I Believe

1. I believe that everything happens for a reason.

2. I believe in karma.

3. I believe in peace.

4. I believe in love at first sight.

Occurrences across the Chromatic Scale

by Reginald Shepherd

The way air is at the same time

intimate and out of reach

(a void with light inside it

turned on a wheel of wheres) 

Stars' lease on sky expires, breathes 

in leisures of sparrows, wrens

and casual trees, wet sidewalks

twittering with tattered news, old

leaves (hollow bones and branches)

wind of wish and which and boys

waiting for white kisses, rain 

of feathers, clouds saving their later

Suppose this sunlight, day split open 

suppose these senses and the information

carried, thing and news of the thing

repeating place, location of position

Birds, for example, remembered

fluttering torn terms, congregations 

shimmer of hummingbirds 

but when does one see more than one

tumbling bright flesh (sky 

at hand) pleating afternoon, banking 

on mere atmosphere, primary

colors dividing white into 

three clean halves (red, green, 

blue-bitter berries rasp, crabapples

crush underfoot), the spectrum

says don't stop there

(smudged light a lapse of attention)

there's never enough world for you 

(www.poets.org)

I was having trouble choosing a poem because I really wasn't liking many that I read. I was browsing authors and the word "chromatic" in the title caught my eye. As I was reading it, I really loved the imagery and description of every couplet. I had to read it a few times to even understand what the poem was saying. When I finally read every word and understood the sentences, I realized how deep the poem is and how much I really relate to it and love the way it is written.

What is Success?

56 years have passed that I have been living. I would say that my life has been a successful one. I got married and have a wonderful family. My feeling that I have lived a successful life comes from the fact that I have followed my dreams and done what I have wanted to do. When I was a kid, I knew I wanted to go to college, have a carreer doing something that I enjoyed, and eventually settle down. I am successful because I have done all of that. I followed what I wanted to do and strove to achieve happiness in what I believed it would be. Success isn't necessarily being the president of a big company, wearing a suit every day and working in a tall building. It is achieving goals that you have set for yourself and the happiness and satisfaction that comes along with it.

Describe This

It is used almost every day by a handful of people who enjoy it more than anything. The dirty black surface is grainy and uneven, filled with holes in the ground from where wood was once nailed down.  I stand in the center, 400 seats facing me. The hot lights beam down on my body and I can feel my body temperature rising. If only for a few seconds, I am lifted up in front of an audience and entertaining the crowd. Even when the curtains close, this place is still where I feel most comfortable.

Cathedral vs. Every Day Use

I think that Cathedral and Every Day Use were two stories that had a lot in common, but were very different. They both captured the idea of a person who began ignorant and was changed by the end of a story. However, I think that in Cathedral, the change was more apparent and therefore I found it to be a more interesting story.
I liked that in Cathedral, the story revolved around the change rather than in Every Day Use where the story was told before and after the change in Dee's character; we never really got to see how or why she changed to appreciate her family. I liked that the blind man in Cathedral pushed the narrator into his realization and change in point of view. The narrator went from an ignorant person to an open-minded person, accepting the blind man.
In Every Day Use, the character Dee is described as being confident, almost conceited, and closed-minded about her family and background. In the beginning she didn't want to be associated with her family and where she came from. The reason I didn't like the story as much was because it was more about AFTER her change, instead of how she changed.

Secrets

Depending on how bad the secret, sometimes I will lose sleep over it, feeling guilty or bad for keeping the secret. If I feel like I'm holding a secret that wouldn't really affect anyone but myself, I usually just get over it.

When I hold a secret for a friend, I never tell unless it is for their own good. It's hard when you know you have to keep a friend's secret, but by holding this secret you could really hurt them more than by telling someone. You always want your friends to confide in you and trust that you'll keep your secret, but sometimes the right thing to do is to tell.

The Scarlet Letter

So far, I think the novel is good, however it is not interesting me as much as other books we've read, like The Great Gatsby. I like the ideas and how it is about sin, but I don't think the plot line has really grabbed me...yet. Although, it is sometimes hard to understand, I do think it's extremely beautifully written. The flow of words really adds to the feeling of the novel.