When it comes to Mary Hoover Aiken reading her own fortune in the cafe, I believe she looks lost and afraid. She is starring into the cards looking for answers and her face tells the story. She is not happy with what she sees. Perhaps her future doesn't look as bright or promising as she had thought and hoped for. Through all the sadness I see in this photo, I still see a strong women who is still laying cards down and continuing what she started. Life is just like the cards she is laying, you may not always get dealt the best hand but you can make the best out of what you have and keep going. She is still playing the game so she hasn't given up, even with all the men watching her in the background.
I believe Mary Hoover Aiken has a very bright future ahead of her, no matter what the circumstances may be. Dedication and drive will keep her going in the right direction and get her through the tough patches she sees in her reading. She has to realize that no matter how bad her past may have been or how bad her future looks, she still has a chance to change the path she is on. She is the only one who can control her own destiny. If she stays positive and keeps moving forward like she is in the photo with the cards, one day that frown will be turned upside down.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
"Ground Zero"
Reading Suzanne Berne's descriptive writing on "Ground Zero" brought
up many emotions, as it always does, while reading or seeing anything
on the terrorist attacks of the Twin Towers from 9/11. I can still
remember where I was at that exact moment in my life, as I'm sure
everybody does. I was in 8th grade, Mrs. Auito's class. It's crazy to
me, how something can have such a huge impact on your life. I also
remember not fulling understanding what exactly was going on, especially
the extremeness of it. It wasn't long after though, I finally realized
what had just happened and how so many peoples lives were affected and
changed forever by it.
How could anyone have so much hate in themselves and towards others, to do such a horrible, heartless, selfish thing. It blows my mind. My heart goes out to the family members and friends of all the victims, and even the people who were there to witness it all and even survive it. It just goes to show you that you never know what can happen at any split second of your day and that life really can be way too short.
Berne's does a good job at describing the atmosphere of New York where the towers once stood and how different it is now. People from all over coming to visit the site, even though there is nothing left to see. I can just imagine, the once busy, fast past, loud environment now just still and silent as people are in awe of what use to be. As Berne's states, "Whether the people are motivated by curiosity or horror or reverence or grief, or by something confusing that combines it all - that space fills up again.".
Work Cited:
Berne, Suzanne. "Ground Zero." Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Twelfth Edidition. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston. New York
* Sorry, I still don't fully understand how to do the MLA formats for citing work.
How could anyone have so much hate in themselves and towards others, to do such a horrible, heartless, selfish thing. It blows my mind. My heart goes out to the family members and friends of all the victims, and even the people who were there to witness it all and even survive it. It just goes to show you that you never know what can happen at any split second of your day and that life really can be way too short.
Berne's does a good job at describing the atmosphere of New York where the towers once stood and how different it is now. People from all over coming to visit the site, even though there is nothing left to see. I can just imagine, the once busy, fast past, loud environment now just still and silent as people are in awe of what use to be. As Berne's states, "Whether the people are motivated by curiosity or horror or reverence or grief, or by something confusing that combines it all - that space fills up again.".
Work Cited:
Berne, Suzanne. "Ground Zero." Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Twelfth Edidition. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston. New York
* Sorry, I still don't fully understand how to do the MLA formats for citing work.
"Rice"
The story "Rice" by Jhumpa Lahiri talked about her father and his specialty in making his famous rice dishes for different occasions. You could tell by reading the story how important this specific hobby of her fathers meant to him. It gave him a lot of pride and joy, and if there was ever any ingredients or anything missing, he never let it affect him. He somehow found ways to improvise, making the dish just as good as the last. This story reminds me a lot about my grandma and a tradition that meant so much to her.
