Frost best poem?

I was interested in seeing what frost most famous poem ever written and i looked on line and didn't see any of the poems we read in class. The poem that came up the most as his best was "The Road Not taken." I read the poem and actually enjoyed it the slightest bit. It's about a man who stands in the woods and comes upon  a fork in the road. He chooses one and decides to take the other one another day. I don't want to say anymore and give it away but its a great poem and you guys should read it.

Frost and Hemingway

                                                          Robert Frost at his desk, 
                                                            Ripton, Vermont, 1955.             

Ernest Hemingway, 1952

These two pictures are of Hemingway and Frost. In photography we had to pick a famous photographer, and mine took pictures of both Hemingway and Frost. 

View of the convict in GE

Every time I think about the first scene in "Great Expectations" with Pip and the convict I always think back to Switchblade Sam from Dennis the Menace. In my mind that is the convict. Switchblade same

Unfortunately in the GE movie the convict looks like this GE convict a few minutes in disappointing.

Views of Birches and a Reading from Frost himself

Frost reading Birches

"Birches" can be read with two different views depending on the readers view. If you read it with a childish/naive views then you have just read a story about the fun that boys have when they're young but must soon grow up.
On the other hand "Birches" can be read with a more mature/sexual view(Because Frost was not afraid to get a little dirty in his poems) then you would be reading a story about a boys playing with birches (masturbation), but eventually having to grow up and move on the bigger and better things(real women)

Also while you're listening to the Frost read "Birches" on the link, also read the "Everyday Harkness discussion going on with the people in the comment box.

Frost Quote

I was looking through Pinterest and I saw this and had to post it!

 I saw this on a Frost tumblr page and thought that its apathetic message really contradicts his voice and vision in his poems we have been reading because thezidwell on struggle and being trapped where as this quote communicates progress

Robert Frost Symbols

http://www.maturskiradovi.net/forum/attachment.php?aid=1821

Obviously i'm not thinking anyone is going to full on read this whole thing, because I definitely didn't. But just skimming through, a lot of this shows an interesting perspective on symbols and motifs found in robert frost poetry. It also talks about meanings for some of his poems but they aren't ones that we have read but it gives off a good vibe towards Frost's style.

Is Frost an innovator?

I was reading an article about Robert Frost on a website called the Poetry Foundation and the writer claims that "Although he avoids traditional verse forms and only uses rhyme erratically, Frost is not an innovator and his technique is never experimental." I don't know whether to agree with this or not...Occasionally Frost would write poems that didn't follow the form of a petrarchan or shakespearean sonnet. Doesn't that mean he was an innovator and experimental? 

Stay Golden Ponyboy

As I was thinking about Frost tonight it hit me. One of the most memorable movie quotes is actually a line from Robert Frost's poetry. Although we didn't read the poem I'm sure we all know the quote from the Outsider's "nothing gold can stay". The quote is actually the title of one of Frost's poems called precisely "Nothing Gold Can Stay". I just thought that this was a good reading of the poem, and will bring back memories of the fantastic book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJ-ppxCGPk

A Short Frost Biography

This is a short biography about Frost that I found when I was looking for more information about his affair that we talked about this morning. You can read it here, it is pretty quick, but it gives a nice overview of his work life and dabbles in his personal life. I was disappointed that it doesn't mention his affair, although it does mention Elinor.

"Walk The Line"

In the movie, "Walk The Line", there is a scene where Johnny Cash's brother is working to cut wood. Johnny is a young boy, and his brother Jack is about 15 years old. Here is a description of his death "Cash was very close to his older brother, Jack. In May 1944, Jack was pulled into a whirling head saw in the mill where he worked and was almost cut in two. He suffered for over a week before he died on May 20, 1944, at age 15. Cash often spoke of the horrible guilt he felt over this incident. According to Cash: The Autobiography, his father was away that morning, but he and his mother, and Jack himself, all had premonitions or a sense of foreboding about that day, causing his mother to urge Jack to skip work and go fishing with his brother. Jack insisted on working, as the family needed the money. On his deathbed, Jack said he had visions of heaven and angels. Decades later, Cash spoke of looking forward to meeting his brother in heaven."   This is very similar to "Out, Out--", where the boy makes a request on his death bed, and then, is gone. He is also a boy doing a "man's work", like Jack.

