First and Last Lines Journal Writing

Colin Harper

First and Last Lines

This is the saddest story I have ever heard.

One day, during one week in one certain year, I met someone. That someone and I did some things. We did some fun things, and some not so fun things. Good things happened to us, and bad things happened to us. One day, the someone had to go somewhere, and something happened. I was waiting somewhere else for the same someone to arrive, when that something happened. I felt a strange something somewhere within myself. The story on the news said that something had happened to my someone. I became a very lonesome someone for some time. My someone was now a no one, and so was I. 

Are there any questions?

First and Last Lines

Colin Harper

First and Last Lines

"This is the saddest story I have ever heard."

This was the first line I chose. It is the first line of The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. He was born on December 17, 1873 and died June 26, 1939. He is best remembered for The Good Soldier, which is widely recognized as one of the greatest 100 novels of all time. It was published in 1915.

 The Good Soldier is a novel of love, and a lack thereof. Within the novel, many characters have affairs. The main character, John, is married to Florence, who cheats on him with multiple people. She eventually commits suicide due to her affairs, as do many other characters in the story. The story is filled with sadness throughout.

I think that I probably wouldn't like this book, because it seems a little bit too sad for me. Also, the affairs part of the book isn't something that I would like to read about. Stuff like that makes me really angry, even if it is only fictional.

"Are there any questions?"

That is the final line of the Handmaid's tale by Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). The story was published in 1987.

The story is of a dystopian society where the president and congress are overthrown by a terrorist group. The story is told through the viewpoint of a handmaid in the new society. She tells of her experience in the new government.

I don't think I would like to read this novel either. The plot that I read about it sounded exciting at first, but then it got really weird. I feel like the story would be hard for me to follow.

Future's so Bright

Colin Harper

Future

One interesting idea I got from the field trip was when we got the editing sheet, I ended up getting all of the corrections before she was done grading it. I have always had good grammar and English skills but I have never thought of a career as a proofreader.

Another interesting part of the trip was when we were asked to choose our favorite option for the cover of the magazine, the one that I had chosen in my head was the one that they had used.

A third interesting thing I took from the trip was that I hadn't really stopped to think about how vast the 417 area really is. The people here have so many stories, and you can learn so much from traveling so little.

A question that I had was: When the writers go on trips (Such as the one to the carnival) to get information for a story, is their trip and expenses paid for by the magazine?

I would LOVE to write for Fighters Only magazine. Going around interviewing fighters and writing articles about the events would be a dream job.

I think it ten years I will be married and with one kid. Maybe I will have another on the way by then, but who knows. I don't know what my career will be, but I do know that I will help coach my kid in his wrestling. He will probably be about 5 years old or so by then, so he will definitely be wrestling already. I will probably still be living in Springfield, but if not, I will definitely be living in a town a lot like it. I enjoy the middle sized area kind of life, so I will always want to live somewhere similar to here.

Newspaper Inspired Post

Colin Harper

Newspaper Inspired Post

Best Photos of 2015!

The man drove from location to location in an attempt to gain the perfect shots. His goal was always to capture the greatest moments and flashes within his camera lens. He had worked late nights every night for the past months, and often would not come home, instead opting to stay in hotels closer to where the next event he was to photograph would be held. He hadn't seen his wife or his kids for a week, and when he did see them, it was only for a moment before he was off to work again. He had been trying to capture the prize he had spent years chasing after. An award was given each year to the best photographer in the region, and he had come up just short of winning it each year. He worked tirelessly in an effort to achieve his goal, but he was starting to wonder if the award would be worth the work and the time away from his family. As he was contemplating this, his phone buzzed. He looked down the see "We need to talk" sent to him from his wife. He had been having a feeling that this was coming.

6 Word Memoirs

Colin Harper

6 Word Memoirs

Faced no adversity, saw no results.

My best is yet to come.

Hard failure, came back even stronger.

Rad dad, bomb mom, stupid sister.

Went to Grandma's house, ate food.

Favorite Quotes

Colin Harper

Favorite Quotes

“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.”- John Green

"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is rather not letting your fear control your actions."- Alex Harris

"They say the dreams that we chase are just a dead end road, but we don't have to embrace the lies that we've been told."- Hawk Nelson

"Conformity has no authority."- Set Your Goals

"I'm always focusing on the wrong things, and then the wrong things become everything. I don't know what I'm gonna do, I don't know what I'm gonna do about anything."- The Front Bottoms

"Life is more than money. Time was never money. Time was never cash. Life is still more than girls."- Switchfoot

"The half of me is all about apathy, and the other half, just doesn't care."- Relient K

"We should get jerseys, because we make a good team. But yours would look better than mine, because your outta my league."- Relient K

"Wisdom always chooses, these black eyes and these bruises, over the heartache that they say never completely goes away."- Relient K

"It's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive."- Relient K

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They are made of blood, sweat, and a hard to find alloy called guts."- Dan Gable

"I'll drag myself along but I won't pray, cause that's not what I believe."- State Champs

"I'm a realist, and an optimist, but I swear to you I'm not getting over this."- State Champs

