Reflection #1
So far, I have really enjoyed Creative Writing. I love the set up of the class and that we are using a blog to publish our assignments. I'm enjoying the mini memoir project, because I like writing assignments like this rather than attempting poetry, which is not my strongest. Ms. Murchies attitude is very cheerful and happy and makes the class very enjoyable. I am excited to write more as this class goes on.
Mini Memoir
On October 14th, 2017, my life changed drastically. The tone and course of my life did a complete 360, without any fair warning. One thing people do not think will ever happen, is losing every single possession of theirs. People take for granted every day, the luxury of being in your own shelter, with items that they have acquired and that have meaning. Rarely, do people fully consider how quickly everything you have can be taken away from you. On that night, around 9 ‘o'clock, my house caught on fire. In a state of panic and franticness, I did not have time to process what was truly going on. Overcome with fear, my dog had ran to the basement to hide from the firemen in their huge suits. It took them minutes and a severe bite that found its way through the fireman’s glove to get him out of the flames and to safety. There was a sense of relief when every family member was out of my house without a scratch or burn. However, with the entire neighborhood in my yard and a large number of fire trucks lined down the street, it set in that my life would not be the same for a while.
It is hard to find positives in a situation like losing all your possessions. However, a lot about how I was raised can be uncovered from this event. For three weeks following the fire, my dad, brother, stepmom, and I stayed at my grandparents house. They made sure we each had a bed to sleep in and they cooked up four course meals for us every night, assuring us we could stay as long as we had to. While they wouldn’t have minded it, (and I honestly wouldn’t have, either) there was no possible way we would think of putting that burden on our family (even if they didn’t think housing is was a burden.) Eventually, we found a little house right in Bath that we could rent until our house was rebuilt, so we left my grandparents.
From the moment the flames took over my house, the first thing people have said when they heard of the incident is, “What can I do to help?” or “Let me know if you need anything.” To that, the answer is always “nothing, but thank you.” We have not asked for help from one person throughout the entire process of this fire. There have been some who are reluctant to help out, but it makes my family feel terrible. You see, my parents raised me how they were raised. We do not like to ask for help from anybody. We especially don’t like taking things from others, even in time of need. If there is something to be done or something we need, we can do it ourselves. Growing up this way has made me who I am.
I have always done for myself. In school, I do not want to ask for help on any subject or worksheet. I always want to learn how to do it myself. Having said that, I don’t handle constructive criticism, or really, ANY criticism very well. If somebody corrects how I am doing things when I am doing them my way, I get easily agitated. Going hand in hand with this personality trait, as much as I do not ask for things from others, I often do too much for people without anything in return. I have found that often, I am easy to get walked on because I give and give to people and they know I will not ask for anything to repay them. While my house burning down has been a cruel process, and one that I would have never seen coming, it has taught me a lot. You should never take anything for granted in life, instead, everyday you should cherish what you have. It has also shown me a lot about myself, in that I know I am a stronger person because of it.
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Reflection Week 4/5
This week was really enjoyable. I liked peer grading other people's mini memoirs. I learned a lot about some of the students in my class, though I didn't know who wrote it. I also loved the ISO of Abuelito Who. I had fun writing my version. I am really enjoying this class, and how it feels like we have a lot of independence but yet we still have structure.
Letters to Myself
Dear Past Me:
Hello. Right now you are in middle school, currently in sixth grade. I know that things are hard right now for you. In middle school, times are changing, you are changing, and you are growing up. This is unknowingly one of the hardest phases of your life. Nothing seems to make sense. You are working hard in school to earn straight As because your parents are strict on you and push you. You are running cross country even though you are the second slowest on your team. You are struggling with self confidence, because you are growing up, and your self image is changing. You are struggling watching your mom try to make ends meet, because being a single, divorced mom is hard. She works all night so she can be with you all day. Her sleep is choppy. You wish there was something you could do, and you wish you could see the future and know that these circumstances are only temporary.
