The Sim-plistic life.

I played a great deal of The Sims as a kid. I enjoyed designing houses and making people fall in love. However, until recently I hadn't thought about the Sims. It was when I bought a cheap copy for Gamecube (I don't have a gamecube) off ebay did it start coming back into my everyday life. The other day I was at work listening to some people speak. One of these people being someone I knew pretty well and the other I barely knew. But while I watching them talk I pictured the little man and women cards popping up above thier heads with minus' behind them. These two people were clearly clashing. I pictured the hand movements and the shaking of the head. It was a perfect real life instance of the Sims in my head. I sold the Sims last week and traded it in for another simulation game: The main characters are lost on an Island, you must help them survive. This game also has noises and plus and minus'. But maybe, just maybe everyone will be peaceful while eating thier coconut.

Fiction Readings: "In My Box Called Pleasure" and "Because my father always said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star..."

These readings were both very interesting. "In The Box Called Pleasure" was something that I eventually regreted for the raunchiness of it. It was a great story that kept me interesting but it was really random.
The other story, the one with the long name, was interesting but seemed to get to droning on just like many of the stories. If I didn't have to read it I wouldn't have.

Non-Fiction Readings: "Borrrinnng!" by Dave Berry and "American Things" by Tony Kushner

Both of these readings were chosen due to their titles. The titles are so catching. "Borrrinnng" was my very favorite. Dave Berry could make a chimp eating a banana funny. I loved the way that he pointed out those things that we all see in everyday life and actually talked about them. People really are... boring. Well for the most part. He uses great description and makes me want to keep reading.

"American Things" only kept my interest for the first page. He's very descriptive but tends to drone on after a while. I did like how he mentioned that in America our home rarely stays our home. He still thinks of where he goes home. Truthfully this story bored me to tears in parts. I think if it were cleaned up a bit and those unnessasary repetitions were taken out that things would work better.

What have I done?

It was a warm Saturday afternoon, I sat there at the coffee shop that I loved due to it's name's play on words and typed away on this essay I had to write for class. The warm sunlit coffee shop was dead, it was just me and my two barista friends. As boredom began to set in we noticed that someone had finally came for some coffee. They were two arab men. Both were well dressed, I remember seeing them pull up earlier in the day, but they never got out of the car, they just pulled away. They seemed overly excited to be in the clock filled coffee shop, but whatever that's life. It looked nice, they commented, their eyes looking down at the assortment of pastries that they never even got. It took them forever to decide what they wanted. The younger one, well shorter at least, decided on a iced vanilla latte. I rarely remember who orders what whenever they come in, but he just didn't seem like a vanilla latte type guy. There was something wrong here, their eyes were jetting from one side of the shop to the other. They weren't making eye contact with any of us. Were they nervous? It's just a latte. Did they wait for the place to be empty to come back? I began to wish my fiance, Tommy were there. He could take them, they're small. Then I began to think about it. Were they going to rob the place? What if they had a bomb? Were they going to blow this tiny coffee shop up? I needed to go to the bathroom. It had to be that way. What if it "set them off?" I made my way to the restroom making sure not to look at the two men, who in my mind were surely up to no good. I shut the door behind me making sure to turn the fan on in addition to the light. What difference this would have made I am not sure. It all began to play out in my head. The men would receive their extra girly lattes and pull out a gun. Or what I thought in my mind's eye was a gun. Bennett would storm out back, leaving Julie all alone. She would be forced to empty the drawer into the tip jar that they have already taken from the speckled counter. Bennett would return and "pump them full of lead." Then I would walk out of the bathroom crying about the whole tragedy, hoping that Bennett doesn't end up in jail and that Julie is ok. What was I thinking? I am not sure now. I know that it wasn't my normal way of thinking.
Eventually it occurred to me that I might be influenced by media after all. Was it the media that caused me to stereotype the young men or was it the way the men acted that had me all flustered? I don't know. I don't think I'll ever know, but I am sure if they had looked less foreign to me, I wouldn't have seen them as shady characters as much as weird guys. I felt racist for the rest of the day. I wasn't raised to be racist, I was raised to love everyone without prejudice. Until this day I thought I had succeeded in not judging the book by it's cover. I went home and thought about the incident over and over again. I was sure that something was wrong with those guys. They left as soon as people came into the shop. There had to be something wrong. If they were black would I have just thought they were high? What if they were Asian, wouldn't they just be normal to me? If they were white I would assuredly thought they were drunk or strung out or something. But the point in my mind was that because they were Arab I thought they would be violent, which is wrong, and I remain ashamed of it. So now all I can do is correct myself if I catch myself at it again. Or maybe I should just stop watching the news.

