A funny story that you can't help, but smile! (#20)

This is an email my mom received and the story made me smile. That is why I decided to share it with you.

9 Months Later...
Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob.  

So they loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. 

After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard.
They pulled into a nearby farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend the night.

'I realize its terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed,' she explained. 'I'm afraid the neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my house.'

'Don't worry,' Jack said. 'We'll be happy to sleep in the barn, and if the weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light. 'The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night.
  

Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way.
They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.
But about nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney.
It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.

He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, 'Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up north about 9 months ago?'

'Yes, I do.' said Bob

'Did you, er, happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?'

'Well, um, yes!,' Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out, 'I have to admit that I did.'

'And did you happen to give her my name instead of telling her your name?'

Bob's face turned beet red and he said, 'Yeah, look, I'm sorry, buddy, I'm afraid I did.' Why do you ask?'

'She just died and left me everything.'

And you thought the ending would be different, didn't you?... you know you smiled...now keep that smile for the rest of the day!

Yay Book Shopping!! (#19)

I have been waiting since Christmas for the third book of my favourite series to come out! The book is called Everlasting (in the middle) and is the reason I went to Chapters today. Everlasting comes after the books Evercrossed and Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler. I had two gift cards and spent the rest of the gift cards by  deciding I will indeed jump onto the Hunger Games bandwagon. That being said I bought the first and second book! I really hope these books are worth my gift cards! I can not wait to start reading!!

I use my cell phone too much... (#18)

Have any of you suffered from Textaphrenia?

I will admit I have been a victim of textaphrenia...

This definition and word made me laugh, because it is funny how someone made up a word to define such an action. Especially, knowing I have partaken in the very same action!

Panhandlers Really RCMP! (#17)

Yesterday I watched this video and read an article that interested me:
Read it on Global News: Creative crackdown on distracted drivers

It is about how the RCMP in BC are ticketing cell phone users while driving. One RCMP is dressed as a panhandler and has a sign that reads: "Hello, my name is Constable Martell. If you're on your cell phone right now, you are about to get a ticket." He than will send people who are on their phones around the corner to an uniformed officer.

I agree with the article that distracted drivers are dangerous and that they should be caught! I personally never pull out my phone while driving, even at red lights. I have one friend that does it a lot and I never feel safe in her car.

Movies I can watch a thousound times! (#16)

#1: Monster in Law

I don't know why, but I will always re-watch this movie if I want a laugh. I like how there's romance, comedy, and drama all in one. Jennifer Lopez is an actress who I find very good and I know I will enjoy her movies. Jane Fonda was SO good! She played a very good evil step-mom and I do not think anyone better could play that role.

#2: Taxi

Might have something to do with the car chases, but this is another movie I will watch when I want action and a laugh. I enjoy Queen Latifahs role, because she can portray someone with lots of attitude. I always wish I had a car that I could pimp out with a push of a button, than speed off towards crime.

#3: The Wedding Planner

Another Jennifer Lopez movie, because like I previously stated, I enjoy her acting. Plus her chemistry with Mathew McConaughey in this movie make it a movie you can not dislike! I like the suspense in their love connection and I always laugh at specific parts even though I know it's coming.

Should I jump on the Hunger Games Bandwagon? (#15)

This book is the new must read! It has been made into a movie and everyone who has read the book is super excited! People say it's an addicting book and they just can not put it down!

I have jumped on the bandwagon of must read books before:

- Twilight
- Pretty Little Liars
- Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

I won't lie I most likely will this time too, but I hope it's as good as everyone says!!

My Favorite TV Show (#14)

Season 9 Cast

One Tree Hill is my favourite TV Show. I first watched an episode on the Much Music channel, because there was nothing else on. That episode made me want to watch them all! That Christmas I received the first four seasons on DVD. My birthday brought more seasons and from there it continued until I had all eight seasons! One day, I was on Facebook and the One Tree Hill page posted that they were super excited for the new season to start! That was when I realized I was caught up to the aired season and I had to PVR the newest season! The only problem with being caught up to the aired season is that I have to now wait a week until the next episode!!

