Dolphin Lover

Although people claim not to be racist, racism is still common today in the United States. Some people are able to change their views on points of it, and some people already have. In “Say Yes” by Tobias Wolf, Ann’s husband changes his attitude towards inter racial marriage from the beginning to the end.

In the beginning of the story, Ann’s husband is not exactly racist, but is definitely against mixing races in marriage. He and Ann were discussing the topic, and he tells her that “all things considered, he thought it was a bad idea.” He thought that white people should marry white people, and black people should marry black people. He forgets, though, that there are the white people who can marry Asian people who could marry Native American people, but black people are out of the question. He says that “someone from their culture [,African-American,] and someone from our culture [,anything else,] could never really know each other.” He thinks that the difference in cultures is so huge that there is no way for them to really understand each others’ perspective. He doesn’t realize that the household a person is brought up in make a world of difference. I might make on decision, and the person sitting next to me will go down a completely different path. And yet, everyone finds that someone who they are meant for, whether they have the same color skin or not, and some realize that they are meant to be independent. He doesn’t realize that a blind person can’t judge by the color of skin, but who they end up with, will be the right person.

At the end of the story, Ann gives her husband a chance to see what she is trying to explain, and he finally understands her perspective. Ann tells her husband to turn off the lights, and then walks into the room. Her husband knows that she is there, but cannot be positive that it is her because he can’t see her. He then realizes that he doesn’t know what color skin she has, or what her ethnic background is. All he knows is that there is someone in his room and as far as he can tell. He doesn’t know them at all. This is the point in the story that he realizes that anyone has as good a chance as anyone as getting to know their husband or wife. No matter what the color of skin, or how where and how they grew up, there is always a possibility of success, and always a possibility of remaining a stranger.

At the beginning of the story, Ann’s husband has a strong point of view against inter racial marriage because people from different cultures can’t really know each other. By the end, though, he realizes that everyone has as good a chance as anyone else. Diversity anywhere can be a great opportunity, but if you see it as wrong and don’t give it a chance, you may never meet that someone, because they weren’t the same color as you.

As a girl in self-defense, this story was kind of frustrating to me since it is somewhat like the scenarios that we have looked at. When the guy first showed up at her house, her first thought is about her looks. A girl in her right minds, first thought would be about why this guy is showing up at her house, and what she is going to do to keep herself safe in case he is harmful. Then she decided to go to the door and talk to him. Now maybe I’m too cautious, but I think the first thing I would do is to call someone, probably my mom or dad, and tell them that this random guy showed up in your driveway. Now I understand that if her mom and dad came home and found out that she recognized him from a place she wasn’t supposed to go, she would get in a lot of trouble. So she didn’t do anything because of that. And she couldn’t just leave him there because he could have seen her through the window or he might decide to break in and then she would be in a lot of trouble. So she went out to talk to him, and actually flirted with him, unsuspecting of anything wrong, but at least was a little cautious when he asked her if she wanted to see the other side of the car. When he knew her name, it freaked her out. After reading this story, I think my first reaction to his knowing my name would be to tell him that, in fact, that was not my name and ask him why he called me that. Instead, she blatantly tells him that it is her name by saying, “Ho do you know what my name is?” and then later saying, “Maybe and maybe not.” It’s such a childish game to play the whole ‘maybe, maybe not’ thing, because everyone can see straight through that and knows that whatever you are talking about is true. When he lists of a bunch of things about her, I would think that she would tell him to leave, and then go inside, lock the door behind her, and walk straight out the front door to a neighbor’s house to call her parents. Instead, she engages in his conversation and does not even pay attention that there is something wrong with his knowledge of all these people. When she figures out that Arnold Friend and Ellie are 30/40-year-olds pretending to be teens, WHY DOESN’T SHE DO SOMETHING????? When she is completely overwhelmed with adrenaline, she can no long think straight and then, finally, when Arnold Friend tells her that if she calls anyone, and doesn’t come with him, people she knows and loves are going to get hurt. At that point, it is pretty much too late for her to act. She could still try to call and get her family to leave the barbeque. She might be able to get them to drive to the police station and get help. But she is worried for them, so she risks her life for theirs. If and when she escapes, she will hopefully be able to get rid of him for good and save all the other people out there that could get into this kind of fix with “Arnold Friend” again.

(4) Goodbye. I love you.

(4) Goodbye my love. Goodbye.

(8) And to awake to find nothing after all,

(5) Free. Brand new sweater. Wrapped.

“Those darn kids, playing dangerous again,” he thought, “I can’t believe they find joy in that. Wait a second, what am I saying? And who was the one who always wished he could be the one out there goofing off when he was a boy? Me. Yeah, that’s right, ME. So I might have been the un-cool kid, but what if I could go back, and be one of them? What if I could redo my life and instead of being a loner, be a popular kid doing the dangerous tricks? Heck yes!!! What would I give to have been one of them! One of the cool ones!!! One of the boys to laugh at the ones to scared to go out. One of the…Hold on, what am I thinking about??!!!!! These kids are being fools!! I’ll teach them a lesson. ‘Hold on boys, here comes a little jolt of fun!!!’” And then he pulled it. He pulled the emergency break. And then the kid fell off the platform…and under the train…and under the wheel…under the breaks…and out of this world.

