my best...for now

English Blog Portfolio

2 Letters

• Open Letter



• Star Wars - my letter to the unknown

2 Group Collaborations

• A Whispered Murder



• The Reality of 300

1 New Medium Piece

• Just Games

3 Creative Pieces

• Our World in a Fogged Box - Google "war": write down 20 words from first 2 sites: compose



• Many Meanings... - Find a war related song and change almost each word with the new word beginning with the same letter as the original



• Onions are Layers of Truth - Look up an article on theonion.com and respond to its message

2 Photo Analysis's

• Gargoyles



• Blackwater Bridge

1 Individual Piece

• Yes We Can - Compose a post about the upcoming election: be free with interpretation

Thanks for a great semester Matt, I learned alot about how the world works, technology, and myself.

We Don't Come In Peace

Dear Extraterrestrials,

I am sorry. I always knew it would be like this. But it was our only way of stopping the violence. Don't you see, the only way we could stop all the world wars here on our planet between us was to find a new enemy. An enemy to ALL of us. That was you. You never deserved this. We made you our enemy. We sought you out. Poked. Prodded. Our scientists deemed you "unpredictable and a danger to humankind." Honestly, you scared the shit out of us. Thus, you deeply offended humans. We were so intensely intimidated by you that our fight or flight instinct mistakenly kicked in. But if we were to run away and leave you to simply be, well, well we just couldn't have that. History would call us cowards! Not tolerant and accepting.

But you never had intentions of hurting us, did you? You were friendly, interested, curious of our big guns, shiny masks, and mean demeanor. So all the leaders of the most powerful countries here on Earth set aside their differences and calculated a strategy for making you our enemy. Do you get it yet? They HAD to make you the bad guy so when we attacked you and turned this war into a massacre, they could justify their actions to the population of the world by claiming it was YOU who had harmful intentions. So we supported our leaders. For once we were all cheering on the same team. But then we began to question, why weren't you fighting back? Why haven' t we seen all the danger and violence that for sure you were all about? We had you all wrong. We weren't profiling your race, we were profiling ours. The human race were the monsters. I am sorry.

We regret destroying your home, your resources, your families. We apologize for never taking the time to understand. We were scared you were better than us; turns out you were. Maybe not when it came to biggest and newest and deadliest weapons, but you were when it came to one thing. Love. Understanding. Peace. I wish we could have learned from you. I wish we didn't have to fight. Because, don't you see the big picture? You were only a distraction. You see, we are already fighting again. This time, for who gets YOUR planet. We just can't get enough. I just want to be satisfied. I want people to be okay. I want everyone to leave everyone alone. I want us to be okay. I always thought it was too late for us, but I think we might have a chance. I hope you're still there, we could learn a thing or two.I am sorry we did not come in peace, I never have known a time that we have.

Sorry for our loss,

erin

Yes We Can

why you should vote. I have one answer. WARS. what you can change. I have one answer. EVERYTHING.

wars

with food. money. power. safety. sex. lives. ownership. pollution. violence. education. healthcare. censorship. taxes. pride. love. our world. patriotism. political correctness. privacy. races. stereotypes. intolerance. impatience.

you can

torch the label that all teenagers care about are mtv shows and voting for the next American idol. break the chains of ignorance and become informed of the world around you. lose the laziness and get INVOLVED. speak up and speak out. out against the wrongs of this world. up for the voices too broken to scream.

care about more than the sphere that contains you. expand. care about the future. give thought to those who are less fortunate. more fortunate. be aware of your influences and your actions. behave as if you care. fake it til you make it. because we cannot afford to be careless any longer.

i vote because

i vote because it is my duty. i vote because i want to be able to say i did something for my country. i vote because i own my body. i vote because i do not believe in monopolizing health care. i vote because as grand of a country we are, we still have homeless families. i vote because i believe in working hard. i vote because i am informed. i vote because an education is everyone's right. i vote because a quality education means more than an average standardized test score. i vote because i want a clean world to live in. i vote because nothing is expendable. i vote because i believe in compromise and have found not many do these days. i vote because i want compromise back in our government. i vote because the people should not feel disconnected from their leaders. i vote because it's not his, hers, yours, or mine, its our country. i vote because i have a voice.

yes we can

bring two parties together to work as one. listen to each other. forgive. embrace diversity. accept disagreements. tolerate differences. learn about new cultures. stop stereotypes. create a solution. many solutions. feel like our country supports each individual. stop the violence. put an end to genocides gone unnoticed. protect our earth. our universe. trust our leaders. pave a new pattern for the history books. make a difference. change.

VOTE.

Onions are layers of truth.

