(Propmt From Thursday, March 10th) Calm Persuasion

I’ve never been to church with my parents. Not once, ever. This isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion, but whenever I say this people find it strange. Even those that don’t consistently practice religion surely go at least on Easter and Christmas? Nope, not our family. And I never had a problem with it until I started going to church with my friends’ families in elementary school. It would be the morning after a sleep over, and I’d be invited to come with. Sure, I’d say, why not. But the concept is still foreign to me to this day. I don’t know how all of these people gather in this room, and believe these things, and listen to these speeches. But if everybody else’s family did it, why didn’t mine? My parents simply said it was because they weren’t religious, but I could choose whatever religion I wanted to practice. Wow, now I had options.

Besides a brief stint of following Christianity due to my young mind still being molded, I’ve never fallen under any religious category. I don’t have a problem with anybody of any religion though, and I feel as if that should remain clear. I respect every individual’s choice of religion or spirituality, or, lack thereof. My issue with the whole situation is that I’m having people’s religions forced on me out of the blue. A girl stopped me on campus the other day and grilled me for ten minutes about what church I went to, and why on Earth didn’t I go to church, and had I really ever given Jesus a chance? Or people knocking on my front door and not leaving just because I declined Mormonism, even when I was polite as I could be about it. Not all religious people are like this of course, but the ones who are need to learn to respect the rest of us who don’t share their beliefs.

The sad fact is, some people take advantage of the power and connections religion gives you. Parents are teaching their children religion before they can think for themselves, and this causes the child to automatically believe that this is the only way. Not only are they forcing it on other their children, but forcing it on others. People who don’t know that there’s any other option are going to take whatever you give them. Eternal salvation? Sounds good! I don’t want to mock or blame fingers. I just ask that those of you with religious groups have the same respect for those around you that you do of each other. We’re all human beings and were given different minds for different reasons, and we should all be given the chance to explore that on our own.

One of Those Talks

“You’re not going”

“I’m going.”

“You’re not going.”

“Yes, I’m going.”

“No, you’re really not.”

“I AM.”

“You’re NOT!”

Emily and Brandon continued their squandered attempts to win an endless battle. Emily had just gotten an amazing job offer in Portland, but her husband Brandon obviously preferred it if they stayed in Seattle.

Emily paused for a moment while she contemplated her response. “We shouldn’t be using ‘I’ when we talk about this. Whatever we decide we’re doing it together.”

Brandon sat down, also becoming a little calmer. “You’re right. But I’m not hiding the fact that I’m upset. My family’s here, Em. I might be being selfish right now, but so are you.”

“I know,” Emily sighed. “I just have never wanted anything more than this, Bran. My own office overlooking the city! And a management position at the best publishing house in Portland! It’s all I’ve ever wanted.. and you can work on the things you want there too.”

There was an awkward silence between the two, both trying to think of how to get their way in the situation.

“My parents are getting older, you know. I wanted to be around them as long as I could. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them while we were away.”

“Oh, so now I’m supposed to feel guilty if something happens to your parents?!” Emily retorted. “Don’t give me that kind of unfair guilt, Brandon, not just because I’m trying to go after something I want.”

“I’m not trying to put guilt on you! I’m just saying how I feel.”

“Well you should probably say it in a way that puts a little less blame on this side of the table!”

Another silence. Not a thoughtful silence though, more like the kind of silence where they knew if either of them spoke too soon, it would be immediately regretful.

“Portland and Seattle really aren’t that far. I’ll be making enough money to where we can go visit them a decent amount.”

“I guess that’s true…” Brandon said. “But this doesn’t mean I’m giving in. I just mean it’s a good point.”

“I know,” said Emily. “I can try and be reasonable towards your points too.”

A third silence filled the room, but it was a more comforting silence than ever before.

Brandon finally spoke. “I guess no matter where we end up it just matters that we still love each other.”

Emily looked up, as if realizing she approached the situation wrong all along. “Wow. You’re right.”

Brandon smiled.

And Emily Smiled.

And then they smiled at each other.

