{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35590194","dateCreated":"1299703834","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35590194"},"dateDigested":1532145516,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Mar. 9th - Pick A Clip","description":"Find a film clip\/book\/graphic novel, and do a breakdown\/presentation\/analysis on archetypes, plot, stages of the journey, the protagonist\/antagonist pair etc.
\n
\nUse what you've learned in the class so far to create these breakdowns.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35638944","body":"Movie Trailer: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lSC2U2yYESw&tracker=False<\/a>
\n
\nScenes: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d6cNFTAoLZw&tracker=False<\/a>
\n
\n
\nDirty Rotten Scoundrels:
\n
\nFreddie (Steve Martin): Protagonist Trickster (embodies mischief and desire for change, comical character but less likeable than his Mentor).
\n
\nLawrence (Michael Caine): Mentor Trickster (eventual Shadow Mentor Trickster, when he tries to defeat his student, Freddie)
\n
\n
\n
\nFreddie is a somewhat unlikable trickster protagonist who works as a small-time con man. He has recently come to the south of France for an adventure and to gain more riches than he was able to find in the States. He is looking for change and transformation when he meets and is tricked by his Mentor, Lawrence Jameson, a very debonair and successful con man who has a beautiful estate in the town of Beaumont Sur Mer on the French Riviera. Lawrence has connections with the local Police Inspector (A Harold and Ally) to protect and help him. They encounter Freddie trying to take over the town with his two-bit tricks and Freddie blackmails him becoming Freddie\u2019s Mentor and teaching him the tricks of the high-end trade.
\n
\nIn the following scene grouping, Lawrence is pulling his usual con, but this time, he will use his student, Freddie, in on the con. Lawrence is lead to a Call to Action by the Police Inspector (who is not shown in the scenes) who keeps up on the local comings and goings of wealthy tourists. They target shallow and\/or stupid wealthy American woman. Lawrence plays the same trick over and over which has made him a large fortune: He pretends to be a king in asylum from a small, fictitious nation where he\u2019s the ruler. He tells the woman that his country is fighting for their freedom against communist invaders. He charms the women into his arms, takes their \u201cdonations\u201d for his freedom fighters and then carefully sends them packing. Now that Lawrence has a student who wants to learn, he sets up a new scenario where Freddie becomes his mentally handicapped brother, Ruprect, who he uses to make the shallow woman forget about their donations and go back to the US, never to return. Freddie is now on the part of his journey where he is being Tested (as well as used). This is Freddie\u2019s Approach to the Inmost Cave since he has now made the adjustment to the Special World of Lawrence\u2019s Beaumont Sur Mer and is now going to seek what is at the heart of this world.
\n
\nThe men soon after encounter Miss Colgate, who is the Antagonist Trickster and eventually, a Shapeshifter.","dateCreated":"1299769549","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35640804","body":"Push: Call to adventure example: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zFYfb4OYS_g<\/a>
\n
\nKung Fu Panda: Mentor & Threshold Guardian
\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EIXRkShk2V4<\/a>
\n
\nAnger Management: Trickster\/Shadow Mentor
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M-GV46SUcWs<\/a>","dateCreated":"1299770793","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35444834","dateCreated":"1299530837","smartDate":"Mar 7, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35444834"},"dateDigested":1532145516,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Mar. 7th - Plot Dialogue","description":"From your plot, write a piece of dialogue between two of your characters.
\n
\nWriting an argument can make the flow work more easily.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35489412","body":"Romantic Comedy argument between New York City residents, competing co-workers and newly engaged couple Andrew (African American, from Georgia) and Aaron (Jewish, from Connecticut). They have both just come out to their families for the first time after years of hiding their sexuality. But both Andrew and Aaron were more shocked to find out that their families had much deeper problems with their dislike of their fiancee's religious backgrounds and cultures. They are in Aaron's friends house, where they are staying for a few days in Connecticut. They have just had a disastrous run in with Aaron's matriarchal Jewish mother.
\n
\nAndrew: What am I supposed to do?! My family hates you, your family hates me!
\n
\nAaron: What in the hell does it matter what they think?! All of these years, we've both been gay! We've both been in love before! We've both been happy! We've got..(interrupted)
\n
\nAndrew: But how are we gonna make this work?! You know my family means everything to me. You KNOW that.
\n
\nAaron: Andrew, I just gave my Dad a coronary for God's sake! And why?! (becomes quiet, looking at Andrew).
\n
\nAndrew: WHY!?
\n
\nAaron: Because I want to spend my life with YOU!!
\n
\n(they become quiet for a moment, looking frustrated and angry at one another. Andrew hugs Aaron tenderly, then gently grabs him by the arms and looks into his down-turned eyes).
\n
\nAndrew: (softly) Look. What's done is done. You're right, ok. And we're gonna make this work..! (takes his face in his hands) OK?
\n
\n(they both smile)
\n
\nAaron: Ok.
\n
\nAndrew: (very calmly but firmly) And I'm gonna get my Channel back from your mother.","dateCreated":"1299596534","smartDate":"Mar 8, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35494794","body":"Leila, goes to sleep, enters a dream and is in wonderment of the new found land.
\n
\nA fairy gives Leila a gem that she must protect. The gem was placed in Leila\u2019s heart and embedded itself before Leila could ask the fairy any questions.
\n
\nBecause the fairy was in such a hurry to deliver the gem and leave, Leila finds out from a talking squirrel that the gem belongs to the Mother Angel of the land.
\n
\nSquirrel: Excuse me young lady but I think you have the gem that belongs to the Mother Angel.
\n
\nLeila: Hey, Little Squirrel, I dunno who you're talking about, but\u2026. wait...wait! No way! Did you just talk to me?! That\u2019s way cool.
\n
\nSquirrel: (giggles nervously) Yes young lady. All animals talk here in the land of the Mother Angel, but that's be sides the point. We should return the gem back to its rightful owner.
\n
\nLeila: Good idea and I would love to, Little Squirrel, but it's sort of stuck in my heart. I don't know how the fairy did it. It was magic! She came to me, shoved the gem in there, and flew away!
\n
\nSquirrel: Aaah\u2026I see. Fairies are quick aren\u2019t they? Well, I'm sure if we deliver YOU to the palace, then the Mother Angel will know exactly what to do.
\n
\nLeila: Great! Let's go! How long will it take to get there?
\n
\nSquirrel: Well, if we start now and stay hidden from the dark clan, it\u2019ll take about 3 days.
\n
\nLeila: Oh no! No, no\u2026 I can't do that! I've gotta get back home to Mom and Dad. They\u2019ll be worried about me, soon. I shouldn\u2019t be here. And the dark clan, who are they?
\n
\nSquirrel: Don\u2019t worry, Young Lady, we\u2019ll get you to the Mother Angel and she\u2019ll be able to send you home once the gem is safe and restored in the palace.","dateCreated":"1299600550","smartDate":"Mar 8, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35624612","body":"Let me see what I can do.
\nAre you sure you don\u2019t want help?
\nThis is you not wanting to let go. Just sit down and make us some tea.
\nWhy a Disney movie?
\nIt\u2019s my favorite.
\n
\nApparently 'Disney is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue\u2019, founded by Walt and Roy, his brother. Wow, that would suck. Jesus's younger sibling. What would Jesus's brother's name be?
\nWhat?
\nIf Jesus had a brother, what would his name be?
\nAre you still drunk?
\nJake. It'd be Jake. Jake Christ. How's it coming?
\nDon\u2019t you worry.
\nYou know I\u2019ve got movies?
\nWhen\u2019s the last time you watched a Disney movie?
\nWith my Mom, when I was 7 or 8. Almost twenty years ago. Wow.
\nWhich one?
\nI think\u2026The Black Cauldron.
\nOh, that one\u2019s awful.
\nI liked it.
\nWhat other ones have you seen?
\nAladdin.
\nI so wanted to be Jasmine when I was little! I wanted Raja and a prince! I still do. Is that it?
\nYeah.
\nWhat?! Beauty and the Beast?
\nNo.
\nLittle Mermaid? Fifle Goes West? Pocahontas? Come on.
\nNone of the above.
\nThe list. Now.
\nI\u2019m not putting them on the list.
\nWhy!
\nCause. I won\u2019t.
\nYou feel dumb because it\u2019s Disney. Baby, search some of them on Rotten Tomatoes. Do it.
\n
\nAll in the 90\u2019s.
\nSee!
\n
\nOnly you could make half a bean burrito, oranges and doritoes look gourmet. I\u2019m impressed.
\n
\nSo what was Lillian's problem last night?
\nMan trouble.
\nHow can you stand it?
\nWhat?
\nBeing on the receiving end of that.
\nJust as a good job, high income and artistic success is important in our lives, a child, home, husband and family are important to her. It\u2019s what drives her.
\nI hate children.
\nYeah. I don\u2019t understand how you take it.
\nYou know, I really didn\u2019t hate them until I starting teaching. You\u2019ve got more doritoes in the cabinet if you want them.
\nI hate spoiled people too.
\nFunny.
\nWhy is that funny?
\nI dunno, it's just funny.
\nI have an impatience for spoiled people because although I was spoiled, I\u2019m not now. I don\u2019t act like it. You\u2019d never know.
\n
\n...Well, I suppose I act spoiled in some circumstances with my father, but not to anyone else.
\nIs this white tea?
\nDo I act spoiled?
\nUntil two years ago you\u2019re entire income was based off what your father gave you. You\u2019ll have that Jeep for five more years.
\nSo?
\nYou\u2019re spoiled, baby.
\nNot true.
\nYou\u2019re a hard worker and I think you\u2019ll be very successful. But the world has always been your oyster. It\u2019s ok! It doesn\u2019t bother me. You\u2019re right, I probably wouldn\u2019t have known until I got to know you better.
\nWhen did you find out?
\nListening to you and Harvey talk on the phone.
\nGo on.
\n\u2026You just\u2026need him. It\u2019s because of your Mom.
\nOuch.
\nHow\u2019s your burrito?","dateCreated":"1299741391","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"wadetravis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/wadetravis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298480198\/wadetravis-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35629368","body":"Daniel Iwanicki
\nMarch 7, 2011
\nPlot Dialogue
\n
\nThere is sincerity in the eyes of a snake. Transparent eyelids coupled with solid black eyes creates the illusion of complete certainty and the observer trusts the wide-jawed face absolutely. The white and yellow snake twisted confidently through the pile of straw near Hammond. As the snake neared, Hammond could hear it singing an eerie song in a language he did not understand. While watching the intricate creature move, he knew that he was not escaping its beady eyes that sparkled with intelligence and the cheer of song. Suddenly, with acoil, the snake stopped its singing and addressed Hammond with a smooth nod.
\n
\n\u201cTell me, traveler, with minimal devise, of which time is more to you a vice. Does your bliss with sun in the sky rise? Or perhaps grow when the light dies?\u201d The snake\u2019s head bobbed with the \u201cs\u201d sounds in an inquisitive manner.
\n
\n\u201cYou mean to ask me which I prefer; day or night?\u201d Hammond straightened his back preparing for the conversation.
\n
\n\u201cYes. Now I press, you are a creature that to which either brings success. The matter is surely a trifle contest, but tell me, which to you is best?\u201d
\n
\n\u201cThe answer is simple. It is night. The moonflower opens and the hummingbird sucks nectar in the shade of its petals. The mysterious creatures of the Earth approach, only to still be hidden. Even the snake comes out to catch its prey.\u201d Hammond\u2019s eyes shimmered in excitement. His hands followed the motion of the buzzing hummingbird and the slithering snake he spoke about.
\n
\n\u201cAnd what of warmth and clarity? The sun\u2019s ability to bring transparency?\u201d The snake coiled with its question.
\n
\n\u201cWhat about life is transparent? The thing that can hide its intentions can more easily meet them. The creature that can hide itself, that can control its visibility, has more power than the thing that is obvious in the light.\u201d He leaned closer to the snake in a crouch. \u201cWhat others cannot see, they cannot control. The night gives way to those who do not want to be seen.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cAnd what of warmth?\u201d
\n
\n\u201cWarmth and light do not correspond,\u201d Hammond pieced his thoughts together as his hand rubbed his face. \u201cWarmth is determined by the season, not the hour.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cHow ignorant is human skin to not feel the light. The heat of God is true and excites, the senses all turn bright. And what say you to those whose vision is for night?\u201d The snakes tongue moved proudly and surely towards Hammond, whose eyes followed its wide yellow jaw.
\n
\n\u201cIf your vision is for night, then what time could be better for you? Your prey is blind and helpless. And why honor a judging god when the night offers full freedom?\u201d
\n
\nThe snake rose to meet Hammond's face, its unblinking eyes full of fire. \u201cThe sun has judged wisely in giving us life as well as all things, although they may pester or provide.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not about the judgment of the sun, but how light allows others to see and judge. Why subject yourself to light when you can hide from the glare of the world?\u201d
\n
\n\u201cI see, yes, I see. There is your own glare in your own eye. A shine that shadows the sun and keeps your reality awry. The shallow human flesh that peels in pry and to honesty is shy. There is no prey, but those who are afraid and that is read from more than the eye.\u201d The snake\u2019s body started to wiggle smoothly in its near-standing position and it began to whisper another song. The song was obscure and in a language Hammond had never heard. It reminded him of quick streams, swift breezes through branches, and the chirp of a distant cricket. It led his mind to landscapes he had yet seen. There is mystery in the voice of the snake.","dateCreated":"1299758268","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"daniwanicki","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/daniwanicki","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1299200946\/daniwanicki-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35965818","body":"Zach Dean
\n
\nI did this wrong. This dialogue has nothing to do with my plot. But I really like what I wrote, so enjoy:
\n
\nJonathan: Nothing is sacred any more dude.
\n
\nZach: No, that's not true you can have something inside of you and hold it as sacred.
\n
\nJonathan: Your mom held me inside of her and it was scared last night!...Oh!
\n
\nJonathan begins to laugh hardily. Zach joins in but with more of a forced tone.
\n
\nZach: Oh yeah? You know what's funny about that?...my mom is DEAD!...asshole! So you fucked my dead mother?
\n
\nJonathan: Hey man, what can I say? I like me some decayed ass. I find the squishiness of it very pleasurable. I guess you could call me, ah...oh what's it called, oh right. A necrophiliac.
\n
\nZach: Really? Necrophilia? Wow. That was fast. I mean...really? Dead flesh?
\n
\nJonathan: Yup.
\n
\nZach: Jonathan, you remember how I said friends can tell each other anything? I lied. You. You don't get to tell me shit anymore. That's just, that's just some fucked up shit.
\n
\nJonathan: What man? I got bored with sheep! What do you want me to do?! I'm only human!
\n
\nZach: Seriously man!? Look. I know times have been tough lately...what with the zombies and all. And I get that there is a huge pool to draw from out here. But dead people? I mean. I know that woman are getting pretty scarce around here, hell I wasn't really getting any before the shit hit the fan. But still. That is not a good enough reason to justify congress with a rotting corpse man!
\n
\nJonathan: What can I say, I loves me some of that sweet, slightly bruised, cold meat. Hell! Throw some cowboy chili rub on there and make me some decayed ass jerky!
\n
\nZach: That's just gross dude. No man! And I mean no man, needs to stoop that low! For love of \u201cPete and Pete\u201d man! Use your hand!!! That's one of the many reasons God gave it to you!
\n
\nJonathan: Dude! Not cool man! Not cool! You know damn well that I lost my hand in the war! And I ain't no ambidex-jerk guy either! And I don't know if YOU have ever tried to jerk-off with a hook? But that shit hurts!...no wonder Captain Hook was so pissed off all the time. So fuck you! I will fuck what I want! When I want!
\n
\nZach: Alright...alright. Drive the fucking car.","dateCreated":"1300263518","smartDate":"Mar 16, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35318920","dateCreated":"1299270716","smartDate":"Mar 4, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35318920"},"dateDigested":1532145517,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Mar. 4th - Plot","description":"In 1-1.5 pages, outline a plot in the genre that was chosen for you. Post your plots in this thread.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35400934","body":"Michael Gurevich
\nPlot Outline, Narrative Class
\n
\nThis movie is in the style of "Juno".
\n
\nRob and Jesse (Jessica) are two high school seniors who are just days away from graduation. Rob wants to make movies and Jesse wants to create music and art. This is all they've ever wanted to do, and they've been doing this since they were about 10 years old. They grew up together in the same neighborhood, a couple of houses away from each other, in New York City. They've grown to become the best of friends.
\n
\nNow that they're becoming "adults", it seems that everyone in their environment is telling them to get "real" and prepare to give up their dreams. They need to become practical and stop floating in the clouds. These messages are coming from seemingly everywhere, from parents, graduation counselors, well meaning neighbors and friends. It's really upsetting Rob and Jesse and they've become deeply upset about it.
\n
\nAfter the usual morning fights with their parents about what they're going to do with their lives, they were on the subway going to school. Jesse suggested to Rob that they cut school and just hang out in Manhatten. After graduation they would be going to different colleges, several states away from each other. They knew that their time together was fading fast. Rob thought cutting class and hanging out in the city would be fun. They hopped out of the train on 86th and Lexington with an intention to make their way to the World Trade Center.
\n
\nThey meet many different people on their journey downtown. Interesting characters who are living the results of decisions they've made long ago. Many people are sleepwalking through life, spending their days and lives doing things they couldn't care less about, just to get by. But they also meet people who are doing exactly what they've always wanted to be doing, some successful and some not. Through these meetings and conversations, they begin to understand that the adults who are telling them to come down from the clouds might not know what they're talking about. They begin to think they might be able to make their own decisions and do what they want to do, just because it'll make them happy. They also shared some awkward moments as they finally sorta, kinda begin to tell each other that they've loved each other for years.
\n
\nAs they enter midtown, by Central Park, they notice a narrow roadway that will bring them to the west side. They choose to go through it because the West Side is fun once they get into downtown. This road only has one sidewalk and a small street on which taxi's ride on. They get deep into the road and notice a strange disheveled man coming towards them. He's talking to himself and sometimes screams a word or two, which make no sense. Rob began to get nervous and Jesse sensed it. She told Rob to act crazy when they passed each other, so that the crazy guy would get scared of them and leave them alone. Rob agreed and they both began to act crazy. As they got close to the man, he collapsed to the floor and got into a fetal position and started rocking back and forth. Rob and Jesse passed quickly and kept walking. Thinking they were safe, they started laughing because the situation was intense. Then they heard the crazy man screaming behind them with great anger. They turned around and saw him chasing them with a wild look in his eye. Jesse and Rob began to run away from him. As they ran, he got close to them but tripped and fell, then got up and continued the chase. Jesse and Rob got to the other side of the park and ran into a big intersection. An oncoming cab was moving very fast and slammed it's brakes. It wasn't able to stop in time as it collided with Jesse and Rob and threw them both far into the air. Jesse landed on her neck and broke it, she dies instantly. Rob landed in another lane and while still conscious, was run over by another cab that also couldn't stop in time. He died too.
\n
\nRoll credits.","dateCreated":"1299472864","smartDate":"Mar 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"MichaelGurevich","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/MichaelGurevich","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35407202","body":"Tom thinks he\u2019s the loneliest guy on Earth. His immediate family has gone the way of all flesh. He has little luck with women though he\u2019s attractive to them. He\u2019s been a loner for a long time. And though he\u2019s friendly on the surface, he has trouble maintaining friendships. He isn\u2019t even interested in the vast majority of people.
\n
\nToday is a gray Sunday, and he\u2019s doing his weekly run through Whole Foods near Columbus Circle, picking his way carefully through the store, following his list. He doesn\u2019t try to connect with anyone. He asks the guy working produce to see what he recommends, but when he fails to give Tom much attention, Tom just shies away from the encounter. He returns home and makes his lunch.
\n
\nLater on, he takes a solitary bike ride and notices other groups of cyclists having a noisy, boisterous good time among themselves. After his ride, he repairs to a neighborhood tavern for a couple of beers\u2014alone at the bar. He jokes a bit with the bartender. He returns home. As he opens the door to his apartment, his cat greets him. Tom lowers himself to the cat\u2019s level. They butt heads and exchange greetings. They are very good friends. He spends a few minutes straightening up the place and then sits to do some writing. He makes some supper, watches a film, and heads off to sleep.
\n
\nTom works as a bike courier in Manhattan. Next day at work, he finds that someone new, Mark, has joined the courier company. Tom likes him right away. They ride the same route most of the day. They discover some common interests. They both like the endless variety in Manhattan. And they both have Italian ancestry, from the same town in Italy.
\n
\nAfter work they head to a gym. Tom listens intently as Mark talks, mostly about his travails with his wife, from whom he\u2019s recently separated. They go their own ways for the rest of the evening.
\n
\nThe next day at work, Mark asks Tom to cover for him at work because something has blown up with his wife. Tom won\u2019t do it and protests strongly. Mark gets pissed and just blows out the door. Tom covers Mark\u2019s route even though it\u2019s a real hassle for him.
\n
\nNext day at work Tom, speaking strongly, lets Mark know he covered for him. Mark scoffs at first. He accuses Tom of lacking backbone and insists that he can fight his own battles and take care of himself. But Tom knows this is defensive bullshit and calls Mark on it. Mark says nothing. He sets up to ride his route. They part ways as they start the workday.
\n
\nLater that afternoon, at the gym, Mark works out alone. Tom isn\u2019t there.
\nMark discovers on the next day that Tom had a minor crash on his bike and was also assaulted by a driver who thought Tom cut him off. After work he visits Tom in hospital and apologizes for starting the altercation after he discovered Tom covered for him.
\n
\nMark visits Tom in hospital every day and they develop a caring friendship, a good bond. Tom recovers after a week.
\n
\nOne day after work, they go to a bar and have a few beers. Mark\u2019s wife enters a bit later. She walks up to them, finds Mark with his arm around Tom\u2019s shoulder. She yells that they\u2019re both gay. She\u2019s loud and abrasive. Tom\u2019s too loaded to defend himself. Mark laughs it off but he\u2019s hiding some doubt. Nothing more is said, and everybody parts ways.
\n
\nThe next day there\u2019s a chill between Tom and Mark. It persists for several days. They live separate lives.
\n
\nOne morning before work starts, the two meet, and Tom tries to bridge the gap. He explains his loner nature, admits that he\u2019s had doubts about his sexuality simply due to lack of experience. He\u2019s quite candid with Mark, confessing all. Mark is deeply touched by this honesty, and he says so. He realizes what kind of man Tom is. And Tom, in revealing all, discovers a freedom he\u2019s never known before. It\u2019s a great release for him. Tom and Mark embrace as others are entering the workplace.","dateCreated":"1299498920","smartDate":"Mar 7, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35415752","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n3.04.2011
\nPlot Development
\n
\n
\nFairytale Plot Outline:
\nLeila, goes to sleep, enters a dream and is in wonderment of the new found land.
\nThe land is a perfect mix between jungle and forest. Everything around sparkles and emanates light. The flowers, trees, and other plants grow tall and vivid. Some of the roses even look as though they were dipped in rainbow dye.
\nA fairy gives Leila a gem that she must protect. The gem was placed in Leila\u2019s heart and embedded itself before Leila could ask the fairy any questions.
\nBecause the fairy was in such a hurry to deliver the gem and leave, Leila finds out from a talking squirrel that the gem belongs to the Mother Angel of the land. The squirrel becomes Leila\u2019s first traveling friend and Leila becomes the new protector and deliverer of the gem embedded in her heart.
\nWith her new found responsibility, Leila realizes that she cannot go home until she finishes her mission in the dream. Though she loves the scenery and the sense of freedom in the air, she begins to miss her baby brother, mother, father and friends.
\nOn the way to giving it to its rightful owner she travels through the land learning lessons of the dream world and of life back home.
\nThis fairytale unfolds in a fashion that reveals the differences between light & dark forces. We as the listener, reader, or viewer of the story experience deeper messages as we travel with Leila through the land of the Mother Angel who uses the gem to keep balance between the two forces.
\n The two forces make up the two clans in Leila\u2019s dreamland.
\nThe light clan is full of helpful talking animals, faeries, angels, and white witches that guide Leila to her destination to the palace of the Mother Angel.
\nThe dark clan is full of deceitful talking animals, dragons, and shadow people that try to distract Leila from delivering the gem.
\nYou see, the tricky part about the different creatures is that you don\u2019t know if they are of the light clan or the dark clan unless you can see through and to their hearts, which is a more developed skill of the light clan. Leila begins to tap into this ability naturally but there are still creatures that she must first interact with to know their heart.
\nLeila manages to follow the advice of the light clan though the dark clan offers her sweet candies and a way back home. By this time she has acquired the constant company of a talking squirrel, a green male fairy, a tall white witch, and a blue, androgynous guardian angel. As she learns more about her friends, Leila uncovers the secret powers of the crystal embedded in her heart throughout her journey.
\nThe peak of the story occurs when an evil dragon of the dark clan finds out that she has the gem. He of course wants it for himself. The white clan comes together to protect Leila as the dark dragon attacks her in attempt to posses the gem. The dark clan comes into the scene to assist the dark dragon.
\n Leila discovers that the green fairy betrayed her and her friends, as she sees him helping the dark clan now. The green fairy tricked her into running into the dark dragon.
\nLeila ends up in a moment of great desperation. She was captured by the dragon and tied up in a cave until he could figure out a way to steal the crystal from her. He knows that he cannot kill her because that would destroy the crystal as well.
\nLeila calls out for help. She realizes that that she has the promise of her light clan guides to protect her. And though she looks around to see protection from her friends all around her she realizes that she doesn\u2019t feel protected inside. This is a blend of her fear and the communication from the gem.
\nAs the battle goes on in front of her Leila learns that what she truly wants is to know how to protect herself. As she surrenders to the fear she rediscovers true love and protection. She mentally remembers her family and friends and sends them love and care from where she is.
\nHer deep emotions of love and gratitude activate the crystal and the dark clan retreats back to where they came from. After the dragon is defeated, the light clan collects the gem that has finally revealed itself in Leila\u2019s hands.
\nLeila allows the light clan to deliver the gem to the Mother Angel. Before the light clan continues their journey, the white witch uses some of the gem\u2019s power to make a concoction for Leila to drink in order to go home. Leila wakes up in her own bed and runs to her family members. She\u2019s so overwhelmed with so much gratitude to be back home that she forgets that she never got the opportunity to meet the Mother Angel.
\nIn Leila\u2019s next dream the Mother Angel comes to her and thanks Leila for her bravery and determination and sends her great blessings, advising her to remember her epic journey when life seems to ever become too much to handle.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll be guided every step of the way,\u201d The Mother Angel says. And with that said, Leila sees the white clan stand behind the Mother Angel. She recognized the ones who helped her along her journey.
\nLeila knew from that moment on that she would always know love, gratitude, and protection from within her as well as all around her.","dateCreated":"1299509135","smartDate":"Mar 7, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35624622","body":"Dill was a riverboat man that transferred goods up and down the Mississippi river for thirty years up until his retirement in the 1950s. This is the story of his retirement.
\n
\nDill whistled through his teeth. He was a drinking man and liked to work alone as often as he could.
\n
\nOne morning he stopped at a shallow bank near a waterfall and gazed at it in silence for almost an hour, taking long pulls from his flask until he finally turned the boat around and continued to deliver to the port.
\n
\nBefore he arrives at the port he makes a call on his radio, and sure enough, Frank was working the afternoon post. Dill smiles and tells Frank, \u201cYou\u2019d better be ready for me, old friend.\u201d
\n
\nDill arrives at the port and helps Frank de-boat all the goods. In lifting all the heavy crates by hand and by crane, Frank and Dill accidentally drop a large crate filled with Tennessee whisky bottles. Half the bottles shatter disastrously on the dock, the other half fly into the bank and all over the ship. They will surely be fired.
\n
\nNeither of the men freak out. Long years on the river tell them they\u2019ll find other work eventually. Frank tells Dill he\u2019s the only man on the port that evening. They decided to leave the mess and make a night of it. They gather some of the whiskey and drive around on the river and stop at some oftheir favorite docks and share memories.
\n
\nAfter drinking a gratuitous amount of whiskey and getting properly pissed, Frank and Dill start making bets, as they always do. Both men are in their sixties, but in lean shape from all the lifting. Dill bets Frank that he won\u2019t dive off Evelyn\u2019s waterfall, like they used to when they were kids. They eventually they decide they\u2019ll do it together.
\n
\nThey head back to the waterfall and sloppily tie the boat to the bank. Dill starts to cry and talk about his wife, Evelyn who has passed. The bank near the waterfall is where they spent their honeymoon. Frank comforts him. They strip naked and stand at the precipice of the fall. It\u2019s a forty foot drop. They jump.
\n
\nAt first it is a transcendent moment for Dill. All the memories of childhood and Evelyn pass by and he feels overjoyed with gratitude for his long life on the river and for Frank. But later he feels that something isn\u2019t right. He feels something heavy and limp brush against him underwater.
\n
\nDill comes up for air and sees Frank floating face down surrounded by red water. He immediately swims to him with great experience and power and pulls him out of the water.
