Final Thoughts

Favourite Assignment
I really enjoyed the moment piece. I know a lot of people didn't really enjoy it, but it was the closest approximation to what I thought the course was going to be like. I enjoyed how we got to get creative writing an actual story. To be honest though the amount of time we spent on it was a little ridiculous. I probably could have written at least five in the weeks we had to do it. That's the type of writing I like though, where we can go above and beyond and get a little ridiculous with the story. 


Least Favourite Assignment
I'm not sure if it can be called an assignment but I didn't like expressing my opinion on the Kony issue. I didn't like it because I wasn't aware of all of the facts and I felt like I was just putting out another non-sensical idea about an extremely large issue I had no wish in supporting one way or the other. I kind of felt like either way I was jumping on to a bandwagon that I didn't want to be on. 


Friday Reading
For me Friday reading was kind of a double whammy. I had english second period as well and every Friday we would try to read, so by the end of the third period I would start to get bored of my book. That being said I had some awesome books I read this semester, and I'm happy we got to read as much as we did because sometimes I find it hard to find time to fit it in anywhere else. The only thing I didn't like was how it petered out in the end. If we could have kept it up every Friday I would have loved that.


Monday Writing Reflection
I found it hard to get my brain to work enough to come up with responses on the Monday. Having that weekend in between was sometimes hard because I would forget key things I wanted to talk about in my book. The book I read for most of the semester was also pretty challenging so sometimes it took half the class just to figure out what was being talked about enough to formulate an answer on. I enjoyed it though because it gave me a better overall understanding of the book.


WRN
I missed the introduction into the class, and for half the semester I didn't even know what it was. It's a cool concept though, but a little bit of a waste of time/trees when almost all of the course is shifting to be online. 


Blog
I hated blogging at first. I found it really uncomfortable sharing my ideas in a forum where all of my classmates could see it, and an infinite amount of other potential people. As we went along I started to enjoy watching how other people's blogs progressed, and it gave me a better sense of what I wanted mine to look like. I like how I could compare the good with the bad and judge what I wanted to put on mine accordingly. At the end of it all I'm really proud of my blog, and I like how once I put it up the work couldn't get lost. That's an issue for me.


Tweeting
Before this class I thought twitter was a stupid waste of time. After this class I think twitter is stupid and a waste of time. It was nice being able to connect with you so instantaneously, but the whole concept of it just doesn't appeal to me. No way does anybody want to know what you're doing every two seconds, and no way would I want people knowing that info about me either. After I was FORCED into getting it I started following a couple of people, and lets just say I know more about a lot of people than I cared to. Awesome that you went to a movie, see how much I care. It's like the annoying facebook girl constantly.


Integration of technology in the course 
I was not a fan at first. I guess that was the old teaching mentality talking. I suck at computers and everything to do with them, and it was challenging for me to even set up my blog. Once we got going it opened up a ton of new doors though. I learned way more about my Mac than I ever had before, and I like how instantly I can do things. If I complete a project I don't have to wait until the next day to send it in. It's been an especial help these last couple of days when I've had to do like twenty posts, although I'm not sure Mrs. Mclaughlan is going to be too pleased with the barrage of assignments she'll be getting. 


What I've learned about myself
I'm not as bad at computers as I thought I was. It isn't as challenging and scary when there's someone there to help. I guess I need to open up my mind to new ways of doing things more because a lot of the time I would think a project was stupid when we first started and would end up liking it. I also need to work on my procrastinating, but I already knew that. Overall I think I'm a pretty creative person, and I know that my writing has gotten a lot stronger through personal posts and that.


Comments/compliments for Ms. McLauchlan
Overall I thought there were some pretty cool things going on it the course. If we could have done more stories or fairy tales I would have enjoyed that more because for a creative writing class I found we didn't do a lot of creative writing- other than if we added it into our personal posts. Overall it was a different type of experience, and I think your attitude towards it was positive enough to get most people onboard. 

