Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My Buried Life - Author's Note

The circle of life. Pretty amazing, isn't it? We come into this world knowing nothing and as we grow old we think we know everything. Then, as we leave this world, we "make room for another human being."
So often we say that we have our entire life ahead of us. When you think about it, we really don't have that much time on this planet. I feel that our time really is limited and we can't just allow each day to wash out of our hands without leaving behind some sort of mark.
With that said, I have a question for you. How will you leave your mark? I don't have an exact answer to this question yet, so don't feel as though you need to have one too. Let the question linger. Allow it to occupy the back of your mind; allow it to become part of your subconscious.
But where to begin? We have this long journey ahead of us that we've been told about as children. We've been told that it will be hard, tiring and emotional, yet exciting and gratifying.
We know (for the most part) where we hope our destination is, but where or when is our departure? This is what has stumped me the most and it's here where these three words are brought up, "I'll start tomorrow."
That doesn't cut it anymore. When will you start? When will I start? Now.
To push myself to start my journey, I've made a bucket list of all the things I want to do before I die. From holding a koala to performing in front of a huge audience, I'm ready to stop simply living and start experiencing. I want to be able to share stories and feel a sense of accomplishment. Sure, it may be just a list but in reality it's so much more. It's a list that acts as a reminder to follow through with your dreams; to get off of your sofa and be able to say that you did it. I want to feel that and I will stop at nothing. I may never check off everything from my list but the things that I have checked off and will check off will become a part of who I am.
I can't tell you how my life will play out in the future when I don't even know yet. That's why I'm hoping that this list will push me to travel the world, face my fears, expect the unexpected, live in the moment and accomplish as much of it as I can. If that's what it takes, then bring it on. I'm ready.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Reading Reflection - Seven

Book: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 19-61

The reaping. That pretty much sums up the past forty two pages.
When Katniss volunteered to be the girl tribute rather than her little sister, I wasn't surprised. No, I'm not saying that because I've seen the movie already. From the beginning of the book, it's made very clear that Prim is incredibly precious to Katniss. After all, she is her little sister and all Katniss wants is for her to have food and to give her as much as she can with the little that they have. From what I've learned about Katniss so far, I would have been shocked if she hadn't stepped in for her sister.
After Peeta Mellark is chosen as the boy tribute, the two are taken into "rich" rooms. Here, family members and friends can say goodbye to the sacrificed teenagers. At this point in the book I noticed differences from the movie. In the movie, Katniss is visited by Prim, her mother, and Gale. In the book, she's visited by those three along with Peeta's father (who occasionally supplies them with bread and while visiting her gives her a cookie) and her "friend" Madge. The biggest difference was the mocking-jay pin. In the movie, Katniss receives the pin from a lady working at the market, while in the book, Madge gives it her, asking for her to promise to wear it at the arena. Madge explained to Katniss how each tribute was able to wear one thing from their District that could act as a reminder of where they're from. I was honestly surprised that they changed that piece so much. The mocking-jay pin turns out to be very symbolic throughout the story so changing it like that was definitely not something that I had expected.
After the reaping the story moved on to the trip from District 12 to the Capitol. The way that the movie portrayed the train ride was very true to the book. Because I had the visual in my head already reading the book made that scene that much better! I love how Katniss describes the people of the Capitol for it was exactly how they were dressed up in the movie.
Overall, I'm really enjoying the book. I'm finding it to be one of those books where you lose track of time while reading. I'm really looking forward to finishing it!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

My Buried Life - Where I Want To Go Before I Die (#1, 7, 21, 26)

Traveling to places I've never been before is brought up quite a bit on my Bucket List. Below is a map of four of the places that I hope to visit before I die.
View Where I Want To Go Before I Die.. in a larger map

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Bucket List

The following list contains things that I want to do/accomplish before I die.
Here it is..

