"Journal Writing" on Only Daughter by Sandra Cisneros

I do not agree that success is measured by financle rewards. To me success is measured by the goals you set and how you set out to accomplish the goals and for each person their goals are different. In my life I feel that my cousin Christina is successful she set a goal for herself and accomplished it. The reason that I feel that she is successful is she graduated high school which was her first goal, then she set a goal of completing a degree in phsycology at the University of Azusa Pacific, and finally getting a job that uses the degree that she recieved. My ideas of success come from my parents and my education. Which have made me reach for high goals.

"Journal Writing" Rural Delivery by Barbara Kingsolver

I grew up in the city where the only thing that seperated me from a mini mall was my backyard and a brick wall that I could easily climb over. The main streets where lined with palm trees and every house had grass in the front yard.The cultural lines crossed in every way there was no one culture that you could point out. As for political lines I can not really comment since at the time I lived in my childhood home I did not care about politics. I think outsiders viewed were I grew up as the getto. There were people getting shot all the time and you could constantly here the sirens going off. But I did not know any different so it was normal to me. Until moving to another city 60 miles away did I get to see and feel what it was like living where the sirens did not go off all night and people were not getting shot everyday.

"Journal Writing" on The Rise and Fall of the Hit by Chris Anderson

I choose not to really keep up with what is going on in the news, on the radio, on the internet, or even in magazines. From time to time I will watch the news but will only get the basics, I will not continue to listen to them repeat the same story over and over as they change what has happened or who said what because the story starts to become what they want you to know instead of what really happened. When the media starts putting their input in instead of the truth to it is not really news any more and when the first tell about something happening it is more torwards the truth.

"Journal Writing" on The Plot against People by Russell Baker

Inanimate objects can also by classified as not having any real use for them, being made poorly, and not doing what it was made to do. They all still have a job to do but whether or not they can help you accomplish that job is the question. The inanimate object has always been used but some can be used for short periods of time and others may seem like they could last a lifetime. The reason may be that we take those objects and repair them not one inanimate object could last a lifetime without being repaired at least once if not many times. This is why we call them inanimate they imitate something that should do the job and not deceive us by not working or breaking down.

"Journal Writing" on The Way We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson

Yes I have lied most of my lies have been to protect myself or someone else and that is not to say that it makes it ok. That time I remember lying was yesturday to my son. I am not sure what was the most significant lie I ever told you would need to ask the people I have lied to. There are not justifications to lying and yes I have been ashamed of lies I have told. Lying is never a good thing it never gets you anywhere it may even cause you to lose or hurt someone.

"Journal Writing" on The Myth of Doomed Kids by Bella DePaulo

I grew up with my parents divorcing when  I was 9 years old. I choose to live with my father in a single parent household. I would go visit my mother, she had remarried so I guess you can say it was a two parent household my mother and step-father. When I turned 12 my aunt came to live with my dad and I so I guess you can say it was a parent and relative household. DePaulo's characterization of my family is agreeable and I do believe it to be fair. She brings up some strong points about that there is not much of a difference between some of the data that was presented. But for myself I can say I did not fall under these statistics at all. Like I stated in the beginning I lived with my father and a relative and I never had an issue with drugs and or alcohol in my life and never will.

" Journal Writing" on Vampires Never Die by Gullermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

I do not care to watch any television show , movie, or read a book about vampires. The stories do not interest me at all. I think it is crazy how all the people go ga-ga over these vampire roles. The reason they do not interest me is because there just not belivable the story line goes to far off what may have been. To me vampires  have always been so fictional that I really do not care to watch anything about them. I would choose just about anything to watch or read over a vampire story.

"Journal Writing" on I Want a Wife by Judy Brady

The obligations of a husband are to go to work and provide for his family financially, provide health
care, help take care of the children, cook dinner from time to time, help balance the check book, pay
bills, and help clean the house.This is what a husband should do when it comes to providing for his
family. When a wife is incapable of doing all of her duties the husband needs to step up and fill in
where and when needed. These are just some of the obligations of a husband there are so many more
but  I believe a wife's obligations will always exceed that of the husbands.

"Journal Writing" on Michael Pollan's Corn's Conquest

     I wish we as Americans would have left food the way it was all natural. But there is not much I can do about it when I live in a house with little land to grow my own fruits and vegetables. I am not surprised at all Americans are always trying to find a way to make food last longer and have more salt and sugar than there needs to be. I am very concerened especially since I have high blood pressure and diebetes. Pollan has me thinking that I need to check even futher into what I am eating. I already watch what I eat because I must not eat things that have to much salt, sugar, and carbohydrates. I think Pollan has writen something that is informative and that foods in the grocery store are not the best to be eating and we as Americans need to be more thoughtful to what we are putting into our bodies.

"Journal Writing" on Linnea Saukko's How to Poison the Earth

     I have used satire when it comes to making my bed. I believe why should you make your bed if your just going to sleep in it again. There should be no one who walks in my room except me and I think that not making my bed is OK. I am the only one who sleeps in my bed so it really does not get messy therefore it does not need to be made. I know that making my bed is not necessary because it does not hurt anyone by not making it. It only makes it easier to get into when going to sleep.

