5/1/08

It was a year ago at this time that the Writing Center blog was first formed. Initially it was on Blackboard, set to help out with housekeeping issues in seminar. Now it is on Blogger and is a lot different than a place to rant and rave about scribblers. I thought I would compile some of the best quotations from our blog from last year up to this point. Here you go:

"[Truthful essays] simply take us into a true landscape and let us walk around beside them. And in this way, they turn their essays into an art form. They allow us--they do not force or push us--but allow us to connect."
Sis. Morgan

"Hey! Did you know that turkeys will peck to death members of the flock that are physically inferior or different. Such stupid birds. No wonder everyone kills them for Thanksgiving." S. Morgan

This is not a deep thought about writing, or in fact a thought at all. Anona

MY SISTER MEGAN GAVE ME THIS BOX S. Morgan

Every birthday is big when you’re in your 90’s. This is when people start to say, “Any day now. . . .” And even if you don’t hear them, you still know they’re saying it. So I’m going to keep going...After turning 100 there’s really nothing left to live for, so that’s when I plan to die.
Dan


Today is a momentous day in scribblerhood. Julie

I'M ENGAGED!!! Jenny

I wonder why people blog the things that they do. Rhett

First question, what is the voice you don't want to hear? Anona

Sometimes I wish I was a child in Africa. Julie

I’m getting the feeling that this—the true union between two people—is what marriage is all about, which is strange considering I’ve heard this all my life. Leanna

Now there’s a sharp pain, like a knife running down the back of my hand, following the bone of my pointer finger. I have to stop again. But I have to write. Travis

Rumors are hurtful Julie and you shouldn't post them on the blog. Dan

I’m just putting it out there in hopes that by doing so, I can focus on everything else in my life a little more clearly. Leanna

Now the piano

slides up and down the treble like a hurricane

with da, da, da, da in the bass.

Travis

You know all those obnoxious EFY counselors and participants that everyone hates seeing on campus? The ones that congest our already narrow paths and scream so loudly that we can't concentrate in our classrooms? Well I've been stalking them. EmPo

Yesterday after my last class my teacher asked, "Now who will you be when you get back?" Anona

Sigh. Mood swings, bipolar living—I blame it all on the birth control. I just feel discombobulated.

p.s. Sorry I missed the party. Anona

So much of that Center is alive. Sometime I think I can feel the chairs breathing underneath me, and the walls pulsing with the flow of blood and life. Julie

When I am honest with myself, though, I know I want more than that. I want to do more than just finish college; I want to wait until at least my mid-twenties to get married; and I want to stop my education or career when I am ready to, and not because our culture seems to expect it of me. Is that too much to want? Kristen

Falling pine tree. Tears. Dead beaver. S. Morgan

Sis. Morgan: "If that's a snake, you're fired."

Me: "I have two weeks. Fire me."

Anona at the rodeo: "What are those chicas doing there?" Kristen

"I can feel my neurons straining." Jami

Mike seemed gruff and scary, but we bonded when his Megaman T-shirt struck up a conversation about that terrific series of games. Chan

I thought the poor fish was sleeping. Is that possible? Do fish sleep? By yesterday, however, it was definitely dead. Very, very, very dead. Kristen

I miss you all like crazy. Julie

Probably about 40 people watched me make a complete fool of myself. It was great. Dan

The realization that I am definitely leaving hasn't sunk in yet. I thought it would when I got my flight plan in the mail; I thought it would when I sent in my deferment; I thought it would when people started trickling back to school. Nope. Instead I continue in my la-te-dahness. Kirsten

Today's excitement reached its zenith when I found a new bottle of gel/pomade stuff in the bathroom and put some in my hair after my shower. Chan

I have calluses on my fingertps and the palms of my hands. Leanna

I learned a valuable lesson today: If you're going to go fishing without a license, don't fish anywhere near where you park. Dan

But as I didn't cuss and and didn't laugh at their jokes, things got cleaner. The guys are good hearted. Chan

So, since nobody in attendance at potluck drinks fermented anything (plus the fact that it tasted funny) the remainder of my lemonade got poured down the drain. I think next time I’ll skip the rice and hard lemonade and just bring Jell-o. Kirsten

Of course, this mood probably won't last until our meeting on Tuesday, so, don't worry; by then you can expect me to be back to my onery self again. S. Morgan

I hate my job...On a lighter note...I currently have a beard. Chan

My husband left me Friday morning. Leanna

I always end up with the best people in the whole universe working for the Center. S. Morgan

As this girl in a session today said, pain in sports is like a toy in your Happy Meal--you just expect it. Anona

Wait, wait. I have to stick my hand where to get what out of the turkey????" Julie

Excuse me. There is a spider crawling on my couch S. Morgan

I had a dream last night that I caught a teeny, tiny, orange feral cat that went crazy clawing and scratching every time I touched it. Tell me what that means and you can have a peppermint from the basket by the front desk. Chan

Anona, a "kid" is a small goat. You are going to have a baby.
Chan, Chan, the bearded man. S. Morgan

I continued walking when the sweat had turned to coldness. Travis

And why do I not want to look them in the eyes when I tell them my plans? Leanna

I see you all have become incredibly silly in my absence. Anona

Tell me how wrong that is. Wait, don't. I already know. Julie

I have a fear. It’s of opening up too much. Or too little. But that contradiction seems in keeping with the paradoxes shared at the party tonight. Shannon

Life is about leaving. EmPo

I knew though in my heart that the words of the old hymn rang true. “We thank thee O God for a Prophet”. Ivor

