Stephanie is Thinking...

Tonight is one of those nights...

2010-05-20T02:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight is one of those "now or never" kind of nights. You either go to bed now, or you won't get any sleep before dawn. Tonight is one of those nights when you are so tired, but your brain won't shut the hell up. You make to do lists in your head, resolutions you'll start tomorrow, phone calls and bills you will follow up on the next day; it's one of those nights, that as it progresses, your thoughts and lists melt and mold into one solitary, run on sentence. It's as if your brain retaliating for reading craptastic novels, or wasting two hours of your life watching movies you've already seen before: your brain tries to tell you: ZORRO STILL WINS, SO GO TO BED! But you don't. And then hours later, your brain wants to talk to you about all the shit you have to get done the next day. It also reminds you, in a menacing way, how little sleep you are going to have. It makes you already dread work and the fight you'll have with your eyelids to stay open.
Argh!!!! Just the thought of pounding back one ghetto mocha after another makes you want to scream at the approaching agony. Bur no matter the dreadful sleepiness you face the next day, you can't help but shift this way and that. First I was too hot, then too cold; so I changed my pjs twice in one half hour. Then it's your partner's snoring, your cat's nudging and purring, your mind that still won't shut the hell up... it's amazing your hair follicles aren't bleeding from where you just ripped out all your hair.
What else is amazing, is that this is my first blog that I've ever done that wasn't for school. And of course, I'm bitching. So I'd like to close with something positive: even though I'm awake right now, I'm going to bed knowing that despite my mind's incessant bitching at me; I am still a very blessed woman to have a cat that purrs at me, a man who loves me (even though his nostrils don't) and great coworkers to share my silly, sleepy stupor with tomorrow.

Good night and God bless!
Stephanie Ann

First Thoughts about the Almanac

2010-01-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

When I first started reading the Almanac, I did not know what to expect. I did not even read the back of the book until I realized I needed at least some clue as to who this book will follow. Seese, our white girl, no longer a cocaine sniffer, main character, is Lecha's nurse/assistant. So far it seems Seese's main job is to ensure Lecha does not overdose on Demerol. Lecha, who is a psychic and a twin, is hiding and getting stoned in Tucson. Tucson is where her sister's house and ranch resides. Enter Zeta. Actually, let's just say this is where everyone "enters." On this ranch within the first few chapters we meet a lot of other characters. Sterling, "the hired man," got the job because he announced he's done some gardening work to two strangers in a bar. He seems like a lone wolf just doing his job thus far, but has begun to open up to Seese. We also meet Ferro, Lecha's son, and Paulie, an ex con (say that sentence out loud because it rhymes).
Ferro, hates his Mom. I would be just as pissy if my Mom left me with my Aunt when I was a babe. And then there is Paulie. Paulie came onto the ranch with Ferro after serving time. He asked to work for Ferro and that was that. The opening scene really did stick with me. We meet six people in a few pages, there are guns being cleaned in the kitchen, drug addicts recovering and doping up, a birthday, prison talk, etc. It's just a lot to absorb while trying to settle into a novel. All in all, I do look forward to reading the rest of this novel.

Native American Literature: Post #1

2010-01-18T08:35:00.000-08:00

So let me get this straight... Raven ate too many berries and got the runs, runs in which became America? I am very entertained with that creation story. However, I like the Skywoman better. I like the idea that a woman's life was saved by a turtle (one of my favorite animals) and then she did the Skywoman Shuffle that created America. That is a much nicer story or idea of creation. There is one beef I have with that creation story. While I am happy it is a woman that creates the land, she creates it because she fell through the sky hole because she was too nosy. It reminds me of Pandora's box and how it is a woman who falters. But then again, at least it is a tale of a woman creator in for what is a patriarchal society.
Our first day of discussion and learning was a lot of fun. While I learned interesting creation stories, I also learned the basic outline for oral tradition. One of my favorite features of oral tradition is that it shows the listener things are not as bad as they seem because things have been worse. There is a lesson to learn but the listener doesn't have to feel doomed because worse has happened. Oral tradition fascinates me because it can carry years and years of stories, lessons and traditions without being documented.
For the first week of reading, we were assigned Smoke Dancing by Eric Gansworth. Mr. Gansworth (as pointed out by our instructor) is also Native American and from a reservation on the East Coast. If my memory serves me correctly, his reservation is in New York. Because of his heritage, the chapters we read felt authentic. It was not an author who had to guess or bullshit his way through the looking glass of Native American culture. However, what really surprised me was his ability to narrate a story as a woman. When I realized that the voice was a woman, I was surprised that he could capture is so well. Men whine that they don't know what women want or are thinking, but he seemed to have a pretty firm grasp of inner workings of a female.
Also, I liked the poetic style of writing. At least, it felt poetic to me. I like how she talked about her name, Fiction. She is a story teller. However, I loved the passage about how most pieces of fiction stem from a certain truth. I agree with that. It all feels very clever and poetic at the same time. It has been a nice to read of novel not centered around another white girl in love with some form of a monster. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the Twilight series, but I am really looking forward to the readings in this class.

