The War

In the film we see cases of PTS. The first being with Stephen, the dad. He was in the war and lost his friend Dodge. Dodge was already suffering from too much blood loss to survive and was left on the battleground while a helicopter took the surviving soldiers to safe ground. He suffered terrible PTS from the war and that moment of leaving his friend to die. Later on in the movie Stephen was put in a similar situation with his new friend from work. The two men were working underground and a rush of water pushed rocks from the walls and it fell on his friend. The man was going to die but he didn't have the heart to leave him and save himself. He already did that once in the war and the PTS from that incident was to traumatizing to do that again. While trying to save his friend more rocks caved in and injured Stephen which injured him badly enough where he passed away days later.
At this time Stephens son was trying to cope with the thought that he might lose his dad. He was in denial and wouldn't face the situation, he distracted himself. Which is one of the first signs of PTS.

In this film when bad incidents would happen the setting was all similar.
When the dad, Stephen, was hit with the rocks which lead to his death they were in a dark wet setting. They were underground in a cave, it was dark, and flooded with water.
When Dodge was killed in the war it was dark outside in a muddy environment. Its
The little boy Buddy from the other family almost died drowning in an old water tower. He was climbing on this wooden roof on top of the water tower and fell through. Luckily Stew was there and jumped in a saved him a helped resuscitate him back to life.
All of these incidents have a dark, wet, dirty, environment.
In all of these cases the people who lost or almost lost their lives were put in that position doing the right thing. Stephen was there for his friend and didn't want to leave him there to die and suffered death from trying to save his friend.
Dodge was just a man brave enough to fight for his country and died.
The little boy was trying to get the key for Stew for his lock that his brother threw up on the water tower and by trying to do the right thing he almost lost his life.
It seems like the natural course of life takes over and kills these people anyways. Because that's the cycle.

Weekly post

This week we worked on our college essays. I wrote mine about a time in my life where I felt like I was coming into adulthood. I like my essay a lot. I wish it could be longer then 650 words though.I liked writing my college essay I'm really looking forward to college and writing the essay made me realize how little of high school we have left. Its such a bitter sweet feeling. The last three years went by sooo fast and I know senior year will be over in a blink of an eye.
We also read our memoirs I pretty much finished my memoir. I've never read a book so fast. I probably sat down to read it less then ten times and finished the book its such an easy and interesting read. It got a little confusing towards the end, he jumps back and fourth between present time and flashbacks and its hard to fallow and tell the difference between them. Its a sad book too. There's a part I read last week where he comes home from a trip with his mom and the dad had killed the little boys hamster when they were gone and it broke the kids heart. It was so sad! I can't believe that this book is a memoir, its terrible how messed up Augusten Burroughs childhood was. It made me realize how good I have it. It somewhat surprised me that someone would be so comfortable sharing these experiences with the world.

Learning from life experiences

Through out my life I have learned that everything tends to work itself out. When my parents got divorced I had it pretty nasty for three years and thought my world was coming to an end. I was constantly  fighting with my mom and felt like I didn't have anyone I could go to and trust anymore. I eventually moved in with my dad after a bad fight with her and am now spending a few hours a month with my mom. I have learned to accept that this is the way its going to be now and I'm happy and comfortable again. It was really hard at first when I was fighting with my mom I thought we weren't ever going to be the same again and even though its not the same between us anymore, we have a good relationship in a different way. I need her in my life because she understands me and never judges me and is the only person in my family like that. I now feel like I could go to her for anything again three years later and with time everything fell back into place.

Blog 3

This week we've learned about memoirs and what a memoir is. A memoir is an event from the past written in first person told from memory. We also watched a very powerful performance of a Slam Poem "I'm taking my ball and going home" by Panama Soweto. He is a great speaker and he shared this poem that talks about this boy who would throw a fit when kids weren't listening to him and would say "I'm taking my ball and going home" he talks about how this kid just wanted to be taken seriously and how he is a poem. Panama talks about how everyone feels alone and just want to be listened to. In his Slam Poem he talks with so a lot of emotion and is very inspiring.
We also had a book talk and got to pick out what memoir we want to read at first I chose a book from the library "Wish You Happy Forever". Its about a couple who adopt a little girl from China. It takes awhile for this little girl to break out of her shell because of how harsh her living conditions were in China. The mom of this little girl feels bad for the children in China and how they are treated at the orphanages. But then we had a book talk and Mrs.Menoue showed us a book "A wolf at the Table" about this twisted family and it interested me so much I switched books.
We also wrote out own 6 word memoirs.
"Hey Trav, I'm glad you're home"

Me

I use music to get away. One of my favorite artists to listen to when I'm just hanging out is Atmosphere. I think my favorite song is "Yesterday". I also really like Grieves he has somewhat the same style as Slug. However I am also a Country fan I love the country twang sound; the guitar and deep voices the men have.  I'm obsessed with the song " I don't dance" by Lee Brice right now it has that country twang I love. I really love country because every song truly has a story in it and I really like that. When I am in a upbeat mood I like listening to Flume, Sound Remedy, Bassnectar, Big Gigantic, artists with that type of sound. I put a picture of Red Rocks because I'm in love with Red Rocks and all the best shows I've been to have been there. I have seen too many shows there to name but my favorite show I've gone to was definitely Rowdy Town last September. I am seeing Rowdy Town this September as well and couldn't be more stoked! In a few days my best friend and I are going to go see Atmosphere at Red Rocks and we've been counting down the days for months now. My favorite thing about music though is how it helps people connect. I feel like the people I am closest with have the same taste in music as I do. I think music is the easiest way to meet new people too and realizing you already have something in common gives you and instant connection. 

This picture is my friends/soccer teammates at prom last year. The one thing that keeps me grounded in this world is my amazing friends I have. I have a few friends I tell everything to and would do anything for. I think the most important thing in life is having a solid loving support group and I have that with my friends. There is also something different about being best friends with someone and being teammates with them as well. My best friend Renae and I were friends we had a few classes together but then when we became teammates at Monarch we literally were inseperble. It creates a bond with two people when they have to push themselves to achieve something as shitty as the 9 min drill we do for fitness or win a game in double overtime to qualify for playoffs like we did last year. Its a special kind of friendship. I'm lucky enough to have friends in my life like I do. My best friend Julianne I've known as long as I can remember, she has stood by my side since fifth grade. We've had our ups and downs but we always are the same goofy carefree girls when we are together. Every time we hang out it can be from seeing Jay-Z in concert or sitting in her room eating kettle corn we have a great time. 

One thing that has really made me who I am is definitely where I live. Living ten min outside of boulder in Superior has been a blessing. I have a close friend that live in Philly and every time he visits he talks about how beautiful and clean it is out here and how lucky we all are. I don't think people realize how lucky we are to be able to go out at 10pm and walk around boulder and get food or go explore flagstaff and go on night hikes where you can see as far as the eye can. Boulder is different and definitely weird but living here has shaped me and I'm so happy I got tot grow up in such a beautiful safe area. I was influenced by Boulder because I really have a little hippie in me from living here for sure and so do some of my friends if we grew up anywhere else I don't think we would be like we are. My friend from Michigan who lived here most of her life talks about how different it is there and conservative and how awesome it is here to be able to drive ten min and be in a place like Boulder and then to drive 30 min the other way and able to be at red rocks or just 20min East and be able to be in Denver. We are in the middle of everything and I absoulutley love it.