My Collage

The stories i want my collage to tell:
i want it to be a story of the relationships i have with my friends. using a song and the short stories i have written i want them to come together and be a symbol of the people i have in my life that i can truly have fun with and i know will care about me for plenty of time to come. Also, one of the pieces i used is one of my favorite songs, Best of Whats Around by Dave Matthews, using certain lines fro this song it describes.
My feelings:
Some of my stories are sad some are happy some just tell a revealing story about a relationship i had. and they all make me somewhat happy to know i have people in my life who care. It was a little bit of contradictory feelings, especially in the one about my brother because it was such a sad day but i realized on that day that i would rather have a few friends that i know care so much rather than a billion friends that don't really give a crap.

Interview

My interview subject is my grandmother, Janet Santoni. She is just a woman i have admired my whole life. Before she retired, she was a nurse for many years.
Her life has been very interesting, i know it said not to use that as a reason to interview her but it is one of my reasons. She moved here from Pennsylvania to marry my grandfather. Another reason is because she is my grandma, its always important to know exactly where you came from and honestly, i don't know that much about her life before she moved to Michigan.
I will probably either just call her if i cannot get to her house and if i can i will take her out to lunch. I'll bring the prompt and show her and have a list of questions.
I am using my laptop to record what she is saying as well as taking notes of the interview.
I will probably only need one session, and any time is fine i haven't picked a specific date just yet, it seems a little early to know.
I think i need to listen to everything, get as much out of what she is saying as possible.

Facebook Statuses

Im on my way to Michigan on Wednesday, wishing I took a different route. I feel as though im driving back to sanity, Colbie Callet blasting bringing me back to sanity always makes me feel so much better. Someone really smart once told me, “when a problem arises the cowards run away but the real people stand up and face the music.” My mind goes back to work yesterday, my boss made me wish I had access to a UAV missile so I could kindly blow up my work. When I arrived at Michigan I realized this was just a stop on my way to where I’m going.

The boarding schools for native americans were created to "deal" with the native population. The children weren't allowed to use their own language or culture. They were taught that their culture was inferior, dirty , and stupid. They were forced to give up their religion and memorize bible verses and prayers of the white population. The students were almost never allowed to return home but when this oppertunity came, they did not fit in and had a completely different culture.

Objects

Original:

The blanket has really no meaning. No story behind it, the only purpose is to provide warmth. Although there is no connection to it, it will be missed. There is nothing about this fabric that is soft, its rough and scratchy. It smells of spiced apple reed diffuser. The colors are impossible to ignore, so bright and colorful. The threads come together tightly to ensure the brisk air cant seep in. The sewing has many mistakes but it adds to the design of the blanket. It’s home has always been the futon, even before the futon moved to East Lansing. It brought color to the plain black futon. Before it’s home became the futon, it resided in a lost and found at a pool, forgotten by its previous owner for a whole summer. In this case it was one persons junk and became treasure to the finder. When it was acquired the colors brought excitement to the house. As time passed, the excitement passed and became just another possession. This blanket has been in several different homes and has seen children playing at the pool, a loving family, and a new dorm room.

The futon looks so plain without the wild blanket. The living room is bland and boring. The mood of the people has gone down, it isn’t as happy of a room. The way it was acquired was always a fun story to tell and people and so many people complimented on it. You can tell the room needs more decoration The color and bubbly feeling the blanket brought to the room brought happiness to the people that saw it. Loosing the blanket makes the room almost sad looking, similar to if you bleach a colorful shirt; the color is lost making it look not as vibrant, exactly what the room is now.

After finding a permanent home It was upsetting to leave. I was taken in a car, thinking I’d never return to a home like that. Within hours I was back on the same futon but it was in a whole new place. I watched 4 girls move in and meet and bloom into friends. It was a new home, not as big and I didn’t get as much use but it was comfortable. Recently I watched one of the four girls I met move out to move back to her home. I stayed with the remaining 3 girls providing them with a vibrant decoration for their otherwise boring room.

In the pile there is a beautiful bracelet that reminds me of something a friend received from her grandma. It is silver colored and has a heart charm on it. When it was put down I heard it clank onto the table and I see shimmers even from the back of the room. The bracelet is something that I would wear every day and makes me want to receive something that beautiful as a gift someday. If this were my object I would wear it everyday and most likely not ever take it off. To me it appears that it was a gift from someone who loves the owner. It reminds me of my family and the people in my life that I care about. Just seeing the simmering and the beauty made me think about the nice relationships I have with people that are in my life and the people I love.

The fishbowl caught Risa’s eye. Immediately the colorful rocks at the bottom of the bowl made her want it. She picked it up and felt the cold glass and noticed how heavy it was. It smelled of bleach and looked sparkling clean. She got so excited when she realized that she can now have a pet, graceful and pretty fish. It will bring so much life to the room and make it less boring now that the colorful blanket has been given up. She needs to know what type of fish can live in such a small fish bowl and how many can fit. It is going to be so much more work than she expects to take care of fish. Risa has no idea how to clean a fish bowl or how to take care of a fish, maybe her friends can help her but she will have to learn quick because the bowl is now her possession and she is going tomorrow to buy new fish.

