11-20-09

                                                                                          My Night at Picasso's!!!!

     Last night (11-19-09) i went to Picasso's on main street for an open mic-night. It was different from what I was use to going  to but interesting. There were all different types of people there and the place was packed, even though I had gotten there at 6:45, Emily and I had to sit in the very back because it was already so crowded. Then at seven a man that worked at Picasso's came and talked little bit about open mic night and introduced the first artist. This pettie young woman walked up to the mic and appeared nervous until after she sang her first song. She started to interact more with the audience and her feelings were obvious not just through the words that she was saying but also her facial expressions and the way that she sang the different songs. The next artist up was Mike who was a lot more quite and it was a lot harder to really connect with what he was saying. Holly was another young musician and she surprised me the most! When she started to sing one of my favorite Nora Jones songs I thought "o boy lets see how this goes." But she did a GREAT job! She played the chello and the guitar throughout the night and really kept my attention. Her voice was very relaxing and light sounding. Every once in awhile she looked like the words to the songs were very important to her and it showed through her voice and her facial expressions.  Once Holly was done three guys around my age age went up. They were the most energetic and fun group that I saw all night! They really got into the music and made it their own! They would kinda danced when they were singing but the way they sang made me really focus on the words to the song and smile.  The whole night was a fun experience and it helped me get out of my "bubble." I also enjoyed some of the best hot chocolate I have had in awhile!

wiki 5 -  20/20 - good insights - you are right about needing to know cars to get all of her speech.

11-2-09

       Today's speeches were all really good and you could tell that the speakers were well prepaired. Rachael Boggs did a good job entertaining us while talking about cars. I didn't know most of the things she was talking about so not only was i entertained i  was also educated. She really seemed to know what she was talking about and was really interested in cars. The pictures really helped to add to the speech to help show what she was talking about. Without the pictures a person like me who doesnt know much about cars would have been a little confussed when she was talking about more specific things. She was a little quite while she was giving her speech but she seemed more confident during this speech than during the last speeches. All in all Rachael did a very good job!

wiki 4 - 20/20 great post! You picked up well on his ease in speaking.

10-29-09

          Grant Favignano did an awesome job on his speech today! He showed confidence and seemed like he was having. During his speech he used pictures that really added to the speech and really grabbed our attention. Grant did not come off as scared and nervous but confident and humorous. He really mad me laugh and hungry for a toasted sub. He confienced me that toasted sub sandwiches are better than usual cold sub sandwiches.   Grant looked like he was having fun while he gave his speech. He even started to laugh because what he was saying was funny and the crowed was laughing. Grant did an awesome job and made it intimidating to follow him. His confidence and attuitude was like a different person from his previous speech and you could really see his personality.

wiki 3 - 20/20 - Good post, Kadie! You are a good listener and very observant!

10-19-09

           Today's chapel was lively and energetic. Vicar Mizel's introduction, "Get out of the boat," caught my attention right away. I automatically started thinking about the different directions He could be taking with an introduction like that. His movements kept my attention on him but weren't distracting from what HE was saying either. The story about him and his father helped me to really connect the message with real life. Vicar Mizel's voice would get louder when He was really wanting us to grasp and understand what he was talking about. When we was talking he came off as kind, confident, knowledgeable, and similar to the people in his audience. Since He seemed like He was really interested and excited about what he was talking about it made it more interesting to listen to. With the story in the begging really catching my attention the rest of the sermon was easy to listen to instead of just being lectured or read to. Vicar Mizel did a very good job of catching (and the challenging part) keeping the audiences attention today at Chapel.

wiki 2 - 16/20 - sorry but this is a bit brief. Remember, you're shooting for 200 words!

10-16-09

     Mr. Kuhlman did a very good job at chapel on Friday. His message was clear and HE used props to help keep or focus and keep us interested. He spoke clearly and loudly so He was understood by all. He also used hand gestures to help show which points He was wanting us to really connect with. Mr.Kuhlman included the crowd by asking them questions and using t heir answers to help explain the message. By adding humor and examples from all of our lives the chapel is more likely to be remembered and   referenced back to.

wiki 1  - 20/20 - great job.

