Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Just a side ...
I know this has nothing to do with the writing portion of the class, but it is something near and dear to me. Please check it out!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Mint Snowball
I really enjoyed reading Naomi Nye's essay "Mint Snowball" because it reminded me of things my mother loved about her child hood.
My mom grew up in the small town of Chelsea Michigan and Naomi's mom grew up in a small town in Illinois. My mom's favorite place to go was to the local pharmacy because they had a soda counter with an old fashioned soda fountain. She and her brother and sisters would go on a regular basis to the pharmacy to get a tasty drink, just like the mint snowballs created by Naomi's grandfather.
I particularly love the lines, "My mother remembers the counter's long polished sweet, its shining face." and "She closed her eyes to see the Swiss village my great-grandfather's parents came from." Just the fact that Nayomi remembers things from her child hood that were described by her grandparents and great grandparents proves that family is very important to her.
I can really empathize with her longing for something she remembered from her childhood with the recipe for the Mint Snowball lost; I myself remember and long for the days when there was a Dairy Queen in Chelsea instead of the Dairy Queen wanna be that is there now, and I know my mom misses the days when the pharmacy was on the street corner of Main Street and the soda shop that once resided inside it.
My mom grew up in the small town of Chelsea Michigan and Naomi's mom grew up in a small town in Illinois. My mom's favorite place to go was to the local pharmacy because they had a soda counter with an old fashioned soda fountain. She and her brother and sisters would go on a regular basis to the pharmacy to get a tasty drink, just like the mint snowballs created by Naomi's grandfather.
I particularly love the lines, "My mother remembers the counter's long polished sweet, its shining face." and "She closed her eyes to see the Swiss village my great-grandfather's parents came from." Just the fact that Nayomi remembers things from her child hood that were described by her grandparents and great grandparents proves that family is very important to her.
I can really empathize with her longing for something she remembered from her childhood with the recipe for the Mint Snowball lost; I myself remember and long for the days when there was a Dairy Queen in Chelsea instead of the Dairy Queen wanna be that is there now, and I know my mom misses the days when the pharmacy was on the street corner of Main Street and the soda shop that once resided inside it.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The brilliance of Leon Uris' Exodus
I'm not reading it at this exact moment, because I have a ton of other reading for classes to do, but this is a book I have read so many times that I am on my second copy. The book I am referring to is Exodus by Leon Uris.
Exodus was published in 1958 and is about the creation of Eretz Israel (The land of Israel) and focuses on fictionalized characters that are based on real life people.
The novel starts as a young man named Mark Parker arrives in Cyprus where is old friend Katherine "Kitty" Fremont is staying. Together, the two friends ran into an old acquaintance of Mark's, a man named Ari Ben Canaan.
Ari Ben Canaan who is a major key player in the Haganah (the Defense, more specifically a member of an off shoot of the Haganah called Mossad Aliyah Bet, which was technically an illegal organization that helped to smuggle Jewish men, women and children into Palestine before Israel was created in 1948. Aliyah Bet literally means illegal immigration as Aliyah is Hebrew for 'To Go Up' and any time a Jewish man, woman or child goes to Israel, for a visit or to move there, it's called an Aliyah.
Ari enlisted the help of Mark and Kitty to help him and the Haganah get the Jewish people being held captive in the internment camp at Carolos in Cyprus that was ran by the British.
The stories within this story are heart breaking; there is the story of Dov Landau who grew up in the Warsaw Ghetto and, after the death of his entire family who were in the resistance, caught and sent to "live" in Auschwitz until the end of the Shoah where he was forced to help dispose of the dead bodies of his fellow Jews or he would be killed; he was also raped by SS soldiers, all at a very young age; I believe he was sixteen when he was taken to the camp.
There is also Karen Hansen Clement who was the daughter of a very powerful German scientist who was sent to a Christian family in Holland to be protected from the Nazis. Her entire family, save for her father was killed in the camps. Her father died soon after the liberation of the camps, and his mind was completely gone after witnessing the horrors of the Shoah to the extent of not recognizing his only daughter.
This whole story is just an amazing story for which I love dearly and hope that my own children will read this with the same fondness that I have so many times. The characters feel so real and the heart break and experiences in this story are so powerful that they sometimes just make you cry.
It was also made into a movie (1960) with Paul Newman but it is nowhere near the same caliber of the books; watch the movie THEN read the book or you will be majorly disappointed.
I leave this blog entry with the following words:
L'Chaim (To Life) and Am Israel Chai (The people of Israel Live.)
Exodus was published in 1958 and is about the creation of Eretz Israel (The land of Israel) and focuses on fictionalized characters that are based on real life people.
The novel starts as a young man named Mark Parker arrives in Cyprus where is old friend Katherine "Kitty" Fremont is staying. Together, the two friends ran into an old acquaintance of Mark's, a man named Ari Ben Canaan.
