Junkyard Quote 3, Week 7

"Art is about connections."
               -Stefano Vagnini

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 7

""Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place."
                                        -Tao Te Ching
This was an interesting read because it goes against everything I have been taught. This comes from the Chinese concept of "We Wei," where they believe that even in doing nothing beauty can be created.

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 7

"Darkness within Darkness. The gateway to all understanding."
                                                    -Tao Te Ching

Calisthenic 1, Week 6

This is one of the examples from the Writing Poetry book. Showing versus Telling

1. The coach was angry.

Coach Fleming's was has red as a bottle of hot sauce. He yelled at the referee like the alpha-male chimpanzee claiming his territory. The only thing he was missing was the pounding on his chest, but he replaced it a shot bird and a slur of curses.

Classmate Response 2, Week 6

This is in response to Drika's Free Entry for Week 6.
This is really helpful when trying to write a story/ poem about yourself. Another person that is observing will only describe what they see without including the actual feelings of the person they are talking about (unless those feelings help in the telling of the story). It's kind of like "My Father's Love Letters" by Komunyakaa. The poem was in the view point of the child, imagine what the poem would be like if the father was the narrator. I imagine there would be a significant difference in emotion. From the father's point of view we would get more of the sadness and struggle, but from the child we get truth and actual events, from a outside's view. This also helps the story become cinematic and reduces the amount of material in the character's head.

Classmate Response 1, Week 6

This is in response to Kelsy's Response for Week 6.
I think this is something a lot of us are probably uncomfortable with because we all have had poems about flowers, moons, and nature thrown down our throats. This is why poems about anything that has to do with actual human nature (e.g. sex, abuse, death, and things of this sort) all seem out of place or surprising when read in a poem. It also might be awkward because sexual references are sort of weird anyway when in public anyway. I am also trying to work on broadening the scope of my writing as a whole. I hope you succeed to do so!

Imitation 1, Week 6

This is a imitation of the Modular Method.

Who Says

whosaysno
whosaysknow
knowwhatknowwhoknowhow
withwhatwithwhorightnow
todaytomorrowanytime
whosaysyes
tothebeachatthesea
canweeatorseat
whoswhenisitnow
withwhohow
whoseayes

Doing this kind of makes me feel like Dr. Seuss.

Free Entry 1, Week 6

This week was very interesting for me. I have just realized how much predatory reading, watching, and listening we actually do everyday. Earlier this week, I watched a documentary on the history of anime. Throughout the entire video all I could hear was how much movie producers and cartoonist all see things that they admire in anime, so they take what they liked and try to mimic the technique. The techniques can vary for camera dimensions to character development. Movie producers watch and read things to get ideas for their next big hit. The speakers that came to class Thursday were really pushing for predatory reading, writing, and listening also. By doing this they are able to create layer upon layer of art work together. This week just pushed me into making everything I do a predatory act. I'm always going to be looking for the next thing.

Junkyard Quote 4, Week 6

"We should enjoy something that's different together."
                                 -Stefano Vagnini

Junkyard Quote 3, Week 6

"Blue, in almost any shade, is a fugitive paint. (If you've ever owned a blue car or blue jeans, you know what fugitive means.)"
This quote is from that Primary Colors book. I thought the describe of blue as a fugitive paint was interesting.
                                       

Reading Response 1, Week 6

In response to Katie Chaple's Pretty Little Rooms.

This poem is a great example on why it's nice to have the back-story. When Dr. Davidson told the class about the article, on the falsehood of a dead poets skeleton, that inspired Chaple to write this interesting poem, everything then began to make sense. Hearing the history of this poem made me want to accept the challenge to find inspiration in any type of writing from articles to textbooks (textbooks might be a stretch). I'm hoping that I will be able to write something, with time of course, that's just as good.
I also wanted to comment on a part of the poem that resonated well with me. In the second line ("...as though too injured to live outside that stone room."), the word live always sticks out because it's being referred to a skull.
 

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 6

"If someone is a hater. It doesn't make sense to hate them for hating."
                                                          -My World Literature Professor

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 6

"I hold the candle at an angle, so the flames licks glass."
                                                           -Katie Chaple

Reading Response 1, Week 5

This reading response is on the short play Pain of Pink Evenings by Rosemary Moore. This play has a bunch of good techniques and skills that I hope to develop. From the significance of every detail to the development of the character.  First off, this play only has one character and she is the only one talking throughout the entire play. Moore uses stories of the past or dreams to introduce the two other characters. I enjoyed actually reading about a character who was shy and timid, because of course her speech and personality is totally different from a outspoken go to type of girl. Tracy, the main character, was one of the first shy characters I've run into lately. She is a new type of challenge, a new adventure to be explored by writers. The specificity in the work was great too, and always gave insight into the character and the life she leads. Overall I enjoyed reading this story play. 

Classmate Response 2, Week 5

In response to Beverly's The Perfect Rose.

