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HEISENCOOKIES

(made on the series finale night of Breaking Bad)

Meeting Gabrielle Douglas

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be in a movie about Olympic gold-medalist Gabby Douglas. It was very surprising, as I didn't expect her to come to Portage la Prairie to see her movie being made (she isn't in the movie). My friend and I stood near her for about 15 minutes debating on whether or not we should ask for a photo, and knowing we would regret it if we didn't. Luckily, another group of girls came along and asked for a photo so we jumped in with them.

Six Word Memoirs De-brief

What did I learn about storytelling?
These 6 word memoirs are a great demonstration of how stories don't need to be lengths of books to be considered stories. 6 meaningful words accompanied by a picture can mean more than a whole novel. I noticed a lot of memoirs made my fellow students that are very simple, but must have a lot of meaning. It's very interesting that a few simple words can mean so much to one person. It allows people to express themselves quite easily, rather than writing paragraphs to explain what they want to say.

Where did I show my knowledge about using storytelling skills?
I showed my knowledge of using storytelling skills by the punctuation in 6 word memoirs. Commas and punctuation marks can add so much to a sentence, and reshape the message completely. It's important to use punctuation properly, so you are able to portray your idea correctly. I thought I used pictures to tell the story as well. The picture can draw a person in at first, and then have them read deeper into the story.


What did I learn as a reader, writer, thinker, storyteller?
I learned that there are many different ways to tell a story. One short sentence can mean more than a book in its entirety. It was difficult to think of a meaningful quote using only 6 words, but I felt the limitation allowed me to narrow down the words that actually meant something. It was interesting to see what everyone else came up with, and to see what matters to other people.

Quickwrite: Uncomfortable Conversations

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/54883096355/758-write-what-disturbs-you-what-you-fear-what

I agree that success is often earned through uncomfortable conversations. Since success isn't often easy to get, you have to go through situations you would not normally want to go through. When I need to have uncomfortable conversations, I worry about it for at least a few hours. I get so worked up about things like talking to someone, and usually it ends with me feeling better than before. The last uncomfortable conversation I had was probably about gymnastics with my dad. I just spill out my feelings if I'm feeling down, and even though I really don't want to talk about it, I know he usually makes me feel better. If I keep things hidden, I just continue to feel awful, so that's why I decide to talk to someone about it. The next uncomfortable conversation I'm planning to have is about volunteer forms, and I'm nervous because I don't want people to ask me questions but I know I have to do it. It will be for the best once I've gotten through it.

Quickwrite- ROBOT

My robot slave, I mean servant, would help me with many things throughout my day. I would like my servant to help me pick out an outfit in the morning, and just tell me that I look fabulous so I don't second guess myself. Robot servant is too long of a name, so I would name him Thomas. He would look and sound like Thomas from Downton Abbey because he is beautiful, and I wouldn't mind hearing his voice everyday. Thomas would make me breakfast and lunch because I never get around to doing that in the morning. I would also enjoy massages since I'm always in need of one after gymnastics. If Thomas is a robot with feelings, I would let him have time off on holidays, and leave the house as he pleases after 7 pm.

#8- Experiences

While in London with 2 of my sisters, we were able to go on the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Being a Harry Potter fan, as well as someone who wants to pursue a film career, this was an amazing experience. There were so many props and costumes, sets and information about the films I've never heard before. I used a photo I took from the tour of Dumbledore's office. I didn't add any filters to the photo because the photo is really nice on its own. I added a fancy text because I think it fits well with the elegance of the photo. I'm really happy I was able to go on this tour, it inspired me to work hard enough to create something that I can be proud of and enjoy just as much as I enjoyed his series. 

#7- Great Memory

When my sister was living in London for school, me and Justine decided to save up money so we could visit her. We ended up doing some traveling, and one place we went was Edinburgh. We got the cheapest hotel room we could (because we only saved so much money). We were expecting the smaller, ugliest room they had, but when we walked in, we got the complete opposite. When we opened the door, we all gasped. The room was huge, the windows were huge, the ceiling was beautiful and the room was just screaming for me to do a handstand in it. I chose this font because I think it looks like the text they'd use on tourist shirts in Scotland. I put an exclamation point to show how exciting this day was for me.

#6- Hate

This is one of my most hated songs at this current moment. It's crazy how music can be so catchy and insanely offensive at the same time. When this song first came out, I was totally into it. If it was on the radio, I would jam out hardcore. Now if I ever hear it, I immediately change the station. When I first enjoyed it, I knew how horrible it was, but it was so catchy, so I decided that by not buying it, I wouldn't be supporting it. I blurred out the other songs in the photo to add emphasis to the song title, as well as an arrow. I used an equals sign to "prove" a point I was trying to make. I would never, ever pay money for this song.

#5- Confession

Last year, I noticed that many people in my classes would fall asleep at the most random times. I thought it would be funny to take photos of them sleeping so I could show them later, and there were so many opportunities to take them. I chose to include all the photos I've taken of people sleeping in this memoir. There isn't any significant punctuations as I didn't see any necessary. The text looks kind of old-timey and boring, which relates to school and school is the reason all these people are asleep.

#4- Love

I really don't know what kind of person I'd be today without my twin sister. Growing up with an exact replica of you is sometimes really difficult, but I wouldn't be the person I am today without her. I made this photo slightly black and white to show how the photo was taken back in the day. I didn't use any punctuation in this memoir because I didn't see it necessary for the message. I like that this picture shows how similar we are, we still are very similar today.

#3- Past

I chose to put three different photos for this six word memoir. I've included a photo of me at a gymnastics competition the year that I decided to quit gym, and the next two are from the past year when I had decided to come back. The photos show my progression in gym, and how much better I've done since then. I chose to use three photos so I could add emphasis on each line of the six word memoir. I also added emphasis to the memoir by adding commas, which represented the passing of time in each photo. Gymnastics has been apart of my whole entire life, and I like how this photo represents it. It's really difficult making a comeback, especially when you left the sport despising it, but I'm very happy I'm back. I don't think I could have ever gotten this far if I didn't take a break first.

#2- Family

I think this 6 word memoir fits really well with this photo. I like the way the photo is blurry and sort of chaotic, as well as me looking really depressed. The phrase "you'll do anything for them" along with this chaotic photo seems like a perfect match. I chose not to add any filters or borders for this photo, just because I like the photo on its own and how naturally crazy it is. I put a comma after family to add emphasis to the pause and how I'm explaining you will go to great lengths to please them. I chose a white text because it is an easy colour to see with a darker background, and a white underline to make the text more obvious.

#1- Me: Obsession

The image I used to describe my passion/obsession was a picture of me and my sister with season 2 of the show Sherlock, one of our absolute favourite shows. I think the words fit very well to the picture, as the picture accurately represents how excited I get about this show and how highly I think of it. We took this photo on the night my parents decided to surprise us by leaving it in our room without us knowing. I didn't add any effects to the picture (just a border for the text) because I like the "in the moment" feel of it. It is pretty obvious it was taken with a computer camera, and I like it that way. I didn't use any punctuation to my sentence because it is a general statement that doesn't need any punctuation except for a period at the end.