Reading Reflection #3

James' Iphone (A Million Little Pieces Character)

IDRUG: Need a drug fix, call up a dealer.  
James is drug addict who abuses drugs and can find them easily just like an app.
NEWSMILE: A mirrored image of your mouth to check your beautiful new smile.
James had surgery on his teeth and mouth which gave him a new smile.
IBOOKS: Read your favourite books right on your iphone
James loves to read.
BROWNSFANS: Updates on the Cleveland Browns for those hardcore fans.
James' farther used to take him and his brother to the Browns games when he was younger.
IFIGHT: Fighting techniques to be used on others.
James fights when he is angry and acts like a tough guy.
TAO: Tao quotes are always accessible on this app.
James always read a book called Tao when he needed to believe in something. It acted like his bible.
EYECOVER: It mirrors your image and covers your eyes if you can't face what hides behind them.
James has trouble facing what hides behind his green eyes and can not look it into them.
IALCOHOL: All the types of alcohol in one app for those addicts who crave new alcohol.
James is an alcoholic who drinks too much and sometimes craves specific drinks.
FOOD: Recipes and food chain phone number for when one needs to fuel the rising fury.
James used food to fuel fury that rises when he was craving an addiction while he sobered up.
PHONE: Call friends and family to catch up.
Lucinda, Bob, Mom, and Dad are people James catches up with on regular bases.
MUSIC: Soothing sounds of the clarinet when a little on edge.
Sounds of a clarinet always calm James.
PHOTOS: Pictures of nature to sooth oneself when on edge.
After a couple of minutes of being surrounded by nature James becomes calmer.

Winter, I miss you... where were you? (#13)

Assiniboine River 2010 taken by myself, Breanne

Winnipeg is known as "Winterpeg," but this past winter we had maybe snow from December to early March. I was very disappointed, because I am a winter lover! During the winter I partake in many winter activities. For example walk the frozen river, skate the frozen river, sledding, skating at the community club outdoor rink, and work in the skating rink canteen!  This photo was taken last winter and is of the Assiniboine river. There was a lot of snow last year and winter lasted forever! I was in my glory and Christmas really felt like Christmas! Today is March twentieth, the snow is all melted and I am wearing summer clothes. Hopefully, next winter is a real Winnipeg winter!

The Controversy of A Million Little Pieces (#12)

After reading the memoir of James Frey, I did a little research. I researched the controversy on A Million Little Pieces. Why? It started when my English teacher recommended this memoir and another student in the class asked "isn't that book a lie?" Therefore, I chose to read the book and following my completion, research if the book truly involves lies.

Over a millions copies of the book sold, because of Oprah Winfrey. This quota was taken from the article "A Million Little Lies - exposing James Frey fiction addiction" from the website smoking gun. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies)

"In an October 26 show entitled "The Man Who Kept Oprah Awake At Night," Winfrey hailed Frey's graphic and coarse book as "like nothing you've ever read before... Frey's runaway hit, which has sold more than 3.5 million copies and, thanks to Winfrey, has sat atop The New York Times nonfiction paperback best seller list for the past 15 weeks. Next to the latest Harry Potter title, Nielsen BookScan reported Friday, Frey's book sold more copies in the U.S. in 2005--1.77 million--than any other title, with the majority of that total coming after Winfrey's selection."

So why the controversy? Turns out James Frey embellished some parts of his novel. Here is a quota from James Frey himself found in the article "A Million Little Lies - exposing James Frey fiction addiction" from the website smoking gun. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies)

"I was a bad guy," Frey told Winfrey. "If I was gonna write a book that was true, and I was gonna write a book that was honest, then I was gonna have to write about myself in very, very negative ways."

My interpretation of those words means he indeed lied about some parts of the book. I read the book and than the lies.  Personally I agree with Frey's words and what he told Winfrey on her show. (http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/James-Frey-and-the-A-Million-Little-Pieces-Controversy - View this link for all of James responses to Oprah's questions.) The lies are not big and at the same time help keep other characters unidentifiable. The real controversy is; should the book be called a memoir when there are lies. I liked the book and believe it's a memoir even if some of the truth is embellished. The story is of personal memories of James as an alcoholic, drug abuser, and criminal who overcomes his addictions. Therefore, to me, it is a memoir.

Final Report (#11)

Fellow Bloggers!!

I have finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey! Earlier today I posted a reading reflection on the book and I talked about how I about how I was finding it difficult to put the book down! Turns out as I got home I was drawn to continue to read. I finished the 83 pages I had left!

This book did take me a while to get into, but in the end lived up to the great reviews. I read this book, because my two English teachers both recommended it. This book was the first memoir I ever read and I recommend it now, because of how well it was written. This book is not my usual type of read, but I thought I should give it a try. My usual types of books are stories that are about fictional teenage girls and fantasy books.  Is your taste like mine and are not sure you will like James' memoir? If yes, I urge you to try reading it and you might be surprised. My only suggestion is read for at lest 200 pages.

Now, that I have finished reading A Million Little Pieces I would like to research all of the controversy that this book involves. I heard that some parts are not true and I can not wait till I discover the truth vs. the lies.

Until my next personal addition, "The Controversy of A Million Little Pieces!"

