Name All the Animals Response #3

1. I recently finished the novel, Name All the Animals by Alison Smith. I felt the whole book was pretty easy to read, since it certainly kept my attention. Something about reading this woman's life story kept me hooked as I remembered that all of these terrible things really happened to her. I am all for Gay Rights, and when Alison's mother told her that lesbians will burn in hell, I was shocked. I really thought the character of her mother was much more open minded with her daughter, especially after losing one of her kids already. I also wasn't expecting Alison to get so involved with Terri, so that was a very unexpected part of the book.
I do wish that in the epilogue that Alison Smith told us more about her conversation with Terri on the phone after all of those years. I wondered if Terri was mad about the book, since it got so personal about both of them. The ending was hard to read, since it slowed down a LOT, and it ended so suddenly without really wrapping it up. I was left with questions like, do her parents know she's a lesbian? Did she ever see Terri again? I was also confused about her putting food out for Roy. I hope she realized later that it was just a dog eating it, not the ghost of her brother. Reading a story set in my hometown was strange, too. Not bad, just strange, since when I read books I usually can't relate to places, or picture them so clearly in my mind. I enjoyed reading this book, but I do wish we were warned about some later themes in the novel.

2. I really enjoyed the character of Alison's father. He was not comical relief, or even a big character. He was just a dad, doing things for his daughter that used to be so normal for him before Roy passed away, like teaching Alison to drive, and doing his morning blessings. After Roy died, Alison lost her faith in God, so she put her foot down about father's morning blessings. That really hurt her father, since it was the only normality he still  had in his life. But he kept quiet, letting his daughter grow and try new things. I personally think he knew she was a lesbian, since he never tried to push boys onto her like her mother did.
The scenes where her father takes her driving make me tense. I can see them in the car, quiet except for her father talking about sights in Rochester, and maybe his memories there. After Roy's death, he was clearly too scared to actually let her, or see her drive. I couldn't imagine his feelings if he saw his daughter driving away, like Roy did the morning of the car accident. Her father is the silent supporter, letting Alison grow and do what she needs to do. He's like the backbone of the family, especially for mother. I don't think either Alison or her mother could have made it without him.

Name All the Animals Response #2

The author, Alison Smith, makes the characters real by using people she actually knew in her life, since this is a memoir. The character, Sister Agnes James, is my favorite so far. She is so detailed, with her spunky attitude and the way her appearance is explained. I absolutely love the line "Her fine hair floated in a wild nest of curls." Little lines like that make the characters more realistic to me, easy to imagine in my mind. The things that Sister Agnes says, about the infirmary being a jailhouse, or nicknaming the switchboard girls, make her all the more an interesting character. In Italy, I met a bunch of elderly nuns since we stayed in a convent that they rented out as a hotel. Sister Agnes is exactly like them, so I can really relate to Al's feelings when she is around her. Except, Al can understand Sister Agnes, the nuns in Italy only spoke Italian. Alison Smith is doing an amazing job with her characters; they are all very deep, with lots of emotional layers that we discover very slowly.

With the characters of mother and father, you are really only introduced to this depressed side of the adults. As the story goes on, and the track team comes to the house to visit (Roy ran on the track team at McQuaid) you start to see them smiling, and acting like they did before Roy passed away in the car accident. Al's parents were only laughing and smiling when the track team came by, since they were reminded of their son. You can see how they used to be happy-go-lucky, and so supportive of their son and Al. That took a long time to discover, their happier attitudes during happier times. 

The way that her characters are developed make the book much more interesting, since if they were very shallow, the story wouldn't be interesting. It is a slow story mostly about emotions, and how the characters get over the death of a loved one. If the characters weren't explored deeply, then it would be EXTREMELY boring, with bland conversations about, "oh, yeah, my brother died." No scenes where girls ask Al to talk to talk to Roy with the Ouija Board, and she thinks to herself how she actually does want to see if she can contact Roy. Even those scenes are interesting, because they explore the thoughts of the characters.

Name All the Animals by Alison Smith

I am about 110 pages into Name All the Animals by Alison Smith, and so far I'm really enjoying it. Reading a book that takes place here is really cool, since I've never read anything with a setting of Rochester. Hearing names of streets and schools that I know makes me interested, and it's easier to imagine what's going on.
The character Alison is just like any other girl. She's very easy to relate to, since her feelings are so well written and explained. When Roy died, it was a little frustrating because they wouldn't come right out and say he died. It was obvious, but they wouldn't say it. You had to figure it out through their feelings and actions.
I'm excited to continue reading this novel, and to see what happens to Alison.