Bush Thought War Would Be Over By Now

This article was written just twelve days after the declaration of the Iraq war. IT HAS NOW BEEN FIVE YEARS. Of course, the Onion loves its satire and the quotes of he-who-shall-not-be-named are fictitious, but we cannot help but wonder if they truly are the guilty thoughts of our president. AND BECAUSE HE IS OUR PRESIDENT, FOR A TIME BEING, WHAT HE FELT, WE FELT. Now we doubt his choices, his intentions, and him. He ignorantly assumed a war would last but five days. HAD HE PAID ATTENTION IN HISTORY CLASS, HE MAY HAVE BEEN WARNED. We also, ignorantly believed him. HE BECOMES ANXIOUS AND BORED WITH THE WAR AND BEGINS TO POINT FINGERS OF BLAME FOR HIS OWN DAMN DECISION. We get bored and we point fingers: they point to our president. WE WOULD HOPE HE WOULD REALIZE HIS MISTAKE AND MAN-UP. We are wrong. WE ARE STILL IN IRAQ. And just as our president seems to only concern himself with the big picture, we were also at fault. BUT NOW WE CAN ARM OURSELVES WITH KNOWLEDGE. We can learn about the atrocities of the Iraq war. WE CAN SURRENDER OUR EGO'S AND SEE THE INNOCENT MEN AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO ARE ALSO BRUTALLY TORTURED IN THIS WAR. We can look forward to welcoming our soldiers home with warm embraces and understanding hearts and minds. THEY WERE DOING THEIR DUTY. We can begin to realize the consequences of our non-action. WE CAN BEGIN TO BREAK OUT OF OUR TINY WORLDS. We can vote to become more empowered in our government and confident in our country. WE CAN BRING THEM HOME.

many meanings...

Rise Against - Give It All
A song about being an individual. Resisting the persuasion to assimilate. Resisting the tempations of plastics, grease, oil, and blood. I have included the you tube video for your enjoyment. I replaced the words in Give It All with my own words and feelings. It may be helpful to experience the video and lyrics to gain your own emotions from the song then read my interpretation.

Click to listen.

Again

Being tough through ups, you held if cars sang to feel
pouting, believe me, torches cannot wield in softer strokes, I

start mine, stopping, then if found, to the secrets
fueling my life with alcohol, tomorrow lists ice over

I ground in apples, never to allow raining when it shines
Sun girl, if at all, if these reams torture, believe this malice

Rivers back when wild leaves adorned sills, where drapes told tales
too belonging, our insides tell breaks, backs, umbrellas, taut

From far times losing the vitality measured between discs
incensed tics tac, cornering those snakes, under foundations that dealt

Wow girl, I accept numbness. Thanks, I am relishing wild infiniteness solely
Sun girl, if at all, if these reins tear, believe this mischief

Being the art, the aim we gained, the lives we lose, own pitches reveal despair
being soaked with misted toes, being involved slightly, two sights, one creation

Speak pleasing but years evolve, a surrender
is now welcomed with hands imitating mistakes

I’m cleaning her tomorrow, her tomorrow

Whoa girl, I allow numbness. Thanks, I am reliving winning in sacrifice
Sun girl, if at all, if these respects touch, believe this maybe

Tomorrow I own all my today’s, this infinity farther miles distance wrecks
I grow immensely, all together all reliving, together all relaxing, to gain infinite acknowledgement.

___________________________________________

our world in a fogged box.

When I googled war, the first site to come up was for the movie War, the second a Wikipedia definition and the third, a band website. This is our world. A place where entertainment comes first, people like their news and definitions easy and light, and songs speak louder to the masses than the politicians. Clicking through each website to the next was like traveling through the emotions of this entire country for the past 5 years. War, the movie, glorifies war where vengeance is the greatest weapon. But in real life, the war is not over in 90 minutes, the plot continues, and the director, instead of wasting money on extras, wastes lives. But we, the public do not notice the millions of dollars spent on the hit blockbuster of the summer, instead we ignore the technicalities and enjoy the movie with our overpriced and overindulged butter popcorn in a lavish theater on a Sunday afternoon. We get pumped up on the righteousness of our actions, the pride we have in our country, and in defense of our bruised ego and broken hearts. But then, we start to see the headlines and hear the news and suddenly the band wagon has taken a turn for the worst. Body counts, bombs, and lies hit the nightly news and America gets swept up in the gray area of what is right and what is wrong. Then, a light bulb flashes on and people realize we cannot listen to the newscasters any longer because each person sponsors this party or that one. We start to do our own research. Type Google, ‘war.’ Some may even be as ambitious to type ‘Iraq war.’ We find Wikipedia. So as the wave of reality, woops I mean “negativity,” crashes down on us and sweeps all thoughts of ‘we can make a difference’ out of our minds, we sit numb. But, do not feel redeemed yet. Because we do not feel numb to the images of war torn countries, hanging bodies in the middle of the street, or starving children, we are numb because it is not us. Not our home. Not our bodies. Not our responsibility. Then someone clever decides to reveal to the country, that hey, it is US fighting these wars. Those are our dead soldiers. These are our families. That is our money. That last one is what grabs most people’s attention. So we get crowds of bands proclaiming their love of peace and happiness and damning the government this and that. And once again, the people are brought together, this time, rejoicing a way to make the world nicer, not vengeful. Knowledge and learning did not bring us together, violent movies and hopeful songs did. This is our world.

