Deeper Meanings

Authors Note: This is about the deeper meanings of the songs we listened to and discussed in class.

To write a song that has a deeper meaning than what first appears can take a lot of skill, and the two poems/songs we recently heard really do have a message in them. The first song “Big Yellow Taxi” is about a girl, who used to live in this nature wonderland, and this place was like her paradise. Now with everything growing, and businesses booming, they took out her sacred place and are turning into an outlet mall. While just reading through the lyrics, the author sound regretful, and like she is warning you, but when you listen to the music it almost sounds as if she’s happy. Then, ironically enough, the second song is also about nature, and the tone is almost the same too. “A field Below” is about a person who misses nature and is really sad about it being taken away, just the girl in the other song. In my opinion, almost the only thing that is different is that the music in this song is at least somewhat fitting for the lyrics. It’s not perfect because in some parts the piano does these little “trilly” things that makes it sound more happy then it actually is. Both of these songs are sad, but the music doesn’t do justice for whatever tone or mood these artists were trying to set.

Florida

Authors Note: Florida is an amazing place with warm weather, so many attractions, and lots of fun. Last week I went to Orlando, Florida with my parents and friend (Brittany) and we had a lot of fun. There were so many great memories we created and I thought I’d share some with you.

Saturday: On March 17^th we left our house at about 6 o’clock to get to the airport and make our first flight to Baltimore, Maryland. After that we would have 20 minutes to board our next flight to Orlando. The four of us were scared that we wouldn’t make our second flight but luckily we did, and after a semi-stressful day we finally arrived at our destination.

Sunday: For us, we just wanted Sunday to be a relaxing day at the pool. So that’s exactly what we  did.

Monday: This day was probably my favorite because we went to Universal Studios and had a park to park pass. What that means is, since Universal has two theme parks and we had a passes for both of them! When we got there, you have to scan your ticket in this machine and then stick your finger on this other thing so nobody can steal your ticket. Except Brittany’s finger wasn’t big enough so she had to use her thumb! Once we got in the parks we had a blast! We went on so many rides and the longest line was only 20 minutes!

Tuesday: During the winter my grandparents fly to Florida and stay there until it’s nicer here, so since we were down there, we decided to go visit them. They live in Daytona so it was about an hour long car drive, but once we got down there it was all worth it because we all went out to breakfast then had a fun day at the beach. On the beach there was a gourmet popsicle shop and they had a mystery flavored one, if you guessed all of the 5 fruits in it you got a free popsicle! So, me and Brittany decided to give a go, and luckily we got it right! our oddly tasting popsicle was made of oranges, papaya, blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi.

Wednesday: It was decided that we needed another pool day, but while we were there they had a hula-hooping contest that we came close to winning (NOT!). Another fun thing we did was bring a ball to the pool, but not just any ball, no way. This ball was huge and inflatable! It was almost as tall as Brittany! But then it got really awkward because all of these kids kept asking to play with us and we kept saying no and after a while we felt bad and left.

Thursday: Brittany and I were pretty burned (at least Brit was) so most of the day we were up in our condo. After being up there for a while Brittany knew she should probably be putting on lotion, but she then realized she forgot to bring any. So later on she walks in the bathroom and before she even closes that door she runs out while holding something and starts screaming my name.

Brittany: “ALI! ALI! Ali! Ali, did you know that they give us lotion in here?! Like, we’re set! “

Me: “Ummm, yeah.”

Brittany: “Oh.” (she starts putting some on) “Uh oh! Uh oh Ali! It burns!” (looks at the lotion) “Did you know it was scented?” Uh oh, it’s scented with ‘rain kissed leaves’!

Me: …

Brittany: “I know! I was surprised too!”

And that was our day.

Friday: On Friday we wanted to go somewhere cool because it was our last day, so we were look through ads and found a place called Wonder Works. It’s kind of like a better discovery world; it has three different floors and once you’re bored with one floor, you head on up to the next.  Thr first floor is all about earth, and earthquakes and hurricanes, so they have some ride type things for that and other things you just go around and look at. On the second floor, there are so many fun things, there are interactive sports, this one ATV game, air hockey were the puck is virtual and you use your hand to hit it, and they even have bubble lab! Yes, I said bubble lab. And that’s not all, there is this ride were you can create your own roller coaster by designing it on the computer than you go in this box thing and there is a screen and then your box will actually do your rollercoaster! If you have flips it’ll flip you! If you have twists, it’ll twist you! It’s amazing! The best floor they have though is definitely the third. It has a 4-D movie, laser tag, an arcade, and a ropes course tat goes over everything! It was so cool!

Saturday: Sadly, on Saturday we had to leave, so at10 am we checked out, got some lunch then headed to the airport to go home.

Things I Hate.

Authors Note: I have a lot of pet peeves, so i decided, since i have to write a piece every week to put some of these things into a poem..... Enjoy!

There are a lot of things in this world I can’t stand

When people never smile or when they wear “silly bandz”

I hate the sound when people crack their knuckles

And I hate it when people wear belts with huge buckles

I dislike moccasins because I think they look dumb

And I hate when my foot falls asleep and feels numb

When people crack up and say “inside joke”

Or when facebook emails me to say I got “poked”

I can’t stand it when people say “Ok”

I also don’t like when I don’t get my way

I hate when dogs come up to me and drool

Or when little kids like to pee in the pool

It gets really annoying when people try to be funny

And I don’t like it when people ask me for money

It makes me sad when others are in a bad mood

It makes me mad when people steal my food

When you’re sharing a snack and your friend gets more

Or when you stub you toe on the counter or door

When people think that they’re better than you

And when they leave their mouth open when they chew

So as you can see there a lot of things I hate

I wrote them down just for my own sake

And some of these things you might have already knew,

But just be happy that you’re not on here too ;)

Mother to Son

Authors Note: Figurative language makes normal stories more interesting and more descriptive this is piece is a paragraph I wrote analyzing the poem Mother to Son. 

In the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes the author uses figurative language to get his point across and create a more detailed description. When he compares life, to a crystal staircase, you really understand that life isn’t a fragile little thing, and it’s not always going to be beautiful, or easy to “climb”. So instead of the person who is narrating the poem (a mom to her son) she describes an old wooden staircase instead of a delicate crystal one. Then, when the author starts talking about splinters and boards being torn up, that’s personification because, life won’t give you splinters, and it doesn’t have tacks in it. While reading this, it seems like this means a lot to the author, and you realize that the mom narrating this poem is really sympathetic and caring, and all she wants is for her son to take whatever life, or “staircase” he gets and to never give up.

By the Way by: Ali and Kasia

 Authors Note: This poem is a parody of the poem This is Just to Say, and it the narrator is Holly speaking to Lauren from the book Dark Secrets.

I have killed

You mother

When she was

By the lake

And while

You were probably

Sleeping

In bed

Hate me

I don’t care

For I did it

And I’m glad