Quote

This is a Robert Frost Quote that I read on Brainy Quote, I thought you guys would find it interesting and it reminded me of when we began the poetry unit and were asked to come up with our own definition of poetry and what makes good poetry. -- "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."

Frost Themes of Mending Wall

This is pretty interesting, and puts what we've discussed in class into a very summarized way.

http://www.shmoop.com/mending-wall/themes.html

Dickens use of ambition through Pip....

Now that we are getting pretty deep into Great Expectations something that really stood out to me was the way Dickens is using ambition through Pip.

After getting his first real taste of the upper class society and people with the Havisham's, Pip was instantly hooked. He falls in love with this way of life and the people (Estella). We soon start to see that this is what Pip wants, he does not want to be apart of the "common people" he wants to live big and be successful in this thought of money, status, and love.

We see this ambition as he repeatedly goes to the Havisham's for months and through his talks with Joe. But, as the days and weeks go by we start to see Pip change. He starts to separate himself from his family and friends(Biddy). He starts to lose his honesty and the way of life he use to live. I see him as a person who started to be ashamed of his life, family and friends after being exposed to the high society of life.

I see this as Dickens trying to show us that even though ambition is great, moving away from your roots sometimes hurts you in the end. Sometimes our ambition exposes us to the "better things" (wether they really are better or not) and we cant adjust back. We only have read a chapter after Pips life was flipped upside down when Miss Havisham abandoned him, but I think Dickens is saying to always stay with your roots in a sense, they are the reason you are today.

I also see a little bit of Dickens showing us that our ambition can sometimes leave us in the dust.

Cool Frost Interview

Link

Here is a link to a cool Frost interview that I found while trying to find some cool facts about Frost. The interview starts a little ways down the page and it is definitely worth reading... at least some of it being that it very long. Enjoy!

Life Changing Moment At Mickey D's

Have you ever gone to a McDonalds on gone on the playscape? Well going on McDonalds have brought many happy nostalgic memories to kids when they think back to their elementary days. Except the fact that sometimes they are filled with half eaten chicken mcnuggets and disgusting fish fillets left behind by fat cake loving kindergartners, what else could go wrong on these playscapes? Nothing, right? Think again.

On a nebulous day in mid winter as a kindergartner coming back from a relatives my dad stopped at a McDonalds on a highway to grab something to eat. Because the drive through line was way too long he decided to go inside the old school way. Once we got in I looked to my left and saw a sight I never seen before. The biggest McDonalds playscape of all time. This giant playscape of fun was like seeing your first shot go through the hoop as a toddler. I begged and tugged my dads pants to let me run through a few times while he ate. He eventually acquiesced and I ran through that door to the playscape like Precious would have gone through a Popeyes chicken door after not starving for three days.

What I didn't know was what I was about to experience.

Everything was great, it even had a ball pit! I was swimming through a pool of plastic balls for the first time of my life. I eventually climbed up to top of the playscape and saw my dad gesturing to come down. Now, this was not your typical McDonalds playscape, this was a McDonalds playscape on a steroid and protein shake rage. If you were to make an analogy to this playscape you would call it the "Mount Everest of McDonalds playscapes." I turned to my left to start to take my journey down and saw a 150 pound square of a kid munching on two big macs who I had no chance of getting by, mind you I was a 50 pound kindergartner. I then quickly turned to my right and saw a pack of 10 kids rushing up. I was trapped and started to panic, I started screaming and thought my life was coming to an end. I didnt know what to do. Was heaven real? Better yet, do they have McDonalds in heaven? I then decided it wasnt worth the risk and decided to become a man. I ran to my left with courage and mental strength and while I saw my life flashing in front of my eyes I smacked the big mac out of the fat kids hands and somehow lowered my shoulder and ran him over. I kept running and didnt look back as I thought the kid was trying to get me. I eventually made it to the bottom and ran out of there like a Hamptons housewife would have if they ever came close to eating a big mac after a spinning work out.

Ever since then I realized what life was about. I realized sometimes you have to have the courage to get through tough situations, and you need to stay as calm as possible. This gave me a whole new perspective of life. One that was brighter and happier. Without that incident in that playscape, I wouldnt be the man I am today.