Every year sense I can remember, around Christmas, the "girls" on my mothers side, (Grandma, aunts, mom, sisters, cousins.) get together for a whole day and make Christmas cookies. It's a day long project because we bake so many different kinds of cookies and with each batch, we times the ingredients by three. It can make for a very long, exhausting day, but all so worth it in the end. My grandma is no longer with us, but we have still carried on the tradition ever sense. It was something we knew that meant so much to her and how much pride and joy it brought to her, having all of us together making memories.
Having the fresh smell of all the different kinds of cookies fill the house is one of my favorite smells and I can't help but think of my grandma. The one cookie that reminds me the most of her was her favorite one, called clothes-pin cookies. Even though these ones were the most difficult and time consuming to make, she always wanted them. Still to this day, even with her gone, we continue to make them in remembrance of her. Not to mention, they are pretty tasty! Now that we are all older and my sisters and I have kids of our own, I look forward to being able to share this tradition with them as well, for the many years to come.
Every year sense I can remember, around Christmas, the "girls" on my mothers side, (Grandma, aunts, mom, sisters, cousins.) get together for a whole day and make Christmas cookies. It's a day long project because we bake so many different kinds of cookies and with each batch, we times the ingredients by three. It can make for a very long, exhausting day, but all so worth it in the end. My grandma is no longer with us, but we have still carried on the tradition ever sense. It was something we knew that meant so much to her and how much pride and joy it brought to her, having all of us together making memories.
Having the fresh smell of all the different kinds of cookies fill the house is one of my favorite smells and I can't help but think of my grandma. The one cookie that reminds me the most of her was her favorite one, called clothes-pin cookies. Even though these ones were the most difficult and time consuming to make, she always wanted them. Still to this day, even with her gone, we continue to make them in remembrance of her. Not to mention, they are pretty tasty! Now that we are all older and my sisters and I have kids of our own, I look forward to being able to share this tradition with them as well, for the many years to come.
Monday, September 15, 2014
"My Mother Never Worked"
The essay from Bonnie Smith-Yackel, "My Mother Never Worked" actually hits close to home and is a very touchy topic between my boyfriend and I. Not so much the part about social security benefits and all that but the main point of why Yackel wrote this piece. I have been a stay at home mom for the past ten months ever sense my daughter was born. Before that I worked full time sense I graduated high school, 8 years ago. Having done both, it really bothers me when people have such strong opinions on stay at home moms, saying they have it so easy. This is exactly how my boyfriend thinks too. I'm fortunate enough to not have to be a single parent as a lot of moms I know, but with his way of thinking, most of the time I feel like I am anyways. He thinks that just because he "pays the bills" he doesn't have to help out in any other way. I don't "work" he says, so my job is to take care of the baby plus do all the housework as well, never getting a break or a little help here or there. It's funny to me and I try to explain to him and put it into perspective that I don't get to come home after eight hours to sit and relax, I don't get to sleep in on the weekends, I don't get to call in for sick or personal days, I don't get holidays off, ect. But still, none of that seems to click and I still have it so easy compared to him.
I believe that people shouldn't judge other people for any reason if they have never walked in their shoes. Same goes for this, people shouldn't make assumptions on certain situations and have such strong feelings towards them if they have never lived the life of it. I give women/moms a lot more credit, now that I am one, then I use to. Having said that, I know there are a lot of men who step up or are the stay at home parent instead and I give them a lot of credit as well. This is why I can completely understand why the mothers daughter in this essay gets so frustrated when the Social Security Office informs her that the death benefit check she is calling on can not be received for her mothers passing because she simply, "never worked". Just because being a mom doesn't come with a pay check every week, it is one of the most important jobs out there and all the things they do on a day to day basis gets taken for granite too often.
I believe that people shouldn't judge other people for any reason if they have never walked in their shoes. Same goes for this, people shouldn't make assumptions on certain situations and have such strong feelings towards them if they have never lived the life of it. I give women/moms a lot more credit, now that I am one, then I use to. Having said that, I know there are a lot of men who step up or are the stay at home parent instead and I give them a lot of credit as well. This is why I can completely understand why the mothers daughter in this essay gets so frustrated when the Social Security Office informs her that the death benefit check she is calling on can not be received for her mothers passing because she simply, "never worked". Just because being a mom doesn't come with a pay check every week, it is one of the most important jobs out there and all the things they do on a day to day basis gets taken for granite too often.