Ari Ben Canaan who is a major key player in the Haganah (the Defense, more specifically a member of an off shoot of the Haganah called Mossad Aliyah Bet, which was technically an illegal organization that helped to smuggle Jewish men, women and children into Palestine before Israel was created in 1948. Aliyah Bet literally means illegal immigration as Aliyah is Hebrew for 'To Go Up' and any time a Jewish man, woman or child goes to Israel, for a visit or to move there, it's called an Aliyah.
Ari enlisted the help of Mark and Kitty to help him and the Haganah get the Jewish people being held captive in the internment camp at Carolos in Cyprus that was ran by the British.
The stories within this story are heart breaking; there is the story of Dov Landau who grew up in the Warsaw Ghetto and, after the death of his entire family who were in the resistance, caught and sent to "live" in Auschwitz until the end of the Shoah where he was forced to help dispose of the dead bodies of his fellow Jews or he would be killed; he was also raped by SS soldiers, all at a very young age; I believe he was sixteen when he was taken to the camp.
There is also Karen Hansen Clement who was the daughter of a very powerful German scientist who was sent to a Christian family in Holland to be protected from the Nazis. Her entire family, save for her father was killed in the camps. Her father died soon after the liberation of the camps, and his mind was completely gone after witnessing the horrors of the Shoah to the extent of not recognizing his only daughter.
This whole story is just an amazing story for which I love dearly and hope that my own children will read this with the same fondness that I have so many times. The characters feel so real and the heart break and experiences in this story are so powerful that they sometimes just make you cry.
It was also made into a movie (1960) with Paul Newman but it is nowhere near the same caliber of the books; watch the movie THEN read the book or you will be majorly disappointed.
I leave this blog entry with the following words:
L'Chaim (To Life) and Am Israel Chai (The people of Israel Live.)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Becoming More than Friends
Four qualities/characteristics
1.) Polite
2.) Caring
3.) Sensitive
4.) Understanding
She climbed the stairs to his third floor apartment and waited for him to open the door; eager to see her old friend. They had over twenty years of friendship under their belts, and now, when their lives were falling apart, they needed each other more than ever.
She smiled when he opened the door to let her in, took comfort in the hug he gave her, even if he made her feel like she needed to stand on a box to look him in the eyes.
"How are you?" his deep voice rumbled as they sat down on the soft and super comfortable couch. He resisted the urge to reach for her hand to stop her from playing with the hem of her shirt.
"I'm doing okay," came her soft reply, looked up at him as he hugged her again.
It had been months since they had seen each other, the last time in the movie theater while they waited in the long line to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. They were going to be in different theaters and his now ex-fiancee was with him. The friends spoke for a few minutes before his ex pulled him away to wait in the line that they needed to go wait in leaving her on the floor, her back against the cold wall, alone.
It didn't take long for them to fall into their old routine and become comfortable with each other once again and they climbed in his F-150, drove to Meijer and picked up some Near East Long Grain and Wild Rice and broccoli to have with the chicken he had marinating in the fridge. She looked at him in surprise when he held the door to the truck open and closed it once her feet were safely inside. Her ex-husband never did that for her, not even when they had gone on the few and far between dates.
When they arrived back at the apartment, they started the rice and returned to the couch where they curled up together to watch a movie and to talk.
"I wanted to ask you out in high school," he murmured as he massaged her back, grinned when she moaned as a knot dissolved from her shoulders.
"I know, you've told me," she replied, sitting up and stretching after he finished the massage.
He wanted to say more, but he knew she was vulnerable so instead, he just took her hand while they finished Edward Norton's The Hulk. When the movie was over, she glanced at her watch, winced when she saw it was nearly ten thirty.
"I should go, the headlights on the car aren't very bright and I have to work in the morning," she said with a sigh. She'd been enjoying herself, talking with her friend and just being around someone who was going through something similar to what she was going through.
"You could stay, if you're too tired, or its too dark," he offered.
She gave him a small smile but shook her head. "I didn't bring my work clothes or a tooth brush with me, or I would. Thank you for offering," she murmured.
"The offer stands, any time," he told her. He held her jacket open for her as she slid into it and walked her down the stairs to the main door to the building and hugged her before she left.
It was two more weeks before they saw each other again, and she was nervous; she'd gone out on a limb and asked him if he was still interested in her. She didn't want to risk the friendship they'd had for the last twenty years, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her life wondering, what could have been. And when he kissed her, gently, tenderly, she knew his answer; he was, without a doubt, still interested.
This blog post was the easiest part of the assignment; I'm having a really hard time with the second story to write and turn in. The first story I've submitted is a story that I wrote previously, I just tweaked it a little. I hope they're all okay.
I forgot that the blog was also supposed to include To After That
1.) Polite
2.) Caring
3.) Sensitive
4.) Understanding
She climbed the stairs to his third floor apartment and waited for him to open the door; eager to see her old friend. They had over twenty years of friendship under their belts, and now, when their lives were falling apart, they needed each other more than ever.