10-9-09

     Pastor Clausing is a skilled public speaker. While giving his chapels He remains calm and sounds clear. His message is important and understandable. He uses hand gestures at the right time so they help make a point and are not distracting. He speaks calmly and clearly. He walks in front of the pulpit so the audience is able to see him and look at him while speaking. He is confident so he doesn't hide or look away from the audience. He looks all around the room not just straight in front of him. Sometimes He even includes a slide show of pictures so the audience has something to help them remember what the point of the message is and how it relates to our lives.   

The Back Door was Unlocked

                "Ding-Dong" "I got it!"

                Becky entered the Hovard house to babysit  the children just as she had many times before. All three of the children were always very excited to see Becky and looked forward to the fun night ahead of them. She loved the children but was not always thrilled about spending her Saturday night playing barbies or match box cars.

"o hey Laurie!"

"Hey Becky! We are going to have so much fun tonight! I laid out all of my barbies and..."

"ha, hi there Becky! The kids have  been driving us crazy asking how many more minutes until you would be here."

                Mrs. Hovard and Becky discussed how the new remote to the television worked  and what time they should be coming home. After Mr. Hovard found his favorite tie they were off for a night out and the children started to list off activities they had to do before the night was over.  After  a few hours of barbies, toy car races, coloring and more all three children were tucked in bed and  falling asleep.

                Before plopping down on the couch Becky always checked to make sure the doors were locked . There were four doors that went room outside into the house. The front door, garage door, and back door were all locked.  The Side door that went from the outside into Mr. and Mrs. Hovard's bedroom was accidently left  unlocked.

                "Jeff Bulken has escaped from St. Charles County Police Station where He was taken before being transported to the insane asylum. Police are saying that Bulken chocked the driver to death with his handcuffs, Stabbed the policeman in the  passenger's seat with a pen that He had found under the seat and ran away before anyone had even noticed. The direction He went running in is currently unknown and all police on duty are out on a man hunt. It has been confirmed that he is wearing a tan trench coat and is still in his orange jump suit. Channel two news will keep you updated as we uncover new information."

                Becky had fallen asleep with the news on shortly after checking three out of the four doors. She quickly jumped to her feet in a panic when she heard a loud "BOOM" coming from a different room in the house. Before she realized that she was not dreaming all three children came flying down the stairs loudly asking Becky what happened.  After calming the kids down  Becky tucked them al up in a fluffy blanket on the couch hoping they would fall back asleep. It was not long before the children were completely asleep so Becky went for a walk around the house to see what the boom could have been. Nothing had been moved or fallen down in any of the upstairs rooms  but when she was checking the down stairs bathroom she saw a shadow move in the bathroom mirror.  While she was checking Mr and Mrs. Hovard's room she had a sharp feeling of fear run through her body. She had forgotten to check the forth door.

                "Hello?"

                 She said because she could hear someone walking around and tried to convince herself that it was one of the kids or it was all in her head. But when she heard a door creek and saw all three kids were still asleep on the couch she ran over to them and quietly woke them up and lead them into a small closet in the hallway and told them to lock the door and stay very quiet until she came and got them. After she  made sure the door was locked Becky ran down stairs to the basement and hid under the stairway where she tried to call 911. When she realized there was no dial tone she dropped the phone. She did not know what to do so she grabbed the sharpest kitchen knife that she could find and slowly headed back up the stairs to the top floor.

                Becky turned the corner off the stairs so full of fear that she could barley breath.  She continued to walk while she turned to make sure that the kids were still quiet and locked up safe. When she turned back around there was an extremely tall and built man wearing a tan trench coat over a bright orange jump suit an extremely cold look on his face. After standing frozen for what seemed like a life time, Becky ran for the door to find anyone that could help her. When her hand hit the door knob He calmly grabbed her by the arm  and started to drag her in the kitchen. The kids where still in the closet and she prayed that no matter what happened He would leave the kids alone. She was constantly fighting him to get loose of his tight grip when she remembered that there was a sharp carving knife in the lower drawer. As he dragged he by she quickly opened the drawer and reached for the knife. Before she was able to do anything with it he grabbed it and threw Becky on the ground. She hit her head on the corner of the wall and closed her eyes as she felt blood start to drip down the side of her forehead. 

