Bucket List.....

Ok so today on the bus ride to a museum, (which was two hours away...) Sam and I decided to make a bucket list, and has the help of out fellow classmates we came up with about 120 things. We are still adding to it, and to be honest, I don't think that it will ever be done! Everything is on there, from goals easy and hard to accomplish, things that may not even be possible, and things that we dream of. This list is more than just something that we decide to check off, it is a way to discover ourselves, and grow closer. I think that this is a great way to see how much we expect from not only others, but ourselves. I would love to finish the list by the end of senior year, but some things might have to wait.... like touching every continent. And other things, we may only fantasize of doing.... luring in Sasquatch with beef jerky. None the less, all of these things represent something that we have always wanted to do. Something that brings out out inner child, something that makes us reach deep down to figure out, something that requires time, and patience. When I think of all the amazing things that we will accomplish one day, I feel so proud to say I know who I know. I am so happy that God has blessed me with such a wonderful life, surrounding me with great people who I will cherish in my hearts, forever.

Amazing quote from a book...

"There will be other lives.
There will be other lives for nervous boys with sweaty palms, for bittersweet fumblings in the backseats of cars, for caps and gowns in royal blue and crimson, for mothers clasping pretty pearl necklaces around daughters' unlined necks, for your full name read aloud in an auditorium, for brand-new suitcases transporting you to strange new people in strange new lands.
And there will be other lives for unpaid debts, for one-night stands, for Prague and Paris, for painful shoes with pointy toes, for indecision and revisions.
And there will be other lives for fathers walking daughters down aisles.
And there will be other lives for sweet babies with skin like milk.
And there will be other lives for a man you don't recognize, for a face in a mirror that is no longer yours, for the funerals of intimates, for shrinking, for teeth that fall out, for hair on your chin, for forgetting everything. Everything.
Oh, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human's life is a beautiful mess."
— Gabrielle Zevin (Elsewhere)

Book Review-Elsewhere

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Think, just for one moment. Think of the second after you die. Not the second before, or the second it happens, but what about the second after? What happens? Do you see God’s face? A White light? Emptiness? This book is about one girl’s second after. The second Elizabeth Marie Hall arrived in “Elsewhere”. She woke up on a ship heading somewhere, with no memory of falling asleep on the bottom bunk under another girl her age. She wandered about the ship seeing a large amount of old people, and only a few people even close to her age of 15. Every so often she would see someone with a terrible injury, but walking around like they were in no pain. Towards the end of her trip, she was summoned to the Observation Deck, and watched her funeral through a set of sight seeing binoculars attached to the ship. She finally realized she was dead. This was not fair at all. She didn’t get to get married, have kids, go to college, prom, or even turn 16.
When she arrives in Elsewhere, she meets her grandmother that died right before she was born. Liz stays with her for the rest of her days in Elsewhere. Liz has to pick an avocation. This is like a job, but it is something that you just love doing, and it benefits life in Elsewhere. Liz chooses to work at the place where dogs arrive in Elsewhere. She speaks canine, one of the few people who can do this naturally, and quickly learns to love her avocation. She adopts a dog, meets a guy, falls in love with them both, and lives her days in Elsewhere to the fullest.
Her days in Elsewhere were not all sunshiny and pretty though, she had her moments. She was very depressed when she first arrived. There is something in Elsewhere called the sneaker clause. This allows you after spending one year in Elsewhere to go back to Earth early. Not back to your old life, but just away from Elsewhere. Liz wanted to do this, and got about halfway down the river before she realized this is not what she really wanted. Her good friend Owen came to her rescue in a boat after she was missing for three days. When she arrived back at her grandmother Betty’s house, everyone was so happy. Here is a quote from that part:
"We never know what will happen,” Betty says, “but I believe good things happen even when bad things happen. And I believe on a happy day like today, we can still feel a little sad. And that's life, isn't it?” Betty raises her glass. “To Liz!"
At the end of the book, there is an amazing chapter about life. Here is the last part:
“Oh, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human’s life is a beautiful mess."
This quote means so much about life, and I think that if I tried to sum it up it would last forever. A human’s life is bittersweet. full of good and bad times, and we have to make the best of what we have here.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. It was an amazing read and I think that if anyone loves reading, that they should read this book. It gives you so much more of an outlook on life, and really does make you think so much about everything. It gives new views and ideas that you never would have thought of, and it is a truly amazing experience.



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The Art of Storytelling.

I wrote this story on http://www.artofstorytelling.org/ . I have shown below the picture that I used to inspire my story, and my actual story written. At the bottom I have listed the reasons that my story connects with my SIP Special Interist Project.....

Gisele walked along the wet path in Central Park, feeling the rain hit her black coat and hearing the drops on her umbrella. She was in no rush to get to the theatre, she didn't even want to be there, let alone be the first one there. Her daughter was visiting town and wanted to watch the ballet before leaving to go back to Chicago. Gisele started walking a bit faster when she heard thunder, and arrived sooner then she had hoped. Her daughter was waiting inside in the front lobby with the two tickets in her hands.

"Mom, I thought you would never show up!" her daughter exclaimed. Gisele laughed. Her daughter had definitely inherited her temper.

