I’m sick of school
Sick as a dog
I’m done with school
I’m a balloon ready to burst
Spring of our senior year
I was told it would be fun
I was told there was less work
Yet hear I am
Sitting in my room
writing like a poet
I know I’m pissed right now
Like a baby who’s candy has been stolen
But I know I’ll miss it
The bright spring days
And the bright white snow
Six great years at this school
All coming to a close
Money & Work
Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don't want..to impress people that they don't like.
--Will Rogers
Sometimes less can be more. In the chapter of Walden, titled Money & Work, Henry David Thoreau writes about his experiences with money. Thoreau believes that jobs, money, and furniture are all unnecessary. Thoreau believes that people can live their best lives by working as little as possible, and by spending the least amount of money on furniture. I can see this way of live working well for some people, but horribly for others. The first part of the chapter explains the daily life of a farmer. Thoreau writes about people working their hardest only to revive little to no money in return. The next part of the chapter talks about how throne does not believe in spending money on furniture. He the sums it all up with “In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do. One young man of my acquaintance, who has inherited some acres, told me that he thought he should live as I did, if he had the means.” Some of what was said in these chapters seemed like gibberish to me due to the different time period that this was written in, but I was able to pick up most of what was said. I agree with what Thoreau had to say about expensive furniture not being necessary, but I do not think people need to live like this. I believe that when it comes to furniture people should be able to choose how much they spend. I do not care If someone wants to spend their own money on an expensive chair. I believe spending a lot of money on furniture is stupid, but I also believe that people can choose how to spend their money.
The Gym Lobby
“It is good people who make good places.”
―
Place can effect different people in all sorts of ways. Over the course of my time ay Fenn I have made many great memories in the gym lobby. When I wake up every morning I immediately look forward to getting to school and sitting down on the blue couches of the gym lobby. Every morning I can count on the fact that ay least three of my friends will be there. The gym lobby is a place that I can go every morning and relax. Waking up in the morning has always been a struggle for me. Because I live in Concord I get go sleep later than most kids, but in my opinion seven thirty is to early to wake up. I am always mad when I get out of bed, especially on Monday’s. When I arrive at school on Monday mornings there is no where I would rather be than in my bed. This all changes when I walk into the gym lobby. I am usually fairly late to school so the lobby is packed. Sitting down in the worn down couches provides me with comfort that allows me to settle into the day. Having a place that allows me to settle down has helped me in many ways throughout my life. A place can change your mood in a matter of seconds. The gym lobby turn anger filled mornings into exiting days. A place can be whatever you want it to be.
walking Through Nature
If you truly love nature you will find beauty in everything.
Laura Wilder
Monday afternoon on a long weekend with nothing to do. I decided that I could take a walk through my backyard woods to pass some time. As I walked out the door I looked to my left to see a dirty, blue lacrosse stick sitting in the mud. I had no idea why it was there, but I picked it up and started playing. I found a white ball sitting next to the stick dug into the wet mud. I picked up the ball and threw it into my yard as hard as I could. It soared through the air like a bird in the sky. After five seconds of soaring it landed in a little pond about sixty yards in front of me. There was a splash of dark water in the air and that ball was never seen again. I continued my walk annoyed about the ball being gone. I began walking towards the water to see if I could find the ball. As I took a third step my foot sank into cold, wet, brown mud. Since I was barefoot I looked down and there was mud all throughout my feet. I turned around and went back in.
walking Through Nature
If you truly love nature you will find beauty in everything.
Laura Wilder
Monday afternoon on a long weekend with nothing to do. I decided that I could take a walk through my backyard woods to pass some time. As I walked out the door I looked to my left to see a dirty, blue lacrosse stick sitting in the mud. I had no idea why it was there, but I picked it up and started playing. I found a white ball sitting next to the stick dug into the wet mud. I picked up the ball and threw it into my yard as hard as I could. It soared through the air like a bird in the sky. After five seconds of soaring it landed in a little pond about sixty yards in front of me. There was a splash of dark water in the air and that ball was never seen again. I continued my walk annoyed about the ball being gone. I began walking towards the water to see if I could find the ball. As I took a third step my foot sank into cold, wet, brown mud. Since I was barefoot I looked down and there was mud all throughout my feet. I turned around and went back in.