Prose to S-V-O

2009-11-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Background knowledge: this paper was for another English class looking at advertisements and how they affect nature. Nature could be defined however I wanted it to be. This was my introduction and I had to break up my thesis to make to S-V-O sentences. I only did one paragraph because Blogger will not let me copy anything onto new posts. It is really annoying. So I have to retype all the things I intend to copy and paste, i.e. my prose for this S-V-O workshop. So Google, if you are listening, please fix this feature with Blogger. It's really annoying. Thanks.

Intro paragraph revised into S-V-O
De Beers, a diamond company, has been using the slogan "a diamond is forever" for more than fifty years. Can a geological gem last forever? De Beers is promising quality diamonds and quality relationships. The relationship itself will last forever if you have one of their diamonds to support it. Relationships are often defined by material possessions exchanged, particularly with the exchange of diamonds. A person's desire for diamond jewelry is natural. The ideology, pathos, ethos and logos in diamond advertisements promise that diamonds make relationships healthier and happier.

2009-11-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

A note about the original:

This is the first paragraph for a creative writing paper I turned in for Eng. 302. Let's see what happens when I add some brush strokes to it.

Original:
She looks a lot like her mother, except for her blue eyes. Steel gray somedays and almost green on others; her eyes are exactly like her father's were. Amanda was in the kitchen getting her favorite Hi-C juice box out from the refridgerator when her mom came into the kitchen. Amanda kept quiet and slowly turned to face her mother. Closing the refridgerator door, Amanda immediately felt her body starting to sweat with the cool air gone and kept behind the buzzing silver doors behind her. She has not done anything wrong but she might as well have. Her mother, Marty, who now goes by Martha, is as unforgiving of Amanda's eyes as a woman would be of her husband's murderer.

Original with Brush strokes:
She looks a lot like her mother, beautifully similar (appositive), except for her blue eyes. Color changing (absolute), steel gray somedays and almost green on others; her eyes are exactly like her father's were. Amanda, beyond reasonable thirst (appositive), was in the kitchen getting her all time, favorite Hi-C juice box( adjectives out of order) out from the refridgerator when her mom came into the kitchen. Heart racing and closing the refridgerator door (absolute), Amanda immediately felt her body starting to sweat hot and balmy beads (adjectives out of order) once the cool air disappeared behind the silver, buzzing doors behind her. She has not done anything wrong but she might as well have. Her mother Marty, who now goes by Martha, is as unforgiving and unkind (adjectives out of order) of Amanda's lovely and bright eyes (adjectives out of order) as a woman would be of her husband's murderer.

And the mini lessons begin...

2009-10-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Shannon and I braved the front of the classroom to teach introductory elements. I won't lie; I did get confused when Barbara made a mention that a lack of comma in one specific sentence was wrong. I thought the author had simply made a grammatical choice and that he hadn't made any errors. I appreciate that we had a workshop day and spent the time trying to find errors in print. But as it turns out, a lot of the "errors" I found weren't errors at all. They were sometimes pieces of grammar that were "breaking the rules," but mostly, they were errors because I had made them so. It is getting frustrating to think I will have to turn in a final product for this scrapbook. I can only hope that I can manage finding ten suitable errors in print. However, I will rely on the helpful hints from Barbara and Nitty Gritty, and I am sure I will find my way.
In all honesty, I am hoping that my future students are so good at grammar by the time they reach my class, I am merely making a few check marks near where punctuation and grammar use that could improve. I don't want to feel like an imposter about grammar, for the sake of future students, I hope I get with the current program. I say current for a reason, and that is because it seems that my grammar choices are ok if you are using the old grammar structure and rules. But apparently, we are now of the more modern, new way of using grammar and its rules. One thing that has been helping me get up to date on modifying my grammar into the correct form is our workshop, white board list. The FANBOYS and other rules are only going to grow, and I intend on making a HUGE list once I am done. Perhaps that will help keep my grammar in stride!
Here is my question for this week: is anyone else still using "older" grammar techniques, and do you find yourself confused? Is it ok to keep some, if not all, of the "old" grammar ways? Can it count as a style choice, rather than an error?