Sylvia Plath Poetry

I read five poems by Slyvia Plath: Ariel, Brasilia, Barren Woman, Channel Crossing, and All the Dead Dears. When I read her poetry, I feel a little empty. I love the poems, but they are all so sullen and dark, which is hard to read after a few poems of the same thing.
I love the line, "We walk the plank with strangers," from the poem Channel Crossing. So many little snippets of her poetry ring in my head after I read the poem because every line is thought out so well, and everything has a meaning.
Personally, I wouldn't choose to read a book of her poetry because they're all so depressing, but once and a while it's nice to read Sylvia Plath.

The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath

I have read into chapter four so far in the novel, and I love it. The sarcastic tone of the narrator, Slyvia, is amazing, and her whole take on being in the shadow of another, prettier girl is easy to relate to. The character of Doreen is very frustrating for me to read about, since I know a girl like her, and I lived in her shadow for a couple years, so reading about that is kind of obnoxious, but I've gotten past that.
The character Sylvia is amazing; how she drinks plain Vodka because it looks clean was one of my favorite details. I can't wait to get father into the book, even though it will probably be really depressing. The writing is amazing, and so is the story line. So far, I really like this book.

Always Running by Luis J. Rodriquez

This was one of the poems that I enjoyed reading. It was written very clearly, and I understood what Rodriquez was trying to get across, what the topic was. This was a sad poem, especially when kids were brought up. The image of the little kids sleeping, covered in roaches in a dirty bed was amazing; sad, of course, but a great image that set the tone for the rest of the poem.
I do not like many poems, but this is a poem I would read again.

Mnemonic by Li-Young Lee

After reading this poem with the class, I was bored and left hanging. I think the last line "So my father took off his blue sweater," was supposed to wrap the poem up, but it didn't for me. The whole poem was dull, and there was nothing that I could relate to in it. When Li-Young Lee talks about the world being flat and round, I was very confused.
It was nice writing, but apart from that, there was nothing I enjoyed about this poem.

Betsey Brown Response #3

Over the past week, I have finished Betsey Brown, which was a disappointment because the ending was terrible. Apart from that, I loved this novel. It took a while for me to get used to the writing style that Ntozake Shange used, but it really fit the story, so it worked out.

Betsey was a great character, and I really liked following her thoughts, especially when she ran away to a salon in the city. I wish it went a little deeper into her thought process, but that's okay. Greer was a frustrating character for me, with his cool, calm attitude like all of the doctors I know. Jane was also an interesting character, but I found it kind of random for her to leave, it was like it was just for the sake of the character Carrie, whom I didn't like either.

After Jane came back, the book ended. Just like that; done. I did not like that. What happened to their marriage? What happened to Eugene? Did Betsey ever confront Jane about the responsibilities she had taken on after Carrie was fired? There was too much left hanging, and it ruined it a little for me. But everything before the ending was great, so I guess I can forgive Shange.

I would definitely recommend this book to young-adults in the ninth grade and down, since the writing is simple and I don't see many older kids wanting to read this. But it was a great novel, and I would probably read it again.

Betsey Brown Response #2

I am just a little past the halfway point in the novel, and I'm starting to warm up to the eccentric writing style of Ntozake Shange. Betsey has become a dear character, as we get to look a little deeper into her thoughts about boys and growing up. Now as she is heading into a white school, I feel closer to her because the writing is so clear about how all of the children feel about this transition. I also like the character Regina, since she kind of spurred on Betsey's thoughts about "growing up," and kind of added comical relief to the so far slow book (not that there is anything wrong with going slowly.) The nannies almost act as a symbol of what level of maturity Betsey is on, well they are for me anyways. With the first nanny, Bernice, Betsey was still climbing trees and becoming a tomboy. Then with Regina, she was noticing boys and thinking about her future.

This book, surprisingly, is actually one of the better novels I have read this year. At first, I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, but now I'm starting to get into it, and I look forward to reading on into the story.

Betsey Brown by Ntozake Shange

I only read to page twenty in this book, and I'm already bored. It seems like it's going to be a cliche novel about a girl coming of age, just like most of the books I have read this year. The writing is confusing, the language being used is hard to read aloud.

The characters seem deep, though, and I can tell that there is going to be a long story behind the mother, father, and grandma. But right now  it's very confusing with all of the characters running around and yelling. Hopefully this book will get better as we read more.

