LAST BLOG

1. I enjoyed writing a personal essay because it is something I actually experienced. I loved trying to incorporate my exact feelings when I heard about Paige’s accident. It’s hard to make it seem like it didn’t happen, because everything was so real. I feel like I came up with a lot more ideas when it came to writing a Personal Essay rather than Fiction. I haven’t had many life changing experiences so it was hard to come up with ideas. The only things I could really think of were Paige’s accident and my sisters car accident, which were eye-openers to me in a way. Overall I liked writing my personal essay and I wouldn’t mind writing another one sometime again.

2. Reading is important to a writer because it shows you all different types of stories and ways to write. Whenever I read something, it sparks ideas in my head. As a writer, you need to have experienced the techniques and ideas of other writers to make your own unique. As you read a piece of writing you can see what works and what doesn’t, what is appealing and what is not. When I read something, it either gets my attention right away or I’ll put it down. I think the first chapter or paragraph of a writing piece is the most important. By seeing what other writers do, it can help you succeed as a writer and gain the interest of your own reader.

3.What is your favorite piece that you've written? Talk about why it's your favorite piece.
I liked my poem about Montana. It reminded me of when I was young and I thought I gave a perfect picture on what I was like and how I loved nature as a youngen.

4. Which piece was the greatest challenge for you to write? Explain why.
The play. I have absolutely no experience and it was difficult to know what to even write it about.

What has been your favorite genre? Explain your thoughts.
Poems. I felt like a was very creative when I started writing them. At first I thought it was going to be impossible but then I loved writing them!

Is there a piece you wrote that, in reflection, you didn't care for? Explain.
No I think every one of my pieces are important.

What skill from Creative Writing do you think you will use in other forms of writing/outside of class. Tell why.
I’ve always loved to write but I’ve only written journals and essays. I loved writing poems and it was so fun to make them into something important to me. I think reading other people’s pieces has made me a stronger writer because now I know what makes a piece interesting.

5. QUIZ
Coke or Pepsi: Coke
Li'l Wayne or Little Debbie: Li'l Wayne
McDonald's or Arby's: McDonalds
Chiptole or Taco Bell: Chipotle
American Idol or MTV: American Idol
Buffalo Wings or Florida: BOTH
New York City or Los Angeles: Los Angeles
Name you like for your future daughter: Ava, Charley, Taylor
Name you like for your future son: Jackson, Tyler
What is or what will be the first country you see outside the continent of North America: Australia
Disney movie you would be most likely to watch on your 21st birthday: Finding Nemo
5. Can you figure out what Disney movie my blog title comes from? no idea.

1. “Live, Love Laugh”
I guess you could make this into a guide for my life. I just feel that I should live everyday to the fullest...try my hardest and don’t complain. I think that I should love everyone, no matter what mistakes they made or what they have done to me. If you are a person who gossips, then people have the tendency to gossip about you...if you don’t then people usually don’t. I love to have fun...I learn from mistakes but I like to take risks. Life is way too short not to! I don’t want to look back on my life and say I wish I would’ve done this..or this. I just want to experience everything now!
2. The Virginia Tech shooting was something that grabbed my attention. I don’t usually watch the news but that really freaked me out. It just made me realize that ANYTHING can happen and anytime. It makes me want to be on good terms with everyone so you have no regrets when life takes a turn. Sometimes I get in REALLY stupid fights with my boyfriend and my sisters. I just think sometimes people need to take a step back and make sure that whatever it is... is worth fighting about. You could also look at it in the way that one person can make a huge difference in people’s lives...for the better or for worse.
3. I have a couple goals I want to accomplish in 2008. Since sports are going to be winding down in the spring and I’ve been active everyday of my life, I want to make sure I workout everyday and not become a couch potato. I will make some sort of routine...go to the club or just do some abs if I don’t have time. I also want to spend more time with my little sister and my parents. Since college will be starting in the fall I want to make sure I spend some time with them before I go because I know I will be on my own and it will be weird and sad.

1. I thought it was difficult to write stage directions. I wanted to have so many different scenes, but I had to limit myself to having only two or three. The set that I imagined in my head was much more detailed and pretty, but when I wrote it in my stage directions it wasn’t at all like I pictured. I liked explaining the scenes and characters through dialogue rather than just telling the reader how everything was. It was hard to have a theme in my play...I kind of just told a fun story. I don’t think I would be interested in writing drama or anything like that, but I could be good at coming up with some ideas!

2. Some ideas for my personal essay, I could write about a day in Montana. Details of how I learned to love the outdoors and love the water. I could write about Paige’s accident and how I remember every detail and every facial expression of the people I was with when we found out. It seems like that moment was frozen in time...I’m never going to forget that. I could write about the day my sister Callie got in a car accident and the paramedics told us it was a miracle she was alive. I have some ideas for my story but it will be hard to figure out which one to write and the incorporating the detail so it feels like everything is so real.

3. If I were to give a 10 year old advice about growing up in today’s world, I would tell them to not change themselves based on other people. From what I’ve learned and seen, some kids love to do rebellious things to be different and get attention. I think the people that are different are the ones who stay true to their values and beliefs and gain respect in a good way. Peer Pressure is a big issue and if you find a group of friends who share the same morals as you, you will be fine! Advice for school is to do your homework (especially starting in 9th grade). If you do your homework, that’s most of your grade right there and then the testing and quizzes will fall into place after that! :)

1. I think theme is very important in most stories. I don’t think there always needs to be a theme or an obvious lesson to the story. Sometimes I like reading a piece and then trying to figure out what the author was trying to get at or teach. Sometimes the author has nothing to teach but still makes the story intriguing so we try to stretch our imagination and figure it out. My favorite lesson learned in a story is about how life is short and to never take anyone or anything for granted. I started writing my play and realized I didn’t really have a specific theme to my story. I also realized it wasn’t good enough to not have some sort of set theme to the story. I think figuring out a theme and connecting everything in the story to that theme is a very difficult task.

