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I have to admit that I was unable to shake my habit of being a procrastinator. Currently my life is in a state of turmoil, so for the time being my schoolwork has taken a spot on the backburner and I apologize for that. I did enjoy this class very much but I am glad the semester has ended. I really need the summer to recuperate.

This class has engaged me in reading different than anything I've encountered before. I think analyzing the stories were my favorite part, as well as reading the analogies the rest of you came up with. I love finding out the way other people look at things in contrast to how I look at them, and clearly we were able to do that time and time again over the course of the semester. I wish you all well in your schoolwork and life in general, thanks for keeping me interested. :)

my favorite childhood poem.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Short Stories

I have always believed I was not a fan of short stories. I always thought I craved more detail and longer story lines. After taking this class I have realized short stories can be more enjoyable than I originally thought. I think a lot of why I liked them more now than before is when I have only a limited amount of time I can get a whole story read and sometimes more than one. When we were assigned to read longer stories I had to spend more time (obviously) and sometimes the gaps in reading one chapter to the next had me forgetting information. I may even have to go buy a book of short stories for fun. :)

Inspiration

So as I reflect on all the things we've read during this class, I find myself wondering what some of the authors were inspired by. They say "write what you know," which has me a little fearful. Does that mean that James Baldwin was a man who could only get "excited" when he thought about hurting black people? I mean, when I really stop and think about it I get grossed out, because that could mean that this guy was some creep and his work is being read by countless people. Odds are the guy isn't actually like that, but if he isn't why did he write this story? He isn't the only author who wrote about a touchy or uncomfortable subject. Do all of these authors have darker backgrounds than I had originally thought? I just assumed they are all normal, decent people when in reality they could be bad people.

Calixta

For some reason lately I have been thinking about Calixta and her affair. I can't help but think about when we all were expressing our views on if her affair was acceptable or not. I think just because her husband didn't know and his wife didn't know doesn't mean their affair isn't going to come back to bite them in the bottom. Why do they think their one affair won't stick with them? True, right after it happened they may have felt some sort of release and happiness, but do they not think that the desire will creep back into their minds sometime again? Temptation isn't something that you give into once then never fall victim to again. I just think they made the decision on a whim thinking everything would go back to normal afterward.

Heritage and Wooded Legs

As I read "Everyday Use" I was expecting for the eldest daughter, Dee, to end up leaving with the two quilts she came home to attain from her mother. Her own mother believed Dee had grown accustomed to never hearing no as a response to any request she made, and it surprised me that her mother chose this time to stand up to Dee. People who think the world should be given to them are so obnoxious, and it was nice for her mother, however late she started, to begin telling Dee that she couldn't always get what she wanted. How dare Dee come into her mother's house telling her mother and sister, Maggie, that they needed to get with the times and change. Maybe they didn't want to change, and why should they? If their life was going how they wanted it to and wasn't hurting anybody else, they should do just what they wanted to do. Dee is a spoiled hypocrite and could benefit from learning some manners.

As for Joy, who is another spoiled cry-baby, she could benefit from a major attitude adjustment. I realize she was living at home with her mother (even though Joy was in her early thirties) because of her failing health and that she wasn't able to work, but she was a lazy, stuck-up, unpleasant lady. I am still uncertain as to why she was so blatantly rude to the people in her life. I thought when she was duped into "giving" her leg away that she deserved it. Maybe if she would have stopped thinking she was better than and smarter than just about everybody then she would have been able to see that Manley was interested in something other than her. I'm curious about how she so easily believed that he loved her, when she was described as basically an unattractive woman and he was a young good-looking man. I know looks aren't everything, but since all the two really did was look at each other before Manley declared his love for her you'd think she would know he didn't actually love her. That just proves she wrongly believes she is smarter than most others; she fell for the "I love you" trick after about a day of knowing the guy.