Blog Assignment #8 -- Final Workshop Reflection

Wow my heart is actually racing as I'm writing this. I made quite a few friends in this class and it has defiantly been my favorite. I connected with every single persona I have spoken to and even felt comfortable wanting to present in front of all my classmates. It's crazy to think that great writers were sitting to my left, right, in front, and behind me. I have grown so much in this little space of time both mentally and with my writing. I can now see the beauty and the stories in  all simple matters. And since I was surrounded by artist, it pushed me to want to do better. All the works we looked at as a class where good so I can't point to one specific piece. They all taught me things I never knew about writing like how to take a real life situation and turn it into a novel without fabricating anything. It has defiantly become one of my favorite writing styles and one that I will always utilize. Thank you Professor.

Personal Memoir: "Simple Times"

Michael Gomez

Simple Times

An amazing experience can happen without effort or premeditation. It can arise without cultivation or temporary keeping. Winning a championship, graduating from school, getting to see other places, and finding love are things that people cherish and wish they've done. For me however, they are just an objects of thought. My personality is not well planned and may sometimes lacks social graces. That is the main reason why some of the best moments in my life have been siting down with a group of friends talking.

Talking is a form of communication using words to express yourself. But many times this ability gets it purity destroyed by bigots, imitators, and others who can't handle the truth. So when ever I can let go and speak freely while sharing my stories with others who feel the same way as I do, I feel a great sense of indulgence. And because my personality is so complex I don't fit in well with many people, however it's okay because friends like mine are hard to find.

About a year ago I came home from a sporting event, it was around two in the morning and my friends where hanging out in my brother's bedroom playing video games while my parents slept in their room. In any other house this would have been awkward and unacceptable but my home and others have never been alike in character. Sitting there was Josh, Joseph, Javier, and T.

I greet them and ask how they were doing and then I mention how I had to be at work at seven thirty which was just a few hours later.

T: Man to hell with working. You should be more like me. I don't work, I don't do anything my life, I'm not in school, and all I do is smoke weed.

“Yeah but you need a career sometime” I tell him.

T: To hell with that, as long as I got my weed, liquor, women, and parents supporting me I'm happy. I'm thirty five years old and I've been living this lifestyle for over forty years I know what I'm talking about. I may be a loser in the eyes of most but at least I'm not miserable due to some job.

Josh: See see look at you, this is what happens when you take an Asian and raise him around a bunch of blackies.

Javier/Joseph: O no here we go again.

Joseph: What's your problem, man? You're black yourself.

Josh:Hey, hey, hey watch your mouth! I'm only black on the outside. Deep down in my heart, mind, body and soul I'm different. This is why I'm not a drug addict who has been to prison and has four kids with three different women.

Joseph: Not all blacks are like that just look at...

Josh: Shut up. What you where going to say? Obama? First of all he's light skinned. Secondly he doesn’t utilize black talk. Third he's smart enough not to hang out with spooks like you.

No one knows why Josh was so racist. We fell that his upbringing has caused a lot of pain in his life thus why he is so self hating. But then again there was a story of him being kicked out of white castle for being too black and maybe that was the prime moment of his life that made him the way he was. I start complaining about stress and work and how difficult it is the work with the public. I then I ask Javier and Joseph what it's like to work fast food since they are both employed by McDonald’s.

Javier: I don't want to be judgmental but people are so stupid! This lady buys three big Macs and large fries and has the nerve to order diet soda. With all that geese you're eating you mean to tell me that you're worried about the calories in soda? What an idiot.

Everyone in the room laughs.

Joseph: Man, once we let this lady in the bathroom and noticed twenty minutes afterward that she was still there. We then gave her another ten minutes and felt something was wrong. After the door got open we found her hugging, caressing, and kissing the toilet.

Me: Damn I guess ugly women want love anyway they can get it. (Again we all smile and have a great laugh)

Javier: “This once lady come to my register right. And she orders a hamburger with cheese. So I rang up a cheeseburger. But when I gave her the order, she got made because she didn't want a cheeseburger but rather a hamburger with cheese.”

Everyone in the room: WHAT! HAHAHAHA

Me: “So what did you do?”

Javier: “I just changed the paper from the yellow one to the white one.”

T: “I once had a car but I soled it for gas money”

Javier: “What does that have to do with anything?”

Joseph: “Yeah what does you being a moron have to do with anything?”

Josh: “It has to do with the fact that he's a nigga lover. He didn't even have a license because he can't even pass a urine test let alone one given by the state. I bet he can't even read.”

T: “Shut up dude! You're blowing my high, man. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm toasted right now you'd get beat up.”

Josh: “Yeah whatever. Hey you know who else can't read”

Everyone in the room: “Who?”

Josh: Stevie Wonder. “You know why?”

Everyone in the room: “Because he's blind.”

Josh: “No idiots, because he's black!”

Javier: “You're an idiot but I still love you, man. I'm pretty sure you don't get that a lot.”

Me: “You don't get much love either don't you.”

Javier: “Not really. My girlfriend left me because I'm not a college student and people have always looked down on me for not being the best academically. What can I do? I'm just not good with school, I'm better with my hands.”

Joseph: “People judge and accuse me of things I never do. There are rumors of me being a coke addict. Time and time again I keep telling people the truth but they won’t hear it. I mean I don't sniff coke, I just like the smell of it.”

Me: Liar. “I bet your going to say you drink either with that nice bottle of liquor in your hand.”

Joseph: “Shut up curly. I don't drink to get drunk I simply taste different alcoholic beverages as a form to escape to another world where most people like me.”