This piece has a amount of good potential. I would suggest shying away from the things that already have their own connotations such as rose, heart, truth, and so on. These things leave their own set of meanings with the reader and it takes away from what your trying to create here. What if we took those things out and added specifics? Describe a "perfect rose." What is her truth? What do those "pointed toed heels" look like? Try describing how she looks like a ballerina by using dance lingo or actual ballet movements. There is a lot of space to put image based description. I wish you luck, and this was a nice draft. 

Free Entry 1, Week 5

This is my go with the litany with the anaphora of "thanks".

Thanks

To the hoops that have been robbed of their swooshing glory, I thank you.
Thank you to that one kid in the back of the classroom spreading the smell of nacho cheese Doritos.
My professors, who I would like to thank for the never ending cycle  of Calculus, Homer, and Arrhenius' Law.
Thanks Publix, for making shopping a pleasure.
Elementary Schools, gracias for teaching lefties to write in an oh so awkward curved position.
Thank you so much gala apples and Walmart 35 oz bags of frozen fruit.
Thanks to public speaking classes were I can beat the all time "Saying the most ummm's in one presentation" record.
To you all, I thank. 

Classmate Response 1, Week 5

I enjoyed this piece because it gave me that Alice in Wonderland kind of feel. A child in a strange world that follows the directions of things/people they don't know just to end up sleeping, in this case, their bed. I admired that the instructions weren't always concrete on what the child was to do like "...and feed his clam chowder if you have any.." The "if you have any" made it seem as though even if you are being told what to do you are still given chances to decide what you want to do.
I would suggest being more specific, especially in places that you can have fun with the writing, like "the wicked things that eat children". What do they look like? How do they act? I would love to see how they are described. Very nice work!

Calistenic 1,Week 5

Here was my dialogue I wrote in class.

"I have always hated apple favored drinks. Everything, but apple juice. Apple juice is okay, I guess. My mom used to buy apple Kool-Aid to go with dinner, and my dad would get apple flavored Thera-Flu when I was sick. Both, no all, of them made me gag. It's kinda like my own personal cinnamon challenge."

"I wonder why people actually try the cinnamon challenge?" She spreads the cream cheese on her raisin bagel in a zig-zag motion.

"I recently tried apple Fanta, it was disguised as strawberry. Using the same color for different flavors makes no sense. Of course it didn't taste any different then the other apple drinks." The person behind her plays a upright game of limbo. Trying hard not to bump into her chair, but failing to do so.

"How do you think it feels to taste cinnamon? Do you think I should try it?"

Junkyard Quote 4, Week 5

"I don't like all these letters in calculus. It's like literature."
                                         -Kid in my Calculus class
I thought it was interesting that he actually compared the two. Since I have a love for them both, I have been trying to find their likeness, and here it is.

Junkyard Quote 3, Week 5

"We tell ourselves stories to live."
                        -Joan W.

Imitiation 1, Week 5

I don't know how many times I'm going to change this piece. I'm working again with defamiliarization.

Is That A Rabbit?

Whip cream topping
For a child's purple elephants and talking Barbies and Kens.
A migration
Of over-boiled egg puss.
Chocking the sun of its peaches, mangoes, and strawberries,
Smiling with the taste of Gan Lu Tea.
The cotton candy
Colored curtains
Of the sun's 7'oclock smile.

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 5

"Your water is melting."
                  -My Mother

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 5

"...majestic ten-faced stalker of the night."
                         - from the Ramayana
I just thought that using majestic and stalker in the same description was weird.

Classmate Response 2, Week 4

(This is in response to Drika's Free Entry for Week 4.)

This is great work! Especially for it to be the first time you have posted it. I love how you took from your experience with cooter soup, and created a great work with it. I really enjoyed reading this because, being a southern belle myself, a lot of the references were familiar to me (like the Perry fair and Brillo pads). There was a part where the piece mentions "the stories that have been heard a dozen times" tell the reader a little bit of that story. What would the narrator title it, after hearing the story so many times? Also, what nursery rhyme? Overall I really enjoyed reading this piece. It gave me a great sense of home even though I have never had cooter stoop.

Classmate Response 1, Week 4

(This is a response to Damiyr's Calisthenic for Week 4.)

Your litany is so entertaining. I wanted to keep reading just to see what would be thanked next. What I liked most was the random topics. None of them were based solely in one type of emotion or common feelings. This work also made me wonder what life would really be like without having those things (like blinds and cash back at 2 am). I would suggest not giving the exact reason for your thanks. Leave room for the reader to decide what your thanking that object, place, or person for.