I’m here to tell you that everything you are worrying about will get better soon. Your self confidence will come back, and you will be amazed by how much more you have changed by high school. I promise, you will look in the mirror and truly like what you see. Hard to believe, I know, but one day, you will see yourself as “pretty”. Cross country is the worst, but when you keep running for two more years you will improve. And it will be a great feeling- your coach and your family is proud of you for your improvement.
You will be successful in school. Don’t worry so much about studying every second after school. By the time Sophomore year comes around, you are still making straight As and will have enrolled in 3 college courses. You have a bright future ahead. And your mother. Times will get better. Eventually, you will move out of the small apartment and move in with her new boyfriend. You will see your mom less stressed, and you will see your mom get a new job that lets you see her more. I promise, everything will come together. It’s hard, but it will all be okay.
Love,
Miranda
Miranda Dunlap
Your 15 year old self.
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March 8th, 2017
Dear Miranda:
Right now, I have goals for where I want you to be currently. I hope I have what it takes to get there, because I am so determined. I want to graduate, move towards the coast, and go to medical school. I hope that you have done all of this.
I hope right now, you have accomplished everything that you truly want. I hope that you graduated high school with honors, earned an academic scholarship to a college out of state. I hope you graduated medical school and are working as a dermatologist. I hope you are making enough money to treat your family back home, because they are working so hard to support me right now. In fact, I am driving them bonkers.
I hope you have done more than succeeded academically. I hope that you found the love of your life. I hope that they are everything you have ever wanted: loyal, funny, adventurous, and genuine. I hope you have gotten married. I hope your wedding was on the beach, and it was a huge wedding, with all of your friends and family. I hope you had one child, maybe two depending on what your husband wanted. But one for sure. I hope it was a little girl, and you named her Rowan. I hope you are adventuring and going new places every day and living life without limits.
From,
Miranda Dunlap
15 year old you.
Reflection #3
These past few weeks, I have been enjoying the assignments we have worked on. My favorites were the restaurant reviews, and the ISO Fifteen. I like writing ISOs because I have a basis to work off of and make it my own. Writing my own restaurant review was also fun because i like critiquing sometimes. I like how the class feels routinely yet every week the assignments are on a different topic so it doesn't get boring.
Review Of The Cosmos
Over Spring Break, I had the opportunity to eat at the Cosmos for the first time, a wood-fired oven pizza place. Upon walking in, my first impression was the modern, yet unique feel of the place. Hanging chandelier lights that were in the shape of stars hung across the ceiling of the small room. The colorful, galaxy themed mural on the far wall makes you feel as if you have walked right into outer space. 100/10 on the decorations and aesthetic of the place. It 100% fits the mood of the old, yet trendy feel of Old Town. The restaurant had a sleek feel and everything was tidy and shiny, obviously clean.
The service was average, if not a little annoying, because the waitress came to my table about 20 too many times. However, she was quite rude and seemed annoyed while speaking to our table. On the way to the kitchen, she ran into a waitress who dropped a tray of plates on the floor, shattering about a dozen of them. We did not have to wait a long time for our food, which is a plus.
I ordered The Spaceball, a pizza with meatballs, mozzarella, ricotta, sweet onion, and pepperoncini. My mother ordered the Heirloom Tomato, with basil pesto and mozzarella. For an appetizer, we got Buffalo Cauliflower dip, which was exceptional.
The serving was timed perfectly, just as we had finished our appetizer, our pizza came. The crust of the pizzas were amazing, however the pizza itself was too thin and floppy. The toppings were what made the pizza great, but it definitely would have been better if the pizza was thicker. It came on a double-level pizza platter which saved space on the small tables.
The price of my meal was medium-high, to me at least. The pizzas, which were personal sized, came out to $14.00 and $15.00 each. To me, I believe the price to be worth the unique pizza. There are many options on the menu to find a unique pizza for anybody with a different taste. Appetizers range from 6-14 dollars which is reasonable because the dip was filling enough to have been a meal on its own.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience and would go back. However, I think the servers would have made it more enjoyable if they were more polite.