"The Good Thief" by Hannah Tinti Review

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti was one of the best books I have read for school. It was about something very interesting (grave robbing), and the characters made the plot all the more interesting, too. One thing that I found hard to handle was the amount of time we had to read the book. It was a little stressful trying to squish 327 pages into a week and a half, which I know isn't that bad, but with all the other things with school, paying attention to the book was hard to do.

Apart from that, I loved reading this book. The images that it gave me were chilling, but also made the book better. One of the only criticisms that I have is that the horse shouldn't have died. I know, it was a motif of Ren's childhood or pureness, but a rule in horror movies is that the animals nor children die...even though this is not a horror movie it should still apply. Anyways, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery novels, or body snatching.

My New Obsession

There's A Reason I Don't Write Haiku

Twisted spine

The rose bows

      Dead

Horses together

   Nibbling

In the pasture

Flowers fight

 To earn a spot

Above the surface

Haiku Guy Response

The book, Haiku Guy, was a pretty interesting novel to read. It was an interesting writing style; switching back and forth between modern and ancient times. After a while, this did get annoying, but it's an interesting way to  confront this story.

This story was pretty interesting, though. Boring, yes, but the way it was set up made it a little more interesting. The characters, on the other hand, were extremely interesting. I loved the way that they are described, and their different attitudes toward haiku. Their nicknames were a little strange, but definitely set their personalities. But, I did not like it when David G Lanove brought himself and his friends into Buck-Teeth's world. I didn't understand the necessity to bring these people into a completely different story; they belong in their own.

Also, the haiku's throughout the book were very interesting to read, even though I don't like reading/writing haiku...at all. It set the standards of "good haiku," which I will not reach, but for some reason, I'm not aiming to become the best haiku writer of the class.

Over all, this book was pretty enjoyable to read. Even though I would not read it again, I did not mind reading this for class. Take out the characters going into other peoples stories, and I would enjoy it even more!

Inspiration

The Last Post for Class

I made this blog for a class assignment, thinking that it was a pointless thing to do. With Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, I didn't think that this website would be much. On a small level, I was wrong. There are so many blogs on here, and it's obvious that people take a lot of time to make them interesting. These blogs are also varying in topics: motherhood, cars, animals, and entertainment. Thankfully, I've only seen one or two that are written by someone who thinks whining to a blog will help their poor, poor lives.

So yes, I was proven wrong about blogging. It's not just complaining about your life; it's mostly talking about the things that you enjoy doing, or things that interest you. This website is small compared to "Tumblr," and something about that I enjoy. It doesn't freeze up randomly, and it seems like people are less self-centered here. Again, it's extremely annoying when people use their blogs to complain about their life...but here I go complaining; dang.

Even though making this blog was just an assignment for a creative writing class, I think I might continue to add onto it. The class blogs are ending, but hopefully my interest will stay with A New Distraction.

Ten "Interesting Questions"

As an assignment, I'm supposed to think of ten thought provoking questions to ask. So...here are my questions:

1. Where would you go if there was a zombie apocalypse? 
2. What is your greatest fear?
3. Do you think zodiac signs are crap? I do.
4. What's your favorite animal?
5. Would you prefer summer or winter?
6. Does anyone actually enjoy thinking of questions out there?
7. Do you use the computer or the television more?
8. How often do you use the internet?
9. Do you have an opinion about the meat industry?
10. DO YOU LIKE PONIES?

In Ten Years

These are the days of quickly growing technology, Facebook, and Blueray discs. Have you seen the movie "Wall-E?" I believe that is how we are going to be. Sitting in a chair all day, massively obese, and talking to people on screens two inches from our faces even if the person is right next to us.
Technology is allowing us to talk to people easily and quickly, but it doesn't let us socialize as directly as talking on the phone would, or meeting in public. We are getting sucked into the social websites that are growing, except for Myspace, that's shrinking, and it's like we aren't as physically close to people as we could be. I suppose we can get to know each other by talking online, but we lose that connection that we can have with people, which I love having.
Another thing that people are very interested in right now are robots. Those scare the crap out of me. They're cool, but I've watched one to many "robots take over the world" movies to trust the intelligence of something made of metal and plastic. With this new intelligent Watson, it's getting closer and closer to an "I-Robot" situation. Hopefully Will Smith comes and destroys all of the robots before they try to take over the world.

