My poem

Looking up a poem that represents me is quite difficult, but when you find the right poem, you know. I was looking around my room the other night to see what represents me. I looked for awhile and then decided to start reading, hoping it would get me thinking creatively, so I could find out what represented me. That is when I realized that books, far away places, lost kingdoms, hidden relics, and ancient civilizations represented me. I didn't know hoe to search the web for a poem like that so I searched until I found one. That poem is "and yet the books" by Czesław Miłosz. I first read it and I didn't like it at first, but as I continued to read it I liked it more and more.

And Yet the Books 

And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings,

That appeared once, still wet

As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn,

And, touched, coddled, began to live

In spite of fires on the horizon, castles blown up,

Tribes on the march, planets in motion.

“We are,” they said, even as their pages

Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame

Licked away their letters. So much more durable

Than we are, whose frail warmth

Cools down with memory, disperses, perishes.

I imagine the earth when I am no more:

Nothing happens, no loss, it's still a strange pageant,

Women's dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley.

Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born,

Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.

Czeslaw Milosz 

Graduation Speech

      Hello, now I don't know about you, but I am a little nervous, yeah, who could be nervous speaking in front of a crowd of people. That is not the only reason I am nervous, I am graduating, moving on with my life, I won't see many of my classmates for a while and that, that makes me a little nervous, sitting in these seats is very nerve-racking, it seems like yesterday we were all in Mrs. Valerie's class learning: 'when in doubt right click', or in Mrs. Raker’s class learning about the zombie geese. For many students the one piece of advice they do remember from freshman year is 'when in doubt right click'. What exactly happens when one 'right clicks'? Well a drop down menu appears with options to choose from such as copy, paste, bookmark, back, etc. all of these options are useful in some way, whether it is to get a picture or to help get unstuck. We have been through a lot as a class, teachers have been leaving left and right, (I think they might not like us that much) and some of our fellow students that we spent the years growing up with left for other schools. After today we are going to be symbolic adults going into what is called the “real world”, this can be difficult for some students, but if we can become the leaders of our school I know that we can make it. We just need to remember that enough is enough and a pinch can sometimes turn into a jungle, we are not always right we are wrong, and we have to know when to admit it. We need to look on the bright side, don’t go to the dark side the lied about the cookies. Seniors we need to know how to right click, to save that moment in our mind, and how to right click to understand what we did wrong, we need to right click.

The sloth in Harlem

The poem the sloth I thought was a great poem. I liked its rhyming scheme, and its structure, although I do not understand all of the poems figurative meanings, this poem is an awesome poem. As I read this poem images of sloths in there natural habitat came to mind, and then I thought of the sin sloth. This poem made me think about it. I was stuck rereading and rereading it to try to figure it out. I don't know this poem is one of my favorite poems that we have read this year. Other poems have either confused me or I just wanted them to be over. Although Harlem was a pretty good poem, with an awe inspiring figurative meaning showing what life was like in the early twentieth century when discrimination was still a big deal. These are the two poems that I really like Harlem, and the sloth, they both seem to be something, and everytime you read the poem it has a different mean, which gives each of the poems more power. This year the poems have not been as bad as before, but still the sloth and Harlem are the two poems that I really liked.

New Year Buzz

The new year brings new changes... Now that is one cliche that I hear all of the time. I do not look forward to this new year because it does bring too many new changes. I will be leaving high school soon, then I need a job, college is also coming up, and then there are scholarships. I just hope that this new year also has some changes that do not stress me out. Possibly straight A's or passing some AP exams, yeah that would be nice. Getting a job will not be too bad, but it will consume time that could be spent doing other activities for school, or leisure. College will be fun, I already got accepted so I know where I am going, I just need to fork over the cash. That is what is stressing me out the most though, the cash. I will probably be getting a job in the next quarter, so that will help get me prepared for college. I also hope that some of the scholarships I apply/applied for work out. This semester is going to be insane, but I believe that there is a way to get through it, and that is organization. I usually just want everything done at once with out doing the work, but then I end up feeling guilty and do the assignment anyways. Organization of my time and my school stuff will help me get through this new year, and hopefully onto the next.  I also need to read and write more. Let's just stick with finding a job for right now.

Finals...

