9/18/2018 0 Comments Composing a Past Scene: Part TwoThis week in class we were asked to revise last weeks blog. In last weeks blog I spoke about where my mind was when I got kicked out of my home with my mother. I added more description more details. I also added more of a background to better explain the situation.
It’s a cool summer night in July 2018 around 12:00 a.m. I have just gotten out of my job at Davio’s where I just finished working as a busser. I am exhausted and sweaty. I get a text from my friend to come over and hang out. I think I’m always working and haven’t seen this friend in a while so I deserve to hang out for a few hours before I go home. I agree to go over and order my uber to her house. The ride is long and I’m starting to think if it would have just been better to go home but you know what I’m almost there so there’s no point of me turning back. I arrive to his small brick house with the green roof and check the time, it’s 12:30 a.m. He walks me to his dark room in the basement. He asks me what I would like to do and I say “let’s watch a movie”. He and I decide to watch Taken 3. He and I are talking about our old job and how they are in need of hostess since I left. My mom calls me and I don’t answer because I know she will nag me about coming come and I don’t feel like hearing it. I text her and tell her I’m with a friend and I will be home soon.I received a text saying “you enjoy your friends more than your family, then don’t bother coming home”. I read it and am shocked. I am very confused as to how it escalated so quickly and as to why she was so upset. I don’t really have much to say so I just say “ok”. I have this blank look in my face because I have no clue how to feel. My friend asks me what’s wrong and I say “I just got kicked out”. He asks “why?” and I stay quiet because I honestly I don’t know. I continue to have a blank face because I have so many thoughts running through my mind. I try to make sense of the whole situation and then I wonder how it got to this point. Was it me hanging out with my friends after soccer for too long or was it me spending too much time with my new friend. I have grown feelings for her and I have kept her and myself away from my mother for fear of not being accepted. Is this a better option for my life to finally be with her without having the fear of my mother finding out. Jean says I can spend the night at his house if I need it and I accept. 9/18/2018 3 Comments Composing a Past SceneIn class today we were assigned to ready “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson and write a scene that rewrites the action. We were also told to write out a past scene from our lives in first person. I wrote about a time where I made a wrong decision that changed my life in ways I didn’t know yet.
It’s a cool summer night in July 2018 around 12:00 a.m. I have just gotten out of my job at Davio’s where I just finished working as a busser. I am exhausted and sweaty. I get a text from my friend to come over and hang out. I think I’m always working and haven’t seen this friend in a while so I deserve to hang out for a few hours before I go home. I agree to go over and order my uber to her house. The ride is long and I’m starting to think if it would have just been better to go home but you know what I’m almost there so there’s no point of me turning back. I arrive to her house and its 12:30 a.m. and she and I decide to watch Taken 3. My mom calls me and I don’t answer because I know she will nag me about coming come and I don’t feel like hearing it. I text her and tell her I’m with a friend and I will be home soon.I received a text saying “you enjoy your friends more than your family, then don’t bother coming home”. I read it and am shocked. I am very confused as to how it escalated so quickly and as to why she was so upset. I don’t really have much to say so I just say “ok”. I have this blank look in my face because I have no clue how to feel. My friend asks me what’s wrong and I say “I just got kicked out”. She asks “why?” and I stay quiet because I honestly I don’t know. She says I can spend the night there if I need it and I accept. 9/11/2018 2 Comments Composing a Present SceneThis post will talk about my current state of mind and how there are times I get in my own head. I enjoy being outside on a beautiful day as any other person would I guess. A scene from my life I would like to talk about would be one I hold dear to my heart and it’s when I have a safe haven and feel at peace. A place where I left but came back to. It’s night time, maybe around 10:00 pm. I just got out of work which is at a Spanish Tapas place called Amada. A friend asks me to meet them at a soccer field and I decided to go because this person is important to me. Before I leave I get some food because I’m hungry and have not eaten all day. I finish eating my flatbread and go meet her at a the field. I call her because when I get there all the lights are off and I hear no one. I keep walking and then I find her kicking the ball around. We start just passing the ball around just to play and then we sit and just talk. I have a lot of issues going on at home and she is the person who I most trust to tell me the honest truth. As we are sitting I look over into the city and we can see such amazing lights and we just stare. The weather is so nice out that we just sit down and appreciate the city at night. As we continue to talk she tells me what my faults are and what I could do better and of course I do not agree with all of what she says but I try to listen and see where her point is. We talk more and since I have not seen her in awhile I hug her and tell her I missed her because she is one person who understands me and even if she does not she tries to see where my head is at. My feelings are not stupid and I can be honest about the things that are bothering me because nothing is off limits and nothing is a secret. She makes me realize that I am always thinking about others and that I don’t really think about what I want for my life. For once in my life I stop and think what is it that I want for me and I can not for the love of me come up with anything. When I talk to her I lose track of time and I look up it is almost 1:30am. Where did the time go? We get up and she offers to take me home and I say “No”. She has just dropped a bomb on me and although I am not necessarily mad at her I am upset that it happened. I tell her I need space to walk and she argues with me it is late and I just say no. She finally leaves me to walk around on my own and leaves. I put my beats on and walk on the bridge and look into the city. My music transports me to a place where the lyrics say the things your mind is thinking but does not know how to say. To me my music gets me through a lot because I zone everything out and it helps me think. I come across the bus and take it all the way home while listening to my music because the bus takes longer I know it will give me time to keep thinking before I get home. I get home I message her goodnight and we go to sleep and I am at peace. 9/7/2018 1 Comment Writing Process RoundtableIt’s a beautiful fall day in the park down the street from my home. I decided to take me niece and nephew out to play after school. When at the park they both acquaint themselves with three other children around their age. As I’m sitting on the bench I meet the parents of said kids and they just so happen to be Don Murray, Mary Karr, Anne Lamott. As we spoke we started talking about what we thought a writer’s process should look like and be about.