Writing Reflection #4

In this past week we started writing personnel moments. I chose to write about the first time I felt freedom from my parents. I feel the story is well written, but I do not think there is a message. So my goal of the upcoming week is to find a message that will end my moment. When we wrote our moments we were allowed solitary confinement. I really enjoyed that because our classroom sometimes gets to hot and some kids do not know how to use time wisely. The distractions were less and it was a change of scenery. I have been writing a lot of personnel additions into my RWN, but I feel I should start adding some to my blog. That will be another goal of the week to add personnel additions to my blog. I have more time to update my blog, because all my winter sports are ending and than spring break will give me a whole week too!  Therefore, watch for an increase in posts!

Reading Reflection #4

Book: A Million Little Pieces
By: James Frey
Pages Read: 181 - 346

I am finally being drawn into this memoir of James Frey. As I get farther into the story I find it difficult to put the book down! It could be due to that I was in Brandon and had lots of free time to read.... Anyways, as I read I was introduced to this mystery girl, James' parents, Lilly, Leonard, and James himself more thoroughly than before. I now understand the relationship between the mystery girl and James. The relationships between James' peers (Lilly, Leonard, etc) are becoming a safety net of James. Finally James is learning through his parents the extent of where his addictions potentially came from.

This book has given me an insight of what an addict goes through. I have also learnt the side of a family member who lives with an addict. As I read I am not left to make assumptions, because everything is explained well. For example, how does the facility describe an addiction. On page 290 at the end of the first paragraph Sophie, a family program leader, says "The addict always wants and always needs and that want and that need is always satisfied. The inability to control and the lack of choice is but a symptom of the disease." The facility says that an addiction is considered a disease. Sophie also explains that after research "As with most diseases the belief is that the cause is genetic" she says in the last paragraph of page 289. Personally, I can believe that an addiction can be passed on through genetics, but James thinks otherwise.


My prediction from my reading reflection #2 was right. James did not leave the facility and will not until he feels confident that he can stay sober. I will finish this reading reflection off with a moment in the book that made me want to skip over, because I felt so nauseous. James was pulling off his toe nail and due to the description I could barely finish those two pages. Top of page 267 James writes "I pull and the nail breaks further. It tears the skin and that holds it in place, severs the veins that feed it. Blood starts to flow." This book is well written, maybe a little too well.

For vs Against Kony 2012

The Kony 2012 campaign has become world wide! The promotion video has been viewed over 30 million times and is creating lots of talk. There are two opinions; for vs against the Kony 2012 campaign.

According to the Visible Children blog these are the three major concerns:
(http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble)

"Invisible Children has been condemned time and time again. As a registered not-for-profit, its finances are public. Last year, the organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services (page 6), with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production. This is far from ideal for an issue which arguably needs action and aid, not awareness, and Charity Navigator rates their accountability 2/4 stars because they lack an external audit committee. But it goes way deeper than that."

"The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending."

"Still, the bulk of Invisible Children’s spending isn’t on supporting African militias, but on awareness and filmmaking. Which can be great, except that Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.” He’s certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest."

The Invisible Children website confronts all of these concerns.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

Visiting their website I found that they confront most of the viewers concerns. For example the photo of the the founders of the invisible children.

"A story told by Jason Russell: Let me start by saying that that photo was a bad idea. We were young and we got caught up in the moment. It was never meant to reflect on the organization. The photo of Bobby, Laren and I with the guns was taken in an LRA camp in DRC during the 2008 Juba Peace Talks. We were there to see Joseph Kony come to the table to sign the Final Peace Agreement. The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was surrounding our camp for protection since Sudan was mediating the peace talks. We wanted to talk to them and film them and get their perspective. And because Bobby, Laren and I are friends and had been doing this for 5 years, we thought it would be funny to bring back to our friends and family a joke photo. You know, "Haha - they have bazookas in their hands but they're actually fighting for peace." The ironic thing about this photo is that I HATE guns. I always have. Back in 2008 I wanted this war to end, like we all did, peacefully, through peace talks. But Kony was not interested in that; he kept killing. And we still don't want war. We don't want him killed and we don't want bombs dropped. We want him alive and captured and brought to justice"

They also have all there financial statements on this website. Personally, the financial statements do not look like they have only 32% of finances going to direct services. Unless, you consider awareness programs not a helping source!

Truthfully, the third issue I haven't seen any responses on the website. About how Kony is certainly evil, but exaggeration and manipulation to capture the public eye is unproductive, unprofessional and dishonest. Though the website is taking questions on twitter of the viewers concerns. If you really wanted to know the websites opinion on this issue you can tweet them.

