The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls grew up with three siblings, an imaginative intelligent father when sober and a absent father when drunk, a mentally-spazzy mother when pressured and an artist when she dreamed of a better life. Childhood took them all over the west: living in one spots no longer then a couple weeks, and poverty constantly following them everywhere.

Once the money ran out for good, the family settled in Welch, West Virginia, where Jeannette’s fathers haunted family lived. Welch became the first place the Walls family did not leave after a couple of weeks of residing there. However, Welch was not good to the children for a long time. For years the parents gradually started to neglect their children, and the children started surviving on their own. Finally, when they started coming of age, and only then, did the children escape Welch and it’s horrors to New York. With the parents behind them, for now, they we’re able to grow and make something of their dreams!

The Glass Castle will remain an affecting and effectible read for years to come. Throughout the book Jeannette Walls, the author, remains honest and blunt about her childhood and rough experiences that protruded from it. Her heart expresses itself boldly in ink and words. The emotion Walls pulls out of the closet in your soul is masterfully done. The time you put in and the thoughts you pull out from this book will be to your avail. The things you will be reminded of or have never thought of will surface. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be furious, you’ll be relieved. The Glass Castle is one of a kind that deserves your focus.

Body Art

I have mixed thoughts on tattoos, implants, and piercings. I believe they are a great use to brand one self, to make one self unique from others. I personally have several piercings and will be getting a tattoo soon. Why? I enjoy the look of tiny simple piercings and I’m getting a tattoo of a verse that will serve as a personal reminder. On the other hand, I think all three can be abused. Where the lines cross for me is when people get tattoos, implants, and piercings that actually change their original appearance on their face.

For an example, these men:

        I actually think changes like this should be illegal for one main reason: as silly as it sounds, getting this is type of transformation done after committing a crime or such makes it easy to hide in plain view. And then personally, I think it’s a little scary and unnecessary.

I’m not saying all tattoo, implants, and piecing’s are horrible.

Like these guys and gal:

 

They aren’t as mutated as the other guys and it’s still unique. I have to wonder what the purpose was of these individuals paying the price and pain to change or decorate their body. Maybe it’s just as simple as standing out and being unique. But maybe it’s disconnecting from one’s past, family, or hurts. It could be rebellion. It could be using your body as a canvas for you artist flow. It could be an act of fitting in with the rest of the world. Or maybe they actually enjoy the look; this is possible. 

With all this said, we have the right to do whatever we like with our body. But we should always ask the question, “why?” before we make permanent, or physical changes.

The Windy City

For my lovely ten days of Spring Break, I will be embarking on my first adventure as an adult. A round trip consisting of 858 miles, car travel time totaling about sixteen hours, and three different locations are on the menu. Thankfully my mother is along for this exciting “outing.” The final destination is begging me to get there already!

The first leg of our trip is to a small town close to Madison, Wisconsin called Middleton. Though we will not staying longer then a day and night, it will be good to mingle with my grandparents and great-grandmother, 96, for some quality time. However, many miles will await us, and we’ll be back on the road in no time. Are final target waits!

Leg two: Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. My dear older brother, Nathan, schools there and it’s my chance to experience some hands on classes with him for we are similar in education tastes. Also, funny enough, my best friend, Allie, also attends Trinity. Unusually when I visit we take rotten fruit and slingshot them as far as possible and/or walk around the lake and/or visit the Oasis, a bridge filled with restaurants. From hanging with Allie to learning with the brother, my time will last a couple of days with them. But finally, my real objective is to come.

Leg three brings us to the one and only, drum roll, please, Chicago. I will have arrived at my goal. From the wind to the skyscrapers, to school shopping to clothes shopping, from deep fried pizza to chill dogs, from science museums to art galleries, my heart will be resting in bliss. Happiness will belong to me. Peace will seek only myself. My mind will rest. I will walk and talk, photograph the poor and young, the wealth and old, I will sketch and paint, dreaming all along. Chicago is my city: the city of beauty and life. For three wonderful days I will reside in The Windy City. Joy will be mine.

Such gloom will drag me from my contentment. For however long happiness last it will end. The journey home will come, and my heart will sink. The only thing that will keep me from sinking into the pits of despair will be the joy of planning another trip: my trip to California. But that’s for another time. Here I come Chicago!

Peace & Chaos

People come up with many different ideas about what makes a functional or dysfunctional family. However, there is a believe that there is one main one for each. Here they are.

Communication: one of the top key elements to a functional sane family. Without it, chaos is set loose. Clear communication is a life skill that should start at a young age with “Yes, Dad, I hear you,” or “Yes, Mom, I understand.” It’s address respect and clarity. With communication comes the building of trust in relationships. It is a tool that is ingrained in every functional family.

Dysfunctional family

On the contrary, a dysfunctional family is made up of avoiding conflict. Because communication is absent there is no clarity. When conflict arises, because of lack of communication, people shut down, they don’t take the blame, and walk off not wanting to get the backlash. They avoid conflict of any kind, shape, or form. And because of it, there is no respect for those who are hurting. Conflict can be a two different preferences or a mental struggle within. Which ever the case, in a dysfunctional family one will either avoid voicing their disagreeing opinion or refuse to think through their personal battles. Avoiding conflict is like a disease that needs to be treated.

