Asignment #12: AWESOME

This is a response to Assignment #12: Awesome.

Before I get into my post I'd just like to say, Miss Pollock, this is AWESOME! I think this is my favourite assignment so far.

I know this is a bit late so that's why I'm using my PD day to catch up on any homework that is overdue as well as homework due on Monday.

Part 1- Awesome things from 1000 Awesome things
#365- Getting dressed out of the dryer/ laundry basket
I can really relate to this becuase up untill recently I had all of my clothes (or at least the ones that I actually wear) in a duffle bag. I used to just get dressed right out of the duffle bag and at the end of the day throw my dirty clothes on my floor. On Friday I would take all the clothes off my floor and do a load of laundry. After that I put all my clean clothes back in the duffle bag and bring them to whatever house I was going to that Friday (becuase I live one week with my Dad and the next week with my Mom). Then the whole cycle would begin again that week. Last week my parents introduced this magical thing to me, it's called...HANGING UP YOUR CLOTHES! So no more awesome getting dressed out of a bag or me.

#401- The sound of dry leaves blowing across a parking lot
Okay, so I'm going to change this one a little bit to, stepping on crunchy looking leaves. In October (before I moved) I walked home after school, it took about half an hour and I just had to walk straight the entire way. You'd imagine that I would get pretty bored walking for half an hour with nobody to keep me company (I live further than most people from school). One day I decided to challenge myself and I didn't let myself take a step without stepping on a leaf. I pretended that every leaf I stepped on saved a life and every step I took that wasn't on a leaf didn't save a life. I know it probably sounds stupid but it was actually really fun and surprisingly I suceeded! I guess that's proof that there are a lot of leaves. Another time when I was walking home I thought that the guy behind me was following me so I wanted to walk relly quickly. I sang a rap in my head (I believe it was Mockingbird by Eminem) and took 1 step per syllable but singing it at it's regular fast speed. It was pretty cool how fast it forced me to walk and I got home a lot earlier than usual.

#414 Driving home from a long trip and getting all your radio stations back
I can relate to this and I still joke about it with my family. In the summer of 2009 (when I was 11/12) my Mom, sister and I went on a roadtrip across Canada and the northern States. We drove the entire way and in the small towns that we drove through there was usually only one radio station with a mix of songs and genres so this is kind of how it went:

(Classic Rock song comes on) Mom: Yes! Finnaly Some good music.
Me: Yawn...
(Lady Gaga song comes on) Sarah and Me: Oh, I love this song!
Mom: There's so much crap on the radio now and days.
(Some rap song comes on) Sarah and Mom: Eww, turn it off!
Me: Hey, I like this beat!

The worst of it was in Montana and Wyoming when there was nothing but 24/7 country music on the radio and in restaurants. We stopped at Pizza Hut and there was this super twangy country song that went something like, "She's a fire Cracker!"
We were so relieved to get back into Ottawa and have all our good radio stations back!

I was inspired by this assignment and decided to make my own list of awesome things, I'm no where near 1000 and I lost a page of awesome things but here's my list of the simple but awesome things in life:

1. Reaching into a bag of M&M's and pulling out more than one stuck together
2. Closing the dishwasher with your foot
3. Cooking a meal and having everything times to be done at the same time
4. Pulling a push door/pushing a pull door
5. Turing the TV/radio on just as your favourite show/song comes on
6. Finding out the name of that song you kept hearing
7. Pinching yourself and then realizing you're NOT dreaming
8. Walking into a store and finding exactly what you were looking for
9. Sitting in your warm house with hot chocolate watching the snow outside
10. Laughing so hard you cry
11. Crying so hard you laugh
12. Correcting your teacher
13. When the google logo changes because it's a holiday
14. Watching a movie on TV that you own and wouldn't normally be watching
15. Wearing something two days in a row without washing it
16. Telling secrets to random people but not telling your best friends
17. When your friend says word and you know exactly what their talking about and burst out laughing
18. Singing out loud in public places
19. Pretending you're the girl kissing the hot guy in the movie
20. Cuddling with your pillow or a big stuffed animal
21. The snooze button
22. Someones face just before they sneeze
23. Writing a row of !'s and getting a 1 at the end!!!!!!!!!!1
24. The crackling sound that rice krispies make when you pour milk into them
25. laughing at someones laugh
26. Inside jokes
27. Reading an entire book at Chapters and without having to buy it
28. Superstitions
29. When your cat walks on your keyboard
30. Hold/elavator music