Revised:

The blanket has really no meaning. No story behind it, the only purpose is to provide warmth. There is nothing about this fabric that is soft, its rough and scratchy. It smells of spiced apple reed diffuser. The threads come together tightly to ensure the brisk air cant seep in. The sewing has many mistakes but it adds to the design of the blanket. It’s home has always been the futon, even before the futon moved to East Lansing. The futon looks so plain without the wild blanket. The living room is bland and boring. It brought color to the plain black futon. Before it’s home became the futon, it resided in a lost and found at a swimming pool, forgotten by its previous owner for a whole summer. The way it was acquired was always a fun story to tell and people and so many people complimented on it. The blanket was taken in a car and placed in a room. You can tell the room needs more decoration. The color and bubbly feeling the blanket brought to the room brought happiness to the people that saw it. The colors are impossible to ignore, so bright and colorful. This blanket has been in several different homes and has seen children playing at the pool, a loving family, and a new dorm room. Within hours I was back on the same futon but it was in a whole new place. I watched 4 girls move in and meet and bloom into friends. It was a new home, not as big and I didn’t get as much use but it was comfortable. Recently I watched one of the four girls I met move out to move back to her home. I stayed with the remaining 3 girls providing them with a vibrant decoration for their otherwise boring room.

In this case it was one persons junk and became treasure to the finder. When it was acquired the colors brought excitement to the house.

Although there is no connection to it, it will be missed. The mood of the people has gone down, it isn’t as happy of a room. Loosing the blanket makes the room almost sad looking, similar to if you bleach a colorful shirt; the color is lost making it look not as vibrant, exactly what the room is now.

As time passed, the excitement passed and became just another possession. The owner now wishes for a bracelet. In the pile there is a beautiful bracelet that reminds me of something a friend received from her grandma. It is silver colored and has a heart charm on it. When it was put down I heard it clank onto the table and I see shimmers even from the back of the room. The bracelet is something that I would wear every day and makes me want to receive something that beautiful as a gift someday. If this were my object I would wear it everyday and most likely not ever take it off. To me it appears that it was a gift from someone who loves the owner. It reminds me of my family and the people in my life that I care about. Just seeing the simmering and the beauty made me think about the nice relationships I have with people that are in my life and the people I love.

Unfortunately, the bracelet was taken by someone else and so the fishbowl caught Risa’s eye. Immediately the colorful rocks at the bottom of the bowl made her want it. She picked it up and felt the cold glass and noticed how heavy it was. It smelled of bleach and looked sparkling clean. She got so excited when she realized that she can now have a pet, graceful and pretty fish. It will bring so much life to the room and make it less boring now that the colorful blanket has been given up. She needs to know what type of fish can live in such a small fish bowl and how many can fit. It is going to be so much more work than she expects to take care of fish. Risa has no idea how to clean a fish bowl or how to take care of a fish, maybe her friends can help her but she will have to learn quick because the bowl is now her possession and she is going tomorrow to buy new fish.

Importance of Writing

I write to express the way i think about something. It is difficult sometimes to get a point across to people if they don't want to listen, writing gets one's attention and they can choose to read or not to read what i have to say. When talking people can ignore me, but when they are read what i have to say and my views it captures attention if they are interested.
It is important to get the opinions and views across to people. If no one knows how you feel about something it isn't important. Although stories are sometimes not quite coming across as opinion, music asnd poetry and art can convey a message much better. These forms of art burts with emotion and truly show exactly the point and opinion of the issue at hand.
It is difficult for me to come up with an image or metaphor for my writing but when asked to do so i could only thing of my soul, its shows my true colors, the only place you can find the real, raw emotions. Its what i hold in, the time i express what i feel to those who would never know. There is no way to fully and completely know someone until their emotions are poured out in front of you, its a way to find out the truth about someone.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Something Old
-Old friends
-Memories of past family gatherings
-Past Christmases
-Old songs/memories related to the song

Something New
-New Friends/Relationships
-future jobs: hotel general manager
-Traveling

Something Borrowed
-Other people's stories i have heard
-Things i have learned from family
-Things i have learned from friends

Something Blue
-Pictures
-Gifts

Day 1 of WRA 140

Today's class was far from what i expected. The class is more of a discussion rather than a lecture which is much easier to pay attention to after hours of lectures. We learned and discussed stories and how they create knowledge. Also, the term "creative nonfiction" was introduced as the hard facts with one person's emotions and feeling spun into it, making it much less dry and redundant. For this semester, we will be writing creative nonfiction and i look forward to a new form of writing, not the boring research but writing as i see it with my emotions. We will make knowledge through "intellectual production" which can happen anywhere to create knowledge.
From what i can tell this semester will be very interesting and beneficial to me. in the past, i have always been encouraged to write exactly the facts and nothing else. This style of writing is very new but sparks more of an interest for me.