We would use it as a way to create castles. It was a favorite past time. I would crawl around with my brothers through the maze. Squeezing in between the crevices messing my hair up more than it already was. Then, the very next day my friends and I would sit on it as I would throw my voice trying to personify my Scuba Diving Barbie. Years later, after dinner it was used to have the food settle and to pass time with my mom which consisted of me venting my little Junior High problems. Those that seemed to be the end of the world type, but somehow I managed to live on the next day. In high school I began taking an interest in soccer. I tried out for the team. In my excitement to improve, I used it as the other “person” to kick it to. The wear and tear that it endured over the years eventually required that it be reupholstered.
The couch has remained with the family for quite a while. It has traveled across the state of Texas as well as Arizona. Now the couch is left forlorn. Everyone is too busy to sit on it. There are no longer indentations on its surface. I pass by it everyday not even acknowledging its presence. It usually holds my back pack and purse as I hungrily make my way to the kitchen. Once satisfied thereafter I remove my items and proceed to my bedroom. Sadly, it no longer serves the purpose of uniting the family together.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The American Essays
One of the articles that I recall, that really drew in my attention was, “The American Man at Age 10,” by Susan Orlean. First of all, Orlean throws us into the story from the very beginning blindsided. She just starts rambling on about a character that wasn’t “formally” introduced, but I think that’s what intrigued me the most. I think she did an excellent job in her introduction and how she connected her own personality to that of the character she is portraying.
Her writing is so playful that I can sense the inner child within her. She portrays the boy’s traits amazingly; she doesn’t simply tell us about his great traits, but actually shows us through his different actions and thoughts. I really enjoyed her piece and I hope to learn from her writing and apply it to my own writing. I tend to list traits rather than prove to the reader that this is how it is, as shown by different actions.
The other essay that I also enjoyed reading was, “Afternoon of an American Boy,” by E.B. White. I easily read through this essay as it was very comical and relatable. At least on my part I can relate to this awkward little boy when it came to the opposite sex. I found it very entertaining. And I don’t think he had too much trouble trying to add humor into it. He just had to create this relatable character in which one could imagine oneself in the situation and laugh it off. I think I can improve my writing by doing the same, sometimes I’m very cautious about what I write about. I need to realize, though, that someone could also share in the same feelings about a certain piece making it all the better for him/her.
Her writing is so playful that I can sense the inner child within her. She portrays the boy’s traits amazingly; she doesn’t simply tell us about his great traits, but actually shows us through his different actions and thoughts. I really enjoyed her piece and I hope to learn from her writing and apply it to my own writing. I tend to list traits rather than prove to the reader that this is how it is, as shown by different actions.
The other essay that I also enjoyed reading was, “Afternoon of an American Boy,” by E.B. White. I easily read through this essay as it was very comical and relatable. At least on my part I can relate to this awkward little boy when it came to the opposite sex. I found it very entertaining. And I don’t think he had too much trouble trying to add humor into it. He just had to create this relatable character in which one could imagine oneself in the situation and laugh it off. I think I can improve my writing by doing the same, sometimes I’m very cautious about what I write about. I need to realize, though, that someone could also share in the same feelings about a certain piece making it all the better for him/her.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Spoiled
It was not until I was old enough to travel that my mom was brave enough to show off her first child to her family in Mexico City. My mom had not seen either her family or her homeland for two years. It would only be mom and myself traveling while dad stayed home working.
I was my grandparent’s first grandchild and so you could imagine how spoiled I was. Spoiled not so much in the sense of materialistic things but rather with a lot of love and affectionate hugs and kisses. My youngest of uncles was the one that really took care of me during that trip. He is two years my senior and he was so intrigued with someone who could possibly be smaller than him. I would run out of the house and he would be the first one chasing after me “carrying” me back into the house. Little did he know that he was actually hurting me more than he was actually helping, but I guess I didn’t mind too much, after all I loved the attention.
