Symbols

Today in class we talked about symbols and how in almost everything you read, there are symbols. The definition of a symbol is a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized: usually conceived as deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears, and generally distinguished from a sign. (according to Dictionary.com) Symbols are very important and a creative way of writing a poem, story, letter, etc. I thought that it was interesting how you said, "You do not need to fully understand the symbol or even be able to point to the specific symbol to understand the text/meaning." An example that was brought up in class would be the dripping water into the bucket in the play "Enemy of the State". You don't know a hundred percent what it means but you know it means something. I guess I never really realized that we don't always know the meaning of the symbol in the story. Another example would be in "Waiting for Godot". The tree in the story isn't really shown to mean anything specifically but we know that it means something. I never really thought about symbols this way and I thought the lessons was pretty cool.

New York in the Fall

I was looking through my notes and some papers I had from this class and I found a quote from one of the writings we read. "It's your doing that under the wheeling constellations of the sky, he wrote, all nature teams together with life- something of the earth beyond our human dramas." This quote was from State of the Planet by Robert Hass. This I related to instantly because of something that had happened to me over Thanksgiving break when I went home to New York. First let me say that it was absolutely beautiful in New York. There could not have been any nicer weather for a late November week. It was so awesome being home with my family and friends and coming home to that weather only made it better. But I had run into some drama with an old friend when I was home and I was so upset and hurt by everything that was happening and it was all quite childish. But needless to say it was something that I had to deal with and take care of. I am the type of person that likes to think about things before I do them especially when it comes to fights and things like that.So I went to a local lake late at night when no one was around and thought about everything that had happened. I went out on the dock and laid down and looked up at the stars and took a look at my life. I realized a lot of things that I had done right and I had done wrong. It was under those stars that I looked at many different aspects of my life. It was a great night that I just got to look up at nature and have God speak through it for me.

Waiting for Godot

While talking about this book in class and the themes inside, someone talked about how they thought that it had to do with God and how we are waiting for Jesus to come again just like the people in the story are waiting for Godot. We talked about these people had a great amount of devotion, just like Christians do. Even though we don't see God we know that He exist and we have faith and believe that He will come again. The people in the story are waiting for Godot just like we wait for God. They believe that one day he will come and I do believe that by the end of the story He will come just like one day I believe that Jesus will come. The name Godot even looks like the word God. Even though there were many other themes mentioned in class, I thought that this one was the most interesting. Even the mentioning of the tree in the story, to me, seems to represent the cross. Because even though Christians don't exactly have a cross that they stand in front of waiting for Jesus, we use the reference of it. God says in the Bible that we should look to the cross which could have the same meaning as the people in the story standing at the tree. This whole theme of the story, makes me think about how many Christians are actually looking/waiting at the cross? How may of us are as faithful as these people in the story, being patient and selfless, waiting for Jesus to come back? We say and talk all the time about how much we love God but how many times everyday do we give up on God and ignore His laws to do our own thing? Because when we go live our lives according to our own rules instead of God's, that is what we are doing- giving up on God. And eventually once we are ready to surrender ourselves again, we are back at the tree waiting for Him.

Dr Horrible

While we were watching this video, I had no words for what was going on. I thought that it was very weird and I was trying to figure out just what this show was about. But as we continued to watch it some parts were funny and interesting. I think that Dr. Horrible was actually a better guy that Captain Hammer was. Captain Hammer just wanted the fame and fortune. He didn't care who he hurt and or what he had to do in order to get everything he wanted. But Dr Horrible seemed to be the one with the kinder heart that really wanted to help people. It just seemed like he was lost in his own way. Penny had a lot to do with the audience being to see his good heart. He loved her so much he would do anything for her. I think that if Penny had lived and they had gotten together, he would not have wanted to be evil anymore. He wanted her to love him too much. But once she died, that was when it was all over for Dr. Horrible. Once again, Captain Hammer did not care that his girlfriend Penny, had got stabbed. He was too concerned about himself. So how does that make hero? But Dr. Horrible on the other hand cared very much and stayed with her. But once she had died, he went crazy. He probably felt that he had nothing else good to live for and that is why he really started to be more evil. It was sad because he had so much anger and hate that he became a worse person because of it. I wish that the show did not have to end that way. But maybe its trying to show you that no one can change you completeing. Only you and God can do that.