I’ve found myself occasionally doing something I’m not overly proud of. Matthew

It puzzles him to see other dogs and deer walk on water. S. Morgan

The wind blows across a lake and whistles through the trees and through my ears; waves are created that attempt to scale the boulder on which I’m perched. They all talk to me, and I seem so far from alone, but I’m distanced by the fact that I cannot speak their language. Shannon

What if as soon as I go to the door I'll get hit over the head with a frying pan and sold into the slave market across the world? Julie

I should be better, but instead I’m daydreaming of Jami singing at MY funeral. S. Morgan

As I pushed my cold corn around my tray, listening to the other faculty members talk about how many points each portion of their meal was according to their new weight watchers program, I wondered—what will happen to me in 11 weeks and 4 days when I finish my student teaching? EmPo

Behind my door and alone in my room, I can finally say, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”—but again no one hears me. Hyrum

I thought you were suppose to feel refreshed after your visiting teachers came. I just feel drained for them and scared for my own mental functioning. Julie

This is me not writing my big fat essay that's due tomorrow in Bro. Samuelson's class. Chan

I’m the teacher, so I tried to be the adult in the situation and just said in my sweetest sarcastic voice, “That’s okay. You don’t have to like my clothes. Quite frankly, I don’t have to like your clothes, either. But none of that matters right now. You should be working on your questions.” EmPo

Because you don't say good-bye, I never realized that I had actually left Rexburg & thought I could run down & talk to you any time. Guess not. Sarah

I’m scared of starting over. Sara Lee

God wants me awake. Nate

I exploded. Shannon

I just had to use the word "Tire" no less than four times in the title of this post. Matthew

I really hope the scriptures are true when it says that the same sociality will exist, and I'll be able to scowl at him again when he walks into the room cheerful and smiling. Ivor

I don't even know if "authorship" is a word, but I'm celebrating it. Jami

I've never seen Sister Morgan dance around a fire with eagle feathers in her hair, but she must do it often because she was quite skilled at doing so. Jami

Can something be unfair just because I want it to be? Hyrum

WAHOO! (I think an exclamation mark is warranted here) Sara Lee

This is not, according to my opinion, where those (things) have been done, to ask nothing more. Dan

I picture my creative spark as this little Amish man. Matthew

I didn’t quite know what to say to that, so I just smiled and nodded my head. Sure yeah whatever you say… Leanna





15 comments:

Chan said...

Julie, thanks for compiling these. What a great distillation. How are you?

Natorade said...

What a neat post! I even got in it once and ya know, I'm happy with that. It's like a window into those fond memories that President Monson likes to call warm summer days in our coldest of winters...or something to that effect.

iBo said...

Wow this was a cool post. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It reminds me of one of those "Year in Review" type montages at that always appear around new years and you sit and go "oh yeah that happened in the past year didn't it."

Brad & Emily said...

Julie,

I love this. Thanks. It's cool to read the little passages and remember all the feelings and experiences that went with each post. And it makes me homesick for the Writing Center. Why did I choose to graduate and grow up?

Julie M said...

I don't think any of us chose to grow up. Unfortunately, it just happens. I'm doing well, Chan, things are busy though. I finally finished up student teaching, and now I am trying to figure out what to do with my life next year. Unfortunately, I didn't get the same kind of letter that Sara Lee got in the mail. So, now I am a ship with out a rudder, or steering wheel, or something like that. We come back to Idaho in about a month, and I am excited to see the WC again. How are you (and everyone...how is everyone)

E. Anona said...

Julie! Hello, and thanks so much for the memories. I thought Dan had killed the blog with his astounding Greek sentence...I mean, how do you respond to a sentence like that? It's deep...and yet not. But anyway, a great reminder to keep posting and creating.
I didn't know you were coming back to Idaho. I'm going to miss summer in Idaho.

S.Morgan said...

Really nice, J. Thank you. Thank you. By the way, what exactly does "growing up" mean? Where is it? I think I should find this place someday. But...maybe not.

E. Anona said...

Apology to Dan, I guess he didn't kill the blog as I had thought. (Although it is a possible scenario)
I don't know if this is happening to anyone else, but every time I get on the blog at work it looks the same as it did like a week ago. Then at home I accessed it and voila, new posts! So hit F5 and refresh the blog, even if you are opening and closing your browser each time you look at it.

Daniel Jared Sorensen said...

Please. Me? Kill the blog? Very doubtful. I only post the most mellifluent insights. How do we know you're not trying to kill the blog by making false accusations?

Julie M said...

Dan, that is the most disgusting picture that you have yet posted of yourself.
And need I reference your previous comments about posting rumors and false accusations on the blog?

Shannon said...

This post was great; I was laughing aloud, and had to read some of them to my fiance. Some of them he found hillarious; some I just said, "You'd have to know [insert name]." When we finished his comment was, "I want to work at the writing center!". . . yeah, me too. I miss you all!

S.Morgan said...

Daniel Dork-Brain Sorensen, I totally agree with Julie. Obscenely disgusting. You just love getting these rises out of us, don't you? This picture even beats the one with the bloody dangling eye. Gulp. I'm afraid we will have to put you away someday.

E. Anona said...

I liked the Terminator picture the best. I think you should put up your favorites Dan, and we can vote for which one we like the best..like a one-man photo contest. And come to think of it, all your pictures seem to be of you, so that fits.

Daniel Jared Sorensen said...

I would, but I know that Sister Morgan would just make fun of me.

Anonymous said...

These were hilarious. I was sitting at the front desk reading them and trying not to laugh maniacally, so the poor people waiting for their tutors wouldn't get nervous.

And Dan, Sis. Morgan always makes fun of you. You'll have to come up with a better excuse than that.