A Day That Changed My Life

A day that changed my life took place around 6 years ago. I was at nationals for hockey in Worcester Pennsylvania. My team had made it to the quarter finals against the Little Caesars. We had a long and hard fought game that ended in regulation with a 1-1 tie. We had scored second late in the third period to keep us alive. going into over time we thought we had the momentum on the other team from our third period goal to tie up the game. The game was rough and the other team started to push us around more about half way through overtime. We kept with them until 47 seconds left, when they scored on a three on one rush down the ice. The whole team was crushed. Half of us were almost in tears, and the other half were silent. We shook their hands and then slowly made our way to the locker room. We were devastated and heartbroken. We had made it so far, but lost it in the matter of seconds. After the game the team went back to the hotel and packed our stuff to go home. It was about a nine hour drive back home. The car ride was dead silent the whole way.

When I got home i was greeted by one of my two dogs, and that was unusual because my other dog always greeted me when i came home. I asked where he was and my parents told me to take a seat on the coach, so i did. They then told me that they had to put him down because he had  tumor in his heart and it was basically drowning him. I burst out into tears. This had been the hardest day of my life.

This day changed my life because i had experienced two heartbreaks in one day. This made me realize how fast something can go wrong, and change the way you view life. I started to realize how much you had to cherish all the good things that you have in life because you never know what could happen to them. They could be taken away from you in a split second.

Defining moments

One day that altered my life significantly was 3 years ago. The day was in July at around 11a.m. It was the day my dad had a mild heart attack. The day altered my entire life. It changed many of my family and I's lifestyle choices. It was completely different. I went to the gym almost everyday, and our family ate competely different. It also changed my outlook on life. My view of life became much more positive and hopeful. Also I began to appreciate my life more and came to the realization that life is short and you have to appreciate it.

life changing moment

2 years ago my family got a dog, his name is Pudge. When we first got him i didn't really care, thought it was just a stupid dog. But after a while i realized he was more then just a dog, like he is my boy now. Never had a pet before, so i didn't know what it was like. He is like a best friend to me, when i wake up  he is wagging his tail at me looking to play, when i get home he always runs to the door. And it's the small things he does to, he is always with me, he does't get mad, he doesn't yell, he is always happy. Pudge now happens to be my best friend, first day i got him i laughed when i saw him, because he was looking at me with this weird face and his tongue hanging out, i would of never thought that day that this dog would mean anything to me. Today i view pudge as a friend and I'm glad to have him.

My Life Changing Link

I first started at Webster Hill Elementary School, a local public school near my house. It was great because I could walk to school and all the kids from my neighborhood went there. Then in the middle of my third grade year, a boy in my class wrote a "death note" to me in his journal. I have no idea why and neither did the school. The problem wasn't necessarily what the boy wrote, for he was only 8 years old. My parents had an issue with how the school handled the situation; the teacher never told my parents about it because the school was going to pretend it had never happened. As a third grader, I didn't really know what was going on/couldn't care less. All I cared about was the fact that my parents were going to transfer me to Renbrook School, in the middle of the school year. I cried for days because I didn't want to leave my friends behind.

It's never easy being the new kid, especially when I had to start in January, but luckily I joined a community that was so welcoming and kind. I became so close to the people there, I chose to stay at Renbrook for my 9th grade year. After being there for 5 or more years, some kids were just dying to leave but I made the best decision by staying freshman year. Renbrook prepared me to be confident enough to take on boarding school in Maryland, my sophomore year.

Saint James is an Episcopal School in Hagerstown, Maryland, that has grades 8-12, yet only 210 students. This small community led to strong relationships between all students and many teachers, but the person closest to you was most likely your roommate. As a new kid, I had a random roommate picked out for me who was also new. We got along well and helped each other out with our classes which was great. I thought I had really lucked out with my roommate, but she started telling me things about her personal life and experiences at her old school, that seemed terrifying to me. She came to Saint James with 14 holes on her arm. She tried to tell everyone they were infected bug bites, when everyone really knew that they were cigarette burns. I felt bad for her and really did care about her, so when I noticed she had new marks on her arms I knew something was up. I couldn't just watch my roommate burn herself, so I went to the guidance counselor. This was a difficult decision for me to make because my roommate ended up getting expelled within the 1st month. It was a lot for me to go through, especially when I was just trying to adjust to the school myself, but everything turned around when my best friend, who was a day student, became my new roommate.