Me: Wow you can never take responsibilities for you acts (Laughing).

Joseph: (Smiles) “You know me.”

The conversation lasted until seven A.M since I had to leave for work. I had such an amazing experience and there weren't any roller-coasters or special events. The room was filled with the same kinds of people that exist outside of the walls we were in. And yet we are outsiders. Funny isn't it?

Blog Assignment #7 -- 'Author's Note' on Assignment #3 -- Personal Memoir

Simple Times

"An amazing experience can happen without effort or premeditation. It can arise without cultivation or temporary keeping. Winning a championship, graduating from school, getting to see other places, and finding love are things that people cherish and wish they've done. For me however, they are just an objects of thought. My personality is not well planned and may sometimes lacks social graces. That is the main reason why some of the best moments in my life have been siting down with a group of friends talking.

Talking is a form of communication using words to express yourself. But many times this ability gets it purity destroyed by bigots, imitators, and others who can't handle the truth. So when ever I can let go and speak freely while sharing my stories with others who feel the same way as I do, I feel a great sense of indulgence. And because my personality is so complex I don't fit in well with many people, however it's okay because friends like mine are hard to find."

This is an exert of my memoir writing about an experience I had that involved myself and a group of friends talking. This entry is rather light in its humerus manners but there is a deep meaning behind all the words and dialect. Ironically enough though, the meaning and the messages sent in this piece wasn't put there voluntarily. It was all magical just like other great things in life that are simple and easily to appreciated. I wrote it because it's a true story of reflection concerning the lives and characters that aren't that different from anyone else but still suffer alienation from the hands of the "real world". It is rather wacky at times, but then again, so is life.

Blog assignment number six:Mid way reflection

I remember the first day of class it's an an eerie feeling. It's seems like the semester was long due to everything I've learned but yet short because it felt like I started yesterday. I chose this course for the fact that it was available and I'm glad it was. When I started, I had no clue what creative non fiction was or who some of the great writers we looked at where. This course defiantly tested and changed my writing habits. Before I wrote just to fulfill a requirement now I'm contemplating getting published someday. At the beginning of the course I wanted to focus on dramatic stories but now I see that a novel can be written by just walking down the street. It's been a great road and I'm proud of the fact I took it.

Blog assignment number five-Reading Willliam Styron's Darkness Visible

Darkness Visible: A memoir of Madness by William Styron illustrates Williams Styron's battle with depression. Although physiology text books and scientist can give someone a definition of what depression is, nothing hits home harder then a detailed first hand experience. His fight with depression started in 1985 when he flew to Paris to obtain the Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca. Who would of though getting to fly out and explore another country to recirve an award could be the begining of a dowaward spiral?


 Interestingly enough Styron almost gives depression a character. This character is rather puzzling and contradictory. This same character almost took Styron's life via suicide. So how does he fight it? But self medicating. He dwells and reflects on his past alcohol abuse and current usage of prescription medicine. With help of others, he was able to fully recover and defeat the demon in his mind.

Styron published this work for many reason but I think the first is is because he's a writer. Writing is a form of expression and I know for a fact that he wanted to express, in his own words, the power of depression and what it's truly like to go through it. In closing I must add that Styron wanted to let others know that they can triumphantly face, and conquer any enemy that saddens them.
 

ENG 274 Blog post number four:The most overated picture ever!

The Renaissance was an amazing time period in our history as humans. But at the same time it proved just how mentally fragile our brains are. Here we have a painting a a woman sitting down. She has no eyebrows and the scenery behind her is land possibly owned by her husband. The original portrait draws millions to want to see it and it further exemplifies the fact that someone can make something seem more special that what it is with mind control and the right words. This one has never stopped being talked about and I believe this is done purposely so that companies can make more money. I was compelled to write about this portrait because it reflects my life. I've always called out the intelligence of others while "sticking to my guns" when it came to what made sense to me. This is why I always had to fight against the world it seems. I'm a free thinker and I don't agree with the majority decision as my heart doesn't fear neglect for I have faced it numerous times. It funny how people who view this "work of art" as more than what it is consider themselves intelligent. The irony in this is that they don't know their sheep.

ENG 274 Blog assignment number three: Authors note on my vignette.

"My eyes close... my head bangs on the airbag. Shards of glass pass all over my face and everything is spinning. My head and neck is twisting and turning repeatedly. Everything is happening so vastly but I can't put anything together or think clearly as I'm getting hit in the head. Suddenly the car stops, the carnage, and the nightmare is over. I look at my friend, then she looked at me and we are both thinking about what happened. My friend hears a loud noise coming our way, looks to her left, and it starts all over.

Blood and glass is spattered everywhere. I feel something hit my left arm really hard. Again everything is shifting, it's like I’m on a roller coaster, a roller coaster where the ride's my biggest nightmare.

After I regain conciseness my body starts to shake because of the shock I'm in. But once I look to my left, a sight turns that shock into something more. That sight made me cry, the sight made me scream, that sight gave me a pain worst that what my bruises and cuts could. That sight is my friend dead." 

This vignette involves a story of a girl who got herself in a serious accident texting while driving. I was inspired to write it because it knew it could have an effect on a reader and raise awareness on the dangers of committing this act. Although it is both dramatic and heartbreaking I felt it made for a great read. And even though I've writing short stories before, I've never done it in a journalistic manner. While writing this vignette I learned that a story with characters and script can be found anywhere at anytime. It even improved my writing skills vastly.