Functional family

Now, there is no such thing as the perfect family, ever. Families can be happy and intelligent, or glum and thoughtless, (and everything in between and mixed,) but both have been found under the dysfunctional category as well as the functional one. It would be a lie if someone said they love conflict. Even in functional families, not everyone ones wants to work through difficulties because to be frank, it’s easier not too. But functional families do, because they learn from them and become better people because of it. Not every functional family remembers to communicate either. The fact is, whether people are related to a functional family or not, communication is priority as well as working through conflicts, and it’s something they should practice.

My Soul

My Soul

The timer clicks loudly at an up beat pace.

Blaring heat protrudes from the buzzing heater.

Ocean waves echo over and over and over on the white-noise machine.

Someone’s smacking gum.

Keyboards are abuse at the consistent tap-tap-tap of heavy fingers.

Click goes the pen.

A phone rings.

A baby cries.

A bell rings.

Exiting my not-so-quite-world, I stroll into the forest, escaping chaos, and enter overwhelming calmness.

Soft snaps of breaking twigs underfoot repeat.

A chilled breeze brushes the hanging leafs. 

The creek tinkles over and over and over again.

Birds sing peaceful melodies.

The ginger cat purrs as he walks on the loose earth.

Breathing slows.

A deer dashes away.

A beetle buzzes by.

A hoot sounds.

My soul rests in bliss.

A poem by Hannah Petersen on February 20, 2012

Does anyone remember My Space? How about that ancient Xanga? I bet a precious handful do remember. BUT, I'll bet everyone from 7 to at lest 75 years old could tell you what Facebook is regardless if they had an account or not.  What is it about Facebook that's SO intriguing? How does Facebook do such a thorough job sucking 845 million active users in? 

Let's begin with telling you WHAT Facebook is. Facebook is a social networking site. It's a place to chat with friends, plays games, and/or creates an identity. A three-in-one, you could say! Everything thing you normally do in your spare time in one place, on any computer, anytime, anywhere. Let's just think about the first two things: friends and games. You can wall post, chat, and inbox your friend, and play games from anything complicated to action! But, the most dangerous thing about Facebook is that it's, wait for it, FREE. You don't have to call up anyone, drive anywhere, or spend money to be entertained. Facebook provides ENDLESS social and mind-relaxing options at the tips of our fingers! (Literally, actually.) Anybody can use it! Facebook has become a mandatory thing in life, like using the restroom or eating. Like I said before, Facebook is a place to create your identity. We check it so often to see if anyone has noticed our status update, or new profile picture. Facebook, to some extent, has become a verifying tool for who we are, or, dare I say, who we wished be perceived as. This is why Facebook is intriguing and why people flock in the millions to its "pearly" gates, as Mathias' essay stated. 

My personal and humble views on Facebook would lead me to say it's a little dangerous. I understand not everyone is a Facebookholic, but I think it would be save to say that more then half are. Facebook can easily replace human social with cyberspace social. As humans I think we NEED that natural social atmosphere. And not just at school where everyone has a class to get to and everyone has practice to get to, but an active "lets go have fun at the bowling ally or pool!" For humans, I think its health. You can't go actively bowl, or get physically wet on Facebook, now can you? Now, to be fair, I do have a Facebook account, which I use regularly. I mostly use it for communication with friends who live in other states and countries--people I don't get to see. On occasion you will see me play Snake or Pac-man, but more then likely I'll be working on a puzzle or baking treats. On the other hand, I don't know whether to be proud or saddened, but my parents both use Facebook more then I do. They play memory games and chat away with college or high-school buddies quite a bit. I don't mind them on Facebook at all. It's cool seeing the older generation enjoying the same pleasure we do! It's a great way to connect. But would it be better to connect with them on the bowling ally? 

Facebook has its pro and cons. I do think it's a great tool. But I also think it's a great tool that can be abused. We should all know are limitations and not forget to live in the real world outside of cyberspace. 

Anticipation

My mind bubbles with excitement when I think of my future. Endless opportunities and experiences erupt right before my eyes. Three life-changing things are to occur within the year for myself. I can hardly sit still typing this out!

The first week in March will be the kick off with myself becoming a legal adult. That's right, I'm turning 18, and frankly, I'm terrified. I'm going to be an adult! I don't feel qualified enough to be an adult. Could it really have been me wedgy-ing my little brother for kicks, yesterday? I've got a lot of growing up to do. However, I'm comforted when I see my loyal parents still learning from their mistakes. It reminds me that I have a whole life of learning to do (and maybe nothings entirely wrong with a well deserved wedgy. ;-))

In addition, two months later I’ll be watching my dearest older brother being wedded to my first to-be sister-in-law. I still don't know how I'm going to react when it final happens. I'm nervous our relationship will change. And then I'm frustrated I even think that. If anything, our relationship should strengthen. So much will change, but why think the worst? So much will change for the BETTER!     

Lastly, near the end of Summer I'm taking a huge step of faith. Along with a group of kids and leaders, I'm traveling to Nepal for 6 weeks to do mission work. We'll be hanging with poor orphan children and young teenage girls who have been recused from sex trafficking. We'll be comforters, providers, and light for the further. My heart is so overwhelmed with anticipation I feel as if a basketball was inflated in my chest. I know on my return home that I won't be the same person. Who won't be?


All-in-all, crazy things will happen, crazy things are to take place, and crazy lessons in life with be learned. Dare I say it, but I do, bring it on!