Nature in my Life

Nature means a lot to me in my own life. Not only because I can really see God through it when I feel distant but also because I love to paint it. I painted this picture when I was a junior in high school and it is one of my favorites that I have done. This is a replica with a few changes of Georgia O'Keefe's painting. I wanted to change the color of the flower a little bit because I think the way I made the color in this painting is more realistic in how the colors really blend on an actual flower. My favorite things to paint are flowers because I feel that they have so much life behind them and you can do so much to them as an artist. I love to be able to play with the colors and create some unique colors that blend with colors you might not put together regularly. When I was at Lake Bonny I saw a lot of really bright and vibrant colors on things and it gave me a lot of ideas. When I got to just sit there and relax it gave me a chance to really look at the shapes and textures of nature. A lot of times I just guess on what the texture would look like because I never really studied that part of nature. It just goes to show you that even though you think you know something you might not know it as much as you think. Again, going to Lake Bonny was a lot of fun and I am going to go there more often to relax and just spend time with God and His wonderful nature. Mybe take some pictures of my own and paint them later. (:

Lake Bonny

The other day I went to Lake Bonny Park, like our assignment had said to do and I actually spent a lot of time there. I went with one of my friends and we sat there together, not necassarily talking a whole lot but really just enjoying the nature. Ever since I got down here to go to school, I have been wanting to see an alligator and I finally did! I have seen them before but not since I have been here for school. It made me so happy to finally see it. There was so much in the nature that was going on and it was so much fun to just watch everything! While we were there, there was some chicks with their mom and it was so cute to watch them play around in the water, and there were lizards everywhere. Me and my friend were running after them and trying to catch them. We did not have much success.
While we were there we read some of the Bible. Mostly Genesis when God talks about creation and when He first made it. It is so cool how he thought everything out and what would happen each day. We also read other verses that talked about nature that helped us appreciate it even more while we sat there. I really like this project and it was great to watch and study nature. It's just as cool as watching people in the mall or something. Animals do some pretty funny things and it was just a lot of fun and a good place to read the Bible. Good idea!

Prayer

In the poem Six Recognitions of the Lord, it gave me a revelation on my prayers. In the poem is talks about how we may know all these big fancy words, but how much does God care about you using them in your prayers when you talk to Him. Sometimes when people pray, especially in front of people, they have this tendency to pray the most extravagant prayer using the biggest and best words they can find in their brain. They also try and be extremely spiritual and they use things that are written in the Bible to prove something to God. For example, people will say, "God, in your word in tells me that you will feed me just like you feed to birds of the sky and God I need you to take care of me like you promise you will in the Bible." I just want to say "I think that God knows what He promises in the Bible and I really don't think that He needs you to be reminding Him what He said. I am guilty of it sometimes too and this poem helped me realize that, I don't need to try and impress anyone. God knows my heart and God knows the things I want to say without having to use these big, extravagant words. We also talked in class about how when people pray they like to say "Father God" over and over again like God doesn't remember His own name. It is funny to think about and how we do that when we pray. It's like every time we say Father God we are calling like He's fallen asleep on us or something. I garentee He is still listening because He always does and He doesn't only listen to big words. He hears the soft simply words that come from the heart and that we speak and actaully mean something to us and Him. We need to work on pleasing God and not worrying about what other people are thinking about us and our relationship with God.