Reading Response 1, Week 4

This week's reading response will be about Abducted by Circumstance by David Madden. Sadly this week I wasn't able to make it to hear the author of this book read his, although confusing, great novel. There was a lot to aspire to achieve from reading this book. David Madden not only wrote this work that contains every potential pitfall, but also succeeded in never falling into the pits. In class, we discussed that he pulled this off by juggling the subjects. When I say juggling i mean never staying too long on one subject, but giving just enough information in each category. Overall I would honestly say that the book taught me a lot about specificity and being engulfed in a character, even a protagonist/antagonist of the opposite sex. This book inspired me to write a lot of my current pieces. I wanted to achieve some of his great writing techniques.

Free Entry 1, Week 4

"Before you begin to write a sentence, imagine the scene you want to paint with your words. Imagine that you are the character and feel what the character feels. Smell what the character smells, and hear with that character’s ears. For an instant, before you begin to write, see and feel what you want the reader to see and feel."
                                                              -Othello Bach

Calisthenic 1, Week 4

This was what I wrote for the tonal excess exercise in class. I included the cliche also.

Kim and Chris delved in over buttered popcorn and cherry slushies at the pro-wrestling match, while yelling sweet nothings and laughing at the huge men in red and blue tights.

Junkyard Quote 4, Week 4

"Writing is a exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go."
                                                         -E.L. Doctorow

Junkyard Quote 3, Week 4

"That poor little girl. The torso finally sank, leaving the two arms begging the sky. Then they went one by one. I watched until it could have been just another glint on the water."
                                                   -Rosemary Moore The Pain of Pink Evenings
 

Improv 1, Week 4

This is an improvisation on defamiliarization. Here is the new revision of my piece: (I would love some feedback!)

The Clouds

Whip cream topping
For a child's purple elephants and talking toys,
A migration of over-boiled egg puss.
Angrily chocking the sun of its peach glory,
Crying tears with the drum beat that grows green,
And smiling with the tongue burning taste of coffee
On a day of subzero weather.
The cotton candy
Colored curtains of dusk.

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 4

"I guess real crazy doesn't go crazy. Real crazy just IS crazy."
                          -April from Creative Writing Class

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 4

"Immortality is like a slow death that never ends."
                           -Classmate in my World Literature Class

Classmate Response 2, Week 3

( In response to Beverly's  Reading Response for I am Twenty One)
Wow...that's a lot to go through in a year as important as becoming twenty-one. I can't relate, yet anyway, because I have yet to reach that age. Becoming twenty one has always been the age that everyone tells you to look forward to because that's when you are actually considered a full-fledged adult. Reading this was a new view on what being twenty one can also entitle. Thank you very much for the insight.

Classmate Reponse 1, Week 3

(This is a response to David's Week 3 free entry.)
I think it would be a good idea to show more in this piece. With the line "Pulling him out of his daydream.." How did she pull him away? What was he daydreaming? Be more descriptive about what is going on around them. Show me their living room (or where ever they are). A lot of this is in the mind of the character, make it a movie. I want to picture them in my mind as a read. I also think there are some lines that aren't needed, remember that when writing a short story every word and line has a purpose. Great start!

Free Entry 1, Week 3

Today in my World Literature class, my professor brought to my attention the connection between lunatic and luna/ lunar (in relation to the moon). It has never once crossed my mind that lunatic was connected to a meaning with the moon, even though it so clearly has the luna prefix. Words are just so fascinating when looking at their roots and origins.

Reading Response 1, Week 3

I decided to do my reading response on I am Twenty-One by Mary Robison. This piece really intrigued me because in such a short amount of time I was able to learn so much about the main character. Of course I didn't get any specifics like: where she lived, where she grew up, or the like, but I was able to get a pretty good understanding of her current situation. Robison's choice of words and phrases (ex. gooped) were very clever. When we were in class, it was brought to my attention that certain words have connotations that are associated with them. Knowing this fact could help when I want to get a certain emotion through to my readers. I also liked how her writing actually sounded like someone speaking out loud. As I read I didn't feel like I was reading, but more like I was listening to someone talk. This piece will be a great example for me to follow as I write my own short story.

Imitation 1, Week 3

Okay so, here is my first go at the short story Dr. Davidson wanted me to start. I am using I am Twenty-One by Mary Robison as an example I just sat down and started writing and I had absolutely no idea where it was heading. This is the first exert.

Short Story (No Title Yet)

I hate Valentines Day. Mothers have Mother's day. Fathers have father's day. There is even a Grandparent's day and a Secretaries' day. Do you know what we single people get? Palm Sunday. Today in class someone, a student I suppose, asked if I had any plans for Valentines Day. Of course I don't, not unless Trivia Night at the Irish Pub off of Hwy 166 counts as "plans." But I do that every week. I should probably call Dr. Wolf back about setting up my next appointment. He will probably go on about eating carrots. I don't think my eye sight is that bad. After all, I was able to see Laura.

Junkyard Quote 4, Week 3

"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
                           -Oscar Wilde

Junkyard Quote 3, Week 3

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon." 
                          - E.L. Doctorow

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 3

"I'm not better than you, I just think different."
                              -Nujabes "Think Different"