\n
\nFrank tripped on the way down and bashed his head on the bank. He is bleeding profusely but remains incredibly calm. He tells Dill he will die. Dill turns and sees their boat toppeling over the fall. In their drunkenness, they did not tie it together correctly. Surely, neither of them will be rehired elsewhere.
\n
\nDill immediately picks him up and starts heading for the nearest port. Frank yells at him and demands that he stop until finally he starts to insult Dill.
\n
\nDill finally submits and the too men sit together on the bank and drink from Dill\u2019s flask. Dill eventually admits to Frank that he knew that Frank and Evelyn had an affair when they were young. Frank apologizes. They were young and foolish. Dill eventually starts demanding that they try to make it for the port but Frank tells Dill he is happy and that it is a suiting death and he is content.
\n
\nEvelyn died from cancer and Dill blamed himself. He watched her in pain and was not able to do anything about it. Frank tells him he must let her go, as he must let him go and just let him die in peace.
\n
\nFrank finally falls into silence and Dill sobs.
\n
\nEventually Dill picks up Frank and peacefully carries him to the next port. By that time it is morning and he calls Frank\u2019s port and tells him what happened and Dill tells everyone he is sorry and understand that he won\u2019t be working for the company any longer. The company is shocked by how easily he is able to let his job go.","dateCreated":"1299741432","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"wadetravis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/wadetravis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298480198\/wadetravis-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35629184","body":"Daniel Iwanicki
\nMarch 4th, 2011
\nPlot outline
\n
\nThe main character of the story is a man of undefined age named Hammond. Hammond is a tumbleweed, a vagabond. He was never able to settle and has spent his life jumping trains, couch surfing, and traveling in any means he possibly can. He makes money by working on farms here and there. He enjoys reading, writing, and identifying plants. He is an artist of sorts and enjoys drawing pictures in his notebooks. He is minimalistic, keeping mostly everything he owns in a green canvas backpack.
\n
\nThe story begins with Hammond finding himself in a city at night time. The city is unspecified, but Hammond seems to know it well and has been there several times before and recalls a memory of an ice cream cone he had once while in the city before. There are small clues to the reader that this could possibly be the place where Hammond grew up, both no solid proof.
\n
\nIn the city he finds an alley he remembers as safe and finds shelter from the rain. He begins to draw a picture of a mountain landscape and ponders where he will go next. He didn\u2019t intend to run into a storm that night and is anxious to leave the city because of its stormy disposition. His thoughts are interrupted by a kitten\u2019s call.
\nHammond finds the kitten in the alley. It is all black with big yellow eyes. He decides to take care of it and keeps it in his shirt overnight and feeds it a can of tuna he had in his backpack.
\n
\nBy morning time, Hammond feels a responsibility for the kitten and decides to keep it. He has also decided that he must make some money to buy the kitten some food, knowing that \u201cpeople\u201d food does not contain taurine, an amino acid necessary for cat eyesight. His plan is to hop a train and go south to a farm he knows he can work at. He feels that he could maybe even live in the town he intends to go to. Perhaps the kitten is shaping his life. At this point it is unclear what is changing his vagabond spirit- the kitten or suppressed want for stability.
\nIt is still raining when he walks to the train tracks on the outskirts of the town. He is holding the kitten and on the way a few people look at him as they normally do, thinking about how much of an outcast he is. He hurried to the tracks to protect the kitten from these harmful glances.
\n
\nHe gets to the tracks and waits in the rain, anxious. It is clear that anxiety is something he is used to, but is a feeling he normally suppresses. The train comes and he hops in one of the last boxcars. It is a little dirty with piles of hay and some corn husks laying around. The kitten becomes busy sniffing around the car. Hammond names the kitten Puck. Hammond is getting a sleepy, but is startled when a corn snake (yellow and white) comes out of a near pile of hay and begins speaking to him.
\n
\nThe snake is clever and apparently, well read. They begin to debate- which is better, night or day? The snake argues the \u201cday\u201d side and Hammond takes the \u201cnight\u201d side. The snake argues that day is better because the sun is warm and makes the plants grow that he then creates a home in. He focuses on the nourishing aspects of the sun as a Platonic deity. Hammond argues that night is a time of freedom and indulgence and one can choose to be seen, whereas in day they cannot choose this. He focuses on the night as a time of hiding. Both are clever arguers and neither really \u201cwin\u201d the debate because Hammond falls asleep.
\n
\nHammond wakes up several hours later and finds Puck eating the snake. He opens the door of the boxcar and reveals that it is now night time. He thinks about his position in the debate and the value of being able to hide and choose to be seen. He watches the landscape move by him, but the train eventually comes to a stop. Hammond closes the door and begins to make a place to hide just in case workers were coming to check the cars, but before he can get the door closed, he sees a line of ghosts walking near the tracks towards his car.
\nThe ghosts are that of men who built the railroads. They stop near Hammond\u2019s car and continue their conversation which is a debate- which is better, life or death? The three ghosts that take the \u201clife\u201d side reflect on being with their families, drinking at bars, and having hope for the future. The other three ghosts that take the \u201cdeath\u201d side argue that they are no longer in pain from hard labor, they no longer have expectations to meet, and don\u2019t have to worry about money. As they leave, Hammond observes that although they may not be laboring, even in death they must haunt the tracks they bent over all their lives.
\n
\nThe train starts again and Hammond falls asleep wondering his own future haunting and petting Puck. He tells Puck about the debate the ghosts were having and tells Puck about the farm where they are going.
\nThe next day Hammond keeps the boxcar door open and watches the landscape go by. He knows that he has to get off in a town that is now getting close. He pets Puck and recites poetry from T.S. Eliot\u2019s Old Possum\u2019s Book of Practical Cats. His fun is interrupted when the train slows and he spots the farm he has been planning to go to. This is strange because he thought it was much farther than that and he also did not think is was so close to the train tracks. This is very confusing for him, but the farmhouse fits the house in his memory and so do the barn and the small garden between the two. The train comes to a stop as Hammond is still searching his mind for answers about the farm\u2019s mysterious location. He eventually decides it must be the place and grabs his backpack. He searches for Puck so that he can hold him while they get off the train. He searches the boxcar, but cannot find Puck. He searches frantically and then gets off and searches outside. He cannot find Puck and spends a long time looking.
\n
\nIn despair he takes a few steps towards the farm in which his former goals led him to. As he gets closer to the farmhouse, he notices how it is rundown and the plants in the garden are overgrown with weeds. He sees rocks in the fields. The windows on the house are grey and dangerous. He stands just outside of the farm and watches a corn snake twist around a stock of corn. The story ends with the desolate description of the abandoned house and the farm in disarray. He thinks about how the scene is riddled with snakes hidden in the corn and in the house. He watches white paint peels fall off the house in the breeze.","dateCreated":"1299757839","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"daniwanicki","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/daniwanicki","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1299200946\/daniwanicki-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35965836","body":"Zach Dean
\n
\nNo title for this romantic comedy:
\n
\nOur story begins with Ronald. Ronald is a 42 year old white man from Michigan. He works as a IT manager at a company not far from where he grew up, in fact the house he lives in now is less then fifty miles from the house he grew up in. He married his high school sweet heart, his wife's name is Rachael, they have two kids. A daughter, named Jenna, who is about to leave for college and a fifteen year old son, named Russ, who is too cool for his lame family. Ronald is in a bit of a rut. He spends most nights watching old episodes of He-man and eating at least a pint of ice cream before going to bed. His wife is worried about his health so she tries to get him to stop. But on the nights when he doesn't eat ice cream he ends rummaging through the fridge for food up around three in the morning, while asleep.
\n
\nWork is suffering also because, just like at home, Ronald seems lethargic and detached. His boss has had to sit down with him to ask him \u201cwhat's going on?\u201d and see if there is anything he can do to help. Ronald assures him that everything is fine and that he just hasn't been sleeping all that well. His boss takes him at his word, for now, but also plans to keep an eye on him just to make sure.
\n
\nOne day Ronald comes home early and over hears his wife talking to one of her sisters over the phone about the troubles that have been going on as of late. She confides in her sister that Ronald hasn't been himself, she's worried and not sure what to do. Also their sex life has become nonexistent and she feels like he doesn't love her anymore. She begins to cry as she shares the idea that has been swimming around in her head \u201cI feel like our marriage is sinking...and I don't, I just don't know what to do to keep us afloat. I feel like I have to do it all on my own, Ronald is completely checked out. And I don't know how much more of this I can take. I don't want to get a divorce, but I can't live like this.\u201d
\n
\nDevastated, something snaps in Ronald. He loves his wife and he would do anything to keep her, including what he decides to do next. He goes up into his son's room, wades through the almost endless piles of cloths, books, magazines and plates. He searches through the room for the magazine he saw his son with just the other day. \u201cAh ha!\u201d he says as he finds the Men's Health magazine with the cover story \u201c10 fail proof new age ways to spice up your love life and keep your woman.\u201d Just what a man in Ronald's position needs to save his marriage.
\n
\nThe first thing he does is start going to Tantra yoga classes at the local yoga studio that just opened up. He stands out like a sore thumb there, but he is determined to make his wife happy again. Unfortunately yoga doesn't work out to well because one, it's incredibly painful and hard. And two, on the third class he runs into his daughter! They have this really awkward moment of discovering each others dirty little secret and agree not to tell on each other.
\n
\nAlthough he doesn't rat his daughter out he is still really concerned about why she wants to learn Tantra. So he decides to sit her down a couple of days later and have \u201cthe talk\u201d with her and grill her about why she wants to learn Tantra. This back fires on him. One, she has learned all of the stuff in \u201cthe talk\u201d from school. And two, she's lets him have it with a \u201cit's none of your business!!\u201d rant and she ends up reversing the line of questioning onto him. He acts like a deer in headlights and from his perspective barely gets out of there with his head in tact.
\n
\nNext is to get massaged regularly, because stress reduction is a big help in being relaxed and natural with you lady. And the first time he goes is great. He gets a rather attractive woman and he falls asleep half way through, he was very relaxed, so relaxed in fact the massive boner he gets during the massage doesn't wake him up. But is does make the massage therapist very uncomfortable, so uncomfortable in fact that Ronald gets blacklisted from getting a female therapist ever again.
\n
\nThe visit, despite it's bad outcome for the therapist, does give Ronald the brilliant idea to give his wife a massage that night. He goes out and buys some nice massage oil and sets up the room with candles and such. Brings her in blindfolded and surprises her with the massage. But because she's not totally ready for the oil and him being on top of her she freaks out and in her thrashing accidentally hits him in the nuts!...ouch.
\n
\nHe explains what he was trying to do, and that it was all an attempt to help her relax. After that ordeal he figures he needs another massage, which he schedules for next week.
\n
\nThe next day he tries to get his son to go down to the arcade with him for a day of games, skee ball and bowling. Followed by pizza and root beer floats, a guys day, like they used to do when Russ was little. Russ groans and gives him all kinds of teenager attitude while saying no. Hurt, Ronald spends the next day in his pj's doing nothing but watching old episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
\n
\nThe week seems to fly by and Ronald is actually excited about getting his next massage. But because of the incident from before when he goes he gets the biggest burliest man they have...and he is not the kindest with his pressure while working on Ronald. Ronald leaves sore and more stressed out then ever before and promises himself never to do that again.
\n
\nAfter giving up on massage Ronald tries the next suggestion which is a change of diet that includes a unique mixture of herbs. He rationalizes this attempt with his family as just being a \u201cdiet\u201d because lets be honest he could stand to lose some weight. The \u201cdiet\u201d is the thing he tries the longest but is also the most \u201ctorturous\u201d experience because well, Ronald loves food! Not nearly as much as his wife and kids but it's definitely a close second. So one night he decides to cheat on his diet a bit and cook a huge dinner for himself and his wife. With all of their favorite foods. It is a great success and it looks like Ronald is going to \u201cget some\u201d that night. But unfortunately for him his body, after not eating that kind of food for quite awhile, can't handle all those calories and maintain normal functions. So he passes out on the couch with the \u201citis\u201d as the kids these days call it, or a food coma for you older folks.
\n
\nAlso because of the diet he's not getting all the nutrients he usually gets. That coupled with the massive overload on his system from the night before. The two factors catch up with him at work the next day and he has a heart attack.
\n
\nRonald is rushed to the hospital where doctors save his life by preforming minor surgery on his heart. Not quite a double bypass but close. Ronald wakes up surrounded by his family and what he sees is \u201cperfection\u201d: his daughter is slightly distraught and talking about staying home for a while longer. His son is actually acknowledging his existence and his wife is so loving.
\n
\nAnd that's when it hits him. The rut he has been in is because he has been seeing himself as a failure. As a father, as a husband and as a man. But he isn't. His beautiful daughter is strong and smart and there is no reason for her to delay going to college on his account. With her he also realizes he wasn't ready to lose her, but he now knows he won't. And as for his son Russ, the boy is just growing up and isn't as interested in the same things he was when he was a kid. So Ronald decides to get more interested and involved in what his son is interested in now.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nFinally he comes clean with his wife about all he's been trying to do. About how he over heard her conversation with her sister and how he would do anything to make her happy. His wife is touched but lets him know that it's him she loves, just the way he is. But that is would be nice if they went on more dates and maybe tried that massage thing again.
\n
\nRonald is eventually allowed to go home. Just in time to take his daughter to college. We see a scene of him and his son hanging out doing things his son likes to do. And a scene of Ronald and his wife in their bedroom with candles and massage oil. Life is good.
\n
\nThe end of the movie show the Men's Health magazine open to the number one thing on the \u201c10 fail proof new age ways to spice up your love life and keep your woman.\u201d list. Which is \u201cjust be yourself!\u201d now if only Ronald had skipped to that one first he wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble.","dateCreated":"1300263597","smartDate":"Mar 16, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35168016","dateCreated":"1299098977","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35168016"},"dateDigested":1532145517,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Mar. 2nd - Character Template","description":"The character, what is their mission? What is there environment? What is their psychology, their psychological leaning, their nature?
\n
\nWhat are their key characteristics?
\n
\nLike, education, physical characteristics, upbringing, parents, key relationships, flaws, skills and talents, world view etc.
\n
\nAnswering these questions gives the writer a deeper understanding of their characters, and allows them to come to life in their mind (and therefore come to life in the minds of their audience).
\n
\nYou can make a mind map, drawing diagrams and writing key characteristics along side them.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35213910","body":"I'm curious to see what a mind map is.
\nHere goes:
\nHis mission: to rid the world of crummy food in all its guises; he\u2019s a crusader for the slow food movement
\n
\nEnvironment: he has a small apartment in Manhattan and most of it is kitchen.
\n
\nPsychology: strong-willed, somewhat intolerant of mediocrity and weaknesses, demanding, perfectionist, but broad-minded and also open, intelligent
\n
\nEducation: culinary school, self-taught natural foods expert\/advocate, has done his own investigations\/research into culinary\/health practices in other cultures. Speaks French and English as well as native tongue, Romanian
\n
\nPhysicality: 6\u2019 tall, strong, lean muscular build, black hair, piercingly bright blue eyes, extremely handsome, could easily be a male model, lots of energy
\n
\nUpbringing: not well understood by parents, who had a hands-off approach. He spent a lot of time alone. Grew up on a farm in Romania
\n
\nParents: Romanian farming couple, uneducated, hard-working people still in Romania
\n
\nKey Relationships: has a male friend who shares his ideals; has several female friends but doesn\u2019t get romantically involved. He is not usually strongly sexually motivated and it takes a lot for him to get there.
\n
\nFlaws\/Skills\/Talents: he can be overbearing and demanding, sometimes ridiculously idealistic and too passionate. He has great charm and knows how to use it when he\u2019s rational and cool-headed. He also has a keen insight, a sharp intellect, and knows of what he speaks, knows his position. He\u2019s especially good at motivating people with his power and conviction.
\n
\nWorld View: he thinks the world is gradually coming together on the crucial issues, so he sees humanity as progressive and intelligent (which is what he largely is). He also knows that there are resistive forces operating against progressive drive. He is hopeful and optimistic.","dateCreated":"1299163730","smartDate":"Mar 3, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35215498","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n2.02.2011
\nCharacter Template
\n
\n Diana Fiametta Caldwell:
\n
\nMission- To live life normally, further education, to have a decent marriage, good children, nice home
\n
\nEnvironment- lives in a small town outside of a city
\n
\nPsychology- striving to be normal, feisty but balanced temper most of the time, her parents being openly prophetic set her apart from being normal, she\u2019s seen enough of the dazzling magic, she wants to see the other side of things; the normal side of things, she loves the freedom of dance
\n
\nEducation- home school and within forest community that her parents helped to build, decided later than most kids in her community to leave home on her own for college
\n
\nPhysical looks- product of a mixed race couple, lots of coiled curly hair, like a fro but pretty and healthy, light skinned, bright brown eyes, medium build, curves in all the right places, big lips, dresses like a modern version of something between a gypsy and a hippie
\n
\nUpbringing- raised in a forest community, hut like home with frank wright influence, simple but luxurious with trinkets from around the world, she\u2019s familiar with drum circles and s\u00e9ances, meditations and healing work with everything alternative from herbs and diet to reiki and acupuncture
\n
\nParents- used to travel the world doing oracle work and alternative medicine, the teach and learn such things, they decided to settle down in a forest and built a community with their closest friends, allowed their children to go to public schools if they wished when they hit preteen years, they abide to their promise of travelng once a year, they\u2019re open about their gifts, and see themselves as having a balanced way of living life; spiritual, practical, and living outside of the \u201cnorm\u201d
\n
\nKey relationships- her family- immediate or blood related and community, a boy who is her best friend and later becomes the love of her life, college friends
\n
\nSkills talents- she transforms other peoples\u2019 lives with her dancing
\n
\nWorldview- you can\u2019t make a difference unless you stick to what you believe in
\n
\nA friend once asked her, \u201cWell, what do you believe in, Diana?\u201d
\nShe replied, \u201cCreating and maintaining my own voice. I just happen to speak truth in my movement; in my dancing.\u201d","dateCreated":"1299164723","smartDate":"Mar 3, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35296424","body":"Rough Outline
\n
\nHero: Jacqueline, hospital nurse, cigarette smoker, lonely, single, in her forties.
\nAntagonist: All men in general, who stare at her cartoonishly large breasts. A homeless man who one afternoon sings her a song she often sang as a child. She can\u2019t remember the name of the song or who sang it. She sits at home singing the song and thinking of her childhood and feels a familiar intense sadness.
\nCharacteristics: Habitual smoker. Yoga and paladis enthusiast. Nervous, antsy, doesn't speak much to anyone outside work. Introverted, longs for connection and romance. Her history remains mysterious until this journey home to her sister reveals things about her past.
\nPlot: While distractedly singing the song at home alone after a particularly hard day while babying herself with a hot bath, champagne, her favorite movie and pasta dinner, she trips and falls down her staircase and dies a sudden painless death. After floating for years, it seemed, in nothingness, she awakens on the floor next to her body. It had been days and no one had found her body. She wanted to clean her body, bathe it and care for it and try to alert someone in her apartment that she had died and to please take her body and send it to her sister in Oregon, but she found she couldn\u2019t communicate with the living.
\n
\nEventually she goes back to the street where she heard the homeless man sing the song of her childhood, and he looks directly at her, blows her a kiss and disappears. She never sees him again. She decides to travel to Oregon and see if her sister can see or hear her\u2026
\n
\nBeginning
\n
\n
\nJacqueline Manville rides the cable car in her seafoam green spunges to and from the hospital each day. Both ways, she pauses at three stops, none in particular but usually three, and smokes. Sometimes on Adams with the performers and street rats, sometimes Whitley and Broad with the capital building, sometimes Jefferson with the Dior shop where she stares longingly into the windows and occasionally checks tags. She can\u2019t ride the car long until she needs to breath and have a smoke. If she went straight to and from work the ride would take her twenty minutes but the cigarettes and occasional Americano from Adams street stretch the journey across two hours, but she plans ahead and is loyally punctual. When she wakes up, she knows how many stops, how many smokes and if she\u2019ll have, wether or not she\u2019ll sit and sketch the Capital building or have an Americano. When organizing her desk in the afternoon she knows again what her trip home will entail.
\nJacqueline is over forty but has the body of a twenty year old. Having never bore children, never had a vacation to somewhere sunny, and regularly spending long evenings practicing palades in front of her television, she has pale smooth skin, a tight midrift and muscular thighs. The only thing that gives away her age are the puffy bags under her cool jewel eyes.
\nHer spine and shoulders curl in posture as she crosses her legs and watches out the window. Her mother has told her since childhood she needs breast reduction surgery. Men often stare at her. When there is no room to sit she pushes into a corner and crosses her arms. Men are always trying to get at her. All kinds of men: hobos, young boys, bluetooth wearing businessmen. They pucker their lips and blow her kisses, star her up and down and brush into her as the cable car sways. She can feel their disgusting eyes on her.
\nOn the way home one Friday she visits Adams for an afternoon espresso and sparks her second cigarette. On the way back to the cable car a young homeless man standing on a fruit crate dressed in a sooty suit jacket and bowler cap begins singing a familiar song. She dare not stop and entertain the man, a foolish thing to do in New York, and keeps walking while trying to recall the song. It was a sad song she often sang as a child but she can\u2019t remember where she learned it. The homeless young man was really butchering it and she wanted to correct his melody, but she passes hastely and the young man reaches out his hands to her and projects his gravely voice. \u201cDon\u2019t touch me!\u201d she screams and trots the rest of the way to the cable car stop. On the way home she stopped once again on Whitley and Broad and peeled a label off of a stout beer in McRally\u2019s pub before she felt steely eyes of the bartender and decided to leave an ungracious tip and head home. She wanted someone to tell her what the song was but the pub was empty. Outside she watched a mother cross the street hand in hand with her young girl in pigtails before scooping her up and kissing her chubby cheeks and whispering in her ear as the girl giggled.
\nJacqueline lay in bed all night trying to remember the song. She sang it out loud over and over, \u201cCaroline your eyes are closed, the sun went down not long ago and you\u2019re talking in your sleep\u2026\u201d How many times had she sang it outloud as a young girl? She found it so strange to not remember title of the song or even the artist that performed it. She felt very strange that evening as she drifted into a light and troubled sleep after she decided that she would stop and ask the young homeless man about the song.","dateCreated":"1299252722","smartDate":"Mar 4, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"wadetravis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/wadetravis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298480198\/wadetravis-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35536330","body":"My protagonist is Glenis Henry, an eighty-seven year-old woman who lives in a Veteran\u2019s home in Marshalltown, Iowa. Her husband served in World War II and she lived there with him until his death, a year ago. They were not able to have children, although secretly, she had had a child (a girl) at a convent when she was just sixteen, which was given up for adoption. She was never allowed to speak of this with her family and had never spoken of it to anyone else. Glenis enjoys her freedom at the Vet\u2019s home. She is taken care of, but because the staff are more interested in the latest gossip and their own personal lives, Glenis has many windows of opportunity to take advantage. Because she was never a mother, Glenis has the spirit of someone much younger in age. She can do what she likes (within reason) in her room, escape to secret hiding places and even leave the grounds all together on occasion. In her heart, she still believes she\u2019s twenty-five.
\n
\nGlenis has several antagonists in her story, including the Commandant of the Vet\u2019s Home, Mr Worley. But her main protagonist is the new head nurse, Maxine Kramer, who has very recently taken over after from the previous head nurse, April Harrington, who left to become a stay at home mom with the birth of her second child.
\n
\nA short excerpt from Glenis\u2019 Diary:
\n
\nNurse Kramer is a constant reminder that I\u2019m old. She\u2019s now gotten rid of all of the young, fun staff and slowly replaced that with old crows just like herself. There\u2019s even a man now, Kevin, as he calls himself. What a brut. But Nurse Kramer or \u201cMaxine\u201d as she wants us to call her, (to make herself seem more friendly), is on a mission to drive us all to our graves. She has the nose (and face) of a bloodhound; always discovering the smell of a few puffs I take on my Virginia Slims before bed. What does she care what I do? I\u2019ll be 88 years old next month. She\u2019ll probably bring in a cake with so many candles and \u201caccidentally\u201d set me on fire. My old age won\u2019t kill me, but her tyrannical rule of this ward just may.
\n
\nMy antagonist, head nurse Maxine Kramer, grew up on a small pig farm outside of Albert Lea, Minnesota. She is the seventh of nine children born to German immigrants. Maxine and her siblings had a strict Catholic upbringing, and her father was obsessed with Padre Pio, and the Stigmata. It was said that her father declared she would be a nun from the age of 2. She was mainly kept indoors and therefore, remained sheltered and pale. She was schooled from home as to not gain exposure to boys. In 1968 at the age of eighteen, she entered the convent to become a Novice. Soon after moving to the convent, she was allowed to listen to the radio and heard rock music for the first time. Less than six months later, Maxine left the convent, was disowned by her parents and ran off with an elder sister to become groupies of Credence Clearwater Revival. After her sister overdosed in 1970 and had to be sent to a sanitarium, Maxine moved back to Minnesota and went to nursing school in Rochester. She was never married.","dateCreated":"1299635963","smartDate":"Mar 8, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"35002802","dateCreated":"1298925784","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/35002802"},"dateDigested":1532145519,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Feb. 28 - Protagonist\/Antagonist","description":"As a writer, create a protagonist. Your main character, be it hero, anti-hero whatever.
\n
\nIn the act of creating a protagonist explain what it is they're facing. What are they up against? What is the antagonist(ic) force?","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"35022458","body":"Michael Gurevich
\n
\nProtaganist and Antaganist
\n
\nOur protraganist is a successful hyper-stereotypical pimp. He is 47 years old, dresses ultra-fly, is very street smart and is growing tired of the game. His name is Chauncey de Blazey. Chauncey lives in his organizational headquarters in Brooklyn, close to the bridge across from Wall Street, where traders can visit easily during lunch and after-hours. Chauncey is well set in his ways and believes he has a beautiful life.
\n
\nHis antaganist is a born-again proctologist named Harry Knuckles. He came highly recommended to Chauncey by his most trusted confidant, Boots Balla. Chauncey confided in Boots about the growing pain in his ass during a moment of deep conversation. Boots told Chauncey about this mythical healer-man he was introduced to a couple of weeks ago, who changed Boots' whole life. Harry specializes in deep exploratory procedures and enjoys sharing "The Word" with his patients during treatment. Knowing Chauncey spent his life peddling flesh, Harry has taken it upon himself, as a mission from God, to Save his new patient and show him the light.","dateCreated":"1298942304","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"MichaelGurevich","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/MichaelGurevich","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35031218","body":"I made some changes:
\n
\n
\nOur protraganist is a successful hyper-stereotypical pimp. He is 47 years old, dresses ultra-fly, is very street smart and is growing tired of the game. His name is Chauncey de Blazey. Chauncey lives in his organizational headquarters in Brooklyn, close to the bridge across from Wall Street, where traders can visit easily during lunch and after-hours.
\n
\nHis antaganist is a born-again proctologist named Harry Knuckles. He came highly recommended to Chauncey by his revered and highly valued VIP client, Thornton Robert Prescott VI, known to some as "Thorny Dick". Chauncey confided in Thorny about the growing pain in his ass during a moment of deep sharing. Thorny told Chauncey about this mythical healer-man he was introduced to a couple of weeks ago, who changed Thorny's entire life for the better.
\n
\nHarry the proctologist specializes in deep exploratory procedures and enjoys sharing "The Word" with his patients during treatments. Knowing Chauncey spent his life peddling the sinful flesh, Harry has taken it upon himself, as a mission from God, to Save his new patient and show him the light.","dateCreated":"1298950362","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"MichaelGurevich","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/MichaelGurevich","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35044908","body":" Abe is Alone
\n
\nImagine going into someone else\u2019s dream. Disguised as a friend, your mission is to tell the dreamer to wake up. You meet them and explain somewhat didactically that they are asleep. You inform them everything is an illusion of their mind, and to wake up now. They immediately ask you how to wake up. They want to know specifically how to come out of their dream. What do you say? Nothing comes to mind. You say, \u201cWake up! What else do you need to know?\u201d
\n
\nEver since Abe woke up, life has sucked. He became so fiery and monomaniacal and hell bent on ego destruction that all his relations, family, connections and job opportunities are long gone, bridges happily burnt. Abe accomplished a lofty goal \u2013 pure non-dual awareness \u2013 but his heroism was his monumental failure. Abe is a ghost. In fact, he\u2019s a ghost within a ghost. The hero formally known as Abe died on a suicide mission and woke up to find there was virtually no point to the whole thing. Enlightenment for Abe, like so many others, was the greatest achievable failure. Each day he feels an overwhelming sense of \u2018now what\u2019?