nature

I love nature!! I think that there is nothing cooler than all the different things that God has made. My favorite thing to look at and take pictures of is the sky! Anywhere and at anytime, if there is a beautiful sky outside, you can find me taking pictures of it. The picture to the left is actually a picture I took one night in Florida. One of my favorite things about Florida is the skies. The skies here are soo beautiful compared to New York (where I am from). Over the summer, I really missed walking outside from dinner and looking over the lake and seeing these amazing colors that are not something you see everyday! Seeing all these amazing things that God has created, I don't understand how someone can not think that there is a God. How could someone think that the trees, water, animals, humans, the different and unique flowers, and complex brain of an ant- how could someone think that that came from a big bang or evolution!? It just does not make sense in my mind. I feel so sorry for them and the fact that people are so blinded by their own brains. The poem that we read in class about nature was making me mad because of this. I felt like the author was really into nature and everything but they did not know where it came from. They kept talking about evolution so how can you really appreciate nature when you don't understand where it came from and who made it. It really saddens me and I really just want to shake it in them how dumb they are.

Understanding Poetry

I think that what we did in class on Thursday was very cool. I always say that I have a hard time understanding poetry and the purpose of it. I always say, "Why don't you just come out and say what you mean? Why does everything have to be such a huge secret?" I definintly still believe that about writing, especially poetry, but to read the poem at the end of class and then reading your essay you wrote on it was cool. I really enjoyed it. I felt like by doing that, I not only got a better understanding of the poem but I also got a better understanding of you. It was nice to see that you were open and vulnerable with us. You were honest about something that you and your wife faced in your life and you shared your personal feelings about it. It made me feel more like an adult instead of a little child, which is what I often feel like at this school. You allowed that to be seen by your students which helped us maybe understand you as person/ teacher a little better. It seems weird to say this, but you reading that reminded me you have a life outside of my class and what you teach us. You have a wife and kids, and you face problems too. I hope that things are better for you and your wife now and you find that deep love you once had with one another, the love that consisted of more than just the changing of diapers and paying the rent. Thank you for reading that to us. I really appreciated it!

Enemy of the State

At first, I was not very happy about having to go watch this play. I knew my weekend was going to be very jammed full of things I had to do and I really did not want to go see a play I had no interest in seeing when I didn't really have to time to see it and also spend my last 7 dollars on it. I couldn't buy myself dinner Sunday night because I went to go see this play and it did not make me happy at all.
But once I got to the play on Sunday afternoon, I was surprisingly entertained by it. I was very excited and nervous to see what was going to happen in it and how each character was going to develop. The character that I would say I was most impressed with was the main character. I do not remember his name but he was the doctor in the story and also one of the people on the board of education for the Springs. As the doctor of the town, he was wondering why everyone in the town was suddenly getting really sick. He thought that it could be possible that it would be the water so he sent in a sample to the university. The results came back that the water was contaminated and when he tried to tell his brother, the mayor of the town, he was regetted right away. The doctor wanted to put the story in the news paper but if he did his brother told him he would loose his job. After a long serious of other events, no one wanted to hear what the doctor had to say about and basically wanted to destroy him and his family. I liked this character because he believed in what he had to say and he didnt let anything change his mind. He stood his ground with the town and he refused to let them drive him away. I hope that if something like that ever happened to me and I believed in something that much that I would stand my ground even if my friends deserted me or my brother fired me from my job. I really look up to this character a lot.
Even if I wasn't happy about going to this play to begin with, I am ultimently was happy in the end. I learned a lot from the character and sometimes lessons are worth the sacrifice.

