Final

1) My favorite writing pieces this semester were
Dan in Real Life questions. I liked those types of blog posts because there were so many options that you can really pick what you want to write about. And it was an opinion piece so you get to show a lot of yourself through that writing.
Also I like the questions about Maya Angelou because of the same reason.
I also liked my writing inspired by Edward Hopper, because I got to write about my childhood a bit and things I remember from my past.
I also really loved writing about food because I have such a passion for food and everything about it and I think that really shows through my writing.

2) This quarter we wrote about Food and Photographs. Writing about food was easy for me because I really love culinary but writing about photographs was difficult for me because it is hard for me to make up a story about someone I don't know. I guess you could say its difficult for me to write fiction stories.
This quarter I read the book Me And Earl And The Dying Girl. I loved every minute of it. No, it wasnt as romantic as I hoped but it was a hilarious read. At times it was highly inappropriate, but that only made me laugh more. I would definitely recommend this book to any high school student. I laughed out loud while reading this book, but if you're looking for a story like The Fault in Our Stars, you will be disappointed by this book but it's still a wonderful read.

3) I love the way my blog looks, and I had a lot of fun setting it up. I like that it is a free space for us to write about whatever we want, that is nice. I like that it's a new way of connecting with a class, like online instead of everything in the classroom. I had a hard time coming up with the name for my blog so I just looked up blog names online. I don't think I will be using this blogger account in the future only because I have my own personal blog on Tumblr that I am attached to.

4) My journal has a lot of rants and fantasies writen in it. This is not the first time I've ever had a journal, I actually journal a lot in my free time. My journal is a placer that I go when I'm lost in my thoughts or stuck inky head. I used to over think everything I wrote down in my journal but I've learned to stop thinking and just start writing. So now I write down anything and everything I can.

5) "I think that I write the best when I am in deep emotion. Like something is bothering me or when I'm upset. I like pretty, decorative fancy notebooks, and I like to a very specific, black ink pin. I often like to write while I'm in the bath tub, I feel most relaxed and by myself in that environment. Sometimes I don't use notebooks for my writing at all. I use a few of them for newspaper clippings and pictures in magazines, I like to use crafts and pretty things to "dress up" the more darker emotions I have."

6) The caged bird stays
in one place

The caged bird with clipped wings
that keep him from soaring into the blue,
keeps him from touching the clouds

The caged bird that sings beautifully
only to be heard by the four walls
and metal bars surrounding him

The caged bird that only feels
sunlight on his feathers
at certain times of the day
when the sun shines through
the blinds of a window

The caged bird that longs
to spread his wings
and feel wind beneath them

The caged bird that imagines
escaping the bars and
exploring the world.

7) Yes, I will continue to write creatively in the future. It is a really great stress reliever for me. I get most of my emotions out from writing and being creative with my words. Creative writing gives me a sense of relief and relaxation. Other types of writing, like writing a paper for and English class just stresses me out and at times, gives me writer's block. 

8) I am so happy I met the people in this class. I absolutely loved getting to know Taylor, Jacob, M'Kenna, Jesse, Jordan, and last but most certainly not least, Glenda. I think they brought out a lot of emotions and humor in me through out this course. I think they are all great writers in their own ways. We each definitely have our strengths and weaknesses but I think we all work the best in a group. 

I think Jacob has such a sweet side to him even though he doesn't like to show it much and I think it comes out through this writing. I hope he goes to an amazing college for football, and I hope his future is as bright as he is. 

I think M'Kenna is such a kind soul. She truly is a sweetheart and I love the way she writes, and expresses herself through her writing. I think she is seriously great in so many ways. 

I love Taylor's writing for so many reasons I can't even list them all. She is just a raw writer and she leaves nothing off the table. She really puts so much emotion and hard work into her stories. 

Photo Essay

Out of all the pictures, this one spoke to me the most. The caption read "U.S, Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds a child after she was separated from her family during a firefight,". To me this was very powerful and spoke volumes. I have no idea what it feels like to be a mother, but I would like to think that if something ever happened to my child, that I would feel better if every human was like this man, and took care of my child when I couldn't. I do know that if anything ever happened to my niece and someone did this to her, and made sure she was safe so that she could come home to my family, I would be eternally thankful to that person.
I think we often times forget that people are good. We get caught up in all the bad people in the world that do bad things, that we forget that the world and people can be good. One of my favorite quotes is "We are all just walking each other home at night". I think this picture has a lot to do with that quote, i think things like this go hand in hand. I like to live my life by this quote because it basically means "everyone needs to look out for each other" and I love that because I would want people to look out for me if I was ever in need. It is nice to know that people care and that you are being watched over.