Agreeing With Walden
”Trendy is the last stage before a tack”
Karl Lagerfield
People should not be judged by the cloths they wear or the house they live. In the essay, Economy, by Henry David Thoreau the idea of people’s clothing and shelter not having an effect on who they are as a person. Thoreau states that if a person has found something to do should not have to dress a certain way. “A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do” I agree with everything Thoreau had to say in this essay. I believe that a person does not need to have a nice house or expensive cloths to be successful. Anyone who works hard should be able to find success no matter what.
Thoreau starts the essay with a section titled cloths. The main thing I took away from these paragraphs was that expensive cloths are unnecessary. I agree with the fact that there is no gain from buying more expensive clothes than others. I think that the culture in today’s day has made kids think that expensive clothes are cool. “Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” Thai quote made me stop reading and really think. My parents often laugh at what they used to look like when they were my age. After reading this I wonder if I will end up doing the same. The second part of this essay is titled shelter. This section was more confusing to me mostly because of it length, but I think I understand enough to talk about it. I think Thoreau was trying to convey a similar message to clothes. This message being, what is the point of a big house. “Birds do not sing in caves, nor do doves cherish their innocence in dovecots.” Thoreau questions how necessary it is to have a big house. I agree that having a house with room you do not use is unnecessary, but if every room is used I think it is fine.
What Thoreau states in Clothes, I believe is very relevant in today’s day. There is a popular trend going around where people buy clothes from very expensive brands just to show off. I have done fine with normal clothes my entire life, and I do not plan to ever be tricked into buying these expensive clothes. In Shelter, Thoreau explores the idea of people having bigger and fancier houses for no reason. He compares this to birds not laying their eggs in caves. I agree with what he has to say here. I sometimes find the house I live in to be to big. In my opinion, the perfect house is a house which all rooms are used on a daily basis. Most of what Thoreau wrote in Economy I have thought about before. That is why I agree with almost all that Thoreau explores in these essays.
In the essay, Economy, the concept of not being judged by your clothes is explored. I agreed with most of what Thoreau said in these passages, but reading this made me wonder what Thoreau would say about more expensive schools.
Lifes Necessities
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
Proverb
In the section of Walden titled Necessities, Henry David Thoreau wirtes about what he believes to life’s necessities. In the chapter he states that in life you only need food and shelter. I agree with this statement, but living with only food and shelter is a recipe for a terrible life. Choosing to live with only Waldens necessities will be a life filled to the brim with nothing. Picture being stranded in the woods with nothing but shelter and enough food to last a life time. You will live, but what would you do. In my opinion some kind of family and community is necessary to live. Nothing bad can come out of putting yourself in an environment filled with support. A sense of family is also very important to me. I am lucky enough to have been born into a stable family. Without the help and support of my family I would not be where I am right now. I agree partially with what Walden had to say bout necessities. Food and shelter may be necessary to live, but family and community are necessary to thrive.
Don't let yesterday take up to much of today.
Will Rodgers
Spring:
The snow is melting
Hockey season is ending
This is very sad
Flowers are blooming
Sun is beginning to shine
Spring is terrific
Water in the ground
From the icy melted snow
Spring is coming soon
Massachusetts spring
Is the same as summer
But a lot colder
These spring poems came to me quiet easily. I tried using somewhat of a twist in all of them, especially the last one. I also tried creating images of the snow on the water in the third poem. I find it hard to creat vivid images with such a small amount of words.
Summer:
It’s finally done
All the painful days at school
It’s finally done
Stress is in the past
The summer is here at last
Three months of nothing
The blinding sun shines
Brighter than a lit candle
Don’t stare for to long
Staying up till two
No need to get up early
Waking up at one
Once again I tried using somewhat of a twist in all of these haikus. With the first poem I thought it would be interesting to use the same words for the first and last line. In the third poem I tried to create an image of the sun by comparing it to a candle.
Fall:
Leafs changing color
Summer is sadly ending
Back to school again
The first month of school
Is exiting every year
Fall is fun at first
Fall sports are awful
None of the fall sports are fun
I hate cross country
The best part of fall
Is when it is finally
Over. Why is Fall
In these poems I tried focusing less on images and more on creative endings. It seemed generic to me to try and create an image of a leaf changing color.