Character Based Short Story--Special Entry

With her tennis shoes tied tight and her gym shorts on, Melrose was ready to take the court. Her hair was pulled back tight in a bun and her bangs were pulled off to the side in a French braid. Yes she was nervous but like her mom had told her, would that be enough to stop her from doing something that she loved to do? Melrose had always had a passion for volleyball. She loved to watch it on television and to watch her mom’s own team practice. When Melrose was little, she always went to all her mother’s volleyball games and would sit in on the practices and help out in any way that she could. Her mom was one of the most famous volleyball coaches around. Being a Division 1 college coach definitely made you noticed. Now that Melrose is much older and into her first year of high school, she became more focused on her own team.
Melrose was always the quiet girl in school. She never really said much to anyone and even though she had a great personality, it was hard for people to see. No one ever really gave her a chance to be her true self. It was on the volleyball court that Melrose really shined. She wasn’t afraid to be the loudest, or to laugh and have fun while practicing. When the knee pads and the ankle braces went on, she became a new person. She loved it.
But today, in a new school, with a new team, and without really knowing the coach, Melrose was hesitant about these tryouts. This was a whole new ballgame now; new coach, new teammates, maybe even new techniques. What if her new volleyball coach does not like how her old volleyball coach taught her how to do things? What if the coach resented Melrose just because her mom was a famous volleyball coach and a notorious college? What if she just froze or messed up so bad that he cut her in the first 5 minutes? All these things ran through Melrose’s mind as she was walking into the gym. She was already having a horrible day so this would only make the day more complete.
First came the running around the court followed by numerous stretches. Any part of the body that could be stretch was being worked to make sure no injury would occur. So far, no one had said a word to Melrose. She was invisible and her usual bubbly personality was nowhere to be found. Her mom had told her how important it would be that she has to be herself on the court or else she will blend in. Her mother always drilled it in her that to stand out is the only way you become good. If you stand out, you get noticed by the coach, and then he will put more effort into your mechanics and will want to make you a better player. You almost have to become his friend, is what she would always tell her.
Next was the huddle. The captain of the team brought everyone in together to do a cheer and to pump up the girls for a long, hard day of practice. Once the seconds of loud screaming was over, the girls sat there and talked about school and life as they waited for the coach to come over to them. Melrose naturally just stood there waiting patiently kind of hoping that someone would start a conversation with her, just so that she felt like she maybe had one friend on the team, at least for the day. But no one said a word to her. Things would be better once the coach came over.
Well the coach came over and basically told the girls that the season was going to be like boot camp and if they haven’t been training since the summer, they probably would not be making it through the first week. Melrose did not train at all. She had a few passes with her mom on the weekends but that was about it. She knew that this was going to be very tough for her and a mountain to climb over if she made the team. She had to do her best and hope that it was good enough.
As the practice went on, she remained quiet. She played hard but did not stand out like her mom had told her to try and do. Her nerves had gotten the best of her. Melrose messed up on a few plays but nothing that made her worse than the other girls. She actually even thought that she was better than some of the juniors on the team so she felt pretty good about the tryouts. She went home that night feeling confident about what had happened at practice and even though she knew she was going to be sore the next day, it would be worth it. Melrose came home to a nice massage by her father and ice bags for her body from her mother. While relaxing after the long day, she told her parents about her long day at her volleyball tryout.
After 2 more days of tryouts and a weekend to relax, Melrose was feeling confident as she headed up to the stairs toward her high school. The roster would not be posted probably until the end of the class day so she had to practice her patients.
Finally it was the end of the day and Melrose ran to the gym locker room after she heard the 2 o’clock bell. She searched drastically to see her name as she pulled her finger down the list and her heart started to pound harder and harder and she got further and further down the list. Her finger started slowing down as she reached the end of the list. But sure enough the last name on the list was Melrose Olsen. Her heart leap with joy and her body soon followed. She was so excited she could not control her emotions. After running out to the bus, the first thing she did was call her mom with the good news. Neither of them could take the smile off their face. The whole bus ride home, Melrose dreamt of all the things that she hoped would happen this season. It was going to be a good year!