At the end of the story, the man has the feeling that there is a stranger in his house, not his wife. It shows that he may know her very well, and yet not know her at all when he can’t see her. The only reason he figures it is his wife is because no one else would be able to get in without his wife noticing and alerting him. It proves to him that he doesn’t really know his wife. Before he had said, “A person from their culture and a person from our culture could never really know each other.” Now she is moving around the room, and he feels like she si a stranger, like he does not know her at all.

How do they do it? They all know about the child in the closet, have all seen it, and yet they all live in their little utopia as if they didn’t have a care in the world. They say that after a person sees it, they are sad or angry for a while, but then they get over it and live their lives. They use the child as an object, to give them a feeling of sorrow and anger, so that they can truly know happy. But how can they be happy when know they are ruining the life of a child? They may think, “Oh, the child never truly knew happiness, they had it when they were young, but they never experienced it enough to truly know it.” But it has, it truly has. They only need the brief visit to let them know sadness in order to feel happy, so why do they think the child had too little experience to know? The child spent more than a day being happy. Much more than the others spent being sad. And yet they leave him there and use him as a symbol, a starter so that they can live happily ever after. And those who walk away? They aren’t any better. They may go somewhere where they experience more pain, but they have done nothing for the poor child. Ignorance is like agreeing with someone. If you don’t do anything to prevent it, you might as well join it. I don’t know how Omelas works, but I hope that if someone from the modern world went there, they would try to help that child.

Do your homework; go to bed; get off the computer; no you can’t watch a movie; stop bothering your sister; stop messing with your sister’s friends; get out of this room; go take a shower; it’s time for dinner; you have to pack your lunch; what are you having for breakfast; we’re going to be late; we are late; did you brush your teeth?; how much more homework do you have?; will you help make dinner?; will you set the table?; do you have rehearsal tonight?; do you have any homework that you can put off until tomorrow?; you don’t have time to do homework right now; should I wake you up early to take a shower?; I made you breakfast; I made you lunch; you get free lunch today; don’t forget…; I need you to help take care of your sister; you need to work harder on Spanish; make sure you study for your tests tomorrow; make sure you study for your tests the day after tomorrow; make sure you study for your tests next week; I love you, good night.

I might not be able to post on time because I won’t have an more time tomorrow. I will try to think of some and just post them as soon as I’m in front of a computer.

AYSO to Varsity

Published February 29, 2008

    I have been playing soccer since I was almost eight, and it has all been for AYSO. In my second year of under 10 (U10), I started in a new program called YDP, youth development program. It was a special group of kids that wanted to be more serious about soccer than regular AYSO but didn’t want to move to a club team. I’ve bee in that program ever since. Also, in my first year of U10, I made it onto an all-star team. That is a team that you have to try out for and it goes on over the winter time during school soccer while club goes quiet. I have played on an all-star team ever since except in seventh and ninth grade. In seventh grade I just thought it would be to overwhelming to do school soccer and all-stars so I decided to join the team again for post-season tournaments and just play with the school team during the winter. This year, though, I was all ready to squish in time to do school soccer (JV), all-stars, and homework, but I found out that there are some CIF rules that say that you can’t play on a school sports team and still play on an outside team of the same sport. It seems like they would want you getting more practice for the sport outside school and inside, but it must be something about being committed to going to all of the school games and not getting the extra outside boost that some girls and some teams wouldn’t be receiving. I decided to play on JV this year instead of all-stars because, if I continued with soccer at Marlborough, I would be playing with these girls for the rest of the time. After JV season was over, Mr. Collicutt asked me to be an extra on Varsity. Emily and I traveled with them for their play-off games, and, since they were winning by four points by the end of the first half of the first game, Collicutt decide to let the people who normally sit on the bench a chance to play. After their last game, I was riding back to school with Coach Lloyd, and he told me that I had potential, but I would have to play on a club team if I wanted to play Varsity. It didn’t come as much of a surprise that he would want me to do that, but it is a decision that will be hard for me to make. When I practiced with the Varsity team, I didn’t really know them that well, and felt like an outsider or an invader, but not really included. I’m not sure if I really want to be with those girls again next year, especially since I’m not nearly as good as them. I also really enjoy playing with the girls in AYSO and have heard some pretty bad things about the club near my house that I would join. I don’t want to do something I regret. Playing on JV was a struggle for me because I felt like sometimes people wanted to be my friend and other times I was invisible and was just some little outsider who had to play on the team. It was hard for me to really accept that playing on JV was the better decision because I so much wanted to be on the field with my friends from soccer laughing and talking together without any hesitation. Maybe that is the problem. Maybe I’m too hesitant and need to put myself out there. My mom has said that to me many times but I don’t want to be an annoying pest like some people who are a little to out going. I don’t know. Maybe soccer will be my life. Maybe I’ll move on and forget I ever played. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll be singing on stage in some Broadway musical. For now, though, I have to make a choice: pursue Varsity soccer whatever it takes, or keep soccer a laid back social time with friends.  What ever it is, it better be worth it.

Have you ever experienced a time when someone thought you had turned against them because someone told a lie about you behind your back? What happened in the end?

