Monday Muses: A Memory From When I Was Little

A Memory From When I Was Little

Alexi Bonfils

When I was little I loved to play dress up, family, and vet. I would play dress up with my Dolls, family with my brothers- if they said yes, and vet with my stuffed animals. Being a little girl with two brothers, no one ever wanted to play with me, so I had to play by myself most of the time. Of course once in a while someone would agree to play- because who can turn down a cute little girl saying, “Will you pway dwess up with me pwease?”

I would always want to be the person in charge. In dress up I was the stylist, but I didn’t know what that was called so I would say dressing up person. In family I was the mommy, and in vet I was of course the vet. I still have notepads from when I would play vet that say Mr.Froggy was at the vet because he was having a hopping competion with Ms.Froggy and slipped on a rock and broke his leg. I also have little drawings of x rays of the bones that were  broken.

I am 13 now and I haven’t played these games in my house for a while, but in North Carolina I have a five year old cousin named Caroline who loves these games. Everytime I go down there she asks in her cute voice to play with her, and like said before It’s basically impossible to turn down a little girl asking you that, so I mostly always say yes.

I understand why my brothers would never want to play with me, because it gets really annoying being the same character everytime. She always wants to be the mommy! Although it gets annoying I want my cousin to grow up saying “My big cousin Alexi always used to play with me!’ instead of “My big cousin Alexi never used to play with me.”

Overall I think you should take advantage of being a kid, because when you are older you have to pay bills and all that yucky adult stuff. Think about one of your memories from when you are little, it is a great way to let out your inner child.

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

“My head was so big that little Indian skulls orbited around it. Some of the kids called me Orbit. And other kids just called me Globe. The bullies would pick me up, spin me in circles, and put their finger on my skull, and say, I want to go there.” This is what Junior in the book, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, goes through every day in his school on the reservation. Junior has a variety of medical problems, which causes him to have a big head, and look funny. Everyone picks on him but his best friend Rowdy. Junior draws cartoons of what is happening around him, and his cartoons help him through life. The theme of this book is appreciate what you have because Junior lives in poverty but still never gives up.

Junior gets food once in a while and appreciates every bite, but he also appreciates every time he doesn't get a meal too. “And hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better. There is nothing better than a chicken leg when you haven’t eaten for (approximately) eighteen and a half hours. And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of god.” By Junior saying this he is showing that not eating for a while can bring some good to your self because now he appreciates what he has instead of wanting what he doesn't. When you don't get what you want are you angry, or do you appreciate what you did have? Think about that the next time something you want doesn't happen.

Junior has switched to the white school 22 miles from his reservation, it is Halloween, “At school today, I went dressed as a homeless dude. It was a pretty easy costume for me. There’s not much difference between my good and bad clothes, so I pretty much look half homeless anyway.” This shows Junior appreciating what he has because he could of cried and been angry about not having a Halloween costume, but instead he made a costume out of what he has, and ends up having the same costume as the girl he likes, and he starts becoming friends with her. Not having a costume actually ended up being a positive thing.

Junior get beat up a lot, almost everyday. He gets beat up by kids, and by adults. No one even cares that they are hurting him. The only person he has other than his family, is his friend Rowdy, “I think Rowdy might be the most important person in my life. Maybe more important than my family. Can your best friend be more important than your family?” this shows that just because Junior has such a hard life, he still appreciates that he has Roger, and that he is not bullying him.

In conclusion the theme of the book, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is to appreciate what you have. This shows up when Junior appreciates not having a meal, when he makes a positive out of a negative when not having a costume, and forgetting the people who bully him and appreciate the people who don't bully him. This applies to my life because whenever I feel down I can just remember what I have and appreciate it.

The Fault in Our Stars is the fourth solo novel by author John Green, in which a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus, an ex-basketball player and amputee. Hazel’s personality is cranky, but with a good sense of humor and a good heart. I think the reason this story is so good is because Hazel’s cold hearted humor makes you laugh, and want to learn more about her.

One example of Hazel being cranky is because of her cancer. Hazel knows one day she is going to die from her cancer, but likes to joke about it. Here is a quote from the book that shows this. “I didn't tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You're a woman. Now die.” This quote shows that Hazel is cranky because she is adding the now die at the end, even though she doesn’t know she will definitely die of cancer, because she might beat it. This quote shows Hazel has a good sense of humor because she is adding the congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die, which makes it funny because no one thinks like that.

