Contest Entry

I couldn't decide whether or not to submit my social witness essay about sexual exploitation or my moment of being essay about discovering my dad's cancer. Actually, I lied. I could decide and did so quickly. I'm going to submit my moment of being essay (and I'm banking on no one from class reading this, so as not to jeopardize the fairness of judging). It was an easy call. To me, the moment of being piece is a lot more personal and important, and therefore, better writing in my opinion. Also, if I'm getting judged by students I don't think they will be impressed by the academic nature of my social witness essay. To the world, my social witness essay and rhetorical project are far more valuable than my dad's cancer. To me, nothing could be farther than truth. Let 1/2 instead of 1/8 girls get raped if it saves my Dad's life. He would be disgusted if he read that, and I am disgusted with myself that I mean it.

Anyhoo, back to more pleasant literary discussions. The final paragraph of my moment of being essay I think is the best bit of writing I've come up with this semester. It still holds a lot of sentimental value (that doesn't necessarily have to be positive, right?) to me, and I think it comes through in the writing. It has gone through several stages of revision, and where its at now, although not done, is a far cry from where it started. Like Jenna advised, I went through it and sought out the bits of  creative expression that just didn't work, and enhanced the ones that did. I fine tuned the grammar and present/past tense. I'm still not sure about my choice to switch from first person to second at certain places. At the end, I know it is appropriate, but I do it in the middle, too. My reasoning is that I use it whenever I hope the audience can relate to the experience, or needs to to get the impact of my message. I think the essay is strong, overall. It is a poor memoir in the sense that there is no experienced narrator's voice. I do not resolve anything, or explore deeper emotions or meanings. Well, I guess I analyze the fear of the unknown versus the fear of the known, but even then I answer with sarcasm and don't really draw any conclusions. As far as a moment of being essay though, I think it is very strong. I think the reader empathizes with the piece, and me, and is hopefully affected by it. Sam out.

Thrift Store Shopping

I don't have enough warm clothes. Or rather, I didn't. I went thrift store shopping and got some sweet deals. I went to the thrift store next to Fry's on Grant and 1st. I was kinda hoping to find some really....quiche? (I know that's the food but I mean the homonym that means kinda tacky) sweaters and stuff, but I actually got some quality clothes. All their nice sweaters were size L or XL, but I realized that is perfect. They're huge and frumpy and cozy, so I got two. One of them is this black, green and yellow color scheme that is so ugly it is my new favorite. I also got the perfect hat for 1.50. It's a beanie with a small brim and its long enough for it to double over on my ears. I also got some gloves. I tested the left one to see if it fit, and it did! They're cool. Driving gloves, woven with leather padding. The problem is, when I got home I realized the right glove (the one untested) was ripped and the leather lining was falling off. A bit of sock and some super glue and they look good as new. Also a 1.50 purchase. The two most expensive purchases were overalls and a jacket. The overalls I kinda bought for the novelty, especially since they are too tight. I looked up advice online about how to stretch out pants, and sorta extrapolated on what I found and came up with my own solution. Right now, dangling behind me from a tree branch are the overalls with a bunch of rocks stuffed into the pant legs to keep them taut. Part of the handle to the household Swiffer is stretching out the waist. Periodically, I throw hot water on them. Tomorrow I'll try them on again. The jacket is just really nice. It is egg shell white. It is shorter than a duster but longer than a normal jacket. Its got a belt and a bunch of pretty buttons and I'm kind of afraid its a womens coat, but I don't care. The pockets are deep and its got this wooly lining that makes it super warm. Needless to say, I am set for anything this desert can throw at me. Temperature wise, I mean. I am totally unprepared for rattle snakes or dehydration.