The Tale of Despereuax

The Tale of Despereuax was very interesting. I found it to be a very cute movie that just about any person would love. I did not get to watch it in class with everyone else but it still was nice to be able to watch it. I think that the main plot of the story had to do with forgiveness between the rat and the princess. A lot of what was going on in the kingdom was because the king and the princess could not find it in their hearts to forgive the rat. I don't think that the rat necassarily did anything wrong but according to the kingdom, he was responsible for the death of the queen. I felt really bad for the rat. Another major conflict in the story was the fact that Despereuax was different from all the other mice, so that meant that he had to be banished to the rats. He never did anything wrong; he was just unafraid of the things that all the other mice were afraid of. He was brave, and courageous and because of that no one accepted him for him. Not even his parents.
Roscuro (the rat)-He seemed very quiet, and nervous about things. He knew when things were wrong but he never spoke up about it except at the end when the rats were about to eat the princess. I think that he is a flat character because he doesn't really seem to have much of a personality. And I would say that he was a dynamic character because he changed at the end and became more brave about things after he met Despereuax.
Despereaux (the mouse)- Despereuax was a brave mouse that was okay with being different. He was a little goofy looking but he knew who he was and didn't let anyone try and tell him differently. He was a round character because his personality was so big and out there. And he also was a static character. He didn't really change at all through the story line. He stayed himself the whole time.
Miggery Sow (the servant girl)- Miggery Sow was a servant girl who had a dream in her mind and she didn't listen to anyone tell her that that dream was impossible. She made it to the castle and even though she was only serving the princess, in her mind she was the princess. She was a bit snotty and obnoxious at times but I think that it was only because she was cold-hearted and stubbern about things. She was round character- very full of life and I would say that she was dynamic because I think that toward the end when she met her father, she became more kind and loving towards people.
Princess Pea- The Princess was very bitter throughout the story except for when she met Despereuax. It is understandable being that she lost her mother but maybe her sadness and anger should not have lasted that long. She was a very flat character. She never really had an type of emotion besides sadness. She didn't really change much either so I would say that was a static character too.
In the answer to the last question you asked for this movie, I would say that I think a lot of people want things that they can't or will never have and that is where fairy tales come from. We are always hoping that something like those fairy tales we hear about will happen in our own lives but we really know they never will. If it is a question of examining our own lives, I think that sometimes they can make you feel sorry for your own life and you would just wish that it were better. For instance, that servant girl was always wishing that she was a princess when in reality she was and only would be a princess. Yes later when she meets her father, she is a princess in his eyes but she could never be truly given the title princess and live in the castle with a crown on her head. Fairy tales are make believe and every person I think has their own fairy tale.

home

There is nothing ever quite like home. Whether it is somewhere north, south, east or west. Somewhere colder or warmer home is home and there is no place ever that can compare to it. But what really does home mean to each person? It could just be wherever your family resides or it could be a place where all your memories lie. For me it is both and being that I am writing this blog from my hometown in New York on Long Island. I got the amazing opportunity to come home and completely surprise my while family but just showing up at the door of the very house I grew up in. They were all very excited to see me when they saw it was me knocking on the door very late at night. It was by far the most exciting thing I have ever done. Being home has given me an amazing chance to relax which I have not had the opportunity to do in a very long time. It is amazing to get to hug my dad, mom and brother; to get some homecooked food, to sleep in my own bed, to visit with my aunt and uncle and my cousins, and to get a chance to surprise my friends with my visit. There has only been one thing missing from this trip and that is my older brother who is stuck at school because of baseball. It would have been awesome to see him and him not being here I guess doesn't really make this house a home because of the fact that we are missing a family member but at the same time it still is absolutely amazing to be home. To be able to see the fall colors on the leaves and to watch as they slowly fall down to the ground. It is a big difference coming from the super hot weather to 50 degree weather but no matter what my body is telling me, it is definintely worth it..

