Senior Literary – Page 25 – Literary Arts Blogspace

My Last Carnival

Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Last Carnival” is something I have been listening to a lot lately. For me, it holds so many different meaning and resonates with so many events happening in my life right now. First of all, I lost a dear friend to a motorcycle accident on April 10th. I haven’t really been ready to talk about it because I was ready to face the “sorry for your loss” again, but at this time I feel like I need to leave a tribute to her. What better way to do that than to listen to a song that reminds me how alive she was.

“We won’t be dancing together on the high wire
Facing the lines with you at my side, oh no.
We won’t be breathing the smoke in the fire
On a midway.
Hanging from the trapeze, my wrists waiting for your wrists.
Two daredevils high upon the water’s edge.
You throwing the knife that lands inches from my head.”

She enjoyed walking on the wild side of things. She was a limit-tester. That friend you could do anything will no matter how crazy of dangerous. Springsteen encompasses above exactly how it felt to be with her and the grief I feel that I won’t get to have those adventures with her anymore. She was fearless, and she made me fearless. She was the most alive person I knew, and I know wherever she is at now, that hasn’t changed. She always walked the line of risk like it was a tightrope. Where is she is, she’s pushing the rules. She’s existing beyond the way all of us exist, and that is exactly how she lived her life. “The last Carnival” reminds me of the last time she and I did something out of the ordinary. We were at a parade in our hometown, and we got bored, so we walked through the parade band and then made our way a few miles up the road. She was determined to walk in the middle of the road and dodge any vehicles that came at her. That was our last carnival.

This song also reminds me of my MSA family. My literaries and I have been through thick and thin together. We have argued, almost fought, laughed together, cried together, got to know each other in the most mentally and emotionally intimate ways. The past two years have been a roller-coaster ride, and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to love all of these fantastic people.

Thank you, Ms. Vickie for being my mom away from home. You were always there to listen when I was having a hard time and ready to give me a laugh when I needed it most.

Thank You, Mr. Benny and Mrs. Suz for always checking up on me and pushing me to be the best I could be.

Thank You, Mrs. Kathy for sitting with me at dinner when I was alone, you have no idea how much that meant to me.

Thank You, Mrs. Sibley for being the best mentor I could ask for, learning my love language, and never letting me give up on myself. There were times when you had more faith in me than I did, and your guidance has helped me grow as a writer and especially as a person. I know I was a handful, and I can never fully express my gratitude for everything you have taught me.

Thank You, Kerri Bland for always being the person that could make me laugh until I couldn’t breathe. You are heading for amazing things, and I am so proud of the person you have evolved into since we first met back at camp. I have lived with you for two years and over that time you have become one the best and most memorable friends I have and will ever meet.

Thank You, Morgan Crosby for being such an amazing listener and supporter. You have never judged me. You have always pushed me to do great things from raising my ACT score, to listening to me read my pieces over and over even before they were done, for feeding me comfort food, for the warm hugs, for listening to me complain all the time, you are a great human being and I love you so much.

Thank You, Victoria Jerde for helping me gain confidence in myself. You were there each time I doubted my abilities or my strength. I am grateful that I got to know you because you were one of the few people who understood everything I was suffering with. You are so beautiful and smart and strong, and never let yourself get down just like you never allowed me too.

Imani Carter/Skipwith, we have been through some stuff together for sure, but I am glad we were able to solidify a bond and friendship this year. You have had my back when it counted most since that summer we roomed together at camp, and you are going to do such amazing things with your words. I am proud and excited to see where you go.

Micheal “MJ” Coleman, man am I going to miss you. You are such a shining star. I am going to miss hearing you sing, hearing you laugh, and watching you dance. I’ll miss our talks. Remember last year when I sat by you in the lab and we would always cut up? You really became my brother over these years, and I love you so much.

Kia Nations, we weren’t really that close, but I’ll miss your ability to stand up for yourself no matter what. Your writing has grown so much, and I can’t wait to see where you wind up. You have such a bright future, never let anyone try to get you down because you are a force to be reckoned with.

Finally, Chloe Russell, my best friend, my future Millsaps roommate, I won’t even try to explain how much you mean to me. You came into my life at the perfect time. You made me stronger. You made me a better writer, gave me a better outlook on life, and help me become a better person. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t of took me out for that drive back in the beginning of last year and gave me a new friend when I had no one. You keep me going, and wherever you wind up, I’ll be right beside you cheering you on.