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Comma, And

2009-10-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Barbara was right, she did rock our worlds. At least, Barbara rocked mine. I was taught to leave the comma out before an "and". That usually, they were completely unnecessary. And then Barbara came along and told me "nope, it's grammatically correct to put the comma in." But now I am confused. People have said that it can be a matter of style of choice. Others have said that it matter and the comma should be there in most (if not all) cases. I am going to need more explanation on that. For now I am going to watch my writing and see what happens. Even in that last sentence I am almost positive the comma I left out is a correct way of writing my sentence. As I understand it, it seems that there must be a second thought/a complete sentence that follows the "and" to have a comma before the "and" in the sentence. For example, if I a were to write: I like English classes that have fun reading and I love a good book", I should insert the comma before the and so that it reads, "I like English classes that have fun reading, and I love a good book." This is my question: can either way be written? Is it okay to break a rule such as this since it seems others do too?
In class for the Socratic circle, we talked about breaking rules. But I feel like it wasn't established when we are supposed to break them. Sam mentioned that you have to know the rules to know how to break them. But then Barbara suggested that we must break the rules to know the rules. So after we know the rules, is it okay to break them? And is the rule I heard growing up "when in doubt, leave the comma out" even a legitimate rule? Was it once okay but now the dominant style has changed? Is everything left to the dominant style or were the rules written a long time ago and they have never changed, only writers have? I guess I have a lot questions bubbling in my head as I write this post. Because as promised, my mind is blown!

Socratic Circle Fun and Grammar Greatness

2009-09-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today, I am going to begin this blog post with talk about the two Socratic circles. Since there have only been two, we will see how much I can say about them. First, I would like to mention I liked the second one better than the first. The first wasn't lacking in discussion or critical thought; however, the first one was limited. My limited I mean that people on the outer circle weren't allowed to talk. They could have had several great contributions that got overlooked because they forgot or couldn't find a way back to the topic by the time it was their turn to talk. I liked the idea of maybe having a "Jesus" chair so that if there were to be two groups to be taken one group at a time, then a least someone could sit where Jesus would, add their two cents and return to the outer circle. In a class I had not to far back, we had four to six people sit in the middle of the class and then anyone on the outer circle could tap their shoulder and take their place in the discussion. That might be fun for this class because it would ensure the outer folks a chance to talk and it would be a good way to promote participation.
As for the grammar part, I am still learning. However, I would like to note that this class isn't taking the boring approach. Seriously, this has been the best way I have learned to use proper grammar in a while. I think it is because of the newspaper headlines that we circle and write out its grammatical structure. I was kind of struggling with some of the sentence patterns, but once I could see them broken down in a newspaper, it made sense. When we had to do the rock and roll (or at least when I used the rock and roll) magnet exercise I got a little confused. It was because I had to build the patterns first. If I could have done the newspaper grammar seeking structure exercise first, I may have been better able to develop the sentence structures we were practicing with the magnets. Either way, I am feeling better about S-V-O structures and the such on page 4 in our course packs.
However, I wouldn't mind a little extra help. I had trouble with the plural second person part on the worksheet from last Wednesday. Can someone help me out with that section? I feel kind of silly asking, but otherwise, I am going to say it's the "you both saw the cat" and such things like that. Hope you guys had a good weekend!

And I'll Just Keep on Learning...

2009-09-20T20:13:00.001-07:00

There has been a lot of learning to do in English 326. I am really enjoying the Nitty Gritty book; it's entertaining and educational. Within the recent pages of required reading, I've learned that when I have written "would've" I mostly like was supposed to write it out as "would of." For example, instead of saying "I would've gone to the market if I had money", I should write, "I would have gone to the market if I had had the money." However, even now I am not totally sure I wrote that sentence correctly. I also learned much more about intransitive and transitive verbs. I really liked the class we had last Wednesday. The magnetic poetry (mine was rock and roll) workshop was interesting. I obviously have some work to do because I confused the intransitive and transitive verb sentences I created.
Last Wednesday we also learned three major sentence patterns. We learned about subject-verb, subject-verb-direct object and subject-linking verb-subject complement sentence patterns. Though not all of my examples were wrong, I thought I would practice in my blog. And instead of a question, I thought I would ask anyone who is reading to check my examples for accuracy.
Examples for S-V sentence pattern:
The stacks crumbled.
His glasses fell.
Examples for S-V-O sentence pattern:
The host took our jackets.
He ate the cookies.
Examples for S-LV-SC sentence pattern:
The muffins look delicious.
Her house is messy.