"Now  Charlotte, I am only fifteen minutes late, will you please stop complaining? You are lucky I even came! You know how much I hate being in this place."

Charlotte stopped her whining. She got the message. She hated hurting her mother like this, but maybe this would be the cure to her depression, watching what she once loved more than anything in the whole world. When Charlotte was a little girl, she would spend all of her days and nights in this place, watching from the back of the auditorium as the beautiful dancers glided across the stage, looking like they were angels. Now she was the one doing the dancing, but in the Chicago Ballet.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Gisele yelled, "You wanted me here so badly, now you are just staring into space! It's starting!"

The mother and daughter duo quickly retreated to the darkness of the Theatre and sat in their seats. The ballet started, Swan Lake, and the dancers came onto the stage, fluid, speaking to the audience with just their movements. They had so much energy and passion, it seemed as though they were about to lift off of the stage and start flying. Gisele felt tears running down her cheek. In every dancer’s face, she saw her own, 20 years ago. She knew the music by heart, how could she forget? She was the one leaping and spinning and moving so naturally and gracefully even though she wasn’t even thinking, and as the song came to an end and she felt the powerful music running through her body, she felt beautiful. As she came to her ending pose and heard the cheers of the audience, she felt so confident and proud, her whole face was glowing, and she was the queen of the world.

She couldn’t take it any longer. She ran out of the theatre just as the cheers erupted. Everything was in slow motion. Flashes of her carrer here in this very place flashed in front of her. Her extensive auditions, the hard training, everything came rushing back.

The night.

The lights from the stage hurting her eyes.

The feeling of her pointe shoes on her feet spinning and jumping through the air.

The finale.

The silence in the theatre.

The jump.

The land.

The fall.

The gasps.

The pain.

The news, she would never dance again.

The depression.

Gisele ran faster and faster until she was out in the rain, her makeup running. She fell to the ground sobbing. Feeling once again the feeling of pure agony that she would never be able to do the one thing in the world she wanted, ever again. She pittied herself. It was the past! She should not be so mad at herself!

Now she saw flashing scenes from after her dancing career.

Meeting her husband.

Having a baby.

Watching her grow up.

She felt the warm hands of her daughter wrap around her and she leaned into them, calming down

Seeing how great she became.

“I love you” Charlotte whispered.

“I love you more” Gisele said with a laugh. “I think...we should go back in..”

“No, mom, I don’t want to hurt you any more.”

“No I want to. I shouldn’t have broken down like that. I want to. Really. Besides, you spent a fortune on these tickets, I would hate to see them go to waste.”

Charlotte smiled and escorted her into the theatre.

This time when she looked at the dancers on the stage, she saw her daughter.

Now watching her little girl live her own dream, becoming a greater dancer than she herself ever was. She was every girl that was twirling and leaping and speaking the secret language of dance. It was Charlotte’s turn to be queen of the world.

_________________________________________________________________

Okay, so I know that it wasn't the best story, but I only had about a half hour. My Special Interist Poject was about ballet, so you can most definitly see the similarities. The statement I want to make in this story is that you have to let the past go, and see how amazing your life is now. Things like dancing give so many people power and strength, that they think without it, they cannot go on. This is not true. When something like this gives you strength, you hold on to it, and keep it with you throughout your life.

Tell A Story

The site that I chose to work with along with my special interist project is.......


http://www.artofstorytelling.org/

A Poem About Book Reviews

I look at the blank page, cursor blinking,
and I really start thinking.
This book took long to absorb,
I am so bored.
I keep getting so distracted,
Even now (thinking of what rhymes with distracted).
I glance at the other tab,
Thinking how much time I had,

earlier.

Now I must start,
I feel an aching in my heart.
Summarize my reading in 5 paragraphs?
One can only start to laugh.
Some things in life are hard,
They are things we cannot disregard.
Maybe I should start to type,
but I can only start to gripe.
Now I know,
that I must go,

and start the misery of typing

a book review.

Just Thinking

Have you ever had a moment so embarrassing that when you think about it later, you roll your eyes in spite of yourself? Well I have those moments a lot. I have noticed that so many people, sometimes even myself, dwell on the past, sometimes too much. I know I have had my fare share of moments....
In 6th grade, at one of my first school dances, I thought that I would look cool and dance in front of a bunch of boys, and ended up slipping on spilled soda and falling on my butt, causing them all to laugh. I also have (many times) tried to stretch stories and make it seem like I really know what I am doing... when I have no clue. I also recall that most of my late elementary school years, I had no idea how to talk to someone of the opposite sex. I have fallen in front of people too many times to count, and always bounced back up, keeping a smile on my face.
These moments, although terrible at the time, will eventually blow over, even though they seem like they could last forever. These are the things that make us, well, us. They are something to look back on. If we never made mistakes, how would we make ourselves better people? If I never fell while dancing, I would have never thought to look at the dance floor before taking it over.
These are also all of the funny stories that we tell at parties, and will someday tell our children when they go through something like this.
Absolutely nobody in this world is perfect, and if everyone was, would life really be that great?