To my juniors, and to their juniors, and so on: Seize every moment, bask in it, love where you’re at and love where you are going because if you are apart of this family, you are destined for great things. This is my last carnival, but I know that you all will only make the carnival bigger, greater, and incomparable. Love you all.

“Moon rise, moon rise, the light that was in your eyes is gone away.
Daybreak, daybreak, the thing in you that made me ache has gone to stay
We’ll be riding the train without you tonight
The train that keeps on moving
It’s black smoke scorching the evening sky.
A million stars shining above us like every soul living and dead
Has been gathered together by God to sing a hymn
Over the old bones.

Sundown, sundown.
They empty out the fairgrounds.
Where are you now my handsome Billy?”

It kills me that I have to say good-bye to you all like this, but at least it’ll be in a place for me to always look back and remember. Thank you so much MSA, for changing my life, for helping me become great.

Game of Thrones

Quarantine has forced me to try many new things, including reading books that I thought were overrated, along with movies I never watched because I thought they were overrated, and finally, watching shows I never watched because- I bet you can guess why- I thought that they were overrated.

Which show have I avoided for many years because I thought it would be so horrible? Game of Thrones. At one point in time, everyone was talking about this show- and I mean everyone. I was the one percent of the population who had never seen a single episode.

I began the Game of Thrones journey by watching a completely different show, this one is called Disenchantment. I recommend disenchantment to anyone willing to try it; it’s super underrated. It’s an adult cartoon and it’s hilarious. It really makes fun of Game of Thrones and the middle ages time period in general.

I was watching that show one day and I thought to myself, “why not at least give it a shot.” so, I switched over to Amazon Prime Video and went to watching it.

This show is so unbelievable gruesome. Within the first thirty minutes I had watched two men ripped to pieces, and another beheaded for treason. I thought to myself, “What is wrong with our generation?” as I continued watching with no regrets.

There is a ridiculous amount of characters- it’s really hard to keep up at first but you get the hang of it. By the way, it’s very much so rated R so watch out, youngin’s. I want to read the books one day but apparently there are even more characters in the book so I have no earthly idea how I would even begin to follow that. Then again, so many people die it might not be that hard.

George RR Martin, the author, truly spares no one. He has chewed my heart up, swallowed it, and threw it up in the gutter too many times to count. At the end of every season, someone you loved dies. No one is safe. I’m so serious, you think everything is grand then BOOM death.

Aside from that, there are some awesome female characters in the show. One being The Mother Of Dragons, who starts off being sold to a man as a wife and now has an army of ten thousand men she freed from slavery and three dragons and she cannot be burned. Fire does not hurt her. She’s awesome. There’s also a little girl called Arya Stark who I love with all of my heart and soul because she is a little warrior. She has been through so much and she is so strong and if she dies I swear I will go to Martin personally and ask him to please reconsider. I cannot handle that.

All in all, I was being stupid for not watching it. I was just scared of being basic, but I’ve come to the conclusion that good cinematography and story writing should always be appreciated, no matter how many people already like it, or how many don’t.

The Sookie Stackhouse Series

I have read five of the books in the series so far, there are thirteen. There is a TV series called True Blood that is based off of these books, but the books are very different. The author, Charlaine Harris, is actually from Mississippi and I wish I had heard about her before. I suppose she’s not as looked at as widely because she is a science fiction writer, however she’s an amazing story teller.

The books are about a twenty five year old woman who is a waitress who lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana ( a fictional town ) with her grandmother, and she can’t hold down a date because she’s a mind reader. I suppose that being a telepath can really hinder dating; I wouldn’t want to always hear what a man is thinking about me.

In the book, vampires are known by people and they actually exist. One night, a handsome guy comes into the bar and she immediately knows something is different about him because she can’t hear his thoughts.

As it turns out, because vampires are dead their brainwaves don’t work the same way. Sookie immediately finds peace within him and so begins the long story of Sookie being drawn into this dark and dangerous world.

She works for these creatures often to help them find out information from humans that they need to know. She discovers that they aren’t the only creatures that exist and ends up having so many different love interest that I almost can’t keep up. I don’t really know how to explain all of it cause it’s so much information..

I think the way it’s written is really entertaining and I’ve been listening to it on audible so that’s fun. I’m sorry I’m not writing this amazingly right now, this quarantine has really drained me, but I’m trying my best. That’s why I’ve read so many of these books because it gives me something to focus on and breeds creativity for me.

I hope all of you are reading as much as you can and soaking in all different types of stories. Thank you for reading.