Finals are coming up and I am only freaking out about a few of them. As of right now I only have one grade that is not an A that is AP US Government. I reallyike this class because of the rigor involved, and by not getting an A and still learning more than I really ever have in a history class is ok. The only downside right now is that I have a C it is a 79.71, but the good news is that I did some extra credit and I completed a test that I missed. This should boost my grade up. Sometimes I get made at teachers for not putting in my grades, because the. I don't know if I should worry about them or not. Also side note for teachers: if you give an assignment at the beginning of the semester and you still haven't graded it, just grade it already, or better yet give everyone an A for your long term grading. Especially if you have graded everything else except that. Ok now back to the subject of finals. I hate it when you are on the cusp of A-B and you just have to hope you don't get a bad grade on the final. It's those classes that make finals fun... Then you have those classes that you could get a 50% and still have an A, those classes are the best classes. Finals are just a hill of a sorrows that take a while to get over, but once you're over them it is freedom!

The Armory, and a Few Other Messes Part 12

4.    The Armory, and a Few Other Messes

The armory looked just as I had imagined. It was a largish brown building with a hut styled roof. Armor and weaponry were strung across the front of the armory, as well as the inside. As Garnids, Nora, and I walked up towards a building which looked like it was equipped with many weaponry, a strange feeling that told me that we should have left by now. It just felt like the Knotr were just stalling the inevitable. The grass of the Knotrs floating planet was a bluish color. It was strange to see this new type of style, but then I thought to myself “You are in another world, what do you expect?”

While we were walking though, I did notice a peculiar staff that was wrapped with writings that looked like it was from some ancient language. It also had a stone at the top of it. The stone was undistinguishable because of the fact that it was changing colors, from yellow to green, then to blue, red, white, and orange. I walked up to the staff and as I started to pick it up, it flashed into a sword, then a dagger, then a bow, and finally back to the staff.

“Whoa! What is this?” I said.

“Why that is the staff of changing, but we just call it Florence,” Garnids interjected.

“Why is it named Florence?”

 “Because 200 years ago during the last war my ancestors had sacrificed a Knotr named Florence to create a weapon that would help set us free from the Unkind, that weapon is this.”

      Looking at the staff I knew that is was the one for me, it felt right in my hand as if it called to me wanting to aid in my adventure. After staring at the changing weapon I said, “Umm if you don’t mind I think I will just use Florence from now on.”

Garnids looked at me with disbelief and said, “Well that is a very powerful KNOTR weapon and I do not think that you should be using it.”

“I agree with Garnids on this one Jeremy, I just believe that since you only have a little combat experience you should get used to a regular staff first before trying to master great weapons, especially ones that are of great importance to this Knotr tribe.” Nora said.

“Ok I guess you’re right, now where do we get some armor, this is an armory after all isn’t it?” I muttered.

Garnids took Nora and I through the armory and showed us all different types of leather, chainmail, lizardscale, and other bizarre armor types. While we were walking Nora decide to go with wingscale (don’t ask me that is just what they are called) armor. I had decided to mix and match different items, so I ended up with an iron breastplate, lizardscale boots, leather grieves, and a chainmail cap. I looked very outlandish at the least, but I felt comfortable in it. After choosing our armor they decided to go see weapons.

As they discussed what wand like dagger that Nora should use I snuck out and decided to show them that I could use Florence without any training at all. It was going well, I went to the training area right around the corner of the armory. As I stepped into the arena Florence transformed into a sword, it felt balanced and I swung at the training dummy with ease. Then the most peculiar thing happened, the dummy caught fire. It was frightening and amazing. I just wanted to go and find Garnids and tell him my wrongs, but that wasn't what was going to happen, but instead freaking out at the situation I decided to go and find water to put out the flames. This gave me a chance to get it done without anyone else’s knowledge.

Creating the monster... Again

Frankenstein is starting to get interesting, with some deaths in the beginning, and Victor feeling bad about his creation, I did not think that I would like it. When Victor found the monster, now that is when it got interesting. The monster's story was very exciting, and weird. It was very weird that he decided to press up against a hole in the wall, but it is understandable because of his state. After starting to learn the new language the monster became engaged in his "family". This is where it gt exciting. After revealing himself to the family he was forced away by them. Then he ran into the woods, and after some hardships found his way into a part of the forest where he found William Frankenstein. This was another weird part because after learning that William was a Frankenstein he strangled him. This is revealed from the earlier section of the book. This is when the creature then has a proposition to Frankenstein. This proposition is that Frankenstein is to create a wife for the creature. After saying yes to this proposition Frankenstein goes to start the body. He is first accompanied by Clerval to London. They split paths and Victor ends up on a small island where he is creating the monster. He then destroys the new creation when the monster is looking, and then long story short the monster kills Clerval. Mary Shelly has created a piece of literature that has twists around every corner. She uses numerous literary devices to create her themes which the readers then sees as an amazing story. When Victor destroyed the other monster I thought that the creature was going to dismantle him on the spot. Mary Shelly creates a bond with the reader and the creature, which makes the book greater in power.