dandelion wineeee

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is a story about the summer that Douglas Spaulding goes through. He has many new experiences and many of the same experiences. The story does not center around the boy, but also dives into the lives of other characters living in Green Town that are just as interesting.

The chapters I found the most intriguing was Leo Auffman's happiness machine in chapter 13 and Colonel Freeleigh's final moment in chapter 25.

In chapter 13, Leo is determined to build the happiness machine that will grant anyone happiness. He asks his wife, Lena, for advice on what to implement and Lena calls him out for it. She tells him that it's pointless and that it won't work. Despite this, Leo still has a belief that he can pull it off so he takes the next two weeks building it. He sacrifices family time in order to do this. When he presents the machine to his family, he offers Lena to try it and she does. She can see many places in the machine such as Rome, London, and Paris. When she steps out, she tells Leo her opinion and it is not something Leo expected. Lena tells him that the machine only makes her sadder. It reminds her that she will never actually go to these places for herself. She sees many wonderful sights but they all hold sadness in them that it's only what she sees, she can't experience it for herself. This puts her husband in shock. He's in denial and wants to test it himself but it soon sets itself on fire. As the garage is burning down, Leo can only stare through the window at his family. It is then that he realizes the true happiness machine is his family.

In chapter 25, it opens up with Freeleigh waking up from a dream about the last apple falling off a tree. When his nurse walks in, she reminds him that he can't overexcite himself because it will affect his health. She mentions Douglas's group of friends and the phone calls he makes to Mexico City. Freeleigh tells the nurse that it's worth it even though it jeopardizes his health. He wants to feel and be alive. The nurse threatens to take the phone away and shut the kids out for the sake of the Colonel and exits. Freeleigh gets up in his seat as soon as she leaves and runs over to the phone. He hasn't ran in a long time. He collapses on the floor in the process. He rings the person from Mexico City and asks them to open the window for him one last time. He loves listening to the noises outside the city because it reminds him of nature and life. The person reluctantly agrees and Freeleigh dies listening to the sounds that he has always enjoyed. The chapter ends when Douglas and his friends walk in through the door and see the dead man. When Douglas picks the phone up off the floor, all he hears is the sound of a window closing.

- In both of these stories, the most effective tool in Bradbury's writing is his message about the human condition and the tone that follows with it. Sometimes, people don't realize that the things that make them happy are right in front of them. They find every opportunity to find other sources of happiness, ignoring their own. This notion is told thoroughly in Leo Auffman's story. It explains the nature of humans well. Freeleigh's chapter also explains human nature well too. His chapter is saying that humans will hurt themselves trying to get what they want the most, even if it is simple. It shows sacrifice. The use of character development is also at its key strength here because Leo and Freeleigh are interesting characters. Their personalities and how they act shape what their values and beliefs are and I quite like them.

i love him

I'm a few days late on this but who is going to complain about love? Happy belated Valentines day!!

I'm Lovin' It

He's the love of my life
The way he stares up at me
When I'm smiling down at him
His happiness runs through my veins
And marks his place in my blood
He overflows me and makes me feel full
When I'm at my lowest of moods
Life brightens when I see him
After weeks of him not being there
But when he is right in front of me
I forget the moments when he leaves me
I am so in love with him
And his name just happens to be French Fries.

my favorite genres,,

What I like reading when it comes to genres? That's pretty simple (not that I had to look at a list of genres to see).

1. Fantasy
   a) Dark fantasy
   b) Urban fantasy
   c) Role-playing games
   d) High fantasy
   
   - I like fantasy because it stretches imagination to its fullest extent. You can write whatever you want because it's fantasy. Not everything's real. The writer can be as creative as they want with it. I don't really like bubblegum fantasies exactly... if there's some tragedy or real world connections that are in the story itself, that's really cool. I'm not really huge on otherworldly beings such as fairies or elves, but I really like concept in a fantasy. How the universe is different from ours, excluding the obvious fairies and elves.
2. Mysteries and Thrillers
   a) Detectives
   b) Courtroom/legal
   c) Forensic
   d) Thriller
   e) Horror
   
   - Okay, mysteries are just great in general. I honestly really love stories that can throw me off and surprise me because they're super good to talk about and it'll one hundred percent make me rave. I love plot twists and unexpected turns. They make stories so great. I love how mysteries and thrillers can be manipulative with the writing or the antagonist. I love mysteries when they pose several questions as to who actually committed a crime or what even happened. I just don't like it when not everything is revealed. Thanks for killing the reader. I'd still talk about it regardless lmao

when it comes to writing

For those of you wondering what the rules were:

     10. Write a draft. Then let it rest.
     9. Read a lot.
     8. Never use a long word when a short one will do.
     7. Never use the passive voice when you can use the active voice.
     6. Know and understand your audience.
     5. Recycle and read the good stuff before you write.
     4. Honor the miraculousness of the ordinary.
     3. Good copy=draft-10%
     2. Look at every word in a sentence and decide if they are really needed. If not, kill them. Be ruthless.
     1. Remember: Writing doesn't love you. It doesn't care. Nevertheless, it can behave with  remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.      