#17 (on my list) - When your friend says one word and you know exactly what they mean and burst out laughing

This happened to me the other day. My best friend, Zoe was blowing her nose and I said, "Remember" and she knew exactly what I was talking about and stated laughing. It was something that happened in grade 4 or 5 when we were outside and I really needed a kleenex to blow my nose. Zoe told me that her Dad told her when they were camping that you can just snort out of nose and then kind of wipe your nose. So I decided to try that but it didn't work out so well because I was just sitting there with snot hanging out of my nose. Sorry for making it all gross and graphic but between Zoe and I, it's pretty funny.

Okay, so that's my awesome post. I hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers,

Mega-Awesome Hannah

Assignment #11: Letters of Remembrance

This is a response to Assignment 11 on Ms. Pollock's blog.









Dear Father,

I hope all of you are doing well back at home. I'm afraid I can't say the same for myself. I hate the feeling of the sun melting through my heavy uniform, we don't get much shower time so sometimes I have to go to bed in a pool of my own sweat. The nights here are freezing so many people are getting very sick from the crazy temperature drop. There is a lot of air pollution and a shortage of fresh drinking water.



The worst thing that has happened was the passing of my friend, Tim. When we first arrived in a Afghanistan most of the guys underestimated me because I'm a girl. They soon realized how tough I can be but Tim was nice to me and helpful from the beginning. I finally understand what you mean about creeping around a corner and never knowing if you will meet a bullet. I have been luckier than you were though, no major injuries, yet that is.


We don't get much time to eat either and the food is nothing like what what I'm used to at home. I didn't realize how much I would miss Mom's blueberry pancakes! When we do have appetizing food the horrible stench of body odor and rotting bodies takes over and I lose my appetite. I can't believe that I ever wanted to lose weight in high school, now all I want to do is eat and gain all the weight I have lost from not being able to eat.


It is just sinking in that I am here to kill people. I can't bear hearing it in those words, just knowing that I might be taking the life of someone's child, parent, girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, friend, sister, brother, chills me deep down inside. I feel like a terrible person and the only thing that gets me through is knowing that I am doing a good thing for my country and all of Canada's citizens.


I feel like my days are numbered. I either come back or I don't, and that's all there is to it. So please Dad, pray that I will come back, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment but I know that I have a whole life waiting for me back home. Mom says that since you've come back from war you haven't been the same. I realise that I may not be the same Fi that I was before the war but this was something I was meant to do.


Send all my love to Mom, Billy, Amanda, Grandma Josie and baby Riley. It's your love and support that keep me going and give me strength to pull through all the hard times. Tell Mom not to cry, I'll be home soon so don't give up on me or lose faith in me.


I realise that this may not arrive for a while but please write back.


Love,



your daughter,



Fiona

How am I creative?