Now that I am done with my examples, I am hoping that I am leaving this blog as correct piece of grammatical awesomeness. If anyone is out there reading this blog, please drop me a comment so that I can see if I am writing my sentence structures accurately.

Forgot to ask a question...

2009-09-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

... In conclusion, can someone give me an example or explain where they feel comfortable putting semi-colons and/or colons? Thanks!

Grammar in Two Weeks

2009-09-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks, I have learned a lot about grammar and punctuation. So far, it seems grammar is a language of its own. Publishers and magazines can choose which grammar language to use according to their "house style." I've learned the plurals for complicated names or places. Let's take the "Joneses" for example. The "Joneses" is written just like the way I have written it. I've learned that there is the written form of a word (Edited American English) and the form in which a word is spoken (Standard American English). And if that wasn't enough, there are old and new ways to use grammar and punctuation. So before I can jump on any article's case in the Evergreen, I must remember that it could be the Evergreen's house style, or it could also be grammar's new way of saying a word while I am stuck on the old.
I am no where need perfect when it comes to identifying the proper uses of grammar and punctuation. I know the intentions of this class is to perfect my art and usage of wonderful grammar, but I will continue to make mistakes so long as I am human. As one of my classes puts it, that's what shitty first drafts are for (thanks Crag!). However, I have already learned some important things that I can keep working on and I know I will learn more. It's encouraging to know I am not the only student who has her hesitations. But I am also comforted knowing I don't completely suck as grammar. Simply put, I just have room for improvement; but hey, who doesn't?
Now unless they make goggles to see your paper's imperfections or they make a Microsoft's Office program that does ALL the grammatical work, I am going to have to continue working on spotting where my writing has taken a turn for the worst. I hope that I can establish my own "house style" and decrease any and all errors in punctuation and grammar. But of course, as I live and breathe, there will always be typos to correct and errors to redeem. But since I have learned so much so far in English 326, I feel pretty confident it is only going to get better.

2009-08-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

As a writer, I feel pretty comfortable with mechanical and grammatical issues to do with writing. On the mechanical side, I would like to feel more comfortable with the placement of semi-colons v. commas. I would to like to know if and when to use one rather than the other. Commas feel comfortable and safe and I think in some occasions I've used commas where semi-colons should have gone. It's not that I always fail at using semi-colons, but sometimes it seems like I am placing them after the wrong word.
Also, sometimes I get tricked by the placement of commas or periods when quotations are around. I grew up thinking that commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks. However, I see the opposite happening in the books and articles I read. For example, instead of seeing "Hi Jane!" said Samantha; I am seeing "Hi Jane", and then Samantha walked away. Also, notice I braved a semi-colon in my example. I am hoping I placed it in the right place. I've been wondering if there are two ways to mix those types of punctuations and if it just depends on the context. I hope to learn a little bit more about that mystery in class. I know sometimes I am off with fragments as well. I like using fragments when writing. I find sometimes they make statements funnier or stronger. Fragments can be fun; however, I know that spell check will remind me fun isn't what some professors are looking for in an essay about ancient world civilizations. Besides, I don't imagine I can fragment up the blackboard while teaching students the proper way to read and write.
Other than some misgivings I have about proper placement, I am fairly comfortable with grammar and mechanical issues in writing. What's funny is that I am sure there are plenty of issues I could work in with my writing and the issues are right there for me to see, but I don't recognize them. I hope whatever issues I could work on will go noticed in this class and improve my craft. By improving my craft, I won't get angry parents in my office asking why it's OK I mark up a student's essay but I don't spell check my emails!

Response to "Stanger than Fiction" prompt #5

2008-05-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

My childhood, to be frank, was f'in nuts. My parents were divorced by the time I was seven and from there, my life was a series of adventures (good and bad). There was one night I will never forget and I could only have been about eight or nine when it happened. It was the night my brother got caught up with some straight up "Gs" from the so-called "hood." I didn't know what all of this meant at the time, but looking back, I know that the parts of Kent, WA we lived in were pretty sketchy.