Published February 24, 2008

This one relates to a past blog with the prompt: Describe a time that you carried a grudge against someone. When we had our end of the season soccer party, we all went to one of my teammate’s house and had a potluck. There were a group of girls sitting on the trampoline and a group of girls sitting by the pool. Some of use on the team had been having a hard time with one of the other girls on the team, we’ll call her Suzie. Suzie’s sister was sitting on the trampoline with me and a few other girls, and Suzie was sitting with the girls at the pool and conversing with the parents. At one point, our conversation turned to a get together that we had at our friend’s house after one of our games. We had been going on a computer site where if you type some special symbol, you can trick someone into thinking that the computer knows everything about everyone. At first, Suzie didn’t get how it worked after we showed her, so my friends asked if she finally had figured it out, and I told them that after a few explanations, it had registered in her head. That was the end of our discussion on her, but later, she ended up crying and leaving the party to co sit in her car. None of us knew what had happened, so we didn’t know what to do about it. Later, she came back to get medals for the season, and she was refusing to sit with the rest of the team. The coach told her to “go sit with her friends” but she just looked like “Friends? Those aren’t my friends.” I didn’t know what was going on, but after our little awards ceremony, the coach asked me if anyone had called her bossy or mean, and I told him that we had talked about the incident and the previous party, but nothing more than that. Later another girl came and told me that her sister had used what we had said about the party and exaggerated it so that we were calling her mean, bossy, and stupid. It was so hard though, not knowing what was going on. She seemed to be having such a good time at the beginning and then suddenly she disappeared and then came back all red faced. We ended up not being able to talk to her because she left right afterwards, and there was nothing for us to do.

What are things that make a relationship work? What kinds of things can destroy a relationship? Are they the same things?

Published February 17, 2008

Relationships are two way things. Each person has to contribute to make things work. If you want a close nice relationship, you have to be willing to agree and support some of your friend’s, or the other person’s, ideas, but you can’t just follow EVERYTHING they say. The way you negotiate has to be constructive criticism, or expressing your like for their idea, but you think you have an even stronger one. If you are exactly like the other person, you can be good friends, but it might get kind of old always thinking the same way and wanting the same things. You might start to feel like the other person is copying you. In little women, the mother tells Joe that it wouldn’t be a good idea to marry Laurie, the boy who lives next door, because their personalities are too similar. In my group of friends, we all have slightly different personalities, but little things that we agree on that hold us together. Some of my friends are boy crazy while others really don’t care, or aren’t as interested. Some of us understand one class while others understand another, and we help each other with those classes that we don’t understand. Some people do drama some visual arts, some play an instrument, and some dance. Some of us do sports, some the same, some different. We all get along, because we are all willing to accept each other for who we are and don’t worry about little differences like knowledge on a subject or the wealth of our families. The kinds of things that destroy relationships are not being willing to have the person the way they are no matter what happens to them. If you are only willing to be in a relationship with specific types of people, then your relationships can be destroyed easily. I’ve been reading a book called Sisters by Danielle Steel and one of the girls, Annie, who is a painter, goes blind in a freak car accident. Her sister, Sabrina, calls the guy that she has been in a relationship with in Florence, Italy, where she was living to study art, and tells him that she has gone blind. The guy tells Sabrina that he is not willing to be in a relationship with her since she is blind now. Obviously, this guy only wanted to go out with some cute girl who could paint and take care of herself as well as him. His opinion of who he wants to be in a relationship can destroy any relationship that doesn’t provide everything he wants. In his case, he can’t be in a relationship with a blind person. It all depends on what you, and the other person are willing to deal with.

Something to think about…

Published February 11, 2008

Why is it that People who are attracted to the same sex have a special name like gay or bi, but people that are attracted to the opposite sex are called straight? Why aren’t “gay” people called “normal” and “straight” people given some special name? Why are gay and bi people singled out?

What do you think about inter-racial dating? Inter-racial marriage? Do you think there are challenges to face when one is bi- or multi-racial?

Published February 11, 2008

I personally think that inter-racial dating is fine. Does it really matter what our ethnic background is? Does it matter whether we are gay, bi, or straight? Is that really that bad? I think that it is all your opinion of who you are attracted to. I’m the daughter of two parents of totally different races. I’m half Chinese (my mom), ¼ Armenian, 1/8 Russian, and 1/8 American (al on my dad’s side, the American part is because we can trace our history back to way before America was the USA) and if that isn’t a lot of inter-racial marriages, I don’t know what is. Being this type of child, I have never faced any major problems that I can think of, except that my parents think I might be able to pass for Hispanic (where did that come from??). The biggest problem I can think of is when people ask, “What ethnicity are you?” and I have to think of an abbreviated answer like “Asian Caucasian” which isn’t that big of a problem, and if the want to here the whole long thing, I tell them. I have a friend who has a dad who is part Korean and part African and a mom who is British, and she is doing great. It’s all a matter of your opinion of who you choose to date or marry. It’s your choice; don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Character study quotes

Published January 29, 2008

1)“‘You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room.’… he looked for a moment until catching her eye… [and] said, “She (Elizabeth) is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me,” (Volume I, Chapter III, page 9).

2)“‘The country…can supply but few subjects for such a [character] study. In a country neighbourhood you move in a very confined and unvarying society,’” (Volume I, Chapter IX, page 37).

3)“‘Miss Eliza Bennet, let me persuade you to follow my example, and take a turn about the room…’ Elizabeth was surprised, but agreed to it immediately…Mr. Darcy looked up. He was much awakened to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book,” (Volume I, Chapter XI, page 49).

4)“‘Perhaps,’ said Darcy, ‘I should have judged better, had I sought an introduction, but I am ill qualified to recommend myself to strangers.’” (Volume II, Chapter VIII page 156).

