Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Creative Writing Q & A VI
One thing that is always on my mind is swimming. It has come to the point where I've dropped many things (games, music) just to give my full attention to swimming. I think its cool because before this I always day-dreamed about something useless (like games) but now that I don't do much other then swim, homework, and watch shows online it has begun to dominate my thoughts. At the moment I'm trying to reach some of the most rigorous goals I have ever set. My greatest goal which I hope becomes a reality is to make it to the summer Jr. Nationals. Reflecting on my times right now, doing this would require my maximum effort as it would mean dropping 6 seconds in the 100m freestyle (long course). Although six seconds is nearly an impossible amount of time to drop within one season... I have not swam the event since July of 2007 so it should be easier then a six second drop. Based on my times right now I am nowhere near achieving this goal but think with enough work and determination, it can be done. When I was around 6-7, I played all sorts of sports in fact, I hated the water when I was young. When I first began swim lessons the wall was my friend while the water was my enemy. Thinking about my past experiences with swimming makes me laugh when I realize that I probably spend 1/12 of my day in water. As I progressed through the swim lessons my mom asked if I would like to join a club, casually I said yes not giving it to much thought. One event this summer that I'm looking forward to are the Beijing Olympics. When I think of the summer Olympic games My mind instantly goes to swimming. There are few publicized swimming events and the Olympics is one of them. Its always great to see what the greatest swimmers in the world do, think , and see right before their races. Its even better to see the underdog giving the favored swimmer a run for his money sometimes even upsetting the general favorite. One of my favorite Olympic swimmers is Brian Goodell. He was a two time Olympic gold medalist in 1976. The great thing about Goodell is he wasn't even six feet tall. During his 1500 he was trailing a US teammate by a body length and was in a lot of pain at the 1000. It looked as though the race was sealed and he would finish third, his teammate second, and an Australian first. In an interview he said that at first the negative side of his mind would talk to him saying he was done but then the positive side would come on saying, "Get your head together and get going!". In the final stretch he was arm and neck with the Auzi, and ended up winning the race in a touch out. Brian Goodell had more determination then anyone in the sport. As 17 year old who was 5 foot 9-11, he was one of the youngest male swimmers to ever make it to the Olympics and he upset many races and records.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Creative Writing Q & A 4
2. As a writer, I like stories that can keep me occupied for a good sum of time. Authors that run their books in a series are some of my favorite and I read their work probably 90% of the time. My second pick would be short stories. These tend to get right to the point but often are to quick to fully enjoy. As for the type of writing I like to write I'm tied between poetry and short stories. I find most poetry to be boring but its fun to write as it can be a very creative process. Short stories require more of a plot structure and are longer have to incorporate the main idea into the story while poetry can anounce it during the first line. Script writing is my least favorite as you can feel like your charcters aren't as developed as you would like but you'd have to write a significant amount to make sure the sole purpose of the next few lines wasn't just to develop a character. Out of school I don't write often. When I've finished my asignments I really like to day dream or plan out something.
3. One of my favored topics from the writing territories asignment was the sports/activities section. For topic I decided on swimming. One of the reasons I put this sport above all others is the means winning. You don't have to score a goal and you don't have to impress others, you just need to win the race. Swimming is a very internal sport. The environment or the conditions of winning don't really change and doing well depends on yourself rather then the other team. The key to the sport is consistency and optimism. You need to be consistent in practice attendance, swimming technique, sleeping habbits, and nutrition. You need to be optimistic for what I believe is the most important part of being a great swimmer. The mental aspect of swimming is the most important part of being a great swimmer. Only when you set goals rehearse your best swims before hand and are motivated to work hard and do your best will you be able to climb over your mental barrier and do well in a race.
