Outside Event 1

Last Thursday I went to Burke's Bookstore and listened to Danielle Sellers read from her latest book called "Bone Key Elegies." She read several poems to us from her book. Danielle seemed a bit shy in the beginning of the event, but seemed to get more comfortable after reading more. Her voice was soft but she read loud enough to hear well and she was really nice to the audience. She did not put a lot of emotion into her reading though, which I thought she could have done more. However, her writing was interesting and she made you feel like you were in the poem with her choice of words. She seemed happy to have as many people come in the nasty weather that was going on. One thing I noticed was she gave a abundance of pauses in her reading. This was very helpful for me because I could sit and visualize everything in the poem. I could think of all the detailed descriptions she was talking about. When she read her poem "Winter Elegy," it made me think back to my winter break and having dinner with my family during Christmas. I had a somewhat short day dream during this, but then came back to reality to hear the rest of the poem. Her poems were not long at all though. After reading some other short poems, she mentioned the next one she would read would be a favorite from Mrs. Wendy called "Manhatten Bodega." There were some people that came into the store during this reading, but it was fascinating how much attention they had for Danielle's poem. The audience members were very interested in her readings and it was showing. The room was quiet with everyone listening contently. After she had finished her readings from her book, she said she would be reading some of her love or "anti" love poems. I enjoyed hearing these poems as well because I had written some love poems for high school english all year. She only read for about thirty minutes or so, and I was really wanting to hear more from her. She would get into one of the poems and then leave you whereas you would want her to continue on, but she could not read her entire book to us. Overall, I thought she read the poems very well and I would be happy to go to another reading from her in the future.

What if (7)

What if we were snowed in for an entire week? What would I spend my time doing? How would this affect my school work? How would school be when the week was over? If we were snowed in for an entire week, I think it would be awesome. We would not have to go to school and have another break. I would be able to sleep in every day and not worry about getting up early and ready for school. If we did not have to go to school for the week, I would have a lot of time to catch up on my studying. I could review a bunch and catch up on my homework. I would probably watch a bunch of television too. If the roads were not so terrible, I would also go hang out with some friends. I may even go sled and have fun in the snow. Iam not the biggest fan of the snow, but I think it would be fun to have for a little bit. I would definitely not stay in the house all week by myself. I would go insane from the boredom and studying. I would most likely go watch some movies and enjoy the break as long as it lasts. I would also go back to Mississippi and see my family there. I would see get to play with my brother in the snow and maybe even get him to sled. I think he would have a blast. Whenever the week would be over and we would go back to school, there would have to be a bunch of catching up. Most assignments could be emailed but for some classes, the teacher would just go over a bunch of material at a speedy pace. The week of not going to school would be really fun, but I am not sure the week after would be worth it.

What If (6)

What if I won a million dollars? What would I do with the money? Would I use the money wisely? If I had won a million dollars, I would put most of the money in the bank and try to save as much as I could. I would help my family pay for some things to make life easier too. I would buy a better car first of all.I would not go out and buy a Ferrari, but I would get a car that would always be reliable for me. I would never have to worry about something going wrong with it or have to put more money into it. I would finish paying for my mom's house and car for her. This would be very helpful for her and she would not have to work as much. I would have to think logically about the money though, because a million dollars would not last a lifetime if I spent the money carelessly. I would save enough money to pay for college for my brother and sister. I would hope they would be able to get their school paid for with scholarships, but would be there just in case with a backup. After I had won the money, I probably would have went on a vacation. I would not go spend so much, but I would enjoy and have a fun time. I would also donate some amount to a charity. I would not feel right if I spend all the money on myself, and not helped anyone else with it. I would most likely donate to Saint Jude's Research Hospital. If I had a million dollars, I would still watch my money, but it would give me a little backbone if anything happened. I would just try to spend on all the needs and save later for all my wants.