My mom and I were home for the night when my brother, Jimmy, came storming through our front door, huffing and puffing. I didn't know why he seemed so out of breath, but he simply didn't look the same. He looked worried and slightly scared.

"Mom! Lock the door! I want to make sure they didn't follow me!" He hollered.

"Jim, what the hell is going on?" My mom's voice sounded so scared.

Jim walked away from the front door and more into the living room.

"These guys were hitting on Mary and started to harrass her. So I told them to fuck off." Jim, always the steady hero in Mary's life. Mary was his sweetheart and no one (since they were sixteen) has ever gotten away with messing with her.

"So they tried to start a fight, and I was like, 'back of punks.'" Jim kept telling his story about how this "Mario" character and his gang kept threatening them, but somehow, him and Mary got away.

To this day, I still don't completely understand what happened. Jim and Mario never met up again, nor did Mario's gang ever find Jim or Mary;but for a week, I was on lock down. My mother was short of screaming, "Don't stand near the windows!" Secret service is more relaxed than my mother was that week my brother got caught in a gang problem.

These were the sort of misadventures of my youth.

Why others should consider taking English 110

2008-04-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was thinking, like my blog space title says I do, that English 110 is a great college class. It's one of the few classes that relates to people who are between the ages of 17-23. What I mean by "relate" is that we are reading authors from our time, if you will. This isn't The Great Gatsby 101, or Shakespeare101, this is "Reading you might actually enjoy" 110. Please don't assume that I didn't enjoy my Shakespeare class or that I think The Great Gatsby sucks, but it wasn't written for us. I personally feel that the books explored in 110 are almost perfectly suited for college students. It takes us out of our own lives but keeps us within our generation.
While I cannot title or even begin to accurately describe our generation, I can say that literature wise, this is what we are looking for. We like to read a little graphic novel here, a little sarcastic adventure there. It all translates into something that we have been looking for or already scamming on at Barnes and Noble. For example, I had already considered picking up Never Let Me Go at Barnes and Noble on one of my Sunday pilgrimages to my mecca of books. When I saw it on the syllabus, I thought this class really was going to be awesome and live up to what I was looking for.
If you are wondering what I was looking for, I was pretty much looking to A) fill up my schedule and B) enhance my "books to read" list. But some of the books actually spoke to me and I won't doubt that some of the books spoke to other students as well. Persepolis was an amazing read and I am looking forward to buying the entire series. My point that I am trying to make is that there is something for everyone in 110. Whether it was a short story or The Time Traveler's Wife, everyone got something.
So anyone reading this who is attending Washington State University, I would encourage you to take English 110 if only to make your "what I've read" list look a little more impressive and post-modernism approved.

Let's Run With Scissors!!

2008-04-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today, I spoke to the class about choosing the memoir, Running with Scissors as the book to vote into next year's required reading. I've decided to take the discussion further and blog about the reasons it should be chosen. I'll admit that this book has its graphic moments, i.e. when our Augusten (who, mind you, is gay) loses his virginity to a 34-year-old man. Or (as mentioned in class) when you read the chapter titled "Queen Helene's Cholesterol," one can only shudder at the thought of using a hair gel as a lubricant. But aside from the gross parts, you are guaranteed a good read.

It is my belief that if you are laughing with the text (not at it), you have yourself a good book. Some reviews said it reads like a Sedaris book, and who doesn't love David Sedaris? Running with Scissors is probably one of the most worthy memoirs simply because he can laugh at himself. Being depressed is tired and it was refreshing to indulge in a book that doesn't have the "woe is me" stigma. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a person who has gone through a lot of bullshit and then can publish it; however, I get tired of reading books that are deliberately meant to depress you. What happened to calling what's done is done or moving on. As Disney said, KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!

Back to to the book... it really is a genuinely funny book. While some may call in troubled or too controversial, a little controversy has never hurt anyone. Plus, it's been so widely credited, Hollywood finally made it into a movie. That tells you two things: one, people actually enjoyed the book enough to star, direct and produce a movie about it, and two, the book really hit a national wave of popularity. So it's not just be getting excited about this book. Honestly, I encourage this book to be added to next year's curriculum. The students will appreciate the different style and will be welcomed as a breath of fresh air.

Ah, to be a bigger poser than a seventh grade "punk"...