Constance's "Conversation"

I enjoyed this moment in Constance's life. I think this was a great thing to write about because there was internal struggle and external struggle. I enjoyed the glimpses back on her knowledge of the other person in the conversation. I almost want to say that I want more, but it seems that this is the perfect glimpse, and that if more was added it would take away from what was already there.

Ron Carlson's "Bigfoot Stole My Wife" and "I am Bigfoot"

The first story was really cute and funny. He really believed that Bigfoot stole his wife. He felt like he had to believe it. He made me believe it. The details he used like referring to the stinch of bigfoot made me feel like I could have been in the house prior to the kidnapping. I thought it was funny that he added in that Bigfoot would have to struggle to get into his wife's car, but that it was possible. I especially liked "I am Bigfoot." I enjoyed his detailed confession to being Bigfoot. He added in everything that is shown in popular culture that is said of Bigfoot. His confession is almost sarcastic, but it works. When you tie the two stories in together you get a better understanding of each. I like this about these two stories, I enjoyed the fact that they followed one another in the book.

T.J.'s "A Day In The Life"

T.J.'s essay was pure reality and I think it shines through on the page. I enjoyed the details that he used, the white T-shirts and the way that the girl's hand writing looks kind of like his. Then I liked the fact that he did not hide any of the truth. He told us that he checked her out and sized her up. He wasn't afraid to say that he looked at her boobs. These things help us to understand T.J's character more than anything. It helps us to understand that he's just like every other human out there, he checks people out. I felt like this story could go on for ages and I would enjoy reading it. But as the title suggests it just gives us a glimpse of that one day. It still feels like the beginning of a great book on his senior year of high school and how it turned out differently than he originally expected.

Sean's Untitled

Sean's piece, although quite short, was quite wonderful. I feel like he has a great start to a personal narrative. He shines through on the page and makes me feel like I am there with him. I think that it was a great topic to write about and esspecially loved the part where he mentioned that he was going to rent a movie "but not a porn, they're too expensive." This was excellent and something that helped me see inside the subject of the essay. It also helps us transistion into the entire watching a chick flick alone stage. I do think the essay could have been longer, but I did enjoy it the way it is now.

Anthony's "The Little Blonde Boy"

This piece was very interesting. I enjoyed the entire piece but thought that it was missing something. The title is the little blonde boy, yet I don't see the boy until the last page. I think I need a little bit more of the boy, but I also think that I need a little bit more on the couple's reaction to the little blonde boy. Also, I think there should be a little more reflection on the whole "I want one!" thing. I feel like it was an excellent ending but that it should have had a little bit more feeling to it. I did like the way that the story was quite A.D.D. It appeals to me because this is how real life works. If you go to a speech you're not staring at the speaker, you're keeping note of your surroundings, and sometimes thier just too curious not to write about. Anthony is very good at being aware of his surroundings and letting us know what is going on. He doesn't leave the reader out of the loop on almost everything. The only exception to this is Ryan. I feel like I needed more about the relationship with Ryan, how serious is it, doesn't she deserve a little more page room than just brief mentions here and there. I felt like because of the lack of her presence other than just here and there in the paper I couldn't really feel like I should have felt when it came to the ending. But all in all a good read, I'd read it again the way it is.