5)“‘I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,’ sad Darcy, ‘of conversing easily with those I have ever seen before. E cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns as I often see done.’” (Volume II, Chapter VIII page 156).

6)“‘In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will nor be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you,’” (Volume II, Chapter XI, page 169).

7)“[Mr. Darcy] had by that time reached [the gate] also, and holding out the letter, which she instinctively took, said with a look of haughty composure, ‘I have been walking through the grove some time in hope of meeting you. Will you do me the hounor of reading the letter?’–And then, with a slight bow, turned again into the plantation, and was soon out of sight.” (Volume II, Chapter XII, page 175).

8)“‘Will you allow me, or do I ask too much, to introduce my sister to your acquaintance during your stay at Lambton?’” (Volume III, Chapter I, page 227).

Mr. Darcy thesis

Published January 29, 2008

Mr. Darcy believes his words and actions will not alter the way people view him. When he is introduced at the ball, he is portrayed as tall and handsome with a noble air, and had ten thousand a year. He has a quiet manner and is not very sociable. When he comments on Elizabeth at their first ball, he had already fallen in love with her, but does not want to admit so he claims that she is not pretty enough for him, in attempt to avoid having to talk to her. He is shy, so when he is talking, he is merely trying to avoid her, but he doesn’t know how to say it without sounding arrogant.

Mr. Darcy is a shy unsociable man in love with a girl who has a bad impression of him. He is tall, handsome, and of a noble air, but he does not know how to act at a social event. Although Darcy is trying to prevent it, he falls in love with Elizabeth Bennet, but tries to avoid her as to not embarrass himself in front of a girl he likes. In his attempt, he gives other a bad impression of himself when he dismisses Elizabeth as not good enough for him. Mr. Darcy is not a proud arrogant man, but a man who has not been taught how to act in a social situation, and needs guidance which he is to shy to ask for.

Mr. Darcy

Published January 23, 2008

I didn’t read the blog after Friday night, so did not get the assignment until today. My apologies. Here is my essay. 

When Mr. Darcy is first introduced into the book and brought to Elizabeth’s attention, he is an arrogant man saying that “‘[Mr. Bingley] is dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,’” (Volume I, Chapter III, page 9) and claims that Elizabeth is “‘tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt [him].” He acts cold towards Elizabeth even though at the same time he complements her older sister, Jane. He is prideful and shows that he is higher and better than the Bennets. After a while of knowing Elizabeth, though, he treats her in a different manner with different views. While she is tending to Jane at Netherfield because she is sick, she catches his eye and draws some attention from him while in the sitting room. Miss Caroline Bingley suggests that she “‘take a turn about the room,” (Volume I, Chapter XI, page 49). Elizabeth does so and in doing so causes Mr. Darcy to “‘look up. He was much awakened to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book.’” Darcy starts to soften on Elizabeth after he converses with her at Netherfield. He is still not on friendly terms with her, but is not so arrogant towards her. The reason is revealed when he tells her, “‘you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you,’” (Volume II, Chapter XI, page 169). His proposal is a shock to her after the way he had treated her and she is quite astonished and outraged by her proposing to her after his actions towards her. After finding out about Jane and Bingley, and what happened between him and Mr. Wickham, she starts to soften on him. He also, after being harshly rejected, is much more civil and polite in his actions towards her treats her much nicer. Her reputation in his family is grow so much that in his politeness he asks, Will you allow me, or do I ask too much, to introduce my sister to your acquaintance during tour stay at Lambton?’” (Volume III, Chapter I, page 227). Mr. Darcy goes from being an arrogant haughty man, to a polite sincere and loving gentleman.

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Questions relating to the book

Published January 19, 2008

1) Does Mr. Collins still like Elizabeth? (answer: yes, found in book)

2)What are Elizabeths feelings for Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham after reading the letter? Do how do they change as she reads the letter again and again?

3)After Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s talk, will Mr. Darcy tell Mr. Bingley Jane’s feelings as he heard through Elizabeth?

Disappointment: When someone tells you that you have disappointed them, what feelings are stirred up in you? How do you redeem yourself once you have disappointed someone?

Published January 12, 2008

When someone tells you that you have disappointed them, the first thing you think is, ‘boy I did something really wrong and they don’t like it,’ or you think, ‘I thought it was a good thing, what did I do that was wrong?’ It’s hard when someone tells you that you did something they didn’t like. People that usually tell you that you have/had disappointed them are your parents, and the things that they are disappointed in are actions that you made when you could have chosen to do something else. Once you disappoint someone, it is hard to gain their trust back, because once you disappoint them, they are careful to prevent it from happening again. Gaining trust is a hard thing especially since you can lose it is a heartbeat. The best things to do is admit you were wrong, promise you won’t do it again, and slowly gain their trust the way you did at the beginning. One thing I remember happening quite recently is that I was at someone’s house for a sleepover, and their sibling, let’s name them Bob, wasn’t allowed to have his cell phone because of something he had done before. We were watching a movie before going to bed, and when he left to go to bed, he grabbed the cell phone and casually tried to walk off with it. My friend told him to leave the cell phone, and he eventually did, but if he had gotten caught that would have been two things behind his parents’ back. The first one he got punished for, and the second one would have been cheating out of the punishment. When I saw that happen, I was shocked. Why would anyone want to lose their parents trust, and then, while trying to gain it back, do something again behind their back that could lose their trust again? I don’t quite understand.

