Burned
Laying out beneath the sun.
Wishing only to be tan.
Rub the lotion on my skin
Then wait for it to sink in.
Doing nothing
Super bored!
How long do I need to lay here?
Friday, May 2, 2008
Poem #4 - Burned
Posted by *Care Bear* at 9:48 PM 1 comments
Poem #3 - Waiting
Waiting
The anticipation,
It's killing me!
These six weeks have been so long,
I really can't wait anymore!
I feel pretty confident,
But with this you'll never know.
I check the mail everday,
Waiting for that wonderful letter.
If I get accepted
I think I'll scream!
Dragging on
Day by day
I don't think it'll ever come!
But suddenly when I least expected it
That faithful letter arrived!
I got in! I got in!
Oh boy I'm so excited.
I can't wait to start a whole new life.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 9:41 PM 0 comments
Poem #2 - Out
Out
One of these days
I'm going to get away.
Where to go I'm not sure
But it'll have a special lure.
Maybe somewhere to rest,
This I'll have to test.
Or how about a certain place
Where i can live at a fast pace.
How about somewhere far away
Maybe even just for a day.
While I know not where to go
When I come back I sure will glow.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 9:32 PM 0 comments
Poem #1 - Love
Love
What does the word mean?
How do you really prove it?
Is it a state of being,
Or is it simply just a word?
Can you love one day but not the next,
Or is it really forever?
Is it something you should announce,
Or is it something you should keep secret?
Is it something you can physically express,
Or do they just have to take your word.
I guess its just that something
You have to find out for yourself.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 9:27 PM 0 comments
Free Choice #3 - Novel Analysis
Seriously injured in the civil war, Inman can only think of one thing, Ada, the woman he loves and left back home in Cold Mountain. While he is off fighting, Ada is stuck in Cold Mountain attempting to make a living for herself on her father's run down farm. With the help of a friend, she learns to do all the handiwork herself. Meanwhile, Inman escapes the war and makes his way back home encountering many challenges and meeting new people along the way, but not all encounters help him along the way.
This novel was an interesting one. It was very descriptive, and very long. It actually took a lot to get through it. While some scenes were exciting, the book for the most part was pretty boring. It tells the tale of hope and enduring love. Ada writes Inman almost every day awaiting his return home. Inman, left with only a photograph and his memory of Ada, clings onto every hope he has of one day seeing her again. Ruby, Ada's farmhand and friend, teaches Ada everything she needs to know about living and working on a farm, and adds interest and humor into the life back in Cold Mountain. Once I finished the novel, I really liked it. The ending was part of what made the novel so good, but it took a lot to get through. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves romance novels, and anyone who can read through any book they've started.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 9:27 AM 0 comments
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Free Choice #2 - Novel Analysis
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
"The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club.
The second rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club.
The third rule of fight club is two men per fight.
The fourth rule of fight club is one fight at a time.
The fifth rule of fight club is no shoes, no shirts in the fight.
The sixth rule of fight club is the fights go on as long as they have to.
The seventh rule is if this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight." (pg. 50)
An apartment full of Ikea furnishings, a refrigerator full of condiments and no food. A crappy job. Tyler Durden. His world was boring. His life wasn't being lived. He went to support group meetings for fun, and suffered from insomnia. Then he met Tyler. He comes home from a business trip to find his apartment blown up. His windows were all blown out, his Ikea home collections and condiments were all over the pavement in front of the building. The only person he could think to call was Tyler. Tyler was everything he wanted to be and more. His life turned around when he moved in with Tyler. They started a fight club together, worked small night jobs together, then everything begins to escalate. The fight club begins to get bigger, with more people each and every week. The first two rules had been broken. What starts off as something a bunch of drunk guys did for fun quickly escalated to Project Mayhem, a group solely dedicated to causing damage and chaos around the city. He is sitting in a chair with the barrel of a gun in his mouth and Tyler is saying "the first step to eternal life is you have to die" (pg. 1).
Posted by *Care Bear* at 8:13 PM 0 comments
Persuasive Analysis #4 - Sweeny Todd movie review
http://www.movie-views.com/films/S/sweeney_todd.html <--link to article This is an article about Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street written by Ryan Cracknell. He does a good job of explaining the plot and summary without giving any of the twists and turns away. He is specific about what he likes, and what he would change. Sweeney Todd is about a man named Benjamin Barker who has a beautiful wife and child and is one day wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't do and is sent away. When he returns to London, he is without a wife, and his daughter has been taken in by the Judge Terpin. Benjamin changes his name to Sweeney Todd, and quickly works to getting his revenge by slitting the throats of the innocent and turning them into meat pies, preparing to kill the Judge.
