Closing Statement

Believe it or not, but it has taken me a whole semester in order to open up with my writing. From absolutely struggling to be creative with the reinvented folk tale to actually enjoying my time with writing the song story/nemesis paper. And it is not the fact that I did not like some of the assignments, but it was the way in which there truely was no right or wrong approach to the ideas in which you could write about. I have been so conditioned to stating the facts and getting straight to the point from assigned essays and research papers that I found myself actually forgetting how to be descriptive and engaging to the reader.
Unfortunately, the creative aspect that has come back to my writing will probably slowly start to fade away as I focus once again on the classes with their essays and research papers. I wish I could say that I would continue to write creatively, but it is unlikely. I feel in order to continue my creative writing I need free time and that is something my life is lacking at the moment. However, I have still retained the skills in which we have learned in class and may use them in the future when needed or least expected. It may not have shown but I enjoyed the class and wish everyone all the best!

Video Response #2

The second video I watched was of Ueli Gegenschatz and his base jumping/skydiving/paragliding. To me, I think watching him and his video took on a whole new meaning knowing that he was no longer alive. Just to see how enthusiastic he was about this extreme sport and how happy he was to be able to do it makes me feel that even though he is no longer with us, he seemed to enjoy his life very much doing what he loved. I honestly don't think I could ever in a million years attempt to do what he did. My viewpoint is that on some level you have to be okay with dieing in order to do something so death defying. I was also curious and wanted to know more about what some of the 'crazy' things people have asked him to do given what he does is crazy in itself!

Video Response #1

In regard to Vik Muniz, can I just say 'Wow.' His art was absolutely blowing my mind. The way in which he took the most simplistic materials in order to create works of art had me in awe. I think, in terms of creativity in writing, Muniz is trying to show that creativity can derive from many different forms. With him it came from items such as sugar, chocolate, cotton balls, thread, etc. He used those tools to transform them into his own visions. Much like that of our class where we take inspiration from things such as songs with or without words and pictures and transform them into a vision of our own through writing.

When he first showed the picture of the dog- in which he pointed out that you might interpret a spot on his back for a chicken- I was brought back to one of my art classes where an instructor pointed out something to me in the FedEx sign.

At first glance, you see a delivery companies logo. But if you take a closer look, the 'e' and the 'x' join together to form a hidden arrow between the two letters. Now EVERY TIME I see this sign, my eyes go straight to that arrow (and I bet now yours will too!) Creation would be the FedEx logo whereas creativity is what makes us see the arrow.

Open Mic Night

I'm not very familiar with all the buildings on campus so when I walked into the University Center and saw that I would be performing on a stage in such an open area, my nerves got the est of me. However, when all said and done, the Open Mic night was not as bad as I expected. It makes me kind of wish I would have taken it more seriously and prepared something with a little more thought (although I thought my limerick knocked them all dead lol.) In terms of trying to get more people to attend, I do think it should be held at an earlier time though when the UC is more busy. There wasn't much traffic coming through that late in the day- good for my stage fright, bad for the event- and I feel more traffic would attract more people to sign up. Thanks to Marissa for my picture!!!

KY2L Final Thoughts

The concept that lead to the book is quite clever: trying to figure out why musicians become so much more famous after their death. And I understand that along the way of his actual trip it became much more than just a roadtrip for a magazine article- hence the reason for pursuing the idea for a book. But with all the references to the 'ladies' in his life, I feel the book becomes more of a quest to figure out his life rather than the deaths of other. Don't get me wrong, it was an easy read (and I am all about easy reads for college classes) but part of me is still trying to understand how this book ultimately ties into this creative writing course. And, as previously discussed in class, I was lost a lot of the time when he made references to certain songs that I was not familiar with. For example: I was really lost when he was relating the women in his life to certain songs. I wanted to understand how he was describing him, but I could not make the connection for I was unfamiliar the mentioned songs. Now I know I could probably look up the songs in order to better understand some of the texts, but with as many songs and bands as Chuck mentions, it would be something I was constantly doing making the book more of a hassle than an enjoyment.
Overall, I'd say it was a good book, but with the generations only getting older, I do not know how much longer this book is going to last for the future students of this class.

KY2L Pg. 141-194

Who buys $1,000 glasses for themselves, let alone ones they do not want? And his other reasons for buying them- (1) to avoid an argument (2) to avoid a further excursion to other eyeglass stores and (3) to get laid- do not help the opinion I already have of this Chuck Klosterman. The whole decision just sounds ridiculous- more so because of his reasonings behind it- but after getting a sense of the person he his from reading his book, I can see how he would make a choice like that.

The brief section where Body Integrity Identity Disorder was mentioned caught my intention. I never knew a disorder such as this existed or that anyone could ever be compelled to mutilate their body by chopping off limbs. It was odd and grotesque to say the least.