Run Run

My review this month will be on a song entitled “Run Run” by Jill Scott. I chose this song because it reminds me of my mother, and most mothers in times like these. Since we have been out of school, my mother has continued to work and thrive in working two jobs. The song lyrics are as follows:

Baby, mama be back in a minute
Gotta hustle and handle my business
I’ll be right back when I’m done

I gotta run run run run, baby
Gotta put food on the table
Mama’s workin’ and know mama’s able

I’ve gotta run run run run
I’m Superwoman
Flying through the city
There’s only one way to make baby go and get it
Overworked, underpaid
Lord knows I need a raise
But when I walk by the guys say
“Baby, do you wanna go for a ride?
We can cruise on down 405
‘Cause it look like you could be the one”

I gotta run run run run, baby
Gotta put food on the table
Mama’s workin’ and know mama’s able
I’ll be right back when I’m done
I gotta run run run run

Me, oh my
Me, myself and I and my baby
I tell no lie
I try for my baby
Every night, I pray for my baby

Oh
I swim the deepest sea
I climb the highest mountain for you, baby
Oh
Anything, oh

Mama’s gonna be there when you’re
Mama’s gonna be there when you’re down
I love you, baby
So now
I’ve gotta run run run run run run run run run run run run baby

The song is fast-paced, which gives me the idea that mothers make things happen, FAST. You know? Whenever I need a little boost of motivation on work, I listen to it so that it reminds me that my mother has this mentality. In this way, I aspire to be just like her. A boss, in all forms of the word. Hats off to those mothers doing the same thing. I know juggling home life and the online school cannot be easy, especially when it was so easy to separate the two. We will all be strong and conquer.

The Difference between a Writer and an Author

While this essay isn’t really a review of literary works, I think it still goes well with the theme of literature. It began as a rant I once had to myself, but I turned it into a slightly more formal essay for Mrs. Lambert’s class. If you’d like, you can think of this as a bit more of a peek into my brain, at least when it comes down to what I identify as in terms of writing. And in case you’re wondering, I identify as a writer.

Approximately 81 percent of Americans want to write at least one book. Does that qualify someone to be an author? To answer the question, those that wish to write a book are more than likely going to be a writer, not an author because they are less likely to dedicate their career to the craft. That sparks another question: what sets an author apart from a writer? The literal definition of a writer is “a person who has written a particular text,” and the definition of an author is “a writer of a book, article, or report.” While the words seem to be defined differently, they are too similar. As a solution, the definitions of “writer” and “author” should be further altered to avoid confusion.

A form of leisure, writing is often used as a way to deviate from the everyday. Many writers practice their craft to share it with those close to them. Some publish their stories in smaller works like literary journals and magazines, but not all writers strive to become famous for their work. Unlike authors, writers are not pressured to create something new; rather, they have the choice to continue a book or not. Therefore, a more accurate definition of a writer would be any person with a desire to write.

Authors are almost the opposite of writers in terms of their qualities. If a new definition of author was created, it should be worded something like “a person who writes not only for pleasure, but also for a living.” What begins as a passion for writing turns into a way of life for authors. Writing is more than a hobby; it is a career. When one takes into account how much work (deadlines, editing, revisions, etc.) an author has to devote to one story, it is clear that there is a divide between the two types of artists.

As briefly mentioned, the two are quite different when dissected, however, they do share some similarities. A thin line divides authors and writers, making them seem to be opposites. They have similar origins: finding pleasure or satisfaction in writing something into existence. Although, writers and authors take separate paths and end in different destinations, so to speak. For example, writers, often, do not have to devote their time to writing. If they wish, a writer can begin a story one day, then finish it some time afterwards. Authors, however, must create a story and produce a manuscript within a timeframe set by their editor. In the end, authors are more pressured to write for their earnings while writers do not experience the same.

Due to their similarities, the terms “author” and “writer” are misused. A writer creates stories for leisure and might publish their work(s) to let others experience it. Alternatively, authors write for work before writing for pleasure. As one can tell, the divide between the two is slim but divided, nonetheless. As for how one can determine if they are a writer or author, consider how much time and effort one puts into a story or book idea.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

I haven’t read much throughout the past month, but I am about half way through The Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner. The book is an interesting read and I would overall recommend it to anyone who likes coming of age stories. This is the book for you in that case.

The book is based off of the authors diary entries when she was a teenager. It’s even formatted like a diary in which it has doodles and dates above each entry. Sometimes it feels like you’re literally reading someones diary.