This movie was directed by Tim Burton who has a very distinct type of movie. It's all very dark and gloomy, and as Ryan states, "I don't know if you can call something both detailed and sparse, but that's kind of what Sweeney Todd is like. The set designs and costumes are all very intricate but at the same time there's a beautiful simplicity to it all." I completely agree with that statement. Everything that is used in the movie seems so simple, but is in fact very decorative and fits so well with the entirety of the movie. Ryan says that there's a sense of deja vu throughout the movie. The movie takes place in only a few different places, so the set doesn't change a lot throughout the course of the movie. Also, the throat slitting begins to get a bit repetitive, because other than that, not much else is happening. "Even still, Sweeney Todd is uncomfortably fun. It's violent and over-the-top, yet despite its unsympathetic subject matter it's subject is surprisingly likeable."
Posted by *Care Bear* at 7:35 PM 0 comments
Persuasive Analysis #3 - Juno movie review
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080405203411tsop.nb/newsblaze/REVIEWS1/Movie-Reviews.html <---link to article.
This is a review that was written about the movie Juno by Prairie Miller. She starts off by talking about the movie itself, oulining the plot and summarizing the movie. Juno is about a young teenage girl who ends up getting pregnant. At first she freaks out and contemplates abortion, but flakes when she tries to sit and fill out the required paperwork. She then decides to have the baby, and give it up for adoption to a couple named Mark and Vanessa Loring. The movie shows her struggle through the pregnancy and dealing with issues that are always a part of growing up.
This was a good review. She did a good job outlining the movie and detailing the important parts. Like any good review, she outlines what she really liked about the movie, and what she thought needed work. "There are a bunch of glaring narrative rough spots though, that could have used some ironing out." I was glad to see that the entire review wasn't completely positive. I completely agree with what she pointed out that needed some work. For example, she explains that it doesn't make sense that Juno's parents never offered to raise or adopt the child themselves. One one hand it makes sense, with a 16 year old daughter, adopting her child would be kind of wierd. Not only would they be sisters, but mother and daughter. On the other hand they raised Juno and her younger sister Liberty Bell, why couldn't they raise another? She also points out that it was strange that she never wanted to see the baby, while she runs into Vanessa at the mall. So either she was afraid of getting attached (it is her own child!) or she just always thought of the baby as Vanessa's. This review would be good for someone who hasn't seen the movie to read. It really explains everything well.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 7:14 PM 0 comments
Persuasive Analysis #2 - Old Cigarette Ad
This ad is particularly funny to me. What you can't see in the fine print is that this cigarette company states the "health benefits" from smoking cigarettes. This ad shows a man looking thin and fit, and the slogan tells you to have a cigarette between meals as opposed to eating, then you'll stay fit, because like it says "It's better to be fit than fat." They could have advertisements like this because back then, no one knew the health risks, they just saw what they thought were benefits.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 7:06 PM 0 comments
Persuasive Analysis #1- Michelob Ultra
This ad shows a young, fit, attractive man doing crunches. It implies that you could look like that if you drink their beer. The slogan says, "Lose the carbs. Not the taste." So it suggests that it is in fact delicious, and low on carbs, so you could too look like the gentleman in this ad. What you might not be able to see is that in the lower corner near the beer bottle it says, "With fewer carbs, fewer calories, and the same great Michelob taste, Michelob ULTRA is the ultimate reward for an active lifestyle." That statement alone is hilarious to me. Ever heard the term beer belly? It didn't come around because beer with fewer carbs and calories is better for you. Even if you lead an active lifestyle, beer isn't something you should drink. It dehydrates you, gets you fat, and not to mention gets you drunk! Beer ads are always hilarious to me.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 6:57 PM 0 comments
Song Analysis #4 - Recovery by Our Last Night
Your shadows are back from the dead
Creeping over the hills
And making their name
They leave you lifeless
Don’t let them make your choices
Take control and ignore their every word
Your skin is tougher than your bones
Recovery, she always means well
Recovery, uncover this for me
I can see it in her eyes reaching out for a helping hand
Take my hand and take my word
Help is on its way, just breath slowly
Trust the medic because he has everything you’ll need
This can’t be right, the signs point east but we’re going west
As long as you’re not heading the way you came
Please let this be the turning point
When the past gets left behind
Send a signal to the ones you love
Because help is on its way
And your shadows are back from the dead
Why can’t we get this right?
