Friday 28 September 2012

6 Word Memoir #6

Writer's note: This is inspired by my first heartbreak. I would definitely not go as far as saying I was in love with the guy, or anything close to, it was a trust thing. I put trust in someone, then soon after, found out that they weren't who I thought. This was a difficult lesson that I had to learn, (that people sometimes will just tell you what they know you want to hear) I'm glad that I got that one out of the way when I did though. I've grown as a person because of this experiance and have realized that you should be careful with who you trust, also that it's okay to take a chance every now and then. He was the first real chance I have ver taken and I'm glad I did, even if it came back to haunt me for a short time.

6 Word Memoir #5

Writer's note: This is a picture that I absolutely adore. I was having difficulties with finding a picture to go with one of the six word memoirs I wrote and I kept being drawn to this one. The picture and memoir had absolutely nothing in common so, I wrote something for this picture. I remember this evening with clarity, loosing my brother was so fresh in my mind at the time and I was hanging out with two very dear friends of mine. I remember the three of us sitting there in perfect silence, looking at this incredible view and letting our minds wander. This is a place where I can let every wall down and no matter what is going on, this is a peaceful, quiet place to sit. You can let yourself think without worry of interuption. I can't say that was a good day, but I can say it was an easy one. When easy days where few and far between.

6 Word Memoir #4

Writer's note: Music is a huge part of my life. When I get a chance to relax and listen to my music all the stresses of the world seem to have a way of melting away. Even when no music is playing, I always seem to have a song in my head running through time and time again. In this picture is a little line that I wrote, it's not very good yet but the idea is that there is always a melodie in your heart that is just waiting to be found. This memoir to me is something very simple, but so incredibly important in my life and I know music plays a huge roll in most people's lives.

6 Word Memoir #3

Writer's note: As an individual I tend to be very quiet, I never really trust in anyone the things going on in my life. I know that this could make some people feel as if, even though they confide in me, I don't trust them in return. I decided that it's time I slowly start opening up and stop shutting everyone out. This isn't something I do conciously, I've just never been very good at expressing myself and I, for a long time, didn't have the best luck with friends. I also have to pay credit to the book in this photo. The book is called "The Creative Writing coursebook" ironically enough, it has sections written by about fourty authors and it was edited by Julia Bell and Paul Magrs.

6 Word Memoir #2


Writers note: As I mentioned I have been going through a lot this year. In April My brother Danny died and I can’t get him off my mind. He was everything in my life and even though he made life difficult for me and the rest of my family, he had these extreme moments of kindness and understanding. Everything I do, I seem to look back and realize how proud he would be of me and how caring he really was, even though he didn’t often show it. My family is holding up as best we can, although it’s often hard remembering that he's really gone… 

6 Word Memoir #1


Writers note: When I saw the "Friends" section for our 6 word memoirs, this is the phrase that instantly ran through my mind. All of my friends have been there for me through a lot and I’m not sure what I’d do without them. If they were going to leave me, they could have easily done it within this past year and saved themselves a lot of trouble, but they stuck around and I knew the whole time that they were there for me. This picture in particular is of me and my best friend after we made cupcakes for another friend’s birthday. 

Monday 24 September 2012

Writing Reflection #1

I really enjoyed writing my six word memoirs. I stayed in the classroom for this because I find that the atmosphere created in this class room is one that encourages creativity to flow and it really did. I expected to have more problems with writing only six words to get a message accross but I think it worked out really well. With these six word memoirs I feel like I can really express myself where I have been having some troubles doing so to date. I'm not used to posting any part of who I am on the internet, so this blogging is taking me well out of my comfort zone, although I find myself glad that it is doing so. I hope to start getting comfortable with the idea of blogging and putting myself out there in such a different way. A goal I would like to set is to start making my blog more authentic to who I really am, start adding to it because I had a random idea that can give some true insight into who I am. I would also like to start visiting more peoples blogs and really embracing what this course has laid out for us. I also need to start proof reading my text a little more...
This six word memoir is a really cool assignment and I can't wait to put word with pictures and bring more depth to the phrases. 

