Reflection

 When first starting to read Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place I cannot say I was too excited to keep going.  I feel as if there are two different story lines going on in the novel.  One is Terry Williams’s autobiography and the other is a historical timeline with facts about the
Great Salt Lake, which when reading feels like a social studies text book.  There are two literary elements or styles of writing that I did pick up on while reading.  The first is the usage of similes.  On the first page of the prologue a simile is used which reads, “Volunteers are beginning to reconstruct the marshes just as I am trying to reconstruct my life” (Williams 3).  She immediately sets her readers up with the idea as she talks about this Bird Refuge being rebuilt she will be including details about how she will be reconstructing her life.  Another simile can be found on page 26 when she is talking about the hospital robes, she states, “But their robes seem more like socialistic wraps that let you know that you belong to the fraternity of the ill waiting patiently in rooms all across America” (Williams).  It struck me that she was able to take the simple idea of a hospital robe or gown, which is well know to all, and connect it to a larger idea that exists across
America.              The second technique I picked up on is where she has a sentence that consists of four to five words followed by a one worded sentence.  An example of this can be found on page 27 which reads, “There was another awkward silence.  Details done” (Williams).  I think the one to two word sentence that follows the longer sentence is a tool she uses to further reiterate the point she is trying to make, but in a short and simple fashion.  She is getting rid of words that are unnecessary when trying to make a point.  Another example, where she reverses that above example, is when she states, “Home.  The family gathered in the living room” (Williams 27).  I think this is a unique, but simple technique to use when writing.  It is a simple way to emphasize an important part or an important point to the readers. 

Most volleyball players are fit and in shape.  Most volleyball players need to improve their individual skills to better the team as a whole.  Most volleyball players have their own position they play.  Most volleyball players need to work as a team in order to be successful and win games.  Most volleyball players need to have an understanding of how the game is played, the rules, and the different rotation formations there are.  Most volleyball players are athletes and enjoy playing more than one sport.  Most volleyball players enjoying performing their ace cheer out on the court.  Most volleyball players like to spike the ball so hard over the net that it leaves their opponents stunned.  Most volleyball players love to get on the floor and dive in order to save the ball so their team can win the point for that play.  Most volleyball players need to practice the sport for many years before they become good at it.  Most volleyball players work hard at perfecting their serve, their passing, their spiking, and their setting.  Most volleyball players love when the game is intense and the adrenaline is pumping through their body.  Most volleyball players love it when the crowd is really into the game and they start cheering and clapping and getting loud in the stands.  Most volleyball players want to please their coaches and impress the fans.

When reading this next section in the book about his grandmother, Lalla, it became apparent that she was a unique character.  I took a few different lines from the book that describe the relationship Lalla had with her children and other friends in her life.  The first line is taken from the part where it talks about her day after she is down milking the cows in the morning, “The rest of the day would be given over to gallivanting-social calls, lunch parties, visits from admirers, and bridge.  She also brought up her two children”(116).  I found this line interesting because out of all the things Lalla could do with the rest of her day, raising her children was an addition to the list, almost as if it was supposed to mean, oh yeah…her two children.  Then next line I took talked about how other people viewed her parenting skills.  “For most of her life children flocked to Lalla, for she was the most casual and irresponsible of chaperones, being far too buys with her own life to oversee them all” (117).  This line was interesting to me because it seems to me that Lalla always has to be busy doing something that is self-stimulating.  That she is always on the look out for herself first, and then everything and everyone else follows after.  This just seems like another one of those things that is opposite from what is normally expected, like we talked about in class the other day.  You would think that a mother would put her children before herself, and not the other way around.      

I am not sure how I feel about Michael Ondaatje’s story.  It is very different from what I normally read.  The chapters are really short, which is something I am not used to, and the story just doesn’t seem to grab my attention.  There are a few lines that I picked out that really stood out to me.  These were lines that I could relate to or lines that just struck me as interesting.  The first line comes from page 22.  It states, “In my mid-thirties I realized I had slipped past a childhood I had ignored and not understood.”  This line sticks out to me because I find it hard for someone to not realize something as monumental as this, until they are thirty years old.  I mean I guess it is possible.  It just depends on who you are as a person and the type of family you were brought up in.  I think this line sticks out to me because it is a statement that is so different from how I feel about my childhood.  I have fond memories of my childhood.  I was never confused by something so bad that it took me until my thirties, well in my case my twenties, to realize.  I think it is just interesting to stop and think about childhood memories from an idea that is so different from my own.    Another line that sticks out to me comes from page 26, which states, “No story is ever told just once.  Whether a memory or funny hideous scandal, we will return to it an hour later and retell the story with additions and this time a few judgements thrown in.”  That passage struck me as interesting.  Once I stopped to actually think about what he is saying, I realized he is so right.  I can never tell the same story in the exact same way each time I tell it.  The first time I tell a story is like a practice run.  The next time I tell the story I add or take out things that will make my story sound better or more interesting.  It was just something that I had never thought about or realized until I read that passage.    