Food Food Food

To say that food is my life would be a large understatement. My father is a chef, my grandmother a baker, my brother a pastry chef, and my mother a food critic. It is kind of in blood.
I love food, and not just eating it. I love cooking it, baking it, preparing it. I think the "trend" these days is to brag about how much you looove food and how much food you can eat. But do you really love food? I mean love it, everything about it. Do you love the way it smells, the way it prepares? Do you love cooking it and learning new recipes? I do.
I think I love to cook because it really brings my family together and it is also a stress reliever for me. I think it is calming, it is a self act. It is a way to show affection and emotion. You can truly show so many emotions through cooking, or even just one dish.
Food is one of the simple pleasures in life. It brings people together, and it brings happiness, at least to me. I think about my next meal all the time. I probably get TOO excited to eat at times. I will try any food at least one time in my life, and if I don't like it, then that's fine because at least I tried something new. I was never that kid growing up that my parents had to bribe me to try something new, I was happy to do it.

Finding my Future... or Maybe Not

Jim Odom was a very helpful guest speaker for me. He taught me a lot more then I originally thought he would. I learned a very big lesson from him being that you don't have to have your life figured out before you graduate high school, even though that concept is shoved down your throat from the beginning of your senior and even junior year of high school. He is living proof that you don't always know what you're good at, and you don't have to find your calling early on in life. Which really spoke to me personally, because I feel like I haven't found what I'm supposed to do or who I am supposed to be. I don't know what my calling is or what I was made to do. And that's okay.

I also learned from him that when it comes to other people's opinions on your work, take it or leave it. Learn from it, take it as constructive criticism, or don't. Joining a writing critique group, can help you a lot with you're writing. Getting a second opinion on your work can actually help improve it more then it can hurt it, and the best part is, you don't have to take their advice if you choose not to. 

He also told us not to be afraid to write what we are really thinking. Even if it is embarrassing. Chances are that little embarrassing moment in your book, will make it more interesting and entertaining.  

I was so inspired by Mr. Odom, because I felt like him coming to talk to us really helped me with my writing technique. I love being in a creative writing class and it has helped me just as much but it was really great being able to hear real stories about writing from a published author. 

I asked Mr. Odom multiple questions because I was just so curious about the writing critiques and everything else he was talking about. I got all of my questions answered and that was very helpful. All in all, I would say I learned a lot about writing from Mr. Odom and I am very excited to use the news things he taught me in my writing. 

The Presence

I walked at an even, light pace. I was in no hurry. The wind was like ice to my skin and made my lungs feel like fire. ‘I should have worn a bigger jacket’ I thought to myself. The street light above me flickered once just as I walked under it. I looked up at it noticing the dozen gross bugs flying all around it, touching the light and bouncing off, touching the light and bouncing off. I heard a rustle behind me, startling me, and turned to look rather abruptly. What I saw when I turned around was only a few leaves blowing in the wind, leaving me to wonder where the noise came from. I picked up my pace now, wishing I was closer to home. I let my mind wonder onto Nick, that football player in my English class that asked me to help him with his essay tonight. That same football player that has lived a block away from me since we were seven. That same football player that has never noticed me before now. That same football player that couldn’t take his dreamy eyes away from mine tonight. I wondered if he would call.

I was so deep in a day dream about the boy that at first I didn’t notice the shadow on the side walk to the left of mine. Two shadows I said in my head. Then it hit me. I stopped dead in my tracks. Just then I felt pressure on my shoulder, like someone had placed their hand there. I squeezed my eyes closed and started walking faster and faster. I could feel a presence hanging over me. Like someone was following me, watching me. “I’m almost home” I thought to myself as I half walked, half jogged down the street. I swooped around the corner quickly and I was there. Home. I hurried down the brick path that lead to the front door. I opened the door immediately and slammed it behind me. I let out a quick breath. “I made it.” I said out loud.

 Lying awake in bed late that night, I felt a presence around me that let me know I wasn’t alone. It felt like eyes staring at me when I was in my empty room, that same feeling I got walking home earlier that night. It felt like something or someone was breathing down my neck.

The phone rang, and I thought to myself “It’s too late at night for Nick to be calling” but I let myself get excited anyway, hoping it was him. I shot up in my bed and reached over to my bed side table and grabbed my cell phone, it was from an unknown caller. I answered it and said ‘Hello’. The person on the other end of the line didn’t respond but I could hear their breathing, I knew someone was there. I said “Hello” again. Nothing, again. The breathing frightened me so I hung up the phone and sat very still in my bed for a few seconds. Just then there was a tap on my window. 