What If (5)

What if I was able to control time? What would I want to skip through? What would I want to go back and change? What are some moments I would want to pause? If I was able to control time, there are many things I would want to skip through. I could control time and skip through many things that I thought was pointless and time consuming. First of all I would fast forward through some of my classes that were boring. I would also fast forward through my studying for my classes. Another thing I would want to skip through would be commercials. I hate it when I am watching a movie on television and as soon as it gets to a good part, it cuts to a commercial. I would not have to worry about this problem if I was able to control time. I would fast forward through working out too. It would be great to be able to skip through the actual working out part but at the same time receive the benefits from it. There are also some things I would want to go back in time for. I would want to go back to elementary school and see all my old friends and try to remember most of them. It would be fun to see all of them and to see how much they have changed. I would also rewind back to first semester and study way more for chemistry. I did not make a C in the class, so I have to retake it this semester and it is putting me behind. I would also want to pause life at times too. I would want to pause right when my alarm clock goes off in the morning. That way, I could get as much extra sleep that I need before I start my day. I would also want to pause some special moments and want to think about life and how grateful I am. One specific thing I would pause would be when I scored the winning goal in our game against Starkville. It was a great game and one of the best moments I had playing soccer.

What If (4)

What if a disease such as Ebola Zaire had an outbreak in Memphis? How would people react? What would I do ? How would I react to this outbreak? Ebola Zaire is a disease that has a 50 to 90 percent mortality rate. Basically if you get this disease, nine out of ten times, you are going to die from it. There has not been a cure found for this type of Ebola virus. If there was an outbreak of this disease in Memphis, I think everyone would go crazy. They would rushing out of the city as fast as possible. Everyone would be worried that they have the disease and would asked to be checked for it. The city would be in chaos. The government would have to get involved somehow, but I do not have a clue what they would do. They would probably make sure everyone stayed calm and try to make them less worried as possible. They would have to control everyone in the area too, but this would be way harder to do than it sounds. There would probably be a lot of violence going on while this is happening to. I would try to stay as calm as I could be and make sure not to be outside by anyone. For all I know I could have it and give it to someone else, or someone else could have it and give to me. I would have to get checked if I was carrying the virus though. If I was not carrying it, I am not sure what I would do. I could either try to leave the city and take a chance of catching the virus, or I could stay contained in my house and wait. If a virus like this one came around Memphis, the number of deaths could range up from a few people to thousands. The disease could even spread to other cities, and then possibly to other states. If the situation did not get taken care of, the entire country could possibly be doomed.

What If (3)

Maybe facebook should have never been created. I always get on facebook when I get on the computer. It really doesn't matter how much homework I have, it is just kind of an addiction. If it was never created, then I would be able to focus more on my homework. If I was able to do more homework, then I would be able to have more free time to do things that I actually enjoy. I would be able to get back into working out and not worry about wasting my time to do homework. I have not been able to work out at all because of school and work. I also probably think laziness is an issue too but we do not need to go there. Majority of college homework is online and I think this is a major downfall. It is so easy to open up another browser and get on facebook. Then you look at the time and hours have passed while you have been wasting your time talking to friends on there. If facebook was never created, then I would not have to worry about this problem. I think this would not only benefit for me either. I am sure there are a bunch of people that agree with this. I would miss being able to talk to my friends easily but I could always just call them or something. I could just try to do my homework and tell myself I could get on facebook after, but it is just too tempting not to just check it for a minute. After you say you will just check it for a minute, you kind of get stuck on it, and it is hard to leave. I will get off of it and then like twenty minutes later I would log back on. Ultimately if facebook was never created, I would just be able to focus on my online homework more and then have more free time to hang out with friends in person than have to talk to them on the computer.

What If (2)

What if I was told by a doctor that I had less than a month to live? What would be the last things I would want to do? How would I react to this? Would I be able to do anything? How would I let my family know this? Well the first thing I would do would be to go about four other doctors and confirm that the news was correct. The doctor that I first saw could have been mistaken, so I would just go and check to be sure since my life is on the line. If I was told that I had less than a month to live, it would completely make me think differently about life. One of the most important things I would do in my last month would be to say my goodbyes and tell everyone in my life how much I appreciated them and love them. There would be so many emotions going on with my family. I would try to make it seem like everything will be okay, but I am not sure that would be able to happen. I would also go to church and pray every chance I got. Then after I would do these two most important things, I would try to do some fun things with my family. I would want to go an amusement park somewhere. I would not mind going to Six Flags in Texas. We could go to the Slitterbomb Water Park too, which I have never been too, but my uncle told me it was something I had to do. I think this would be a very fun thing for my family and me to do together. It would always be in the back of my mind that this would be the last time I would do something. Basically I would be my loved ones for the remainder of my life on Earth and pray and enjoy every minute I was given. I would try to keep my spirits high and seem happy with everyone.