2. I think the great literary works have lasted this long because they can still relate to people today and also share something about the world at that point in time. I have never personally read any of those works but I can assume that they tell a lot about the time period it was happening in. I could also assume that the issues the people were facing or relationships they had could connect with people today. I think I could do a pretty good job writing about the world today, but I don’t know if it would be good enough for people to get the whole picture of how life was like in my time period. I think I’d do great writing about teenage life but that’s it... I don’t know enough about the lives of adults... and everything is changing so fast it would be hard to capture the whole picture.

3. I want to make an impact on the people I have known in this life, not so much anyone else. I want them to know I was a happy person and laughing is my favorite thing in the world. I would want people to think I truly cared about them and loved listening to what they were thinking and how they were feeling. I want people to be proud to know me and be proud to have had a relationship with me. I hope the people that I am close with or the people who I just have one conversation with can get the sense of who I truly am. I think being “you” is the most important thing. If someone wants you to change a part of who you are, then that person is not worth having a relationship with. As a writer, I just think that each piece should have a part of “you” in it so that people can tell it’s yours and it fits what your personality is and how you look at life.

1. In most peer groups, I think trust is a big issue. If you tell a secret to someone in your group of friends, it always seems to get out to everyone else. “You can’t tell anyone I said this but..” usually has a domino effect. Trust is also a big issue because it’s hard to gain it back once you’ve lost it. In my personal experiences, I have a really hard time trusting a person. I’ve been hurt and betrayed so many times that if someone says or does something it will always stick in the back of my mind.
2. The stats guy of our basketball team has the most dynamic personality. Every time someone says thank you to him, he responds “God Bless You”. He seems to be a very socially awkward person, but he actually can carry on an interesting conversation for a long time. When you first meet him, he seems to be a guy who would have a hard time fitting in with people. When you get to know him he has a way of connecting with each and every person. On top of this, he is a genius!
3. A song that has had a big impact on me is “Moving On” by Rascal Flatts. I listen to it when I feel like I need to just put things in the past. If something is bothering me or I have just gotten in a fight with someone, it reminds me to be the bigger person and figure everything out. It helps me realize I shouldn’t dwell on certain arguments but I just need to forgive and forget. I think life is way too short to hold grudges because you never know what could happen the next day.

1. I think Happiness is that wonderful feeling you get inside when you are excited, relieved, or satisfied.
2. Being with my family makes me happy because they don't bring me down. They are always making jokes and making me laugh. Being organized makes me happy. The feeling when I wake up in the morning on a Saturday, knowing I have time to sleep as late as I want... makes me happy. Laying out in the sun relaxing makes me happy.
3. My family, friends and boyfriend are the people who make me the happiest. I love having four sisters. I can ask for advice on clothes, boys, and just life in general. We have a lot of fun when we are all together. My parents are the most caring and generous people i've ever met. They will go out of their way to do something nice or helpful. My friends make me happy because we have a lot of fun together. They have the same interests as me and we always think of exciting places to go and things to do. John makes me happy because he is the one person I can trust.
4. I think I impact my family, John and my friends the most. I also think I impact the little girls that watch soccer games or basketball games. I remember when I was little and the girls on Varsity make me want to be a better player.
5. The greatest need in my life is my family because no matter what circumstances we are in.. they can still make me happy and they make me realize nothing is more important than just having that connection and bond with the people I love. If anything were to ever happen, I know they will always be here for me and support any decisions I make.

1. I do not like to be scared. If I am with my friends and someone is joking around its fine but otherwise I just don’t like the feeling of my heart dropping.
2. Something that scares me is being home alone. I sometimes get that feeling in my gut that someone is watching me so every corner I turn I always look around and I always have my phone in my hands just in case. I am afraid of the dark. Even when I am with someone it just freaks me out not being able to see everything in view. Another thing that scares me is the window in my bedroom. It’s not just random, I had a bad experience. I was lying in my bed one night at about midnight. The window is above me to the left on the side of my room. The light was on in my room and I was talking to my sister on the phone who was upstairs. I saw some kind of movement in my window so I put my hand over my face to peer through and see what it was. I saw a face sideways staring at me through my window. He didn’t know that I saw him because I was discrete and didn’t freak out. I walked out casually and then sprinted upstairs after I got out of sight. I yelled down for my dad and he ran out to the porch. The guy put his shirt over his head and ran away. We never caught him and it will always freak me out. My biggest fear is a man kidnapping or raping me. I hear about stories on the news and from other people of this happening and I feel that a 17 year old girl would be most likely to have that happen to them. Who knows if I will ever outgrow the fear but so far I haven’t.
3. Mad is where someone turns insane just to get their way. When I think of a person who is “mad”, I think of someone who has intentionally hurt someone else over something that can be worked out in better ways. Anyone who murders someone is mad. Anyone who rapes or beats someone is mad. 4. I think when a person cares a lot about another person and that person gets hurt intentionally, it can drive someone to become insane. I think people, money, alcohol, drugs and competition are some things that can drive people insane when it gets out of hand.