Short story
The dew on the freshly cut grass was in the process of drying. It was dew today, not frost as it had been last week. Henry Fisher’s brown shoes kicked up small droplets of water as he shuffled across his lawn to the dark blue shed. Opening the large wooden doors, he stepped into his well-organized space. Everything had its place. That is how Henry lived, everything was taken care of and clean. He trudged his was to the back of the shed where his metal backyard chairs were stacked. Pulling them all out and carrying them to a spot on the wet grass one at a time, he picked up his paintbrush and orange paint can.
Every year at this time, Henry Fisher repainted his chairs. Having withheld through long summers with many bonfires and laughs, the chair’s paint tended to chip over time. When sitting in the shed all winter long, many spots of paint mysteriously chip off. Henry was the type of man who liked everything to be perfect. He could not stand these paint chips on his 30 year old chairs.
Dipping the brush into the new paint, he crouched next to the chair. He did a double take when he looked closer. Right on the arm rest, last year’s paint was cracked enough to see yellow paint peeking through.
Henry painted the chairs yellow the last summer he had to spend with his wife. They knew it would be her last summer. Mary was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer the January before. Having been a smoker since her teenage years, her lungs were worn out past saving. Henry hated this ugly habit of hers.
The summer of her passing Henry and Mary had nightly bonfires. When he thought hard enough, he could still see her beautiful face glowing with the reflection of the orange flames. She would look up at him and smile, but a sad one. Because they both knew. They just knew.
Henry swiped the bristles back and forth over the arm rest until his thoughts were as far away as the yellow paint.
Moving on to the legs of the chair, he noticed even more chipped paint. This time the blue paint from a few years back was peaking through. The aqua tone immediately brought him back to the summer his grandchild was born. His head spinning with memories and nostalgia, he searched the chair for any more paint chips. Red. The year he had experienced every trouble possible, from job troubles to car troubles to sky rocketing bills. Pink. The first summer without his wife. Spending every weekend night on the back deck, reading a book sitting next to an empty chair. Gray. The year he first got the chair, when he moved into his spacious house out in the suburbs.
Feelings nostalgic, he quickly coated the chair in paint. He pulled the chair back into the shed, placed it in the back cubby. Henry pulled the double doors shut and clicked the padlock together, and walked away.
one day prompt
I typed in the phone number to call my mother for her birthday. After typing the seven digits, I listened to the rings. It rang 4 times before she finally picked up.
“Hello? Miranda! How are you?” The voice answered. Deep and manly, it sounded nothing like my mother.
“Hello? Are you still there, Miranda?” The voice said again. I had taken a long pause, apparently. I pulled my phone away and looked at the number. Yep, I had definitely typed it wrong. Weird- the voice sounded familiar. Who in the world did I call?
“H-hello? Whats up?” I asked, not wanting to be rude and end the call. Obviously, since they called me by name, they knew who I was and had my number saved.
“Oh... not much. Just got done walking my dogs. What are you up to?”
“Just about to go out to lunch with my mother... what are your dogs names?”
“You don’t remember? I used to talk about them all the time!” Now I was seriously stumped. I know this person and their dogs names? When was the last time I had spoken to them?
“Oh, how odd... I don’t remember their names. Wanna remind me?” I asked the voice.
“Jeez.. I can’t believe you don’t remember. I guess it has been a year huh? Mollie and Maggie!” The deep voice spoke. “Say.. why haven’t you called in a year? I miss you a lot, you kind of fell off on me..”
Who in the hell am I talking too?! I do remember those dog names!
“I remember Mollie and Maggie now! What kind of dogs are they?”
“You really are playing 20 questions aren’t you? They’re golden retrievers!”
That rang a bell.. But not enough to tell me who was on the other end of the line. “Oh, yeah. When was the last time we talked? Seems like a while hasn’t it?”
“Whew, yeah it has. About a year ago on that date, you never called me back!” The voice seemed bothered, but this hint did hit home. This was a guy I went on a date with! I deleted his number because he was insanely creepy. “Do you want to get dinner again sometime soon? Is that why you called?”
I panicked . “No.. no thanks. I’m not hungry.” I clicked end call and shook my head, the confusion and coincidence was too much.