I have never been closer to anyone and she has become a sister to me. Everyone at Saint James is like family to me, but the 6 hour drive home became too much. I got homesick because most of the students at Saint James lived within a 2 hour radius and could go home on the weekends. I realized that my family is too important to be away from since college is right around the corner. Which is what brought me to Kingswood Oxford School, in my hometown.

I am so grateful to be where I am today. One journal entry by a little boy changed my whole life and I thank him for that.

Proud of Ya

Most people would think of the story I'm about to tell as a very sad one. I encourage everyone look at it on a brighter note, as that is all that Ryan would of seen: brightness.
          It was my freshman year. I had not yet turned 15. On a Friday night I had just left a Choral Concert Rehearsal. It was about 7 o'clock p.m, roughly, just getting dark. My parents were walking me to the car and my mom said, "Your friend Ryan Lee was hit by a car, I think he is in the hospital." I have another friend in my town who's name is Ryan Lea.
        So I replied with, "I hope he's okay, but I'm not really friends with Ryan, so I don't know him that well."
My mom corrected me, "No, Ryan Lee, the golfer."
I responded, "Oh, it's Ryan, he'll get through this."
       I went home and found out more information. It turns out he was having surgery on his brain to stop the inflammation, and he was his quite hard on the head. Still, I believe Ryan would get through everything. I could never think of Ryan in a negative manner. Ryan had the surgery, and I went through the weekend. Monday at school I received word that Ryan was not in good shape, and was in a coma. I still believed. I told my mom everything would be okay, Ryan would get through this. I spoke with a senior at the time who went to KO, John Paldino. Josh was from my hometown, Berlin, and knew Ryan as well. We told each other that Ryan would be okay, and we would see each other in the morning.
        Tuesday morning comes. Ryan doesn't seem to be doing well. I get a phone call from my mother explaining this. Then she calls me crying. She had heard a rumor that Ryan had passed. The rumor was not true, and for the moment, everything has not crashed down. So I go about the school day, it was all a blur.
       I get out of school, and my mom drives me to the golf course. It was almost, meant to be. I got to Timberlin Golf Club. My golf coach was going to play with me that day. He is also Ryan's golf coach. He is the reason me and Ryan met. He was 69 years old at the time. He looks at me and says, "I'm sorry John, but I can't play."
      This man then broke down. He had taught Ryan how to play ever since he was a little boy.
Ryan had become virtually brain dead and his parents decided to let him pass.
        I learned the news at the place that was Ryan's second home. My second home. The place I met Ryan. The place he taught me everything. The place a little boy looked up to a young man and saw someone who could do no wrong. This little boy saw someone who was "cool". Someone he wanted to be just like.

     Ryan T. :Lee was 19 years old. It was April 26th, 2011. It was a sunny day. I have never cried a greater cry in my life. Ryan was killed by a taxi cab while he was crossing the street to go to eat on Easter night in NYC. He played golf on scholarship for Long Island University. We shared the same golf coach, and Ryan made golf colorful in my eyes. I did not want to play golf, because I thought it was boring. But, when I met Ryan at the age of 8, I realized it could be colorful. Ryan didn't just wear colorful clothes, but he wore a colorful soul. Ryan was an organ donor. I'm sure he saved lives due to his generosity,
        The next week, Thousands attended Ryan's wake and funeral. I could not imagine a more beloved figure. We all know that one kid who no one has anything bad to say about. The kid who just makes you smile and you want to be around because they offer only brightness. Ryan was loved by so many communities, I could only start to explain. His parents were broken down, lowest of the low, but they would not allow you to see it. The community should have been the one picking them up, but they were picking us up. It is no surprise such a great young man came from parents like Dan and Theresa.
        The Lee's and friends helped set up the Ryan T. Lee Foundation. The foundation helps fund several charities by hosting events like the Ryan T. Lee Golf Classic, Ryan Lee 3v3 Basketball Tourney, and the Ryan T. Lee Basketball Clinic. The money raised from these events go to many charities including a scholarship fund for public school high school golfers, and organ donation.
 
