Lisa Patton

I attended the reading of Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter by Lisa Patton. It made me feel warm inside when she told us that she was a bed and breakfast owner in Vermont. It immediately reminded me of White Christmas and Christmas in Connecticut. If you haven't seen any of these, than you need to, they are classics. Not only did she make the atmosphere emotional, but she also brought out facts that I did not know. She told us that you cannot bury anything in winter up north, I thought this was interesting since that seems like something that you would know. Her love for her dog also made me think of all the dogs that my family owned that have gone on to a better place. The book seems like a good read, but I'm not in the mood to read that kind of book.

Thank God

I am done with my English and UNHP papers, but I still have to write another UNHP paper. 400 words is nothing compared to the 2,830 word English paper and the 1,660 word UNHP paper I just finished today. I am so sick and tired of writing, my English paper was so thick that I almost could not get the stapler to punch through all 11 pages... I hope this is all worth it, because I was about to give up before I finished my English paper. I am sad yet happy to be writing my final blog.... until next semester. I am ready for the winter break.

Outside Event 4

I attended the readings from the Memphis Creative Writing program (?) The first reading was about a woman who had a baby, but sadly it was premature. The baby struggled and had to be given support for it to stay alive. Eventually the mother saw a baby who was struggling just like hers. Her baby eventually recovered and she had to deal with not being able to be with her baby very often while watching the other baby wither away. The hope that stayed alive in herself had died in the family of the other baby. The main emphasis of her writing was how she had to deal with seeing other people suffer while she has hope. It was tough to listen to at moments. The other story I am blogging about is the writing about a young man's life in his hometown. The story begins in North Webster, Indiana, where the young man is attending a karate lesson. In the town there is a club known as Stimmelators named after the owner Samuel Stimmel, one of the dancers from Stimmelators is also attending the karate class. The young man ends up meeting her and helps her with her lessons. Later, he and a few of his friends decide to use the abandoned bank next to Stimmelators as a fort to throw water balloons at the various patrons coming in and out of the club. It ends up that the commotion attracts none other than Sam Stimmel himself, Sam get his shoes wet from a missed throw and he yells and then returns inside. It ends up that the dancer that the young man befriended show up and is hit with a water balloon thrown by his friend. They panic and run to their car and continue to make a hasty getaway. The third story is not even worth mentioning, it was very disturbing....

Outside Event 3

My third outside event was held at the Otherlands Cafe on 641 South Cooper Street. It was a great atmosphere filled with people who seemed pretty comfortable. I have to say that the chair I sat in did not make me feel comfortable. But I digress, the story that was read was a nonfiction creative writing. The writing was based off of a personal experience that the author had about a taxi cab stopping in the middle of the intersection of Poplar and Walnut Grove. She went on to write about a man that created an art structure that is located near the intersection. The Pangean Disk was created by Roy Tamboli in 1992. It went on to become the largest steel sculpture in Memphis. The author went on to explain the significance of the various parts of the structure. The two parts that stuck out the most were the babies made of wax and plaster in the support strut and the prayer rods that protruded skywards from various major cities around the world located on the sculpture. the only part of the story that really confused me was the random story about Pandora and the box that held all the evils of the world. In my opinion she did not need to go that in depth with the Roman gods. Overall I enjoyed the story.