im engaged!

im engaged! last weekend i was proposed to by my boyfriend of 2 years. all week i was noticing him being a little sneaky (he has a very hard time being secretive). my roomates also all knew about the upcoming weekend surprise, and they had a hard time not dropping hints here and there. so when the weekend came, stone told me he was going to pick me up at 11 and we were going to drive into austin, tx. so, we drove into austin and once we got there he put on a song in the car by an artist named tristan prettyman and told me the surprise was that we were going to the concert that night. so i was completely thrown off, because i thought the surprise was going to be the engagement. so stone and i had a relaxing early afternoon getting lunch at whole foods and going shopping. then we ended up going to a park and walking along this trail by a river in austin. we came up to a trail of flower petals that lead down to a small wooden boat that had a picnic basket with chocolate and wine. we got into the boat and by that time i knew what was happening. we paddeled out and stone began talking just about our relationship and how much he loves me. then he proposed! i said yes of course, and we paddeled onto shore and had a picnic in the park and called friends and family. after that we went to a restaraunt where 20 of my friends had come into town to surprise me at dinner. when we walked in the entire restaraunt started cheering for us. then we all had dinner and went to the concert all together. the day was perfect, the weather was beautiful, and i am so excited! both of us cant wait to enjoy this time of our engagement.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

I remember reading this children's chapter book , "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry", when I was in grade school. I remember not really understanding the brutality of a surviving African American family that was portrayed in this book because of my age. Reading it again, as an adult I recognize and understand the hardships presented throughout this book. The reason I was interested in re-reading it was because I have been studying slavery in America in one of my debate classes, so, picking up the book I felt like I could really comprehend what the author was trying to paint a picture of.

The Logan family is the center of our story, they endure many hardships throughout this novel, and they always fight for justice and what is right. The book, written by Mildred Taylor, describes the trials this family endured extremely vividly. Some of the things they went through are desrespect from store owners, burnings and killings, boycotting, losing jobs, lynching and crop fires. The family teaches the readers to stick together and stand up for what is right. Throughout the story the family is mostly trying to protect their small farm, while the kids are constantl lured into fights of defense, the Logan parents are always having to back them up. When a store owner disrespects their daughter, Cassie, the family begins to boycott the store. When a close friend gets condemned to lynching, Papa goes to stop it from happening. These are just a few of the ways they family sticks up for one another and for what is right. Over all the novel was a good read of courage and family.

Book 3: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Picture Book?: No - Chapter
Posting Date: February 21, 2008

Teacher's Pet?

In my English 413 class we just finished reading Augustine’s “Confessions”. The first three chapters are dedicated to Augustine’s early childhood. Throughout the book, the author makes a point to discuss language and learning. He pointed out a flaw that he has noticed in early education, which is learning through fear. He remembers times when he was chastised when he did not do well. I agree with Augustine in that if a child is having a hard time learning to read, they should not be disciplined for it, they should have more encouragement to study from their teachers.
My boyfriend is a substitute teacher right now, and has noticed the same thing. Although he has just told me that the same way of teaching children is still present today. While there is another side to this story, in that if a child is doing well they should be rewarded. Teaching is a hard, but extremely valuable profession, and a kind encouraging teacher is the best!

Won't You be my Neighbor?

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood! The weather was perfect today, just perfect. I spent the day in the park across the street playing with friends. We flew kites and rode bikes. This reminded me of when I was a child, spending the weekend afternoons in the outdoors. This desire, as a kid, to play outdoors was not just because of my rambunctious personality, but children’s books and television shows also encouraged this lifestyle. One television show that combined TV entertainment and reading was the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood show. Thinking back I am now interested in who exactly Fred Rogers was, and came up with a quiz of these details:
1) Fred Rogers was an American…
a. Minister
b. Educator
c. Songwriter
d. TV host
e. All of the above

2) Mister Rogers often fed his ____ during the show.
a. Dog
b. Children
c. Fish
d. Cat

3) The show began in 1968 and ran for ___ episodes, the longest running show on PBS.
a. 354
b. 778
c.1,082
d. 998

Will You be my Valentine?

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I decided to do a little research…
The correlation of Valentine’s Day to love can actually be dated back to 1382. The writer and poet, Chaucer, write a poem in honor of the marriage of two friends. The poem was read mistakenly and the readers thought he was declaring the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day. From then on, the day was equated with love and marriage. Since then many Children’s stories and picture books have been written about this topic. In grade school I remember always celebrating the special day making cards for my friends, including a poem in it, usually sounding something along the lines of:
‘Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you’
That of course is one of the most famous love poems. But, now there are plenty out there in bookstores and on the internet, I found one that might describe how some girls feel on Valentine’s Day by Myra Livingston:
If you won’t be my Valentine
I’ll scream, I’ll yell, I’ll bite.
I’ll cry aloud, I’ll start to whine
If you won’t be my Valentine.
I’ll frown and fret, I’ll mope and pine, and
It will serve you right—
If you won’t be my Valentine
I’ll scream, I’ll yell, I’ll bite!

Lost Somewhere in Time

I just received in the mail a copy of my grandmother’s journal from when she was growing up. She is still alive, and she wanted to share a little bit about what she was like when she was a child. Every entry in this journal is so eloquently written, and with beautiful cursive handwriting; and at the young age of 13! I was so impressed by her stories and it made me wonder what has happened to our education as children that we have come from my grandmother’s time with such sophistication and beautiful writing. As a young child, I could barely write in cursive let alone use words such as ‘languidly’ and ‘sauntering’. I hope one day the education system will regain the emphasis placed on rhetoric and language, I feel that through children’s literature this can be taught quite easily and through reading thy can learn a new beautiful form of language which has gotten lost somewhere in time.

Sick

One memory I have from growing up is the yearly poetry readings at my elementary school. Sixth graders at Moss Haven Elementary, spend their second semester memorizing Shel Sylverstein poems to recite to the school with their own interpretation of costumes and acting. I can remember I chose the tongue-tying poem titled “Sick”. The young girl in the poem spends exactly 27 lines complaining about absurd sicknesses she has developed that would prevent her from going to school that day. In the end she is told that today, in fact, is Saturday. Then she exclaims “okay I’m going out to play”! I enjoyed reading this poem as a 12 year-old as much as I enjoy reading it today. I definitely plan to read the poems by Shel Sylverestein to even my children one day, and I know they will love them just as much as I have.

Book 2: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Author: Shel Silverstein
Picture Book?: No - Poetry
Posting Date: February 12, 2008