Halloween Questions

                The best Halloween costume I ever wore was a Jacob Marley costume from Scrooge It was my favorite by far, even though I had to tell most people who I was. A couple people guessed it right away though. I made it with my mom and grandma, so that’s probably why I’m still so fond of it. I went all out with chains and everything. I definitely got a workout that night walking around with ten pounds of chain wrapped around me.

                My favorite Halloween was the time I went to a haunted corn maze with my gymnastics team, and my brother. It was a blast! I was absolutely terrified, but I’ll admit, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie and it definitely got my heart pumping.  I also went trick or treating that year with my best friend at the time. We had a ton of fun, and I will always remember that Halloween.

                My favorite Halloween treat is chocolate, and lots of it! Who doesn’t love candy? It’s the one time a year you can eat as much candy as you want and not feel bad about it. Although, the best treat I ever received was from a dentist who lived in my neighborhood. I got a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a pack of gum. At the time, I was thoroughly disappointed that it wasn’t candy, but now looking back on it, it probably saved me from a cavity or two, and a frightening time in the dentist’s chair.

                I have had a lot of Halloween costumes throughout the years, and here is a list of the ones I can remember:

                -Teddy bear

                -Princess

                -Angel

                -unicorn

                -50s girl

                -Olympic Gymnast

                -Jacob Marley

                -Kate plus 8 (from reality show Jon & Kate plus 8)

                -Samurai

As I looked at the Jack-o-Lantern, It seemed to be looking back at me, and then the front door opened. A scary, bloody face stared back at me. I was frozen with fear, and I could hear my dad at the end of the driveway laughing as I stood completely still. Why was he laughing? I was standing on a stranger’s porch obviously fearing for my laugh and he was cracking up. The red and cut up face reached out log arm with a piece of candy. I stared at it for a while contemplating whether I should take candy from this creepy creature. I decided it wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to touch those atrocious pruned fingers.  I turned quickly and ran straight into my dad’s arms. Although, he seemed more concerned with catching his breath from laughing too hard than he was with comforting me.

Rearranged Lyric Poem

We don't care-- we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams
Grey Goose
Trashing the hotel room
Well that's by me
Even if we're six feet underground
I can't live a lie, running for my life
So wake me up when it's all over
When I'm wiser and I'm older
I can't tell where the journey will end
But I know where to start
All this time I was finding myself
And I know that we'll be safe and sound.

Ask a Teacher About Music

What music or songs remind you of your childhood?
   "80s pop and New Wave" - Ms. Hoover

Who is your favorite singer or group or song and why?
      "Tom Petty is my favorite singer and Learning to Fly is my favorite song just because." - Coach Griffin

What music remind you of someone you love? Your child? Spouse? Parents?
      "Lennard Cohen, Jaxx, Miles Davis"- Mrs. Orman

Do you go to concerts? Which concerts are memorable to you? Why?
     "Yes, the most memorable are the ones that were outside."-Ms. Hoover

What radio stations do you normally listen to in your car? Do you sing along?
    "I listen to music on my phone, and yes"-Ms. Hoover

Which music or artist was controversial or offensive to some when you were growing up? Is any music offensive to you now?
     "Growing up- Eminem. None now"- Coach Griffin

Which music or artist do you really dislike or refuse to listen to?
      "Justin Bieber, It's just not for me."- Coach Griffin

Music

1. Depending on what kind of music I'm listening to, music can make me feel many different ways. A pop, R&B, or rap song usually makes me happy and excited. A slow song could make me tired or sad, depending on what it's about. All in all, different music evokes different emotions.

5. My friends and I do listen to the same kind of music. I think this means we have the same interests.

7. Without music, my life would be dull and boring. I listen to it all the time. There would be no more singing and dancing in the car, and what's the fun in that?

9. One event I connect to music is when my dad came home from Louisiana after 8 months. He was working down there right after hurricane Katrina, and when he came back he brought a lot of music he had heard down there with him.

10. Every style of music should be tolerated, it is art. It's a form of expression, and according to the constitution, we have the freedom of expression.

6 word memoir

Always looking for a new adventure.

Through the Window

A simple white house on a small green hill,
A bright red stop sign on two intersecting streets,
Today, there are freshly fallen leaves on the ground,
Many cars always parked along the long and narrow street ahead,
Part of my view is blocked from the large tree with golden orange leaves,
In the distance, there are small kids running, playing in the street,
A far away field with grazing cows.

Memorable Passage

        A passage that I find to be memorable is from Just Listen by Sarah Dessen..

"So many versions of just one memory, and yet none of them were right or wrong. Instead, they were all pieces. Only when fitted together, edge to edge, could they even begin to tell the whole story."

 This is so true. When I recall memories and tell them to other people who were also there, they always seem to tell it a little bit differently.

Pillow

Foggy mornings,
groggy feeling, fuzzy thoughts
go to bed, clear head.


           I  have many restless nights nowadays. I just can't seem to turn off my thoughts. I have so much going on that you'd think I'd fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but unfortunately that's not the case. My thoughts run from school and homework to work, and then of course what's for dinner tomorrow. Anything and everything that I could possibly think of, I usually think of before I can get any sleep.

