WINTER BREAK

For this winter break I will be pretty busy. I will have wrestling practice to attend and plan on working out a lot. I also have to practice guitar for worship team at church. I hope to hang out with my friends a lot and possibly have another Dr. Pepper night. This Saturday, there is a Christmas caroling thing at the mall for my church. A bunch of us will just go there for a couple hours and sing Christmas songs and hopefully reach out to some people. Also, next Wednesday is the church Christmas party. We will be eating food and giving presents to people. Wrestling should be during the weekdays and from 9-12. So it kinda sucks that I have to wake up earlier than I do for school during the break. Basically I hope to be pretty busy this break with fun activities and with my friends.

Poetry Out Loud

My poem is Flood: Years of Solitude, by Dionisio D. Martínez. I believe it is about the poet losing someone close to him and he has to live the rest of his life in solitude(hence the name) and is very alone in everything he does. I can connect to this poem because I have lost someone very close to me this year. And it sucks because every second is spent thinking about that person and nothing anyone can do will cheer you up, because all you want to do is be with that person.
I will intend to recite this poem with a serious nature. This is not one of those happy ryhming poems with a musical beat to it. It is a serious poem about loss and lonelyness. I will match up the very nature of this poem with my facial and body expressions. Not moving and having a monotone voice is a good fit with this poem.

Poetry Out Loud

Part One:
1. Grief
2. God's Grandeur
3. Tree, Immortal Sails
4. The Star, Flood: Years of Solitude

Part Two:
Out of the five poems I read, my favorite is Immortal Sails because it reminds me of pirates and living for the moment. I actually did not read a poem that I did not like. If I had to choose one of those poems to study, I would pick Flood: Years of Solitude because it is a sad poem that seems to have more meaning behind the words. I can personally connect with this poem because it is talking about someone who is by themselves and lonely and I have been there.

Part Three:
The two criteria that will be easiest for me would be the physical appearance and the voice and articulation because it is pretty easy to just talk loud enough for people to hear (you should anyways) and to stand still in front of the class. The two criteria that will be hardest for me is going to be the dramatic appropriateness and the level of difficulty because I chose a pretty easy poem I think and I am not an actor and cannot look excited in front of a crowd.

Part Four:
Stanley Andrew Jackson, Gregory Corso- This was a successful performance because Gregory used a lot of dramatic appropriateness and the level of difficulty was high I thought. He also recited it perfectly and boldly
Kareem Sayegh, The Moth-Man- This was a successful performance because Kareem had really good articulation and a clear voice. He also was very dramatic with his hands.

Part Five:
After doing all of this I am not excited for poetry out loud. It brought back bad memories of doing it in the past. The competition doesn't really matter to me. I just want a good grade. Although it would be sweet to get some extra credit. I am going to memorize Flood: Years of Solitude. I chose it because it was short, simple, and I could relate.

Emerson's Nature

Please know that I am not a hippy...
After reading both of Emerson's articles, I found myself being able to relate to "Nature" better. Mainly about the finding God in nature part. Not so much about how everything has a soul. This is relative to my life because I have found God in nature. During a church backpacking on the coast near Forks, Washington was the most clear it ever was that I had found God in nature. And last night during the wind storm was another time.

One example is during the backpacking trip, we had about an hour of quiet time. At night one of the leaders would give a small sermon and we would have a discussion and relate what we read to out life. The following morning we were told to go where ever we wanted to pray and read our bible and see what we could come up with. I didn't know what to do so I followed this trail uphill. I found myself in the forest. The sun was starting to shine through the trees and I could see the ray of sunlight that would sneak its way past the tree's leaves. It was beautiful. I finally came to the end of the trail. I was on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the ocean that was still foggy, but slowly clearing up. Mrs G, I was in awe of the pure beauty and wonder of this creation. I read various parts of the bible out loud and prayed out loud too. I've never felt closer to God or loved then in that moment. Nothing seemed to matter but to praise God and grow closer to him. Time passed so fast. I went well over my hour of quiet. I was transfixed by every single little detail of nature and how magnificent it was. I mean, if the created was that awesome, think about how the creator is.

The Crucible: Injustice

One court case I found unfair was one that we learned about in my sociology class at SPSCC. It is about Cameron Todd Willingham. He was accused of burning his house down with his three todler daughters inside. At first, the evidence was strongly against him. His story was that he was asleep and he woke up to his house on fire. He quickly ran out of the house and then remembered his children. He tried to go back and get them but he was stopped by a wall of fire. On his body, there were no indications of going back for the children. He had singed hair and his feet weren't even burned (He was barefoot). Also, the fact that he abuses his wife did not help him and the night after the fire, he got drunk and bragged that the money would start pouring in now. The investigations afterward stated that the burn pattern was in the star symbol that satanic worshipers use. They also found some sort of lighter fluid on the porch under the front door. Obviously he was proven guilty even though he stated he was innocent.
Cameron Todd WIllingham was put on death row for arson and the murder of his three young daughters. Still, he said he was innocent. I know, Mrs. G, this looks like a fair trial. So just hold on for a little bit, i'm getting to it. There was a breakthrough in the field of studying arson. And new and better ways were found to investigate arsons. Several arson experts now came in to the burnt house to investigate. They concluded that the fire was a flash fire. Where everything flammable just goes up in flame. They also said that the reason that Cameron's feet were not burned was because the fire wouldn't be on the ground at first. Heat rises. This conclusion was found less than a week before Cameron was to be executed. This evidence should have spared his life, but they would not dely the execution. Cameron was killed by injection. When the evidence the arson experts found should have saved his life.

American Literature

Being an American is great. We have way more freedom than any other country in the world. We can choose our religion and speak out against our government. Both of which could get you killed in places like North Korea or some other communist country. But does that freedom cause us to take things for granted?
As Americans, I think we all have one thing in mind. To live a wealthy and fun life. I mean, who wouldn't want to be rich and not be bored their whole life? I also think another thing us Americans have in common is laziness. We were raised getting almost whatever we wanted from our parents. Growing up, I know I didn't have to do any work to get what I wanted. This is not good. It teaches us to expect favors and stuff for free.
My goal in life isn't that of the typical American. A typical American lives for himself. I want to live for others. But that is easier said than done. I want to live my life the way God wants me to. Which at the moment, I have no clue what that would be. A typical American wants wealth and riches. I don't need money or fancy things. Just enough to get by.