        The Lee family created hope for others, even when it seemed like life was hopeless for them. Whenever, I remember Ryan, I think of memories that make me laugh and smile. Ryan lived a great life that had such a great impact on the world in such a short amount of time. Ryan taught me to dress colorful. To be skinny with pride. To not care what others think. To be a golfer. To be a young man. To be me.
      Ryan was my mentor, and I feel honored to have spent time with him on Earth. The day he died changed my life forever, but with every bad in the world, there is a good. I had always known the story of Cody Paldino, another young man that shared the same golf coach as me. My golf coach had a very small amount of students, so he was more like a grandfather. We are close to him, his name is Chuck. Cody Paladino lives behind me. He is the most talented golfer that Central Connecticut has ever seen. He lived behind me, and my golf coach had become the biggest father figure in his life. My golf coach spent pretty much all of his time with Cody, traveling to tournaments around the country, and acting as a father, because Cody's was no longer apart of the family. Cody was a nationally ranked player. He was the runner up at the U.S Public Links tournament. If you are not aware, the winner of that tournament gets an invitation to The Masters (the most prestigious golf tournament in the world/ Super Bowl of Golf). Cody went to KO and graduated in 2007. He signed to play golf at Baylor University on full scholarship. I never really knew Cody, because he was much older and left my golf coach for another in college. By 2011, he went back to working with my golf coach, and I started to play with him. He lives behind me, as we share backyards. We are now great friends and have built a relationship that continues to grow. We share many connections, and with the death of Ryan, it seemed that a new relationship was born.

         Ryan was the first person I ever played 18 holes with. First young man I ever saw who played golf. I'm the golfer I am because of Ryan. Most of everything I learned on how to be a golfer was based off of Ryan. He made life brighter for others, and I miss him. That day made me realize that life can't be taken for granted, and that life should be lived to the fullest. I hope some day I can meet him again on the back 9, and he can continue where he left off. He still has much to teach me. Life is precious, it can be gone in an instant. Ryan's life is not over, it just lives on in others rather than one.

Life Changing- Memorable Moment

Elijah Langston

Throughout my life, there have been many moments that I continue to cherish even until this day. The most memorable event would be my younger brother’s birth. Jeremiah, now 4 years old was certainly a gift to our family. All of my life I had been considered the youngest, be it next to my older sister, Nadirah, or my many cousins. I loved being the youngest because I always had an older sibling or cousin to look up too or hang around with. Sadly, as I was approaching my 8^th grade year in Junior High, I realized my sister was soon to graduate from high school. Not only that, but I would be entering high school as well. Everything was moving all too fast for me, and I wasn’t comfortable with the thought that my sister was going off to college. I would miss her company very much and all the memories we shared.

To make the story short, Jeremiah was welcomed into this world in May of 2008. He was certainly a blessing to our family. Things began to change very quickly, and for the best. All of a sudden my sister was considering attending college close to home so she could spend time with her baby brother especially in his early years. Also, it seemed as if my parents mysteriously became 10 years younger with the amount of energy a newborn gave them. There was so much energy and joy in my household, a memory I can remember being there ever since I was a kid. Me being young and naïve, I was afraid this memory wouldn’t hold as much weight as it once did. Fortunately I was proven wrong. Now I have a younger brother I can look after as my older sister once looked over me. The memories we share together as family such as; going out for ice cream, celebrating my younger brother’s birthday, and making trips to the zoo during the summer all contribute to the love and joy Jeremiah’s presence brings around. We are truly thankful J

Life Changing Moment. "Link in the chain"

A certain moment in my life that turned out to be the main reason that my life is the way it is now was my decision to not stay for the ninth grade at Fairfield Country Day school. As I approached the end of my eighth grade year at FCDS I was faced with a tough decision; leave the school that I had been at for the last five years prematurely, or spend one more year there and finish the ninth grade. I had weighed my options for most of the winter and spring. Originally I had wanted to go to Avon Old Farms where my older brother was but I wasn’t ready to be on my own yet. By late March I decided that I would not spend my ninth grade year at FCDS but instead I wanted to try something totally new and attend the high school in the town I live in; Naugatuck.

At the time I did not realize how big of a decision this would be but it would later affect my life in a big way. I traded in the only school I knew for an experience that I would have never gotten if I decided to stay that extra year. At Naugatuck high school I finally got to see another side of the education system and society. I met all different types of people experienced new things and learned that there was more out there than just Fairfield Country Day School. Another big change that Naugatuck high school brought was sports. At Fairfield Country Day School, in the eighth grade I was basically the most physically gifted and athletically blessed student in the school, especially on the football field. I barely stepped foot in a weight room and didn’t work very hard. When I got to Naugatuck high school I wasn’t the strongest, or the fastest, or the most gifted anymore. I can vividly remember the way I felt after my first practice. I was extremely upset because I realized that my accomplishments in middle school meant less than nothing in high school. I was at the bottom of the barrel and I finally learned how it felt to work for a spot on the field. I went on to have a very good freshman season.