Send a signal
Posted by *Care Bear* at 4:50 PM 0 comments
Cultural Event #3 - Sky Eats Airplane and The Chariot Show
Posted by *Care Bear* at 3:58 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Literary Devices
1) "Words are bullets, and should be used sparingly, aimed toward a target."
-Dick Hallock
This sentence shows an example of a metaphor. It is a metaphor because it compares two different things, words and bullets, without using like or as stating how piercing words can be, just like bullets.
2) "I am the bread of life."
-Jesus
This sentence shows another example of a metaphor. Jesus says in this that he is the bread in life that feeds which isn't meant literally, so therefore it is a metaphor.
3) "All the world's a stage."
-Shakespeare
This is also a metaphor. Shakespeare meant that everyone performs in life, so its like everyone is on stage, but not literally.
4) "The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!"
-Homer Simpson in The Simpsons
This is an example of personification. It suggests that gambling is in fact alive that enslaves people because of how addicting it is. It gives it human-like abilities.
5) "Because I could not stop for Death--
He kindly stopped for me--
The Carriage held but just Ourselves--
And Immortality."
-Emily Dickinson, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"
This brief poem shows an example of personification. It says that death stopped for her, giving an inanimate object human abilities.
6) "'Ah, William, we're weary of weather,'said the sunflowers, shining with dew."
-William Blake, Two Sunflowers Move In The Yellow Room
This line from the poem shows an example of personification. In this line, the sunflowers are talking, which they obviously cannot really do.
7) "Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."
-Carl Sandburg
This quote includes an example of a simile. It is comparing life and an onion using the word "like."
8) "It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog"
-The Beatles
This quote is an example of a simile. It is comparing that he was working as hard as a dog using the word "like" to connect the two.
9) "Yellow butterflies flickered along the shade like flecks of sun"
-William Faulkner
This quote is an example of a simile. It compares the yellow butterflies to the yellow sun rays using the word "like" to compare the two.
10) “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz… Oh what a relief it is”
-Alka Seltzer's jingle
This quote is using an example of onomatopoeia. It uses the words "plop" and "fizz" to describe the sound the Alka Seltzer makes when it hits the water.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 12:43 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Song Analysis #3 - Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Seek Escape by Underoath
I heard a voice through the discord
Of a deluge of passerby.
I saw one gaze frozen in time
Watching me passing by.
I swear I'll know your face in the crowd,
And I'll hear your voice so loud
When you're whispering...
Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger, to be stronger.
Hey ungraceful I will teach you
To forgive one another.
Here's my kiss to betray
Desperate to brush the lips of grace.
Do you feel hollow when you think of how I've lied?
Oh sweet angel of mercy with your grace like the morning
Wrap your loving arms around me.
Oh sweet angel of mercy with your grace like the morning
Wrap your loving arms around me.
Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger, to be stronger.
Hey ungraceful I will teach you
To forgive one another.
Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger, to be stronger.
Hey unloving, I will love you,
I will love you, I will love you.
Hey unloving
I will love you.
Jesus I'm ready to come home.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 1:24 PM 0 comments
Song Analysis #2 - A Message for Adrienne by Underoath
I tried so hard to be her day
But the night has already taken me away
Shedding dreams under the maple tree
Where I carved your name
Nothing left, not even time
Straight reads the line
His life had reached the end
Wanting only to be loved by Adrienne
Letters explained his grief
But she would never read
His wrists would bleed
But she would never see
So he took his life at the age of 23
And she had always loved him
But he would never know
For she covered her love
Like stars cover the sky
Hiding her heart
Fearing what he would find inside
Years took her away
A widow she remained
Holding him deep inside
Wishing she too would die
Time favors no one and if we wait
We too can fall in love
A second too late
This is one of my favorite songs by Underoath. The lyrics are so sad!