happy feelings

four leaf clovers

she is lucky finding love
and tomorrow is here again
morning meadows

they walk with animals
wild broccoli pieces fell apart
and the children
laugh at green leaves

it was funny
cause she stole money
running after the bunny
a big bad bear dancing
and then he giggled

and the world molded
we jumped farther still
however could not reach
the dreams we dreamed

-team cloonan

A Whispered Murder

How to Kill

Under the parabola of a ball,
a child turning into a man,
I looked into the air too long.
The ball fell in my hand, it sang
in the closed fist: Open Open
Behold a gift designed to kill.

Now in my dial of glass appears
the soldier who is going to die.
He smiles, and moves about in ways
his mother knows, habits of his.
The wires touch his face: I cry
NOW. Death, like a familiar, hears

And look, has made a man of dust
of a man of flesh. This sorcery
I do. Being damned, I am amused
to see the centre of love diffused
and the wave of love travel into vacancy.
How easy it is to make a ghost.

The weightless mosquito touches
her tiny shadow on the stone,
and with how like, how infinite
a lightness, man and shadow meet.
They fuse. A shadow is a man
when the mosquito death approaches

- Keith Douglas

The narrative of the poem is slow and seems like the person is breathing heavily, in a dangerous place, and in the moment. There is a feeling of calm which we do not usually associate with killing. However, there seems to be panic and confusion beneath the calm surface of the poem, which becomes apparent through the sentence structure. Many of the stanzas include single run-on sentences. The confusion of the speaker is meant to evoke a similar feeling in the reader. The place where this person finds himself is not natural, and he wants the audience to know this. The speaker wants the reader to understand that there is an uncomfortable ease with which we now engage in war and killing. In the beginning of the poem, the man talks about a ball being in his hands. This ball seems symbolize the fact that it is his decision to kill. Having this man's life in his hands is god-like and this notion is further strengthened when talks about glass balls and sorcery. This gives the impression that he is in control of a man's fate. The poem ends with a statement about the ease at which life becomes death. The speaker ends the poem with a sense of reflection, looking back at his action, and just how easy it was.

The Reality of 300

300 began as a graphic novel written by Frank Miller in 1998, the film has since evolved into a parallel representation of the Iraq War and defends the United State's current political and government situation. The way that the Spartans believed they were superior to Eastern civilizations is in direct correlation to the way that US citizens look down on the values of the people in the Middle East. In the movie, the Spartans fight to defend themselves against the Persians who wish to invade and enslave all of the Western civilizations. This defends the United State's decision to go to war with Iraq because we "feared" they possessed weapons of mass destruction and were going to continue to terrorize the US. The message of the movie is conveyed through various methods throughout the movie:

- physical appearance of the Eastern civilizations, deformed, ugly, hideous monsters and sub-human
- the physical appearance of the Spartans, healthy, perfect physique, and god-like

Another issue that arises is that the King of the Spartans proceeded to confront the Persians without the permission of the Legislative government. This parallels the current situation in which the President called for an attack on Iraq without the consent of the UN. At the end of the film, the Spartans are defeated, becoming martyrs for their country. This serves as a great ending, as it is meant to fill the audience with great pride for the warriors of the west.

Just Games.

Watch this.

This is real life now. No longer is a video game with such intense graphics only alive on a television screen. Call of Duty Modern Warfare "arms gamers with an arsenal of advanced and powerful modern day firepower and transports them to the most treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on rogue enemy groups threatening the world." Sounds like the evening news to me. As a player in Call of Duty Modern Warfare you can choose to play as a U.S. Marine, British soldier, Russian, or a Terrorist. With wars in real life that involve these same groups it should not come as a surprise that war is not as widely recognized as it once was. Kids as young as ten, teenagers, college age adults, and middle aged men are all "playing" this game. Then when war IS reality, to them, it is just another session for them on their video game. It is no wonder that there is an increased insensitivity towards war and the men and women who fight the real war. The video game allows the kids, teenagers, and adults to get INTO the game and experience the intense situations and feelings that a soldier may feel but when they are done, they get to turn off the tv and go to bed in the comforts of their home. The soldiers who are out in the real world fighting the terrorist groups do not have this same luxury.