2008-04-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

I've read many books from many different others, but I suppose if I could pose as an author, I would go with Tucker Max. He is the author of the celebrated and debated I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. I would pose as that guy so that I can turn around and perhaps make women respect themselves enough not to sleep with a guy who is later going to post details online. Here is a man who will talk online about anal sex and how it filmed it without letting the girl in on the camera in the closet... or the guy taping in the closet. Or better yet a man who said, "After that, she swallowed every bit of my seed like a nun taking communion."
So why would I pose as an egotistical jerk out of all the brilliant authors known to planet Earth?? Because a man who is a self proclaimed "dick" or "ultimate bachelor" doesn't need to be writing books and making women feel like they are dispensable. Say Tucker Max "found God" or is now in a "serious relationship and respects women," women who previously thought he was funny might feel like dumb asses for every agreeing with him. For laughing at their own expense. Perhaps women will embrace sexual freedom with dignity if Max published a "I've Changed" kind of novel. For some reason, I simply think some will change Their opinion of how Max behaves if he himself has changed his opinion.
My posing would start with individual apologies written in email and blog form to all the women I embarrassed. Then I would start working on publishing blogs (and then a book) about appreciating women and how my "new girlfriend" has changed my life. His new outlook on life could also change the way men think of women as well. Tucker Max has his follower who think he is a God. Well what if their so-called "God" all of a sudden worships women? Will they follow suit. I think some might.
In no way am I saying women are superior, but since we carry the human race within our wombs, I say we deserve a little more respect than being video taped without or knowledge.

If I were to write a mystery novel...

2008-04-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

My questions about Dustin Long's novel and how it came to be weren't all that interesting, so I thought I would talk about something else. It is my ambition to write a novel (maybe a couple of them) someday, but I never considered writing a mystery. Upon facing the question: "If you were to write a mystery novel, what would you do with it?," I really had to think. I suppose if I were to write a mystery, I would set it in America. I wouldn't want to write a mystery novel set some where I've never been. In particular, I would set it in Seattle, Washington. It would be interesting to explore and research Seattle, WA during the sixties or seventies.

But I would probably stay within the here and now. I would want to stay away from the possible turn points that could turn my mystery story into a slutty, "who done it" type of book. Aside from where it would be set and the fact that I don't want it to turn into a sleazy, erotic mystery novel... that's as far as I got concerning my mystery novel.

However, I have always wanted to write a children's book. My original plans concerning a children's book was to write about different types of families, but who knows? Maybe I could explore a title such as, "Who Stole Michael's Halloween Candy?" It could be an epic puzzler for kids tracking down the bad guy. But chances are... I will stick with my different families idea. This idea came from when Michael, one of my little brothers, started asking why I didn't call his mother "Mom." He knows I am his sister but doesn't understand the extent of our families quirks, i.e. divorce. Perhaps mysteries aren't for me, so I will stick to my family idea.

Glossary Term Number Two

2008-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today I presented the term "Ideal Reader." An ideal reader is a reader who essentially knows and interprets the author's work the exact way he or she intended to have it understood. The ideal reader also reacts to the novel the exact way the author would want the reader to. Basically, the ideal reader is every author's dream.
I felt this applied to Dustin Long especially since he didn't answer any of our questions with specifics. He wanted us to be ideal readers and figure it out. He wants us to interpret is writing. I also felt it applied to him because his novel is a mystery novel. We need to follow it exactly so we don't loose a clue. We almost have to be ideal readers.
I feel an ideal reader changes among every author. It just depends what they want us to feel or see within thier texts. So long as we read thier novel, they at least have the royalties. :)

2008-03-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

If I could travel back in time, I know I wouldn’t want to change anything. I know that is not apart of the question, but I just wanted to state that at the beginning. With that said, I wouldn’t want to go back and see myself either. I have had my fair share of awkward in my youth. So the question is, why would I want to see that? Sure, I had my moments of glory, such as when I was the star in my high school musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.” Or when I was in “Bye Bye Birdie,” I was really happy. It would be interesting to watch myself in the act of something I love doing. But really, I wouldn’t want to go back in time. Life is happening now and no amount of time in the past can change where I am or enhance the life I live today.
However, if I could go back in time, it wouldn’t be to go back and investigate my own life. I would definitely go back in time to see Disneyland open for the first time. Meeting Walt Disney would be awesome. Maybe I would go back and see exciting monuments, statues and such architectural landmarks being built all through out the world, especially Europe. There are so many cool places, landmarks and times in history I would have loved to witnesses, but I am more than content in the here and now.