Reading Reflection #3


One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
pg. 152-192

Something about this book that I was noticing quite a bit on Friday is how the emotions are portrayed without telling you that a character is feeling a certain way. When I look back to the beginning of the book, it says things like “All the time he dreaded the morning. But the morning came, as it always did.”(pg. 3) there you can see that he is groggy and tired, not in a good mood but not too bad off. In what I read on Friday I can find a quote as follows, “Once they’d tried to beat him up but the cooks all rushed out to help him. And a choice bunch of ugly fat-faced bastards they were too.” (pg 162.) He is talking about people that, although he may not like them much, had tried to help him and he is so bitter and angry. This is all because of the progression of his day of course, the point being that you can feel it as Ivan gets tired and ready to end off the day and go back to bed. I love this idea of experiencing a day of a life like this but when I started this book, not once did I consider that the author might have factored in such details as this, it can give you some insight into his mind while he was writing along with the mind of the character her was creating. 
I also want to discuss the Idea of freedom used throughout this book. It’s true that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone and as I read I can feel that idea within each prisoner of having everything they ever enjoyed taken away from them. On page 159 we learn about rules put in place in the camp, one of them being that prisoner are not allowed to walk around alone. "...had made this order to take their last bit of freedom away,". All of the prisoners know how little they have, especially since some of them went from having it all to having nothing, so putting yourself in their shoes is an enlightening experience. You realize how bad things really do get for some people in this world. 
I loved experiencing this book and have finnished it. It's an easy read and a story that can fascinate if you let it, I would really recommend finding this book and giving it a try if you haven't already. 


Wednesday 19 September 2012

Personal touch #2

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” 
 Oscar Wilde

I know, two quotes in one night but this is my favorite quote. Just something that makes me smile. I like to think I'm that clever at times even though deep down I know I'm just spurting out jiberish. Sometimes my rambling does turn out to be something smart but of course that is only on occasion. There is an activity we do at a camp I go to every year and we are told to stop censoring ourselves and let whatever comes come. This is important to do and sometimes if you listen close you might just have a spurt of genius.
goo.gl/YHwOd

My personal touch #1

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” 
 Robert Frost
This is something I can say I honestly forget a lot of the time, I believe most people do. It's hard to remember that, no matter what it is you might be going through, life will always go on and if you don't want to move on with it you might be left behind for a short time until you can catch up. In the heat of the moment something can seem so drastic in your life but it's incredible to take a step back and think about what other people might be going through or experiancing while you are wrapped up in your own situations. Sometimes it can be tough to face, but life goes on and I love this as a constant rememinder to keep advancing in life and to not let anything hold you back for long.

goo.gl/YHwOd

Digital footprint

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Reading Reflection #2


One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Pg. 54-68


On Friday I read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and I have to say, I am loving this book! One of the things that makes this book so wonderful to me is that the entire book is a text to world connection. Although it is a fictional story and Ivan Denisovich isn’t real, all of the events in this book were a reality for the author and millions of Russian people around the 1940’s. Alexander Solzhenitsyn actually created Ivan so he could tell the story of his life in the Russian correctional camps. I find in this book Ivan is oddly easy to connect to, not because I have gone through anything remotely close to what he is going through but because, if you look close enough you can understand in a lesser sense what it is he is dealing with. An example of this is on page 54, “He—untied the frozen face-rag from his neck, broke the ice to fold it up,” I know at some point in time we have all gone out on a cold winter day and had our breath freeze our scarf in place. Now if we take that feeling, then add on the fact that Ivan hasn’t had any warmth since winter stared no matter what he did, then add his empty stomach, and working outside in this bitter cold, we can start to really understand Ivan and connect with him nicely. In a camp like this everyone is desperate, desperate for good food, for sleep, for a little warmth, any many of them are desperate for a cigarette. “That scavenger Fetyukov had scrounged together quite a pile of cigarette butts from somewhere (he would even pick them up out of a spittoon without batting an eye),” (pg. 56) It is terrible when people become that desperate but it is described so perfectly! I also love the way the author used the word scrounged. It gives you the idea that Ivan is a little bitter about Fetyukov getting all of those butts and having a cigarette without actually telling you that he is bitter. Because the author lived this book he gives you this fascinating insight into the  mind of these prisoners. I never considered the different ways a mind would work for someone locked up like this. Page 58 really got me thinking about this. There is a paragraph about how much of a blessing a snow storm is and then it says “Come to think about it, snow storms weren’t much use.” They tell you one view and then totally flip and make you think the opposite. If you don’t want to read this book I would strongly recommend at least reading page 58. It gives you a new way of seeing so many things. 

Thursday 13 September 2012

Rambling Autobiography


I was born in 1996, 2 and a half years after one of my brothers. Despite myself I have always been quiet and closed off to the people around me. I have traveled what I consider to be a fair amount my life, last year I went to Europe. I like to take part in the school spring play. I love to sing and do what I can to sing every day. If you look down at my wrist you will see the last thing my brother Danny ever gave to me, also the one thing I don't think I could live without. I am so devoted to school that my life outside of it is nearly non-existent. In the winter time my house feels like a jungle, while year 'round my house sounds like a zoo. I have a total of ten pets; two African grey parrots, a military macaw, three iguanas, a bearded dragon, and three dogs. I consider myself a reader because I love picking up a good book and getting lost in it, although I rarely have time to read. I write to let go of every problem in this world and step into a world of my own creation. In the end, I am a writer by nature, an actor by chance, and a singer by heart.