During our stay there the family went to visit Chapultepec Park in the heart of the city. The several buses and subway that were taken to get there were all worth it at the end. Trapped in a claustrophobic position in the subway had to be the worst part of it though. I extended my arms out pushing against the other mommies; they were hogging my breathing space. Eventually, we made it to the park and I wanted to grab at everything that the salespeople wanted to hand at me. Balloons of all colors, the zoo of stuffed animals and the entire cool lighted up toy collection, I wanted them all. And of course when I didn’t have my way I threw the biggest tantrum imaginable. That vacation was the last time that I would be the center of attention. Soon thereafter Jon would arrive. Good, I needed to grow out of that spoiled brat phase.
I was my grandparent’s first grandchild and so you could imagine how spoiled I was. Spoiled not so much in the sense of materialistic things but rather with a lot of love and affectionate hugs and kisses. My youngest of uncles was the one that really took care of me during that trip. He is two years my senior and he was so intrigued with someone who could possibly be smaller than him. I would run out of the house and he would be the first one chasing after me “carrying” me back into the house. Little did he know that he was actually hurting me more than he was actually helping, but I guess I didn’t mind too much, after all I loved the attention.
During our stay there the family went to visit Chapultepec Park in the heart of the city. The several buses and subway that were taken to get there were all worth it at the end. Trapped in a claustrophobic position in the subway had to be the worst part of it though. I extended my arms out pushing against the other mommies; they were hogging my breathing space. Eventually, we made it to the park and I wanted to grab at everything that the salespeople wanted to hand at me. Balloons of all colors, the zoo of stuffed animals and the entire cool lighted up toy collection, I wanted them all. And of course when I didn’t have my way I threw the biggest tantrum imaginable. That vacation was the last time that I would be the center of attention. Soon thereafter Jon would arrive. Good, I needed to grow out of that spoiled brat phase.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Human Experience
A couple weeks back my brother had commented to my youngest brother and me that he was going to go to Herberger Theater to watch a pre-screening with his entire school. We youtube’d the film wanting to learn a bit more of what he was going to be in for and watched the trailer for it. It really drew in my attention as it did my brother’s, and so I decided to take my youngest brother to go and watch it.
The film is called, The Human Experience and is a story narrated by a young man trying to make sense of the world. To try and accomplish this big task, himself and some of his friends from the shelter that they grew up in, would travel the world to find the answers to such questions. Their first experience was lived out in the streets of New York living as a homeless person would, second experience in an orphanage in Peru, and third experience in the leper colonies of Ghana. The narrator’s voice played in the background as they went to these different places trying to seek the answers to the world’s toughest questions. I really enjoyed watching it, the film revolved around these three settings as the characters within the film would comment on their own experiences about it. The story overall was very touching, the people that they interviewed and spent time with gave them great insight into the meaning of life. The children, the homeless and the lepers taught them great lessons even without any actual communication going on. Their joy brought a knot in my throat because even through all the hardship that they had faced, they were smiling and happy to have them as company.
At the end of the screening, two of the screenplay writers, as well as two of the characters in the film, took the time to answer some questions afterwards about the film. They both grew up in a Catholic shelter and wanted to create a movie that never said the word Jesus in it but still created that prolife message that they were after. The film was fantastic, I thought because they had accomplished just that, they portrayed how life is precious no matter what someone’s situations is. The travelers learned much about life in producing the film and they did a great job in inviting the audience to tag along on the ride and also experience what they were feeling. As in creative nonfiction the film was produced in such a way that it made it relatable to its audience.
The film is called, The Human Experience and is a story narrated by a young man trying to make sense of the world. To try and accomplish this big task, himself and some of his friends from the shelter that they grew up in, would travel the world to find the answers to such questions. Their first experience was lived out in the streets of New York living as a homeless person would, second experience in an orphanage in Peru, and third experience in the leper colonies of Ghana. The narrator’s voice played in the background as they went to these different places trying to seek the answers to the world’s toughest questions. I really enjoyed watching it, the film revolved around these three settings as the characters within the film would comment on their own experiences about it. The story overall was very touching, the people that they interviewed and spent time with gave them great insight into the meaning of life. The children, the homeless and the lepers taught them great lessons even without any actual communication going on. Their joy brought a knot in my throat because even through all the hardship that they had faced, they were smiling and happy to have them as company.