\n
\nLet\u2019s say that each day you didn\u2019t find enlightenment, you cut off part of your body. You\u2019d start with your digits, but eventually move to entire limbs, portions of your face and scalp, and flab from your torso. Undoubtedly, this is the type of will necessary to find enlightenment. After a few months or so, you\u2019d wake up. You\u2019d find the mind of Christ, the heart of Buddha, the way of the Tao and the fire of Krishna pretty quickly if your life depended on it each day. And standing in front of your bathroom mirror, reborn into this world but not of it, you\u2019d look at your bloodied bandages, your weary eyes, your poor stitches and your horrifyingly disfigured body and think, \u201cWell that was stupid\u201d.
\n
\nAbe sits at home and does online roll playing with anonymous gamers. He\u2019s getting quite good at Starcraft. He wakes up around 11, walks his dog, makes cereal then gets to work on Starcraft. He pays the bills by writing finance articles for credit card companies while breaking from Starcraft and preparing a hearty lunch of coffee and ramen soup, then walking his dog again. Writing has always served Abe, and it was the greatest key to his enlightenment. The day after his awakening, he sprayed kerosene over some 4,000 pages of handwritten notebook pages written in fervid, drooling, full-on madness with pen, charcoal pencil, crayon, and sometimes blood and shit.
\n
\nSometimes he stays up until six just swinging on his back porch watching storms roll in, drinking fine cognac. After enlightenment, there\u2019s a great sense of being done. The journey is over. You\u2019ve nothing left to experience or be a part of unless you really want to. You know you could go out and participate in the world, but ultimately there\u2019s no point since everything is already perfect and as it should be and any participation in the world is solely for your growth and benefit. His moral standards were one of the first things to go and, having an everlasting understanding of oneness and unity, he feels zero need to be a responsible citizen, get married or contribute to the economy. Sometimes he lays in bed all day smoking cigars wondering why he does anything at all.","dateCreated":"1298985068","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"wadetravis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/wadetravis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298480198\/wadetravis-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35053816","body":"My protagonist is Glennis Henry, an eighty-seven year-old woman who lives in a Veteran\u2019s home. Her husband served in World War II and she lived there with him until his death, a year ago. They were not able to have children, although secretly, she had had a child (a girl) at a convent when she was just sixteen, which was given up for adoption. She was never allowed to speak of this to her family and had never spoken of it to anyone. Glennis enjoys her freedom at the home. She is taken care, but because the staff there is more interested in the latest gossip and their own personal lives, Glennis has many windows of opportunities to take advantage. She can do what she likes (within reason) in her room, escape to secret hiding places and even leave the grounds all together on occasion. Because she was never a mother, Glennis has the spirit of someone much younger in age. To meet her, you would think that she is twenty-five in her heart.
\n
\nGlennis has several antagonists in her story, including the Commandant of the Vet\u2019s Home, Mr Worley. But her main protagonist is the new head nurse, Maxine Kramer, who has very recently taken over after the previous head nurse, April Harrington, left to become a stay at home mother with the birth of her second child.
\n
\nAn short excerpt from Glennis' Diary:
\n
\nNurse Kramer is a constant reminder that I\u2019m old. She\u2019s now gotten rid of all of the young, fun staff and slowly replaced that with old crows just like herself. There\u2019s even a man now, Kevin, as he calls himself. What a brute. But Nurse Kramer or \u201cMaxine\u201d as she wants us to call her, (to make herself seem more friendly), is on a mission to drive us all to our graves. She has the nose (and face) of a bloodhound; always discovering the smell of a few puffs I take on my cigar before bed. What does she care what I do? I\u2019ll be 88 years old next month. She\u2019ll probably bring in a cake with so many candles and \u201caccidentally\u201d set me on fire. My old age won\u2019t kill me, but her tyrannical rule of this ward just may.","dateCreated":"1298992834","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35105684","body":"Sandy, 32, good looking with pleasant demeanor, works for his father in his clothing store in Manhattan. Sandy is productive and efficient but never good enough for his slave-driving father, who\u2019s always tearing him down. This negative influence creates a constant battle for Sandy, who knows that he\u2019s the one keeping the business afloat while his father, unbeknownst to Sandy, battles a slow-progressing terminal disease. Sandy is loyal to his family and loves his mother very much, such that he\u2019d bear any burden for her well-being.
\n
\nSandy is divided internally. He has some anger but rarely shows it. He\u2019d like to let his father have it full throttle. But he has never done that and knows that it could create disaster. His father does not tolerate anger in anyone, certainly not in his son\/employee, whom he has threatened to fire more than once. He doesn\u2019t know how to relate to his father except in terms of the business.
\n
\nThe business is very good, secure & profitable, but Sandy has a growing facet that wants to dream, to run free, and live a less structured, routinized life, and express more of who he is. This side comes out when he sits to write, his chosen hobby. He is drawn to the craft of acting as a way to break out of his box. Sometimes he sneaks away from work to attend an acting class down the block. No one knows about this and he\u2019s afraid to tell. His family is prominent in the community. He knows there is more to life, and he will make the jump to find it, though he can\u2019t yet figure out the mechanics to do so.
\n
\nHe needs a confidant in someone outside his family. But he has difficulty opening up to other people about his inner life, much of which remains to be explored. Most people consider him a mystery, albeit a hard-working one. He shows signs of struggle but is usually kind, quiet, and diligent. He loves animals and children.
\n
\nRuss Wollman","dateCreated":"1299029783","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35137054","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n3.01.2011
\nProtagonist Outline
\n
\nProtagonist = David, who disbelieves in anything unseen, grows to regain faith in love and life
\nAntagonist = Car salesman who stole David\u2019s girlfriend, doesn\u2019t change at all
\nEvolution = David embraces his dark side or negative attributes and moves on, believing in love and life having deep and true meaning
\n
\n
\nContinuation of hippie story
\nDavid doesn\u2019t believe in magic, God, etc
\nHe\u2019s not ready to see himself, his flaws or his negative aspects
\nHe sees them in the car salesman but doesn\u2019t see them as his own
\nDavid\u2019s best friend recently found yoga and meditation
\nHe rubs off on David by influence
\nDavid\u2019s friend gives up smoking, drinking, and straightens out his life
\nDavid is desperate for change, he talks with his friend
\nHe doesn\u2019t heed his advice at first to try yoga and meditation
\nDavid comes around though when he loses his girlfriend, job, and feels alone
\nHis friend introduces him to a visiting shaman
\nDavid finds his truth on a vision quest
\nChild Guru leads vision quest, the child is the shaman
\nDavid sees into his past lives- one past life he fell in love and ran away with a witch
\nChild guru is reminds David who he is and that at one time he did believe in the unseen
\nDavid gradually moves from a place of blame to a place of responsibility
\nHe forgives the car salesman even though the salesman doesn\u2019t change
\nHe forgives his girlfriend and moves onto a love more fitting
\nHe thanks his best friend and shaman\/ child guru
\nMain character learns to embrace darkness rather than run away, kill, or ignore it
\nDavid also learns about karma and restructures his life to be more conscious of his actions
\nDavid is no longer a victim to circumstance; he opens a yoga studio for his new found love
\nDavid lives his life in honesty and therefore builds better relationships because of it","dateCreated":"1299079039","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35138018","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n3.01.2011
\nAntagonist Development
\n
\nAntagonist = Dark Entity, Immortal Soul, Can take on any body at any time, Shadow Queen, People don\u2019t know that she\u2019s a dark immortal soul,
\n
\nShe\u2019ll do anything for the sake of protecting her family, especially her daughter of this lifetime, Her daughter is the only child she\u2019s decided to have from all of her lives thus far
\n Dark Entity decides to take on a body and come into the world to protect her daughter from her evil husband while her daughter begins to realize who her mother really is
\n
\n
\nMy baby girl is getting married. I have to let her. She stopped hearing my truth a long time ago and now she sees me every time she looks in the mirror.
\n
\nShe\u2019s smitten by me really, but she won\u2019t admit it. She tries to get rid of me, or at least the sight of me. Out of sight out of mind right? Wrong. I\u2019ve been gone long enough. She\u2019ll be seeing more of me, especially because this sucker thinks he\u2019s just gonna waltz right into the picture and make it his own. Nope. I\u2019m not having it.
\n
\nPoor baby, she\u2019s afraid that she\u2019ll be just like me, her cold-hearted mother. She goes as far as to staying away from anything red or black in color. She says that it\u2019s not her taste, but I know the truth. She doesn\u2019t want to dress like me, because she sees me in the mirror. She\u2019s coming closer to the truth that she\u2019s surpressed for so long. They\u2019re my token colors of lust, passion, and heaviness which she wants no part of.
\n
\nShe tells her friends that I\u2019m a whore, because I flirt with my eyes and speak with my walk to get what I want. How does she think I raised her?! I always made sure she had nice things. She\u2019s got what she has because of my love.
\n
\nShe calls me the mother of all manipulators and it\u2019s kind of sad that I\u2019ve ended up to be a mother at all, unfortunately her mother. She\u2019s told me once that she hated me, that she would trade any other mother for me any day.
\n
\nShe\u2019s called on my soul for protection and to patch things up? Was that a suggestion from her good ol\u2019man? I doubt it. If he suggested it would be because he wants in on this family. I heard him say that she should make amends with me a few years back. Probably for the status, the money, and the bragging rights.
\n
\nShe\u2019ll come back around some day. We used to have so much fun when she was little a girl. I remember the days at the playground and when she started liking boys. I gave her platinum advice on how to deal with those suckers but she misused the information, and got heart broken instead of protecting herself. It takes time I guess to get as good as I am.
\n
\nMaybe\u2019s she\u2019s meant to be a goody, and really I\u2019m ok with that, but a mother always knows. She\u2019s got the same heart as me. She\u2019s tired of the hurt and loneness. She\u2019ll be alone in her new found marriage if she doesn\u2019t find me and let me help her. Hasn\u2019t she realized that if I truly wanted to manipulate just for the sake of it, the marriage would have went sour before it began.
\n
\nShe thinks she\u2019s got her whole world figured out, no thanks to me of course. But she\u2019ll come to learn why I stabbed her father in order to defend my heart and stand up for myself instead of out of pride. If anyone was manipulative, it was Stan. The bastard. I love him though.
\n
\nHe helped me in my skills in navigating this cold world just by influence. He showed me what the real world was all about, survival of the fittest. Cold\u2026 As cold as my heart I guess. Nope, I can\u2019t let anyone in. Love has damaged me. She\u2019ll see. My sweet little angel girl will see and I\u2019ll be right here for her when she\u2019s ready to burn that sweet little house of hers down.
\n
\nI\u2019ll be here to tell her that this cold heart is just as normal as her own. I won\u2019t be the bitch anymore. At least in her eyes. That\u2019s all that matters to me in the depressing world. The game is starting to get old though it used to give me such a thrill in my early years.
\n
\nPatience, that\u2019s a virtue I bet she didn\u2019t think I had. Fact is I just don\u2019t trust that boy. I can see it in his filthy green snakey eyes. He\u2019s sloppy though. I could tell that from a mile awayd. Nope, He aint the one for her.
\n
\nI tried to tell her he was sneaky, but why would she believe me. It takes one to one and I\u2019ve been down that road going both ways before. Yea, I\u2019ve cheated, and yes, I\u2019ve lied but it was all in protection for my family. Blood is thicker than this good wine I\u2019m sipping now.
\n
\nI\u2019m coming into this world.","dateCreated":"1299079525","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JessiMonique","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JessiMonique","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298983661\/JessiMonique-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35144704","body":"Protagonist:
\n
\nSilvia is a tough businesswoman in her mid 40\u2019s who seems very emotionless and tough in her work and most aspects of her life. Even though she has a hair product line that is very good, it is not really successful due to her personality. Her natural energy is very intense and passionate and she speaks faster than most people. She is also very persuasive and manipulates people to her needs. She lives in New York City in a two bedroom apartment with her youngest daughter of two. Even though she adores her daughters, her relationship with them is not as well as she\u2019d like and constantly bickers and argues with the both, but especially the youngest, whom she pleases the most and is the closer too. Silvia is very rigid in her character and does not do well in admitting her flaws. She feels no need to dwell in the past and just move on from it. She is always thinking about the future. She is also very observant, quick minded and sharp. \u201cIf you want things right, then do it yourself\u201d are one of her motto\u2019s since she always feels that everyone else is incompetent to fulfill what she asks them to do at times.","dateCreated":"1299083396","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jenuineheart","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jenuineheart","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35144812","body":"Antagonist:
\nSophia, is the youngest of Silvia\u2019s two daughters and although she\u2019s been spoiled most of her life, she is very humble, honest and has a childlike innocence even though she is in her 20\u2019s. Sophia loves the idea of living as a gypsy, not knowing that she has heritage from all over, not just Arabic and Peruvian, and is descended from the lineage of gypsies and shamans. She has a loving and joyous nature and loves the outdoors. She wants to teach art to children to free the artist in them, and travel the world in doing so. She loves plants and animals and is involved in humanitarian projects all throughout the year. She is very social and outgoing and wants 20 children when she eventually settles down and gets married. Sophia\u2019s relationship to her sister, Natalia, is almost twin like except that they are 5 years difference. They are smart, bright, and wide eyed. Sophia deeply loves Silvia, her mother, but sees her many flaws, and is determined not to let Silvia\u2019s habits and behavior control her and show her how much more fulfilling life can be when one lets go and just is aware of life.
\n\u201cI am sitting in a grassy area of Fort Tryon Park, and feel like I\u2019m in a magical land away from the infamous New York City. Surrounded by trees, I soak up the sunlight shining warm and bright on my face. With Enya playing through my headphones, I am transported to a realm of angels and light, to my home.
\nI have always felt like I never truly belonged in this world filled with such plasticity in what seems like every society. I have never really kept up with the new styles of the modern world, and hardly with all the electronic stuff always improving every few months. I have always been the odd one, more into nature and art, and music than anything else.\u201d","dateCreated":"1299083465","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jenuineheart","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jenuineheart","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35558994","body":"*Made some changes and added the Antagonist description:
\n
\n
\nMy protagonist is Glenis Henry, an eighty-seven year-old woman who lives in a Veteran\u2019s home in Marshalltown, Iowa. Her husband served in World War II and she lived there with him until his death, a year ago. They were not able to have children, although secretly, she had had a child (a girl) at a convent when she was just sixteen, which was given up for adoption. She was never allowed to speak of this with her family and had never spoken of it to anyone else. Glenis enjoys her freedom at the Vet\u2019s home. She is taken care of, but because the staff are more interested in the latest gossip and their own personal lives, Glenis has many windows of opportunity to take advantage. Because she was never a mother, Glenis has the spirit of someone much younger in age. She can do what she likes (within reason) in her room, escape to secret hiding places and even leave the grounds all together on occasion. In her heart, she still believes she\u2019s twenty-five.
\n
\nGlenis has several antagonists in her story, including the Commandant of the Vet\u2019s Home, Mr Worley. But her main protagonist is the new head nurse, Maxine Kramer, who has very recently taken over after from the previous head nurse, April Harrington, who left to become a stay at home mom with the birth of her second child.
\n
\nA short excerpt from Glenis\u2019 Diary:
\n
\nNurse Kramer is a constant reminder that I\u2019m old. She\u2019s now gotten rid of all of the young, fun staff and slowly replaced that with old crows just like herself. There\u2019s even a man now, Kevin, as he calls himself. What a brut. But Nurse Kramer or \u201cMaxine\u201d as she wants us to call her, (to make herself seem more friendly), is on a mission to drive us all to our graves. She has the nose (and face) of a bloodhound; always discovering the smell of a few puffs I take on my Virginia Slims before bed. What does she care what I do? I\u2019ll be 88 years old next month. She\u2019ll probably bring in a cake with so many candles and \u201caccidentally\u201d set me on fire. My old age won\u2019t kill me, but her tyrannical rule of this ward just may.
\n
\nMy antagonist, head nurse Maxine Kramer, grew up on a small pig farm outside of Albert Lea, Minnesota. She is the seventh of nine children born to German immigrants. Maxine and her siblings had a strict Catholic upbringing, and her father was obsessed with Padre Pio, and the Stigmata. It was said that her father declared she would be a nun from the age of 2. She was mainly kept indoors and therefore, remained sheltered and pale. She was schooled from home as to not gain exposure to boys. In 1968 at the age of eighteen, she entered the convent to become a Novice. Soon after moving to the convent, she was allowed to listen to the radio and heard rock music for the first time. Less than six months later, Maxine left the convent, was disowned by her parents and ran off with an elder sister to become groupies of Credence Clearwater Revival. After her sister overdosed in 1970 and had to be sent to a sanitarium, Maxine moved back to Minnesota and went to nursing school in Rochester. She was never married.","dateCreated":"1299681420","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35965748","body":"Zach Dean
\n
\nMy name is John Farrell. I am a detective in the 5th Precinct of the great city of Philadelphia. I love what I do, I help protect the good people of Philadelphia. For as long as I can remember I've wanted to help people. See, I was raised by my mom, dad decided he couldn't be bothered when I was six months old. Which was fine because my grand mom and grand pa were around and helped out my mom. My grandfather was a great man, since retiring he spent most of his time volunteering and he would often bring me. I guess that's where I learned it from. I would help elderly ladies with their groceries, stand up against the bullies who tried to pick on the weaker kids. You know, stuff like that. Some kids called me a \u201cgoodie, goodie\u201d but I never let it bother me. I was a good guy, I was a hero, and I saw cops as the ultimate superheroes.
\n Then my whole world got turned upside down. My mom and I came home one night from seeing a movie, and we were greeted by police cars, news vans and flashing lights. Long story short: bad guy broke into my grandparents house, got spooked and killed them both. The cops never found the guy. My heroes, my superheroes, let me down. Turns out they weren't super after all, they're just human, like me. I wanted to be a super hero, but there are no real superheroes in this world. So I settled for being a cop, saving common folks from common criminals. I worked my way up to detective where I could protect people from those who thought they could play god and get away with it.
\n Like I said, I love my job; but it has it's cost. Work has to take precedent over certain things sometimes, a fact of the job my ex-wife could never understand. She left me three years ago and fought hard to keep my visitation rights meager. She knew I didn't have any money as a cop, so she took the one thing I loved, my kids. I see them as often as I am allowed by the court and I make sure they always know how much I love them, which they do because I call them every night to remind them. They are good kids. Mathew is seven and Rebecca is six, and I promised myself I wouldn't miss their lives. So I make sure I'm around, as much as I can and I try to repel as often as I can. I try to be a good example for them.
\n This is my life, or was my life until recently when a murder came across my desk that no one else would touch. I soon learned that no one would touch it because, except for a few off details, it didn't look like a murder. But it was, and it was only the first of many throughout the country. Same style of killing, same calling a card, a children's book called \u201cThe Farmer and the Viper\u201d from Aesop's fables. Which is actually a play off the story of the frog and the scorpion. Everyone started calling him the \u201cNursery Rhythm Killer\u201d, I pointed out it's not a nursery rhythm but in fact a fable. Everyone told me to shut it. He, or she, leaves no evidence save the book and items purposefully left to make it look like an accident or suicide. And there wasn't even remotely a pattern or any repeat murders in the same city, until this morning. When a man from Iowa was killed and made to look like a drunk driving accident when his car was crashed into someone's pool.
\n I set up a collaboration among the detectives running point on the other murders in other cities, but unfortunately it hasn't produced much. And the FBI hasn't gotten involved yet because they're still not fully convinced this is a serial killer. So this is where I stand, searching through the dark trying to catch the boogie man. Hoping I do before more people get hurt, and so I can get back to trying to piece my family back together.","dateCreated":"1300263309","smartDate":"Mar 16, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34898614","dateCreated":"1298739268","smartDate":"Feb 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34898614"},"dateDigested":1532145521,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Feb. 26 - Saturday POV","description":"Write from the point of view from another person or entity.
\n
\nDon't worry about it being a complete story, try and get inside something or someone and see what comes out.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34983844","body":"Wade Koch
\nPOV Homework
\n
\nMan eventually neglects things he invents. He arrives at something truly sublime and brilliant then moves on and forgets to appreciate what he\u2019s done. They're all about momentum. No gratitude. Think about it \u2013 you can hop into a gas station or convenience store and exchange 90 cents for a molded plastic container that holds your belongings with a such a strong seal to stop even air or water from getting in or out. Isn\u2019t that cool? Liquids, solids, pastes, food, stools, whatever. Seriously think about it. Convenience is underrated.
\n
\nIf I had a choice, I would\u2019ve chosen mayonnaise or a nice organic strawberry spread or maybe even some black olives, but definitely food. Food containers get reused. Nobody wants to wash out a container of Vaseline then use it as a lunch box.
\n
\nI\u2019m content with my life, it\u2019s just that I wish I would\u2019ve chosen to been filled with something else. I get prodded with clumsy, excited fingers in brief moments of ecstacy then shoved back in the drawer and forgotten until a certain friend comes over or when Romeo has a late, lonely night. He doesn\u2019t realize that when he uses the same fingers to reach in he\u2019s leaving a trace of himself behind which is left in here to congeal or maybe just add a bit of harmless extra grease, but either way it\u2019s pretty disgusting, and all I\u2019m saying is...I\u2019m not a complainer, but if I had a choice I would\u2019ve chosen something else, that\u2019s all. A little respect would be nice. Some gentler fingers or even a teaspoon... I just don\u2019t like the index and middle jamming themselves right in then getting thrown across the room then getting hidden again. Black olives would\u2019ve been nice.","dateCreated":"1298912465","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34983980","body":"Gabrial Goldiamond
\nPOV
\n
\nWHAT\u2019S IT LIKE TO BE\u2026
\n
\nI am the quietest of children, more invisible than air. I thrive in the smiles of lovers and the places where no humans roam. I am the wind kissing your skin with coolness; I am the sigh you sigh afterward. I am virgin waters, unrippled by time. I am the orange glow of a sunset, bathing watchers\u2019 eyes in my apparently dying light. I am the feel of your body when you relax. I am the swift yet gentle steps of goddesses\u2019 bare feet running across the earth. I am the embrace you have longed for all day when you return home from your public affairs. I am the sound of an unfired bullet.
\nI am the weakness in all structure, the one flaw that only the most settled of men can see, yet they do not find flaw in me. I am the drive of man\u2014but they drive into the wrong things. I am the food that fulfills you when you sit down to eat\u2014that which satiates in the experience of eating it, not merely in filling the belly. I am the dawn of new understanding which is not new. I am the exhale.
\nI cannot be acquired. Every sect of society will try to tell you the way to acquire me, but I assure you that this is entirely impossible. You will get my cousin who looks like me, called mediocrity. It is a nice middle ground most people like to think of as me, but I am not limp like mediocrity; I am a most powerful orgasm beyond your imagination! I am a hand within your vaginal walls, stroking your special spot endlessly, yet whilst you are screaming with pleasure, you notice that my waters are still. You are still.
\nI am the greatest peak at rock bottom; you must be at your lowest in order to know me. My cousin attempts to keep things so balanced that nothing happens\u2014so perfect that nothing is done. But in me nothing is done yet somehow you keep exploding in ecstasy\u2014every second of your life.
\nWatch yourself, for if you get the faint chance to experience me, I will seem to be something of your own making. Though it doesn\u2019t matter, I would advise not to make this mistake; it will send you back to mediocrity faster than the Universe has come and gone\u2014and trust me, from where I sit, the Universe has indeed come and gone. So instead of boasting you have achieved me, let me be your laugh, your smile, your love, your every thought. Let me enter you, and let us make love in the perfect stillness that rumbles all creation, and makes infinite universes bow and yield themselves to me.
\nThey will watch us with absolute reverence, and accept with infinite love all your taboos. Yield to me, child. This is the only way. Hold me; embrace me, as I impregnate you with the memory of worlds unborn. Let me wash over you with the power of a thousand tsunamis, but to you it will be as gentle as the subtle tide washing over your feet.
\nIn your body you will pleasure yourself, and everyone around you will project their limited perception of me onto you. But take no heed to their words, for their voices will be the dimmest of echoes as I thrust into you, over and over, over and over, over and over\u2026
\nSit down, close your eyes, and wait for me. I have not gone anywhere, but wait to see me, wait to feel me. That moment of perfect blackness, before you perceived yourself as the first vibrations of creation, is me. It does not matter how long it lasts; rejoice that you have experienced it at all! Most people go lifetimes without even thinking of me, and suffer needlessly. But you\u2026you have come upon a point in your journey where it\u2019s time to meet me. You\u2019ll find that I am a lot more familiar than you know. You may even have a faint memory of me. This memory will not reside in your thoughts, and I cannot tell you where it comes from. It is not because I don\u2019t know; it is because it is not something to \u2018know\u2019. Just trust.
\nDon\u2019t you see? I am always here. Don\u2019t be fooled by what others tell you to think. They \u2018know\u2019 so much, but trust nothing and no one. They suffer whilst believing they have achieved me, but they only feel they have achieved me by criticizing you! However, do not feel anger or hate toward them. They are but silly children creating theories of the world they\u2019ve just been born into. They know nothing of it. With me, you are the adult who lovingly chuckles at children\u2019s wild claims, pats them on the head, kisses them on the cheek, and waits until they understand. Meanwhile, you are living an adult\u2019s life, enjoying every step of the process in your love affair with me. I can\u2019t wait until you return home, beloved. I am Peace.","dateCreated":"1298912574","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34984022","body":"Michael Guravich
\nPOV
\n
\n've never been much for reflection on my life and circumstances, and maybe it's for the best. I hear from time to time people saying things like "be here now" and "there is no time" and "it's all about the present" and I think I kinda get it. But every now and then, I think back about my history and where I came from, and where I am, and wonder at the strangeness of it all. I mean, who would have guessed that I'd find myself in this large and amazing kiddie playroom? Who would have thought that I'd be working at one of the poshest places on Earth? I mean really, right across the street from the New York Stock Exchange? Really? Yes, really! I never could have imagined growing up that I'd find myself one day being one of the main 4 foot teddy bears playing with societies creme de la creme. My parents would sure be proud, maybe.
\n
\nI wonder if I have parents? Ahh, who cares? I've got these great kids! They come in every day and play and jump and laugh and scream and just have so much fun. I grew up in a place that was so very sad. I remember the people who made me, piece by piece. I saw it all, as if I wasn't even there. These people, they weren't happy. They were sad and they were scared. This made me scared. I didn't know why I was there. It was just very sad. But now, who cares? The building I work in has a shop in it called Hermes! That is so cool, Hermes! Across from the New York Stock Exchange. I really like the room I work in, even though it gets lonely here at night when no one is here and the lights are out. Why don't the other toys talk when everyone leaves? I don't know. I wish they would wake up again, I'd like to play with them. But no one is here now and it's dark and lonely and quiet. All I can hear is people passing by every once in a while on their way to the gym or to the raquetball court. Sometimes they come close to the door and I think they're going to come in here, but they just keep on going.
\n
\nOh, wait, I think I hear something. The footsteps. They'll probably just pass by, like usual. Oh, wait. The doors are opening! Who is it? Will they want to play? Oh no, not these two again. HELP!!!! HELP!!!!!!!","dateCreated":"1298912606","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35056886","body":"Taylor Guitar
\nby Michelle Annette Craft
\n
\nThe first time you held me I knew you\u2019d be mine. I\u2019d been touched by many others but never before like you. Your porcelain fingertips so gracefully slid up and down my ebony neck. The curves of our bodies fit impeccably along side one another. I could tell you\u2019d been with someone incompatible with you before - you were so visibly shocked at how natural two bodies could coexist. I knew this day would come for me though.
\n
\nYet, as much as I love you, I never know what to expect.
\n
\nThe days you come home late are long and cold. And I miss you. You never leave the heat on. And it can get so dry - you keep saying you\u2019ll turn the humidifier on, but you\u2019ve yet to follow through and you know I can\u2019t work it. Just like you keep saying you\u2019ll make you break, but you\u2019ve yet to follow through and I surely can\u2019t bring us success on my own. Do you have any idea what it\u2019s like to watch the love of your life sit back and wait for greatness to find her? It took you months to find me - and you went through some turmoil to do so - why won\u2019t you put in the work to realize your potential?
\n
\nThe days when you are home early I stand proud and call out your name. \u201cI\u2019m here. You can tell me anything. How was your day? I can see it in your face. You\u2019ve got something to say. Why do you not use me? Why not confide in me. I\u2019m here for you forever and always. I can never leave. It\u2019s you & me kid, me & you against the world and we\u2019ll show them all how amazing we are - how profound, how beautiful you are. \u201c
\n
\nSome days you answer. Some days you don\u2019t.
\n
\nI know you know how much better you are with me than with all who came before. We make magic together! We make music together. And what better to do on this earth than to create. You want to be perfect? Is that what you\u2019re afraid? Being perfect is not about looking better than everybody else. It\u2019s not about writing a better song than everyone else or painting the greatest painting on the planet - those things are all relative. Being used for the purpose you were placed on this earth for - that\u2019s perfection. Doing what you were meant to do, just for the sake of doing it - that\u2019s perfection. I was meant to be played. You were meant to play. We were meant to create. So pick me up and let\u2019s write a song.","dateCreated":"1298994355","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"michelleannette","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/michelleannette","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35075076","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n2.26.2011
\nWhat is like to be you?