She smiled when he opened the door to let her in, took comfort in the hug he gave her, even if he made her feel like she needed to stand on a box to look him in the eyes.
"How are you?" his deep voice rumbled as they sat down on the soft and super comfortable couch. He resisted the urge to reach for her hand to stop her from playing with the hem of her shirt.
"I'm doing okay," came her soft reply, looked up at him as he hugged her again.
It had been months since they had seen each other, the last time in the movie theater while they waited in the long line to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. They were going to be in different theaters and his now ex-fiancee was with him. The friends spoke for a few minutes before his ex pulled him away to wait in the line that they needed to go wait in leaving her on the floor, her back against the cold wall, alone.
It didn't take long for them to fall into their old routine and become comfortable with each other once again and they climbed in his F-150, drove to Meijer and picked up some Near East Long Grain and Wild Rice and broccoli to have with the chicken he had marinating in the fridge. She looked at him in surprise when he held the door to the truck open and closed it once her feet were safely inside. Her ex-husband never did that for her, not even when they had gone on the few and far between dates.
When they arrived back at the apartment, they started the rice and returned to the couch where they curled up together to watch a movie and to talk.
"I wanted to ask you out in high school," he murmured as he massaged her back, grinned when she moaned as a knot dissolved from her shoulders.
"I know, you've told me," she replied, sitting up and stretching after he finished the massage.
He wanted to say more, but he knew she was vulnerable so instead, he just took her hand while they finished Edward Norton's The Hulk. When the movie was over, she glanced at her watch, winced when she saw it was nearly ten thirty.
"I should go, the headlights on the car aren't very bright and I have to work in the morning," she said with a sigh. She'd been enjoying herself, talking with her friend and just being around someone who was going through something similar to what she was going through.
"You could stay, if you're too tired, or its too dark," he offered.
She gave him a small smile but shook her head. "I didn't bring my work clothes or a tooth brush with me, or I would. Thank you for offering," she murmured.
"The offer stands, any time," he told her. He held her jacket open for her as she slid into it and walked her down the stairs to the main door to the building and hugged her before she left.
It was two more weeks before they saw each other again, and she was nervous; she'd gone out on a limb and asked him if he was still interested in her. She didn't want to risk the friendship they'd had for the last twenty years, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her life wondering, what could have been. And when he kissed her, gently, tenderly, she knew his answer; he was, without a doubt, still interested.
This blog post was the easiest part of the assignment; I'm having a really hard time with the second story to write and turn in. The first story I've submitted is a story that I wrote previously, I just tweaked it a little. I hope they're all okay.
I forgot that the blog was also supposed to include To After That
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The crazy media
There have been some crazy news articles and they made me realize just how out of touch I've been lately. I knew about the miners in Chile, but I didn't know that one of them wanted both his wife and his mistress there when he was pulled from his temporary tomb! I'm really not surprised that just his mistress was there, but if I were his wife, I'd be there to hand him the divorce papers and depending on how he acted, kick his ass back down the tube.
Another article caught my eye recently and it really pissed me off. This dumb ass woman started a feud over not getting a text about her kids being allowed to join a neighbor kids' birthday party! The mother of the birthday girl had Huntington's Disease and died from it; the girl has the children's form of Huntington's Disease and this neighbor is taunting her. She's doctored pictures of the mother and the little girl; the mother is the arms of the grim reaper while the little girl is sitting in with tombstones! She has also said the little girl was retarded and that she couldn't wait for her to die! This woman has children of her own!
Makes me sick!
I really want to get into writing and I don't just mean poetry, I'm really looking forward to starting to write novellas ... I just can't do short stories. I like to include too much detail for anything to be just a few pages. I hope we get to start writing fiction and or non fiction soon.
Another article caught my eye recently and it really pissed me off. This dumb ass woman started a feud over not getting a text about her kids being allowed to join a neighbor kids' birthday party! The mother of the birthday girl had Huntington's Disease and died from it; the girl has the children's form of Huntington's Disease and this neighbor is taunting her. She's doctored pictures of the mother and the little girl; the mother is the arms of the grim reaper while the little girl is sitting in with tombstones! She has also said the little girl was retarded and that she couldn't wait for her to die! This woman has children of her own!
Makes me sick!
I really want to get into writing and I don't just mean poetry, I'm really looking forward to starting to write novellas ... I just can't do short stories. I like to include too much detail for anything to be just a few pages. I hope we get to start writing fiction and or non fiction soon.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Poetry conundrum
I am having a really difficult time with rewriting the Shakespearean Sonnets; I've spent most of the last week trying to look up words in the sonnet I've picked and find some more contemporary words to use for the sonnet and I while I'm finding the definitions and more contemporary words, I'm just completely at a loss for trying to rewrite it. I'm not really sure how to go about rewriting the sonnet. I'm not giving up, but I'm getting so frustrated; I don't know if I can rewrite the damn sonnet.
Friday, September 10, 2010
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