my heart started racing. Tears were pouring down my face as I just sat there next to this woman that I didn't even know. Why did she tell me that? What happened? Where did the man go? What did she do to deserve this? I got up and ran. I ran, and ran, and ran. The problem was that I didn't know where I was running to, but kept on going. As I finally wiped my tears off my face I noticed that I was in town, and right across the street from the police station. I burst through their doors, and started yelling for help. "What's wrong?" one officer said to me. "Should I tell them that I just witnessed a murder?" I asked myself. Then I had a flashback of the woman's face, and what she had told me. She deserves to have justice I thought, so I looked right in the officers eyes. I told him that I had just witnessed a murder.

Writers as Readers

1. When I read, to be comfortable I have to be in a room by myself. the lights have to be dimmed and the temperature has to be room temperature or a little hotter. I have to have water or warm milk with honey on the side along with a small bowl of almonds or pineapple chunks. I also have to have complete silence and absolutely no movement. The room that I am in also has to be cleaned or organized. 5. The very first book that I've picked up and been excited to turn the next page is The Old Willis Place. I read this book when I was in 5th grade, and it was the first book that I've really gotten interested in. It was the first book where I could see in my head what was happening in the story. I couldn't and didn't put the book down. I would always get into trouble, because I would be reading my book instead of doing my work in class. At first I didn't really want to read it, because I thought books were stupid. I haven't read a good book before that, so I thought that all books were the same. I was in the school library and I was just looking around. Nothing really popped out at me, so I just grabbed one. I checked it out and went back to class. When I sat back in my seat I thought to myself that it would be another stupid book. We had to read for 20 minutes everyday in class. I didn't even want to open the book, but when I did I started reading the first page. After reading the first chapter, I didn't want to put the book down. I started imagining everything that was going on since the very first page. I was mind blown that there was actually a book that I liked. From then on is when I started to getting caught for reading overtime instead of listening to the teacher. I finished the book in 5 school days, because we weren't allowed to take the books home with us. I finished before everyone else, so the teacher said that I could go back to the library to get another book. I didn't want another book. Instead I went to the library and renewed the book. When I came back to class with the same book the teacher said that I had to get a different book. I got a different book, but instead of putting back The Old Willis Place, I took it home with me. I don't remember the other book that I read, but I do remember that I didn't like it that well. 7. The very first book I remember reading is Green Eggs and Ham. This book was read to me every night before I went to bed. I even brought it to show and tell when I was in kindergarten, because I liked it so much. And even at my age right now I have Green Eggs and Ham pajamas. I was so obsessed with this book when I was a kid that I didn't care about any other books. I thought that other books weren't as cool as this book. 8. I have a lot of favorite books that I couldn't choose between, because I like them all the same. My favorite series is called Thirst. Just like Twilight, Thirst are vampire books. It is a lot different from Twilight though. It has no werewolves, and the main character has been a vampire the whole time. There are only four books, or at least four books that I know of. I really liked the Twilight books, but I personally like the Thirst books better. 9. When I finished reading Hate List, I was angry because it was an open ending where you imagine the rest of the book. I have NEVER liked open endings, so was really upset. When I finished reading The Hatchet, I was happy because it ended in a happy ending. I liked reading about how they had to survive on barely nothing, and then they finally get rescued off the island.

Dreaming of my future

When I dream about my future I dream about everything that might happen from day to day. I dream about my future from next year to my death. When I dream about my future I see it as reading a book, because I see it as it was really happening right now. And everynight when I fall asleep the next chapter plays into my head. I always seem to go back where I left off from the night before. Right now I’m not sure what chapter I’m on, because I haven’t been paying that much attention. I only think about what’s going on. I pay attention to the people and surroundings in my dream. I pay attention to the sounds and movements that are happening. I pay attention to how I am living my life through my eye point of view and what people are saying to me. It’s like I use all five of my senses, because in my dream it’s reality. I’ve been dreaming of my future a lot lately. For like the last two weeks. Which I find it weird, because I’ve never really dreamed of my life before. I’ve always had some kind of unreal dream that I know for a fact that it would never really happen. Like some silly way of the world ending, mud monsters chasing me, falling into a volcano, or even being born in the ocean where I live my whole life. Since I see my future as a book I feel like I could really write a book about my future. I’m not much of a writer anymore though. I’ve always wanted to be a writer when I was younger, but I kind of gave up on that dream. I’m still pretty good at coming up with ideas for writing a story, but not a good as I once was.