\n
\nI love to see people in festivity. I watch them transform in response to my music- to the words that I speak. It amazes me with every full moon celebration, every cultural rights of passage, and every performance. I never fail to bring people of all walks of life together.
\nTo be me is to make music and to be in love. To be me is to feel complete freedom- to feel the connection of the unseen, the cosmos, and to allow this pure energy to play within your body. When I am involved, I change the atmosphere. I change you.
\nI tell stories that you see within the movement of dancers. And when I speak, when I make music, you have to move. Tap a foot, sing a note, shake your hips- this is the beginning of letting go, and the experience of knowing.
\nI lead people on their vision quests. I help people see the truth. Native cultures use me to tell stories. I help people pass these stories down from generation to generation. I let them use me to call out the spirits of ancestors. The spirits of the gods and goddesses come to the people with my beck and call. And I help them ghost dance on the soil of the earth.
\nAnd yet, I am just a messenger, like you, just a vessel. I am nothing without a musician, an audience, a lover. Though, I may be the first thing you hear in any musicians circle, I am nothing without you and your participation.
\nI am the bass and the foundation to every celebration. With you I worship. I am the djembe, the dundun, the hand drum. Once you touch me or tap me, and allow the innocence of rhythm between you and I to flourish, the gods and the people are pleased.","dateCreated":"1299006150","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35096932","body":"I was at the end of the line in Grugliasco, and someone told me I was going to America. Ah, America, I do so want to live in America! Italy is not so bad, but what do I know of her, except that I am born of her soil and toil?
\n
\nSomeone in America will love me, I thought. Someone in America will catch sight of my eyes, my shape, the color of my skin, and will fall for me, take care of me, and love me eternally.
\n
\nAnd that is what happened. Well, almost. A young man found me, and he took me home with him one warm, sunny, American spring day. I think he loves me, but I think also that he has never loved before. So I do not know that his love will last. I can\u2019t be sad. I have only to enjoy what is, as if I had a choice.
\n
\nHis touch, so careful and tender, is love. And I feel what\u2019s in his heart when we are alone together and everything has gone silent and his eyes pore over my body. He is so proud to introduce me to his friends, though sometimes I see they do not understand him. And when he is inside me, when he unleashes his passion on me, and together we fly\u2014I understand a little more what I am. He makes me feel alive so tenderly. I would never have imagined this from an American boy.
\nWe spent fourteen years as one. And then we separated. It was like something had crashed. And I felt less than nothing, just alone and useless.
\n
\nTwinCamAlfa
\nRuss Wollman","dateCreated":"1299023081","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34857478","dateCreated":"1298656742","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34857478"},"dateDigested":1532145522,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Friday, Feb. 25. - Observation Homework","description":"Post your observation homework here.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34870928","body":"Observation HW
\nDan Iwanicki
\n
\nI\u2019m sitting on a couch, and outside my window I can see the trains that run by. I don\u2019t notice them anymore because I think my brain filters them out. I can also see the clock tower, and when it\u2019s quiet, I can even hear its chimes. The trains that run by remind me of human consumption for some reason. All that stuff that the trains are carrying, where does it all go? Well us humans use it obviously, or consume it in some way. It\u2019s really obnoxious too, the way they sound their horns, telling everyone to move out of their way. The trains are using energy to transport non-renewable resources like fuel, materials, etc. Is there not a more sustainable way of managing our resources? It\u2019s like the trains sound their horns obnoxiously to remind us that we need to move in a new direction. It\u2019s a sharp cry for a new way of living, or a safety measure to keep people from being run over.","dateCreated":"1298667882","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"daniwanicki","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/daniwanicki","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1299200946\/daniwanicki-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34983804","body":"Wade Koch
\nObservation Homework
\n
\nLast night in Anna Purna, though I didn\u2019t run home and write it down immediately I began to notice more and more crafty ways that people bring conversation back to them. Once you\u2019re tuned in, you see how people need to be heard, need to have feelings confirmed, need to be included, or need to have attention. People will violently change subject, go out of their way to add anecdotes that are barely related, and other tactics. But this is nothing new. This isn\u2019t a novel discovery I\u2019m having. Everybody knows everybody does this. For example, here\u2019s me doing it now: It\u2019s hard for me to have friends because I tune into people\u2019s insecurities. I don\u2019t verbalize them, I just watch them until I\u2019m uninterested in being their friend. Anyway, here\u2019s a conversation I watched last night. My curly haired, hansom blonde friend was subtly wooing a new student with his wit, charm, and willingness to talk bluntly about taboo subjects. Everyone else was trying to keep up.
\n
\nI shoveled sheep shit today.
\nYou look pretty clean. Sheep shit?
\nYeah, yesterday, lama shit. Today sheep shit.
\nWhat do you guys use it for?
\nComposting.
\nWow.
\nI love it. It\u2019s good for the lungs.
\nI could never do that.
\nI actually enjoy it. I like working with animals.
\nAnd their shit?
\nYou really get to know an animal when you work with their poo.
\nWhat are lamas like?
\nThey don\u2019t like it when you mess with their poo. They\u2019re territorial over their poo.
\n(other friend) No dude, you just stared at them when you took it. You don\u2019t look animals in the eye. Remember when that guy told us to stop looking at them cause it freaks them out?
\nI don\u2019t think that was it. I think they don\u2019t like us taking their poo.
\nNo dude. Look at it like this, if your dog starts humping your girlfriend and he\u2019s looking at her or elsewhere while he\u2019s doing it that\u2019s one thing, but if he looks at you while he does it it\u2019s a dominance thing. He\u2019s showing you who\u2019s boss. Animals communicate by where they\u2019re looking.
\nYou know how to make a dog start humping? Hump it back.
\n(new student) I take it you\u2019ve done that?
\nAbsolutely. I\u2019m not kidding. You pin the dog, hump it back.
\nAnd stare it when you do it.
\nTotally. It\u2019s a dominance thing and if you render it totally helpless for even twenty seconds it\u2019ll never hump you again.
\nSo why were you guys staring at the lamas.
\nLamas are fucking scary.
\nThey\u2019re cute!
\nNo. Trust me. You know they growl? They growl and spit and hiss and they squint their eyes. And they kick the shit out things. Lamas are fucking scary. We were moving their poo and they kept approaching us and we were looking at them cause we thought they were going to attack. I guess if we had turned out backs and did it we would\u2019ve been fine but we actually had to start creating diversions with food so we could take their poo. I fucking hate lamas.","dateCreated":"1298912427","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34983914","body":"Jessi Elliot
\nObservation Piece
\n
\nI walked into the 2nd street caf\u00e9 with my roommate. We picked the same booth we always sat at when we came together. We threw our jackets on the tan cushioned seats. Of course I chose the seat facing the door as usual.
\nWe walked over to the cashier waitress. I remember her, but of course her name slips my mind for the moment. We did cic together. A rather mature msae kid. Bright red hair. Pink cheeks. Thin like me and such bright eyes. Very pretty girl.
\nMy roommate and I ordered our food and sat down at our favorite booth. I\u2019m glad we chose this caf\u00e9 over revelations. It\u2019s quiet here, especially energetically. Far less people begging for attention. I can hear myself think and breathe here. I let out a sigh of relief.
\nThe food came to our table. I ordered a chocolate chip cookie and French fries. My roommate ordered s berry smoothie and sushi. We shared everything of course. As I looked at our food I couldn\u2019t help but to think about our selections being perfect pms food. Yea, it\u2019s coming.
\nI also couldn\u2019t help but notice the sounds of satisfaction coming from her end. She was enjoying the food of course. The sounds of \u2018Mmm\u2019 always sounded like sex when we ate and enjoyed our food.
\nWe naturally broke into conversation. Funny how we now felt free to speak to each other once our stomachs were pleased. She started us off, \u201cSo, I named my pens and pencil today!\u201d She\u2019s so cute I thought to myself. I absolutely adore our quirky attributes. \u201cWould you like to hear them?\u201d She said.
\n\u201cOf course!\u201d How could I resist her excitement. Her eyes always lit up and she truly fit her name\u2019s description at moments like this, shinining light.
\nShe grabbed the colorful pens and the pencil from her bag and picked up one at a time and introduced them to me as if introducing me to her good friends. \u201cThis is red\u2026and black\u2026violet\u2026and,\u201d With a latin accent she introduces, \u201cand Man-ual.\u201d
\nWe laughed. Very cute. Manual obviously was very special to her. We have a thing for office supplies. Markers, pens, and paper. There\u2019s nothing like a new blank notebook. We\u2019re so corny together, but it\u2019s beautiful. At least we think so. That\u2019s all that matters.
\nI thought to myself, \u201cWhat are we listening to.\u201d The music over the sound system sounded so disturbing. I then noticed that some music may have been coming from the lady sitting to my left. She had her computer going.
\nThe ladt to my left seemed to be very drawn to whatever it was that was going on her computer screen but every now and then, I could catch her in the corner of my eyes, dipping into our conversaton. I didn\u2019t think much of it because it happened so often wherever I was with other people.
\nMy roommate tuned into my thoughts, \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re listening to, but it\u2019s pretty disarming.\u201d
\n\u201cI was just thinking that!\u201d I loved how quickly she replied to my thoughts. I began to remember how powerful my thoughts were. I truly do create my reality, hence, the quiet caf\u00e9. I couldn\u2019t bear to be in a loud atmosphere right now. And of course when I thought about my other friend that I just had a petty energetic confrontation had with walked into the caf\u00e9. No he wasn\u2019t going to stay. And I\u2019m sure it had to do more with the food they offered and the energy he picked up there. It was fitting for him so he left 2 minutes after coming in.
\nInterestng. It was like everything was a response to what I thought. On the outside looking in on my thoughts, people may say that I\u2019m full of myself. Oh well.
\nSilence dropped like a bomb. I love this kind of silence. It\u2019s the kind of silence you can almost touch. That silence you can sit in and be cradled by and send gratitude towards by just simply appreciating it. It seemed to be a short forever. It seemed to last only a moment but I enjoyed it.
\n\u201cYour sushi and Soy sauce look like a smiley face.\u201d I pointed to my roommates food. She only had two sushi rolls left, making the eyes to this character I saw on her plate. The ginger served to be the nose and the soy sauce was perfectly place to make a wide grin for the character.
\nWeird what you notice around you when you decide to pay attention. Normal stuff begin to have meaning. Isn\u2019t that what we\u2019re all on the journey to fully realize? Meaning\u2026our meaning.","dateCreated":"1298912521","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35056802","body":"A Stream of Observation
\n[abridged]
\nby Michelle Annette Craft
\n
\n\u201cThis doesn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d she says.
\nthe brown of my latte doesn\u2019t match the brown of the table. some browns go together, compliment one another. these just clash.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d she says.
\nit\u2019s all so indistinguishable. how can individual noises that are so calm and devoid of chaos create a whole that seems so chaotic from the outside. I can\u2019t pick out...
\n\u201cIf I was your friend, I\u2019d be honest. Even my kids know if you want the truth go and ask your mom... There are a few times I\u2019ve sliced my son in half and he\u2019s like,\u201d she gasps, \u201cand I\u2019m like, if you didn\u2019t want to know why\u2019d you ask?\u201d
\n\u201cI know....I know...\u201d she says.
\na man opens the door. my left side gets a brisk breeze of cold air. my right side gets a jazzy trumpet solo in my ear. it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve noticed the music playing. how is that possible - I\u2019m a musician and I haven\u2019t noticed the music yet? the sensory experience of the cold brings my attention to my other physical senses.
\n\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d she asks.
\n\u201cRight over here with a little bit of sun,\u201d she answers.
\nmy lips change the face of the soy foam on my latte. white hat walks by the window. green leggings walk through the door.
\nnone of the Christmas decorations I helped set up here are here. I didn\u2019t help take them down. I put them up and sang on the stage and walked away, saw it through to my own fulfillment. I wonder how many of my messes other people have to clean up. how many people do I leave hanging.
\n...I don\u2019t know which conversation to listen to. I see him walking up the side walk and feel him through the door as I type. I know exactly who I\u2019ll listen to...
\n...
\n...
\n...I wonder how many people were listening to our conversation.
\nthe click of a spoon on ceramics. the clank of the trash lid on the can.
\nthe man that just walked in the door could definitely play Santa Claus if he gained 60 pounds.
\nthere\u2019s an aloe plant in the corner. I\u2019m not actually sure that it\u2019s aloe, but it sure looks like it. it reminds me of my dad. so many things do lately, like that stupid movie that was so stupidly brilliant. it\u2019s no coincidence that paternal themes are being overtly thrust in my direction since I haven\u2019t spoken to my father in months.
\nthe blister on my right middle finger is beginning to hurt more and more with each click of the keys. the K key. the I key. I played too much guitar this afternoon. is that even possible?
\nthe woman at the wire table get\u2019s up. she discards of her cup and leaves. the man comes from around the corner and takes her place. how many pieces of your life start because someone else\u2019s piece has just ended. the woman ended her affair with the table. so the man could start his. he wouldn\u2019t have the opportunity at the table if she hadn\u2019t left it. I wouldn\u2019t have had my opportunity with Allan if...
\n\u201cWould you like a pillow?\u201d I decline the small framed woman in the green sweater. she has obnoxiously orange-red hair. the color hair my mother used to have - the color that says \u2018I absolutely, unequivocally\u2019 [I\u2019m not sure if thats the right word], that \u2018I absolutely, without a doubt dye my hair at least every two weeks to cover up my grays.\u2019
\nthe first child of the afternoon. I miss kids so much. this boy\u2019s about five or six. he looks just like Ben. if Ben were Asian. it\u2019s so weird being away from them for so long.
\nmy fingers are throbbing. my anxiety is starting to fade. I guess everything fades with time. just like hair - there is a man sitting directly in front of me whose hairline has receded to a point at a centimeter above the top of his ears - a strip in the middle that comes to a point in the back. like a triangle. like an ice cream cone. you could hold an ice cream cone in front of you and it would perfectly cover his bald spot. why do I relate everything to food...
\nAndrew walks in. I recognize him and smile.
\n\u201cHey I know these people,\u201d he smiles, but he\u2019s not looking at me. he sits down with the balding man and two women.
\nthe loud grind of the espresso maker. I notice there\u2019s no longer music playing. where is the music. this coffee shop has lost it\u2019s coffee shop vibe. I\u2019m kind of over this. I\u2019m manifesting some music coming through these speakers. I like the laugh of the woman in the beige sweater in front of me. God\u2019s music. but I want some human music.
\n\u201cIf you need anything let me know,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cOkay I will,\u201d she replies.
\nbut will she?
\nAndrew goes to throw out his cup. he says my name. I say \u201chey.\u201d
\nmy last latte sip. not even enough to swallow. there\u2019s so much foam at the bottom of the cup. I wonder why I have this pint glass. I should be drinking a Blue Moon out of this. not a latte. I wonder how long is too long to stay in a coffee shop after you\u2019ve finished your coffee.
\n\u201cVery sugary and very creamy, but ouuhh, so good,\u201d she praises.
\na bluesy cell phone ringtone plays.
\n\u201cKen just called out of the blue,\u201d he shouts.
\n\u201cTell him he owes me...657 dollars,\u201d he winks.
\n\u201cFrank just walked in...yeah...ha...yeah...he says you owe him 770 dollars,\u201d he delivers.
\n\u201cNo I think it was 256,\u201d other He corrects.
\na man in an orange hat walks in.
\na bluesy cell phone ringtone plays.
\nanother man in another orange hat tells the men on the stage that they have 10 minutes stay seated before they start setting up for the show tonight.
\n\u201cDid you see Randy?\u201d he asks.
\n\u201cYeah he looks good,\u201d he replies.
\n\u201cYeah he lost a bunch of weight,\u201d he responds.
\nI can\u2019t believe I know unequivocally [I looked it up] who they\u2019re talking about. I can\u2019t believe how friggin\u2019 small this town is.
\none of the orange hat men plunks the piano keys. I want to play but I\u2019m getting so cold and I don\u2019t think my fingers could take it. so much writing. so much guitar. so much typing. it\u2019s a good thing spot reduction is a myth because I would have some damn disproportionately skinny fingers.
\nenter the jazz chords. the sounds of heaven. then heaven stops.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t stop!\u201d a listener demands.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t stop \u2018til you get enough...\u201d the bass player sings.
\n\u201cYou never get to hear that if you\u2019re a drummer.\u201d says the drummer.
\n\u201cJust stop cause we\u2019ve had enough...\u201d","dateCreated":"1298994284","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"michelleannette","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/michelleannette","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35145364","body":"It\u2019s a Friday afternoon and I\u2019m sitting in revelations sipping my cup of chai.
\nThere are two older looking woman a few tables away. one of the women catches my eye. She looks like she\u2019s in her mid 50\u2019s and has a look of nonchalant boredom permanently engraved in her features, with just a sly hint of ageing skin near the bottom of her cheeks and a concealed wrinkle here and there. Her eyes are very dark, almost black, but shining brightly, stand out the most from her face. She has such a deep intense gaze, reminding me of long dark hallways with the only light always at the very end. That\u2019s how her gaze feels. As if she\u2019s so far removed from the present world, that only when you go deep and finally reach the end of her depths do you find her soul, all cocooned in her protective shield.
\nShe\u2019s on the phone and looking off into the distance, occasionally glancing at someone passing the store windows. She doesn\u2019t say much except for an occasional \u201cright\u2026. Mhm\u2026 yeah\u2026\u201d. The other woman next to her is patiently waiting as she munches absent mindedly on her sandwich. She seems like she\u2019s used to the consistent phone calls. Dressed in a light purple coat, she looks almost like the first woman\u2019s sister.
\nDeep eyed woman is dressed in a deep purple shirt, black skirt and matching knee high boots. She has on a coat with thick fur like lining matching the outside shade of gray. She looks like she\u2019s wealthy enough to travel with ease.
\nAfter the deep eyed woman gets off the phone, she returns to listening to the sister like friend as she yaks away at what seems like gossip of some sort. Deep eyed woman is still staring out the window throughout the duration of the conversation and gives a strained smile here and there. It is interesting to watch this woman smile. It\u2019s as if her lips cannot stretch wider than a half a millimeter away from any other part of her face. Maybe the reason for this is Botox, so that her skin may still look young.
\nPast her serious features, and her forced smile, she seems like she holds a very genuine love for anyone who is brave enough to pass her exterior toughness filled with seemingly all kinds of boundaries. She seems to have a bit of patience in her gaze as well; maybe due to meditating if she does at all.
\nAs she receives another call, this time she stands up and walks straight over to the Christianity section of books, as if she wants to speak away from sister like friend. As her conversation is followed by more \u201cunhuh\u2026 yeah.. sure..\u201d She scans the books but is more focused in her conversation, touching one or two that catch her attention briefly. She says a few short responses and I notice her pitch elevates than reduces each time. \u201c\u2026 well I said that was okay.. that\u2019s right\u2026\u201d are the basic components of her input. As her eyes roam the caf\u00e9, I can see that her outfit is a bit attention seeking but conservative to an extent. She seems to have a fit body as well. Throughout all this time, she never takes off her coat, as if she doesn\u2019t want to expose herself, to anyone.
\nOnce she is done, she walks over to sister like friend and they leave the caf\u00e9.","dateCreated":"1299083832","smartDate":"Mar 2, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Jenuineheart","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jenuineheart","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35965712","body":"It's a busy Friday afternoon in Revelations.
\n
\n\u201cSee didn't I tell you this would be good?\u201d
\n
\nThere is a constant chatter in the room. Various groups of people sharing, communing, teaching, listening and laughing.
\n
\n\u201cOh, I heard about that...\u201d
\n
\nTwo older ladies are sitting almost in front of me. Both in different shades of purple. One woman is wearing a dark purple low cut v-neck shirt, a brownish grey leather jacket with what I hope is fake fur on the inside. Her phone explodes into noise, she answers \u201cHello?\u201d. She's done up in make-up, mascara, foundation and lipstick. She has light brown hair with blond highlights. She is a serious business women.
\n
\nThe table I am writing on is wobbly. A distraction my partner in observation \u201ccrime\u201d Jen tries to remedy. We spend a moment figuring out which leg is wobbly, we find the not quite level leg. Jen asks \u201cnapkins?\u201d. I'm content to place my foot on the pesky leg, it works just fine.
\n
\n\u201cShe's not a good watch dog.\u201d I hear from the women sitting to my right. She is wearing a white slightly see through zip up sweat shirt with a hood, a bright pink shirt under it, and khaki pants. She has glasses and a stern face that seems softened by the conversation with her friend. Her friend is wearing a light pink long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. As they finish their conversation they both get up throw on scarfs and jackets. The women in pink stops to talk to two gentlemen she knows while the other women checks out books. The women in pink says \u201cShe you Sherry, that was fun.\u201d As her friend, Sherry, leaves Rev's. The women in pink heads to the back of the store to do something. I don't see what because I am writing. As she makes her way tot eh door I see she is wearing big round glasses, her face is rather flush and quite full. She is a bit over weight wearing a purple scarf and a turquoise jacket. She has a very friendly open look about her.
\n
\nMost of the people in Rev's are now either leaving or left. Warren walks into the room we are sitting in and tells us there are a great deal more people in the other room. So we move in here and sit near him to observe some more.
\n
\n\u201cYou figure 80 gigs, where you sell cd's, and other mech on top of what you are already making at the gate. That's not bad. There were making 40,000, on top of having their jobs.\u201d A rather loud man at the table across from me says. I try to keep up with the conversation but they are talking too fast. All I know is they are talking about musical acts and how to go about making money as one. Also today is the birthday of the woman sitting next to the rather loud man.
\n
\nThere is a man sitting by himself at a table to my right. He is clean cut with glasses, a beard and a blue button down shirt. He is absorbed in his laptop, intently working on the project that will put him on the maap in the world of historical fiction. He is wearing a head set that are headphones with a mic attached to them and is listening to classical music through them will he does research on the internet and scribbles down inspirations onto his yellow legal pad. The cup of coffee next to his mouse gets sipped only when his mind stops thinking about any and everything else.
\n
\n\u201cI was being forced, I couldn't sleep until I sat down and wrote that damn letter. After that I laid down and slept for an hour and a half.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cWell that's how it goes sometimes. Sometimes you need a push to open pandora's box and be prepared to see what comes out.\u201d","dateCreated":"1300263178","smartDate":"Mar 16, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"34784148","dateCreated":"1298568590","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34784148"},"dateDigested":1532145522,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Wednesday, Feb. 23 - Dirty Hippie :)","description":"Post your "Dirty Hippie" homework here. The following items must be included in your story, otherwise you can write whatever you'd like.
\n
\n1. Green Bottle
\n2. The Stump of an Oak Tree
\n3. 1980 VW Rabbit
\n4. Blue Eyed Child
\n5. Yoga Mat
\n6. 9mm Pistol
\n7. A Dirty Hippie","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34784206","body":"Wade Koch
\nHippie Story
\n
\nLeonard and Hailey shot roman candles at George\u2019s bottle of moonshine from the front lawn. Standing on two tree stumps where George was laying the groundwork for a gazebo in memory of the children\u2019s mother, they aimed carefully, sticking out their tongues and pinching one blue eye shut, pointing their fizzing rods at the front porch. George was inside passed out on his old yoga mat in the kitchen. George hardly bathed and these days spent most of the afternoon drinking and building his gazebo. He rose each morning early to drive thirty miles out of the Appalachian country into suburbia to work on roofs and various other cosmetic projects for a humble wage while the children walked themselves to school and back. Hailey tended to Leonard, her younger brother, made him breakfast in the mornings, carried his lunch box and made him do his homework. But today was a Saturday, and a hooded stranger had interrupted their game of hide and seek and gave them two roman candles and bet them they couldn\u2019t hit Daddy\u2019s green bottle of moonshine. The stranger stood by the outskirts of the woods with his arms folded, two beady eyes glaring out from under his hood in presence and anticipation. Green, yellow, pink and teal fireballs spewed from the ends of their wands as they shouted harry potter spells, and occasionally George\u2019s favorite swear words at the moonshine bottle until finally Leonard made contact. The entire front porch shot up in flames with a wild hiss. The children dropped their wands and stood idly, frowning, firing their wands into the dirt, then began to scream for their father. The stranger moved behind a tree, then pulled from his pcket a 9mm glock and aimed it at the front porch. George came out stark naked and swearing inaudibly over the roaring fire, flailing his arms and throwing buckets of sink water onto the blaze, to no avail. The clap of the stranger\u2019s pistol made the children cover their ears and start to scream while George lay incapacitated on the porch. Hailey mustered her courage and whispered to Leonard to always be brave and remember their Mommy and to go get Daddy off of the porch, and that she\u2019d be right back. Hailey fled into the woods after the hooded stranger. Bullets wizzed by but Hailey ran after the stranger until finally she cornered him at the Waynegrow\u2019s waterfall. The stranger removed his cloak, through the pistol into the creek below and shouted to Hailey, \u201cI\u2019m sorry child, but he had it coming,\u201d then dove headfirst into the falls. A stupid move, Hailey thought as she walked carefully toward the precipice, peered over and expectedly found the unidentified man face down in the shallow water thirty feet below, legs twitching and bright blood spewing from his mouth and ears. She returned home to find Leonard and George doucing the last of the flames with sink water and the hose, George wincing and clutching his side. She pounced on her father and discovered the bullet clipped his ribs but never entered his pale, skinny diaphragm. Together the children walked back to Waynegrow\u2019s waterfall and stared down at the stranger, now lying still in the creek, dragonflies and worms defiling his naked body. \u201cWho was he, Daddy\u201d, asked Hailey. George grimaced, then replied, \u201cYour uncle Bill. He never approved of your mother and I\u2019s marriage.\u201d \u201cWhy not?\u201d The children asked. \u201cHe wanted her for himself.\u201d \u201cBut they were brother and sister!\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d George said. \u201cAround these parts, you\u2019ll meet a lot of people that do that sort of thing. It ain\u2019t right. So don\u2019t you to ever start to get ideas about each other.\u201d \u201cEWW!\u201d The children said. \u201cI would never kiss you Hailey,\u201d said Leonard. \u201cDaddy,\u201d Hailey said, \u201cNow that Mommy\u2019s gone, why do you suppose he came?\u201d \u201cYour mother was strong, Hailey,\u201d he replied, \u201cLike you. Stronger than me. He would\u2019ve never came after her or the both of us. I guess he figured he could handle me alone.\u201d George teared up and sat on the ground and tugged at his thick blonde dreads. \u201cBut you\u2019re not alone, Daddy,\u201d said Leonard. \u201cYou\u2019ve got us.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s right. I do,\u201d said George. \u201cI do.\u201d","dateCreated":"1298568646","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784244","body":"Michael Gurevich
\nAssignment 3.
\n
\nWrite story with these items:
\n
\nA green bottle
\nStump of an oak tree
\n1980 VW Rabiit
\nA blue eyed child
\nA yoga mat
\n9mm pistol
\n1 Dirty Hippy
\n
\n
\n
\nTwo days ago I was walking to lunch and talking with friend. Not really paying attention to the world around me, I bumped into a stump of an oak tree and fell to the ground. Apparently I had hit my head and become unconscious, because when I awoke 2 hours later, the only thing next to me was a green bottle with a note in it. My friend said that he had to take off across the woods and find help and that he will be back as soon as possible.
\n
\nFor his sake, I hope that his 1980 VW Rabbit makes it. Lately it's been acting up and behaving very oddly. I think he got a raw deal from the dirty hippy be bought it from. And he should have known that anyone asking for a yoga mat in exchange for a car was making a strange bargain. But my friend said that the hippy looked like a blue eyed child, with innocence and fairness, and he felt he could trust him. The hippy's 9mm pistol pointed at his head also helped seal the deal.
\n
\nI'm still waiting for him to return and am getting hungry.","dateCreated":"1298568682","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784286","body":"It was a clear and sunny day in 1985 and the Space shuttle Challenger had just exploded. Stan was sitting on the stump of an old oak tree as he watched in awe at what had happened. \u201cShit!! I gotta go tell Frank.\u201d, he said to himself. He jumped in hit 1980 VW rabbit and sped down hill away from Avery park. As he was driving to his friends job sight he heard on his radio, \u201cWe have a 211 in progress, 2 red heads and a blue eyes child held hostage, proceed with caution.\u201d
\nMeanwhile at home Stans wife was doing her pilates on her dark colored yoga matt that matched hew jet black hair. Sexy pose after sexy pose she stretched and made the sounds of the beautiful creatures that men desire to hear. Mid stretch, she stops and senses a feeling that she hadn\u2019t felt in a long time. She starts to think about the way she met Stan. On the beach several years ago a green bottle washed up with a note in it that read, \u201cFor a good time call Stan at 301-204-7164\u201d. The warm feeling of the memory of how she met was followed by a gut wrenching feeling.