The main characters name is Minnie and she is a very wise yet naive girl. She likes having fun and being a little rebellious at times. She lives with her mother and younger sister in San Francisco. The story is set in the 70s which is also interesting. The story’s plot is based on Minnie’s life experiences at this time in her life.

I love the language of the book. The writing style is like no other that I’ve ever read before. The character development is also very interesting and relatable as a whole.

So far, I’m absolutely in love with the book. It has comic strips at times as well and sketches embedded within it which keeps things interesting and helps the reader visualize what is going on. I would recommend it to anyone in need of a good read at this time.

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Written by Eiko Kadono and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of the most iconic Studio Ghibli films. The animation and art is very beautiful, along with the cute scenery of Kiki’s first home and the home she moved into. Based off of Kadono’s novel – Witch’s Delivery Service – the movie is about a thirteen year old witch named Kiki who has finally come to the age when witches move out of their homes and find a town of their own to train for a year, building onto their powers. Kiki and her companion cat, Jiji, find a town in which Kiki begins a delivery service after running a small errand for the owner of a bakery. Because of the service, she ends up running an errand for a sweet old lady, but when delivering the parcel to the lady’s grandchild, the ungratefulness of the child led Kiki to fall into a rut that takes away her magic.

Despite the simplicity of the movie and it’s cute antics, this coming-of-age film illustrates the feeling of being burnt out and how difficult it can be to overcome it. Kiki’s magic can symbolize any situation, talent, or such. In the beginning of Kiki’s business, she made a mistake and dropped a gift. While looking for that gift, she met a girl out in the woods working on her art who later on helps Kiki rejuvenate and find herself. The message within this small snippet of the movie is the struggles one faces when starting a new art/skill. Despite the hardships, however, you often meet the greatest friends during that journey who are also working to improve themselves and their gift. These relationships can last for a long time and in your time of artistic need, these people are some of the ones you should seek advice from – or even spend time with.

Another underlying message within was when she delivered the pie the old lady made to her granddaughter and the child’s response. The child’s ungratefulness despite Kiki’s effort to bring it to her in time – despite previous plans made – and the hard work of her grandmother wasted, Kiki became depressed and lost her magic powers. She couldn’t even communicate with Jiji anymore. What’s happening to Kiki is she’s feeling burnt out. As an artist or a human in general, there will come a time where it feels as though no matter how much effort you put into something it will always go unappreciated. This leads to becoming uninspired, burnt out, and pessimistic, especially when working too hard. In order to overcome this, Kiki went with her friend that she met in the woods – hence making good friends when going through your journey. There, she takes a break and is able to regain her powers once finding her determination again to save her friend in her new town.

Kiki teaches us the importance of breaks and self discovery when developing a new skill or art. It’s such a fun, emotional journey that I recommend everyone go on. In those 103 minutes, Kiki becomes such a beautiful soul and grows to become a mature witch. It’s such a encouraging little story.

Animal Crossing, The Only Thing Keeping Me Sane in These Trying Times

I’m sure you’re all wondering… Kerri, what has become of you during this quarantine?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I am a simple woman. I don’t require many things to live a moderately happy life. I wake up and immediately play Animal Crossing. I play Animal Crossing before I fall asleep at four in the morning. Anytime I’m not playing Animal Crossing, I’m getting obsessed with a different musical. We all know how disastrous that is. I’m wiling to bet at least half of the senior class has heard me recite entire musicals on cleaning night, or has witnessed me break into a room to show someone whichever character I have deemed my favorite. Rest assured, as soon as we’re back, I’m going to resume this.

This game is an absolute 10/10.

I can do literally anything in this game. I can make friends, I can talk to said friends. I can trap them inside their home by digging holes all around their house. Not that I do that– I actually really enjoy all my villagers. My New Horizons villagers, New Leaf is another story.

In my award winning essay entitled “My Non-Qualifications,” I list out the reasons I would be a horrible mayor, using only examples of the things I have done in Animal Crossing. After playing the newest game, however, I have found that most of the issues I had, I don’t have anymore.

Am I still financially incompetent? Absolutely. I’m making mild efforts to not be financially incompetent. I have yet to pay my in-game home loan, but now I have to know that Tom Nook is staring into my soul from across the room when I do contribute the absolute minimum to the house which I have forced him to build.

There is no need to time travel in New Horizons. There’s just enough you can accomplish on a daily basis without messing with the flow of time. There was once a time I was disturbed by my inability to time travel in the human realm. Animal Crossing; New Horizons has taught me that I don’t have to time travel. I can be okay with the normal flow of time if I put my mind to the important things, Like hitting rocks and mailing ominous letters.