Describe a time that you carried a grudge against someone.

Published December 14, 2007

        This year, on my soccer team, there was one girl that I thought would be a good friend of mine at the beginning, but ended up being my least favorite person on the team. It all started out because she was a goal keeper and she would yell at her teammates on the field. Now, I know that keepers are supposed to direct people on the field, but instead of trying to help them, she would yell at the girl after she had already made the mistake and it was too late to change it. At first I was a little uncomfortable with her doing that because the whole point was to yell encouragement and helpful instructions, not, “You should have gotten there,” or, “You were supposed to be marking her!” I started to try to counter her attitude and yell encouragement when girls were getting the ball and congratulations when they did it right. After being in goal for a quarter, she would play on the field. When she was on the field it was even worse. When she was on the field, she was always out of position, yet she stilled yelled at the girls if they made a mistake. It was hard not to want to scream out, “You’re out of position! Get back in the middle to help!” Instead, two of my friends and I, they felt the same way about her, tried our best to make sure the girls held their heads high and didn’t give up even when they made a mistake. When the season ended, it was sad letting the team go since we had had so much fun together. At our end of the year party, though, things got even worse. We were at one of my teammate’s house and a group of us were sitting on the trampoline. At one point, this thing came up and one of my friends asked if the girl had ever figured out how it worked. I told her yes and that at first she didn’t get it, but in the long run she did. That was the end of the conversation about her. One of the people in the group on the trampoline was the girl’s sister. Supposedly, I didn’t hear it myself but someone told me this, her sister told her that we were saying mean things about her and how she wasn’t very smart and was bossy. Never did that come up in our conversation, but supposedly her sister made it up, and the girl left crying. When we noticed she wasn’t there, we didn’t know where she had gone. After a while, someone told me that her sister had told her something about us calling her stupid. At that moment, I thought, “Why would make up nonsense that is mean about your sister, and then tell her??!!!” When it was time to hand out the medals, she came back and stood a ways away. When the coach told her to come closer, she took a few steps towards where the rest of the team was, but still wasn’t with us. When the coach again said to go sit by her friends, she gave him this look that blatantly said, “Friends? Those girls are not my friends.” When I saw this look, I know that that was her last chance, and she had gotten rid of it. She could have come over and sat with us, but she decided that we weren’t good enough to be her friends. WE gave her many second chances, and, even thought the first chance she gave us was a fake, she never even tried bringing it up, or trying to be our friends again. After the party, a lot of us were on Thanksgiving Tournament teams. She was on the regional team the (“regular” team) with another girl, a few of the girls were on the area team (the second/middle team), and then there were about six of us on the sectional team (the highest team). I was on the sectional team. My coach (the same coach as my regular season team) told me that she had expected to be chosen on the sectional team. I was surprised. Normally I wouldn’t expect to be on the sectional team, except that this year my dad was the assistant coach and I had been on the sectional team for the past two years. At one point we had practice at the same place at the same time, and the girls on my team said hi to one of our regular season teammates on the regional team, but none of us knew what to do about the other girl. We wanted to say hi to be nice, but by the way she had rejected us at the party, it seemed like she didn’t want to be associated with us. Ever since this whole incident, I have just felt like she felt like she was the queen of the world, and that everything that didn’t go her way, simply didn’t ever exist, but she would still hold a grudge against the people who were involved, and therefore make those girls hold a grudge against her.

When has everyone with you decided to disagree with you and tell you that you are wrong, but you know you are right?

Published December 13, 2007

 I know i’m right

Moro Bay

Published December 13, 2007

Every year my family takes a trip to Moro Bay. At least we try to get there, but sometimes we have family conflicts. There is a camp ground right of the shore of the bay, and at least one day while we are down there, we go kayaking or canoeing. In the beginning, it was just my mom’s family: my grandparents, five aunts, four uncles, nine cousins, my parents, my sister and me. Recently, though, there has been a much bigger group. It includes all of those people, plus my great uncle, great aunt, one of my mom’s cousin with his wife and two sons, another my mom’s cousin with his wife and his two daughters, and another two cousins (four of my mom’s cousins in total). That makes close to 35 of us, and we all share a few campsites and do everything together. Each family is given one meal, breakfast lunch or dinner, which they have to make for all of us. Sometimes we double up families on one meal because there are too many of us, and not enough meals. We go kayaking, shopping, play soccer, golf and Frisbee, we eat out at this one restaurant, and often at night we have s’mores. My aunt and uncle often make breakfast one day, and it is usually sausage, eggs, rice, and spam. We often have danishes one morning, and soup one night. It is always so much fun because there is always someone to be with. My cousin and I often will make bracelets and lanyards, my younger cousins and my sister like to play in the dirt, sometimes a group of people will go for a walk or a run, but there is always something to do, and we enjoy each other’s company. Last year was canceled because we had a wedding to go to, but it always is a lot of fun, and I hope we can go next year.

Mitchell Louie, with so much heart.