Author's Note

So it’s my last semester of high school ever, and I’m not going to lie, as it gets closer to the end there’s a lot of questions left unanswered and loose ends left untied. Before I go any further, I should probably explain that I have no ambition of staying in Winnipeg. It’s not that I don’t like it here, or even that I wouldn’t be content staying, but there’s a lot of the world out there and I can’t picture myself living in one place for my whole life. I think what happens to a lot of people right out of high school is that they get scared with how much freedom they suddenly have, and fall into a routine that’s familiar to them… This is not what I want to do. There are so many possibilities out there, and things to see, and I feel like now’s the time to experience it all. That being said, this Bucket List has been a great opportunity for me to start thinking about what it is I want to do with the rest of my life. I’ve done a list like this before in grade 11, when everything seemed a far off possibility, and there were a lot of stupid entries in that one like wrestle a hippo and finish this list. This time, I wanted to make a legitimate one that I could actually follow through with. It will not only going to be a guideline to help me map out where it is I want to go, but will also be a way of making sure that I didn’t fall into a cookie cutter, vanilla lifestyle. There’s been a lot of editing and revising, but at the end of the day these are just some of the things I hope to accomplish in the next couple of years. I’m sure it will change as I start to get older (and hopefully wiser), but I believe we should always have at least a couple of things that keep us inspired or driven. My hope is that as soon as I have one thing crossed off my list there will be another one waiting in the wings… You always have to have goals, right?

Kickin the Bucket Visual Representation

http://indulgy.com/morgan%20wankling

28- the faces of diving

When you dive what you're doing may look pretty, but your face does not. Everybody looks like an idiot. The link below is an example of some horrendous faces divers have had. Enjoy

http://thestar.blogs.com/photoblog/2012/05/spins-twists-and-impacts-the-faces-of-canadian-diving.html

27

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Edgar Allan Poe

 

Ever since I can remember my dad's had a book of the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe. This one is my favourite works of his- more so than The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart. I know a lot of his works are creepy and sad, but I think this one is really pretty.

#26- Pirates

So over the years there's been a lot of badasses. In my opinion pirates are the best. They aren't the original BAMF's, but they sure are the coolest. They get to carry around swords all day, sail around the world, and follow not too well written maps in the hopes of finding Davy Jone's buried treasure. What a life eh. Plus they get to pillage, plunder, and generally FSU. They didn't have to bathe if they didn't want to, and a vast majority of their time was spent getting boozed on rum and lounging about. Sure they had to worry about storms, and attacks, and getting the noose, but what a life of excitement.

Epicnesss

It's always been a dream of mine to walk away from an explosion in slow mo without turning around. How much of a badass would you feel if you did that? Millions of debris flying at you, followed by a potentially fatal sound boom? Nope, gotta put on the shades instead.

Also, it would be cool to be that one random person in a movie that doesn't show up anywhere else, and only has one line for like 3 seconds, but it's the most epic thing ever. And everyone else is just left sitting there scratching their heads thinking where did this swami of wisdom pop up from? I want to be that swami of wisdom. Epic

Writing response #10

Writing response #9

Writing response #8

#24

I LOVE FRIENDS! I know the series ended like 10 years ago... But there's a reason why it's still on tv every single day. Because it's a winner. And because it was one of the first sit coms that was actually hilarious. Out of everyone on the show my favourite was Joey. He's such a goof, and we share a love of sandwiches, which I can get behind. Plus, he's not that smart, but he's one of the most genuine characters. How you doinnn?

Quotes

Here are some of my favourite quotes I've been collecting recently:

“Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.”
― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

I learned about Milan Kundera's work here in class when I started reading his book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. For me it was one of the most eye opening books I've ever read. I know I've done some reading logs on him in the past, but to me he seems like one of the most insightful people I've ever come across. If you have the time read one of his books... There's a new revelation on almost every page. It really changed the way I thought about the world.

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

Lao Tzu

While this isn't necessarily one of my favourite quotes, Lao Tzu is also another one of my favourite.. Authors I guess would be the word. I learned about his work while reading A Million Little Pieces. The author of that book received a book while in rehab called Tao Te Ching, and shared some quotes in it that I found interesting. I looked it up online and apparently it's a book on Taoism. While reading it I really enjoyed gaining the new perspective of thinking about things like the earth and how you wish to react to certain situations. 