    He turned around and started to walk away when she pulled the rug from underneath him as hard as she possibly could! He fell back with  a long boom and she threw the knife at him. She covered her mouth her hands in disbelief of what was going on and tried to figure out what she should do next. She started running out the garage door and to the neighbors house where she started yelling 911. Still in a sprint Becky grabbed a shovel and ran back in the house for the kids. When she came blazing in the kitchen door there was no longer a large still body laying there. Without stopping she ran to closet for the kids. 

"Run!"

    All Four of them started sprinting out of the house towards the blue and red lights and loud sirens. The police searched every where in the house and around the neighborhood but Jeff Bulken was never found. Mr. and Mrs. Hovard arrived very soon after the police and have since moved out of the house for the kids to regain the feeling of safety  There are still warrants out for his arrest and crimes that he is committing. But where he is and why he does such cruel things remains unknown. 

wiki 5 - Great job on your posts both this week and last. You have a lot of interesting ideas and I enjoy hearing them. Your story about sharing the story with your mom was sweet! I am looking forward to your short story.

week 5

9-16-09

I have never read a story that actually made me tear up until now. The story "From Mother...With Love" was a very good story! When I  really enjoy a story i find similarities between my life or loved ones lives and the characters lives in the story. In this particular story I found similarities between my mother in the mother in the story. After I  finished reading i went to get my notebook to work on homework for another class and my mother noticed my eyes were a little red and puffy so she asked what was wrong. I laughed and hugged her and told her that she really needed to read this story. After she finished reading we both laughed because we reacted to the story the same way. 

9-16-09

I  have almost finished writing my short story. I  have everything completed but the end. I  know the end result of everything because it is clearly stated in the beginning of the story, but I'm having trouble figuring out how  to word the last fight in the story. I have never written anything like this story before so it has been a fun challenge!  I am really hoping that while editing what I have written so far the ending will come to me just as the rest of the story has. 

week 4

9-10-09

The story D.P. was a story that i will most likely remember. I usually judge a book by if I will remember it. That could say that the story is very good or that it was incredibly awful! In this case I really enjoyed the story! When I first started reading D.P, I did not think that I was going to like it at all! But the more I read the more I fell in love with Joe. I pictured him  as a more shy and sweet kid that when you see him you just want to hug him! When Joe started calling one of the men in the army "papa" I wanted so bad for someone to tell him everything was OK and take him home. Joe was not the only boy that really caught my attention. Peter seemed like he would be a pain in the butt but i really wanted someone to hug him and tell him everything was OK and that they loved him. The reason I felt like that while I was reading the story was because in the end when Peter was telling Joe that it wasn't his father and that his real father didn't care about him, it made me think that He may be acting like that because "misery loves company." Peter was an orphan, and he is telling Joe these mean things because that is really how he is feeling but wants to appear as if he didn't care. The reason he would not want to appear as if he cared would be because He was the oldest and he was a boy so he wanted to come off as tough and strong. But deep down he may have felt lonely since he knew what he had lost .  The main reason I really enjoyed the story was because i became attached to the characters and wanted them to be OK and have that happy ending.

9-10-09

I have been brainstorming a lot to figure out what I want my story to be based on. I started to write a list of possible ideas but none of then really stand out. As of right now the short story will be about a girl my age babysitting experience. While that may sound boring and dull I think I might enjoy the challenge of making it suspenseful or humorous. Odds are that once I start writing I will think of another idea that will seem like a better story, but as of now that's the game plan.  