Glossary Term Number One

2008-03-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

My first glossary term for the semester is "short story." Short story, according to dictionary.com is an adjective that describes a story that is 10, 000 words of prose fiction. However, The Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory says that short stories range from 1600 and 20,000 words. I believe that to be a more fair definition. The literary dictionary also states that the short story "father" could be considered the following: fairy tales, fables, legends, myths and so on. The Italian words for short story is "novella" and the German word is "novelle."
The relevance of today's glossary word is that the readings from today were in fact short stories. The stories met the criteria of short story material: no more than 20,000 words and the focus was on few characters. Also, the stories were featured in an anthology, a common thing for short stories. So there you have it, glossary term number one from Stephanie Galvagno.

Remembering 9/11

2008-02-28T23:50:00.000-08:00

I woke up to my clock radio alarm and it was Jackie and Bender of Kiss 106.1 telling me a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. At fourteen, I was already so jaded that I said to myself “that sucks” and walked into my bathroom to get ready. Now, originally, I thought it was an accident. Plus, I had just woken up (and from my memory of it) only one plane had hit the WTC thus far. At that age (and from my own personal experience) I learned that poo happens.
It wasn’t until I got to school I realized the plane crash was something more than a mere accident. I was in natural/Earth science and my teacher told us what happened. Still groggy, he turned on the news. I didn’t know what to think. It was unreal. Being a young, freshman in high school, naturally the world revolved around me. I’d never think of our nation and of other countries in conflict. The truth was I only cared about MY conflicts. I think I grew up a little when that happened.
I went home and when my mother walked through the door, the TV went straight to the news stations. She talked about how that day brought her back to how she felt and where she was the day Kennedy was assassinated. We were in shock together. After that, I remember a series of dedication shows appearing on TV, especially on MTV. But I remember it was almost taboo to see pictures of the WTC (in films/TV) after a couple of years.
But now, Ann Coulter says horrible things about families who lost firemen, employees, etc. and 9/11 is now a political catapult of anger and hatred.

I loved reading Persepolis

2008-02-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Persepolis, for me, was beautifully moving. I felt like there were two main characters to follow: Marji and Iran. Iran and the revolution was a character in itself. It broke hearts and affected Marji so much, the country came to life in the story. I felt like I was watching both grow into beings niether were familiar with. It was moving to read a character I couldn't really relate to.
Sometimes it gets really tiring reading a character I already know, whether it be because I relate to them or because author's aren't branching out. But Marji and her culture are people and places I have not aquainted myself with. I have felt loss and similiar pains Marji has felt, but other than that I didn't know her or Iran. It was refreshing to learn new things about Iran and about a girl I probably would have never met in real life.
Something else that really surprised me was I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. Truthfully, I am only like reading "Zits" from the Sunday comics. I'll dabble, but never dedicate myself to comics or graphic novels. However, I didn't just need the deadline of school to make me read this book. I got into it. Instead of the pictures bugging me, they drew me in. The way God looked, the veils... I am not sure I would have read it the same without the pictures to accompany the words. In general, I was moved and I actually want to read the rest of the series.

Guest Teacher Inspired Poems

2008-02-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

So, these are the poems I wrote when the guest teacher came to teach. I thought this class was interesting and even though the poetry may not be rockin’, I enjoyed the process.

Poem one:
A river of icy-snow death, at least that’s what my friends and I call it, is beneath the windows. Ice covers the walk ways with off white and gray colors I don’t want to see anymore. Bare trees extend their naked branches over (where I’m sure) I’ll fall on my ass.

Poem two:
There is a river of icy snow death,
At least that’s what my friends and I call it.
And it is beneath the windows.
Snow and ice cover the walk ways with
Off white and gray colors I don’t want to see anymore.
Bare trees extend their naked branches over where I’ve fallen.
But today, I don’t care.

(I know I didn’t change much, but I feel the attitude at the end of the poem is little different.)

Poem three:
There is a river of icy snow death,
At least that’s what my friends and I call it.
And it is beneath the windows.
Snow and ice cover the walk ways with
Off white and gray colors I don’t want to see anymore.
Bare trees extend their naked branches over where I’ve fallen.
But today, I don’t care.

Today, winter doesn’t prevail.
No matter the storm that flickers light,
There is enough light to see that God hasn’t forgotten me.