Published December 13, 2007

November 11, 2007. We didn’t find out until the twelfth but it happened somewhere around 12:00 am on the eleventh. Mitchell had been fighting cancer since the thirtieth of January. Before the thirtieth, he had lost some feeling in his left side like it had gone numb. He went into the hospital and immediately had to have surgery. He had been diagnosed with Glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is a very rare type of cancer, usually found in older people and in their brain. Mitchell was almost fifteen and he got the even more rare type, in the spinal chord. Most of the time, people with this kind of cancer don’t live over a year after they are diagnosed. Then again, most people never breath, eat, talk or walk on their own ever again. Mitchell did all of then, walking was with help, but he did it. It was hard to believe that he had cancer because just the past Labor Day, he had been with our family in Moro Bay, and he had been able to do everything we did, kayak, swimming, running alone the sand dunes, playing soccer and going on a snipe hunt. (Actually, all of the older cousins knew the trick, but the little cousins had fun running after the red laser lights.) Even though we knew of his diagnosis, we didn’t know what kind of cancer it was, or the fact that he wasn’t likely to live over a year more. His parents decided to keep that to themselves so that Mitchell would work as hard as he could to recover, and possibly prove the doctors wrong. He was a fighter. He managed to do many things that other people with that type of cancer never did again. The problem with this type of cancer was that every time you would give it chemo, it would change so that it wouldn’t work the next time. The other problem was that only a handful of kids have had this type of cancer in the past twenty years. Ever since we found out, we have been praying for Mitchell and thinking good thoughts. Twice my family went to visit him in the hospital (twice bringing food that he wanted). A little while after he was able to go home. Of course, they had to build a ramp and a special bathroom for him to use.  Over the summer, he even went to Yosemite with his family and their family friends. When my grandmother called us on the morning of the twelfth, I was getting ready for school. My mother had a very sad tone in her voice, and since I knew she was talking to her mom, I thought that maybe there was something wrong with my grandfather. We were in the kitchen when she hung up. She turned to me and said, “Mitchell died.” Immediately we both burst into tears. We had to tell my dad and my sister, and then my mom had to call my aunt’s family and my uncle’s family. My mom and I had totally disregarded that fact that we needed to get to school by 7:55. We ended up being late and I had to go into my class late. During break I told my friends, and the next day my mom e-mailed all of my teachers. It was hard for me to believe when I first heard it, and ever once in a while it would hit me. It still does it today. You may have seen the red bracelet that I’ve been wearing that says, “MITCHELL LOUIE” on one side and, “WITH SO MUCH HEART…” on the other. It was a fundraiser for him, and a reminder. It’s been getting easier now, but it still hits me every once in a while, like while I’m writing this blog.

Describe any “obstacle” that you have faced on your “personal odyssey” of life.

Published November 29, 2007

A slight twist, on the question, this is only a portion of my “odyssey,” this is a period of time playing soccer.

Obstacles

When have you been treated unfairly?

Published November 29, 2007

Prompt: When have you been treated unfairly?

unfairly treated

Identity

Published November 17, 2007

You

will know it’s me

when you talk to one

of my family members

and they talk about

the smart girl.

“She

may

be shy but will always be polite.”

You

will

know

it’s

me

who

my

friends

are talking

about when my

friends say, “She’s

the caring girl. She can be

really loud but always is very kind.”

You will

know it’s

me when

my enemy

says, “She’s

quick, and

sly, but

I always beat

her anyway.”

You will know it’s me when you are talking to the girl with medium length, dark brown hair that looks black, who has freckles, who was shy when you first met her but she is speaking more openly now. The girl who may seem smart but really doesn’t think that of herself. The girl who you feel like if you were blue one day, she would care for you, but not try to be random to make you happy. The sweet girl that you might like to talk to again. If you can identify all these characteristics, in that girl, sadly you have ended up talking to me. Me the girl who can’t believe she just told you all of this. Me the girl who really wish she didn’t have to describe herself and her personality, because she really hates telling people what she thinks about herself. But it doesn’t matter now, you know it’s me. Identity

Odyssey 1

Published November 16, 2007

When ever anyone goes to another person’s house, they are welcomed and most often offered something. Different people offer different things. When people come to our house, the first thing we offer is often food. If the person is very close to our family, the offering is more of a, “go into the refrigerator and look around.” If the person is someone we don’t know as well, or at least someone we don’t see very often, the offering is much more polite like, “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?” When we have kids over, like my sister’s friends, we often help them more than on of my friends or family friends. Every Monday, after school, my sister has a friend over to play and do homework. My dad picks them up after school and takes them home. When they get home, the first thing he says is, “OK, what are we going to have for a snack?” They will decide on a snack, and then my sister and her friend will go play or do homework while my dad prepares it, and then will come back to the kitchen to eat it. It is kind of they way things work. The closer the friend, the less formal it gets, but no matter what, the first thing a host will do is offer the guest something to make them feel welcome.hospitality

