Dance, dance, dance

All week long, I have been having mandatory dance classes every day. We have a competition coming up next weekend, and we're cramming last minute practice sessions in to perfect our dances. I am so excited for our dance competition, and I really think we are going to do well. I think we are for sure going to get a first place for one of our numbers, and I'm crossing my fingers for a first for the other dance. On top of dance, I also have mounds of homework adding up all week. This week has been crazy hectic- I don't know if my teachers are just being cruel or what, but they sure did not try and transition us back into the swing of school after our week off from school. My first day back- BAM, they hit me hard with work. I even have a Math essay due tomorrow- a Math essay. Who writes essays for Math? I have to write it about the history of the calculator. I am not looking forward to doing that tonight, along with all of my other homework. Besides all of my work, I am really getting excited for next weekend. Two weekends from that, I have my sister's wedding. I cannot explain how excited I am for that! It is going to be such a fun night. I am the maid of honor, so I get to actually be in the wedding. I have never been in a wedding before and I am really excited. I have a busy month coming up!

Wordly Wise Lesson 7 Parts I & 2 put together

Castigate

“Parisians castigate ‘ignorant’ plans for Hotel Lambert.” (theguardian)

-Paris natives berate all ignorant plans for their new hotel; they don’t even consider them, they completely rule them out and they sharply criticize them.

Colloquial 

“Classes offered at Colloquial Metaphor University.” (CollegeHumor)

• The college is characterized by informal language; the people there use many slang sayings and metaphors. 

Epitaph

“Who's a Hero Now?”(New York Times) : F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the epitaph to this whole sad affair: "Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy. " Bill Freeland Sunnyside, N.Y.

• Scott Fitzgerald wrote the letters engraved on one’s tombstone in memory of a life diseased in this sad affair.

Exodus

“Exodus students: starting the journey.” (exodusinternational.org)

-Exodusinternational.org is a website to help individuals who are about to embark on a serious journey, or an exodus, of accepting their sexuality.

Inter

“Internment of San Francisco Japanese” (The virtual museum of the city of San Franscisco)

-This article describes the deaths and interment of several Japanese in San Fransisco, or the placement of their bodies in their graves. 

Lacerate

“Waitress Lacerates Patron at Hugo's, Alleges Sexual Harassment” (StamfordPatch)

-The waitress at Hugo’s lacerates out alcohol, she breaks it out so quickly to serve to people which leads to sexual harassment. 

Largesse 

“The Privatization of Foreign Aid: Reassessing National Largesse” (Foreign Affairs)

-There was a national gift given; in this case it was a gift of foreign aid.

Obituary

The New York Times: Obituaries. Davy Jones, Monkees Singer, Dies at 66” (The New York Times)

• The New York Times contained an obituary for Davy Jones; a notice of his death in newspaper form.

Omnivorous 

“Making the transition from omnivorous to vegetarianism” (ezine articles)

-In this article, a vegetarian, former omnivore, gives advice to fellow omnivores wishing to change their animal and vegetable diet to a strictly vegetable diet.

Permeate

“Business Clarity should Permeate your business” (business-management.com)

-In this article, a man gives advice on how to permeate, or make your business spread out and become more known and popular.

Rendition

“UK investigations into torture and redition- a guide” (the guardian)

-This article details a series of investigations, seeking to get to the bottom of claims that British officials were involved in a rendition, in this case the performance of abuse to detainees.

Resurgence

“Resilience Thinking: an article for the latest ‘Resurgence’” (transitionculture.org)

-In this article, resilience is offered to others in response to the latest resurgence, or a rising or revival.

Stereotype

“Stereotyping that hurts; stereotyping that helps” (Psych Central)

• In this article, a psychiotrist aims to teach others about the dangers and helps of stereotyping, or the act of making judgements that ignore individual differences in a group of people.

Stipend

“CA students’ stipends to rise with new rule” (The times of India)

• In this article, an Indian clerk tries to rise his regular or fixed amount of pay, or stipend, under the Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Subservient

“Burgerking Subservient Chicken” (Snopes.com)

-This article makes a claim that fast food chain burgerking is behind a “subservient chicken” internet promotion, which would mean burgerking was serving or acting in a subordinate manner.

Claims for "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

"In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie discovers life is a crapshoot. "
 This claim is very weak; first of all it uses the word "crapshoot." I do not think this is a strong, let alone appropriate, claim for this book. I would definitely consider rewording the claim if the person is trying to prove that Janie does not live a good life. However it was me, I would change the claim altogether because I do not believe it is a good claim for the book. Janie's life is not a "crapshoot," because in the end, she seems happy, alone or not.

"In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston proves that the satisfaction of freedom may result from loss."
  This is a very strong claim about Their Eyes Were Watching God. There will be a plentiful amount of textual support from the book to back it up. Through her three marriages gone wrong, Janie ends up happy in the end, alone. Her freedom and independence are what end up making her happy in the end, and her freedom most definitely results from loss- the loss of three husbands, to be exact. It should be a very easy claim to provide support for.

