Letter to a friend

Bob,
What's up man? I know you're a fictional character and all, but really, how is life treating you? I'm doing alright here. Life has been rather hectic lately. Work, school, family, and are equally stressing me out. What is fun? I can't remember. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a night of fun in months. Last friday, I had a few friends over. We sat around and drank a couple of beers, but that was about the extent of it. Let's not talk about the folding chair that decided to break when I sat down, that made me appear far more intoxicated than I really was. I've been hearing the words "lightweight" and "lush" now for the last five days, and "I'm already SICK OF IT!." Don't mind the Coach Hines reference, thats just the kick my friends and I are on right now. Well man, don't have too much fun in Faketown, USA. Talk to ya later.

Pain

I'm so tired of always feeling pain.
Every aspect of my life brings on more pain.
Pain
Back Pain
Mind Pain
Everything I see with my eyes is pain.
Thoughts of loved ones passed, my memory of them is pain.
They wait in silence for my expiration, and their opportunity to deliver onto me my due pain.

Worst configuration of words, ever.

The man in the dumptruck gently gripped his diet coke

That crazy semi truck driver had almost hit him with his trees

Oh how he’d love to lay his gargantuan body down in his hammock

And dream of the time he jumped over Michael Jordan and pulled “IT” off

The famous, the humiliating, Razzel Dazzel Rose.

Derived from the article "Homes Brace for Heating Oil Highs" found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071107/ts_nm/usa_energy_heatingoil_dc

With her heating tank empty
She will be either eating or heating this winter
Crude oil just shy of $100 a barrel
Opec boosted prices because of geopolitical tensions

The Energy Department wins
Opec wins
The people are losing
The people are cold

Free Writes from 11/5

Here are the free writes from Katey's lesson on 11/5. I had closed Word without saving my Fire Write, so unfortunately I couldn't include it here.


The photo prompt free write:

Steve the squirrel stretched his little arms are far as they would go as he peered upwards through the trees at the glorious rays of sunlight. It was the beginning of another beautiful, chilly spring morning. Steve had many plans for the day, beginning with the gathering of his breakfast. Steve peered at his recipe for nut soup, and decided that he would first need to gather nuts. In fact, he would only need to gather nuts. Steve had tried other things like pine needles and rubarb, but he didn’t care for those much. Oh how wonderful the texture of freshly polished nuts were to his tongue, Steve began to salivate as he imagined himself rolling the nuts around in his mouth. He awoke from his dream-like state at the sight of the tastiest morsel before his eyes. There it was, the perfect nut, lying on the ground not more than 30 feet below. As he leapt to retrieve his prize, Steve’s arch-enemy, Rick the Red Squirrel, sprinted from behind a nearby tree and snatched the nut from its resting place. Rick screeched “eeeeeeeeee!” as he bounded through the forest with his contraband. Steve landed with a thud on the ground where his nut had been. Tears began to swell in his eyes as he was faced with the realization that he would spend another spring morning cold, hungry, and alone.

Prompted free write, "Why do coyotes howl at the moon?"

Why do coyotes howl at the moon, you ask? It’s a legend around these parts, and you children should know it. Your great-grandfather, Herbert the Rabbit, told me this story when I was just a kid. One full moon night, aeons ago, there lived a rabbit by the name of Sampsonite. He was a rambunctious little hare, who never listed to his mother about staying in-den after dark, He was out, hopping over logs in preparation for an up and coming hurdles competition, when he heard a dog bark in the distance. He stopped quickly and fell on his belly to the ground. Listening closely, Sampsonite laid perfectly still for what seemed like an hour, but perhaps a minute or two had passed. He thought to himself that the dog must be one of the Two Leg’s prisoners, and he stood up from his hiding position. Sampsonite turned and glanced up at the hill behind him, and in the moonlight saw hundreds of dark silhouettes creeping eerily in his direction. Without delay, Sampsonite began moving back towards his mother’s den in the quietest fashion. Peering over his shoulder, Sampsonite eyed the black demons as they crept ever closer. In the moonlight, he could see their evil eyes illuminate with dark intensions.

Now smelling the fear of his helpless prey, Luthur the coyote quickened his pace. He was the master of sneakiness, and had never failed at retrieving first place in the pack’s monthly slaughter competition. This little hare was his, he salivated at the mouth as he imagined himself chomping the life out of the pathetic little creature.

Still peering over his shoulder, Sampsonite was well aware of the lone coyote who had strayed far ahead of the pack. It was approaching quickly now, but only the moonlight had given the beast away. Sampsonite felt the urgency of death on his heels, and made a break for it. He ran full speed, and dove into the hole of his mother’s den as the jaws of the hell bread hound clamped at his heels…

Luther the coyote sat outside the den, staring at the hole in disbelief. He had managed to tear a mouthful of fur from the rabbit and nothing more. Had he lost his touch? What could have given him away? He looked about, and soon realized that he could see ever so clearly. In agony and disbelief, he looked to the sky to find the night-sun. This cursed sun had come out at night to spite him. Luther lifted his head high, and in an insanity filled rage, screamed at the night sun until it disappeared at daybreak.

Group 3 Lesson Review

First and foremost I congratulate the members of group 3, you're done! Take a deep breath and relax for a minute to enjoy the overwhelming joy of having the weight of this task off of your shoulders. I think the material presented over the last two class periods was informative and beneficial. I think, as future teachers, we have a responsibility in the classroom to try and eliminate prejudice material and activities. As we all know from experience, children absorb many elements of a lesson, many of which are subliminal. I appreciate your lesson mainly because it served as a reminder of how the media delivers information through multiple channels of communication, and how this information is often one-sided and contains material that encourages a hidden agenda.

10/29 video activity

After reviewing the selected movie clips from various Disney films, I have come to realize that prejudices are portrayed in even the most seemingly innocent channels of media, the cartoon film industry. I was appalled after watching the three clips. Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Aladdin all contained blatantly obvious stereotypes that are known to be taboo in our society. Perhaps it is films such as these that are responsible for the subliminal prejudices that reside within our society today. As a child, I never noticed these prejudices, or rather, I didn't recognize a problem with them. Learning that these ideas are acceptable, children grow up with these ideals buried in their minds.