Open Interaction

I’ve always wondered what my mother was like at my age. I love my mother more than anything, but we don’t have a huge amount of personality characteristics in common. We deal with our emotions differently, we react in social situations differently, and we analyze things differently. It has never seemed to me that at any age we would have been interested in the things. But I’m a curious person, and I believe I can never get enough information about the people I came from. So, one day a few months ago, I decided to ask my mom what she was like in college.

At first she just answered where she attended school: the University of Arizona. Well, Mom, I already knew that, and it wasn’t necessarily what I was asking. She then proceeded to say she just hung out with friends mostly, but all of this while avoiding eye contact with me and keeping her hands busy around the kitchen. My mother also insisted she was busy with school and didn’t really like going out, all while keeping her sentences very short. She tried to change the subject to what I did in college. Not only did I not particularly want to share this information, this conversation was about her. And she wasn’t getting out of it.

After more pestering on my part, my exasperated mother broke down and said once she threw a raging party at her parents’ house that got broken up by the cops. There was still no eye contact, and she seemed very reluctant and embarrassed to admit this to me. My immediate response was to laugh. Finally my mother looked at me, with a shocked expression on her face. Then she too, began to chuckle and told me the whole story as I pestered further. By the end of our conversation, she didn’t seem awkward or uncomfortable anymore. It was more like it had become a bonding experience we could both laugh over. However the last words of our conversation were, “But don’t you ever even think about doing something like that at my house!”

Week 8 Peer Review

John:

Your posts are funny as hell. I enjoy the fact that the way you write is how I can picture you talking in real life. I also appreciate the honesty; a lot of people have trouble writing exactly what comes to their mind, but it’s really adds a lot to your writing. In “Scene from the doctor’s office,” it was great how you added in your thoughts in italics. It gave a real life grasp on the situation. Your post about piercing Michael’s lip was great too, I could see it happening in my head as I read it. One thing I might suggest is to just look out for simple errors in your writing, like punctuation and run on sentences. It’s nothing proofreading won’t fix though. Good posts!

Kayla:

“Tangible Awkwardness” was a great post. The first thing I liked about it was the title, very appropriate and creative. Another thing that was good was the imagery you created. With the subtle details and accuracy of events, you created something that was easy for me to walk through in my head. I actually felt bad for Mike too, even though I wasn’t involved in the situation. One thing I might suggest is to maybe have focused a little more on what you thought of the situation, as to get a little more inside the writer’s head. But other than that, all of your written observations were great and I enjoyed reading it a lot. Good job!

Kimberly:

Your blog posts from last week really showed how sentimental your writing is. You write about what you know and what you care about, which are always going to be good subjects because they come from the heart. Your post about Hermie had me so sad! I didn’t expect such a sad ending at it really tore at my heart. But as a writer, it’s a good thing to tear at the reader’s heart. Your post about Comic-Con was also very entertaining, I’ve never read much about it before so it was cool to hear it told from a true advocate. I actually don’t have any criticism really for your work this week; you followed the prompts and responded in a well written and interesting way. Keep up the good work!

City of Angels

You think you’ve got freeways where you come from? You should see the ones we have here. Ten lanes spanning left to right in with a mass of cars covering every foot of every one. You’d better look out for your exit because if you miss it, that’ll take you an hour out of the way. Can’t keep up with traffic? Don’t expect me to be nice about it. Call it inconsiderate or whatever you like, but the rubber on the pavement is always hot and the people in the cars are always hotter. Get in the right lane, don’t cut off the Ferrari, take the exit, and let’s take a look at the city.

Downtown L.A. isn’t anything to be messed with. You think people come here to live the beautiful life? That’s why they invented Beverly Hills 10 miles west. The sidewalks are covered in trash, cigarettes, and dirt, all extending as long as you can see. Cheap pizza place? On the corner of 6^th. Need a pack of cigs and some rolling papers? Abed at the Kwik Mart’ll help you. Think that homeless man standing on the corner is really going to use your change for food? I bet you didn’t even smell the booze on his breath. I walk these streets and see these things and it all seems surreal. Because every single person you make eye contact with? All they want to do is make it here.