Halloween Questions

The best Halloween costume I ever wore was…

A trash can. I know what you’re thinking, ‘why would you want to dress up like a trash can?’ but let me tell you, it was a lot of fun. My best friend at the time, and I made our Halloween costumes that year. I’m not sure why we decided to be a trash can, but we just did. We cut out the bottom on plastic black trash cans for our legs to fit in and we wore suspenders around our shoulders that were attached to the top of the trash can to hold it up. We wore all black clothing underneath so it looked like we blended into the trash can. We saved some of our boxes and bottles instead of throwing them away and we stuffed our trash cans to make it really look like trash cans. Everyone we saw on Halloween night seemed to really get a kick out of it and we did too. We had so much fun that year, not only be “trashy” but also making the costumes.

My favorite Halloween was the time…

 My friends and I drove a few towns over to a town that I think remember the name of. You see, this was actually the night before Halloween, the 31^st, because the town decided that all of the children would go trick-or-treating the night before Halloween because this particular year, Halloween was on a Sunday and the town wanted to honor God’s Day. My two best friends and I were so excited about Halloween this year because we all had matching costumes. We were even more excited when we learned that we would have two full nights of trick-or-treating, which meant DOUBLE THE CANDY!!! I remember us picking out which pillow case we all wanted to carry. We decided to carry pillow cases with us this year because that meant we could carry more candy with a bigger bag to hold it all. We laughed and played and skipped and had all sorts of fun. I think that was the last childhood Halloween I had with my two best friends in the world and I miss it so much.

The Halloween costumes I’ve had in past years…

I remember one year my mother stayed up all night to make me a costume that I was convinced that I just HAD to wear. It was an Egyptian Princess, because at the time I was going through a huge Egyptian phrase where I just adored everything that had to do with Egypt. My mother used card board and she cut out shapes and strung them together with string and painted very detailed designed on it with bright colored paint and it looked amazing, it wasn’t very comfortable I remember, but it was pretty. I wish I still had that costume, I think I would appreciate it now, and appreciate how much hard work my mother put into it, a lot more than I did at the time.  

Dan in Real Life Questions

Number 3) I would write for a newspaper, which was actually what I wanted to do for a long time. I write for a newspaper now. It is my dream to be a travel journalist and write a column for a newspaper about the places I see, and the people I meet, and the experiences I have. I would travel all of the world and stay in one place for a week at a time and get to know the culture of that particular place and get to know the people that live there and their everyday lives. Then at the end of the week I would write about all that I learned and how it made me feel. I think it would be really interesting and it would help me grow as a person and I would become more cultured and well-traveled. I have always wanted to travel the world and I can’t think of a better way to make a living, then get paid to travel  the world and gain once in a life time experiences, but most importantly do what I love; write.

Number 16) I don’t think I have found my talent. My mom was a writer and reporter for a newspaper and a news station when she was younger and she always tells me that I was made to be a writer. That ever since I was little I have been writing and that it seems to be my calling, but I’m not sure. I love to write but I don’t think I am exceptionally good at it. I often get writer block or simply don’t know what to write about. I don’t get inspired easily, and I certainly don’t read enough. I’m not good at writing at nonfiction stories, or being really creative. I try to be descriptive but it doesn’t always sound the way I want it to. I think I am way too hard on myself to be a good writer, I think exceptional writers write from the heart and soul. They write about things they are passionate about, good or bad. At this time in my life, I’m not too passionate about many things. I can be passionate about the idea of things. You know what they say, you are your own worst critic and I fully believe in that.

Number 22) I’ve been going back and forth on this question. I think that we as humans tend to focus more on things that disappoint us, then the things that make us happy. It is just easier to focus on the negative more than the positive. I think that if you are a “glass half empty person” then it can seem like life is full of disappointment, whether that may be true or not. Sure, bad things happen to every person and we all get disappointed from time to time, whether we are disappoint in another person, about a situation, or even at ourselves, but that doesn’t mean everything is bad. Even I have days when it seems like everything is going wrong and nothing is going right for me, but I know that it’s just a bad day, not a bad life. It is easy to feel like there is a storm cloud hanging over our heads and sometimes it’s easier to feel bad for yourself rather then put on a fake smile to seem like you’re okay when you’re not and I completely understand that. I think what you get out of life is what you put into it. Life is full of things, and it is just how you choose to look at the life you were handed, and if you don’t like how something is playing out in your life, change it. You have the power to change your life at any moment

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