The Animals

Lately, I have been thinking about animal cruelty. Videos from PETA running through my mind about chicken nuggets and veal. Thankfully, I am vegetarian and I don't feel the need to shove these nuggets of chicken carcasses into my stomach, but it's still hard to see these videos of how they are made, and just how animals are treated in general.
When you look into an animal's eyes, you can tell that they love you unconditionally. No matter how poor you are, or what you look like. But people still beat them just because they have their own problems. A dog didn't do anything, and neither did a cat or horse, or any other animal for that matter. If you start beating a harmless creature, you should know that there is something wrong with you.

I know a horse who was abused. He was left in his stall for nearly two years, and when people found him, there was three feet of crap that he was living in. When the horse, Jadir, was brought to the barn where I ride, he spent stall time walking in circles around the stall, creating a perfect circle that reappeared everyday, even if new shavings were put over it. And when he was being led into the pasture, he ran into it because he just doesn't know what to do with himself. People did this to Jadir, a sweet, thirteen hand brown pony with a thick, soft coat. People are the reason that he couldn't be ridden, because he didn't know what to do. People are the reason that when he was first brought out of his prison, he fell because he didn't more around, except for his stall.
Jadir is gone now, he moved to an animal rescue after at least eight years at the barn I go to. His owners were an older couple, and it was a hard choice for them to give him up. Unlike others, who just get rid of animals like they are any object. That is the thing that makes me angry. Animals are the center of my life, especially horses, and when I look at Carbon Copy, I know that if anyone tried to hurt him, I am prepared to hurt them back.

The Cougar

Of course I had to choose this photo as a writing prompt. The lipstick, the man in the background. It is all saying "Our marriage sucks." At least that's what I believe. Just the man's face on his cellphone; he can't even take a moment to get ready for a party with his wife, who looks at least ten years older then him. Maybe that's why she is putting so much lipstick on, and why she curled her hair into those tight rings against her scalp.
But back to the man; his unbuttoned shirt and scraggly hair shouts that he doesn't want to go to a party with his cougar wife. Maybe he's on the phone with his lover, whispering angrily that he can't talk right now, he has to pretend that he thinks his wife looks ten-years younger with all that lipstick smeared across her originally thin lips. Then he'll go to the party, walking behind his wife in her red pants suit, drink everything he can reach, and when they get home, he'll sneak downstairs after she falls asleep to watch television. Those hours he spends thinking; why did I marry the cougar?

Winter Fun Run

On the cold winter morning at the end of January, my family and I headed out to a 9k to celebrate my father's birthday. To get right to the point, the fun started while we were walking down the road to the start line. There were runners everywhere, mostly scrawny older men, but they were all smiling and pumped up. The adrenaline really went crazy when a small green car came speeding down the road, sending runners jumping out of the way and hitting one on the hip with his sidemirror. The bald headed man driving the car stopped and got out after a runner slapped his car.
I couldn't stop the giggles when the skinny runners gathered around the man. They stood yelling at each other, then pushing, then a couple of punches were swung. The best part was that a runner went into the man's car and stole his keys so he couldn't drive away. Five people were on their phones calling 911, and an elderly man held the maniac down. The race started before the police came, so it was just me, my mom and brother, and a couple of administrators waiting for the police. My mom had positioned me in front of my brother, and behind her. She was obviously fuming, sending messages that shouldn't be said out loud with her eyes to the man. As we watched the man sweet talking the cops and blaming it on the runners, I became angrier and angrier. How is that man, who nearly hit my family, me, and about ten other runners, talking casually to the three officers?
When we walked by the group, my mom interupted. She let the man know that he scared the shit out of her, and that he needed anger management. This sentence was repeated about ten times before one of the cops pulled us aside to get my mom's side of the situation. I believe that the cop was playing with us and trying to make us think he was on our side by trashtalking the man. It was starting to fascinate me, this cop's way of getting the "trust" and explaining why he couldn't arrest this man.
All of this fun really just made my day. But we all forgot about it after the suprise party for my mom after the run. Yet, I still think that the police officers could have arrested that small headed jerk who scared the shit out of my mom.

Carbon during the fall. Adorable.

Why (My First Post)

Hey, this is my first post. I'm supposed to write about what I want to come of this blogging, so here I go. I don't know; I guess I just want to write about all of the "exciting things" that happen in my life. It'll be nice to write about Carbon, the horse I lease, since so many people understand me when I start talking about the barn and my sunday morning adventures while I muck out stalls, or bring the horses out to their pastures. So this will be a venting mechanism, not of my deepest thoughts and feelings, but of the things that I find funny; most probably won't be worth sharing, but I'll share anyway. 

This isn't to get followers, or to talk about my life problems. That's all I know so far, and until I figure out a theme for this blog, these will be completely random thoughts. First post DONE.