Our waitress at lunch was actually an aspiring actress. One of the thousands, actually. They work dead end jobs to pay for their portfolios, and still think it’ll all be worth it one day. The beach is the only escape for them, for anybody. For a minute while standing there, you almost forget that everyone in L.A. wants the same thing you do. For one minute you can unite; as the sun falls onto your face, as the cool salt water touches your toes, and as the sand squishes between your feet. You’re not competing anymore, you’re united. And as thousands of cars enter the freeways for rush hour, don’t think about how long it’ll take you to get home. Think about that fact that you’re united.

Responsibility

“Don’t me mad, and don’t freak out okay?”

That’s not necessarily what I wanted to hear right now. “Okay, what is it?”

“The weather from the storms is too bad for our flight to take off… we’re going to be stuck in Chicago at least another two days… I’m so sorry J, but can you watch over your little sisters ‘til we get back?”

“Yeah, of course! Good luck with your flight, keep in touch. We’ll be fine.” I answered before I even thought about it, as if I had that response on autopilot. As I hung up the phone, I actually started to think about the situation I was in. I had a midterm paper due in 6 hours that I hadn’t started. I was supposed to be at work in the morning. I had no idea how to cook dinner for seven year old girls.

I went to find the twins to tell them the news.

“Girls, Mom and Dad won’t be home for a couple days, I’m going to be in charge until they get back. Okay? Sounds fun, right?”

Not fun. The first thing they did was run around throwing everything they possibly could around the house. Toys, DVDs, food. I was barely fast enough following them around picking up everything they dropped. And then, I just sort of lost it.

“THAT IS IT! Jess, Tess, you two are officially in time out! Get to your room!”

“You’re not the boss of us!” Tess yelled in her little voice.

“Oooohhh yes I am!” I grabbed to key to their room, forced them in, and locked it. I felt guilty already, but had to get down to business.

Asking my teacher for an extension on my midterm, check. Getting my shift covered at work, check. Reading the directions on the box of mac and cheese, check.

Feeling better, I went into the twins rooms. They were playing with plastic horses, and determined to ignore me.

“Girls… I’m sorry. I just got a little stressed for a minute.. want me to make dinner?”

They looked at each other, smiled, and ran at me simultaneously. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a twin tickle sandwich, barely able to speak due to laughing too hard.

“TESS… JESS… hhhaaaa ahh! Okay, okay! Let’s watch a video and have dinner!”

The rest of the night they weren’t necessarily perfect angels, but what they definitely were was fun. I hadn’t had quality time like this with my sisters in too long, and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. I’m not saying the next two days would be easy, but they wouldn’t be a punishment from the world, just a chance for me to grow. And I can to the conclusion that sometimes an unexpected responsibility is just life’s way of forcing you to see things in a different way.

Week 6 Peer Review

Skylar: “Parties and Pine Trees” was a very good post. The amount of detail in your writing is really great, since it always helps paint a picture in the reader’s mind. I felt myself walking through the house as I read that post, and saw the things that you were writing. It was also neat how you built up the situation from the beginning and didn’t just jump into the drama from the very beginning. I do wish maybe the part about the actual fire happening was longer though, just to make it seem like a little bigger of a deal. Exaggerating and exemplifying certain details in a story can really bring it to life, and you definitely have the potential to do that.

Matthew:

A really liked a lot of the aspects of “Thunder in Paradise.” First off, it was good that you gave some background on what it meant to be a local and a tourist in Hawaii, since that ends up being a major factor in the story. I also liked how you made it seem like everything was happening in slow motion, even though in real life I’m sure it all happened very quickly. By slowing down and taking time to explain the situation it makes it seem more real. I really liked the ending as well, grabbing a beer after a stressful situation makes it seem a little more relaxed and lighthearted of a story. Throughout the post, there were just a couple details I thought were maybe unnecessary, but other than that it all played out together really well.

Chelsee:

I like the fact that in your posts you write about your family. They’re obviously very close to you heart, and it really comes through in your writing. Your post this week was written very clear and straightforward, which is a good thing when trying to get main points across. I like the fact that you started out with a quote about anger, and ended with a picture and warm closing note about your brother. I would have like to see a little more analysis of the situation though. Instead of just stating what happened, it would have been cool to see you asses and go into more detail about your feelings. Just taking it to the next level could have really enhanced the story, but it was still a very enjoyable read.