Ms. Pollock asked us to make a blog post telling everyone how we're creative. Click HERE for more details. I immediately got really excited because anyone who knows me knows that I'm a creative person. After my momentary happy dance (I'm so kidding, it takes a lot more than homework for me to burst into a happy dance) I realised it wouldn't be as easy as I thought. I really wanted to dig deep and tell people what really makes Hannah creative, what makes me Hannah. This is what I came up with:

First thing you should know is there are two Hannah's. No, I am not schizophrenic. What I mean is my creativity reflects through my introvert side (the part of me that's quiet, secretive, observant) and my extrovert side (the part of me that's outgoing, open, bubbly). My main two passions at the moment are my fashion passion (hey, that rhymes!) and my writing passion (that's how I know how to make rhymes). When it comes to writing I'm completely an introvert, I write about things that are bundled up deep down inside me (things I'm not even aware of), I'm very secretive (you should be surprised I'm even sharing this blog post), I pour everything out that I would never even come close to saying out loud. Paper is like my second brain, and my pen--that really is mightier than the sword--has a life of it's own and is transferring words from my brain (the real one in my head) to the paper aka Brain #2. I also just realised that I have a tendency to use WAY too many parenthesis.

My favourite thing to write is raps. People probably don't see me as the rapper type of gal but really, I'm the female Eminem. Speaking of Eminem, he is actually a HUGE inspiration to me. I think he's an amazing writer and rapper and I like the fact that he doesn't give people the wrong idea about rap because he raps about life and not just girls, sex, drugs, money, ect. Another inspiration I have when it comes to writing is television. People say that you should write about things you've experienced, but it's not really fun to write about my bus ride home or how I got dressed in the morning. Since I am like the biggest couch potato ever I experience a lot of TV, thus being my main inspiration for writing. I watch a lot of talk shows, dramas, and reality shows so I see what other people go through and how life can really suck sometimes. I don't write about happy things; when I'm happy I want to be doing happy things like dancing or singing but writing is what I do to control my unhappy emotions. So don't be scared if you notice that a lot of the stuff I write deals with death and other depressing topics, they are not personal but rather about other people, many of which are made up for television. My lastest rap which I just finished this morning (I'm still not happy with the ending but this post is due tomorrow so I don't have time to change it) is about a girl with an eating disorder. You kind of have to read it fast and possibly out loud for it to sound good and rhyme properly but that's what sucks about not being a complete extrovert and just recording myself rapping it. Here it is:

If only she knew -Hannah Z. Shapiro

She promises it will be her last slice of cake, society is making her want to look fake, like a barbie doll, she wont even go to the mall, for fear that she might not be extra-small. She's really quite light but she'll fight into jeans three sizes too small, 'cause they gotta be zero-zero and skin tight. She don't wanna be a hero, just America's Next Top Model eatin' nothin' but celery and diet pepsi by the bottle. She thinks skippin' out on food will make her skinny and she'll catch the eye of that dude who only dates the little mini cheerleaders, 'cause he's insecure and needs to keep his reputation. In his imagination he sees himself and her together, forever but she never even speaks they got open hearts and closed beaks. If only she knew, if only she knew. And now she's not eatin', losing her hair and turning green, if only she knew, if only she knew. She fainted twice in the night, somehow it ain't right, if only she knew, if only she knew. Good thing the 90's are coming back in 'cause she needs her baggy hoodies to hide every inch of her skin. She thinks it's no big deal till she's on life support and it's real. That boy, he didn't even need a phone call in the night to put him in a state of fright. She's laying on a hospital bed, her face all flushed and red. Taking his hand she assures him that with help she can stand, but she's hanging on to life like a puppet tied to strings so he holds her in his arms and his heart stings as her breaths grow shorter and he opens up his beak to speak but he's too late, he'll never know if it was it fate. If only she knew, if only she knew.

Somewhere in the middle it changes tempo because I wrote a lot of it in a short amount of time and then I took a break and I finished it this morning at seven o'clock. Since the clocks switched I'm not sure if it was 6, 7 or 8 but regardless I was quite tired.

Like I said another passion of mine is Fashion but I'll get into that later.

My more extrovert creativity is singing, dancing and acting. I've always loved singing and acting and I've only gotten into dancing recently but I absolutely LOVE dancing! Over the summer I received a bursary--which is pretty much like a scholarship--to a musical theatre workshop. At the end of the workshop we put on a musical called the "goddess." The part I played in it had little acting, quite a bit of singing and a lot of dancing. I had to dance in every musical number and it was really hard to remember all the choreography especially since I had to sing at the same time. Even though it was a hard and stressful two weeks it was one of the most exciting and inspiring experiences of my life and I made friends that I will never forget. Here are two numbers from "The Goddess."