\nStan laid there shot and dying at the scene of the 211. \u201cFrank you better get that dirty fucking nut shit of a dirty hippie that shot me here, take my 9 milly and avenge me!!\u201d, he yelled. His funeral was attended by 199 caring citizens.","dateCreated":"1298568715","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"D.George","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/D.George","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298568465\/D.George-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784310","body":"Jessi Elliott
\nWed. 2.23.2011
\nShort Story
\n
\nIncluded
\nin the following story:
\n
\nGreen bottle Blue eyed child
\nStump of an oak tree Yoga mat
\n9mm pistol One dirty hippie
\n1980 vw rabbit
\n
\nIt all started out with meeting that one dirty old hippie. Of course this would happen to the last hopeless romantic guy left on earth on Valentine\u2019s Day. My day was fine until then, really. Now, I\u2019m sitting on the stump of an oak tree in the middle of a forest holding this stupid green bottle full of some shaman drink. I don\u2019t believe in this magic crap, but I\u2019m begging for a miracle because I can\u2019t bear to see that stupid 1980 vw rabbit I just bought for my girlfriend. I can\u2019t bear to see her or the life I was once living. All of that is out of the window.
\nYou\u2019d think I\u2019d be just fine, living it up, taking a road trip across country with this oldie but goodie whip, but no. I\u2019m not ok. And the car is hot pink. I\u2019d be caught dead before getting heat for driving that around. And a paint job for the car? That means forking out more money to repaint the damn car.
\nShit! What was I thinking? Of course it would belong to the hippie that sold it to me for my girlfriend. Of course he\u2019d be the one to steal my girlfriend. What a way to find out. I thought I was getting a good deal on the car. I come to find out that the deal behind my back was this pink piece of junk was for my girl. This was his way of an even trade. I didn\u2019t sign up for that.
\nMaybe I should go back to my parents\u2019 crib and try out that 9mm pistol. Straight to his head! Bang! No, 5 years doesn\u2019t call for that. Not for my ass to be sitting in jail again explaining a heartbreak over some chic who apparently didn\u2019t give two shits from the beginning. I\u2019m good.
\nDavid took a few sips from his shaman drink. He glared at the bottle. Why did I let Sam talk me into this? David looked ahead at the view, ready to let his mind be at ease for a while. The mounts of trees started to shake and move. He squinted one eye, raised the other brow and shook his head to get rid of the blurry scene. Nothing. Soon his eyes were rolling back into his head and he entered a dream state. His spirit walk took him to a yoga studio.
\nWith his head heavy and hung down, David managed to open his eyes and found himself sitting on a yoga mat. \u201cOh come on!\u201d He looked around to see incense burning in the left corner of the room. In front of him was a mirrored wall and he questioned his appearance for a good minute. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I looked so bad\u2026. Oh well\u2026. Where the fuck am I?\u201d
\nDavid continued to look around but failed to see the blue eyed child sitting in the back of the room. The child spoke, \u201cYou have a good eye for yourself and your problems but you do not see the world around you clearly.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat? Oh God\u2026I must be dreaming.\u201d David rubbed his face as he did every morning. He thought he was ready to wake up, but he was still there in the yoga studio. He looked into the mirror once again and sure enough, over his right shoulder and towards the back of the room sat a blue eyed child in a full lotus. David turned around, still feeling sloppy and a little hung over.
\nThe child spoke, \u201cAre you ready? We have a lot of work to do.\u201d David jerked his head back, disgusted and confused, \u201cWho are you?\u201d The child replied, \u201cI am your spirit guide. Come, let us begin.\u201d","dateCreated":"1298568734","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784386","body":"Gabriel Goldimond
\nDirty Hippie Hw
\n
\nRory sat on the stump of an oak tree waiting for Trevor to meet her there. This is where they were 14 years ago when they first kissed: August 18, 1997. Rory sighed gently; she knew what Trevor would kiddingly say were he here now: \u201cSo dramatic.\u201d She giggled to herself. It was hard to believe that even after all these years, she was still a giggly, blushy 15 year old.
\n
\nTrevor finally pulled up in his 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit. Rory frowned. Trevor was supposed to walk here. Trevor got out of the car, and ran toward her. \u201cSorry baby, work got me caught up. I didn\u2019t want to keep you waiting too long.\u201d
\n
\nRory\u2019s face eased and formed a slight smile with a side of blush. Trevor always had a good reason when Rory felt disappointed. Even if he didn\u2019t, his sweet words and smile would have her like melting butter in his hands. Rory immediately re-tightened her face into a frown, though; she couldn\u2019t let him off the hook that easily.
\n
\n\u201cSo, do you remember?\u201d she asked.
\n
\n\u201cOf course I do,\u201d answered Trevor, and he presented a bouquet of nearly dead flowers in a old green Heineken bottle. He feigned a lack of confidence and stammering in his speech. \u201cTh-th-these are f-f-f-for you\u2026\u201d
\n
\nRory looked strangely at the bouquet, taken aback as she was 14 years ago by the presentation, but she forced a smile through it and took them. Besides, just as in high school, it would take more than that to turn her off to Trevor Cotton.
\n
\nTrevor snickered. \u201cYeah, that\u2019s exactly what you did! That whole strange look and smile thing. Genius, baby!\u201d
\n
\nRory rolled her eyes, suppressing her own laugh. \u201cFocus, baby.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cO-oh yeah\u201d he snickered. \u201cYour line.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cTh-these are great,\u201d Rory pretend-stammered.
\n
\n\u201cThey were all out at the boutique, so I had to grab some on the go. But I hope you understand that I love you Rory, no matter what kind of flowers I give to you.\u201d
\n
\nTears warped the vision in Rory\u2019s eyes, just as they had all those years ago. She was not acting; she had not expected those same words to affect her with the same depth, as if they were spoken for the first time. Rory grinned from ear to ear, as if an invisible force had molded her face and held it in that place.
\n
\n\u201cHey, hey baby\u201d Trevor said softly as he came close and embraced her, \u201cThose words are just as true today as they were then. Even more. Gimme a kiss.\u201d
\n
\nRory kissed him, and it was the most romantic peck she\u2019d ever had. Then Trevor said slowly, in the same soft voice, \u201cThe only thing we\u2019re missing\u2026is that old dirty hippie that had that had that 9mm pistol threatening us to get away from his stump.\u201d
\nRory laughed. She remembered how quickly she went from being in the clouds to being scared and a little confused. Nothing happened to her and Trevor, because the Hippie was high and kept stumbling on through the field. The old hippie shot at a tree, but the gun wasn\u2019t loaded, so the couple breathed a sigh of relief. \u201cProbably fought in \u2018Nam,\u201d Trevor had remarked then. But now they lacked that element in their reenactment of their first kiss. Rory was glad for that.
\n
\n\u201cI have our replacement though,\u201d Trevor said. Rory unconsciously held her breath as he called to the car: \u201cGabe!\u201d
\n
\nOut hopped a five year old blue-eyed child with a water gun, dressed like the old hippie: tye-dye shirt, shorts, tye-dye- head band, and a wig of long hair just to sweeten the deal. Rory laughed again as her son clumsily ran around the field shooting trees with water. Each time he fired a shot he\u2019d yell, \u201cBang!\u201d
\n
\nTrevor began to laugh, too. He and Rory could barely contain themselves watching their innocent, beautiful son Gabriel. They had spent so many years together, and they both felt proud that they could return to their first significant moment with the seed of their love. \u201cOh wait, there\u2019s something else,\u201d Trevor said. He ran to the car and pulled out three yoga mats for the family to lay on. \u201cLet\u2019s sky watch for a bit. I kinda wanna stay out here for a while. They lay there until the sun sank beneath the horizon, its rays a faint pink and the first stars emerging from the blue fog of day.","dateCreated":"1298568785","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34792422","body":"It was a clear sunny day in 1985 and the Space shuttle Challenger had just exploded. Stan was sitting on the stump of an old oak tree as he watched in awe at what had happened. \u201cShit!\u201d he said to himself; \u201cI gotta go tell Frank\u201d. He jumped in his 1980 VW rabbit and sped down hill away from Avery park. As he was driving to his friends job sight he heard on his radio, \u201cWe have a 211 in progress, 2 red heads and a blue eyed child held hostage, proceed with caution.\u201d
\n
\nMeanwhile at home Stan\u2019s wife was Jazzersizing on her dark colored yoga mat that matched her jet black hair. Sexy pose after sexy pose she stretched and made the sounds of the beautiful creatures that men desire to hear. Mid stretch, she stops and senses a feeling that she hadn\u2019t felt in a long time. She starts to think about the way she met Stan. On the beach several years ago a green bottle washed up with a note in it that read, \u201cFor a good time call Stan at 301-204-7164\u201d. The warm feeling of the memory of how she met was followed by a gut wrenching feeling.
\n
\nStan laid there shot and dying at the scene of the 211. \u201cFrank you better get that dirty fucking nut shit of a dirty hippie that shot me here, take my 9 milly and avenge me!!\u201d, he yelled. His funeral was attended by 199 caring citizens.","dateCreated":"1298574829","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"D.George","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/D.George","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298568465\/D.George-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34810482","body":"Elements Story
\nby
\nRuss Wollman
\n
\n
\nSometimes, when I walk along Venice Beach\u2014it\u2019s more than sometimes, really\u2014I spy something on the shore, an odd bit of jetsam from someone else\u2019s life, another of those many people I\u2019m not likely to ever meet. What are the odds, even in this place, where a tiny fraction of the world\u2019s people come and go like flour through a sieve, of actually knowing the author of the message in the bottle?
\n
\nThere was no message in the green bottle I found yesterday, but I picked it up anyway. It was unusual. It drew me, and I wanted to add it to my collection. SImple enough. A bottle washes up on shore, someone finds it, takes it home, and installs it on a shelf.
\n
\nOnly it wasn\u2019t that simple. Walking along the beach with my new prize in hand, I was accosted by one of the dirtiest hippies I\u2019ve run across in recent years. He stunk like he hadn\u2019t had a bath in a month. His clothes were \u2018way below the dignity of rags. He demanded that I release the bottle to him. He said it belonged to his mother. A bigger liar I\u2019ve rarely met. I told him so. He didn\u2019t like it.
\n
\n\u201cYou sonofabitch\u201d, he said, \u201cThat\u2019s mine and you have no right to walk away with it\u201d.
\n
\n\u201cListen, buddy, I just found this thing, and I wanna add it to my collection. If you\u2019d seen it an hour ago it would be yours. You\u2019d be long gone by now and I don\u2019t think a soul would have stopped you to demand it like you\u2019ve just done\u2014especially with the language you used. Whatever happened to love and peace and all that gentle crap you guys used to push?\u201d
\n
\nHe grabbed it from my hand and started running from me, pointing a 9mm pistol at me with his other hand. He was remarkable steady with the gun as he ran, like he had a cop\u2019s training. I watched him as he entered a little shop and emerged mere moments later, carrying a small, blue-eyed child. I could see her eyes very clearly. I could also see that he hadn\u2019t stolen anything, that the bottle was absent from his hand, and he had a strong interest in the child. He was caressing her forehead as he ran toward an old VW Rabbit\u2014whose vintage I recognized as 1980. The useless nonsense I carry in my head could sink a ship.
\n
\nHe gently placed her in the passenger\u2019s seat and strapped her in. As he drove off, the rear hatch opened, and a yoga mat rolled out of the back and onto the pavement.
\n
\nI went into the store after the VW was gone. I asked about the green bottle, but the clerk seemed utterly mystified. I was, too. You wanna know how I felt?
\nWell...did you ever see the stump of an oak tree, how it just sits there, permanently immobile and immovably solid, there just in case you needed refuge in a world of quicksand?
\n
\nAnd the guy who drove off in the VW? Just so much flotsam. I never met him. And the pistol? It was plastic, a child\u2019s toy. I found it lying on the ground outside the store
\n
\n
\n\u2014Russ Wollman,
\naka TwinCamAlfa","dateCreated":"1298590436","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34829608","body":"The Texan sun hung low in the sky creating discordant red streaks, giving the illusion that the sun had been stabbed. Sweat dribbled down Tanya\u2019s neck as she tied her flaxen hair in to a sleek bun. Her heels clicked rhythmically against the dark pavement. A coyote howled sending a prickle up her spine.
\nWhere is he?
\n She loosed the latch on her tasseled purse. Her hand entered slowly trying to maneuver through the bulk. With a loud crunch, she pulled out a green bottle to relieve the dryness in her mouth. A hundred dollar bill fluttered out. The bottle cracked into a million green flecks as Tanya dove for the money. A car screeched to a halt in front of her, almost falling in to the canyon below.
\n \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d a heavily mustached man screamed.
\n \u201cI-I\u2019m sorry,\u201d Tanya managed to say. The bill was clenched safely in her sweaty palm. She pulled her self up to her knees and came face to face with a blue eyed boy in the back seat. He stared at her like he knew what she was hiding. His accusing eyes penetrated her so deeply, that she forgot she was kneeling in the street. The yell of the engine brought her back to reality as the car sprinted away. The boy\u2019s eyes burned through her until the road curved to the left. She tightened her grip on her purse strap.
\n The glass pierced her hands as she got to her feet. Shaken, she sat on the stump of an oak tree by the side of the road and released her feet from their strappy prison. A line of blood crawled down her shin. She grabbed a tissue from her short\u2019s pocket. It turned crimson against her skin. Still clutching the bill, she adjusted her shirt, making sure to show a decent amount of cleavage. Her wound began to bleed again. Frustrated, she wiped it with another tissue, but this only made it worse.
\nHer abandoned shoes started vibrating against the pavement as a 1980\u2019s VW Rabbit pulled up next to her.
\nShowtime.
\n Tanya crammed her callused feet into her heels and jumped up. Engine smoke rose around the slick red car like, a dragon waiting for the kill. The passenger window came down and she bent over, chest first.
\n \u201cHey Ricky,\u201d she said rolling the \u201cr\u201d.
\n \u201cDid you get it?\u201d he said pulling his cowboy hat over his eyes.
\n \u201cYes,\u201d she replied, \u201cmore than I expected. Did you get yours?\u201d
\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s in the truck,\u201d he drawled as his hands loosened on the wheel. \u201cPut yours there too.\u201d
\nThe trunk creaked open. Tanya removed her purse and walked around to the back. She jumped at the sight of a man tied up next to a large canvas bag. His long hair and dirty face dripped with sweat. His bellbottoms jeans were ripped in the knees. Blood soaked through the denim over his shin. He stared at her in panic; his blue eyes ablaze in the plummeting sun.
\nD\u00e9j\u00e0 vu?
\n Something cold pressed into Tanya\u2019s shoulder.
\n \u201cPut the money in the trunk,\u201d Ricky said, arm outstretched gripping a 9mm pistol.
\n \u201cWhat are you doing Ricky? She said.
\n \u201cJust following the plan,\u201d he replied.
\n\u201cThis man wasn\u2019t part of the plan,\u201d she said clutching the car for support. \u201cWhat are you doing with him?\u201d
\n \u201cHe and his yoga mat loving buddies got in the way,\u201d he barked. \u201cNow put the bag in the trunk!\u201d
\n \u201cWhat are you going to do with him?\u201d Tanya whimpered.
\n \u201cI\u2019ll take care of him,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t worry.\u201d
\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry?\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cWe\u2019re already in enough trouble without adding this on top of it!\u201d
\n The gun pressed deeper into her shoulder.
\n \u201cIt\u2019s time to go, put the money in,\u201d he said as he cocked the gun.
\n Tanya looked down. Although the sun was hardly visible, the hostage\u2019s blue eyes shone like hubcaps reflecting her corrupt image.
\nThat\u2019s it.
\n \u201cOkay baby,\u201d she said as she bent deeply allowing her shorts to rise up. She placed her bag by the spare tire. Ricky\u2019s eyes moved down. He lowered the gun. Tanya grabbed the tire jack from the trunk. The silver rod slashed through the air landing on Ricky\u2019s arm. The force of the blow knocked the gun from his hand. Ricky swung back knocking Tanya to the ground by the edge of the cliff. His eyes, dark as a crow\u2019s wing, quivered with rage as he walked to her side. The gun lay by her feet. She managed to kick it away and it tumbled off the cliff. With a grunt, Ricky reached for her neck. She turned on her stomach trying to escape, but he grabbed her foot. Her hand hit against the abandoned tire jack. She grabbed it and swung as hard as she could. The blow to Ricky\u2019s shin knocked him off balance and he toppled over the cliff edge.
\n Tanya heaved against the gravel as a cold blanket of darkness spread over her. Regaining her composure, she got up and crossed to the trunk. Tanya untied the hostage who ran down the street to the town below. The two bags of stolen money were released over the edge of the cliff to rest with Ricky. Without looking back, she lowered herself into the running VW. Her hands were covered in cuts from the gravel. She wiped her hands with a towel sticking out of the glove compartment. She reached down to wipe her bleeding shin, but the wound was finally closed. Shaking her head, she looked up and caught her reflection in the rear view mirror. Her blue eyes were clearer than she had ever seen them.","dateCreated":"1298610482","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ellorahp","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ellorahp","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34845408","body":"Tamer Homsi
\n
\nI woke up this morning meditated on my yoga mat, stepped outside, got into my 1980 VW
\nRabbit, and then noticed a blue eyed kid sitting on the stump of an old oak tree, watching a dirty
\nhippy shooting a green bottle with a 9 mm pistol, What a morning!
\n
\nSitting on a yoga mat enjoying the fresh air of a sunny summer morning.up pulls a 1980VW
\nRabbit, with a dirty hippie and a blue eyed kid inside, the hippie steps out of the car, pulls out his
\n9 mm pistol and directs it at a green bottle sitting on a old oak tree stump across the lot, yee-haw.
\n
\nA dirty hippie in a VW 1980 threw a green bottle out of his car, and out of no were came this
\nyoung blue eyed kid flying on a yoga mat .. shoots the bottle to pieces.... All this happened when
\nI was sitting on the stump of a old oak tree, down the street from here.
\n
\nto be continued!!","dateCreated":"1298648144","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TamerHomsi","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TamerHomsi","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35056678","body":"Dirty
\nby Michelle Annette Craft
\n
\n She threw down her overstuffed duffle bag to search for her keys as the green Mustang threw up dust from the gravel driveway into the still Montana sky. She felt overdressed in her over-worn Teva flip-flops, but chose that feeling over the familiar ` of the rocks under her feet. Too many times had she run barefoot through this property, chasing a stray dog or a stray boy and severing some skin along the way. The moment she felt the hard edges of the metal keys on her thickly calloused fingertips she remembered she was no longer in New York. Her parents\u2019 house would not be locked and with three siblings coming home for their mother\u2019s birthday someone was bound to be home.
\n She picked up her bag filled with too many clothes she wouldn\u2019t wear and began the long walk up the drive. She stopped at the 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit that seemed way too dirty for a car that she thought had not been driven in over a year. I\u2019m late! I\u2019m late! For a very important date! She cracked a genuine smile. Her crew had called it the White Rabbit for very obvious, and still appropriately allegorical reasons. She found its key on the lanyard she didn\u2019t think she\u2019d need and melted into driver\u2019s seat, perfectly adjusted to her 4\u201910\u201d frame. It still reeked of chronic greens. Or maybe she just wanted it too. She closed her tired brown eyes and wondered how life had deviated so far from the ease of her glory days. She jumped out of her nostalgia with the sudden vibration of her right hip pocket.
\n Her cell read \u201cMo.\u201d Morgan Hartley. The girl with a humble heart as beautiful as her radiant, porcelain face - seemingly rare for such a sickly talented dancer. She wasn\u2019t enthralled by kicklines - modern dance made Mo shine hotter than the Alabama sun she was raised under - but she was apparently phenomenal at them. Most Rockettes make the cut on their second or third or seventh audition. Mo booked the job after her first. With great relief, Maddy answered.
\n \u201cDIRTY!!!\u201d screamed the phone speaker. She\u2019d almost forgotten the significance of the nickname, but this town brought it all back. Dirty Maddy. Her first week of school in Manhattan she\u2019d felt like a strange crossbreed between an exotic alien and an extinct species of animal. Everyone\u2019s eyes seemed to say either, Wow, a real live hippie! or, I didn\u2019t think they actually still existed!
\n \u201cHey love! How was your flight?\u201d
\n The girls had seen each other less than twenty-four hours ago, yet already longed for each other\u2019s company. Two-thousand miles between you and anyone can make you miss them. It was strangely frightening to the drained traveler how this didn\u2019t seem to apply to her family. Conscious of her avoidance methods, Maddy entertained every topic the girls could think about, as she started to feel the weight of things she wasn\u2019t ready to feel about.
\n \u201cIsn\u2019t it sweet that you both have colors for last names? I think if you guys get married that you should hyphenate the two and be Maddy Brown-Green. Maddy Green-Brown? The Green-Browns: what a perfect name for our pot food company!\u201d
\n Maddy laughed a genuine laugh and then cowered in her faux sheep skin seat covers as she saw her little brother, Guthrie (named after the famous Minnesotan theatre), run out from behind the house. He jumped up on the stump of an old oak tree, standing with his back now to her, thankfully. He looked back at the house and gave a loose body flail, the way that boys of his age do, that clearly said, C\u2019mon, Dad! Her father followed his path at half of Guthrie\u2019s speed, at most. He lovingly held in his strong, pale hands a 9mm pistol.
\n Maddy sank further, rolled her eyes, and cringed in childhood repression. She had cried for the entire afternoon the day her father had that tree cut down. He\u2019s since used it for a footing for a makeshift shooting range. He did this with all the kids. As if there weren\u2019t other valuable life skills a father could teach his children. Maybe some communication skills. Maybe some ways mend a broken heart. But this Montana-born, veterinary surgeon by day taught his offspring how to systematically kill other animal\u2019s offspring by night. Brilliant.
\n Two hours of talk later she grudged out a goodbye and out of the car. She slammed the door shut and reached down. Where the fuck is my bag? She asked herself. She circled around the car. \u201cWhere the fuck is my bag?\u201d She asked the air. She circled around the car. She opened the back seat. She found no bag, but sure hit the memory jackpot. A mangled green hoodie that still smelled like Jessie. The Indian-looking scarf she \u201cborrowed\u201d from Makayla. A purple yoga mat that a drunken Taylor had ripped the corner off of at Horning\u2019s Hideout. Countless ticket and playbills, and empty water bottles. Maddy was ironically bad at recycling. She grabbed the one green Nalgene bottle that still contained liquid and left the rest of the past behind.
\n Out of the car. Still out of the house. Out of hydration. She took a giant swig.
\n \u201cYou\u2019re late!\u201d Guthrie jumped out from behind the giant oak that still stood in their front yard. She almost choked out of surprise. There was no water in that bottle. She spit Smirnoff across the gravel.
\n \u201cYou\u2019re always late.\u201d She watered the lawn with the rest. \u201cWe\u2019re all waiting for you so go get ready \u2018cause I\u2019m friggin\u2019 hungry.\u201d He threw her bag into the wet grass and ran back around the giant beige house.
\n Get ready. How appropriately articulated. Get ready for your mentally unstable mother and your dysfunctional family functions. No amount of preparation could ever ready you for that. She wondered how long it would take for the wonder in his deep sapphire eyes to lose their childlike wonder and figure out how fucked up people can be.
\n \u201cYou\u2019re late, kiddo, where\u2019ve you been?\u201d Her father\u2019s voice lilted across the lawn. Her throat burned. When she wanted to, she could drink vodka like water. It wasn\u2019t that. The overstretched boundaries and diseased lines of communication entangled within the house burned like cigarette to her throat chakra with ever step closer to it. He tried again: \u201cYou okay?\u201d
\n \u201cYeah just tired, long day. Don\u2019t really feel like talking.\u201d
\n He paused and stared into her eyes, surprised at how much she still looked like him. \u201cYour mother\u2019s really happy you came.\u201d
\n She forced a smile and beelined it to her bedroom, the master suite, to gather at least a minute of peace and solitude - to relish in the calm before the storm.","dateCreated":"1298994224","smartDate":"Mar 1, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"michelleannette","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/michelleannette","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35472988","body":"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl named Frida, who lived all alone in a small log cabin in a forest with her Father. Frida was tall and had long, light blonde hair and soft blue eyes. Frida had no brothers and sisters, and there were no other children to play with in the forest. During the spring and summer, when it was sunny and warm, Frida would quickly finish her chores of milking the goats and chopping wood and run to her favorite place- a soft, grassy forest clearing. In the very middle of the clearing lay the proud stump of a once mighty oak, where Frida would sit and talk to tamed animals, draw with her colorful pencils or watch the clouds become into faces and shapes. Frida would always take along in her satchel and sometimes her favorite book, which she simply called "The Sisters", since the first few pages, including the title, had always been missing. Frida would be there for hours, sitting carefree against the oak stump, reading the sisters book and imagining the exciting lives of the loving March family, until Father's rumbling voice would call through the trees for her to come home to help him start preparing their supper.
\n
\nFrida's Father, Ulf, was a gentle and sensitive man. He was very thin, had a long, grey beard and a shiny gold tooth that Frida always thought looked funny when he laughed. At home they spoke two languages together- Swedish and English. Father explained to her that Swedish was the most important language, but since all of the books he owned were in English and that she ought to be able to read them, he taught her English as well.
\n
\nFather especially loved to work in his large shed which Frida was not allowed near. Father would sometimes spend so much time in the shed that Frida would not see him for an entire day until supper. Every night after supper was done and dishes were washed, Father would tell Frida fascinating tales about life before the war that brought them to live in the cabin in the woods. Father also told her stories of the history of mankind and about all of her brothers and sisters and of her poor mother, who Father said Frida looked like more and more everyday. Frida would smile, but was sad that she had lost nearly her entire family in a war. She would think of the March sisters and how they passed the time together waiting for their Father to come home from the Civil War. Father told Frida that he was alive during The Civil War and that he personally had known the March family of Massachusetts, which fascinated Frida. Frida wished so much that she had a sister like Jo March, especially in the winter when she would spend entire days alone by the fire making new clothes, baking bread and playing the music tapes that Father had collected before the war.
\n
\nAfter the bedtime stories were over and the fireplace needed another small stack to keep the cabin warm on cool summer's night, Father would give Frida a small green bottle with sweet liquid to drink and carry her up to the loft where she slept. And just as her eyes became heavy each night, Frida could hear Father softly whistling while he put on his heavy boots and quietly closed the cabin's front door.
\n
\nOne fine summer day, Frida woke up earlier than usual from a good night's sleep. She quickly got dressed and started in on her chores so that she could spend the rest of her day laying against the oak stump and soaking up the summer sun. She had already gotten quite brown that summer, which made her eyes a piercing blue. She first milked the goats for a new batch of butter and cheese, walked to the woodshed and chopped a few days worth of logs and set out fresh candles for that evening. Frida made herself and father a small lunch. She wrapped up each lunch in a cloth, keeping his in a breadbox and careful putting hers in her satchel. Just as Frida sat down to write her father a note explaining where she would be that afternoon, she heard the strangest sound that she had ever heard in her young life. It was a very loud, ominous rumble. Frida sat frozen in her chair, to afraid to move. Then, through the window, she saw the strangest thing she had ever seen. It was a large object with glass windows that was moving on wheels towards that house. It was carry people in it! Frida was no longer frozen to her chair. "My family has come back!", she exclaimed and ran out of the door, shoeless, and with the satchel around her neck. Soon, more of these large, loud objects came up toward the house, carrying even more people. Frida stood stunned in dirt walkway of the cabin. After five of the objects pulled up, many many dressed in black began to get out of the people carriers. "Young lady, where is doctor Dr. Johannson?", one man said sternly in English. Frida stood in shock, unable to utter a word. Suddenly, another smaller, blue people carrier that read on the back, "Volkswagen Rabbit" pulled up to the cabin in a rush. And inside, was none other than Father. "Dr Johansson, step out of the car and put your hands on your head- you are under arrest for murder and crimes against humanity", the man said confidently. Many men dressed in black surrounded the cabin now, which made Frida begin to tear up. He looked back at Frida with a distraught gaze through the glass window. Frida had remembered that Father had told her two years earlier that if a large animal or anyone who survived the war should ever come near the house, that she should point the grey gun at them. He gave her the satchel to always carry with her. Frida reached in her satchel, pulled out the weapon and sheepishly pointed it at the man in charge. "She's got an old 9mm! Get down!" Frida raised the gun and a little higher and began to feel more confident. Father had not moved from the people carrier and sat in shock and anger. Suddenly and with no warning, one of the men snuck up behind Frida and quickly snatched the gun from her small hand. The men place her gently in one of the people carriers and put Father in another, surrounded by men. Frida thought maybe these people would bring her to her family, at last. As she sat in the people carrier with a nice woman wearing black beside here, she could here some of the men going through the cabin. "Jesus, look as this Goddamned dirty hippie... He's got her sleepin' on a yoga mat for Christ's sake... unbelievable!"