Edward Hopper

Dine and Dash

     My Husband and I are sitting at the table starting at each other intently, as if to say "are you sure about this?" He gave a small nod, and I took in a big breath. The restaurant is busy, and filled with the sound of chatter from happy customers, so it shouldn't be too hard to leave unnoticed. My face tightens as I think of what I'm about to do, It's so wrong, yet so thrilling and exciting. I feel the heat of my coffee mug against my palms as I finish it off. I take in a quick and anxious breath, and in with it comes the sweet aroma of fresh fruits and pastries. I stand and my husband quickly joins me, and off we walk right out to the car. Not a single person paid a lick of attention. That was easier than I thought.

Artist Profile-- Caravaggio

 Full Name: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
 1571- 1610
 Hometown: Caravaggio in northern Italy

    His father, Fermo Merisi, was a household administrator and architect decorator to the marchese of Caravaggio. His Mother's name was Lucia Aratori.
    Michelangelo Studied in Milan with a 4 year apprenticeship under painter Sime Peterzano. In his twenties, he went to Rome. There he made lasting friendships with Prospero Orsi, Onorio Longhi, and Mario Minniti. Michelangelo had a temper, and often found himself getting into trouble. He was arrested many times for getting into brawls and various other things. In 1606, he got into an argument and let his temper get out of control. He stabbed the man with his sword and killed him. He fled Rome to avoid justice. He became a knight in Malta, but that came to end when he got into a fight with another knight and went to prison. He escaped and continued onto Naples, where a brawl left him very disfigured.
     Caravaggio worked mainly with oil paints on canvas. He painted using realism and theatrical styles of lighting. He was a painter during the Baroque Era.

5 World Events During Lifetime:
First Theatre in England was built
William of orange was assassinated
English Attempted to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, but the colonists disappeared
Henry IV converted to Catholicism to secure the throne

3 Most Famous Works:
The Cardsharps
The Calling of St. Matthew
The Supper at Emmaus

The Cardsharps
  In this painting, a young boy is playing cards with two cardsharps. While the boy is studying his cards, the other two are looking over his shoulder and signaling to each other. The young boy is being duped.

The Calling of St. Matthew
   In this painting, a group of men are sitting around a table. Christ has entered the room along with a bright light. Christ is pointing at one of the men as is to say "follow me" and the man is pointing at himself as if to clarify if Christ means him.

Art{walk}

                  This print brought back some memories of me as a young child. I lived in Columbia, Missouri at the time. There were many really pretty trails and parks around the area. Beautiful flowers filled the gardens. That is what this print reminded me of.

                  At the time, my parents were training for another marathon. They were avid runners and had run a couple other marathons before. A few times a week they would go out to one of the many trails and train. My brother and I went too, although we didnt run, we rode our bikes instead. We spent countless hours out on that trail, peddling away for miles and miles. I didn't mind though it had beautiful scenery, and I always found it relaxing, even at such a young age.

Newspaper inspired Writing

                                                                        Just Look

             Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our selves and our own lives that we forget to open our eyes and just look. It's so easy to forget to pay attention to the smallest changes in people around us, and one day the realization that something is up with them will smack us in the face...hard.
            This is what happened with my mom. I don't know how or why she started going down the dark and  lonely path she did. She used to be so bubbly and charming- always the center of attention. She could light up a room. She was a nurse and my dad is a cop, so she knew first hand what the consequences of her actions would be, yet she still continued down that dark road.
           At first, I never noticed a difference. I mean, she was gone more often, but she had said that her hours had picked up at work. It was flu season after all. Looking back on it, she was more irritable and there was just something off about her most of the time. There were a hundred signs that something was wrong, but I had overlooked every one. But, I was a little girl at the time, it was my first year of middle school and everyone knows how rough that is.
            It wasn't until we went on a family vacation that I noticed any changes, and they were major. I dismissed my thoughts though because it was a vacation, and you re supposed to relax. Maybe drinking was her way of letting loose.
            After that vacation, My dad knew something was wrong too. He told my little sister and I that mom had some problems that she needed to take care of, and she couldn't do that with him or us. They were getting divorced. Whatever this issue was, it was serious. My dad loved her with all of his heart, it didn't make sense that he'd give up so easy.
             I didn't see much of my mom after the divorce. She only got supervised visits once a week. She was getting skinnier every time I saw her. She had always been thin, but now it was a scary kind of skinny. Her hygiene was poor too. It upset me to see her like this. But, as the weeks went by, she stopped visiting.
           A couple years have passed since the divorce when my dad calls my sister and I over to talk to him. His expression was emotionless, but his eyes were puffy and red like he had been crying. He used a soft tone when he told us that our mother was dead. It was a drug overdose.
            The saddest part was that she was so unhealthy and unclean that she wasn't recognizable. She was cremated. I didn't even get to see my mother one last time before she was buried. I try and remember her for who she was before the drugs took her from us, but most times I can't. The memories of us as a family before all of this happened are blurry. I can only imagine how my little sister feels, for she has even fewer memories of our mom. The part that hurts the most is the fact that all of this could have been prevented if someone had just taken a second and looked at the smallest changes in my mom at the beginning. Maybe this wouldn't have turned out this way.

Newspaper Blackout

Favorite Quotes

"Imagination, of course, can open any door- turn the key and let terror walk right in." --Truman Capote

"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." --Helen Keller

"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." --Isaac Asimov

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." --Socrates

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." --John W. Gardner

"Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen." --Michael Jordan