Jen Morris' "The Other Grandparents"

I really enjoyed reading this essay. It was very silly and very serious at the same time. I found that it was easy to read and flowed very well. What I enjoyed the most about this essay were all of the details that she used from the ugly stirrup pants to the personalized denim jacket. Another thing that I enjoyed about the essay was the way she made me feel for her in the essay. She's getting all of this stuff from the "inlaws" and she has to donate most of it to goodwill. What I wanted to see more of from this essay was details about how she felt, what she smealt, heard and saw each time she had to go back to Goodwill. Did she get a reciept and deduct these donations from her taxes? I feel like this could really drive the essay home. Also it would be nice to know if she still has that personalized denim jacket or if it ended up in the goodwill pile as well...

Kristi Winger's "Notes of Anxiety"

Comparing this to Kristi's last piece it was not nearly what I expected. Which I think is awesome. I was expecting something happy and descriptive. This story was very descriptive, but not very happy. I enjoyed the story, it gave me a glimpse of being her, as the new girl. I think she did very well in creating sympathy for her as the charcter of the story. I felt sad that she was in such a position.

Mark Mycroft's "Bees"

This story was quite interesting. I thought that the characterization part of the story was great.I thought that I knew Kaddy pretty well before the action of the story began. I also thought the story itself started out pretty well. I liked hearing not only about Kadince but also about how Mark felt throughout the entire dialogue. I enjoyed how he compared himself to his coworker. I felt like I was on the long painful ride with them.
What I didn't like was mainly the inconsistencies of the story. At one point the author speaks about having stuck his hand through the wall of the trailer into a hornets nest. But throughout the rest of the story hornets are not mentioned, just bees. Also the title of the story was Bees. I thought that this distracted me as a reader from the point of the story, I was just busy trying to figure out whether it was bees or hornets. Another thing that was less distracting but should probably be changed was that there were several typos. This took a little a way from the story as well. Although typos are almost expected to happen, I found myself correcting them as I read the story.

Kristi Winger's "Things I Love About You"

I liked this piece. The words that she uses serve to bring an image to the poem. I can actually see the happiness in their faces. It's so simple that it works. I feel that all of the details contribute greatly to the image that is developed in the readers mind. The subject matter is cute. I think it would make any reader (or maybe just the girls) happy just by reading it,

Mark Mycroft's "Dreams"

I really enjoyed this piece. It seemed very simple but very complex all at the same time. I did get confused through a lot of it, but that's also the way that dreams work. They are complex and confusing. I thought that the first, third and last stanzas worked well together as the second and the third just seemed to add such confusion. I also had no idea what the last line meant.

Latisa's "The Moment"

Latisa's poem is very beautiful. I like it a lot it. It was very simple and pretty. I like the short lines, it adds to the simple complexity of the subject of the poem. I like the subject as well. It is something most people our age think about. I didn't think that the jumbled up long sentences matched with the rest of the poem, but that is really my only complaint.

Anthony S.'s "Life and Death"

I think this poem is something that everyone can relate to. Everyone has that one test that they are sure they will fail because they didn't have time to study or forgot or something. The travel to that test really seems like it could go that way. I could see Anthony walking from home to his class passing by all of these places and the thoughts just running through his head. I think this poem was amazing. It wasn't all sappy or serious like some people think poetry has to be. It was light and fluffy with a little bit of funny added in to it.
I didn't quite like the ending though. I thought that it was far too much abrupt. I wanted more of his inner dialogue. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know what was going to happen. But I guess that is just a good poem, one that leaves you wanting more.

The Undertaker

This reading was beautiful, not like in the butterflies and pansys way, but still beautiful. I enjoyed how the story started off so coldly and ended so much more personal. My favorite part is right in the middle where things are still just a little cold, but a little personal too. I think the drawing on one's knowledge matched with one's own life experiences is an amazing use of a piece of paper.

Jen Morris' "Shit Brown Chevy Van"

This piece was very interesting. I enjoyed the use of language and the spacing of the piece. I also enjoyed the story behind the piece. I enjoyed how it caught your eye right off by telling you everything about the guy but not telling us who they were. I kept reading to find out every piece about the dark lonely man as I could. The only thing that I would change is where it says "My Dead Uncle's Chevy Van." I would put more emphasis on this by adding spacing around the sentence. It just looks really odd with previous sentences about the van having so much spacing.