Inglorious Basterds

Brad Pitt leads a team of American Jew military men behind enemy lines to lead an Apache based guerrilla warfare type Nazi slaughterfest. So why are there only two scenes with Nazi slaughtering? Goddamnit Tarantino.... Brad Pitt was such a bad ass character. You let him carve 2 swastikas into 2 guys heads, and thats about it. You create the Steiglitz character, the rogue SS Gestapo-targeting serial killer and he doesn't do shit except stab a dude in the neck and then die. Damnit man. C'mon. The chick with the movie theater was a sweet back story and good job, she burned it down and killed the high command of the Third Reich but did that really deserve half the movie? The Basterds and her never even directly cross paths. You made two movies and just combined them. Damnit man, you're making me mad. Lieutenant Aldo sooooooo cool with the O' Brother Where Art Thou George Clooney southern drawl and happy go lucky confidence and you sequester him into less than 1/3 of the movie? Jesus man. Just tell us his story from beginning to end, burn down the movie theater in the end and either get rid of the vengeful Jew girl or give her 15 mins to establish her backstory. Why does she need a lover? Why does the main actor need to fall in love with her?

Two movies:

Movie one: Inglorious Basterds

8 Americans go behind enemy lines and mercilessly slaughter Nazis with baseball bats, machine guns, knives, booby traps, and end up sabotaging the der feurer at the movie premier. Boom. Great movie.

Movie two: Jewish Girl's Revenge

The sole survivor of a family slaughtered by the SS, she makes it to Paris and opens a movie theater. By coincidence she catches the fancy of German war hero starring in a new movie. He talks the producer/director into hosting the premier at her movie theater. She crosses paths with the man who murdered her family and she has to earn his favor to her horror. Finally, her and her black lover take the ultimate revenge and burn down the theater with the entire Nazi high command inside watching a masterpiece of propoganda.

So make up your fucking mind next time, Tarantino.

Cooking

I am making steaks right now. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and steak seasoning (which I'm pretty sure is just salt and pepper) and Worcestire sauce. It is bottom round flat steak. I have never cooked such a steak before, and am worried about cooking time. I am cooking it on the broiler because A) I think the grill is out of gas B) It is raining C) I like them broiled just as much as any other way prepared.

I like to cook a lot. Lately, I made a bomb pork loin marinated over night in balsamic vinagrette, and other spices. I served it with a side of rice and wilted spinach. Also, I made a pot roast. Pot roasts are easy to make, cheap to buy, and so super delicious. I should look into making more pot roasts. Well worth the time. In the past I've made orange glazed sword fish, bacon and brie burgers, and some nachos that would blow your mind. Hold on, I need to check on the steaks. They were good to be flipped. In a few I will retrieve and consume them. Well, I consume one of them, my roommate will handle the other. We didn't have any fresh garlic. Normally I stuff a whole clove of garlic inside of the meat and let it cook like that, then cover it in olive oil. It is bomb. These steaks will be sub-bomb. Also, we are going to watch Inglorious Bastards. Tonight should be a good night. Tom is making Ratatouille for tomorrow. I'm not sure if I have faith in his skills. He's a french man though, so he should be able to pull it off. I'll be back later with some thoughts on Inglorious Bastards.

The reason for the training

I want to hike the Appalachian Trail with Gency. I wanted to do it this summer. The problem is, the trail takes about 6 months to hike. I'm hoping I can squeeze in a trip from my Grandparent's house in VT to my dad's house in NC. That's part of the reason I'm working so hard with Gency. I figure that stay and come will be the two most important commands on the trail. I'm trying to get her to respond to strangers or dogs on the street by sitting and waiting patiently for them to approach. We are making progress, but she still likes to make the first move, and that won't fly with surly hikers. Also, most of the trail has strict leash laws for dogs which I don't plan on following. Ideally, Gency will walk by my side, explore the woods to her heart's content, and ignore any hikers and animals that don't feel like being bothered.

For Christmas, I asked for a dog back pack for her. That way she can carry her own food and water, and while we're training I can fill it with sand to get her to build some muscle. She should like that, due to her inclination to pull. It would be really great if I could pull this off. A logistical obstacle is money. I might have to increase my student loan to fund the trip. I could justify that if I could get the Eng dept to give me some sort of independent study credit for the trip if I wrote about it or something. I've always enjoyed camping and hiking and that sort of stuff, but usually with other people. If it ends up being just my dog and I, it will be a very different experience. I've heard there is a very large social aspect to the trail, like people meet up and walk a few days together. So maybe that will happen. Perhaps I can find someone to do it with me though. That would be pretty cool. Wish me luck!