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”
― Chris McCandless 

I watched the movie Into the Wild a while back, and it was another one that made me think about life differently.. While I've always kind of had the dream of being a doctor and making lots of money this really made me stop and think about what it is I want to do with my life.

 

Spitz

Another personal post about food... Ground breaking. So one of my favourite things about summertime is Spitz! They're the perfect beach/camping snack. Since you're outside all the time you can just spit the shells where ever, and since I like salty snacks they're the perfect thing because even though I know they're horrible for you I don't feel guilty eating them because you're actually only eating a seed not much bigger than your pinky nail. Plus they always remind me of my lake whenever I eat them... Sitting on the dock just munching on Spitz and kicking my feet in the water. It's funny how little things like that can remind you of such big memories.. Like for me the sound of wind always reminds me of camping in a tent and hearing the wind rustling around at night. I remember one time when we were kids me and Lindsey and Jen went down to my lake and we ate one of those huge bags of Spitz a day... By the end of the long weekend my lips legitimately bled. And we didn't have any lip chap so we had to use bees wax.

#21

You know who I love? Barry from Storage Wars. You wanna know why? He's this crazy eccentric millionaire with money to throw around on lockers where he takes away one thing. He literally throws his money away so he can look for weird ass things like a carved head with a man in the back hidden away. That's gotta be one of the most expensive hobbies I've ever seen. I bet you he was the reason Storage Wars even started in the first place, cause he was such a crazy eccentric. Like imagine if you knew a Barry in real life. One can only dream

Personal post #20

You know what sucks? When you have something you're really looking forward to and then when you go to get it it's gone. Let me just give you a little background on what I'm talking about here. So a couple of days ago I bought one of those packs of ice cream sandwiches from Superstore, and I'm not very good at pacing myself. Like at anything. So anyways I decided to make these babies last cause if I ate all of them in one go I'd be dying on the couch for at least a couple of hours. So I spaced it out nicely and there was ONE left. And I'm not going to lie today was a pretty horrible day, and I was looking forward to that last ice cream sandwich because let's face it, I love food. So as I was saying, all day long as all that crap was coming at me I was just thinking, "at least I'll get that bite of deliciousness at the end of my day!" so finally I came home at 9 and first thing I did was go to the refrigerator, pulled open the door... And no sandwich of deliciousness was there to greet me. I was pissed. I had been banking on that bar and it wasn't there. It turns out Eric my brother (the little pilferer) snuck in last night and ate MY food. I swear to god I almost smacked him. He always does this too! He eats my leftovers from restaurants, or finishes off the tp without replacing it, and just generally screws me over because he finishes off things I was planning on myself. Frustration

Shout out to the Grams

So my great grandma (a.k.a Babcia) just turned 104 this weekend. Seriously, she's such a champ. Just a couple of asides about her... She only uses a walker to get around, she's probably still the most lucid person I know (she remembers more about what's going on than I do... But that isn't saying a lot), she still lives in her own apartment, and she cooks 90% of her meals.. No microwave or anything. Another thing that's pretty cool about her is that she drinks a bottle of whiskey a week and swears like a sailor most of the time- and has a wicked sense of humour to boot. She's my icon. I only hope I can be half as awesome as she is when I'm half her age. Plus, she always has some awesome story about her childhood and whatnot... From the time her brother escaped a concentration camp and walked from Russia to Poland, to the time she saved her family when the barn lit on fire. She's literally the coolest person I've ever talked to, and I'm so happy to say she's my grandma. Love ya grams, happy birthday! :)

Reading reflection #11

Personal Post #18

I had a sandwich today.. Just like every other day. It was pretty good. To be honest I'll probably get a drunk tattoo or something when I'm older for my love of sandwiches. I could see myself being that dedicated. Just kidding, I'm running out of ideas for personal additions. Enjoy this picture of a shark versing a bear.

So this weekend I went flying by myself for the first time. It wasn't that exciting. Talked to the old lady knitting beside me. Three hours later we touched down and I knew her whole life story. Why do people continue to talk the less you do? Whatever, she was a sweetheart.

Personal Post #16

Why didn't I add any of these to my Bucket List!

Personal Post

I love smart-ass comments like this. Pure gold

Reading response #10

Reading reflection #9