1) Go to London
2) Hold a koala
3) Go on a gondola ride in Venice
4) Fall in love in Europe/United Kingdom
5) Perform in front of a really large audience
6) Get over my fear of snakes
7) Visit the province my Nonno was raised in: Frosinone, Italy
8) Dance in an open room with only me and my music
9) Jump off of a cliff into the ocean
10) Learn how to play the guitar (more than the few chords that I already know)
11) See The Maine in concert
12) Meet The Maine
13) Go to Ireland
14) Work for MuchMusic
15) Work in the film industry
16) Write a book
17) Send my parents on a trip to Italy.. something that they always have spoken about
18) Make someone the "happiest person in the world"
19) Volunteer at a pet store/shelter
20) Buy a stranger hot chocolate in the middle of winter
21) Play in Michael Buble's band
22) See the Hollywood sign in person
23) Grow old with the man I fall in love with
24) Spend a new years eve in New York
25) Be in a flash mob
26) Go to Australia
27) Donate hair for cancer patients
28) Go to India
29) Direct a movie
30) Go to Scotland
31) Go to a movie premiere
32) Visit the home my Omi grew up in in Holland
33) Get a tattoo
34) Give a speech and receive a standing ovation
35) Have a fancy party on a yacht
36) Go to a wedding
37) Send a friend on a trip that they've always wanted to take for their birthday
38) Learn how to speak fluent Italian
39) Audition for So You Think You Can Dance just for the fun of it
40) Buy a chocolate fountain
41) Be in a movie
42) Adopt a puppy
43) Visit a castle
44) Ride in a New York Taxi
45) Walk down the red carpet
46) Go to Las Vegas
47) See The Midway State in concert
48) Be a backup dancer for a performance at the MTS centre
49) Travel somewhere by train instead of a plane
50) Make a music video
51) Learn sign language

Personal Addition 11 - Looking Beyond

The following quote I found the other night. Something about it really caught my attention. I think it's the realness that it contains and the purity of it that I really liked. It reminded that we need to remember to look beyond what we see.

"I think you could fall in love with anyone if you saw the parts of them no one else gets to see. Like if you followed them around invisibly for a day and saw them crying in their bed at night or singing in the shower or humming quietly to themselves as they make a sandwich or even just walking along the street. And even if they were really weird and had no friends at school, I think, after seeing them at their most vulnerable, you wouldn’t be able to help falling in love with them."

Reading Reflection - Six

Book: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 1-19

After seeing the movie, I knew that I wanted to read The Hunger Games. When my dad came home with all three of the books from the trilogy, I wasn't sure what to do. I was in the middle of The Pilot's Wife, but sitting on my desk were these new books that I just had to read. So, with my lack of willpower, The Hunger Games have won me over and I have decided to postpone finishing The Pilot's Wife to a later date.

Because I saw the movie before reading the book, I already have lots of imagery going through my mind while reading and I love it! It gives the book a very real feeling that you may not get otherwise. If I hadn't seen the movie first, at this point I'd probably be assuming that there was something going on between Katniss (the protagonist) and her "friend" Gale. She describes him as quite the ladies man and says herself that he's good looking. If I were her, I wouldn't see a reason not to go for it! I guess when you're living through times with little food and only hours away from the "reaping" (where a boy and a girl, between the ages 12-18, from each District are sacrificed for a battle to the death) romance isn't exactly your top priority.
I've only read the first nineteen pages so far but I can already tell that I'm going to really enjoy it.
I'm curious to see how the book differentiates from the movie. There's always so many small pieces of books that films leave out. One very tiny thing that I've already come across is the cat that is described within the first few pages. I honestly don't remember if this is in the movie, but if it was it clearly wasn't something that they wanted you to focus on (otherwise I probably would have remembered). The way that Katniss describes the cat makes it seem so old, sick and ratty, and I feel as though the cat was a very good representation of the District that her and her family live in. I wish that they had included it, even just briefly, because the cat seemed to be almost symbolic in a weird way.
With that said, I can't wait to pick it up again and continue reading!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Writing Reflection - Nine

