One eccentric couple and their home

Jaime and Anthony's retro home which is filled with numerous antiques and vintage décor enhances their vivacious personalities. Jaime and Anthony's love for vintage is shown in every room of their Brooklyn apartment, but it is most present in their living room. The cream colored walls are barely noticeable because almost every inch of space is covered with vintage mirros of a multidue of sorts and frames with exotic portraits. The varying accessories that are sprinkled throughout the room symbolize how Jaime and Anthony are fascinated with the crazier parts of life.

A lot can happen in 10 years....

I really enjoyed listening to all of the senior's interviews...they were very entertaining and interesting! I was actually surprised that so many of them had a pretty good plan for when they graduate. My favorite interview was probably Nathan Rebelo's because he was so sure about what he wants to do with his life. He wants to be an architect, it is his passion and he said that he wants to "put his stamp on society." This stood out to me because he is determined to do something productive so he can get the best out of life. The other thing that I enjoyed about his interview was that he talked about the college he is hoping to go to and how he wants to "spread my wings." I am a lot like this too; my parents want me to stay in Ft. Wayne and go to IPFW for two years, but I want to get away and live on my own and be my own person.
  Not all of the students' interviews were very realistic, in fact one girl named Shauna Casale said she could see her self as a big shot movie star in 10 years. I give her props for having such a big dream, I mean who doesn't want to see their name in lights? Even, I have often found myself wanting to be in the spotlight as a big shot on Broadway, But I know that the odds of me ever making it are very slim. So, I just hope that Shauna has a back up and isn't too disappointed if her dream never comes true (I really hope it does though, I admire people with big dreams). 
  In ten years, I could see myself with a steady teaching job (cross my fingers the the market gets better), maybe I will even be married or at least engaged :) and I want to start off by living in an apartment with a roomate, I think that would be very fun :)

An amazing 3rd quarter....

Wow! We only have one quarter left until we're SENIORS!! I have had so much fun in etymology this quarter and have learned so so so much! I officially believe that I can successfully write one heck of an essay now...well descriptive ones at least :D Not only have I been open to more "fancy" adjectives, but I have also broadened my vocabulary skills (even though sometimes the tests are agony). I actually think that this class helped me on my SAT (which is good cuz that's why  I am taking it). On the test, I was extremely confident when it came to the grammar and vocab sections. There were words that we studied on the test!!

The other thing I have absolutely loved doing this quarter is all of my reading. I am a book nerd, I love love love reading!! Some of my favorite books I have read were The Hunger Games, Sundays at Tiffany's, and Beastly. I also am so into the book I am currently reading. I have discovered this quarter that I mainly enjoy reading pop fiction. In this pop fiction genre, I've noticed that I mainly love reading books that are or will become movies. About half of the books I've read are already movies or will eventually become movies.

For the fourth quarter I am going to try and read more novels by the author Jodi Picoult. She has a new book out called Sing You Home. It looks very interesting :) A friend of mine also recommended that I read this book called Atonement. She said it was very good and it takes place "back in the day". I love books that take place in the olden days....most particularly from the 1920s-present.

I am looking forward to what's to come in the future of this class!!

Picture books...stories that everyone love!

There is this pretty cool website that has a time line of picture books, going all the way back to 1658...wow that's a long time!!  I am absolutely obsessed with picture books, I have loved them ever since I was little. The first picture book that I could read to my mom was The Hungary Caterpillar by Eric Carl. One day, I plan on writing and publishing my own picture books. I have a notebook full of different ideas. Right now I am planning a story that will be about a five year old girl named Peggie and her best friend Johnny. They have big imaginations and love going on adventures. I just wish I had more free time to actually sit down and try to actually write something.
 Anyway, back to the site:

I actually know quite a few of the books on the time line, Some of my favorites include:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit 

Madeline (I love these books!!)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Velveteen Rabbit

And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street(my grandma and I read this together all the time)

Curious George

Harold and the Purple Crayon

The Cat in the Hat

Little Bear

   Little Blue and Little Yellow

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

The Very Hungary Caterpillar

Frog and Toad are Friends

Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

The Polar Express

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

 I never realized how old some of these stories are, I mean the first book I recognized was The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter in 1902.That's over 100 years ago!! I also noticed that most of these stories have been made in to children's tv shows and movies. Take Little Bear for example, I remember my mom reading the stories to me, but I am more familiar with the television show. I used to watch it literally every day. Actually, I am guilty of still watching it nowadays whenever I see that it is on tv.  

I had so much fun looking at all of these books...and who knows maybe in the future one of my picture books will be on the time line :)

Spellbound S-P-E-L-L-B-O-U-N-D Spellbound

Spellbound is a documentary about a group of  pre-teens and teenagers who are competing to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee. Each participant had their own ways of preparing fir the spelling bee and had their own motivations on wining. Two characters that stood out to me are Neil and Emily. They both were super excited about making the bee, but they both had completely different motivations for preparing and whether or not they would win.

Neil: Neil was extremely motivated and had all these different techniques for spelling his words correctly. He believed that he really was going to win and was very determined to spell every word correctly. I believe he got his motivations from his father, Rajesh. Rajesh quizzed Neil so many times that I think Neil could probably spell each word forward and backward.Neil most likely got all of his confidence from his dad. In the interviews, Rajesh kept talking about how Neil was going to win it all.

Emily:Emily was also motivated for winning the bee, but I think she did not have quite he same motivation as Neil did. Sure she studied and had the support of her parents, but she still remained somewhat "normal". Based on her interviews, I could tell that she dedicated a LOT of time to spelling, but I could tell that it wasn't her entire life because she kept saying that she is excited for the bee to be over so that she can just do whatever she wants and not have to worry about learning how to spell words. For her motivations about winning, I don't think she had quite as much confidence as Neil did. In the interviews, she kept saying how cool it would be if she won, but she didn't talk like she was going to win. She would just say "oh I hope I can make it past such and such a round, if I can do that I will be happy." 

PREDICTION: I think that Emily is going to win the Bee...anyone else think so too?

3.1 diction exercise

Words with Pizazz:
rate                      meal
fat                        cocktails
pasture                greener
speedometers     sharp     

Elements of Diction:
Elevation- HIGH: pasture, speedometers, cocktails  MEDIUM: sharp, meal, greener  LOW: fat, rate 
Connotation- Frank O'Hara's poem Animals has a very poetic meaning. Its passionate descriptions show that it is a love poem.
Concretness- This poem is very abstract and hypothetical.

My Claim:
The way Frank O'Hara's compassionate words and phrases seem to jump off the page express the romantic atmosphere that the two lovers are enjoying together.

2.23 Diction Exercise

Words with Pizazz:
-swale - citizenry -mounted
-gnashing -hobbled
-scarcely -spire
-bitter -raggedyman

Elements of Diction:
Elevation- HIGH: swale, gnashing, raggedyman, spire MEDIUM: scarcely, citizenry, hobbled LOW: bitter, mounted
Connotation- Cormac Mcarthy's novel, Blood Meridian, has a very poetic meaning. With its picturesque descriptions, Mcarthy portrays a metaphoric atmosphere.
Concreteness- the passages has a sort of theoretical and hypothetical feel to it.

My Claim:
In Cormac Mcarthy's Blood Meridian, the eerie feel of the dingy and gloomy setting portrays the sadness and moroseness the character must have been feeling during his jorney.