At the end of the screening, two of the screenplay writers, as well as two of the characters in the film, took the time to answer some questions afterwards about the film. They both grew up in a Catholic shelter and wanted to create a movie that never said the word Jesus in it but still created that prolife message that they were after. The film was fantastic, I thought because they had accomplished just that, they portrayed how life is precious no matter what someone’s situations is. The travelers learned much about life in producing the film and they did a great job in inviting the audience to tag along on the ride and also experience what they were feeling. As in creative nonfiction the film was produced in such a way that it made it relatable to its audience.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Rumors
This morning was like any other morning. I physically got out of bed after about 4 times of pressing the snooze button, washed my face, and then hopped right back into bed. Three weeks into the spring semester and I still cannot get into the habit of waking up early. After figuring that I had exactly 20 minutes to be at work was when I actually started to get ready. I time it so that I get to any event either just in time or maybe a few minutes late (It’s such a bad habit!). And this supposedly was my new year’s resolution and I have yet to arrive to any event earlier than what it is scheduled to be. Obviously, it hasn’t worked out for me at all.
In any case I arrived to work at 8:03 a.m., falling 4 minutes short of the grace period, 4 good minutes that I could have used for sleeping! But this morning I realized that a friend of mine was working the same shift. I am a student worker at the Downtown Phoenix IT helpdesk located in the library and you could imagine just how dull it can get in the morning, so I was very glad to see her. So to keep each other awake we of course started to chismiar as we call it in Spanish, or in other words gossip. She began to tell me that one of the staff’s birthday had just been this past Saturday and told me how old he had turned.
I replied back, “Wow! He must have had his daughter really young!”
She became more interested and said, “What! He has a kid? I didn’t know that!”
I began to explain to her that one day he had brought his wife and daughter to work. This conversation ended at that and we each carried on with our daily tasks.
A few minutes later I receive my first call of the day and I answer, “Helpdesk, Diana speaking, how may I help you?”
The guy at the other end answered, “Yea hi Diana, so I hear you’re spreading rumors about me.”
I quickly think oops, what did I do this time. And he went on to say, “Elizabeth tells me that you think I have a daughter.”
I automatically think uh oh then who was that lady I saw him with, I didn’t want to say more because already I had said and assumed too much but still continued.
“Yea, didn’t you bring your wife and daughter by the other day?”
He pauses for a while, “Uhh that was my sister and my friend”.
I thought to myself aw man not only did I just make him feel awkward by assuming that his sister was his wife but I also insulted him by thinking he could have a daughter that old. I felt my face grow hot. We both started cracking up but apparently there were no hard feelings as he even gave me a piece of his birthday cake after that whole misunderstanding :).
In any case I arrived to work at 8:03 a.m., falling 4 minutes short of the grace period, 4 good minutes that I could have used for sleeping! But this morning I realized that a friend of mine was working the same shift. I am a student worker at the Downtown Phoenix IT helpdesk located in the library and you could imagine just how dull it can get in the morning, so I was very glad to see her. So to keep each other awake we of course started to chismiar as we call it in Spanish, or in other words gossip. She began to tell me that one of the staff’s birthday had just been this past Saturday and told me how old he had turned.
I replied back, “Wow! He must have had his daughter really young!”
She became more interested and said, “What! He has a kid? I didn’t know that!”
I began to explain to her that one day he had brought his wife and daughter to work. This conversation ended at that and we each carried on with our daily tasks.
A few minutes later I receive my first call of the day and I answer, “Helpdesk, Diana speaking, how may I help you?”
The guy at the other end answered, “Yea hi Diana, so I hear you’re spreading rumors about me.”
I quickly think oops, what did I do this time. And he went on to say, “Elizabeth tells me that you think I have a daughter.”
I automatically think uh oh then who was that lady I saw him with, I didn’t want to say more because already I had said and assumed too much but still continued.
“Yea, didn’t you bring your wife and daughter by the other day?”
He pauses for a while, “Uhh that was my sister and my friend”.
I thought to myself aw man not only did I just make him feel awkward by assuming that his sister was his wife but I also insulted him by thinking he could have a daughter that old. I felt my face grow hot. We both started cracking up but apparently there were no hard feelings as he even gave me a piece of his birthday cake after that whole misunderstanding :).
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