With these concerns in mind,  I believe in the Kony 2012. They are making lots of awareness of an issue that is happening somewhere where the habitants can not fight it without outside help. I feel that the finances are being used properly, because the money that goes towards awareness products, media and film creation, fundraising, and awareness programs was used to grab the worlds populations attention. It helped bring the United States military to Uganda which will be an outside force to help the people who can not fight! The photo is just a juvenile mistake and I find not a big issue. I know that if I had a chance to hold a bazooka I would! I would probably just not put the photo on the internet though. I found the film very moving and informative. I did not find it unproductive, unprofessional, nor dishonest.

This is one of the biggest campaigns that the world has been well informed of. I think our class should participate by making our neighbourhood well known of the Kony issue on April 20 by putting up posters.

Two other six word memoirs I loved!

"Sisters are playdates that live together."

Photo taken by my mom, Kim, at Rennie Goose Sanctuary

Writers Note:

In my six word memoir "Sisters are playdates that live together" goes with this photo because it's of my sister and I. A sister is a friend that is always around to play. The term playdate is defined as two friends who go to one an others houses to play. That is why I used this photo because here we are playing in the grass at the Rennie Goose Sanctuary. Sisters can't help, but play together when your always together. We may fight but she is always a friend that is around to play with!

"Overcame life obstacles through my fears"

This photo was taken by my mom, Kim, at Valley Fair in Minnesota

Writers Note:

Growing up is where kids learn life lessons and learn to overcome fears. One of my fears were amusement park rides that went very fast and upside down. This past summer at Valley Fair my dad convinced me to try a roller coaster. I went on it and absolutely loved it! I overcame my fear, because I had never given a roller coaster, like in this photo, a second thought. That is why this photo of one of the roller coasters I rode at Valley Fair goes with the six word memoir "Overcame life obstacles through my fear." This six word memoir sums up every lesson I learnt growing up and it confesses how I was scared of roller coasters until I was 17 years old.

Six Word Memoir #4 - "Family are cheerleaders with the truth."

This photo was taken by friends dad, Murray at the Canada Winter Games.

Writers Note:

My six word memoir "Family are cheerleaders with the truth" relate to how my family support me in every aspect of my life. My life revolves around my sports, so my family is always there supporting me like cheerleaders. The only difference is I can rely on them to tell me the truth on my performance. They will tell me if I played well or bad, than how to improve my game! As i get older I drive to my own sporting events, but they still come out and support me! This photo was taken at the Canada Winter Games. My curling team and I qualified as team Manitoba and competed against other provinces. My immediate family and my grandparents came out to support me in Halifax! The six word memoir fits with this photo, because this was the biggest event where my family came out to support me! They also gave me constructive criticism after every game, so I knew the photo fit with the memoir perfectly!

Six Word Memoir #3 - "To Forever preserve the first rose

This photo was taken by me (Breanne)

Writers Note:

When you get a bouquet of flowers for the first time, it is a little act that makes you feel warm inside. Every time you see those flowers you are reminded of the person that loves you. When they die you throw them out even if you don’t want to. That is why when I wrote this six word memoir “To forever preserve the first rose” I was thinking about how it would feel to be able to always preserve a bouquet of flowers. This photo is a picture of the bouquet of roses that I received on my one year anniversary. On the pedal of the rose you can start to see how the roses are dying and that is why I took this photo. To symbolize that roses can not be preserved, but they are a beautiful reminder of love. I am not big into showering each other with reminders of each others love, but sometimes it’s nice.

Six Word Memoir #2 - "The true feeling of complete bliss."

This photo was taken by Me (Breanne) on a beach in Cuba

Writers Note:

Our band trip to Cuba was probably the first trip out of the country most kids had away from their parents. It was filled with laughter, awesome experiences, and lots of music! This photo is of the first beech we visited. The six word memoir “The true feeling of complete bliss” accompanies this photo due to the fact it will be a trip that every kid will look back on and remember the happy moments we all shared. I certainly remember the happy times of this trip and it feels like it was yesterday when really it’s been over a year ago we were there. Bliss is defined as perfect happiness and Cuba was a trip I was happy every day. I recommend visiting Cuba because even though it’s not the wealthiest country the Cuban people make the best of their lives and live in bliss.

Six Word Memoir #1 - "Fights won't end a true friendship."

This Photo was taken by my friend Catie in Birdshill Provincial Park

Writers Note:

This photo was taken the weekend where four of my best friends and I went camping without parents. My parents put a lot of pressure on me, because the trailer, dining tent, and everything we used, belonged to my family. Being the only one who camps regularly I got frustrated when the others didn’t know how things worked around a campsite. So by the end of the weekend our friendships became strained. So this six word memoir “fights won’t end a true friendship” goes with this photo, because even though I was a witch over the weekend the girls are still my best friends. We will fight, but we always work it out in the end, which represent true friendships. My friends have also already started talking about camping again this upcoming summer! I do love to camp, so we shall see.