Blog #2: School Lunches

I walked into the bleak, cold, and noisy cafeteria; complete with a stage and old stained and rough-textured carpet, which currently smelled of bleach.  With my brown bag in hand, I followed the current line leader of Mrs. Shimp’s first grade class.  Most students found this time to be the most fun part of the day; food and recess, what could be better?  I, however, was the pickiest 7 year-old to ever exist. While my friends sported colorful designs on their re-usable lunch boxes, I refused to use nothing other than my brown paper bag with my mom’s quasi-cursive handwriting of my name and a smiley face.  Meanwhile, lunch ladies splattered gooey green beans, puke looking mashed potatoes, and greasy fried chicken onto sterilized trays to those other friends of mine who had no problem at all eating cafeteria food; my worst nightmare.  As I sat down at my assigned table with my other classmates, the disgusting smell of their food evaporated into the high, almost endless, ceilings.  I put my bag upright to avoid looking at their disaster of a tray, and then focused on what my Mommy was so gracious to pack me.  Yum!  Little picky me got home-made peanut butter crackers instead of a sandwich.  As I opened the aluminum foil, I smelled the nutty and sweet taste of my Jiff smooth peanut butter.  Taking a bite, I heard a big crunch as the ritz crackers shattered into a million little crumbs that would soon disappear inside of my mouth.  Next to my so-called “sandwich replacement” lay a bright pink rectangular pouch of juicy-juice, exactly what I needed to quench my thirst after the dry crackers.  On this juice box was a character from “Arthur”, which as a first grader, was entirely too immature for me.  I sipped the liquid fruit punch down and it tasted so sweet and refreshing.  Peeking into my slightly-destroyed brown bag, I reached for my next tasty treat.  I found a bright, vivid, and colorful pouch with rough edges surrounding it.  TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED GUSHERS!  My favorite sugary snack, high in artificial flavors, that would soon splash and burst and make my hands extremely sticky.  Oh well, it was worth it..  I ate the green colored succulent watermelon first, then the citrusy orange, sweet pink strawberry, and then finally, my favorite, the blueberry.  It oozed and after each bite I had to wipe my hands on my dirty napkin.  When there was only one gusher left, I had to ignore the stickiness of the pouch and eat the last one in sadness.  Knealing on my scabby knees I found my last snack, another unhealthy delight that made my mouth water.  I opened the bag, the bright orange nickelodeon-esque color illuminated within the darkness as if it were gold in a mine.  The smell reminded me of my traditional late-night after dinner snack, because these Sunshine treats were my absolute favorite.  Perfectly square and symmetrical, Cheez-It’s were my final snack to devour, and I was so excited!  The baked snack softened in my mouth,I chewed it, and then afterwards swallowed in pure bliss.  As I wiped off the crumbs from the beaten up table, I thought of how thankful I was that I didn’t have to use $1.25 to eat an icky array of food groups from the lunch ladies, all I needed was my colorful and unhealthy lunch, made perfectly by my amazing mom.  I skipped in a girly and childish manner across to the center of the cafeteria, crumpling my trash into one complete ball of junk and tossed it gently into the trash can that was splattered with nauseating meals, knowing ill always remember how abnormal my eating habits are.

Blog Entry #1

As a writer and rhetor, I love to embellish details and create a story.  I'm a lover of the arts, so any type of story that paints a visual in my mind sparks my interest.  Therefore, one of my strengths is adding a catchy opening with sensory details from the start and continuing them through the entire story.  Another strength of mine is writing with emotion.  Not only do I like to write how I’m feeling; I like to share my feelings and therefore cause the reader to feel the same way.  If I can give my audience an emotional reaction, then I know I have completely moved them with my writing.  In contrast, my weaknesses relate to the concept of writing for a topic out of my comfort zone.  Research papers usually cause more stress for me because I am unfamiliar with the information, and the format is much stricter.  Finally, my other weakness is staying away from cliché’s.  I admire happy-endings, so I constantly want to write about two characters falling in love and living happily ever after, despite how unrealistic this truly is.  I would like to improve to become a more confident writer, being able to better assess my own work.  Currently, I love to write but I constantly feel the need for someone else to give one’s opinion before I feel as though it’s complete.   I would also love to broaden my range and step out of my comfort zone, writing different genres and staying away from clichés.  I make these improvements by seeking help and finding another type of writing that I am good at.  I feel as though English 15 will greatly improve the areas I wish upon because the topics of our upcoming papers are all extremely different, interesting, and my professor can help build my confidence by helping me as I write.  An inspiring source for me recently has been the lyricism of Adele, her words spark emotions and relate to many members of her audience.  She’s a brilliant writer and when music is added to her words, it creates a passionate form of art.  Also, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has always been a favorite novel of mine.  The meanings behind the symbolism are both clever and remarkable, and the setting he uses paints a perfect visual as it is being read.