The Greaves, The Reddings, The Chitjians, and Skye

Published October 28, 2007

            We had a group of friends over last night. We had the Greaves family, the Redding family, and a Friend, Skye. We had wonton soup and onion soup for dinner, with a green salad, bread and pasta to go with it. We all had different combinations of what we had, Skye had pasta and salad since she is a vegetarian, Ellie had wonton soup and salad, and I just had wonton soup. We watched two movies, one before dinner and one after. We watched The Lion King before since the Reddings had never seen it and Ellie and I had started watching it the last time she came over. When ever we have those two families over, the boys get really rambunctious and annoying, unless we sit them down in front of a movie, so that is what we did. Half way through the movie, we had to make wontons. All of the girls got up to go help (Cassie, Ellie’s younger sister, actually helped make hot apple cider instead) but Loraine had to make the boys come, and they finally helped when my dad said that if they didn’t wake any wontons, they couldn’t eat any soup. After dinner the girls were going to watch the Princess Diaries, assuming the boys wouldn’t want to watch it since it is a pretty girly movie, but they ended coming in and watching it with us. Half way through that movie, it was time for dessert. We had three types of ice cream, pumpkin, Chocolate, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, two types of toppings, Shell Chocolate syrup and Carmel sauce, sugar cones, cake cones, bowls, and whipped cream. Again, we could choose what we wanted. I had chocolate chip cookie dough on a cake cone with shell chocolate syrup. After we all got our desserts, we went back into the den to watch the movie again. (Our TV is in our den.) We ate our desserts while watching the rest of the movie, for a while we had to keep telling the boys to be quiet, but for the most part they were pretty good. It was a lot of fun. We have get-togethers like this somewhat often and it is fun to see these people. All in all it was a great night.

English Paragraph: Catcher in the Rye

Published October 20, 2007

So far, I don’t know what the topic is, so I don’t know what to put. I was wondering though, are we allowed to write our paragraph on the blog.

Ellie and My Post

Published October 20, 2007

Ellie is a friend of mine from soccer and from my old school. She is in eighth grade and goes to Flintridge Prep. Right now she is sitting next to me, helping me write my blog. We are thinking of ideas. We thought of writing about our game today, but it wouldn’t cover that many lines. The other team scored three goals, and then we scored two. We lost. That’s all we can write about that. We also thought about writing about our friend Carrie’s team, but that wouldn’t be that much longer than ours. The other team only had nine players but Carrie’s team had twelve, which means they had one substitute. They didn’t score for the first two quarters, but then they scored a goal on a Penalty kick in the third quarter, and three goals in one minute in the fourth quarter. Now we are writing a blog about absolutely nothing. Actually it is about thinking about how we have no good ideas on what to write about. And how we keep having to use the spell check on absolutely and how because the keyboard is acting up and we can’t spell. Now we are very hungry and want to eat our Top Ramen that is heating up as we speak (or type).

 NO SCHOOL!!!! 

Published September 13, 2007

 

We have the day off! It’s Rosh Hashanah and there is no school today! I slept in really late, and then I went with my mom to get a pedicure. She got a facial. It’s so nice to be able to do what ever for a day, then we’ll have one day of school, and then we’ll have another weekend! One day week of school! my sister has school, though, so it isn’t like we are going on some big extravaganza, but my mom says she wants to go clothes shopping today, and I’m going to go with her, so that will be fun. The best part about it is… NO HOMEWORK!!!! We have a day in which we do not get assigned any homework, and we can do as we please (unless you’re Jewish, and then you have to do all of the ceremonies for the day. But still, no school, no homework!) Currently, my mom is with my dad, taking his truck to the shop, and then she will drive him home. After that, I think my mom and I are going to go grocery shopping, and then maybe clothes shopping. What ever it is that we are going to do today, it will be fun. How can it not be fun? NO SCHOOL!!!

 My Diary, My MemoryPublished September 16, 2007

Maybe

You

Dreamed something that you want to remember but you don’t want anyone to know.

I

Am

Really wondering what to do, because I would be embarrassed to share it with someone or have them find out, but I never want to forget it.

You need to share it with somebody, so you write it down.

 

Must

You

Do it right away?

It’s

Already

Ripping at your mind, “should I tell someone?” You need to get it out.

Your diary will keep it safe from anyone who shouldn’t know, keeping every secret you ever tell it, and never wondering why you did it.

 Stephanie and my break in the Computer Lab 

Publish September 19, 2007

 

Stephanie Smith is an amazing person. She is sitting next to me right now in the computer lab on her e-mail. She has opened and attachment and is freaking out because she thought she e-mailed herself the wrong one. She just about had a freak out moment but she found the correct one and just printed. She has taken it from the printer and was wondering if there was a stapler. She found one next to me and stapled her work together. She is now sitting down again and checking her e-mail. Now she is checking her Facebook. She is showing me a picture that is not of him. Now she is showing me a happy picture of him. She says, “You have to admit this is the happiest picture ever!!! Like it should be on a T-shirt!!! She wants to know where the picture of her and him is and is highly insulted that it is not there. Now she is commenting on a different picture. These people in Tunisia have built this pyramid for this guy Ous and are building another one to be completed when he dies because he is this big guy in Tunisia. She is very insulted that he is not her friend. Now she is laughing and considering joining the group, “I really wish I was a s ghetto fabulous as Bruno SerosUlloa”. She really likes the name. She is now saying that this guy, who she doesn’t know is hot. “He is the grade above us and he is rally good looking,” she says. Now she is talking about someone that she was best friends with in elementary school. She just said, “Where is Devon? Oh my gosh his tie matches! It’s so cute!” The computer wants the above line to say, “Oh gosh my his tie matches!” You can’t tell who anyone is except for Spensher! Spencer!” She says. She is still learning how to talk. Oh, she is signing off, and telling me how her hair smells good.