3. One of my favored topics from the writing territories asignment was the sports/activities section. For topic I decided on swimming. One of the reasons I put this sport above all others is the means winning. You don't have to score a goal and you don't have to impress others, you just need to win the race. Swimming is a very internal sport. The environment or the conditions of winning don't really change and doing well depends on yourself rather then the other team. The key to the sport is consistency and optimism. You need to be consistent in practice attendance, swimming technique, sleeping habbits, and nutrition. You need to be optimistic for what I believe is the most important part of being a great swimmer. The mental aspect of swimming is the most important part of being a great swimmer. Only when you set goals rehearse your best swims before hand and are motivated to work hard and do your best will you be able to climb over your mental barrier and do well in a race.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
creative writing Q & A 5
Refrain by Allen Ginsberg
The air is dark, the night is sad,
I lie sleepless and I groan.
Nobody cares when a man goes mad:
He is sorry, God is glad.
Shadow changes into bone.
Every shadow has a name;
When I think of mine I moan,
I hear rumors of such fame.
Not for pride, but only shame,
Shadow changes into bone.
When I blush I weep for joy,
And laughter drops from me like a stone:
The aging laughter of the boy
To see the ageless dead so coy.
Shadow changes into bone.
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/allen_ginsberg/poems/8340
2. I selected this poem mostly for its author. E.E. Cummings was fairly modern compared to the pool of famous poets I was selecting from. The poem itself wasn't to long but it wasn't to short. Although I think fragments of the poem are controversial, the perspective it takes is intresting and it isn't content you would here of everyday.
3. The title of them poem is Refrain. I see this title could mean one of two things. My first idea is to refrain from feeling this way. The second meaning it may posses is it could be a warning. A warning that something dark waits for all of us or our shadow represents more then just an absence of light. It is possible that it could mean both.
4. One example of personification is in the very first line "the night is sad", this is obviously a human emotion that translates into a dreary night. It also translate into a night without light (via clouds over stars, no full moon). One metaphor I found was "laughter drops from me like a stone". Since it uses like, I have doubts if its a metaphor but perhaps a similie? either way, we often assume that when we drop a rock in lake, we know it will sink. This might be a device to help the situation seem gloomier by saying the mans laughter droped or vanished quickly.
5. Cummings creates a sad gloomy tone in his play, Refrain. He creates the tone by using words such as moan or groan and ends all his passages with "Shadow changes into bone". Another system he seems to use in his poem is the effect of creating a darker tone with his use of O compared to the use of A or I, it seems much more frequent.
The air is dark, the night is sad,
I lie sleepless and I groan.
Nobody cares when a man goes mad:
He is sorry, God is glad.
Shadow changes into bone.
Every shadow has a name;
When I think of mine I moan,
I hear rumors of such fame.
Not for pride, but only shame,
Shadow changes into bone.
When I blush I weep for joy,
And laughter drops from me like a stone:
The aging laughter of the boy
To see the ageless dead so coy.
Shadow changes into bone.
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/allen_ginsberg/poems/8340
2. I selected this poem mostly for its author. E.E. Cummings was fairly modern compared to the pool of famous poets I was selecting from. The poem itself wasn't to long but it wasn't to short. Although I think fragments of the poem are controversial, the perspective it takes is intresting and it isn't content you would here of everyday.
3. The title of them poem is Refrain. I see this title could mean one of two things. My first idea is to refrain from feeling this way. The second meaning it may posses is it could be a warning. A warning that something dark waits for all of us or our shadow represents more then just an absence of light. It is possible that it could mean both.
4. One example of personification is in the very first line "the night is sad", this is obviously a human emotion that translates into a dreary night. It also translate into a night without light (via clouds over stars, no full moon). One metaphor I found was "laughter drops from me like a stone". Since it uses like, I have doubts if its a metaphor but perhaps a similie? either way, we often assume that when we drop a rock in lake, we know it will sink. This might be a device to help the situation seem gloomier by saying the mans laughter droped or vanished quickly.
5. Cummings creates a sad gloomy tone in his play, Refrain. He creates the tone by using words such as moan or groan and ends all his passages with "Shadow changes into bone". Another system he seems to use in his poem is the effect of creating a darker tone with his use of O compared to the use of A or I, it seems much more frequent.
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