Another example of Hazel’s personality being cranky and humorous is when she is talking about her friends, “I hadn't been in proper school in three years. My parents were my two best friends. My third best friend was an author who did not know I existed.” I think this is a great example because she has a way of being funny and cranky at the same time in this quote. She is cranky because she has no friends, but when you think about it, that’s kind of funny. To add on, when I read this quote I laughed, but I also wanted to learn more about why she doesn’t have any friends. What did you think when you read the quote?

My last example of Hazel being cranky and humorous shows up when she and Gus are talking about giving away a swing set.

“Headline?" he asked.
"'Swing Set Needs Home,'" I said.
"'Desperately Lonely Swing Set Needs Loving Home,'" he said.
"'Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeks the Butts of Children,'" I said.”

Hazel is full of jokes throughout the whole story, and this is yet another one. This is one of the ways her and Gus get along together.

In conclusion Hazel is cranky and Humorous throughout the whole book, which makes it fun to read. She is funny through her cancer, her lack of friends, and with her boyfriend. I recommend this book if you like sad, funny, romance books filled with great quotes! This book is now one of my favorite books.

Reading Responce #1

In the book The Finish Line by Linda Gerber, Mo is a very complicated character. While reading, I have noticed a pattern happening. The pattern is a character flaw that Mo has is that she always cares too much about what other people think of her.

One example of this pattern has to do with a boy she meets on her team named Leevi. Leevi wears all black, and has that mysterious look that Mo likes, so of course she starts to like him! Now, I don't mean "like" as a friend, I mean "like" as in "I want to hug him! I want to kiss him!" You know, mushy, gushy stuff like that. She starts talking to her friend one day and says, "Do you know Leevi?" Her friend gave her a long speech about why she was not allowed to be with Leevi because he was bad and blah, blah. But Mo still really liked Leevi, so decided to make her crush a secret. Then one night while Mo was in her cabin, she couldn't sleep. So she decided to go outside and get some fresh Finland air. By this time in the book, her and Leevi started talking and became good friends. She was walking around when she felt someone touched her shoulder, she turned around and Leevi was looking right into her eyes, then he leaned in, and they, - "Hey Mo!" Mo quickly made Leevi hide behind a tree before her friend could see him. This is one example of Mo always caring about what people think, because although she likes Leevi a lot, she doesn't want her friend to know she hangs out with him, because then her friend told her not to, would get mad at her for not following what she says, and would probably think Mo is not trustworthy.

Another example of this pattern is when the skiing games are coming up. Since Mo is the daughter of a famous skier, a bunch of people are expecting her to do very well. But during practice, Mo is always the last one to finish. She doesn't want people to think that she sucks, so she starts going to the museum, and going on the ski simulator, which records your distance, which you keep doing it over until you get better. Mo goes every day, and is pushing herself too hard, which makes her legs hurt, and she has to sit out at some practices. I think if Mo wasn't the daughter of a famous skier, she wouldn't do this because she knows no one is really watching her and expecting her to do very well, but since she cares so much about what people think of her, she starts working harder, and hurting herself.
The third and last example of this pattern is just a small part in the book, but it adds on to this behavior. It is breakfast time and Mo comes into the dinning room, she looks around to see where to sit. She could sit with her friend who doesn’t approve of Leevi, or Leevi, the boy she really likes. She wants to sit with Leevi, but sits with her friend instead. This is a good example of the pattern because her friend expects her to follow what she says, but Mo, being someone who cares way too much about what people think of her, stopped hanging out with her crush just so her friend would like her.
In conclusion, I think this pattern happens for my first and third example, because Mo is new to Finland and wants to make friends, so she doesn’t want to make one of them think that she wont listen to her. Also the friend that Mo makes is popular, so she would probably starts spreading rumors about Mo. In the second example I think this pattern happens because Mo is the daughter of the famous skier, which makes everyone think she will be a very good skier too, but when people find out she isn’t they would be disapproving, and it would be in the newspaper back home where she lives. On top of that, her dad would be disappointed too. So she starts working too hard and hurting herself just because she’s scared of what everybody will think of her.
I think the authors message in this book is, don’t let people control your life. I think this is the message because if she didn’t listen to her friend she might have a very nice boyfriend and be happy. Also if she didn’t always have her dad pressuring her with his fame, then she wouldn’t be hurting herself by working too hard. I think the author’s intention of writing this book was to show readers that you have to make your own decisions. All in all, I can infer that Linda Gerber probably experienced something like the pattern I see in this book, because she is writing very detailed examples of it.