"Their Eyes Were Watching God is a great example of the trials and tribulations of love."
Also another strong claim, however I would refrain from using the word "great" and aim for a more sophisticated word. Throughout the book, Janie journies through the marriages of three different men, all the while getting to know herself better and learning what she does and doesn't like/love. It takes trials of the first two marriages for her to finally find her true love in Tea Cake, however Tea Cake himself ends up to be somewhat of a trial because in the end she ups up happy and alone. There should be a large amount of textual support to back up this claim.

Mardi Gras

So it is Mardi Gras break, and I've been looking forward to this year's Mardi Gras for a good 365 days. On Monday, my friend and I went down to New Orleans for some parades, and the plan was that we would stay with my sister for the night, and then get to go to parades on Mardi Gras day. Well somewhere along the lines my parents decided to call me freaking out because we weren't with my sister yet, and were forcing us to come home. My dad recently got a GPS tracker installed on my phone, because despite the fact that I am the world's most perfect child, he doesn't exactly trust me. As my friend and I are on the way back from New Orleans, he called me and asked me where I was, and I replied with "Just leaving New Orleans." Well he tracked me, and it said that I was near Port Allen. Even though we WEREN'T. I tried telling him that the tracker may just not be accurate, but he did not believe me, and when I returned home I received the news of my grounding. Yep, that's right, I was grounded on Mardi Gras day. A day that was supposed to be tons of fun ended up being one of the worst days I've had in quite a while.

Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day, a Tuesday, and everyone has tons of treats. Brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cakes, candies- the list is never ending. However I am on a diet; I've been trying to eat healthier. So I can proudly say that I have not given in and eaten any of these delicacies, despite my raging sweet tooth. I have only eaten 3 apples for the day, and have drinken a ton of water. I plan to eat a nice salad for lunch, and then a nice 200 calorie can of soup for dinner. The best feeling in the world is accomplishing a healthy diet. And  I suppose having a valentine on valentine's day isn't too bad either.. I actually have a valentine this year, and I am quite content. However he has a baseball game today, so unfortunately I will be doing no celebrating. I am okay with this though because I have four tests this week and a project, plus other homework on top of that. So that is how I will be spending my valentine's day this year.

Sister's Bridal Shower

Today, Sunday, was my sister's bridal shower. She is getting married in 39 days, on March 24. I am her maid of honor, so I had to help out a lot with the shower and setting up. The house that the party was held at belongs to the parents of her best friend since middle school. It is a beautiful house, but the mom is an extreme perfectionist. She is the most OCD person ever, and we call her "crazy-pants." So I was in charge of filling all of the candy bowls around the house with the specially colored candies we had purchased to match the color-theme of the party. I could not find any scissors, so I figured I'd just open the bag by hand. Something went wrong, and the bag completely exploded and hundreds and hundreds of little purple candies went flying everywhere. I'm talking hitting the ceiling, the windows- everywhere. I froze; I had no idea how to proceed. Suddenly I snapped back into it; and immediately just dove to the floor to try and begin cleaning up a mess that appeared would take hours. I was thankfully able to get every candy- or so what appeared to be every candy- up just in time before the mother entered the room. It was the closest call ever.

Sequel to "The Yellow Wallpaper"

            Why I have been put in this place I do not know the answer to. There are no lines or patterns on the walls here- how incredulous! The walls are blank! I do not want white walls! How will I see the woman? I have no way of reaching her now. How will I know what she's up to? She must be watched at all times. How will I know if she escaped? I have to help her. She needs my help!
            There was no reason for him to have fainted. How could John be so queer. He knew I was getting better! I knew; she knew. She helped me get better. I need to help her. How can I help her here? They do not know that I am still writing. I hid the paper. It was not easy- and I'm afraid much too personal to explain how I was able to hide it. But I did, and now I am writing, in this little room, and I am afraid to say I do not feel much better. I can feel the nerves creeping back in now. They are coming back. They do not know that these little rooms do not help me. I need to be out- I need to be helping, working. I need to help the woman.
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             My nerves are back, but I believe I've found a way to get them to go away. I have to do what these people say; I have to make them think I am better just as I fooled John. Then they will let me go, and I can see the woman. And I can go back to my normal ways- I must work. Working is the answer, I need something to keep me occupied and my nerves can go away. They are coming now, I must stop writing.

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              I did it! I fooled them all. I am out of that horrid little room with no patterns on the wall for me to follow. I am back home- John is away at work. There is nobody in the house with me today- I have the day off from work. I was right, working helped. It made my nerves leave me once again. Days like these when I have off, I like to wonder into the den. There is, though I never noticed before, a distinct little pattern on the walls in here. So here I sit- writing, watching, helping the poor man that is trapped inside these walls.