Art Museum

When we wet into the art museum, I was looking really forward to it. I am really into art and as a painter, I was very intrigued by all the different things that people like to paint. I also like to get really cool ideas and see how people like to blend their different colors. If you really look at painting, unless you take a closer look, it would seem like they may just be one color but it really consists of many different colors. There was also many other different type of art that were being shown in the museum as well. There were photographs, sculpures, wire art work, and there was even little kids art work there. It was really cool to see the talent that such young kids have. There was also was a lot of ancient artifacts from Peru and other times like it.
But the part that most struct me and hit me in myheart was when I walked upstairs and saw all the photgraphs of the families that were from other countries. It showed and told everyone the possessions they owned. It made me truly see just how blessed I am. After I saw these pictures, all I could think about was how many times I either think or speak about how I want this or that. It really set things in perspective for me. Some of the families greatest possessions was a television or a bicycle. I couldn't even say what my greatest possession is because I have so many things that I love and couldn't see myself living without it. It is rediculous just how much we sit here and complain about how horrible our lives are meanwhile a family is making 100 dollars a week and the father has to use that to support a family of 5 for the entire week. That would not even last my family a half a day! I am such a blessed person and those pictures really touched my heart. I hope that everytime I find myself complaining that I just remember those pictures. I want them forever to be in my brain.

observing people

I did my observing on Wednesday night at a Starbucks at 3 in the morning. I was there doing an all-nighter- writing papers, and studying for my ethics midterm. Not only were me and my friends really tired, but so were the rest of the people there...doing the same thing as we were doing. It seemed that everywhere had their laptops out and were typing away, buying coffee to keep them awake and listening to music in order to keep away the temptation of talking to their friends. But I did notice that every now and then the people in starbucks would have take a break and usually that break meant these wild outburst of energy. It would involve very loud screams, laughing, and running around. I guess at 4 in the morning, it is hard to just sit there drinking cafeine and not do anything besides work. Even me and my friends would take breaks to just talk for a little bit so we wouldn't loose our minds. Even the workers, when they didnt have anything to do were fooling around with each other and talking to each other in order to just stay awake through their shifts. They were not exactly the happiest of people but then again who is happy when they work the night shift at Starbucks. No even many people are happy working period...no matter what shift it is. I thought that it was cool because even though it was late, everyone seemed to be happy and focused at the same time. It is amazing how much work can be done with just a couple cups of coffee and an all-nighter.

poetry

On Thursday in class, we talked about poetry and the best ways to read it. I have never been good at reading poetry. I always thought that it was way to complicated to understand. To me, if you are trying to say something, why don’t you just come right out and say it. I think that it is very dumb and pointless to try and make your writing sounds as difficult as they possibly can so that the reader has to sit there and try and figure out what they are trying to say for an hour for 5 lines worth of writing. Half the time the reader doesn’t even get the meaning correct. It frustrates me too much to read poetry for fun. I try and stay as far away from it as I can. It just works out better for me that way. The whole poem about onions seems like a waste of paper to me. But because I had to read it for class, and I had to take the time to try and figure out what it was trying to say, it was cool to get to the point where I did actually understand it. If you read it a couple of times and actually take it line by line and try and understand slowly it becomes easier to read and understand. Someone in the class said that it is good to get in a poetry state of mind before you actually read it. I thought that was good especially for me because I definitely have to be patient when I have to read poetry because it frustrates me that much. But it was good to be able to discuss it in class and it helped me fully understand more.

Grapes (picture)

Grapes

Joel 1: 12 "The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and apple tree- all the trees of the field- are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away."

I painted grapes in class because it reminded me of how when growing fruit is taken care of properly, they grow into these amazingly delicious fruit! Everyone wants to eat them and pick them and use them to feed their stomachs. They are healthy for you and give you natural energy that everyone wants. If the fruit though is not taken care of properly,the fruit rots and becomes sour. No one wants to eat it and no one even really wants to touch it. It is kind of like that with God. We are the fruit and He is the one taking care of us. We have the potential of becoming something beautiful but sometimes the fruit just goes sour. Without the farmer, we would die. We would have no chance to live and become the amazing fruit that we could one day be. You have to want to be taken care of though. Otherwise the farmer will not help you. It could water the fruit all He wants but unless we soak up the water, it will not help us. Sometimes I do not allow the farmer to help me through. I sometimes rely on other fruit to keep me alive but there really is just no way they can help me no matter how much I want them too. It really is only the farmer who will save me.

