Al St. Louis

The presentation that was watched yesterday (guest speaker... Al St. Louis) was fairly interesting. But im not going to lie, the highlight was when he yelled out "Pull up your pants boy! It aint that big... I know... I have one!" Come on guys I know that was your favourite part too.

The speaker was hilarious. He was a very effective public speaker because of the fact that he used so many expressions, and memorized his poems, and rarely blanked out when reading his poems (.... but on every thing else... ahem...). It was so funny and I was laughing the whole time.

The only thing I would have liked about the presentation would be to hear more poems. He presented two, which is still good, but I would rather have heard the poems instead of his outlook on life and how we should always be learning (which was still good) but hearing more poems would have helped with our calss unit.

Incident while walking home

Today my friend phoned me up around 7 o clock. She was walking home through an area which I will not mention. All of a sudden I heard a loud BANGGGGG, and it sounded exactly like a gun shot. She heard it too, and we were both freaking out on the phone. Then I proposed the idea that maybe it was something using firecrackers. Then someone comes up out of no where and yells "GUUUUNNN SHHOOOTTT"... so obvoisly we were both scared but it did not seem to be anywhere around her. This was not unusual in this particular area. Still... it was 7 o clock inthe evening... what are people doing with their lives? The chaos was soon followed by police sirens... so hopefully everything goes okay there. Luckily, my friend reached home safely.

She told me about another incident which she witnessed around the same area. She cannot avoid it as this is the fastest route to her house. It was evening time (again.. not late at all) and she witnessed 3 guys beating up a guy in a wheelchair. I think this is so ridiculous that our world has come to this. Our society has become so dependant and used to violence, especially on those who are weak and are unable to defend themselves.

I was telling my mom this story, and she then she told me about how a little old lady probably around 75 years of age was wearing a gold chain.. and a fewguys came up to her with the intentions of robbing it. Knowing this, she told them to take it, but not to harm her. And what do they do? They RIP it off her neck (leaving bruises) and PUSH her down stairs. If she is giving you the necklace with just a request to not hurt her as she is fragile, why cant you just take it and scamper off into the jungle you came out of? I dont understand these types of people... how they got into such a degrading "occupation" such as robbing people and pushing them around. Neighborhood bullies turn into wild hooligans, then make children who turn out the same, and it is like one vicious cycle. Like seriosly, go to university or college or something, make something of yourself, learn a skilled trade and make REAL money. How can you go to bed at night knowing your such a waste of space? I would not be able to live with myself. I hope those people that hurt that little old lady get the lesson they deserve.

Im sorry if this post seemed a little negative... or harsh... but it feels good to get that off my chest :).

Prayer to Laughter

While working on my Poetry Anthology, I came across a poem, that for some reason i fell in LOVE with. Its just a simple little poem, but I dont know why.. it realllllly appeals to me. It makes me snicker. I shared it with my parents, and brothers as well.

PRAYER TO LAUGHTER by John Agard

O Laughter
giver of relaxed mouths

you who rule our belly with tickles
you who come when not called
you who can embarass us at times

send us stitches in our sides
shake us till the water reaches our eyes
buckle our knees till we cannot stand

we whose faces are grim and shattered
we whose hearts are no longer hearty
O Laughter we beg you

crack us up
crack us up

I think its so amazing how someone can chose a simple topic like "laughter" and create a piece using it, just by playing around with interesting words that connect to the original topic. I wish I could have used this piece for my anthology but it didnt relate to my original theme. I espeically love the choice of words in this poem. Anyone can choose random words to make a poem about laughter. But, for example, the sentence "you who rule our belly with tickles". What made him choose the word "rule" rather than something like... "give our belly tickles"... or something along the lines of that. The writer of this poem used very good poetic devices. Though there is no rhyming, it is still very affective.

This poem was from the book "Classic Poems to Read Aloud", selected by James Berry. This book has a very unique taste of different poems and I found it very useful for my anthology, but also a good read for when I am bored.

Twilight

Okay... soo I just watched Twilight yesterday night, and all I have to say is now I understand what all the hype is about.

I am someone who has never read a sentence of the books, never watched an interview with the cast, have never even seen a commercial for the movie (don't really get to watch TV anymore)... and never even heard of the books before I saw Fawziya reading them... but I LOVEDDD the movie!!!! It got some really bad reviews but I absolutely LOVED IT! The cast did an amazing job and there was sooooooo much chemistry with all the characters... I felt like another one of those crazy hard-core fans when watching the movie. I was like "OH MY GOD" and "AWWWW" throughout the whole movie! I got really into it.

I cant wait to actually read the books. Maybe during the Christmas break when I get bored, I will read them. But yeah the movie was awesome and I recommend anyone to go watch it. Many people think its a chick flick.. and yes there were moslty girls in the theatre but I think anyone can enjoy it. Even if you know nothing about it from before (like me), you will enjoy it!

Room -at night

Somehow it seems that the feeling in this room has been sucked out now. It is dark outside, the light is on. Some of the objects have been moved around, probably by my mother. There are a few books lying around now that shouldnt be. The carpet needs to be vacuumed.. which is probably what I will do once I finish this blog.

There is light swarming inside this room. Then why isnt it lightning up my mood? For some reason the foggy day was better. Maybe becuase it included natural light.. light that you cannot get from a bulb. Also, the light in this room is white which looks very unnatural to me. There are not as many shadows now. The television is on so it does not seem gloomy. The room was better in the morning because it added a little bit of a touch, a homely feeling. Now it just seems like every other room.

Poetry from the Newspaper #2.

A Canadian veteran of World War One
He was 34 when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force,
Halfway through the year second year of World War Two,
Winning didnt look like a sure thing for the allies.
From here we sit,
history always looks inevitable.
Men who served along my father,
will go down to a few dozen.
My brother remembers his medals showing up in the mail on a saturday,
almost a decade after the war had ended,
He never really thought he'd risked his life.

Poetry from the Newspaper # 1.

Knives come out,
Be aware,
Difficult relationships,
Burning up,
Tension stirring up,
Dishing the dirt,
Ongoing problems,
Violence everywhere,
Seldom listening,
Extensive talking,
Why cant we,
communicate with words...
Rather than weapons?