Thoughts on Poetry

2008-01-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

Honestly, after last Wednesday, I can’t say I know what poetry is. For me poetry is a series of words strung together in some form or another, which usually mean something to either the poet or the reader, or both. Also, said words should be creative and original. At least I think that is what poetry should be like. Some people think advertisements are poetic, others think only poets like Poe and Shakespeare knew what they were doing. Frankly, I think the concept of poetry is rather fluid and I wish it didn’t always have a “snooty” connotation to it. Actually, I wish I could just understand what some poets are trying to convey in their poems. Poets have all the creative freedom in the world and still I feel like I am reading the same confusion.
I feel writing has the capability of accomplishing most anything, this includes poetry. Beautiful images of being by the sea, what it is to be in love, endless metaphors and similes showing and creating emotions are a big success in poetry. Poetry has done well with being secretive and confusing as well. Poetry isn’t always my favorite thing to read simply because it is capable of so much, but often I don’t even know what I am reading. Poetry also isn’t easy. Actually, that is an understatement. Poetry is really complicated and sometime annoying. I do like poetry but I like to keep it simple.
Simple or not, poetry often has value and meaning to the poet and the reader. Its meaning is often insight into love, life, woes and other such topics pertaining to life and its surroundings. With that said, I still don’t know what poetry means. Does poetry simply mean that the author couldn’t write a story or a novel? Does poetry mean that we are a little shallow because we don’t pay attention to it? Who really knows what poetry means? All I know is that poetry is tricky but sometimes worth reading.

A Story About a Most Unfortunate Animal Named Pepper

2008-01-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

Pepper was a skunk who ran away from his adopted family of possums. He ran away because his adopted dad used to hit him and blame him, instead of his punk possums kids. Pepper was a sweet skunk but rarely smelled like one since his vulgar older brothers scared him on a daily basis. It was no wonder he left: constant beatings and practical jokes at his expense wasn’t how he wanted to spend his youth.

Pepper had lost his mother to a truck driver speeding down his old pond view drive. His dad died a year earlier from spraying the wrong Texan on his ranch. Losing his mother and then living with ugly possums was more than he could bear.

Upon his first day of being an official runaway, he came across a Baptist Church. The minister found him sitting in the shade among the steps and the minister lifted his left boot and gave him a righteous kick to the curb. Pepper had only wanted shade but the minister only cared about what he was, not who he was. It was there Pepper decided to make his pilgrimage back home.

But rejection was all Pepper saw along the way home. Each time he sought refuge among a church, ministers and priest would throw Bibles and burning candles at him. Was it so much to ask to sit in the shade and talk it out with Jesus? It was tough being a skunk in the Bible belt of Texas.

Finally, Pepper made it back to where his furrow had been, but there wasn’t anything left of his home. After crying for endless hours, Pepper was spotted by Animal Control. Poor Pepper had never made any moral mistakes or poor judgments. He simply was always in the wrong place at the wrong time and truly down on his luck. It was there at the empty furrow he made peace with the life he was given and the death he didn’t choose. At least he would see his true parents again.

Why I read what I read...

2008-01-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

When I was younger I believed in the tooth fairy. I thought that the tooth fairy was capable of more than just taking my tooth for a good price. I figured that I could bargain with this woman and so I did. Instead of giving me money, I would leave her a polite note asking for a book. So when I woke up, the “tooth fairy” would have a book for me. Alice in Wonderland was one of my first books given to me and to this day, I still love the story of Alice falling into a wonderland.
I am a slower reader. I’m not saying it takes me four hours to get through one chapter, but I am in between a medium and slow pace of reading. I used to be in advanced reading classes as a kid, but somewhere along the way I got too lazy or leisurely with reading. But I figure that I still read for pleasure and at least I am reading. Anyhow, I read because it took me away into places, magical lands and the wonders of Disney. You could say I was hooked in at a young age.
For a period of time, I was reading to escape. I liked that there were characters in all these different books that I related to. They understood me. Such as Margaret from Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. Call me cliché, but I loved that book. There was also this book I read when my parents were getting divorced that I adored titled P.S. Longer Letter Later. Those two books got me through my awkward stages of youth.
But mostly, I read because I love stories. I like reading them, telling them and being apart of them. It doesn’t matter what kind of story; truthfully, I don’t have a favorite genre (at least not yet). Reading is an adventure and often inspires ideas and adventures of my own. It’s just remarkable what books contribute to my life. I probably sound mildly psychotic but that happens when you are a freak for books. Or when you start our reading because the “tooth fairy” aided you in your quest for the written word…