Winter:
Winter is the best
Hockey is finally back
Christmas is fun too
Family is back
Piles of gifts, lots of food
Christmas is here
When Christmas is done
Winter becomes very sad
Except for hockey
Snow falls from the sky
Phone call is saying no school
Snow days filled with rest
I decided to write the first three poems about my feelings towards Christmas. I tried using image in the first two to describe Christmas. The third poem i tried to make about the joy that snow days bring.
The Start of Walden
"He has no time to be anything but a machine"
Henry David Thoreau
Although I have been told by almost all of my teachers that the third term is not a place to mess around, I went into the second week with the goal of doing the least work possible. Coming back from March break I felt refreshed and ready to go back to school. I walked into the first English class not having the slightest clue what we would be doing for the rest of the year. To my surprise we were told that we would be reading Walden, By Henry David Thoreau. After receiving this news I was extremely angry. I want to fly through the third term, but Fitz wants me to read another hard book. In the heat of the moment I thought it was a good idea to try my hardest to avoid this book. Now here I am writing a 600 to 1000 word essay the night before it is due. When I finally sat down to read the book I decided to go in with an open mind and see what happens. I took away two main points from the reading. The first of these being the fact that humans are nothing but machines. “He has no time to be anything but a machine,” and the second being that elders are terrible people.
The first two thirds of this reading had me extremely confused, but I think I was able to pick up the jist of what this guy is trying to say. I am pretty sure that most of economy revolves around the fact that humans are nothing but machines. Thoreau goes on for about four paragraphs on how humans chose to live a life where they do nothing but work and then eventually die. “Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?” I think this quote means that most people spend their entire life doing practically nothing. Walden continues on about people living terrible lives for seemingly forever. This part of the reading was undoubtedly the hardest to get through because of his grammar. “When we consider what is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices.” I like this quote for two reasons. This quote shows that Thoreau believes that humans chose to dig their own graves because it is easier for them. I also like it because it adds 70 words to my essay.
The second main idea I picked up from this reading was that all old people are stupid. This rant lasted about the last third of the reading. This section was easier to understand, and I was able to get through it without much problem. The main idea from this section revolves around the fact that Henry David Thoreau has learned nothing from his elders. “I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors.” I am pretty sure that this idea relates back to the last idea because all elders do is dig their graves. This section doesn't make much sense in that fact that Thoreau will eventually be an elder. It makes me question if Thoreau believes that he began digging his grave when he was born, or if he believes he is living a different kind of life. Since we need two quotes in both body paragraphs, here is a second, longer quote which pretty much says the exact same thing as the last. “What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new. … One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living.”
After this first reading there is a high chance that I am in for two months of hard work and focus. This is something I don’t want in my last term at Fenn, but I know that if I read this book with an open mind it will all be with it in the end.
Who is this kid in the mirror
Is he hard working or lazy
A question that frequently crosses my mind
Some things come easy to me
Some things not so much
When I come across something I enjoy
I work hard to accomplish my goals
When I come across something boring
I tend to not try
This is a problem of mine
But I know I can do better
If I work hard towards the boring
And just as hard towards my interests
I will be able to look more happily into the mirror
At first I struggled to find something to write about in my poem. After reading the prompt on the blog I decided that I could write a poem addressing one of my flaws. Once I began writing the words began to flow in my mind. After coming up with an idea of what to write I was able to get my ideas out easily. Although what I said in the poem may seem like something easier said then done, I believe that if I really work I can accomplish my goal.
As I am writing this poem
I glance up in boredom
In front of me I can not help but notice
The pink polka dotted tissue box sits on my side
Many thoughts flow through large my mind
Where has it been
Who has touched it
Why is it here
I continue to ponder about the box
When suddenly I feel something in my nose
A sticky substance flowing through my nostrils
It is slowly becoming harder and harder to breath
Then I remember what sits in front of me
I reach out a grab a soft white tissue
Place it up to my nose
And blow out
I was struggling to come up with something to write my third poem about until I saw a pink tissue box in front of me. Earlier today I was told to focus more on creating images in my poems. I decided that writing a poem about this box of tissues would work, so I began writing. The writing itself flowed quite well and I was fairly happy with the final product.