"Pink Floyd Night School"
Everyone may not agree with the advice Mark Edmundson is trying to portray in "Pink Floyd Night School", but thinking about it, I find it to be very interesting and somewhat smart. The ideal situation after graduating High School is to go right to college. I mean, everyone starts asking you at a young age, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It must be to get you thinking and have your decision made up by graduation day, right? Everyone tries to drill it into your head that the only way to be successful in life is to get good grades and go right to college to get a good education. I'm sure for many young adults, that's something that is a major priority in their family or they feel they need to keep up their family's business or be just as successful as their parents or older siblings because if not, they will be looked down on and that can put a lot of shame on someone.
I believe Edmudson makes a very good point though, saying to take things slow after high school. You still have your whole life a head of you, why rush anything. I know a lot of people who thought they knew what they wanted to do after high school, went to college, spent all that money for their degree and ended up hating it in the end. If you take time to figure out what's really important to you and what really interests you, instead of rushing into something you aren't even sure about, you will actually be saving yourself time in the end. Its like the saying, "Find something you love doing and you'll never work a day in your life." I think this is the main message Edmudsons is trying to hint in this piece of writing and I couldn't agree more.
I believe Edmudson makes a very good point though, saying to take things slow after high school. You still have your whole life a head of you, why rush anything. I know a lot of people who thought they knew what they wanted to do after high school, went to college, spent all that money for their degree and ended up hating it in the end. If you take time to figure out what's really important to you and what really interests you, instead of rushing into something you aren't even sure about, you will actually be saving yourself time in the end. Its like the saying, "Find something you love doing and you'll never work a day in your life." I think this is the main message Edmudsons is trying to hint in this piece of writing and I couldn't agree more.
"Only Daughter"
Reading "Only Daughter" by Sandra Cisneros really opened my eyes to how different the world can be as far as the different periods of time as well as different cultures. For her, you could tell that growing up as the only daughter was a horrible experience. That shocks me for many reasons because I know many families where having a girl after having all boys is such a wonderful blessing and so exciting for the family. I have even experienced that first hand with my daughter. Her father was raised in a family of all boys, even all of his cousins on both sides of his family were boys. His parents thought for sure that we were going to have a boy as well but as soon as we found out we were having a girl, they were so ecstatic and couldn't be happier.
You can't help but feel bad for her throughout her whole story. She never really comes out and says it, but for me I could sense how alone, unloved and unimportant she must have felt growing up. She just wanted to fit in and be thought of as her own individual self, not as, "just a daughter" that didn't matter. I wish there would have been more in the story of how her mother treated her. I would have liked to have known if she had a better relationship with her or if her mom just kind of sat back and never stuck up for her. The very end of the story brought so much emotion for me. Reading it I couldn't help but tear up because in that moment on her dads bed after he read her book, the response he gave her I felt was what she wanted to hear from him her whole life. He finally made her feel important and as if she actually succeeded in life, what she felt her father never believed she could.
You can't help but feel bad for her throughout her whole story. She never really comes out and says it, but for me I could sense how alone, unloved and unimportant she must have felt growing up. She just wanted to fit in and be thought of as her own individual self, not as, "just a daughter" that didn't matter. I wish there would have been more in the story of how her mother treated her. I would have liked to have known if she had a better relationship with her or if her mom just kind of sat back and never stuck up for her. The very end of the story brought so much emotion for me. Reading it I couldn't help but tear up because in that moment on her dads bed after he read her book, the response he gave her I felt was what she wanted to hear from him her whole life. He finally made her feel important and as if she actually succeeded in life, what she felt her father never believed she could.
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