I had made a name for myself. By the end of my freshman year I had made connections with a lot of people and had caught the attention of coaches and people locally for my ability on the field. Although I was enjoying my time at Naugatuck high school I needed a greater challenge academically so at the end of my freshman year I enrolled at Sacred Heart high school. 

There I had a very commendable sophomore football season and was a two way starter. I played well enough that season to catch the eye of Boston College. I never would have imagined that I would be noticed my after my sophomore season. That summer after my sophomore year I got noticed by three colleges with d1 football programs. Earlier that year I heard about a great opportunity at a school named Kingswood Oxford from a friend of the family, and decided to look into it.

I now realize that if I hadn’t made the decision to change schools after the eighth grade I wouldn’t be where I am today. If I would have stayed at FCDS I would have never got to meet the many different people I met at Naugatuck high or matured as an athlete. Also If I never would have decided to leave FCDS I probably would have never had a good enough sophomore football season to catch college’s attention. 

Life Changer

My grandpa played semi-professional baseball. My dad was getting recruited to play Division One baseball as a sophomore in high-school with no repeat years. My brother was featured in the paper because of his outstanding performance in his travel baseball team. I however was not the best at baseball.

When we moved to Connecticut from Florida in 2000, my dad signed me and my brother up for little league baseball. This didn't pose any challenge for me. I was a rather athletic kid at the time. I was always running around and playing with my friends. I could throw and catch just fine because that basically all me and my dad did during my little league years. As I progressed throughout little league, I had realized that I have never hit a home run, or a triple... I could barely hit doubles and singles... I could barely hit. Catching and throwing was easy but I was an awful hitter. I couldn't hit a beach ball if I tried! This when I realized that I had no future in this sport. I knew that I needed to change to another spring sport but I had no idea, then one of my best friends at the time suggested lacrosse... this changed my life.

I picked up my first lacrosse stick in third grade. Little did I know that this was meant for me. The first year I played was a developmental year with no games, just practices for beginners like me. I excelled and I was already one of the best. The next year, I played for the West Hartford Youth Lacrosse A team. This is when my coach introduced me to the defense stick. It was a six foot beating stick given to defense men. I was intrigued beyond belief. I picked it up and I knew this was meant for me. I played defense all the way throughout the rest of my elementary and middle school career and at my sophomore year, the K-O head lacrosse coach switched me over to play Long-Stick Midfielder because I was small and speedy and could easily get ground balls and cause turnovers.

I am now currently being recruited to play college lacrosse at my position and I would have never seen this coming as a young third grader that though he was awful at all sports because I couldn't hit a baseball. Little did I know that playing lacrosse would take over my life and become such a huge part of it. I give many thanks to my friend Connor Byrne for introducing me to what in my eyes is the best sport in the world.

Life Changing Event

When my oldest brother, Zach, who is seven years older than me, started middle school, he wanted a school with more of a challenge. My parents had heard about Kingswood Oxford and decided to look there with him. He liked the school and decided to apply and was accepted. He started in sixth grade (he had skipped third grade, so he was with his appropriate age group when he repeated sixth) and went through all seven years of middle and high school, as have my other two brothers. By going to KO, Zach actually changed my families lives and opened up new opportunities for us. 

Not only have all of my brother and I attended this school, but it has brought us new experiences. For example, I always hated soccer, so when I got to KO, I started playing field hockey. I loved it and this is my sixth year playing. The school also introduced my to squash, which I played for three years and helped my brother, Aaron, with tennis when he joined the team because he felt like he was playing kids that were at his skill level for the first time. The KO ski team has also affected my brothers and I, allowing us to race for the school, not just the mountain, and freeing up our weekends so that we could continue skiing at Okemo as a family. KO has brought many academic opportunities as well, such as honors/AP classes and courses in the arts (select choir groups and focused art classes).

Kingswood has also affects my family's life through location. Before we lived in West Hartford, we lived in Glastonbury. After deciding the commute was to much (although many people have the same or longer commutes), my family moved to West Hartford, building a new house with new people and new surroundings. 