“The men all worked shift work because that paid a little better, so all of u knew how to tiptoe on days when the old man was on graveyards” (Karr, 64).  I chuckled a little when I first read this line.  The graveyard shift is a well known shift in my family.  The graveyard shift is when my dad works from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and sleeps during the day.  We are supposed to tiptoe around the house and not make a noise when my dad is sleeping.  However, with him it does not matter.  My father just cannot sleep during the day.  He could have been up for twenty-four hours the day before and maybe get an hour or two worth of sleep the next day.  My dad always makes fun of my mom or my brother or I when we nap during the day.  I think my dad is just jealous though because we can sleep when we are tired.  If I was up all night long I would have no problem sleeping during the day.  My dad is too concerned with who was on the phone when it rang or what we are all laughing about out in the living room.  It is nice to know that he is concerned and that he wants to be spending time with us, but for crying out loud if you are tired Pops go to bed.  So even though we try to tiptoe when dad is on the night shift it doesn’t matter.  He can’t sleep when the house is dead silent with no one around and he can’t sleep when we are in the house tiptoeing around.  We just finally gave up and stopped tiptoeing around the house when he is on nights.     

 “My sister grew up with an almost insane physical bravery:  once in the parking lot outside her insurance office, she brushed aside the .22 pistol of a gunman demanding her jewelry. “Fuck you,” she said and opened her Mercedes while the guy ran off” (Karr, 63).  This line really stuck out in my mind because I hear crimes like this being committed on the St. Rose campus and the surrounding areas.  Her sister defies all the procedurals we are told to take whenever security sends around an e-mail.  They always say to give the person what they want, not to fight back, and to immediately call the police or security.  Her sister simply tells a man with a .22 pistol to f-off.  It would be nice to imagine that a woman living or going to school in
Albany could perform this type of bravery and get away with it.  I would be scared out of my mind and I would just give the man my jewelry.  I would not want a man to shoot me over what, a pair of earrings, some rings and maybe a watch?  I value my life much more than the jewelry on my body.  Even though this is a short scene it really made me stop and think, “Wow this woman is nuts.”  It also made me as a reader want to know more about this scene.  I wanted to know what her sister was thinking at the time or why she was so brave and stood up to this gunman.  I wanted to scene to go into further details. 

I was at Crossgates Mall doing a little shopping.  I was coming out of the store
Cohoes when this man yelled out, “Excuse me Miss.”  This man was the person in the mall who goes around checking I.D.’s at the mall after four p.m.  I thought to myself, “Are you serious, is the man really coming over to I.D. me?”  Instead, he asked me where my smile went.  I immediately smiled and told him it had been a long day.  Then he went on to tell me this really weird and awkward story.  He told me about how if it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t be here right now.  He told me that it takes two people to make a baby, but that I was the only one who could carry one.  He told me to think about that for a minute, I did, and told him he was right.  He told me to keep that in mind, have a good day, and god bless.  The whole time he was talking to me I was thinking, oh my gosh, what is this guy talking about, why is he talking to me?  Did this whole conversation spring from the fact that I walked out of a store and wasn’t smiling?  When the man was done talking I walked away thinking to myself, how did that just happen?  That was the weirdest conversation I think I have ever had with a stranger in my entire life.  Who goes up to a total stranger and starts talking about how lucky they are to be here because females are the only ones who can give birth to children?  Random.   

 I love…(read p. 411 of “Why I Ride” I love to play volleyball.  It was my favorite sport in high school.  Getting out there on the court and competing gets my adrenaline flowing.  It is wonderful to be wrapped up in each play of the game.  You always have to be thinking about your next move, your teams next move and your opponenets next move.  You are always moving, always talking, and always focused.  I love to zone everybody in the stands out.  I focus on what my teammates are telling me and what my coach has to say.  All the other problems or issues I am having or stressing over, I just forget about them.  While I am out there on the volleyball court I focus on nothing but volleyball.  Everything else that is happening in my life can wait until this game is over  I am not a….(Richman uses the negative at least twice in her essay—first on page 396 and again on p. 411).

I am not a wimpy, girlie volleyball player.  I am an athlete who plays volleyball in a tough and challenging sport.  I am not the person who gets out on the court and is afraid to go after a ball that is served over the net.  I am not afraid to get on the ground in order to save a ball and keep it in play.  I am not afraid to serve the ball hard over the net every single time.  I am not afraid to give the other team my knuckle ball serve either.  I am not afraid to be aggressive when I spike that ball over the net at the other team.  I am not a wimpy volleyball  player.  I am an aggressive and athletic volleyball player.     