Question 1: Which of the top ten writing rules makes the most sense to you? 

1. Read a lot.
2. Recycle and read the good stuff before you write.
3. Look at every word in a sentence and decide if they are really needed. If not, kill them. Be ruthless.
4. Never use a long word when a short one will do.
5. Know and understand your audience.

Question 2: Which ones do you practice?
- I practice the ninth and eighth one. I read enough as it is so it provides a lot of source material to help me write. I don't really spend too much time thinking of different words to use as synonyms or substitutes for another word. Short words are fine unless the same ones become repetitive.

Question 3: Which ones do you need more work on?

- I need to work on the tenth and second rule. Drafts are very important and I need to realize that the writing process takes a lot longer than what I would like it to be. Many of my errors fall into the second rule. I need to improve on those mistakes and become more clear and concise.               

10.21.15

My English teacher told me a pretty funny story on October 21st, 2015. It was about her husband. He constantly joked with her and told her, "I'm going to bring you a box of roses for you at your job just because." He said this multiple times but these special roses were never delivered.

Until that actual day, when he delivered red roses to the school with a letter attached addressed to my beautiful English teacher herself. She was beyond surprised but she couldn't leave the class unattended. 

So what did she do? She chose me to pick up those roses, with the help of someone else. It has to be a boy, she leaned toward me and laughed. I looked back at her with a facial expression that translated to, "I'm not particularly friends with any boy in this class."

There was only one tolerable boy. I don't know why I felt like it that day, but I chose him to go to the office with. No reason at all, actually. I wasn't friends with him, as stated in the previous paragraph, and I saw nothing in him. He was just one of those other classmates I had.

I don't think I've ever had a proper conversation with him before. He was in the same class as me for four years. Which was surprising, because there's no trace of his face within my memories of those four years.

The boys stopped raising their hands and asking to be picked, waiting for the teacher's instructions. She looked over at him and said, "Are you okay with this?" since he wasn't following the actions of the other boys. He simply shrugged. That was settled. My English teacher sent us off with a pass.

It was silent walking to the office but by the time we got there, the administrators were just as surprised as my English teacher and the liveliness filled the awkward silence.

They shoved us the box of roses and the two of us hurried out of there. My left hand was gripping one side of the box and his right gripped the other side. Walking back up, I said something to him.

I asked a question that would change my life. It would change my life so much that even now it makes me exasperated thinking of how much it impacted me.

"Do you want to be best friends?"

is this a serious intro

Hello, hi. Do you know my name yet?
Okay, it's Jenna if you didn't read the side of the blog. Thanks.

You're probably wondering what gave me the idea to name my URL this but to tell you the truth, I don't know that myself. Figured something too serious would be something I wouldn't like. It's a sorry excuse for not having enough time to come up with a clever name but it's okay because I'm liking it more and more.

That isn't the point of this post though unfortunately. The point is to introduce myself properly.

I'm a Creative Writing major at School of the Arts and I created this blog not because I was told to for a grade, but because I want my sappy, artistic, virtuous, wonderful voice out there. Most definitely.

At this point you still don't really know that much about me but here you go:

• Yes, I'm a teenager. Implied enough, but I'm 15 as of this post.
• I'm getting tired of using actual English in this post so don't be surprised if you see something abbreviated. I'm talking to you directly Craddock lol
• I love many things. Let's see... my friends, my dogs, my family, you know the general. Did you know that I also really love Kija and Ariana Grande? If you didn't know that by now, then hi stranger.
• I'm actually having a lot of difficulty with these bullet points for no reason but it's okay
• Sleep is everything, I say as I'm about to put hours into the night on this blog.
• Is five facts good enough? Sure.

Hope this 'better impression' (I forgot I was supposed to do that) told you more about me... that's what I'm being graded for after all. Hope you find more posts you might find interest in lol