Bird By Bird "Dialogue"

This reading was exceptionally helpful when one starts to think about writing narrative. Bad dialogue ruins everything. It's the thing that makes me read the spark notes instead of the story itself. The only way that I think bad dialogue can be truly and completely avoided is by not using it at all. Aside from that the only other thing is to read it aloud over and over again until you figure out what is just not working. Most of the time I start by taking out one thing at a time until I have no dialogue left. But sometimes it's just one word that throws the whole thing off.

Bird By Bird "School Lunches"

I thought this reading in Bird By Bird was both very funny and helpful. School lunches remind me of so much of child hood. There really is so much there. Did your mom make your lunch or did your dad, did you? Did you bring lunch money to buy a greasy slice of pizza and fries? Did you have free lunch and type your id number in quickly from shame? I think the same rule applies to other things, like remembering way back to recess and PE class, there are such a plethora of great ideas there.

Jamie's "Dear Jamie"

This poem was very circular and kind of funny, but sad all at the same time. I think the poem is so simple that it just works. The poem's Jamie says what's in her head to the reader but she reads (?) what Phil wants from their relationship. It becomes quite repetitive, which really works because it shows that she wants the exact opposite of him. This poem is very beautiful and I like how it begins with Jamie and it ends with Phil.

T. Jarrel McLeod "Rehab: A Love Story"

This poem is one of my favorites so far. I love the fact that he can write about something with such feeling. This really makes me realize what it could really be like for some people to stop doing something that they are addicted to. The person in this poem is so strong and proud. On a word level this poem works because it uses several phrases known for addictions like "cold turkey" or "hooked." Also the person in the poem doesn't sit there and say "hey i'm bigger than this." There is a little bit of frustration involved in it.
The things that don't work for this poem is the absolute lack of punctuation. The poem might work a little better if there were some punctuation.

Sean K's "In Your Eyes"

This poem was a little out there. I really liked some of the words that were used. I'm not so sure if in the beginning of the poem there was anything other than the description happening or not, but it was still pretty. My favorite line of the poem was "Stories chiseled into fireworks of a glass marble." I could just see the crazy mix of colors in the the glass ball.

Some of the things that I think would improve this poem, consist mainly of grammatical things. I think a little more punctuation would benefit the reader. Another thing is that maybe the writer could add a little more direction. I got lost most of the time, which I think was alright for this poem, but some readers might need a little bit more. Other than that, this poem was quite great.

Ditoria Geddis' "Looking Back"

Ditoria's piece was one that made me feel sad. I think this is one of those poems that can help a lot of people out. There are people who could Identify with this type of experience and feel maybe even better if they knew someone else knew something like this. This piece works because it has many great word choices to set the correct mood.
There is a thing that doesn't really work for me in this piece. The thing that bugs me the most about this piece is there is no puctuation. Another thing that could maybe change is if the author used only lowercase letters. This would represent the way that the person feels at the time.

"Ahh" by Valestine Harrison

I love this piece. "Ahh" is very refreshing and silly, and nostalgic. At first I was not sure what was going on. It felt like a bunch of random thoughts put together, and then I saw a story there. There was something that just made me stay interested. It was most likely the fact that it reminds me of my childhood. I'm sure that this poem will have the same affect on the other readers. I think this poem works on the word level because it doesn't go above anyone's head. It is more like a thought process or memory than a poem.

Sheila Garlow's "Bringing Sexy Back"

This poem was very refreshing. It was very basic, but also very well written. What I think works about this poem is the kind of stream of consciousness writing. This is very down to earth and very human. On the level of words I think bringing some of the pop culture icons into the story worked very well. It's like "My sister the J.T. Lake." I also enjoyed the way the poem is structured. It doesn't conform to the basic way a poem should be structured.
What could be changed in this poem is basically little nit- picky things. I am a fan of: the author knows best. In this poem I would try to watch my punctuation more. I also am not sure whether it is supposed to be " the poo- brown suit that grandma brought" or "bought." Another thing is that some of the lines don't really match with the poem structurally, which may be what the author is looking for, or may not be. They might want to look at narrowing down some of the longer thoughts.