22 09 2007

A Week With Out a Foot 

Published September 22, 2007

 

Today is the day that I have had a bad foot for a week. I have been on crutches for two days, and had my foot wrapped for seven days. At the beginning I was icing my foot up to three or four times a day. On Thursday, I went to my doctor’s office and had it x-rayed. My doctor told me that I should ice it for the first 24 hours, but by now, I should be putting heat on it. On Friday, I got the results from the x-ray that my foot was not broken, but my mom got me crutches, and my dad insisted that I use them. I’m not allowed to put weight on it until it heals (although, I have walked on it a few times already, but, hey, I spent 4 days walking on it, why not just a little?). The crutches are going to kill me. They hurt my arms so much!!! I have a scarf over each of them on the top. It helps a little, but they still hurt like crazy. I missed soccer practice on Monday and Friday, and I don’t have a game this weekend, but I hope to be back on the field on Monday for practice. My foot needs to get better!!!!!!!!!

 Stephanie and My Break Finishing a Chem. Lab  

Published September, 2007

 

Steph and I are in the computer lab finishing a lab for Chemistry. We are creating graphs and tables. I have created mine, and Steph is creating hers with Athena, her lab partner. So far she has her table with the sugar waters typed up. Athena is confused so I am helping her. Steph has printed her table, and is now going to make a new sheet to type her second table, the one with the beverages. She will print it out and then start on the graphing. I just set up Steph’s chart for her. We wrote everything that is needed, so now she’s printing her sheet. She made it!!!! Now she is helping Athena do hers. Steph is telling me to help Athena. We have made another chart! Athena’s was having problems, so we made a new one. Stephanie is now checking her e-mail. “God, I’m getting so much spam,” she says. She is now spinning around on her chair and saying, “’Weeee, weeee!” “This is so much fun!” she comments. She is now on Facebook replying to someone.

 My Foot Is Still Dead!!! 

Published September 29, 2007

 

I can’t believe that I am still unable to play soccer because of my foot! It was so nerve racking having to watch my team play today, especially since they lost. I hurt my foot two Sundays ago, and it still hurts. The good thing was that I didn’t have a game last weekend, so it was a good time to get hurt, although it was the middle of the first quarter, it could have at least been the last one, but since I can’t play this weekend, and we have TWO games this weekend, this really is not a good thing. I hope to try to play tomorrow against Carrie (my friend from a previous soccer team)’s team. It will be a fun game, and I really don’t want to miss it! I hope to recover soon. I might have to buy athletic tape and pre-wrap so that I can play again, but if that will let me play, then I definitely want to tape my foot to be able to play soccer again.

 Ninth Grade, Quarter One 

Published October 18, 2007

 

I’m so sorry! For the past few weeks I have forgotten to do blogs. I feel like I have so much to do, that I forget about the weekly blogs. The first quarter of school has been so busy. I have had Three tests in Ancient and Pre-Modern Civilization, three tests in Algebra two Trigonometry Honors, two to three essays in English 1, two tests in Chemistry Honors, two labs in Chem (and will have another tomorrow), three vocabulary quizzes in English, one test in health, and have two sushi plates, on mold plate, and one coil pot do for Ceramics. On top of that, I have soccer practice twice a week, soccer games once or twice a week, the play after school three days a week, and hurt my foot, I don’t know if I bruised a bone or stretched or tore a ligament or tendon, and my dad was gone for a week from the 31^st of September to the 6^th of October. All in all, it has been very busy, and I can’t wait for this up coming three day weekend.

 The fog comes in

Published September 11, 2007

The fog comes in like a crouching tiger, stalking its prey, sneaking in without warning and then, suddenly, it appears right before you, and wraps itself around you like a thin cloak on cold night. It wraps you up tight, but it doesn’t keep you warm.

Black

Published September 11, 2007

 

Black- shade, shadows, keyboards in the computer lab, the computer screen when it’s off, lights out, Shamu’s black patches, Stripes on a zebra, spots on a leopard, the edges of the chimney, tuxedo.

My dress has a floral print all in white, with a shadow background that never ends. There are little flowers and leaves where the sun shines through into the cool shade.

Little girl, Marlborough student

Published August 30, 2007

We’re going. I’m going. I remember looking up to all of the Marlborough students whenever I came in with my mom. I would have a day off from school and nowhere to go so I would go to work with my mom. She would often have a seventh grade advisory and I would meet all of them, all of the “big girls”. Now looking at seventh graders, they look so small, so young. I am in ninth grade and I am going to Pali Mountain. A place my mom would go away to when she had a ninth grade advisory, and we would miss her for a week. Now it is my turn. I will be gone with all my classmates, and yet it seems like it was just last year that I was looking up into the faces of tall, grown-up seventh graders, and now I look down to them and watch them act to young and little. Me, Ryanne, the little girl who would look up into the eyes of the older seventh graders, is now looking down into them. I do not know how this happened, but I realize that I have to take advantage of every moment and cherish it, for it will only ever happen once.

Our walk to the Big Tree

Published August 30, 2007

We walk through the grove of spruces and firs, looking up into the canopies of trees that have no tops. It feels cool and wet, like walking through morning mist, and it smells woody and fresh. With strings of bark padding the floor of the forest, a shoe finding its way to the earth creates the loudest sound, a soft thud. There is no evidence that our feet touch the ground. We stop often to examine a mushroom, small and round, a light bulb screwed into the bark of a fallen log. We finally see the tree. A gap appears in the canopy, no other trees daring to invade the giant’s personal space. Even though there is enough room to see the sky, we can not step back far enough to see the top. We see trees like this every year, and yet, again, we look up in awe.