Zach's decision to go to Kingswood affected my entire family in numerous ways and created many opportunities.  

Life changing mooooooooment

I never liked basketball, I refused to play it and I never wanted to watch it.  One day, two summers ago, my youngest cousin convinced me to play with him.  I was surprised how much I liked it (cause im short and all that).  Then I was looking for another winter sport to play (I didn't want to do swimming anymore).  I decided that I would try basketball for the first time because my cousin convinced me to give it a chance.  It was weel worth it because I ended up starting in the first game (and everyone after that)  Now I look forward to the winter season!!!!!

Life Changing: Claustrophobic

One event that changed my life a lot was a night when I was 7, maybe 8. I was staying over at my friend Caroline's house for the night for her birthday party with 8 of her friends that I didn't know. We all got along pretty well except for one of her friends didn't like me that much. But it was alright because the feeling was pretty much mutual. She was really competitive and would only have things her way. The only game she agreed on us playing was hide and seek. So we start playing, and of course she was it because she "didn't feel like hiding". So, thinking it would be a really good hiding spot, I hid in the closet in the basement (where everyone else was hiding too) and just waited. After 10 minutes I heard her outside and heard her touch the door. But she didn't open it like I thought she would and soon enough I couldn't hear her outside anymore. I was obviously curious, so I tried to open the door just to find that she had locked me inside. At first I was confused and started knocking on the door to see if she was outside and just didn't realize what she had done. But no one was there. A few seconds later, I heard Caroline's mom call them up to dinner and then heard them all run up stairs, leaving me alone in the closet in the basement. I turned around with my back against the door facing the jackets that were hanging there. They suddenly seemed so much closer to me then they had before, brushing up against me and taking up way too much room. The room felt hotter and smaller. I got really antsy really quickly as the coats hit up against me more and more and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I was overheating, anxious, dizzy, and soon enough started having problems breathing which led to me crying (which obviously lead to more trouble breathing). I was banging at the door and trying to scream so they could hear me, but no one came. Finally, after 10 more minutes, they realized I wasn't at dinner and Caroline came down stairs, found me, opened the door, and let me out.

I look back at this event now as the night when I realized how claustrophobic I really am. I had had run ins with small spaces in the past, and although they made me uncomfortable, it was nothing like this. I never would have thought a simple game of hide and seek would lead me to having my first panic attack as well as lead me to realizing what I would be most afraid of for the rest of my life. 

This has affected the way I live now in many ways. Being in a car for too long makes me really anxious, and being in a crowded car is even worse. When driving for more then 45 minutes or so, I need to take breaks just to get out of the car for a while. I also have problems with large crowds of people, especially if it's a crowd with people who are taller than me. Overall, this has made me more cautious and alert about where I am and who I'm with, just to be sure I'm not ever in a situation like that again.

The First Link

Sometimes I like to think that my marriage was fated. Or, maybe I just read too many books, filling my mind with questions about destiny and free will. When I look back over the last 10 years, I can trace where I am now back to one memorable day.

My husband and I grew up in the same town for most of our young and adolescent lives but never knew each other. I'm two years older than him, we didn't attend the same elementary schools, and he went to the local public school while I went to Taft (where my parents teach and I grew up). Although we knew many of the same people, my husband and I never met--until the summer of 2003 when I had just graduated from college and took a job working at the Taft Summer School. He applied to work there as well, and we first saw each other during an opening meeting on the first day of summer school. He seemed oddly familiar, and I suspect we probably crossed paths a number of times before then, but this was our first real encounter. We discovered that he was good friends with the younger brother of one of my best friends, and that his parents and my parents knew many of the same people as well. By the end of that first week, a summer romance had begun, and we were inseparable.

By the end of the summer, when he was headed back to college for his junior year and I was leaving for Boston to start a job, we decided to give the long-distance thing a try, and it worked.

After a year in Boston, I found a job teaching at Berkshire School (a boarding school in the Berkshires), and I remained there for 4 years while my husband finished his last year at UConn, got a MA in Teaching and looked for a job. As a faculty kid myself, I always loved boarding school life, and for years I thought I'd probably end up living and working at a boarding school for the rest of my life. But, my husband comes from a family of public school teachers, and the idea of living in a dorm with high school kids was less than appealing to him. He found a public high school teaching job in CT, and our yet another link in the chain was forged. Still together (but not yet married), we moved together to central CT, and I found a job at a lovely day school in West Hartford. :)

Now, my husband and I have been married for over 2 years, have a house, and are set on a path. Ten years ago, I never would have guessed that I'd be living in Avon, working at a day school, and married to someone from my home town, but fate had plans for me, and I can trace where I am today back to that one memorable encounter on a late June day.

