Dear 10 year-old:
I know that it is hard, being ten. People will try to treat you like the child you aren't anymore. But listen to them. When your parents say you aren't big enough to go to a gokart racing track, it is only because they want you to be safe. When your teacher tells you not to tumble on the playground, it is only because they want your limbs to remain intact.
At the same time, it is time to tell your mom to forget the babysitter. It's time to start biking around the block by yourself. You're double digits now! Take some freedom. Develop your own personality. And whatever you do, don't let anyone, anyone, manipulate you.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Response to Personal Narrative
Usually, I prefer to avoid commenting on my own work, because the whole process is rather difficult. How does one talk about his or her own writing without selling himself short or, on the opposite extreme, sounding arrogant? But, I felt the need to say something about my narrative, because the story I am telling means so much to me.
To give a general idea, my narrative describes two fights between me and a friend of mine, one in which I am angry at him and another in which he is angry at me. I then explain that we fight all the time (really, all the time!) and describe how our entire friendship relies on the concept of forgiveness.
My thoughts while writing this piece were set strictly on forgiveness. There are some hints at swallowing feelings, but, in my opinion, to achieve forgiveness the first thing you must do is swallow your feelings. I used a lot of words that I don't typically use in everyday speech, because I was trying to subtly emphasize that it is not an everyday friendship. I used dialogue to vividly describe what our fights are like. I added lines like, "It wasn't okay, but he forgave me anyway" to the mix to show how high the levels of forgiveness were. Yes, I mostly freewrote this, because that is how I write, but not a single word on this paper was not carefully weighed and tested before it reached the page.
Before I began to write, I told myself one thing.
"I will do this friendship justice."
To give a general idea, my narrative describes two fights between me and a friend of mine, one in which I am angry at him and another in which he is angry at me. I then explain that we fight all the time (really, all the time!) and describe how our entire friendship relies on the concept of forgiveness.
My thoughts while writing this piece were set strictly on forgiveness. There are some hints at swallowing feelings, but, in my opinion, to achieve forgiveness the first thing you must do is swallow your feelings. I used a lot of words that I don't typically use in everyday speech, because I was trying to subtly emphasize that it is not an everyday friendship. I used dialogue to vividly describe what our fights are like. I added lines like, "It wasn't okay, but he forgave me anyway" to the mix to show how high the levels of forgiveness were. Yes, I mostly freewrote this, because that is how I write, but not a single word on this paper was not carefully weighed and tested before it reached the page.
Before I began to write, I told myself one thing.
"I will do this friendship justice."
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Thoughts
**Before writing this, I read and deeply considered the poems and quotes found on this website.**
It is amazing, not in a good way, how quickly one's attitude can change towards the world.
As students of a teacher that was lost in 9/11 write, it is easy to change your perspective from "don't forget" to "remember." It is easy to change from taking everything for granted to taking nothing for granted. It is easy to change from a trusting environment to security everywhere.
But it is not easy to forget. It is not easy to forget the lives that were lost. It is not easy to forget the shock that I have not personally felt but have felt through others. It is not easy to forget that not everyone is good, not everyone is kind, and not everyone is concerned with the welfare of others.
We will always remember, and we will never forget.
It is amazing, not in a good way, how quickly one's attitude can change towards the world.
As students of a teacher that was lost in 9/11 write, it is easy to change your perspective from "don't forget" to "remember." It is easy to change from taking everything for granted to taking nothing for granted. It is easy to change from a trusting environment to security everywhere.
But it is not easy to forget. It is not easy to forget the lives that were lost. It is not easy to forget the shock that I have not personally felt but have felt through others. It is not easy to forget that not everyone is good, not everyone is kind, and not everyone is concerned with the welfare of others.
We will always remember, and we will never forget.
Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana
Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana cannot be done justice by any words other than its own. I know I said the same thing in a recent post about Girl Against the Universe, but it's very true. It's general premise is that there is a planet a long way away called Terra Nova which is a mirror planet to our own. Each of us is present on Terra Nova; however, when faced with a decision it is likely that we would have made a different decision on Terra Nova.
Khorana depicts the life of a teenage girl during an event such as this spectacularly well. She captures the idea of trying to balance this news while still maintaining a normal social life. She uses phrases that intensely magnify the significance of everything.