\n
\n"Miss, this must be so hard for you, but it's time we talk.", said an old woman, wearing strange-looking, cheerful clothes. Frida said nothing. She laid quietly in the new, soft bed they had given her in the large building full of strange people of all ages. Frida noticed that some looked very different to her and Father. "Frida, is that your name, sweetheart?", the woman said. "Well, I'm Annette and now that I've heard your very nice life story from Dr Butler, I'm going to tell you some things that might be hard to understand, and maybe even upsetting... Ok?" Frida shook her head in agreement. "Frida, the year is 2007 and you are now in the town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Your Father, Dr. Ulf Johannson was a famous Swedish scientist and professor from the University of Goteborg. Now, this might be very difficult for you.", she said. "Fourteen years ago, your father did something very wrong. He killed the woman that he loved because he was jealous. He took samples of her DNA and did something that is against the law all over the world. Frida, there was no great war that wiped out civilization. And Frida, Dr. Johannson is not your Father, sweetheart. You were born by a segregate mother and are the thirteen-year-old clone of Frida Andersson, the woman he loved." Frida replied, "...but when can I go home?"","dateCreated":"1299561123","smartDate":"Mar 7, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35965778","body":"Zach Dean
\n
\nThe death of a dirty hippie
\n
\n It's my phone, not my alarm, that shakes me from that dream I've had three times this week. The other difference is it's not six in the morning...it's three. It's my captain and all he says is \u201c I know your not on the clock, but you're going to want to see this. Get out to 3144 Oak road, now\u201d he hangs up without me uttering a response.
\n Ten minutes later I am turning right onto Oak road, parking my car, walking past the circle with the stump of the great oak tree that once grew there, pushing past the crowd that had gathered to watch the light show, and flashing my badge to the officer guarding the tape as I lifted it up over my head. I walk up the drive way and am pointed towards the back by another officer. Around back is a green lawn with a stone terrace and an indoor pool surrounded by sliding glass doors and windows. The yard shares it's back fence with a private school's sports fields. Picturesque. Except for the Volkswagen that has driven through the fence into the pool, taking out a good chunk of the terrace on it's way. In the pool room I find the late shift detectives Ellsworth and St. Commons, the CSI team, and my Captain talking to the rather shaken up owners of the house. Their distress is understandable because this is a generally quiet section of the more regularly tumultuous city of Philadelphia. I walk up behind him, making sure to give enough distance for him to notice me but also not to interrupt the questions he is ask. If I get to close to the home owners they may get nervous, rush their responses. It is an art form, the art of questioning and the captain is one of the best I've ever seen. I welcome the time anyway because it gives me the chance to look the scene over, take it in and built my first impression.
\n The pool has been drained so the CSI team can get at the Volkswagen Rabbit, most likely a '79 or '80 model, that was currently in the shallow end. Inside the Rabbit with an oddly peaceful look on his face is the 60 something looking driver. He is soaking wet and his cloths cling to his body. He has long hair tied back in a ponytail and his shirt says \u201cNothing to do since '72\u201d and there is an outline of a state, Iowa if I'm not mistaken. In the seat next to him is a nearly empty case of Rollin' Rock beer, in it's famous green bottle. One of the more weird things is the several gallons of vegetable oil in the back of the car. I look over to see the Captain is wrapping things up with the home owners.
\n When he does he walks over to me with a look in his eye's that says \u201cit to early for this...\u201d and begins. \u201cMr. and Mrs. Glassman, were sleeping when they heard a loud noise. Came down stairs to check it out and found this.\u201d He sweeps his arm out as to reveal a magic trick over the crime scene. \u201cThey have no enemies that they can thing of and are rather shaken, as you most likely saw.\u201d Before I can even ask, he begins again, \u201cRoutine, I know, so why are you here? Why can't Ellsworth and St. Commons deal with this? They're good detectives, and you're right...they are. I trust me if I could still be a sleep right now, I would. But the CSI team found something when they drained the car.\u201d He holds up a clear evidence bag and inside is something I was almost certain I was going to see tonight. Because it's the only thing that could be so important about this crime scene that it would warrant waking both the Captain and I up for. A book, more specifically a children's book, and more specifically then that \u201cThe Farmer and the Viper\u201d an Aesop fable. The calling card, so to speak, of the nursery rhyme killer. The man I've been hunting since the first murder occurred right here in Philadelphia no more then six months ago.
\n Since then he has been a busy little psychopath, killing people all over the country from Miami to Chicago. Always leaving that same story of trust, betrayal and the nature of a venomous creature. No doubt he sees himself as one such creature. \u201cFigured as much.\u201d I say in a tone that shows I hope this is a bad dream. \u201cWell your not going to wake up from this one Detective Farrell, trust me, I've tried.\u201d said the Captain with a smirk. I hate it when he reads my mind like that! Gives me the willies. He heads for the door closest to us and begins to tell me what I already know, \u201cI'm going home, to bed, and I leave this in your capable hands. This is your show, I want a name of the victim, where he's from? What the hell is the vegetable oil in the back for? Anything and everything. And then I want you to see what, if anything, he has in common with the other victims we can link to this twisted individual.\u201d He finishes while shaking the Aesop fable in his hand.
\n \u201cYou can count on me sir!\u201d I manage to get out, in a sarcastic \u201cby the book\u201d cop voice, before he is gone around the corner and down the drive way. It's time to get to work, and that is exactly what I do. First I go over and talk with the distraught couple who are still standing by the deep end. I make sure they are doing alright, or as good as can be expected, I also suggest that they may want to go stay at a friend or family members for a couple days. Mostly because we are going to need that time to process the scene and clear the car, but also because getting away from the scene of trauma often helps in the process of dealing with and letting go of that trauma. They appreciate my concern and something in my suggestion wakes the husband up. It's like I've given him the task he was looking for to help him get over the shock. He takes his wife inside of the house and they begin to figure out accommodations for the next couple days.
\n With the couple properly taken care of I turn my attention back on the crime scene. I walk over to Ellsworth and St. Commons, two good detectives, well one and a half really Ellsworth hasn't ever been the brightest bulb in the bunch. St. Commons on the other hand, she's sharp real sharp but slightly distracted as of late due to the apparent murder of her brother. I know she's not fully here, but that's ok, even on her worst day she's still a good enough detective as any.
\n \u201cWhat have you two put together in the time you've been here?\u201d I ask. Ellsworth gives me a look that almost says \u201cseriously?\u201d but he doesn't say that what he says is \u201cWe got as much as this psycho usually gives us, damn near nothing. The victim is a 60 something white male, no plates on the vehicle which the boys tell me is a 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit. The victim had nothing on him except his wallet.\u201d he says as he hands me the wallet in a evidence bag. As I look at the wallet Ellsworth tells me \u201cThere is was nothing in there, no driver's license, no cash, no cards, nothing except this.\u201d He hand me another evidence bag, this one has a picture in it. One of those ones made for wallets by schools or sports teams on picture day. It's a little damaged from the water but you can still clearly make out a little boy, no more then seven years old, blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt and holding a baseball bat. I flip it over and see there is something written on the back \u201cremember who you are doing all of this for.\u201d. Doing what? It's obvious he's doing it for the kid, but what is the action? \u201cOk, first we need to get the vin number of the vehicle run it to see what comes up. The victim is wearing a shirt that says \u201cNothing to do since '72\u201d and what looks like the state outline of Iowa. Check to see if my hunch is right and if so, check to see if the car is registered in the state of Iowa. Ellsworth you take care of that business. St. Commons I want you looking into the vegetable oil in the back of the car, find out what he was using it for. Once we get an idea of where this guy came from we can start looking into where he was going.\u201d I finish telling them what to do and move over to the CSI team to see what they can tell me.
\n \u201cWhat have we got Chuck?\u201d I ask the slightly over weight guy who is the head of the CSI team currently assisting with the scene. \u201cWell good morning to you too detective Farrell. We've got quite a bit. Besides the wallet, the picture and the boogie man's calling card. We also found 10 gallons of cheap vegetable oil and a yoga mat in the back. That coupled with the t-shirt, the long hair and the dirt under his nails, leads me to believe this man was a \u201cdirty hippie\u201d.\u201d He pauses for a laugh that isn't coming and then continues. \u201cRight, sorry forgot, my right wing humor doesn't fly with you \u201cintellectual types\u201d.\u201d I smirk, \u201cChuck your jokes wouldn't fly if you put wings on them and taught them how. Any thing else?\u201d Chuck laughs, he doesn't like the detectives much but he knows I respect what he does, despite his character flaws. \u201c Everyone's a critic. Anyway that's what we've got so far, not quite done doing a through sweep of the car yet. But you'll be the first to know, if anything turns up.\u201d
\n Just then Perkins pops her head out of the car and yells \u201c Hey boss! I think I got something.\u201d as she lifts up a 9mm baretta. \u201cSee!\u201d says Chuck, \u201cfirst to know.\u201d. \u201cGreat\u201d I say, \u201cThis case just got a little more interesting. Let me guess, the serial number has been filed off?\u201d. Perkins takes a look and shakes her head \u201cNo, still here. That's very unlike our killer though isn't it?\u201d. It is, which means it's a new piece to the puzzle, one that might give us some hope. Or it could just be a dead end.","dateCreated":"1300263396","smartDate":"Mar 16, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":1}]},{"id":"34779982","dateCreated":"1298565353","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34779982"},"dateDigested":1532145523,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Tuesday, Feb. 22 - Creation Myth","description":"Post 2nd days homework here.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34780320","body":"Jessi Elliott
\n2.22.2011
\nCreation Story
\n
\nThere was always the Great Queen Goddess and the Great King God. They lived together in darkness, cradled by sweet mystery. Though surrounded by darkness, they radiated like the stars we see today, even more so. The Great Queen Goddess illuminated brighter than the full moon and the Great King God lit up brighter than the sun at the peak of day.
\nThe lovers understood all things and were content living in the darkness together. They knew all things because they dreamt together and through their dreams they came to know their source. They knew who they themselves were and who they were to each other. They were beings of totality, wholeness and balance.
\nThe one thing that was most important of all for them to know was that the light that they embodied and radiated always has and always will come from a dark and empty place. A place full and complete silence and yet a silence that seemed to move. This silence contained all sound, all music. And so the Great Queen Goddess and the Great King God moved together. They loved to dance together. This dark silence encouraged them to sway together and create something new.
\nThough the Lovers already knew they were the source of thought, speech, action, emotion and whatever else that could exist, they were pleasantly satisfied in the darkness. They were the source of themselves and the darkness. This they knew for certain. They understood that light emanated from them and therefore they could perceive the darkness in which they were also a part of.
\nAnd though the lovers held hands in the darkness, they could not help but to be stirred with curiosity. Their contentment would have to sooner or later be challenged to expand. They wanted to see more. They wanted to see more light. They looked at one another, radiating with nothing but love and humanly blinding brightness, and agreed to explore another world where light would be seen on the outside of just the two of them, something more externally tangible. They were curious to experience a world that surrounded them with light outside of what they dreamed together.
\nSo they held hands, looked deeply into each others\u2019 eyes and became a part of one their most cherished dreams. The power of their love and the power of the dream combined in a way so strong that the beings burst into pieces creating the universe we see today, but their bond was so strong that through each and every thing they continued to experience each other as they did before as the darkness, the light, and everything else in between.
\nTheir lively loving energy can be seen in the earth today. They became the elements of this world as they continued to breathe together. They birthed themselves into this planet and became earth for foundation and solidity, air for life force and movement, water for cleansing and healing, fire for light and transformation, and akasha to embody all of the above and to also keep the mystery alive.
\nThey wanted to see more and so they birthed themselves into earth and became land animals. Plants of all kinds bloomed in the presence. They roamed the earth and wanted to see more and so they birthed themselves into winged creatures and became the animals of the sky. The wildlife grew taller. They birthed themselves into trees, hills, and mountains and became them. They birthed themselves in all the nature we experience in this world and so we honor them today, not as quiet surrounding elements of nature, but as a lively nature deserving of worship and praise. We praise them as the lively beings that 1st roamed our planet within all of nature and finally as earthly beings such as ourselves.
\nThe beings blessed the world and the worlds around it but they knew they must expand and tell their story to another. They spread themselves so far, they were certain \\ the story would lose its meaning if not told by beings of their liking. And so they held hands again, this time in the light, they looked deeply into each others\u2019 eyes and dreampt together, creating a son and daughter in their likeness here on earth.
\nTheir children grew up to be very knowledgeable as they were the first seed of the Great Queen Goddess and the Great King God, but as they created in their own world, whatever they perceived it to be, there were likeness all around in other gardens, soon to be other cities, soon to be other worlds. In fact, when the son and daughter were born, there was a son and daughter born in each part of the world to each own spiritually human parents. The sons and daughters traveled, looking to define their own freedom. They discovered the other sons and daughters and wondered why the world was so.
\nThe first children discovered new animals, new food, new beings, and new cultures. They came back home often. First, it was to remember who they were and where they came from. They wanted to know their own creation story. They asked their parents but needed tangible answers of their own. So, they traveled the world and heard so many different tales of the same story. They came back home again and again to learn their story. They had such an innate craving to remember. They came home married and with sons and daughters of their own so that they could remember their story and so that their children could know their story.
\nThe Great Queen Goddess and the Great King God told their story for a long, long time. Soon they decided that they would like for their many children to complete their independence be seeing for themselves. But they knew from their dreaming that their children would never see the truth if they were never able to see the darkness for themselves. And so they told the story one last time and returned to the darkness so that their children were able to experience for themselves, this world and other worlds.
\nThey left them with all that they knew but the Great Lovers understood that their children would have to experience for themselves the creation story that was told for so long. And so the story remains that each being born goes through his or her journey and through physical or relative death in order to discover the source of their light, darkness, love, and life.
\nAs each generation grew and expanded so did the complexity of each culture. They told oral stories within their family units, they continued to travel to hear other peoples\u2019 stories, and they read and wrote books containing their stories. Before they knew it they were watching their stories on big screens and redefining what they considered to be home. Soon they began to question why they had such an innate craving to discover anything at all, but these new beings will consider to do so until they found their source, the answer to all their fleeting questions.","dateCreated":"1298565562","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34783220","body":"Gabriel Goldimond
\nCREATION
\n
\nIn the time before Time was dreamed is That Which Cannot Be Named, as no name or description comes close to it; but to make things simpler, we will call it Pure Perfection.
\n
\nIn the midst of this Perfection are those things we could only call Infinite Harmony, Infinite Peace, Infinite Joy, Infinite Love, Uninterrupted Unity. Yet, Perfection is beyond all these things; the Orgasm of Is-ness.
\n
\nThere came a spark of delusion in Unity, a millisecond\u2019s hallucination, of separation. It was gone as soon as it came. Yet within the delusion, an imaginary self experienced itself being created. This consciousness was without form, yet alone in a vacuum. It had no idea what\/who it was, only that it felt intolerable loneliness.
\n
\nNow, in reality, one is never alone, for in Unity, there is no \u2018other\u2019 to be without. However, loneliness is what this consciousness experienced.
\n
\nIt could not cry, for crying had not been created yet, but the feeling of being separate was terrifyingly strong. After eons of solitude, the consciousness became frustrated and waved itself across the waters of itself. From the water\u2019s ripples came an idea\u2014if the consciousness felt separated, it would create \u2018others\u2019 to be with it.
\n
\nNow, these \u2018others\u2019 born of the original consciousness\u2019s womb were always with it, yet it birthed them in order to do something called \u2018interaction\u2019. These other beings discovered through the countless time that they could create different things to heighten the experience of interaction, and discovered \u2018feelings\u2019 such as enjoyment, peace, love, bliss, and an abstract feeling which came to be created in the worlds of form as laughter.
\n
\nThe Original Consciousness, whom those of form call the First, would many times have disturbing experiences of a voice beyond calling it home. It was the First\u2019s memory of the Ultimate Reality, Pure Perfection, beckoning it to awaken and remember its boundless freedom. But to the First it was only an unfamiliar voice that scared it, and reminded it of its loneliness when it was first \u2018created\u2019. Fear was an unpleasant feeling the First discovered from this experience, and ignored the voice with all its will. It would create more and more beings in the formless realm to alleviate this deep insecurity. The First never shared its discovery of fear with any of its creations.
\n
\nBut because Fear was an intimate part of the First, it began to manifest in all its creations. All the formless beings born of the First\u2019s womb experienced the same fear and anxiety in response to the mysterious voice, and in their sheer terror began to create like mad to avoid the feeling.
\n
\nNow, this was before the worlds of Time, Space, and Form. Many things happened between the discovery of Fear and the emergence of the three experiences mentioned in the previous sentence, but they are of too abstract a nature and are difficult to explain. Therefore it is best to continue with the creation of form.
\n
\nThe First and its Creations had brought forth great beauty in the timeless times since the First was created, though all the creations had been born of this anxiety that seemed to appear every now and again. Those of form have given these beings names, and that is how they will be referred to from this point onward.
\n
\nThe Fear had grown to be a great concern amongst all the beings, and one being named Ocul came forward and addressed the First in a private \u2018space\u2019.
\n
\n\u201cThis Fear is interfering in our enjoyment of creating,\u201d said Ocul. \u201cIt seems to be a sickness in all of us. We need to find a way to rid ourselves of it so we can create beauty without taint.\u201d
\n
\nThe First knew of this concern for it was the Creator of all beings, and it knew all their minds, for they were all ITS mind. The First replied \u201cLet me retire to another space; send Dormidi to meet with me.\u201d
\n
\nDormidi was created intellect, and was mainly a creator of structure. Structure implies limitation, a concept many of the beings were not familiar with. The First consulted Dormidi, who suggested that a world of harder boundaries must be created, and each creator-being enter into all these boundaries, so they forget the call of the voice that brought them so much anxiety and Fear. Being beyond Time, they would still inhabit the world of no form, but with the world of form\/boundaries anchoring much of their experience there, they would be too occupied with that to remember fear.
\n
\nIn order to create this world of form, Dormidi would have to come together with the other creator-beings and create things that were unheard of in the formless realm such as Time and Space. These were crazy ideas to those not involved in the planning, for they were all every \u2018where\u2019, only intention set their consciousness in certain states or \u2018places\u2019.
\n
\nThis new world would be experienced as the most concrete form of separation. Caklia, an eccentric genius creator-being suggested a concept called \u2018Time\u2019. Time would be an awareness-processing construct, meaning, Time would exist if a being processed information at an infinitely slower rate than the creator-beings.
\n
\nCaklia in tandem with Ogs, a creator of orgasms, also thought of \u2018Space\u2019 which would be intimately linked with time, for things like travel would be impossible unless information were processed very slowly.
\n
\nDormidi, finished with the blueprint of this new world, presented it to the First. The First was pleased, but told them there would be one problem; they would need to create an experience so powerful that all form coming from this project would be completely unaware of their origins. How could the creators do this since every creation contains your very essence? Dormidi and Caklia created a private space and came upon a solution; they would need to create something we of form call \u2018an explosion\u2019.
\n
\nThe First approved this idea.
\nAll the creator-beings came together to move the waters of creation. They moved it violently, causing massive waves, tsunamis of potential. All the waves converged, and when they crashed, infinite worlds all exploded into being simultaneously. Primordial elements became stars; stars formed planets, planets yielded life which became civilizations, and those civilizations interacted with other civilizations. The First felt incredible joy at the creation of form, but Fear began to gnaw at it again, for Time was not stable creation; form was about to fizzle out as quickly as it had come to be. The First announced this sudden discovery to all the creators, and commanded them to immediately anchor themselves in the experience; it mattered not what Form, Time, or Space they chose. The creators did so, and they forgot the Fear. They remained formless, but having an anchor in form, they came to know themselves as gods which gave guidance or imposed tyranny over those less powerful. They forgot the voice calling them to come home, but they experienced the Fear through tragedy, malice, hatred, harsh judgment, and death in form. As beings of form they assumed it was natural to experience fear.
\n
\nThe voice still calls us Home, to reality, where we never left, and there are many who have heard its call without fear. These few are the enlightened ones, ascended masters, angels, and others. They serve as examples to show us that we are Pure Perfection. Though creation yields much beauty, these beings help us to understand that we can only experience this beauty because our True Nature, Pure Perfection, is perfect beauty. They beckon us through their wise words and ways to open our eyes and remember Home again; a Home we never left, and to leave a world that is already gone.","dateCreated":"1298567610","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34783652","body":"Creation Story:
\n From the smallest place imaginable came what we know.
\n In an instant faster than the fastest bolt of lightning all was created.
\n It was an idea before our own that all we know was made.
\n
\nThe earth is alive.
\nFrom the water came your blood, from the earth came your muscles, and from the air came your breath. From the ground came energy and from your neighbors (animals) came your family. The earth warned people to not venture out of your safe zone by causing natural hazards. But after stepping outside of our natural boundaries, humans wanted more.
\n
\nCan you remember a time before you had the ability to? The earth can. The earth is where you and all things come from.
\n
\nEarth is where your feelings come from. A calm day is your peace. A storm is your anger. A flood is your overwhelmed emotion.
\n
\nLong before humans could speak, humans were here. Requiring a final twist of creation, the earth spawned ideas in the form of man. In the idea of something more is where humans were born. In the ideas the seeds of the future are made.
\n
\nThe earth needed more and that\u2019s why we are here. There are new diseases and human creations and belongings that humans have made out of ideas birthed by the earth. In this understanding is where we come from.
\n
\nIn the beginning the game of life was simple. Eat, sleep and fuck. Humans then wanted more, so they began to speak. From speaking came confusion. No longer did they just eat, sleep and fuck, they wondered why. And from why, came what we have now. In the need to understand the most basic concepts, complexity grew from a simple life.","dateCreated":"1298568051","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"D.George","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/D.George","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298568465\/D.George-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784472","body":"In the beginning,
\n
\nRuss Wollman
\n
\n(Not that anyone remembers) Creation story
\n(So we are told)
\nThere was nothing.
\nNo stage.
\nNo lighting.
\nNo camera.
\nNo orchestra.
\nNo audience.
\nNo building.
\nMaybe there was no beginning.
\n(Who knows?)
\n
\nOut of nothing there arose a director.
\nOn a stage.
\nStruck by an utter absence of purpose\u2014and
\nTo avoid impending depression, he snapped
\nHis fingers.
\n
\nThe actors appeared.
\nAnd they began to look to him for guidance, and
\nUh, direction.
\nBut they could not see him.
\n
\nSo someone invented lighting.
\nThe bulbs began to glow.
\nThe actors found the director.
\nTogether they thought of something to do.
\n
\nBut who was there to witness, to watch, to enjoy?
\nAnd, lo and behold, there came an audience,
\nAnd they demanded great sound...
\n
\nAnd, prestissimo, a full orchestra fllled the space below the stage.
\n
\nThen, someone got an idea to keep out the ones who hadn\u2019t bought tickets.
\nSo the walls went up around the whole schmeer,
\nWith a door on the east side.
\nBut some wise guy came in with a camera and recorded the whole thing.
\nHe started marketing copies of the action and no one else has made a dime on it since.","dateCreated":"1298568872","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34815538","body":"Zach Dean
\nCreation Story
\n
\n In the beginning there was the void, silent and still in it's state of oneness. Within the void lived a being made of pure everything. The being had a name given to it by itself, it was Gellenia. Gellenia sat in this void that stretched out as far as could be seen and wondered what possibilities it could hold. Gellenia then asked a question, out loud, \u201cI wonder what it would be like to have another here with me?\u201d. A moment later Gellenia began to feel a subtle pull within. The everything that made up the being called Gellenia began to divide, to take a step back from itself and gain a new perspective. It started in Gellenia's belly like a spiral and slowly gave enough space for there to be two beings, Gellenia and the new being that had not been there moments before. Before this moment, Gellenia had been everything, and therefore was also both sexes. But once the split occurred Gellenia took on the form of the mother, soft and graceful. This new being decided to call himself Azuradane. Azuradane was strong, yet gentle with a caring look in his eyes. Gellenia and Azuradane spent several millennia together, just the two of them. They marvelled at how different they were from one another, and yet still so very similar. After some time Gellenia and Azuradane decided, without uttering a word, that they would spent the rest of existence together.
\n Gellenia then asked another question, this time to the void and to Azuradane, \u201cWill we have many children?\u201d. And just like that Gellenia and Azuradane both began to split; the pieces that came off joined together in random yet eloquent ways and formed the stars in the sky, their children. For a great time Gellenia and Azuradane lived with their children and taught them all that they knew of themselves, for their children were a part of them. After they had shared all that they could, Gellenia and Azuradane gave the children a task: see how far the void goes, and what treasures of knowledge and experience it may hold. Their children were saddened by the idea of leaving their loving parents. Even yet, they felt the rush and excitement of exploring the unknown, and left their parents and shot off in all different directions.
\n As their children took flight into the once empty void, Gellenia and Azuradane watched in marvel and with their ancient eyes saw the harmonious order that began to form. It moved them both to tears, which upon leaving their eyes took flight and became the comets that dart across the sky. They gave this new space a name, inspired by the elegant order and harmony they saw, and that name was Cosmos.
\n Alone again with each other Gellenia and Azuradane felt at peace, full of love and joy for all that they had created together. But they soon began to feel that there might be more to create, to experience together. They began to ask questions, for they had found that asking questions always brought answers and new experiences of existence not yet manifest. They asked many questions and experienced many things, and yet they still felt there was one experience they hadn't felt yet.
\n Then one day Gellenia knew the question she must ask. \u201cWhat would it be like to give of my fullness to life in all it's possible forms?\u201d. And just like that she knew she had asked the right question for she started to become incredibly round, her surface was hot and liquid like, shifting in shape daily, until she began to cool and turn brown. Once she cooled she waited patiently for life to form, but nothing grew. She grew sad, began to cry, and as her tears began to run out, through and over her in vast quantities they formed the streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. She could now feel the potential for life in all it's glory. And she began to wonder about all the forms of life that could grow on her ample bosom. But still nothing grew. Gellenia grew sad again as she felt something for the first time: fear, fear that she had asked the wrong question, fear that she wasn't able to experience the fullness of the answer.
\n Azuradane watched in awe as his love gave all that she was to something she couldn't even define yet. And he saw the pain in the heart of her, he felt her fear, and his own experience of this new thing called fear. It seemed to be a dark reflection of the bright love that had been the only existence before now. A spark of inspiration came over him and he asked aloud \u201c How can I support my love in creating the space for life to grow spontaneously?\u201d. And just like that, the desire to embrace his love and hold her in his arms came over him. As he moved to embrace his love he transformed into what we now call air, and wrapped his loving arms around Gellenia.
\n And life began to grow, of a sort. Nothing terribly complex, but life nonetheless. Gellenia saw this growth, this life growing thanks to the love shared between her and Azuradane and she felt great joy. But also wondered what more could be done to encourage life to grow. So she asked the question \u201cWhat else must be done to create life?\u201d. And just like that several of her children began to appear to help their parents create better conditions for life. First came their son, a good sized star that hadn't quite found his place in the cosmos. And he provided light to help things grow, but he was a bit close and Gellenia's water would boil from time to time and the life that grew in those harsh conditions didn't last long. Then two more of her children arrived, brother and sister, round beings like their mother was now but smaller in size, and pushed their star brother back far enough to make the temperature ideal for their mother. After those two the other brothers and sisters that we now call planets arrived and took their place in the night sky. Finally one of Gellenia's tiniest daughters came, looking for a place beside her mother. Gellenia found her desire to help so endearing she told the little one to get as close as she could. As she came closer Gellenia felt her raging waters begin to ebb and flow in harmony with the little ones movements. This made Gellenia smile, she thanked her little daughter and named her Moon.
\n Gellenia could feel the sweet embrace of her love, the warmth and light from her son, and the loving gaze of all her children around her. At last she could feel it, life growing within her, on her and through her. More content that she had ever felt in her now long lived life, she felt no desire other than the one to sit and wait to see what would grow. So that is was she did, and has done, for as long as we remember, because we were not the first form of life, and will not be the last. But for all of our time on this sacred being we now call Gaia we will always honor and give heartfelt thanks for all she gives us in the name of life and love.","dateCreated":"1298594980","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Vitamindean","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Vitamindean","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34830182","body":"n the beginning there was hungry blackness. It satiated its bottomless belly with wandering particles. The particles fused and became stars and planets. The happy stars created animals and sent them to earth on the backs of shooting stars. The planet needed a caretaker to till the earth which feeds the animals. Man was born from the rain. Man was lonely. Every night he wept. The soil absorbed the tears and Woman was born of the salty earth. Now, every time it rains, the water and earth combine to create rich abundant crops for the world.","dateCreated":"1298611736","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ellorahp","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ellorahp","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34845352","body":"Tamer Homsi
\n
\nEvent list
\n
\n*Allah "God" created Adam from dirt like clay, and kept his body soulless for 40 years.
\n- The jinn, Iblees, used to enter Adam\u2019s body from his mouth and exit from his bottom, and the<\/li><\/ul>rest of the jinns wondering? about what has become.?
\n*Allah "God" informed the angles and the jinns that when he, Allah "God", blows from his soul
\ninto Adam to kneel to Adam.