I didn’t…….

I didn’t give fifty percent each time I went out on the court.  I gave it everything I had, each time.  I wasn’t afraid to step up and lead my team.  I didn’t sit back and watch my team fall apart.  I did my best to get everyone motivated and focused on the task at hand.  I didn’t let negativity ruin a teammates focus.  If they were having a bad day at spiking I kept encouraging them to try.  I didn’t let them give up.  I would tell them everyone has their bad days and some days you are just off.  But to remember that they will have days when their serves are right on and days when their spikes will land in the back corner of the court every time.  I didn’t let me team get down on themselves or beat themselves up over a bad play or a bad game.   

A list of things you need to do/engage with/participate in your personal passion. (See page 413).

To play volleyball you need to be able to perform the basic skills.  You need to be able to serve, pass the ball and either set the ball or spike the ball.  You can be great at all of those things, at a few, or even just one.  You need to be able to work with a team and as a member of a team.  Yes, you do need to have some individual skills.  However, your individual skills will do the team no good, if you don’t learn how to use those skills to better the team and not just yourself.  

 Describe an object that is essential to your passion… (Look at Richman’s description of her bike on p. 404).

An object that is essential to my passion is a volleyball.  That ball determines how practices go, who wins a game, and who loses a game.  Players are expected to manipulate that ball to go where they want it to go or where it needs to go.  If the ball lands too far the the right of the whtie line, the ball is out of play, and the other team gets a point.  If the ball comes at you and you are not ready, then that ball could go anywhere, most likely a place you don’t want it to go.  That ball can help you become a better vollebyall player in practices.  You can use that ball to improve your serving, your passing, your setting, your spiking, and your digs.    

What kinds of special knowledge do you need to participate in your personal passion?      

You need to understand the rules of how volleyball is played.  You need to understand the different rotations, you need to understand each position and the responsibility that goes along with that position, and you need to understand how the scoring works.  

What are the concerns, issues, problems, difficulties that you face?  Some difficulties you encounter when playing volleball can be individual based or team based.  You do not always get along with your teammates or have the same philosophy about the game as they do.  It can be difficult to find a middle ground or a way to work through it in order to make the team successful.  Volleyball can also be difficult when you as an individual are struggeling to master a certain skill.  At the varsity level the starting six spots are very competative.  If you are having trouble passing or serving the ball then there is a good chance that another player can take your starting position for that game.    Searching for insights:

• Sometimes I think X, other times Y…

Sometimes I wish I continued playing volleyball through college and other times I don’t.  I think about how nice it would have been to still play games everyweek and go to practices and go to away games with the team.  However, then I think about how stressful the homework load can get now, when I do not even play volleyball.  I have chosen a major that is very demanding.  A major in which the college does not guarantee you will complete in four years.  I couldn’t imagine scheduling classes around my practice or game schedules.  I don’t’ even want to think about how long it would take me to complete my undergraduate work if I was playing a sport at the college level. 

·        When most people think about (your personal passion), they probably think about……………

The show Daria from MTV, where she is standing on the volleyball court.  The volleyball goes by, she puts her arm out, and says, “Oops.”  Volleyball may also be thought of as a girlie sport.  Where girls are afraid of the ball and run away eveytime the ball is hit towards them.

 ·        What they don’t know/realize/understand is……………..

That volleyball is a highly intense and competative sport.  Volleyball is not for whimps or girlie girls.  Volleyball requires a lot of skill and hard work in order to be successful at it.  You have to learn how to receive a ball from a serve and pass it up in the direction of the setter’s position.  You need to learn how to spike the ball over the net and put some fear in your opponenets.  You  also need to know how to serve the ball over the net.  Once you learn how to get that ball over the net then you can then work on placing the ball when you serve.  You can work on how hard you serve the ball or if you want the ball to curve when you serve it.  Volleyball is a team sport.  You need all six players on the court working together, talking to one another, and keeping everyone focused on the game. 

I enjoy working out and reading fitness magazine.  I try to get to the gym at least three times a week.  That does not always happen, but I try.  This first blog that really interested me talks about new exercises to try or new fitness routines to try at the gym. Since I enjoy reading these articles, this seemed like a good blog for me to tag.  http://technorati.com/blogs/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tranquillizer.co.uk%2Farticles

This blog talks about fitness, but in a humor way.  This is a good blog for me to use when I am having frustrations with my work out or just need to vent to someone.  http://technorati.com/blogs/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fitnessfixation.com

This third blog that interested me is more about nutrition that fitness.  However, fitness and nutrition go hand and hand so I could not pass it up.  I also like this blog because it had 234 other blogs linked to it.  I know this will be a resourceful blog for me to use.  http://technorati.com/blogs/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eatingfabulous.com