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.