Adam Deal's "just a moment of realization"

I enjoyed reading this writing because it was a little odd. I had to read it several times before I even got a grasp of exactly what was supposed to be going on. It was kind of like hearing the joke with everyone else and getting it a couple of days later when you're going to bed.
Things that worked for this writing were the language. The usage of everyday words in a non- everyday (?- is that a word) since just seem to work for this piece. Things that didn't work for this work were a little more in my mind. I'm not so sure if I just missed the punchline or there was no punchline. I think I get the most lost in the dialouge, Who is speaking when? What's going on? I'm sure some people can read this and understand it, but for me it was like a puzzle.

Erin Curley's "Bananas"

This poem is a very simple poem. It also describes a very simple thing. Eating bananas and peanut butter with someone you care about. It also has very descriptive yet open wording. It could be any coffee pot, but it is definitely a certain, rose embossed butter knife. I really think this poem works, just because it is such a simple thing that anyone can imagine. There is simple wording to match the simple structure and simple subject. I also liked the fact that "she" spoke. It adds just a little more of a friendly feel to the poem.
The main things that I didn't think really worked about this poem were small. I think that the dialoge should have been spaced from the main body of the poem. This would allow more emphasis, and maybe even help the reader to understand the poem a little better. Other than that I'm not quite sure what else this poem is lacking.

Christina Cottros' "The Fishing Trip"

This was, yet another bitter-sweet story. I think it was enjoyable to read because it was kind of sing songy in the good way. The story follows a definite path and doesn't get me lost at any point. It also works because we hear this story all of the time. Well not the exact story. One loves someone and they go away and the person they love dies. It something that appeals to everyone's heart. They can imagine if that were to happen to them or when that happened to them.
Some of the reasons that this poem doesn't work is the variation in the lines. The lines go from long to short erratically, this messes around with the stability of the poem. This poem knows where it's going it just lacks the confidence in it's lines. Many times I think if instead of a comma there were a return, it would work much better. Other than that I like how the poem works.

Terronique Brown's "She Hangs" and "Warped..."

First off, I was unable to tell whether these were two different poems or just one poem, so for this entry I will treat them as two different and comment on each. "She Hangs" has a lot of beautiful wording that makes the action of hanging so much less boring. Also I like where it talks about the internal temptation to pluck her and getting rid of her. I couldn't really tell what her was supposed to be, but either way I loved this poem. "Warped..." also used a lot of beautiful wording, this wording made me feel warped while reading it. I really like the sentence "I'm screaming 'til I'm black and blue." This has such a definite image, and I think this poem could actually use a little more of that. I also enjoyed the repetition of this poem, it was very called for to add just a little stability to the poem.
"Warped..." was a poem that I had such a hard time following. It was very fast paced and chaotic. So in a since the poem works because of this. But really what is a poem if the reader can't follow it? I'm not really sure how this poem could become less chaotic, maybe if there were breaks in the poem's lines things would be just a little easier to digest.

Tyler Bailey's "Perdition"

To start off I will go ahead and say that this was not at all my type of poem, but I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading this poem for many reasons. It was kind of a dark, slightly depressing poem, but it still worked. The poem has a theme that everyone can identify with, loving and loosing. The story is told well, and I don't think that I got lost at any point in the story. He also uses some great descriptions, these enhance the story and help me to imagine it. Another thing I liked was the way that the structure of the lines, from long to short added to the poem.
There are also several things that I think could make this poem better. I really believe that the wording in this poem is outdated and a little fake sounding. It doesn't seem natural. I think if the poem had more modern day or even just normal speech it would work. For example in line 6 when it says countenance, it just seems like it's trying to go above the readers head. I'm sure many people know what the word means but it just seems like the word appearance or looked would have worked just as well. Another thing that just doesn't work for me about this poem is the way the lines seem so cluttered. If the lines were cleaned up a little I think that the poem would work much better.