Great job on wiki 3!

week 3

9-2-09

I wrote my essay to finish off the story of "sixteen." The reason I picked this topic was because it drives me nuts when the author leaves me with all of these questions at the  end of the story. But at the same time I enjoy using my imagination to fill in the "blanks" because it helps me connect to the story better. I picked the story "sixteen" because it was the story that I was most able to connect with and relate to. Many of the things the narrator was saying or feeling I have been through or I have helped a friend go through it. I thought the assignment was fun because I was able to make the story go in the direction that I wanted it to go in. It also helped me really remember the story and even details about the story. 

9-2-09

"Usher II" was a very interesting story! It was enjoyable once I understood what was going on. The first time I read the story I didn't totally follow what was going on. Once the story was explained to me and I re-read it I thought it was a very clever book. This book could be created into  a very suspenseful movie! The book was full of mystery, cleverness, and suspense. Through out the story i was constantly thinking about what could happen next and if I were a character if I would be able to figure out what was going on. The message of the story was harsh but it really  got the point across!  

week 2

Excellent work on wiki 2! I really enjoyed your thoughts on "Charles!"- a very personal viewpoint!

8-27-09

The story "sixteen" reminded me of myself and most of my girlfriends. The story was much more than just a silly girl getting a crush on a  guy, and getting disappointed. The story reminded me that us girls sometimes "fall" for guys too quickly and we often times twist things to make them seem more romantic. Guys can be jerks...but I admit that sometimes we make them seem worse than they really are. It's easy for the reader to think "o well that girl brought this on her self or how could she not tell he was just trying to get out of a potentially awkward situation." But if a person honestly put themselves her shoes one time or another almost every girl has done about the same thing.

8-27-09

"Charles" is one of my  new favorite short stories!  I thought the story was humorous, realistic, and easy to picture yourself in that situation. As the oldest of two children i understand why Charle's was craving attention. I am not at all saying that i received less attention when my baby brother was born, I was just use to receiving ALL of the attention.  While i was reading the story I tried to put myself in the shoes of the mother and think of how I would have acted and if I would have been able to figure out what my child was doing. I smiled when I read the last few lines in the story because i knew what was coming and pictured my own mothers face if one of her children would have done that.Adjusting to a new member of the family AND starting to go to school is a lot for a child to adjust to. Ling was a bad thing for Charlie to do, and i do not condone what he did, but since he isn't my child it's easy for me to laugh and say well it could have been a lot worse.

week 1

8-18-09

Violence is often seen as the "easier" answer to a conflict situation. Violence appears easier because throwing a punch doesn't take as much courage as walking away or using words to get over a conflict. Hitting someone when they are being a bully is very tempting and in some cases may make you look strong and tough. People like to watch fights, the drama and curiosity draws crowds. The attention and in some cases the feeling of empowerment makes fighting seem like it was the easy thing to do. In reality finding other ways to solve the conflict is much harder and takes a lot more courage. Yes violence is most often the easiest and most tempting 'solution" to an argument or disagreement. When people are being picked on and pushed around, the reaction they are most tempted to do is to hit the bully. It is the wrong solution because I'm almost every situation violence makes a bad situation worse.

8-17-09

Crane in titles the story "The Bride comes to Yellow Sky,"  because all of the characters in the story are either in the town of Yellow Sky or on their way to the town. The bride is an important character in the story, so important that Crane included her in the title of the story.  This reason is  because its the idea of the wife that is more important than the actual woman who is the wife. The statement is true  because the entire story leads up to a a big gun fight that doesn't happen all because of the wife. It doesn't matter if the wife is smart or ignorant, tall or short, all that matter is that she is a woman and that changed everthing. It was as if the boys couldn't act the same as before because marrage changes things so dramatically. Crane chose to not give details ON he wife because they didn't matter. The lack of details didn't take away from the story, if anything it improved the story. The details given by the author give us enough to picture the characters and follow whats going on in the story. The author leaves out the details because He wants the reader to focus on the broad story not the details.

Good work on wk. 1 - I enjoyed reading all your ideas and opinions! super!