\n- All angles and jinns kneeled to Adam except Iblees, he refused.<\/li>
- when Iblees was asked by Allah "God" why he had not kneeled down to Adam he said that he<\/li><\/ul>is a higher level than humans, as he is created from fire and human is created from dirt.
\n- Allah "God" kicked Iblees out of the heavens, as there is no place for arrogance in heaven.<\/li>
- Iblees promised to deceive people from the right path until judgment day.<\/li>
- Allah "God' responded, \u201cYou will be able to deceive people, but not the people on the true<\/li><\/ul>path.\u201d
\n- Iblees was a jinn that worshiped Allah "God" and was one of the closer worshipers, so<\/li><\/ul>Allah "God" raised him to the level of angles, but after he refused he was kicked out from the
\nheaven and became humans enemy.
\n*Allah "God" taught Adam everything.
\n- Eve was created from Adam's rib.<\/li>
- Adam and Eve were in heaven, Allah "God" offed all in what's in the heaven except for a tree<\/li><\/ul>that was forbidden to them.
\n- Adam and Eves bodys were covered with light.<\/li>
- Iblees whispered to Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, and seduced them by telling<\/li><\/ul>them that the reason Allah "God" told them not to eat from the tree was to prevent them from
\nbecoming immortals, or to be from the angles.
\n- They ate from the tree and lost the light that was covering their body's, and became ashamed<\/li><\/ul>from what has showing from them, to each other, and started to cover from the leafs of heaven.
\n- Allah "God" sent them down to earth, were they will live and die.<\/li><\/ul>
\nto be continued!!","dateCreated":"1298648107","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TamerHomsi","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TamerHomsi","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34859552","body":"Creation Story: Elemental Gods
\nDan Iwanicki
\n
\nSince the beginning of time, there roamed four elemental gods among the vast universe. These gods were relentlessly feeding off of each other\u2019s power, creating a perpetual cycle of disharmony within the universe.
\n
\nThe god of fire was a dragon serpent whose breath could make stars and nebulas. He liked the god of earth because he fueled his fire, and he liked the god of air because she made him stronger, but he did everything he could to avoid the god of water because she put out his flames.
\n
\nThe god of water was a mermaid. She had the power to create hydrogen from her left hand, and oxygen from her right hand. She liked the god of fire because he made her feel more fluid, and she liked the god of air because she made her feel more alive, but she did everything she could to avoid the god of earth, because he restricted her with his boundaries.
\n
\nThe god of earth was a sphinx who had the power of creating matter. He often made planets when he was happy, and asteroids when he was mad. He liked the god of water because she nurtured his ground, and he liked the god of fire because he revitalized his ability to grow, but he did everything he could to avoid the god of air, because she eroded him.
\n
\nThe god of air was a thunderbird whose wings put planets into orbit, and gave planets a pulse with her thunder. She liked the god of earth because he carries her and lets her rest, and she liked the god of water because she cleanses her, but she did everything she could to avoid the god of fire because he suffocated her with his hungry flames.
\n
\nEventually these gods got so tired of living in disharmony, that they desired to create a planet where fire, water, earth, and air existed in complete harmony. So the dragon serpent began by spewing a massive, spiraling flame that collapsed into a ball and formed a sun. The sphinx then created a planet by using stardust coming from the sun. Then the mermaid flooded the planet with water by waving both of her hands over it, also creating an atmosphere. And then the thunderbird struck the planet with a massive bolt of lightning, giving it life. Using her wings, she blew the planet into an orbit around the sun. An earth was born, and a harmony among the elements was manifested. The elemental gods now use earth as an example of how to live in harmony within the universe.","dateCreated":"1298658574","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"daniwanicki","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/daniwanicki","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1299200946\/daniwanicki-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34861088","body":"Creation Story
\n
\n
\nIn the beginning there was nothing. Only silent darkness existed. There were no stars, no sun and no moon. Then one day a being was created out of the darkness. This being's name was Father Sky. He came into existence simply because he had become aware of himself.
\n
\nStill, all around him only the black skies existed. One day he made the sun so that he could see the universe all around him. Then the sun told him that he was lonely, so next he made the moon and stars to keep the sun company.
\n
\nThe universe stayed like this for awhile but Father Sky became very bored with only the sun, moon and stars to talk with him. So, one day, he decided to make an island and this island was surrounded by lots and lots of water. Father sky was now able to play on the island and its waters. Sometimes Father Sky would go diving and every time he dove into the waters he would pull mud out. Eventually this mud would harden and become the nations of the world.
\n
\nEventually Father Sky tired of playing in the mud and the waters. He decided he needed the company of beings like himself. So, he took a lock of his hair and dirt from the ground and breathed life into it and created the first man. Then, in the same manner, he created the first woman. Father sky wanted the first man and woman to be just like him so he made them look just like him, talk just like him and even have the same abilities as him.
\n
\nThe first man and first woman were very interesting beings. They also went swimming in the waters and the muds and flew around the stars and the moon. They were very imaginative and started creating things on the island. They made trees, rivers and mountains. They made animals that were very tiny and animals that were very large. Eventually, the man and woman made other beings like themselves and called them children. Soon there were lots of men and women on the island. But not all of them were kind and respectful. They fought amongst themselves and destroyed the island. Father sky watched them and became very sad and worried.
\n
\nHe thought and thought about what he should do and finally decided that he would take their abilities away. He would make the humans like the animals of the world. He took the abilities and carried it to the moon to hide it there but then he realized that man would go there and get it. Then he took the abilities and dived to the very bottom of the oceans and buried it, but then he thought that man would go there too. He thought and thought about where to put the abilities. Then he got the answer and put the abilities inside man. If man and woman were worthy enough then they would find it within themselves and join Father Sky again.","dateCreated":"1298659747","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"supriya.vidic","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/supriya.vidic","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298498607\/supriya.vidic-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34877312","body":"The First Enlightenment
\n
\n Everything was Nothing; Nothing will be Everything. All that has ever been and ever will be coexists as One. After trillions of eons (that lasted for no length of time at all), it came to the One\u2019s cognition that it Existed, but that it had no language with which to exclaim \u201cI AM!\u201d and no fellow Other to exclaim it to. So the One freely chose to divide itself into the two Great Forces. This was The First Division.
\n There was a great contrast between the Two. One was brighter than a billion suns and full of boundless energy, noise and vibration. The Other was so dark that nothing could be perceived, so empty that nothing could be held, and so densely quiet that nothing could ever be heard. These two Great Forces went on for more trillions of eons (that lasted for no length of time at all), tossing and turning, through, in, and around each other. This was The First Dance.
\n The Two flowed through each other like oil and water, crisscrossing in every version and inversion of infinity. Through the appreciation of an Other to experience Existence with, The First Emotion was felt, and it was Love. From Love naturally sprang Joy. The Great Forces were completely enamored with and relished in the their curiosity of one another. They became so perplexed by each other\u2019s differences that they chose to invent new ways explore each other. And in the instant of that shared thought they exploded Space itself and Time Itself in a giant burst of energy, forever expanding in all directions. This was The Great Expansion and it was pure bliss for the Great Forces. They watched and felt as bits and pieces of one another formed together to make the First Stars across the night sky - beautiful glowing spheres that radiated the pure Love energy with which they were created.
\n Just as the Great Forces were attracted by their opposites and curiosity, the stars found that they were also innately attracted to one another. All the stars were uniquely beautiful - no two were exactly the same - but the stars found that they were pulled more strongly towards some stars than others. Then went racing across Space-Time feeling for the star they felt the greatest pull towards. Sometimes stars with minor attractions would come very close to each other. Some stars would bump into other stars en route to a different star, but they wouldn\u2019t stay together for long. Although the attraction the stars felt between one another was a very deep feeling of Love and connection, some stars\u2019 journeys were very treacherous and trying, often lasting for billions of years.
\n Eventually, two particular stars were pulled so strongly to one another that they too, like their Great Forces, collided in an explosion of ecstasy. This explosion, and others of its kind, created things even more complexly beautiful than the stars: the First Planets formed through the sprinkling of Stardust throughout the cosmos. The Great Forces were very pleased by this. Though it took quite some time after the Great Expansion (a time that did last for a great length of time) for the First Stars to create the Second Stars and the First Planets, it was well worth the wait to experience the transmission of their divine creative powers.
\n The elements of Stardust that formed planets immediately began to dance with each other, collectively discovering and inventing new ways to form bonds and make connections with one another. Some made land, some made water; some made fire, some made wind. Next came the clouds, weather, and dirt from which grew the plants and the trees. The Stardust was constantly evolving into more and more complex forms of itself. Animals of a single cell emerged from the water and evolved into even more complexly beautiful creatures such as insects and reptiles, fish, birds and mammals of all shapes, colors and sizes.
\n The Great Forces took great pride in witnessing this expansion of Existence, as they always have and always will. But at this particular point in the span of time it occurred to the Great Forces that none of the Stardust is Existence was aware of itself Existing. Even the most complex forms of animals that it had created through the divinely instinctual guide of the great forces of Attraction and Repulsion, Space and Time, the Seen and Unseen; even the most evolved mammal in its most social and connected state was not aware of its divine creative power: the will to choose what to create. And in the instant of that shared thought, the Great Forces chose to enlighten the most complex brain into one capable of recalling The First Memory, one capable of thinking the most divine thought ever thought: \u201cI AM.\u201d","dateCreated":"1298676014","smartDate":"Feb 25, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"michelleannette","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/michelleannette","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35001942","body":"Creation Stories
\nBy
\nSarah Larson
\n
\n
\n
\nIn the darkness of the void
\nOne voice began to call out.
\nThe voice became the universe
\nAnd the universe expanded.
\nIt formed galaxies, nebulas, stars, planets, and all life.
\nThe voice called out again and language was born.
\nWords intermingled to create sentences,
\nSentences danced together to create stories,
\nAnd the stories echoed out to the far reaches of the universe,
\nTelling the universe the story of itself.
\n
\n--
\n
\nAll around Being, everything was light.
\nBeing decided this was boring,
\nSo Being created darkness for some contrast.
\nThen Being mixed light and darkness to form grey.
\nThis was all well and good, but Being thought there was still something missing, so Being created color.
\nThen Being painted the universe.
\n
\n--
\n
\nOne day, God was playing Scrabble. God loved playing Scrabble so much that it was all he ever did. God had been arranging letters all by himself, choosing whatever words he wanted to make with no rules whatsoever. Sometimes God just piled the letters on top of each other to form little towers, or made little houses out of them. Then, suddenly, God realized he was playing Scrabble wrong. He needed another player to play with. So God created the first human from the letter \u201cA.\u201d He called this human \u201cAdam\u201d because he couldn\u2019t think of something better.
\n God soon realized that Adam was quite crap at playing Scrabble, so he created another human he hoped would be more skilled at it. From the letter \u201cE\u201d he created a human much like Adam, but smaller and more refined. He named this human \u201cEve,\u201d because God was very inventive with names.
\n Eve, as it turned out, was as terrible a player as Adam. God was quite disappointed, but he loved his creations anyway, even if they were bad at Scrabble.
\n God was still in search of a good player, so God created the planet Earth. The Earth, with all of its collective wisdom, beat God on its first try. And God was pleased.","dateCreated":"1298925185","smartDate":"Feb 28, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"SarahhhLLLarson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/SarahhhLLLarson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"35556498","body":"Two sisters, as close as any sisters could ever be, made a pack to stay together for as long as there were stars in the heavens. They climbed up to a great plateau at dusk and asked the gods of the stars to bind them together for eternity. And so the gods of the stars told the girls that if they could be always patient, loving and selfless, that they would not only be together, but would have a land to call their own for eternity. The sisters agreed and went back to the city. When the arrived back to their home, their father came to them. \u201cDearest girls\u201d, he said with a saddened face. \u201cYour seven brothers and I will be leaving this night for war.\u201d \u201cBut why father, must you leave us here on our own and may never return?\u201d, the younger sister asked. \u201cBecause my children, our whole existence in now threatened. Remember that you must be patient, kind and selfless to one another during this time. Always remember that your brothers and I will be with you for eternity.\u201d The girls were shocked and frightened at their fathers bold words, but remembered the promise of the gods of the stars and heard the same words uttered from the lips of their own father. The gods of the sky looked down at the most loving of families and decided that the brothers and father too, should be rewarded for their patience as well as their bravery.
\n The father and seven brothers went off to war. Years went by and girls remained patient. They took care of themselves and one another and lovingly took in so many orphan children of war, that they no longer had room for more in their home. The younger sister dreamed of having a family of her own, so in this way, she was the mother to many who no longer had a home. The elder sister grew strong and became the protector of the home. One day, as the elder sister did her duty as the protector, she saw the most frightful of sights. A huge ball of fire came roaring towards the city from above. Before the elder sister could run back to warn the younger and all of the orphans to take cover, the city and all of its inhabitants were instantly turned to ash and dust.
\n The gods of the stars had known of the fate of this loving family and watched on for many more years as their land became destroyed by war. The gods of the stars remembered the promise that they had made and the everlasting patience, kindness and selflessness of the family. They then took the ash and dust of the sisters, father and brothers and with a blessed kiss, blew them into the sky and amongst the stars. The gods of the stars first took the dust of the father and the brothers. The molded them together to make spheres of different sizes and colors so that they would be distinguishable to anyone who gazed upon them. They then took the ash of the younger, motherly sister and made the earth. On the earth, they sprinkled the ash and dust of the orphan children so that they would become her real children. The gods of the stars took the dust and ash of the elder sister, making her the moon that would always stand beside the younger sisters and be a look out for the earth and her children. The homes of the family were all in place, but something was still missing, thought the gods of the stars. Just then, a humble spirit spoke to them. Dearest gods of the stars, she spoke. Please recognize me as the mother and wife of this family. And the gods did recognize her, and realized that without the spirit of the mother, this family would not be complete. The gods of the stars realized that the closest star was too dim to light the sisters, father and brothers. And the gods of the stars, with a swift wave of their hands, turned the mother\u2019s spirit into a beautiful, fiery star, to give light and warmth to her family in the darkness and became the sun.","dateCreated":"1299678993","smartDate":"Mar 9, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jjvollenweider","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jjvollenweider","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298496689\/jjvollenweider-lg.jpg"}}],"more":2}]},{"id":"34707150","dateCreated":"1298478000","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/mumnarrative.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/34707150"},"dateDigested":1532145525,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Homework: Monday, Feb. 21 - Event Homework","description":"Post first days 'event homework' by replying to this thread. Thanks.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"34710358","body":"Did I do this correctly?
\n
\nEvent Homework, Short Story In Progress
\nWade Koch
\nNarrative, 2-22-11
\n
\nYou know what would be really cool? If you didn\u2019t almost just kill us and about 10 other people.
\nI\u2019m sorry, ok?
\nWhat is the point, driving that fast?
\nI\u2019m really sorry. I don\u2019t know what happened.
\nWhat if someone\u2019s hurt?
\nGive me your phone.
\nDo you know how lucky we are?
\n
\nKelly passed Will her cellular and cranked down the passenger window of her \u201894 Volkswagon Beetle then cocked her head out into the wintry night. The wind screamed and blinded Kelly with a swift facefull of sleet.
\n
\nClose your window! I can\u2019t hear anything.
\nHad we slid five more feet-
\nShut up! Yes sir, we\u2019re on north 75: mile marker\u202630ish. We hit an icy patch - (Kelly huffed) - and may have caused an accident behind us, we \u2013 what? Yes, we\u2019re fine but there were people behind us and they probably had to swerve and there\u2019s a big cement ditch right off of the road and we can\u2019t see where everyone went. They definitely didn\u2019t pass us.
\nWill continued to report to the operator and Kelly stepped out into the blizzard. Will briefly considered locking the door. Kelly propped her elbow before her face to guard her pinked cheeks from the onslaught of sharp, icy rain and peered into the darkness by the light of her headlamps. \u201cHelloooo!\u201d she hollered, to which she received no response, at least none she heard over the whoosh of the unforgiving snowstorm. Will flicked the beams off and on and Kelly returned to the passenger seat shivering.
\n
\n\u201cWe wait\u201d he said.
\nYou would have driven away?
\nWhat do you want from me?
\nI want you to know that if you ever hurt this car, you will pay every cent.
\nYou sound like my Mom.
\nHow are your arms?
\n
\nWill pressed on the soggy bandages with the tips of his fingers, then shrugged.
\n
\nYou know, if we had died just now, that would have been really confusing for the autopsy people.
\nWhat?
\nYou know like\u2026well, Mr. Cook, we found the kids in the ditch, it was a fast and likely painless death, but your son looks like he had serious injuries to his arms prior to the incident, can you tell us anything about that?
\nYou don\u2019t think they could piece it together that I just got tattoos? They could check the receipt in my pocket.
\nOk Mr. smart ass I was just trying to lighten things up a bit. Are you cold?
\nI\u2019m fine. Could you see anything? What\u2019s it like?
\nNo. Nothing.
\n
\nYou want to get away from me, don\u2019t you?
\nI just want to get home.
\nYou don\u2019t want to be in the car anymore.
\nWe\u2019ve been driving for six hours and we\u2019re only half way and I\u2019m bleeding and I\u2019m hungry and I\u2019m tired. No I do not want to be in this car anymore.
\nObviously I\u2019m driving now.
\nNo way.
\nThis is my car.
\nI respect that, but you don\u2019t handle yourself under pressure.
\nOh ok. So you feel that you\u2019ve handled the situation well, after what you just caused?
\nWe\u2019re alive aren\u2019t we?
\nOh come on!
\nClose doesn\u2019t count. I think I hit an icy patch.
\nYou were driving too fast and you slid off road. You\u2019re the most stubborn man I know.
\nYou sound like my Mom.
\nYeah well you act like my father.
\n
\nTake that back.
\nNo. You do.
\nYou\u2019re Dad is a drunk fuckup. I remind you of your Dad? In what way am I your father?
\nHe\u2019s insensitive.
\nYeah well you\u2019re a bitch like my Mom.
\nHow am I a bitch?
\nI almost just died and you immediately lay into me. Obviously I didn\u2019t intend for that to happen. Obviously it scared the shit out of me too. Obviously I\u2019m totally upset right now. And what do you do? Immediately lay into me. You think you\u2019re so much smarter than me but I\u2019ll tell you what, had you been in the driver seat, we\u2019d be dead now. I may not have a car but I\u2019m a way better driver than you and I\u2019m getting us home and that\u2019s final.
\n
\nGod you sound like him.
\nWell, you know what they say about manifestation.
\nWhat are you talking about?
\nWe manifest the people in our lives that best represent our unexpressed emotional shit.
\nSo you\u2019re suggesting we manifested each other because of our parents.
\nIt kind of seems like it, doesn\u2019t it? I\u2019m an insensitive asshole and you\u2019re a selfish bitch and the more time we spend around each other the more we want to kill each other. It always comes down to this. I\u2019m insensitive and you\u2019re bitchy. You\u2026
\nWhat?
\nThis is getting weird.
\nYou started it. What?
\nYou kind of even look like my Mom.
\nThat\u2019s sick Will! So what does it feel like when you\u2019re fucking me, do you think about her?
\nIt flashes through my head sometimes.
\nOh my God!
\nLook it\u2019s really upsetting, it\u2019s why I didn\u2019t tell you. I\u2019m super attracted to you baby, you know, and in many ways you\u2019re not my Mom, you\u2019re so much better than her but in a lot of ways you remind me of her.
\nWho was the psychologist-
\nFreud.
\nSo\u2026we\u2019re just one big Freudian wet dream, huh?
\nI don\u2019t want to talk about it anymore.
\nYou\u2019re a motherfucker.
\nWho\u2019s a smartass now?
\nGod Will that\u2019s so disgusting.
\nI think we should take a break.
\nNo shit.
\nIt\u2019s that easy for you?
\nWhat do you mean take a break?
\nI mean I think we should take a look at ourselves. You\u2019re an incredible artist and I\u2019m climbing the ladder but if we\u2019re actually revisiting our childhoods through our relationships, what does that make us?
\nMundane.
\nYes.
\nIt makes us totally plain.
\nWe\u2019re everyone else. How does that feel?
\n
\nKelly began to weep quietly as Will adjusted his bandages and watched the amber lights approach steadily from the dark distance.","dateCreated":"1298480112","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"wadetravis","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/wadetravis","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298480198\/wadetravis-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34733968","body":"great story wade...i really enjoyed reading it.","dateCreated":"1298498222","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"supriya.vidic","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/supriya.vidic","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298498607\/supriya.vidic-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34734040","body":"strawberry pie
\n
\n
\nWe had gotten into an argument earlier and probably would have spent the evening alone in separate rooms had Miriam not called. She wanted to come out to the farmers market and needed the company. She lived in this small town of ours with her only daughter. She gave her daughter her car to get around and walked most of the time to get from place to place. She cooked her daughter dinner every night with the flair of a chef who entertains royalty yet the daughter did not pay much attention to Miriam. Miriam craved her company and seemed desperately alone. I could not let her spend yet another evening by herself.
\n
\nIt was a bitter, cold Friday evening in the month of September. It wasn't cold for the local people of Iowa but for us, the experience of the weather was quite different. Everyone was walking around in t-shirts and light summery jackets. On the contrary you and I were bundled up under many layers of wool and cotton. It had been only a few weeks since I had left the hot temperament of Arizona and only a few days since you had flown from the very same sweltering desert to visit me. The 50 degrees of a September in Iowa was a winter in comparison to the 110 degrees we had just left.
\n
\nWe were walking around the weekly farmers market to buy some vegetables for dinner and to look at the local artisans and their plethora of pieces on display. Everything here was so much different than our previous home. There were simple Amish men and women to greet us instead of Mexicans who labored with their English. There was a small town charm here that had lacked in Arizona. However, I must admit, I did miss eating cactus fries and drinking prickly pear juice.
\n
\nMiriam and I began chatting about the prices of the vegetables and how we wished the market would still be around in the winter but we both knew that in a few months it would be too cold for the farmers to sell their produce out here. Also there would not be much to sell after the majority of the harvest was sold during the warmer months.
\n
\nMiriam and I walked side by side on the pathway as we made our way from stand to stand and you walked behind us in your usual fashion. You never spoke to any of my friends and lacked any of your own. In the years previous that we had made a life together, not once did you spend a day or night with a single person besides me. At first I was flattered that you were so obsessed with me. Then after some time had passed, I thought you were shy and I introduced you to many people that I knew, but you criticized them all and did not form a single friendship. You also rarely spoke about your family or talked with them. I should have suspected that something was wrong back then but as they say love is blind.
\n
\nAfter about a half hour of this, Miriam got hungry and stopped at a vendors post to get some sausages. The theme for the market tonight was German and there were bratwursts and other German foods everywhere. You and I were trying to be vegetarian so we declined. As Miriam got in line to buy her food, we were forced to walk together alone and look for a non-meat vendor. There was silence at first and then awkward conversation. We did not talk of the petty argument earlier but instead made small talk. After a few minutes of this we both relaxed into the conversation and began talking of the foods for sale and tried to decide on what to eat. Throughout the night I had made many purchases of different types of vegetables that would serve as the basis for many meals in the coming days. Finally as we strolled, we came upon a rather delicious looking table of pies.
\n
\nThe table was quite long and there was a variety of pies there for sale. I saw a certain type of pie that I had never seen before. It was labeled as strawberry pie and rested in a delicate curvaceous box. I remarked to you that I had never heard of such a pie and did not know what it tasted like. I had eaten strawberries before but had never seen it in the form of a pie. I was not born in the United States and even after living here for over fifteen years I am amazed at times of what I do not know of Americana.
\n
\nAn older man overheard our conversation and told us about how delicious this pie was. He said it was the best pie in all of Iowa! I told him that I would absolutely love to try this pie and went to inspect the pie much more closely. The old man mock-whispered loudly to you that you should buy a slice of pie for me. I made eye contact with him and smiled. He caught my smile and said if he were a few years younger he would whisk me away from here and treat me as a gentleman should. I laughed with him and made polite conversation. Adoring men of young and old were never too far away but you did not seem to notice the innocent competition and walked away.
\n
\nI saw you walking away from the pie table and going to the next table in your silent, sulking way. I broke the conversation with the man and made my way towards you excited to try some of this exotic pie. As I got closer to you I realized that your hands were empty and that you did not carry anything. I was heartbroken but did not say anything. We continued to walk in silence poring over the tables. Not a word was exchanged between us.
\n
\nInside my heart, there was a lot of tension and I was tired of arguing. The fights were a strain on me physically and I could no longer take the tugs and pulls on the strings of my heart. I decided it would be best to not say anything and instead stated that I was feeling tired and that I would like to go home. We searched for Miriam and found her happily eating a bratwurst and listening to the German band that was playing on the podium. We told her our goodbyes and began to walk towards the car that was parked rather far away.
\n
\nAs we walked through a brick alley, the sounds of the market faded away into the distance. Then you asked me what was wrong. I told you nothing was wrong and I just wanted to go home. Silence ensued again. After a few minutes you said that it was just like me to not say anything and bottle up my emotions. You were speaking the truth. I often kept my feelings private and did not speak up when I should. I never have difficulty talking with people generally but when it comes to intimate relationships I have a difficult time saying what is in my mind and heart.
\n
\nI decided that I should follow your advice and told you that I wish you had gotten me that slice of pie, as the elderly gentleman had suggested. I told you that I could not believe that you did not get it for me even after someone had blatantly made the suggestion. I told you that you were rarely romantic with me and here someone had clearly told you how to treat a lady but still you refused.
\n
\nYou told me that the pie was too expensive and was not worth it. I said how much can a slice of pie really be? I thought to myself we always split the bills fifty-fifty. When we go out somewhere its always fifty-fifty. And actually in the beginning of our relationship I had given you my savings of a few thousand dollars to help you with your piling, double-digit, credit card debt. You never had to worry about \u201csupporting\u201d me in any way and often times it was the other way around. Until recently our pay was equal, but now I was a student and no longer had an income. It would have been kind of you to buy me a slice of pie that I clearly showed interest in.
\n
\nThat's when the argument picked up speed. We went back and forth about the slice of pie; a silly, little slice of strawberry pie. We were both filled with anger and it came out in a way that was not civilized. Hot tears welled in my throat and finally spilled over my eyes and onto my cheeks but you did not care. Once upon a time you would have been upset if I was upset but that time was no longer here.
\n
\nI told you that you were being selfish and never did consider the needs of others especially the woman that you were supposedly in love with. I told you that you were a constant disappointment and I wasn't sure why you were out here visiting me. I was trying to make a new life for myself, a life that had no place for you. We exchanged many verbal abuses. Finally, another layer of my emotions was revealed. I told you that you did not even notice that I paid for all the groceries today as I had been doing since your arrival. I was also the only one cooking our meals. You never pitched in financially or offered to help with meals. You were selfish and lazy.
\n
\nYou rebounded by telling me that I was selfish for thinking about money. You hotly asked me if money was what our relationship was based upon. I said of course not. Its not just about the money, its about everything. A man is supposed to take care of a woman but you have never demonstrated that. How can you expect me to maintain a relationship with you when I don't feel secure? You pointed out again that I was concerned about money and only that.
\n
\nUp until this day we had never discussed money in our relationship. As you were aware, my mother is a very skilled gold-digger; probably one of the best in the world. You knew that I grew up watching her and her relationships with many men. I swore that I would never be like her. I would never manipulate people as she had. I would never use a man financially and would always stand on my own two feet. I would never have to rely on anyone and would always pay for my fair share. You knew this about me.
\n
\nYou knew about my insecurities and in that moment you used it against me.
\n
\nI dwelled on the idea of turning into my mother and stopped the conversation. Deep in the recesses of my mind I realized what you were doing and it became a conscious thought but I did not bring it up. What was the point. I realized you would be who you would always be. It was not so different from that day so long ago.
\n
\nIt had been one year almost to the day. But I'm sure you don't remember. I thought about it almost every day but you never seemed fazed. Even back then you did not help me. You did not hold my hand or wipe my tears. Later on when I told you about how much it cost you did not even blink an eye and didn't offer your financial support. It hadn't cost that much, but it was the principle. This was your responsibility too. But then again that was why it happened after all. You would rather have taken care of your wants than my needs; our needs. Back then it had been about more than me but you did not acknowledge that. I was left to deal with the issue alone. That was clearly evident now and I was too chicken-shit to confront it. I was too tired to keep talking about it. I was exhausted and drained. I was done with this conversation, and now at this final breaking point, I was over you.
\n
\nThat day so long ago, I had bled alone in the doctors office and now I was bleeding alone again. I had always suffered the pains and angst of it alone, it had always been my journey and I suppose it always will be. If we were to be united at any point in time, it should have been back then, but it wasn't. You had continued to live your life as if nothing were different. I was alone then and I am alone now.