I did enjoy his elaborate telling of the night he spent with his Nemesis and Uma Thurman. The fact that all night he thought something was going to happen between him and the girl and then nothing ever did. Just another example of how his life seems to be driven by (a) music and (b) believing that every girl wants him (or maybe that's just the vibe I was getting from the book.)

Did anyone else get taken back by the $160 a month apartment he use to rent?

PostSecret

I was absolutely fascinated by this site and the idea behind it. (Makes me wish I would have thought of it.) I noticed that it seems to have evolved artistically from the simplicity of writing on a post card to writing on NetFlix envelopes and photographs. It was very interesting to see how people have taken a base idea and transformed it as their own- sometimes helping to reflect their secret concretely and other times abstractly.

At my college we have a bulletin board inspired by PostSecret. One day a photograph of a sunset was posted. Written across the photo in white ink it said "sometimes I wonder if anyone would care if I didn't wake up in the morning".

A few weeks later another photograph was posted. This was a photo of a sunrise. In white ink it said "yes, I would". . . I wish I could tell the person "thank-you" because the sunset was mine.

After reading this, I sat for a while because it was profoundly moving. I wonder if the creators of this project ever imagined the effect they would have on others all through just sharing a secret on a post card.

A Brief Companionship (Limerick)

A snake and a mouse became friends.

A bond no one could comprehend.

But once dinner came,

Things weren’t quite the same.

The friendship had come to an end.

This Past Week...

Welp, I have a lot more going on in my life this week than a a few weeks ago. My grandma has been in the hospital for the past week. Her progress has been up and down. One day she's doing fine, and the next she's on life support. There's no need to feel bad. She's 93 years old and has been trucking along like a trooper. I would say she has lived a long, fulfilled life. This past weekend my brother was admitted into the hospital. He was diagnosed with a staph infection in his leg. The hospital tested the infection, and it in fact, returned positive for MRSA. He spent the entire weekend hooked to an IV that fed antibiotic through his system. After disinfecting the whole house, washing sheets and towels, and throwing out the bar soap, he is home recovering. My aunt and cousin from Oregon arrived in town on Saturday to visit for the week since grandma (her mom) is not doing too well so we have opened up our house to them to stay at. All and all, I'd say its been nothing short of boring for the past couple of days.

Here's to a snow day on Wednesday!!! Wear your pajamas inside out for me Tuesday night!!!!

Winter Haikus

Bitter, cold night wind.
Blowing with no sympathy
and unforgiving.
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Softly flowing down,
white ice crystals from the sky
blanketing the ground.

Four Poem Picks

My First Best Friend by Jack Prelutsky kind of reminds me of a Shel Silverstein poem. It was playful, humorous, and had a punch line at the end, reminding me of last week's class discussion.

The Dancer by David Tucker evoked me to visualize an image while I was reading. This was a poem I re-read a few times in order to make sure I understood each line. There was one line that particularly appealed to me. Tucker described the dancer spinning as 'a blue rose on a nail,'- The blue pertaining to the color leotard the dancer was wearing which the author informed the reader of in the beginning of the poem.

Summer Job by Richard Hoffman was a piece that I could not understand how it was considered poetry. It seemed more like paragraph exert from a book. As my schooling went on, I became more familiar with many different types of poems- free verse, non-rhyming, distinctive line structures- but this particular poem caught me off guard. The entire verse is dialogue from one person. I feel like it had an underlying message, but I had a hard time figuring it out.

The Catch by A.E. Stallings I feel might still have me puzzled. When I first read it, certain lines in the poem made me think that it was about a husband and a wife who had a child and the child was putting a strain on their relationship. Then I re-read it and felt that maybe it was not that simple to understand (poems always have me critically analyzing them since they can be so complex at times.) Other lines did not fit with my interpretation. However, I still feel as though the poem is about a couple who is struggling with their relationship. What that struggle may be, I have not yet determined. Or maybe my original interpretation was correct and I am just over thinking it...

My Inspirations

I am mostly inspired when I draw. It will usually just hit me and I think I must draw this. Most of my inspiration comes from life's precious miracles: babies. They are loved immensley and are usually the center of someone's world. When I think about capturing that image on paper, I anticipate the emotion that the recipent feels when they first look at the finished product. I am constantly taking pictures of my baby cousins and drawing them as gifts. It is a gift that I know will always be treasured.

I am quite bias to the pencil when creating art, but when I am inspired to use color, the inspiration usually comes from flowers. Georgia O'Keefe's artwork are great examples of peices that inspire me. They are so bright, vibrant, and life-like. They are absolutely breath-taking.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I spend a lot of time around children during my week and they pretty much consume my life. And since nothing super exciting worth writing about is going on right now, I thought I would share some of the quirky things that they have said to me this past week. May I remind you, I work in a kindergarten room...