This song talks about the theme that you dont know what you have until you lose it. Basically, this guy really likes this girl, and he tells her, but she ignores him. He wanted to be with her so badly that when she rejected him, he took his life. "Letters explained his grief/but she would never read." He told her that he was upset and explained how much he wanted her, but she ignored him, and never bothered to read his letters. He killed himself, and then she finally realized that she really loved him, but he wouldnt ever know. She hid it from everyone because she didn't want anyone to know her feelings. Years past, she remained unmarried, and still thought about him. My favorite line is the very end "Time favors no one and if we wait/we too can fall in love/a second too late." If you hide how you feel for so long, no one, not even yourself, will know how you really feel until its too late. The music that goes along with this song, is in no way sad like the lyrics. In fact, it's one of the more heavier songs off of Underoath's Changing of Times cd. So in a way, it makes the song sound more like their mad because this may have happened to someone they know and/or love.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 1:20 PM 1 comments
Song Analysis #1 - Moving for the Sake of Motion by Underoath
Someone please turn the lights back on
I've been wandering here for days, disconnected, and in search for
New air to breathe in
I don't think I can fix this
Don't think I could change
But that's the problem
We never speak to Him
Our closing walls have caged us in
And I can't quite remember
This was the first time I didn't say enough
This was the only time I kept it close enough
Brace yourself! They're not waking up
Oh, my god
I hate the me that I've become,
This needy useless forgetting one
Truthfully I can't be the me that I've washed up to be
Don't stop breathing
The walls have just begun to spin
Just let the water calm you this time
It's all around you, just open your eyes and take a look
It will never kill you; not this time
It's all around you
We're surrounded for all I care
Brace yourself right now
Lights out random breathing
I can't keep swimming, can't keep my head up
Posted by *Care Bear* at 1:10 PM 0 comments
Free Choice #1
In my architecture class this semester I designed a house that is my pride and joy. I spent a long time designing it, and making the floor plan flawless. After every class, I would print out what I had done that day on a regular size sheet of paper, and edit it at home. My inspiration came from looking at house plans online, and realizing what type of home was my favorite. I came across one house that amazed me. It was in the French Chateauesque style, and all the ornate decorations really inspired me, which led to the design for this house. I brought all the components that I would want in my dream house together in this impressive design. Everything from 2 double car garages, a courtyard, fireplaces in many rooms, and a large master bathroom was included. The decoration and details on the front of the house took weeks to complete. Having to draw out each line on the computer was very time consuming, but it was all worth it when it came together. Once I designed the front of the house, the other sides became obnoxious to draw. The roof line was unusual, the windows were many different sizes, but I had to stick to it and finish. I still haven’t finished all of the elevations, but mainly because I haven’t worked on it in a while, but what I do have has become my pride and joy for the year.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 12:55 PM 0 comments
Cultural Event #2 - The Passion Play
The Passion Play was performed at Old Fort Baptist Church. It is about the Easter story and Jesus' last few days remaining alive. It is a musical portraying all the miracles he performed, how he was betrayed by one of his own disciples ultimately leading to his crucifixion, and when he rose from the tomb.
This play is performed every year right around Easter. There is always so much time and effort spent into making this play as extravagent as it is. The set on the main stage stays the same throughout the entire play, but the backround changes to different scenes. While there were a few mistakes, they were easy to look past. Few people forgot their lines, someone forgot to take their glasses off, and the crown fell off during the crucifixion scene. Minor problems that were not very noticable. It was the man who played Jesus' first year, so there were a few kinks that needed ironing out. He was very monotonous, and rarely showed great emotion. Although it was less than perfect, the play still commanded a great response from the audience. Every year people are so amazed and moved by it, that no one cares about the mess ups. I just can't wait to see it again next year.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 12:37 PM 0 comments
Monday, April 28, 2008
Cultural Event #1 - Once Upon A Mattress
Once Upon A Mattress is based on the story The Princess and the Pea.
The Princess and the Pea is about a prince who needs to marry a princess, but everyone he found had something wrong with them. Every time a potential was found, his parents would test her to make sure that she was a real princess, and every single princess failed. They hear of one who hasn't been tested yet, but lives very far away. A knight goes to retrieve her, and arrives soaking wet and covered in mud. Everyone in the castle was appalled at the way she arrived, and doubted her. The prince slowly starts to fall in love with her, and helps her prepare for the tests. The queen decided that one night she would test her by placing a single pea underneath 20 mattresses thinking she would never feel it and sleep perfectly fine. She used this test because according to the queen, a princess should be sensitive. The next morning, the princess looks very tired and claims she wasn't able to sleep at all because the mattress was way too lumpy. She passed the test, and was then able to marry the prince.
This performance was very entertaining. It was easy to follow, all all the actors did a wonderful job. The princess did a wonderful job of portraying the odd and crazy characteristics of the character. She was full of energy, and had the most remarkable voice that echoed above everyone else's. The props were minimal, but tasteful at the same time. What was used was switched around enough in each scene to really portray the different scenes. My favorite scene was when the prince sang with his father, the king, about the bird and the bees. The fact that the king was silent up until the very end of the play really showed how words weren't needed for his character. The queen was loud, obnoxious, and bossy throughout the play, and it was wonderful when she lost her voice at the end. The entire play kept me laughing and kept my attention the entire time. It was awesome.
Posted by *Care Bear* at 6:07 PM 0 comments