One Memorable Day

“think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.” -Dickens

One of the clearest memories I have is somewhat of a haunting one. A few years ago (3ish?) my whole family was home, on a normal night, and someone broke into my house. No one was harmed in any way but he was able to get away and took some of our possessions with him. The police did come quickly, even though it seemed like an eternity that I was hiding in my closet! Even though no one was harmed and this offense could have been way worse, it was still one of my most traumatic days. It disrupts your peace of mind and security. After that day I was afraid of my own house. I was afraid to sleep, not only in my own house, but I also didn't like staying over night other places. Fora long time I was afraid of my own house, the dark, and had trouble actually feeling safe.

What is almost as bad as a strange man being downstairs while you are in the closet is having the police further disrupting your home and thoroughly searching it in the middle of the night. To add on to this night, two weeks later, someone-(maybe the same person or someone completely different, no one knows) came back to my house and smashed a window. This was just another disruption causing more unwanted people searching through our home yet again. To this day, when ever I have a nightmare, it will always revolve around something like this night happening to me in my own home.

This one event changed our whole lifestyle, not only at home, but any where we would travel to. It's more that just a memorable and was a life-changing day because I will never be the same as I was before that day. This event caused my family to become really smart about security, trying to make home, feel like home again.

Hemingway's Inspiration

http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/hemingway.asp

This website is just a bibliography of Hemingway. I just thought it was interesting how some themes in his book have to do with personal. In his bibliography it said, "In Paris, he traveled widely for the skiing, bullfighting, fishing and hunting that by then was forming the background for much of his writing."

27 secrets to writing like Hemingway

http://confidentwriting.com/2008/02/27-secrets-to-w/

This website has 27 ideas that describe what Hemingway's writing is like. It gives short and easy to understand descriptions of his writing. I thought this was interesting because we had to do parody's that used his writing style.

The use of alcohol

I noticed that alcohol comes along frequently in Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald stories. Jay Gatsby hosted big parties where people would get drunk, and swarm to the party, even though no one really knew the host. Hemingway uses alcohol in stories like My Old Man, where Joe's father starts to drink more and more as he gets older and throws races more often. Both The Great Gatsby and In Our Time feature quite sad endings. Seems to me as if both offers portrayed their time very well in their books.

More Bullfighting.

Although this does not pertain to IOT it is in fact by Hemingway. The book Death in the Afternoon brings bullfighting into the spotlight as described in this article by the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/04/specials/hemingway-afternoon.html

Hemongway's Whiskey

Sorry if you don't like country music. . .

Kenny Chesney has a great song called "Hemingway's Whiskey" (the title track of the album) in which he talks about Hemingway using the same vague style that the author uses in his writing. You can listen to it here and below I have put the lyrics. In an interview, Kenny talks about how he has read many of Hemingway's books mentions that he is one of his favorite writers. He talks about Hemingway's characters and how they have to deal with real life experiences, especially the difficult ones.

Hemingway's whiskey, warm and smooth and mean
Even when it burns, it'll always finish clean
He didn't like it watered down, he took it straight up and neat
If it was bad enough for him, you know it's bad enough for me

Hemingway's whiskey

Ah, it's tough out there, a good muse is hard to find
Living one word to the next, one line at a time
There's more to life than whiskey, there's more to words than rhyme
Sometimes nothing works, sometimes nothing shines

Like Hemingway's whiskey

Sail away, sail away, three sheets to the wind
Live hard, die hard, this one's for him

Hemingway's whiskey, warm and smooth and mean
Even when it burns, it'll always finish clean
He didn't like it watered down, he took it straight up and neat
If it was bad enough for him, you know it's bad enough for me

Hemingway's whiskey
Hemingway's whiskey
Hemingway's whiskey

Nick: The Nowhere Man in the End

This son reminds me of Nick in "Big Two-Hearted River". He just wants to be alone in a "nowhere land" where he in peace, where he only thinks about what he has to physically do to live. He makes "nowhere plans" and pretty much has no direction other than wandering the woods.