Joel

Reading the book of Joel out by the lake in class was very relaxing and something I could really get used to. I have read books out in nature before but never out loud. The only time I ever really read out loud is if I am alone in my room. I think that it is weird to read aloud when other people can hear. But reading out in nature when no one else is really around, I think is a good idea to get your mind away from the hustle and bustle of life. We get so caught up in it all that it can sometimes be hard to pull ourselves away from it. For me personally I would love to just be able to walk out by the lake on my free time and read a good book. Not only is it hard for me to find the time but also once I have the time to actually get myself out there, it never seems to happen. I just can't seem to pull myself there. It is true for even just reading in my room. When I get free time in my room I tend to just turn on my TV instead of read a book that I already started. Once I get to start that book then it is very hard for me to put it down but for some reason picking it up is the hard part. Also I have never really fully read the book of Joel. It was pretty cool to get to be able to read the Bible in a literature class. In some parts it was kind of harsh about things but in other parts it was cool because it talked about God's promises to them. Never realized the kind of book it was until now.

Cemetery

To be honest, when we went to the cemetery last week, it was not my favorite thing. It was very sad to see all the people that rested there. Some of them were even war veterans. I don't like thinking about people laying in the ground dead. While I was there walking around too I started to think about how many of them were actually in heaven and how many were in hell. I guessed that most of them were probably unsaved which made it even more sader. I sometimes don't understand why people are so ashamed to tell people about Jesus, especially if they are someone you might not ever see again. I am completely guilty of this but if Christians talked about Jesus more than how many more of those people in that cemetery would be saved? Doesn't Jesus say that we should go and make disciples of all nations? Doesn't that mean that we should spending our time accomplishing that instead of going on facebook and watching tv? Sometimes we are just so blinded with the things going on in our own lives that we don't even see the opportunites that God might place infront of us to just even bring up God. That is kind of what God was talking to me about when we were in there. As much as I didn't like being in there, I think that it was a good opportunity for God to show me something that true for my own life and probably a lot of other people's as well. It has already been useful in a situation that came up with my friend. I kind of got to talk to him about praying. It was pretty cool.

Something Blue

I am currently reading this book right now called "Something Blue" and it is about a girl named Darcy, who thinks that she is the greatest, prettiest thing in all of New York City. In her life, things have always gone her way so when she got engaged to one of the most popular and successful men in NYC it came to no surprise to anyone. Her best friend always stuck at her side through everything. They were neighbors from the very beginning and they even went to college together. Her best friend was a little less than what Darcy would say most men want. She was very dull and not very pretty. Darcy eventually falls in love with her fiances groomsman and when Marcus finally tells her that he loves her, Darcy instantly calls off the wedding with her fiance. A few hours later, she heads over to her best friends house only to find her fiance in the bathroom of her best friends house. They had an affair for almost as long as Marcus and Darcy. All in one day she looses her best friend, and fiance and finds out that she is pregnant with Marcus's baby. Sooner or later after spending more time with Marcus, Darcy realizes that she made the wrong decision about the guy that she chose and gets very depressed about it. That is where I ended in the book and I am finding it to be very sad but at the same time there is a lot to learn from it. I am excited to see what the ending is going to be like and to see if she will end up with Marcus or the first guy. To me she doesn't deserve either of them because she cheats and cheaters should never win anything.

What is love?

Sometimes I can't help but think about what love is really like. What allows you to love another person instead of just like them? Why is friendship love, family love, and true love all different? What characteristics make them different? All these questions run through my mind especially since a lot of our time in class we talk about love.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the true. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 These verses are some of the most popular verses in the Bible and I think that people think they understand but they never really take the time out to look at them and try and read between the lines as to what God intended love to be. For Christians, I think that most people know how they should act toward one another therefore showing what they believe to be what God intended love to be among humans. Sometimes we also forget that this description of love is not just for the people we like...but most importantly for the people we dislike most in this world. I am 100% guilty of not showing love to the people that I don't like.