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We introduced the penny the day before, and were reviewing it the next day,

"Who can tell me what man is on the front of the penny?"

With an overwhelming response I got,

"BARACK OBAMA"

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"Ms. Rachels (yes he plurals my name), do you know what this is?"

The student shows me a canadian penny, so I reply,

"Yes, that's a Canadian penny."

To which he responds,

"YUP, a Canadian penny from JAPAN."

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"Ms. Rachel, my head be hurtin when you talk."

____________________________________

(this one did not happen this past week, but its a memorable one for me- from a 5th grader)

The students began to crowd me, so I tell them,

"Guys!!! Back up, I am claustrophobic!!!!"

To which a student in the front replies, totally serious,

"You're afraid of Santa Clause?"

The Princess and the Pea

In the folk tale The Princess and the Pea, the Princess randomly shows up at the Prince’s door. I chose to focus on the point of view of the Princess herself as to how she managed to end up on his doorstep and then lead into the actual folk tale...

Marriage. It was something that my father and mother stressed greatly. And not just with anyone. It had to be with someone of wealth and power, more specifically, a prince. See, I am the youngest of three sisters, and we are princesses. It was only custom to marry a prince, so that we may someday become his queen.

News had been traveling around that a prince was looking for a princess’ hand in marriage. My sisters and I had heard about Prince Henry and were all very excited to meet him as he traveled the world in search of a princess to wed. The excitement, however, turned into jealousy and caused many feuds between us. We all wished to be married, but I very well knew that since I was the youngest, my parents would only offer the oldest to wed.

As time went on, the Prince had still not visited our area. Then a message came that the Prince was so deterred by the lack of real princesses he had encountered, that he had headed back home. He was to take a break from his search.

In an effort to marry off my eldest sister, my parents planned a trip to the Prince’s home. They were certain that if the Prince met her, they would fall in love and they would wed. I, however, believed that I would be a more perfect choice, but had a hard time convincing my parent’s of that. They believed a prince by the name of Nathaniel would be my future husband.

Two nights before my parents and sister were to leave to Prince Henry’s, I decided to take matters into my own hands. My desire to be Henry’s princess had convinced me enough that I should venture to his castle alone so that he could meet me before my sister. If he just met me, he was sure to realize that I was his future wife. It would be quite the hike, but I was willing to make it for the prince.

I walked all night, only stopping to sleep, and even well into the afternoon until I finally reached his castle gates. I was exhausted, hungry, and not looking my best. My clothes were dirty, torn, my hair was ratted. It was then that I began to feel nervous. No one would believe that I was a princess by my appearance. Suddenly, it began to downpour and a terrible storm grew near. My desire to get out of the rain, outweighed my butterflies, and I knocked at the castle gate. To my surprise, the King himself answered.

“My dear, you are soaking wet!” said the King. I stood shivering.

“What are you doing standing out here in the rain, young lady?” asked the King. I figured that if I had any chance of entering the castle and getting out of the rain, I better tell him who I was.

“I am a Princess, and I have traveled all this way to marry your son. May I please come in?”

The Queen then walked up. The King told her of my presence. She whispered something in his ear and then motioned me inside the gate.

**The went into the bedroom, took all the bed clothes off and laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning they asked her how she slept.

'Oh terribly bad!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'

They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin.

So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.

**actual folk tale

Welp, my name is Rachel and this is my second semester at U of M Dearborn. I recently transfered from Henry Ford Community College where I graduated with two associate degrees: one in child development and one in pre-elementary education. My current major is early childhood education with minors in language arts and social studies.

I work at an elementary school as an ACT 18 para professional (one-on-one) for a kindergartner who has autism and ADHD. She is the cutest thing in the world and makes my job fun and worth while. In addition, I work the after-school daycare program.

I am very fine arts oriented. I took piano lessons for 11 years and turned the skills that I have learned from that along with my educational courses into teaching the instrument to others. I currently have 15 students and enjoy every minute of it. I would also consider myself an artist. I am very handy with a pencil and drawing realistically. My specialty is faces and hands of people.

I absolutely love dancing and my lame plan was to post a picture of me dancing every time I post a blog (a previous picture taken, not one where I dance on the spot just for my blog post). The reason being because I figured I had to have some fun with this or it would just become a daunting task. Hence the title of my blog... a line taken from the great wisdom that are Lady Gaga songs.

On a side note, it is 12:40 AM and I have to get up at 5:30 AM to work but am wide awake due to a spider that decided to hang down in front of my face while I was laying bed. I greatly thanked him for his visit by ending his life :) And then decided to be productive with my time and do some homework! Could be why I wrote so much...