However, I thought the book was a calm novel until I got to chapter twenty-five. Before this, it was just little bits of news and how it affected her family. Khorana focuses mainly on Tara's small town. But in chapter 25, Khorana goes deep. She vividly depicts a scene in which a woman known to have a specific double on Terra Nova is burned alive by an angry mob. The imagery is so good that I have not yet been able to get this image out of my head.
Khorana is not capturing the science fiction aspects of Terra Nova. She is capturing the effects of something like Terra Nova on earth, and it is a refreshing perspective I have not seen anywhere else.
Khorana depicts the life of a teenage girl during an event such as this spectacularly well. She captures the idea of trying to balance this news while still maintaining a normal social life. She uses phrases that intensely magnify the significance of everything.
However, I thought the book was a calm novel until I got to chapter twenty-five. Before this, it was just little bits of news and how it affected her family. Khorana focuses mainly on Tara's small town. But in chapter 25, Khorana goes deep. She vividly depicts a scene in which a woman known to have a specific double on Terra Nova is burned alive by an angry mob. The imagery is so good that I have not yet been able to get this image out of my head.
Khorana is not capturing the science fiction aspects of Terra Nova. She is capturing the effects of something like Terra Nova on earth, and it is a refreshing perspective I have not seen anywhere else.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
"You Want to Drive the Bot, Laura?"
"You want to drive the bot, Laura?"
"Heck, yeah!"
I'm in Mr. Bowman's classroom, at a robotics meeting, with about ten people there. His room is very grey. Grey walls, grey tables, grey equipment. But it's oddly comforting. Especially if you're a math geek.
The guy that offered to let me drive the bot hands me the controller. "Stay back while you turn it on. If it blows up it'll take your head off. Oh, and if you fully accelerate, it'll go through the wall. If you need to shut it off, hit space."
If I mess up, I'll kill someone. Great words of encouragement.
So I take the controller. The robot is about two feet high, black, and with an arm that goes up and down.
I move it around.
I aim.
I fire.
The ball I was shooting goes right in.
Another boy sitting near me snickers. "Beginner's luck." So I try again.
I move it around.
I aim.
I fire.
It goes in again.
The boy chokes. "I can't do that."
Mr. VanKirk says, "You're a natural."
And I feel like I could make any bot do anything.
Harry Potter
I have decided to reread the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Rather than give you my thoughts on the one I am currently on right now (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), I have decided to discuss the first four books as a whole. I have read these books once at eight years old, once at eleven years old, and now. Each time I have read it, I have found new connections, new ideas, and new meaning.
Rowling starts with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This book is painfully cheesy in a way than can only be compared to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Although the rest of the series is impossibly entwined, Sorcerer's Stone seems to have no real purpose other than to introduce a few characters. The next book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, doesn't really improve a whole lot in a cheesiness sense, although we do see an aura of "don't be cocky" with Lockhart and a true horcrux. We are even introduced to Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is not cheesy at all and has true value. Sirius plays a role of innocence and integrity that never disappears. We learn truth. We learn to find out for ourselves what truly happened instead of taking the word of everyone else.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is long and a bit dull at times, but overall is quite good. We see examples of distrust being a gift, for the world is not often inherently kind. We find ourselves staring at first glimpses of death. Death we could not prevent. We watch those who care about the boy who died mourn, and we cannot help but mourn as well.
People may say, “They’re just books,” but they’re wrong. They are so much more than books. And I haven’t even touched the last three.
Rowling starts with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This book is painfully cheesy in a way than can only be compared to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Although the rest of the series is impossibly entwined, Sorcerer's Stone seems to have no real purpose other than to introduce a few characters. The next book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, doesn't really improve a whole lot in a cheesiness sense, although we do see an aura of "don't be cocky" with Lockhart and a true horcrux. We are even introduced to Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is not cheesy at all and has true value. Sirius plays a role of innocence and integrity that never disappears. We learn truth. We learn to find out for ourselves what truly happened instead of taking the word of everyone else.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is long and a bit dull at times, but overall is quite good. We see examples of distrust being a gift, for the world is not often inherently kind. We find ourselves staring at first glimpses of death. Death we could not prevent. We watch those who care about the boy who died mourn, and we cannot help but mourn as well.
People may say, “They’re just books,” but they’re wrong. They are so much more than books. And I haven’t even touched the last three.
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