140 characters. It doesn't get any simpler than that.
Tweeting my list of things that I want to do before I die isn't exactly difficult.. But sometimes it involves stepping a little bit outside of my comfort zone. By that I mean that I wouldn't necessarily have shared this list with anyone if it wasn't an assignment to post it on twitter. Overall, I really don't mind. I have a personal twitter as well so I'm used to how it works.
I decided to make a second account for this course and it's not because I don't want people seeing what I have on my personal one (there's actually not too much to see there). I would just rather keep my school life separate from my personal life. It's as simple as that.
As for the list itself, I've really enjoyed the process of making it. I'm not nearly close to being finished yet; I don't think I'll ever finish it. I know that there will always be something that I'll discover that I'll want to add to my list, therefore, it's never ending.
I was honestly surprised at how difficult making my list could be.. I would have thought that as soon as my pen touched the paper all of these amazing dreams would be scribbled all over the place.
I found it interesting how when I took the time to actually sit down and write the things that I want to accomplish it was as if my brain froze, yet when I'm living in the moment so many things seem to rush through my mind at once. Maybe I'm over thinking or went into this thinking it would be a lot easier than it actually is.
I know that my list is going to continue growing, but what I'll add to it.. I'll guess I'll have to wait and see!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Personal Addition 10 - "Words of Wisdom"

The other night, my brother, his friend and myself had a bonfire in our backyard. The sky was full of stars and it had to have been one of the most beautiful night skies that I've seen in a long time. It looked as though the sky was sparkling.
It was getting late. My brother was laying in the grass, I was sitting in the chair (almost asleep) and his friend took up the small sofa. It was one of those moments where you take a moment to really appreciate life and the universe. It's an amazing thing really (our world that we live on).
That's when my brother said this..
"With everything up there that you can see.. The stars.. The planets.. and yet the earth is all we have to live on and we can barely even live on that. It just reminds you how insignificant we all are."
This really made me to stop and think for a second, and I realized how true that was. There are so many things in the sky above us.. around us.. a whole universe. We may never realize how large it actually is out there and how small we really are in comparison.
For our small size, we sure know how to take advantage of a beautiful planet.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Personal Addition 9 - Go For It

I know six word memoirs weren't everyone's favourite thing but for some reason they're what I find myself revisiting out of all the things we have tried this semester.
I always find that it's when you're by yourself, listening to music, that the best thinking takes place. You get to zone everything out and not only focus on the big picture but also on the fine details.
You're probably wondering how this has anything to do with six word memoirs.
Well, when I was giving myself time to think, I gave myself some advice.. It was a simple sentence composed of six words..
Sometimes, breathing is just not enough.
Now, this can mean something different to everyone. For me, it means that if I want something I have to go for it. I can't just expect for things to come my way without putting any effort into it. I won't get anywhere with anything if I just sit around waiting for something to happen. I need to get up and make it happen. I feel as though this is something that I need to live by and really commit to. As the six word memoir says, sometimes breathing really isn't enough.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Personal Addition 8 - Hopeful Wishing

Whether you're stuck in the moment or fifteen years ahead of yourself, we all have some sort of idea of how we want our life to play out.
After posting "What To Do" I did some thinking about what my plans for life after high school could look like. Of course there are no guarantees in life, but with the right attitude and some perseverance anything can happen.

graduate high school --> go to the U of W/Red River (creative communications) --> get an internship in TV production (MuchMusic.. if only) --> find a job in TV production/film --> go to London --> possibly move to Toronto --> travel through Europe --> be happy

This list pretty much summarizes the goals and dreams that I have for my future. I'm sure that with time it will grow, but considering I still have my whole life ahead of me, all I can do is jump in with my eyes open and hope for the best.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Writing Reflection - Eight

Blackout poetry. You take a piece of newspaper, choose words that you like, and create a poem. Sounds easy, right?
Wrong.
I actually found it to be pretty difficult! Clearly this was something that didn't come naturally to me. I felt so limited when it came to choosing words and I found myself getting frustrated occasionally when I couldn't find words that fit. I love having the freedom to write whatever I want and I felt as though this assignment held me back a little bit. As I was putting together my poems I would always think of what could go next but the words or phrases in the articles didn't always make sense once put together.
I think the idea of blackout poetry is pretty neat.. If you're good at it, because if you're like me, you'll end up with a poem about Winnipeg flooding.
Compared to other things that we have done this semester such as, six word memoirs, doodling and listography, this exercise is probably my least favourite. It's not that I didn't like it at all, I just prefer the other things that we've done. I felt like the other ones gave me more space to make them exactly how I wanted them.
So what did I learn about myself as a writer? I'm not very good with poetry (well not this form of it). I'm sure with some practice I'd see improvement but I don't see myself investing too much time in blackout poetry after this. I'll leave it to the professionals.