There is an ancient saying that “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” [1] “A student who clearly understands his purpose is not likely to be trapped by an accidental sequence of ideas, for he will recognize when he is going astray. A good deal of writing is censorship—keeping irrelevant thoughts out of the paper”.[2] “In one of his (many) versions of “A Writer’s Canon” he advises, “Don’t look back. Yes, the draft needs fixing. But first it needs writing”.[3] “(1) Writing is painful—it’s “fun” only for novices, the very young, and hacks; (2) other than a few instances of luck, good work only comes through revision; (3) the best revisers often have reading habits that stretch back before the current age, which lends them a sense of history and raises their standards for quality”. [4] “Revision is the secret to their troubles—and yours. That, and a sense of quality that exceeds what you can do—that gives you something to strive for”. [5] “But I still feel awe for us—yes, for the masters who wrought lasting beauty from their hard lives, but for the rest of us, too, for the great courage all of us show in trying to wring some truth from the god awful mess of a single life.”[6] “One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places and explore. Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around”.[7] “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft—you just get it down. The second draft is the updraft—you fix it up”.[8] “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life… Besides, perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force”.[9] “Readers should write about what they know and what they have experienced because you can tell when something comes from your heart and mind.” [Karina] “To consider yourself a true writer you first need to have an idea or a thought on which to elaborate on.”[Karina] To be a great writer one must not be afraid to delve in deeper to one's most inner thoughts and emotions”. [Karina] 9/6/2018 2 Comments The Proust QuestionnaireIntroduction
Below is my proust questionnaire questions and my answers to them. Some of them were harder and more personal to answer. Although my answers are short they are straight to the point. Some of these questions were new to me because I have not ever asked myself questions such as, what is my idea of perfect happiness. This was an opportunity to start thinking more of who I am as a person. _1._What is your idea of perfect happiness? Doing what I love and helping others to make a difference, to leave this world better than how I found it. _2._What is your greatest fear? Losing my mother __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I’m stubborn __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? People who cannot move on __5.__Which living person do you most admire? Michelle Obama __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? Having a computer __7.__What is your current state of mind? Trying to find myself __8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue? That woman can’t do the same as men __9.__On what occasion do you lie? To spare others emotions __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? Skin color __11.__Which living person do you most despise? My father __12.__What is the quality you most like in a man? Caring and genuine __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? Strength __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Hoe __15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life? My niece and my nephew __16.__When and where were you happiest? Seeing my niece and nephew grow up __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? To be a great instrument player __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My family dynamic __19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? Graduation __20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A dolphin __21.__Where would you most like to live? France __22.__What is your most treasured possession? My ring __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Depression and anxiety __24.__What is your favorite occupation? Medic __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? Singing __26.__What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty and trustworthiness __27.__Who are your favorite writers? Toni Morrison __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? The Flash __29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with? St. Maria Goretti __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? My mom and older sister __31.__What are your favorite names? Matthew, Nicole, Xavier, Sharlyne, Eva, Avery __32.__What is it that you most dislike? People who lie to my face and hypocrites __33.__What is your greatest regret? Not thinking of what I want in life but what others want __34.__How would you like to die? Having achieved everything that I want and in my sleep __35.__What is your motto? Believe in something even if it means giving up everything https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2000/01/proust-questionnaire/amp |
Karina Juarez
I plan to use this Blog as a way of expressing myself through the deeper literature I will be learning in my English Composition II class. I will try to get as personal as possible and allow readers to know a little more about how I think as a person through my assignments. ArchivesCategories |