Experimental Writing Readings

My first experimental reading that I read was "Morning News" by Jerome Stern. This reading was pretty sad at first and kind of relieving in the end. The guy seemed so frustrated by the bad news that he got that morning. It was really when he started writing about how he had to tell his wife the bad news that I was hooked. He was so worried that he would hurt her. What would she do when he was gone? In in the end when they "go back to their childhood" and buy the biggest Television, I knew everything would be okay.

The second reading I read was "Changing the Channel" by E. Ethelbert Miller. I thought this work worked because it was something that everyone can relate to. It is a time the author can spend time with his father without having to worry about anything. He knows where everyone is and what they are doing, his father has a job. He doesn't have to worry about anything, except for resting.

Poetry Readings

For our experimental/ poetry readings I chose 3 poems. These poems that I really liked even if I didn't really understand them all.

The first poem that I read was "This Moment" by Eavan Boland. This poem was great. It has very simple and short lines. It really reminds me of describing to myself the moment that is currently occurring. My favorite part of this poem is "Stars and Moths, and rinds slanting around fruit, but not yet." I like the way he says stars and moths. It's not something that most would put together. What do stars have to do with moths, and why moths? I thought it was a good way to describe the time of day, which is early evening. The rest of that part just sounds good.

The second poem that I read was "The Letter" by Linda Gregg. I thought that this poem was quite uplifting but at the same time just a little sad. She writes about not feeling quite strong yet. I assume she was in an accident or was sick. Then she speaks of all of the happy things that she does and how she hopes to swim soon. Everything put together just screams overcoming a major obstacle. But the thing that makes me like this poem so much is that I am curious about the subject of the poem. Are they sick? Did they get hurt? Why just a half of a bottle of beer?

The Third poem that I read was Carolyn Kizer's "To an Unknown Poet." This poem works for several reasons. The first reason I think that this poem works is because the subject of the poem is writing to a poet. You don't hear about other poet's thoughts of poets very often. But it also has many very abstract details. The author also questions herself in the poem.

AIDS

The poem AIDS was not really something that I was looking forward to reading at first. I think AIDS and I think of sad things, as I think most people do. I finally sat down and read it after my fiance had convinced me that it was good. I liked it after all.

I enjoyed the way that the author set up the entire picture in the beginning. About his family and how he was treated and how he treated others. I thought that there was a great contrast from the beginning to the end. He writes about his mother soothing him and loving him and then in the end he talks about soothing his parents and loving them. He seems to think he has to make them realize that it wasn't their fault, much like a parent would do after a divorce or death to soothe a child.

Bird By Bird Reading 4

These two readings reminded me a lot of what inspires me the most about writing. It shows that no one is perfect at writing. In fact anyone can be a writer, they just have to write. It also talks about writing being a process that we may not be expecting.

I likes the way she wrote about the polaroid as a story, that it starts out being a picture of a child and ends up changing to adults, family and other things. It typically takes me a while to get anywhere closed to a finished product. I wonder if the polaroid/ story has ever really stayed exactly the same from flash to finish...

Most Prized Childhood Possesion

I thought that I would add yesterday's writing exercise to my blog. I think this will remind me to make this into something.
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Swift, slick, silvery blue blades. The best skates ever.
They were ratty and used
but they were loved and well customized
They took me places only fast paced high quality blades could take me
They hit the pavement every time I was
sad, mad, upset, or happy
They took me through all
my long annoying and awkward high school years
My mom asked me to get rid of them
"They're old tattered and have no breaks"
I didn't care, that is why I loved them
They were a tad too big
Sometimes I wore extra socks
They were so comfy
I was sad
I had to throw them away this summer
My knee blew out for the second time
I had to give them up
I had to give our quality time up

Micheal McFee "The Halo"

The Halo was a great story. It was a very concrete but also somewhat figurative short story. I thought the use of Jesus, Joseph, and "Mary" was great. "Mary" being the writer adds a little, it's like hey this is my son, he has a halo and my husband doesn't like it. It brings several elements from the bible into it, not just with the story of Jesus but it goes back to the beginning, talking about the golden fruit without a snake in sight. I also think this could mean something completely different. I haven't quite figured out what yet.