Dream Threads

I dream about my future… Everynight when I close my eyes I dream about all of the problems and damage that will happen later in my life. When I’m awake I try to think of ways that I could change them, but nothing comes to mind. I’m screwed. My whole life is screwed. I keep telling myself that it was just a dream, and that it won’t really happen. Who am I kidding. I’ll do anything not to fall back to sleep, because Closing my eyes becomes a fear…

Color

C alming A ir P reparing me for this E xtremely B eautiful L and U nreal E nough to take my breath away a DANCING LEAF floats in the MIDWINTER SKY with beautiful glows SO GOOFY... It was the Goofy family reunion, and the whole goofy family came. It was like one big party. While everyone was just hanging out and talking, there was one group of Goofy’s who were laughing. No one knew what they were laughing about, so they all went to see what was so funny. As everyone started to gather around they all started to laugh. Now that everybody knows that it was just Grandpa Goofy trying to eat without his teeth, they all were ok with what was going on. Little baby Goofy, who was only two years old, climbed on grandpa’s lap and said, “Grandpa, you’re so goofy.” Everyone laughed and went back to what they were doing.

Smoke

I didn’t see it at first, but having the chance of almost losing my life reality hit me. I’ve finally made the choice to stop. If I was going to live my dreams of becoming a writer, I had to stop. I have now realized that it is not just hurting me, but it is also hurting the one’s that I love the most. Fay. Fay is my grandmother. She was a writer herself. She was the one who taught me everything about writing. She always told me that writing about how you truly feel will fix all of your problems, or at least help them. And she was right, they did help my problems. It helped them all excepted for one at the time. My smoking. When I became 15, a sophomore in high school, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. I was skipping school, smoking in the bathrooms, getting suspended all the time. You name it, I did it! And while I was leading my life down-hill I didn’t care about who got hurt in the process. Not my friends, not my grandmother, not my girlfriend, and definitely not my dad. My dad was a drug attic anyways, so I didn’t really care about what he thought. My grandmother said that after my mom died when I was two my dad couldn’t handle the pressure anymore, so he started doing drugs. My grandma didn’t want me to be around it, so she took me in. And that was when she taught me about writing. I have lived with my grandma ever since. She told me that’s why I started to act up when I was in school. Every time she saw me smoking on the back step I would come in and she would tell me that I should write about how I felt about smoking. I never felt like writing anymore, so I never listened. When I graduated from high school, surprisingly, I didn’t go to college. Instead I didn’t care about my life, and started to smoke more. Fay told me that I gave up on everything and that I should be ashamed of myself, but I didn’t. I have probably smoked 3 packs a day. Until the day when Fay went out grocery shopping and came back finding me passed out on the back step. She saw that I was barely breathing, so she rushed me to the hospital where they said I had lung cancer in my lungs from smoking. The doctor said that it was treatable, but not curable. When I came to my senses 6 days later, he told me that if I didn’t stop now I could be dead in a matter of 6 months. When I got out of the hospital and back home, Fay didn’t even talk to me. I knew I screwed up and the guilt was eating me alive. I just didn’t know how to really make it up to her. Then it hit me, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I struggled to sit up and get out of my bed. I grabbed the pen and paper that was sitting on my desk, and started to write. When I came down stairs Fay was sitting in her rocking chair watching the television. I handed her the paper, and while she read I saw this glimpse of joy on her face. She turned to me with water in her eyes and said it was my best one yet.