This one was the opening number, I'm the one who is in the middle at the beginning. I walk down to the microphone and I sing the first verse...solo! The quality kind of sucks because it was filmed on a blackberry. So here is "Long ago and Far Away" :

The video upload doesn't work so you'll have to click HERE to watch it.

The second one is sung by Jupiter played by Katie (who is by the way an AMAZING actress and proof that people with autism are just the same as every one else.) I'm hard to point out but I'm in black and towards the left for most of the time.

Click HERE to view "I'm gonna come back."

The Goddess is a rock and roll comedy musical set in the 50's. It follows gods and goddesses and mortals. It's the story about what happened when Cupid (a god) was the victim of his own arrows and fell in love with Psyche (a mortal) all while Bacchus (another god[dess]) came down to earth as a rock and roll superstar, thus starting one of the worlds most popular genres of music.

This is a drawing someone made of the writers/directors Andrea and Alan:

This is a picture of the Zephyrs: Charlotte, Farrah, Jillian, Emma and Me:

This is a picture from another production of the goddess that I wasn't in. This is from the cutest scene EVER where cupid sings to Psyche as she dies in is arms:

This is our Cupid aka Caleb and Psyche aka Rachel (unfortunately there is no cute picture from that scene)

I will never forget The Goddess and all the great people I met: Emma, Charlotte, Farrah, Jillian, Catherine, Megan M, Megan O, Caleb, Rachel, Kyna, Katie, Oliver, Cara, Stephanie, Rihanna, Haley, Jane, Corey, Andrea and Alan.

Now I will get onto the Fashion Passion! Isn't that just so fun to say? I wasn't always super into fashion but once I started watching Project Runway, reading Vogue and seeing all the fabulous outfits Lady Gaga would shock people with I was hooked. I think knowing how to sew really helps me with fashion. When I was about 8 my step-mom Shelley taught me how to sew and I made myself a little kilt! After that I really got into making Sock Monkeys, because they are super cute and really fun to make. From there I started checking out a lot of fashion books and magazines, I watched fashion television and made a lot of fashion sketches. I also go on this website called polyvore.com where you can make fashion sets and collections. I'm currently working on a collection--on polyvore and just making sketches--inspired by Adam on Degrassi (TV inspiration again) that tells the story of an FTM transgender. It's so cool that you can tell a whole story through clothing! Here is a set that someone made on polyvore just as an example so you can see what polyvore is. I believe that people that shouldn't dress to impress they should dress to express. That's why I really love Lady Gaga's sense of style because her personality shines through what she wears and she doesn't care what others think of her fashion. People wear clothing but people are fashion. Fashion is expression, fashion is people, fashion is art. I don't have much money to buy Fashionable clothes so I kind of improvise but I'm a fashion designer, not a model. If you watch So You Think You Can Dance it's kind of like the dancers are the models and the choreographers are the Fashion the designers. There's SYTYCD, Project Runway and America's Next Top Model, but where's Next Top Choreographer? That was just a show I always wish they had. Like I need more TV shows?

Like I said before dance is super hard but I love it! I'm taking a contemporary dance class at the moment and everyone else in it is older and more experienced but I think that's good because it pushes me to become a better dancer. I never though I could express myself so much through dance and sometimes while I'm dancing it's so hard that I feel like giving up but afterwards I feel amazing and really glad that I stuck to it. Right now in my class we are working on dances for the songs Viva La Vida and Bleeding Love and they are looking fantastic!

In Dance both sides of me come out but mainly my extrovert side and in fashion it's pretty much a combination of the two.

That pretty much concludes my Creativity post. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

-Hannah (both sides)