Bird by Bird Reading 3

The readings from bird by bird for today were interesting. I liked how she wrote on short writings being a first draft, and of course sometimes they are bad. I think it's great that she talks about how even well accomplished writers mess up and write something not so great sometimes. I also thought the quote that she used from E.L. Doctorow was excellent: "writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights; but you can make it the whole trip that way." I think that many writers would benifit from that quote. If you think about it that quote describes most people's writings perfectly, even if they know the end, they don't really know the middle. I'm excited to read the next reading now.

Bird By Bird Reading 2

I have now come to expect great things from this book. I found it very interesting when she described how to begin writing. She described exactly what happens whenever I try to write. I never feel that any of my writings are any good and often do find myself destroying them upon completion of a few sentences. I think that going through memories often becomes a great way to get the creative juices flowing, I'm excited that she wrote about that. It feels like I might actually be doing something right.

Anthology Reading One

The poetry reading was very interesting to me. I never looked at poetry’s effectiveness; I always just thought that it was a pretty and interesting use of words. I thought it was interesting that the author spoke on how it wasn’t important to know certain things as long as we can understand why it was mentioned. For example, when he says that it isn’t important to know how the man died or important to know whether the character knows how the man died. But what was important is knowing that the death shook the character’s world. Also the other reading began to make me think about why writing is always a creative process. Even if I am writing a history paper I never know exactly how the paper will end up, or even how I will get there.

How I am a total Nerd

I did something completely cool the other day. I was so hungry the other day that I decided the only way to tide myself over until my late dinner would be an egg roll from Orient Express. I walked into the restaurant and ordered my egg rolls. I began to walk away and decided that I just couldn't do it. I had to ask. So I walked back up to the counter and began to speak to the owner of the restaurant. I asked him what country he was from and he told me that he was from China. I said in the dorkiest way ever that I was taking Chinese. I felt as if I just got married or won a million dollars. I was so excited. He asked me what I could say in Chinese and I told him. I can really only ask what someone's name is and tell them mine, I can tell you that water is water and ask you to sit down. I spoke every Chinese word that I knew to this poor man and was enthralled about every single second of it. He told me that my Chinese was pretty good even though I only knew a few phrases. That just excited me even more. So the entire night I was jumping up and down about a 10 minute interaction.

The worst part about this whole thing is by this time I had only been taking Chinese for four days. Who was I to try to speak to someone from China after only four days of Chinese instruction? I have never had any experience with Chinese before, and I just break out with Chinese in a public place like I was meant to do it the entire time. I'm a German major. Who was I to think that I would be able to learn yet another language? Who knows what possessed me, but I love it. I mean it's not German or anything, but it is still awesome.

My fiance has this off the wall, completely insane theory. He believes that since I started learning German when I was 16 and was almost fluent by 18 that there must be something wrong with my brain. He thinks that when I was in the womb I got some type of brain damage or something and this allowed my primary language function of my brain to remain active for much longer than a normal person's. I think that this theory is a little off the wall. But for some reason it strikes me true. I speak German as if it was one of my native languages. I dream in German some times. Most Germans that I encounter in America are completely unaware of my American-ness. So there must be something wrong with me. Who knows.

Creative Writing: Bird by Bird 1

Bird by Bird had a very interesting introduction. I really hate introductions. She spoke on a lot of little things that came together to make since. Writing at least a little everyday is something that I think helps a lot of writers. Another big thing that she mentioned was that writing isn't about money or being published, writing is also enjoyable. The first chapter that was also pretty great. I hope to always remember my broccoli. I think that writers block is something that can always be worked through with some creative energy. I think this class is going to be pretty interesting.