Tonight in volleyball, one of the guys on my team was making me very mad because he was basically telling me that I couldn't play. He cut infront of me every time the ball came to me and pretty much just never gave me a chance to actually play. When it was my time to serve, he was standing right infront of me at the net and I decided that I was going to not care about getting points for the team but try and hit him with the ball when I served. Even though my aim was right, he was paying attention and knocked it out of the way. How did I show him love by doing that? He was making me very bitter the whole night, but what good did it do me to try and hit him with the ball? Absolutely none.

I think that to truly understand love we have to understand God. Because God is love. And when we know God we know love.

The Things They Carried

I found this story to be kind of sad the more and more I read it. It talks a lot about all the different things that these military men have to carry on their backs all through out the day. Each person carries different items to meet their own needs and wants and some things are just they have to carry to keep them safe. But some carry more than just the physical items. Jimmy Cross is in love with a girl that does not seem to have any type of feelings for this man besides the fact that she writes to him and thinks about him a lot. To top it off, while thinking about Martha one of his friends, a fellow army man dies. Jimmy feels extremely guilty about this like any man would but Martha is still on his mind. Guilt was carried on the back of Jimmy as well as food and guns. This story was sad because as a college student safe over in the states, we don't realize that there are military over in other countries fighting for us and I take advantage of it so much. They are not just robots that have no lif outside of the military but they are men and women missing their families, being shot at, falling in love, are in love, and some will never get a chance to experience love. How could I complain about my life, when I have it made. I forget way too much just how blessed and lucky I am. Thank you military men and women for all it is that you do for this country!

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love

I think that in this story all the characters were trying to describe to each other just what it was they thought love was. They each had a different point of view on it and some of them were a little more messed up then others. Terri thought that her dead ex-husband loved her even though he tried desperately to kill her. She even expected the other 3 people in the room to agree with her. She seemed to have no anger toward him what so ever. Even her new husband, Mel, didn't say that it wasn't love. He just commented that he didn't know the man. Meanwhile Mel tells his guests that maybe "love" isn't really as deep as everyone makes it out to be. He comments on how people always seem to fall out of love with one another--but how can that be. If you were truly in love with someone wouldn't that feeling last forever? How do people move on so quickly from those kind of feelings like they never even existed? I would have to agree more with what Mel had to say about love. I wonder all the time how two people going out can say I love you so quickly and then when its time to break up, they are over the other person so quickly. In our society to day, I think that we are too quick to say I love you and that most of the time those feelings aren't even there because we don't really know what it is they feel like. It's like a woman in pregnancy...when its about time for the baby to come there are many false alarms but once it's really time for the baby, then she really knows that it's real.

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My earliest memory of literature in my life was when my mom used to read to me the Giving Tree. It was my favorite book when I was little and when I was able to read it myself, I would read it to my younger brother like I was a teacher. I loved flipping the pages over and showing him all the pictures as I read. It quickly became his favorite book as well. Recently I have been reading a lot of really good books. My whole summer was full of reading and I love it because books can teach you stuff that you sometimes don't get to experience for yourself in life. They give you foresight into the future and what life could be like. It takes you to other places that you might never think about going. I love being excited about reading. My favorite book is Redeeming Love. I can read that book about a thousand times and never get sick of it. Sometimes I forget just how much God loves me and this book shows me in a unique way that He never leaves me even if I think that He has disappeared from my life. I like that books have a different way of showing you things without directly coming out and saying it. Literature matters in a very big way to many people. A lot of people say that reading is boring but that's only because they haven't found the type of book they are interested in. Literature is a great way to reach out to people and it matters a lot to people and myself. Without literature, humans could be very dumb. It is how we learn and grow as people and a culture.