"Journal Writing" on David Sedaris's Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa

When I was a teenager I envied the life of my best friend Sandy. She had a mother and father that were still together, she was pretty, she was smart, and she would go on exciting vacations with her family. When it was summer vacation from school my best friend would tell me that she would be leaving for a few weeks and she would see me when she came back from her trip. When Sandy came back she always had a lot to tell me. I remember one year it was about her and her family going to Walt Disney World and Epcot Center in Florida. My best friend said it was different then Disneyland in California. When she discribed all the details to me I had already made up my mind that some day I would make to Florida so that I too could go to Walt Disney World and Epcot Center.

"Journal Writing" on Dave Barry's Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out

      I believe men have a hard time opening up about their true feelings, can work on a car that looks like it should be scrap metal for many hours,  and feel all they need to do is go to work without helping around the house. 
      Out of the traits I have listed the one that is the funniest to me is working on a junkie car for hours. It just does not make any sense to me what so ever.  The car has no seats, no engine, and no steering wheel so how can this car take up so much of someones time when it can not even be driven.
      The craziest thing is it takes him hours just to figure out how he is going to get the money just to paint the car. I ask why would you even want to worry about that when it does not even have an engine. That should be the last thing on his mind. He could be thinking about how we can go buy a new car that does not need any work at all and it will even be able to take us from here to there. He will get outside and just sand and sand the car until I go out there and ask when can we go some where. He will then get up and act like it is going to be the end of the world. It reminds me of one of my children reactions after I have told him to clean his room.
       I believe working on a car that probably will never be able to be driven to be one of the most time consuming things. I feel the car gets more attention then I do maybe that is why it bothers me so much. If I could just look like that car for ten minutes maybe my man would pay more attention to me. I guess that will not be happening any time soon.    

"Journal Writing" on Suzanne Britt's Neat People vs. Sloppy People

     The opposition that I will be writing about is rich versus poor.  The rich spend money frivolously on things that are not a necessity. The rich do not pay enough taxes for the amount that they make. The poor do not have enough money to pay for the necessities. The poor still have to pay taxes when they are just making minimum wage. The rich can walk in any store and purchase whatever their heart desires. The poor will save for months to buy a t-shirt. The rich live in nice big houses that are to big for their three people family,while the poor live in poor conditions or sometimes even in their cars. The rich may live an easier life but I believe the poor live a more fulfilled life.

Rich they spend money frivolously, do not pay enough taxes, and live in big houses.
The poor can barley pay their bills, save to buy things, and live in their cars.

Rich and poor people can be loving, friendly, helpful, giving, and creative.

"Journal Writing" on Wallace's This is Water

     I was in a clothing store where the line was long and I had somewhere to be by two o'clock the cashier seemed to be moving a little slower than most young cashiers that worked there.  You could hear all the customers begin to mumble under there breath, why was she moving so slow with this long line of customers. My fustration began mounting more and more as the minutes ticked away knowing that I was getting closer to the time I need to be at the doctors office for my yearly check-up.  Then the thought of maybe she just got the worst news of her life when she had her break twenty minutes ago. What if she just got news that her mother has stage four cancer and has only been given one month to live. I began to feel sorry for her my thoughts went from that of anger to that of condolence.  I could no longer be upset at the young lady.

"Journal Writing" on Anna Quindlen's Homeless

Home to me means where you feel protected from the foul and unruly things that happen in the outside world.  Home provides a roof over my head and walls that surround me.  Yes for me it does mean privacy, family, and a sense of permanence.
 

      It was not until the age of thirty-six that I acquired my first home and finally was able to live on my own. The meaning of home for me is stability, freedom, a sense of security, and also accomplishment. Stability for just that I am able to finally be stable enough to be on my own. Freedom, the freedom to come and go as I please. I have lived my entire life up until a year ago always residing with someone else.  A sense of security from the outside world where I can lock my door and not be afraid.  I have not always lived in the safest areas of California.  And last but not least I feel accomplishment because I am able to provide for myself and my children without depending on anyone else.  I am able to pay the mortgage all on my own.

"Journal Writing" on Brad Manning's Arm Wrestling with My Father

                                                                    Journal Writing


It is normal to have conflicting feelings about your parent/parents.  This is something I think every child goes through.
     My parents where divorcing I felt broken, split into two pieces.  They would be in different homes and that meant that I could not see them both at the same time.  I had love and hate all at once for both of them.  I felt as though they didn't try hard enough to keep "our" family together.  It was't until later in life that I had realized it was in my best interest that the divorce had to happen so that everyone would live happier and more productive lives.

"Journal Writing" on Amy Tans Fish Cheeks

1.    I can sympathize with Tan to a certain extent because it is hard to feel as though you fit in when you are fourteen years old.

2.    Tan should have felt more proud to share her familys customs.  She could have explained the reasons for all the differences between the two cultures.

3.     When I was a child I had a problem with warts.  Mostly on my right knee.  When it came time to spending the night over friends houses in the summer time it was hard for me to feel comfortable. They would be wearing the short night gowns and I would be wearing my long pants with my night gown to insure my knee would be covered so no one could see my warts.  I always felt different from everyone else.

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