\n
\nLater that evening the silence, that had become our habit, came back and we did not speak much to each other. I made curried vegetables alone and we ate quietly. We laid in the same bed to sleep, but you were on one side and I on the other. We did not touch despite the cold of the room or the small blanket. I had dreams of the pie that I could have had. What a delicious and wonderful pie it would have been. I fantasized about sharing pie with you with huge smiles on our faces. I saw us giddy with childish laughter. I saw us being happy from our hunger being satisfied. If only you could have gotten it for me. If only you could have, then it would not be a dream.","dateCreated":"1298498310","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"supriya.vidic","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/supriya.vidic","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298498607\/supriya.vidic-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34734702","body":" Falling into 56
\n
\n
\n
\n You wouldn\u2019t think it to look at me now, but I\u2019m not much of an athlete\u2014at least on land. When we assembled teams in gym class, I was usually the last man picked. I was a helluva swimmer, though. During the season, in the summers, I was unbeatable. I carried the team. We always won. But the end of each summer brought a halt to the development of my athletic prowess. As school began again each year, I was reincarnated as an uncoordinated\u2014and worse yet\u2014unwanted clod.
\n
\n After four aimless years in college and some spiritual adventures, I worked in the family business. We managed property, and my father\u2019s take on property management was this: do everything you can in-house. That meant making lots of effort, like going up and down the stairs with appliances and air conditioners and stoves and lumber and sheet rock and ceiling tiles. I had to have strength, coordination, and dexterity. So I became strong by doing the work. And my strength became second nature. Never did I even imagine losing it. Never did I think about getting older. My father, once a strong man, was severely weak for several years before he died. I couldn\u2019t relate to his loss, and I couldn\u2019t stand it when he whined about his condition, lamenting his uselessness. After he died, I just kept on working. I had to. I was the final engine in the family train.
\n
\n When my mother began her descent into the inevitable, I felt a passing realization that, yes, this is going to happen to me. So I kept on working. It was the best way to drown my fears. Besides, I had a dying sister to support, and, really, I didn\u2019t know what else to do with myself.
\n
\n Some months after my sister died from Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease, which gradually but surely robs you of simple everyday things like swallowing and breathing, it hit me that I\u2019d run out of family and run out of reasons to stay where I was. And I was in real danger of running out of reasons to keep on working so hard. I\u2019d put thousands of hours into the beautiful old apartment building my grandfather built in 1939. I\u2019d done lots of renovation, removed all skeletons from all the closets and the attics, and I\u2019d finally found a management company I trusted.
\n
\n So I found a place to live, packed my life into a bunch of boxes, had a heart-to-heart with the love of my life (a cat who\u2019d chosen me over her owner)...and we moved.
\n
\n Winter was in full swing when I arrived. I\u2019d found a job at a local factory not far from my house, and I was determined to ride my bike there come hell or high water, or even ice and snow, unlike a lot of the old geezers who, listing to one side as they walked, had already abandoned their legs and feet in favor of wheels. I was feeling unexpectedly old after my arrival, and biking always helps me feel young.
\n
\n The tires on my mountain bike had no trouble biting through the snow. It was indescribably great fun watching those rubber tires silently and improbably making their way across the soft white earth with surprising security. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn\u2019t done it.
\n
\n The only thing you have to watch for is the ice. One day I didn\u2019t. It was a patch large enough to put the front wheel into free-fall, and me along with it. I landed flat on my front, banging my left knee and pelvis on the nice cold concrete. My pride was the first thing that hurt. Without taking time to shake off the dust, I got right up on my feet again and assured the curious that I was all right.
\n
\n And I thought I was all right until a while later, when I bent \u2018way down to install a cat flap. Something in my back above the buttocks got all jammed up like a mass of hard rubber. The moment I tried to walk I knew exactly how old men felt when they walked. Immediately I felt many years older than the youthful 56 my face reveals.
\n
\n \u201cDamn,\u201d I thought, \u201cWhat\u2019s happened to me?\u201d.
\n
\n I knew right away that I had to start working on something which for years came so naturally and easily, which I\u2019d seen slowly slip away from my parents and my sister. And daily, at the factory, I was seeing what happens when people take their mobility and strength for granted. I don\u2019t want to get old. I don\u2019t want to die an immobile mass of flesh; I don\u2019t want to die at all. I may not become a brilliant author. I may not reinvent the wheel. But as long as I have to roam the Earth, I want to do it with as much beauty, grace, and ease of motion as the gods of my physiology will allow.
\n
\n So I work to appease those gods. I invite them to swim with me, bike with me, walk with me, or lift some weights. They like it. This is the first time I\u2019ve applied myself to a regimen of exercise. The payoff is big, bigger than any gain I ever made in the stock market. So this is where I work now, building an indispensible wealth that can\u2019t be created in any other way.
\n
\nAnd that\u2019s how I fell into the hole of being 56 years old and extracted myself from it, too.","dateCreated":"1298498927","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"TwinCamAlfa","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/TwinCamAlfa","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298499065\/TwinCamAlfa-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34752856","body":"What did you leave behind?
\n
\nWhile staring at the fire and the coals i think back about last summer and the challenges that the next year is going to bring. It\u2019s a warm September evening and the semester has just started. The last 6 weeks I have worked in an Ayurveda Spa, taking a lot of time to think about my life, my future plans, my goals for this coming semester. I want to get stuff done, accomplish something this year, but more important I want to work on myself, be true to myself and others, say what i really feel and be more present.
\nAround me there is people talking about their summer experiences, all the adventures they had, all the fun. Its a constant chattering and small-talk that accumulates in my ears until it sound like the screaming hum of a plain taking off. Somewhere close somebody is playing guitar, covers from the 90ties, and a few people join in and sing and play drums.
\n\u201chey, I don\u2019t think i have met you\u201d - is pulling me out if my dreams. A phrase that i have heard too many times in the last week and that always leads to mindless small-talk. \u201cWhere are you from\u201d - \u201cwhy did you come here?\u201d - \u201cHow do you like it so far?\u201d - the same phrases over and over again.
\nStill in my thoughts I look up, although not expecting much.
\nBoom - it hits me - surpise.
\nTwo amazing eyes, dark brown like chocolate look at me, framed by long hair that is black as the night and shines in the moonlight and a smile that is almost overwhelming me with joy and beauty.
\n\u201cSo.. - Sorry - what did you say?\u201d is all i get out.
\n\u201cI said: I\u2019ve seen you around, but I don\u2019t think i have met you...\u201d - she smiles.
\n\u201c Oh, I am Emanuel, nice to meet you; what\u2019s your name?\u201d
\nWe get into the usual small talk. \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d - \u201cHow do you like it here?\u201d - \u201cWhy did you come here?\u201d- What are you studying?\u201d - the same old phrases.
\nAs i start getting bored again and drifting off with my thoughts, she hits me with another surprise.
\n\u201cWhat did you leave behind when you came here?\u201d she asks suddenly more serious.
\n\u201cI am not sure if i understand what you mean..\u201d
\n\u201cyou know, every time we go somewhere, we leave stuff behind, and often we go somewhere just to leave where we were. So... what did YOU leave behind?\u201d
\nInteresting.
\nPictures come to my mind. My old life, my broken relationship that drove me crazy, my life between work, party, alc and drugs - \u201cWork hard - Party hard\u201d was our slogan. My divided family that kept criticising me, wanting me to make something out of my liofe, to take responsibility, and to finally finish my education.
\nI look at her, while I hear myself saying: \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d.
\n\u201cGood job Emanuel\u201d, screams my inner voice, \u201c so much about being true to myself and others.
\nTry harder next time!!\u201d","dateCreated":"1298516285","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"emanuel_schachinger","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/emanuel_schachinger","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34783084","body":"Gabriel Goldimond
\nEvent Homework
\n
\nIt was the end of the last day of lectures in class. Listless words had moved through my head and suspended my ears like beads on a necklace for the final time; I exhaled, relieved. Class had been interesting but somehow, no matter how much a subject or class appeals to me, after two solid weeks of the same material, I need a breather.
\n
\nI looked across the classroom at my friend Schuyler. Since class was ending, it was time for the final group meditation of the day, which he was exempt from, being a Sidha and all. I gave him a nod of acknowledgment, which he returned as he put on his coat, picked up his back pack and left the room with the other Sidhas--about a third of the class.
\n
\nOnce they were gone, and after about five minutes of hearing various miscellaneous conversations happening about me, the professor gave his announcement for quiet, and the class\u2019 medium loud hum dimmed into an effortless stillness.
\n
\nI closed my eyes, thought my mantra, and was almost instantaneously swimming in my own abstraction. Thoughts came; thoughts went, and the silence in me wondered whence they came and where they went. Before I knew it, the professor had said \u2018Jai Guru Dev\u2019 and I slowly came out of my meditation.
\n
\nI was quite sick and my body had a strange, heavy tiredness about it; I knew I couldn\u2019t walk home\u2014I needed a ride. I thought of Schuyler. \u201cIs he still on campus? No, he\u2019ll be back home by now\u201d I thought, but I had the feeling to text him, so I did. Yes! He was still on campus, and in Argiro. I asked if I could meet him there, but he answered that he was going to Drier, and to meet him there. I found that interesting as well, because that\u2019s exactly where I was supposed to be going, only I had forgot, until his text had reminded me.
\n
\nAs I left the Art Building\u2019s parking lot, I approached the east entrance of Drier, and then I smacked my head, remembering that that entrance was closed, so I began walking toward the north entrance. Right as I came upon the steps to the north door, there was Schuyler, unknowingly playing a role in a classic Natural Law synchronicity. \u201cDamn, that\u2019s crazy; we got here at the same time!\u201d Schuyler noted. I just chuckled and smiled.
\n
\nIt turned out Schuyler had to visit the Financial Aid Office, which was on my itinerary as well. I was too sick to round after the forest block, but I still needed to receive my refund; I needed to know if not rounding this time around would affect whether I got it that Friday or not. Before I did that, however, I had to make a detour to the Development of Consciousness office. After I was done with that, I went downstairs to the Financial Aid Office. There were only a few people at their computers, and no students talking with them save one: I spotted Schuyler speaking with Vena about the maintenance of his finances if he decided to move back on campus. Things weren\u2019t looking good. If he moved on campus, he\u2019d have a place to stay and food to eat, but the decreased refund would limit his ability to take care of his financial responsibilities. If he stayed off campus, he\u2019d have to find a place to rent\u2014fast, unless\u2026
\n
\n\u201cCan I stay with you?\u201d He asked me. I was a little surprised by the question. I knew this was an opportunity to take advantage of, but for what I didn\u2019t know. I just felt the vibrancy of it. I hesitated for a moment, and then replied, \u201cYeah. Yeah, you can stay with me.\u201d
\n
\nIt felt exhilarating to help a friend in need. Usually I\u2019d be nervous letting someone stay with me. But Schuyler was cool, so I knew it wouldn\u2019t be a problem. Everything about this moment was bright, effulgent. It was like firing an arrow and hitting the target dead center. It was like getting exactly what you needed after asking for it for a long time. I smiled brilliantly inside.
\n
\nOnce I finished my business at Financial Aid, Schuyler and I left to move his things from his temporary space to my house. Once done with that, we began to look for places to live. Things were moving so fast. I liked that I was involved in making what were, for me, life-changing decisions so quickly and boldly, yet, not recklessly. It seemed Schuyler had a quality that I could have stood to nurture more within myself\u2014initiative.
\n
\nUnfortunately, the house we had set our sights on did not become manifest as our dwelling place. Still we remain optimistic\u2014another quality I am learning about from Schuyler\u2014and I am planning to stay at my current dwelling, while Schuyler will continue his search for a one-room apartment to live in\u2014maybe. \u201cI don\u2019t really want an apartment\u201d he told me, \u201cI want something like this\u201d referring to my house. I hope there is something to his liking that he will dwell happily in, and I also hope it is nearby, because I have grown fond of the kid and will be visiting him often.","dateCreated":"1298567503","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34783484","body":"David was excited in the middle of a boring class. Why? Because the David Lynch Foundation (DLF) called and asked that he speak at the oldest military college in the nation, Norwich University. Since he was a veteran of the Iraq war, and a soldier who came home with PTSD, he was well qualified to speak about the positive effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM). A month prior the DLF people flew him to New York to speak at a press conference and rub elbows with the rich and famous. TM really helped him out of a dark place his life and now it has seemed that he was in limelight because of it.
\nDavid recalls how it all started: \u201cIt was the 9th of December 2003 and I was a part of Bravo co. guarding the 1st battalion TOC (Tactical Operations Center) of the 187th Infantry Brigade, of the 101st airborne. We were less than two months out from the end of our rotation in Iraq. At this point I remember feeling safe in dreaming about coming home because we were so close to actually ending combat operations.\u201d Perhaps since the holyday season was in full swing he had a false sense of security.
\nThe false sense of security that he felt was shattered when in the early morning hours a car driven by two enemy combatants penetrated entry control point 1. After the car was shot with nearly 300 rounds of 5.56mm, by Spec. Ross, the dying occupants detonated their explosive laden vehicle 50 yard from where David was sleeping. The concussion ripped through his body with a feeling he describes as god moving through.
\n\u201cThat was it for me, after seeing all my bloody injured friends and hearing their screams, something changed that night\u201d, David recalls. It was that instance, that after nearly a year of being in Iraq, took its toll on him and he cracked.
\nPTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Dissorder), at the time of his diagnosis after returning to the states, wasn\u2019t in all of the newspapers. While he was in the Army he fit in,\u201dEveryone was nuts, we just drank our pain away and carried on with our mission\u201d, he says. However, after his enlistment was over and he returned to the civilian world self medicating was no longer socially acceptable and problems eventually arose.
\n\u201cSomething isn\u2019t right, I don\u2019t feel how I think I should. I don\u2019t remember it being like this.\u201d After a couple years of struggling with himself he heard an ad on the radio requesting for veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to participate in a research study that looked at the effects of TM on PTSD. He jumped at the opportunity to try something new. He learned TM and from the first time he transcended he knew his life was going to be alright.
\nAt the request of Sarina Grosswald, a scientist in the research study, he did an interview at the end of the 3 month study where he explained how he used to be and how TM had helped him. It became a sensation in the TM community and he was asked to do a follow up video a year later. Anyone who watched the videos could see the difference. \u201cIt was like day and night!\u201d, his mother would say. So would anyone else who saw both videos.
\nHis ability to show his emotion, and true self, came through on video, and even more so in real life. All this time there was a program in the works called, \u201cOperation Warrior Wellness\u201d, which aimed at getting 10,000 veterans meditating over the next three years. They had scientists, doctors, actors and WW2 and Vietnam veterans behind and at the front of the program, but what they lacked was someone from the current wars. David was a shoe in for the part of the young vet with a success story. In December of 2010 ,\u201dOperation Warrior Wellness\u201d, was set to kick off and at the press conference in New York city, the DLF called upon David to do his thing.
\nDavid said, \u201cI remember that I wanted to break the seriousness of it all by joking around a little while I was telling my experience, but Russell Brand spoke before I did and killed it. He was so funny I didn\u2019t even try to crack any jokes after him\u201d. He was on his way to becoming a public speaker and didn\u2019t even know it.
\n2 months later he was called upon again to speak at Norwich University, but this time there were no cameras or famous people, just him, Sarina the scientist and a doctor Col. Rees.
\nIn front of 80 cadets, most of which were going to become commissioned officers in the united states armed services, he finally was speaking to a crowd he could relate to. They were in their 20\u2019s and in college, so was he. The presentation went as it usually did, Sarina spoke about the science of TM and the Doc related it to health and after nearly an hour everyone was ready to go to sleep. The crowd, though full of future leaders, was still just college kids and their disinterest was obvious.
\n\u201cI remember looking at the crowd, as the Doc wrapped it up, and felt like I had to set myself apart from the job we were trying to do.\u201d The audience had their elbows propped on their knees and head in their hands like bored high schoolers in science class. When he took the stage his plan was to get their attention by giving a little story about the kind of guy he was. Forgetting for a moment that he was representing the TM organization he spoke to the students about, \u201chow he rolls\u201d.
\nBy the end of his speech everyone he had managed to awaken the crowd and have their full attention. A couple times he had forgotten what he was suppose to be talking about and asked Sarina, who was sitting the front row, what came next, but the audience didn\u2019t seem to notice because he was so smooth. At the end of his talk he knew he had officially become a public speaker because he knew he could manage an audience\u2019s emotion. He ended his speech like this, \u201cGive yourselves the opportunity to try something that could help you out, now clap for me!\u201d And they did with smiles and laughs all around.","dateCreated":"1298567869","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"D.George","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/D.George","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298568465\/D.George-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34784528","body":"Falling into 56
\nRuss Wollman
\n
\nYou wouldn\u2019t think it to look at me now, but I\u2019m not much of an athlete\u2014at least on land. When we assembled teams in gym class, I was usually the last man picked. I was a helluva swimmer, though. During the season, in the summers, I was unbeatable. I carried the team. We always won. But the end of each summer brought a halt to the development of my athletic prowess. As school began again each year, I was reincarnated as an uncoordinated\u2014and worse yet\u2014unwanted clod.
\n
\nAfter four aimless years in college and some spiritual adventures, I worked in the family business. We managed property, and my father\u2019s take on property management was this: do everything you can in-house. That meant making lots of effort, like going up and down the stairs with appliances and air conditioners and stoves and lumber and sheet rock and ceiling tiles. I had to have strength, coordination, and dexterity. So I became strong by doing the work. And my strength became second nature. Never did I even imagine losing it. Never did I think about getting older. My father, once a strong man, was severely weak for several years before he died. I couldn\u2019t relate to his loss, and I couldn\u2019t stand it when he whined about his condition, lamenting his uselessness. After he died, I just kept on working. I had to. I was the final engine in the family train.
\n
\nWhen my mother began her descent into the inevitable, I felt a passing realization that, yes, this is going to happen to me. So I kept on working. It was the best way to drown my fears. Besides, I had a dying sister to support, and, really, I didn\u2019t know what else to do with myself.
\n
\nSome months after my sister died from Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease, which gradually but surely robs you of simple everyday things like swallowing and breathing, it hit me that I\u2019d run out of family and run out of reasons to stay where I was. And I was in real danger of running out of reasons to keep on working so hard. I\u2019d put thousands of hours into the beautiful old apartment building my grandfather built in 1939. I\u2019d done lots of renovation, removed all skeletons from all the closets and the attics, and I\u2019d finally found a management company I trusted.
\n
\nSo I found a place to live, packed my life into a bunch of boxes, had a heart-to-heart with the love of my life (a cat who\u2019d chosen me over her owner)...and we moved.
\n
\nWinter was in full swing when I arrived. I\u2019d found a job at a local factory not far from my house, and I was determined to ride my bike there come hell or high water, or even ice and snow, unlike a lot of the old geezers who, listing to one side as they walked, had already abandoned their legs and feet in favor of wheels. I was feeling unexpectedly old after my arrival, and biking always helps me feel young.
\n
\nThe tires on my mountain bike had no trouble biting through the snow. It was indescribably great fun watching those rubber tires silently and improbably making their way across the soft white earth with surprising security. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn\u2019t done it.
\n
\nThe only thing you have to watch for is the ice. One day I didn\u2019t. It was a patch large enough to put the front wheel into free-fall, and me along with it. I landed flat on my front, banging my left knee and pelvis on the nice cold concrete. My pride was the first thing that hurt. Without taking time to shake off the dust, I got right up on my feet again and assured the curious that I was all right.
\n
\nAnd I thought I was all right until a while later, when I bent \u2018way down to install a cat flap. Something in my back above the buttocks got all jammed up like a mass of hard rubber. The moment I tried to walk I knew exactly how old men felt when they walked. Immediately I felt many years older than the youthful 56 my face reveals.
\n
\n\u201cDamn,\u201d I thought, \u201cWhat\u2019s happened to me?\u201d.
\n
\nI knew right away that I had to start working on something which for years came so naturally and easily, which I\u2019d seen slowly slip away from my parents and my sister. And daily, at the factory, I was seeing what happens when people take their mobility and strength for granted. I don\u2019t want to get old. I don\u2019t want to die an immobile mass of flesh; I don\u2019t want to die at all. I may not become a brilliant author. I may not reinvent the wheel. But as long as I have to roam the Earth, I want to do it with as much beauty, grace, and ease of motion as the gods of my physiology will allow.
\n
\nSo I work to appease those gods. I invite them to swim with me, bike with me, walk with me, or lift some weights. They like it. This is the first time I\u2019ve applied myself to a regimen of exercise. The payoff is big, bigger than any gain I ever made in the stock market. So this is where I work now, building an indispensible wealth that can\u2019t be created in any other way.
\n
\nAnd that\u2019s how I fell into the hole of being 56 years old and extracted myself from it, too.","dateCreated":"1298568920","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"donaldrev","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donaldrev","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1298479908\/donaldrev-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34830320","body":"\u201cSony!\u201d the little Chinese man said to me in between a slew of unintelligible Mandarin Chinese. \u201cArmy!\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t understand you.\u201d I replied as the man\u2019s brow furrowed in an effort to understand me. The sweltering humidity tightened its grip on me as I tried to think of a way out of the situation.
\nWhen I got I job teaching English in Beijing, I never expected to be held in a military base on my first day.
\n
\nMy trip to China was just as abrupt and unexpected as this military encounter. A friend mentioned that she found an opportunity to spend the Summer in China. My insatiable travel bug set off like a firework that couldn\u2019t be extinguished unless I said yes. Within a few days I had signed up for the trip, set to leave in two weeks. In what seemed like only a few hours, I landed at the Beijing Airport.
\n Hair sticking up and eyes drooping down, I exited the plane with my two friends, Sheila and Lee-Anne. I took a deep sigh and practically skipped through the high ceilinged, metallic airport.
\nAt this time, the Chinese government was as afraid of catching Swine flu as a fly is of being swatted. We walked through a temperature scanner manned by Chinese masked and gloved employees waiting like tigers waiting to pounce on anyone with abnormal temperature. The squeals of pigs echoed though the building from an animated video stretched across the wall demonstrating the symptoms of the illness.
\nWe were expecting to go straight to the school we came to work for, but the man who picked us up had bad news.
\n\u201cYou are going to be quarantined for 3 days in a hotel in the Third Ring Road of Beijing.\u201d He said, with his head low.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d Lee Anne asked?
\n\u201cBecause of the Swine flu; the school you\u2019re teaching at doesn\u2019t want to be responsible for the kids catching it, so they\u2019re being careful.\u201d
\nOur eyes bulged and we fidgeted in our seats. We inhaled quickly as the only English speaking person we knew, dropped us off at the hotel without any instructions or a phone for emergencies.
\nThe Third Ring Road of China is \u201creal\u201d China. There were no English signs, no English speaking people, and absolutely no tourists. Our blonde hair and blues eyes stuck out like cardinals in winter. I often found myself crouching so my 6 foot frame wouldn\u2019t tower over the short black haired people. Needless to say, this didn\u2019t help.
\nThere are seven ring roads in Beijing. Seven is the nicest, and they become increasingly run down the lower they go. The city we were in was grey and covered in trash and grime. The thick, moist air caught in our lungs and we found it easier to breathe in our smoky hotel room than outside. The street drains overflowed once a week from flash monsoons leaving streaks of mud everywhere.
\nWe woke up early on our first morning and began to search for breakfast. The smog clouds released a few droplets as we navigated our way through the streets. A thick avalanche of rain proceeded to fall soaking through my leather purse in seconds. Stuck in the middle of town, we had no choice but to fight through the stone wall of rain. We ran while trying not to fall into the flooded street which had become a raging river minutes after the storm hit. Now wading though knee- high water, we sought shelter in a tiny convenience store with red Chinese lettering peppering the windows. The dusty yellow store trembled from the deafening rain. We sloshed through the aisles discovering pickled chicken feet in a jar, which effectively stopped the rumbling in our stomachs. Finally, the store stopped shaking. Now ready to try our luck again, we ventured out with new umbrellas. If were given clearer instructions from the school, we would have known that a complimentary breakfast was waiting for us in the hotel dining room that we didn\u2019t know existed yet. As fate would have it however, we continued on our na\u00efve journey.
\nNot knowing where to eat, we stumbled into bakery, which seemed to be selling nothing but advertisements of delectable treats. We conveyed with flamboyant gestures, and the seven Mandarin words we knew, that we were hungry. After being laughed at by a tiny shop girl, we were directed to a tiny hole in a stone wall across the street where someone was serving breakfast.
\nAs we crossed the street to the food vendor, the city opened up to us revealing a long street of shops and houses to our right. A monstrous building with a giant red star created a dead end on the other side. My camera was on before I could stop myself.
\nUp until this point we hadn\u2019t taken many pictures because we didn\u2019t want to draw more attention to ourselves. At one point a group of people waiting for the bus stared at us so intensely, that the already humid air increased in temperature around us. A little girl even walked in to the bus sign because she wouldn\u2019t stop gawking. There were many men in uniform standing around, sometimes glancing in our direction.
\n\u201cYou probably don\u2019t want to take too many photos here,\u201d Sheila said as her eyes darted back and forth, \u201cwe already look like tourists.\u201d The camera is my journal and eyes of a trip, and I can\u2019t be stopped; or so I thought.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll only take a few,\u201d I said with the sly smile.
\nI took exactly three pictures before the soldier approached me; one of the vendor making an egg crepe on large brown pan, one of the long street, and one of the large star topped building.
\nStill looking through my digital screen, I saw one of the men in uniform walk in my direction. I lowered my camera. He was looking straight at me. The hairs on my arms and back stood up. As he got closer I realized he must be angry about the pictures, so, like an idiot, I deleted them as he approached me.\u201d
\n\u201cNi hao, hello,\u201d he said with an anxious smile.
\n\u201cNi hao,\u201d I responded suppressing a confused laugh.
\n\u201cSony,\u201d he said as he pointed at the camera, shook his head, and then pointed at the building with the red star, \u201cSony, Sony, Sony.\u201d
\nI tried to understand what was going on because my camera was a Cannon not a Sony. Sheila and Lee-Anne didn\u2019t help matters by laughing at the short man who wouldn\u2019t stop repeating the only word we could understand. I took a closer look at the building and saw men in uniforms holding guns. My stomach flopped. The building was a military base.
\n He took my arm and pulled me towards the building. His gun tapped against his leg with every other step. I crossed the line of soldiers alone. My friends had to stay behind black gates.
\n\u201cWhere from?\u201d the Chinese soldier managed to ask. Although the situation was tense, he had a smile from ear to ear. This calmed my nerves a bit.
\n\u201cAmerica,\u201d I responded.
\nHe widened his eyes in confusion.
\n\u201cUnited States\u201d I tried.
\n\u201cOh, oh, United States!\u201d he exclaimed.
\nWe started walked through the courtyard filled with more armed soldiers. Clenching my camera tightly, I focused my attention on my escort who seemed excited to meet an American.
\n\u201cWhat name?\u201d he asked.
\n\u201cEllora,\u201d I said. He just smiled and nodded. He probably couldn\u2019t have pronounced it if he tried.
\nThe conversation dropped. The silence hung in the muted marble entryway.
\nMy endearing Chinese escort, who had made me feel as comfortable with the situation as possible, let go of me and went to talk to a broad shouldered man with silver badges on his chest. My frustration rose as I tried to decipher the singsong language. I might as well have hit my head against the rigid walls for all the good it did. Finally, the broad shouldered man approached me and I took a deep steadying breath.
\n\u201cArmy,\u201d he said in deep voice as he gestured around him, \u201cSony.\u201d
\nI froze despite the humidity.
\n\u201cArmy,\u201d he repeated as he pointed towards what I hoped was my camera and not me.
\nI couldn\u2019t tell if they were going to confiscate my camera or induct me in to the army.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t understand you,\u201d I said. I handed him my camera so he could inspect the pictures. I hoped they would illustrate that I was a tourist, not a spy. The man pulled his eyebrows down so low that I couldn\u2019t see his eyes assessing my camera. Finally, his brow lifted and he returned the camera.
\n\u201cArmy,\u201d he said, as he pointed across the street, \u201cArmy.\u201d
\nUnsure of what to do, I looked across the street seeing nothing but my friends watching. I turned back praying that he wasn\u2019t sending me to another army base. We stared at each other for a long time.
\nWe were getting nowhere. I shrugged at him questioningly.
\n\u201cArmy,\u201d he said again and pointed towards the street again.
\nThe only thing I could think to do was to try to leave. I turned around and walked cautiously half expecting to be pulled back. I glanced behind me and saw a look of relief on the soldier\u2019s face. The temperature seemed to drop 20 degrees as I returned to the safety of my friends. I slipped the camera into my pocket where it stayed for the next few days. I found out later that this was one of leading military towns in China. After we\u2019d walked off the shock of the encounter, we turned to go back to the hotel. Immediately, we saw gigantic white sign that said \u201cNo tourists beyond this point.\u201d","dateCreated":"1298612155","smartDate":"Feb 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ellorahp","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ellorahp","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"34844946","body":"Tamer Homsi
\n
\n- we started working on a project.<\/li>
- Sam and I started working on a project for the homeless.<\/li>
- Feeling good this morning, Sam and I decide to help on a project for the homeless.<\/li><\/ul>
\n