I want to also mention that I absolutely love the graphics. Its very simplistic, and I love the cartoonish look. The one thing that absolutely confuses me, is why the fish are the most detailed things in the entire game. half of them look incredibly realistic. It throws me off.

I do recommend giving any of the Animal Crossing games a try! Especially while we’re all stuck at home. Animal Crossing is a synthetic outside world, and I am the Sophie of some odd production of Mamma Mia (2008) who runs around singing ABBA songs.

How Boys Feel About #MeToo

This was an English Composition assignment. I decided to critique an article on how boys are affected by the femimist movement against assault. Because I feel the matter is interesting, and should be further contemplated, I wanted to share my critique on a larger board.

The article “The #MeToo Balancing Act in High School” by The New York Times journalist Andrew Reiner is discussing how the #MeToo movement is affecting young men in society. The movement is centered around young women speaking up about their experience with sexual assault and how it should be avoided, but in this article, Reiner reaches out to high school boys to see how they feel about the movement. I must admit, it was insightful despite its slightly mediocre format and language.

Reiner opens the article by explaining a guy named Chris’s experience with the movement. Chris talks about an event his all-boys high school co-hosted with an all-girls high school where the girls talked about the #MeToo movement and made a lot of the guys feel attacked. Chris made it clear that he does not stand for sexual assault, but the girls made the guys feel that their natural, and societal-taught instinct (such as making the first move when he has romantic feelings) is wrong.

The boys would later challenge the double standard of girls being able to hit guys, but guys cannot hit them back. Then girls shut them down and said they shouldn’t have to answer such questions. While even I have witnessed women growing tired of this always being the first come back, I find it to be a fair enough question. If they cannot hit us, then we cannot hit them. If they cannot sexualize us, then we cannot sexualize them. A double standard has developed; I cannot deny that.
Speaking to the younger generation of men was a good idea and seemed like great sources to get the information the article was searching for. He even reached out to some college women who are close friends with guys who must be too cautious to ensure they never accidentally touch a woman and offend them. These women helped even out the bias issue that I was noticing in the article before.
This is a very serious subject matter because it seems that as the feminist and #MeToo movements have grown and women’s voices have gotten louder, men and young boys don’t really have a voice to explain themselves. They are constantly being labeled negatively for accidents, or they have become too afraid to even call a girl pretty in fear of offending them. It is clear that Andrew Reiner wants his readers to look at this matter seriously and consider how it is affecting the opposing gender, but I feel like it is important for women to thing about as we move forward in the feminist movement. We want to be equal, right? As of now, I feel we have overpowered in many ways and things do need to eventually even out.

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl is in my top five favorite books of all time . Before I even begin, I would like to say that this read is painful. These pages are riddled with sadness and distress, confusion and recklessness, and an overall naivety so easily mistaken as maturity. Minnie Getz is a complex human being whose curiosities and experiences are reflected somewhere within the eyes of every young girl, and every grown woman who have grown from it. Though her experiences are strange and straining to read, I feel her in my own heart so greatly that I was unable to put the book down for even a moment.

The writer of the novel’s name is Phoebe Glockener. The novel is composed of her actual diary and memories and interpretations she wrote along with them as an adult. I think she changes her own name in the book and the names of the characters for safety purposes, though she remains quite silent about her reasoning. It’s actually halfway a graphic novel; Minnie is an aspiring cartoonist who enjoys drawing disturbing images in her diary that depict situations she is going through, either literal or metaphorical.

Minnie’s diary comes to life when she is fifteen years old. She explains that she has to write it all down because her life has “become very interesting as of late.” This roller coaster of a read begins by revealing that Minnie has lost her virginity to her mother’s boyfriend. What a way to begin a novel, right? Monroe is the name of this thirty five year old man. Minnie finds herself falling into a twisting world of secrets while surrounded by her alcoholic and drug ridden mother, a best friend with no depth or personality other than her beauty, a jealous stepfather who holds himself to be a better man than any other (though towards the end of the book it is revealed he has slept with Minnie’s cousin who is her age, making him no better of a man than Monroe), and rich kids she is surrounded by at a private school in San Francisco that Pascal (her step father) insists she and her sister attend.

Set in the seventies, the book follows memories recorded by Minnie’s own hand of addiction, adventure, perverseness, and the depths the mind a fifteen year old girl can travel to. This book is dedicated to “All the girls when they have grown.” And I recommend them to bury their hearts into the secret life of Minnie Getz.