"I've been holding back my apathy for far too long."- The Story So Far

"You help me with my honesty when I'm yelling at your ghost." The Story So Far

"I like to think that you're worth my time but you embody everything that I hate." -The Story So Far

"I'm trying hard, real hard, everyday not to lose my temper." -The Story So Far

"Keep your hopes up high and your head down low"- A Day to Remember

"More strength is born from heartbreak, than mountains I could move"- Rise Against

"Do you care to be the layer of the bricks that seal your fate? Or would you rather be the architect of what we might create?"- Rise Against

"All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day. Everything always works out, I have never felt so great. Life isn't like this."- Rise Against

"Would God bless the murder of the innocent? Would God bless a war based on pride? Would God bless a money hungry government? Would God bless our ineffective court system? God bless the sweatshops we run. God bless America." - Rise Against

"Something has kept me here too long, but you can't leave me if I'm already gone."- Rise Against

"Is there a God tonight, up in the sky? Or is it empty just like me?"- Rise Against

"They keep us convinced to lift up our chins. These playing fields are level, we all have a chance."- Rise Against

Memorable Passage

Colin Harper

Memorable Passage

“And all at once I knew how Margo Roth Spiegelman felt when she wasn't being Margo Roth Spiegelman: she felt empty. She felt the unscaleable wall surrounding her. I thought of her asleep on the carpet with only that jagged sliver of sky above her. Maybe Margo felt comfortable there because Margo the person lived like that all the time: in an abandoned room with blocked-out windows, the only light pouring in through holes in the roof. Yes. The fundamental mistake I had always made—and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make—was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.” 

This passage resonates with me because it is about seeing a person as more than a person. This passage, and others in the book that it is in, led me to the idea that sometimes I like the idea of a person that I created in my head, more than I actually like the person. Realizing this really helped me grow and move past some things as a person.

Writers as Readers

Colin Harper

Writers as Readers

1. I am not very picky whenever it come to what I need in order to be able to read. Light is the most important necessity. If I am in a dim room, and the light source is above me, then my head's shadow peers over the book, making it difficult for me to read. I don't mind much else when I am reading. Noise doesn't bother me. i find that even if it is loud when I am reading, I block at the noise a few sentences in.

2. My favorite genre is young adult romance. Sounds kind of weird coming from a person like me. I'm not into all of the mushy girly stuff though. I enjoy more comedic approaches to romance. John Green books are always good reads for me. I guess I am interested in this genre because it plays out like a funny movie in my head. I can always envision the characters in my head because they are usually very similar to me.

3. I like to think I can write like John Green, but realistically, I know I can't right now. That's a hard thing for me to say, because I always try to believe I can do anything at anytime. Someday, however, I think I will be able to write just as well as him. I believe my style most directly imitates his, yet is still my own.

4. My best memory connected to reading is when my dad stayed up all night for me to buy the last Harry Potter book on the day of it's release. He had work the next day, but he still elected to stay up and buy the book for me. It's my best memory connected to reading because it helps me remember what my dad was willing to do just so that I could have a good book to read.

5. Honestly, The Fault in our Stars was a book I could not stop reading once I had started. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was on a trip where I was extremely bored most of the time, but I think it was also because of the fact that I enjoyed it so thoroughly.

13. I know that I would love to write multiple books someday. I already started on one. Albeit it being a very slow process, it is one that I very much enjoy. My dad told me it was a little bit too cliche, and he's probably right, but I don't care. I'm just writing it for the experience. In the "About the Author", I would want to be described as an intelligent, totally rad dude. To be honest, I don't really care very much about what the "About the Author" page will say.

If I were in Charge of the World.

Colin Harper

If I were in Charge of the World

If I were in charge of the world, I'd cancel math class, school on fridays, vampire movies, and also carrots and ranch.

If I were in charge of the world there'd be trampolines, water slides, and hot tubs on every street.

If I were in charge of the world you wouldn't have cavities. You wouldn't have bees. You wouldn't have rats, or "Please pet the cats". You wouldn't even have cats.

If I were in charge of the world a cheeseburger would be a vegetable. All movies would be free, and a person who sometimes forgot algebra and sometimes forgot to do his homework would still be allowed to be in charge of the world.

Dream Thread

Colin Harper

Dream Thread

It starts out peaceful, but isn't that how all nightmares begin? I am laying on the dirt in the middle of a wooded area, looking up at the canopy of treetops above me. I hear a noise reverberating through the trees, and I sense something is wrong, so I get up to my feet. A host of demons emerge from the foliage around me, and I am afraid. A silhouetted figure wrapped in a cloak appears, and although he is armed with a sword, he doesn't even raise it. The demons seem to know who he is, and they tremble at his sight, and immediately flee. Before I could thank the mysterious individual, he burst away into the forest. I chased after him, and we seemed to be moving at the exact same speed. Our chase led to an open field, where he turned and revealed himself to me. It was my own face I saw across from myself. I wanted to gain some information, but as I walked out to where he was, he seemed to get further from me. 

Maya Angelou Questions

Colin Harper

Maya Angelou Questions

2. The "Universal human power to triumph over adversity" is a tricky concept. Do I believe I have that power? I'm not so sure. I'm sure of it's existence, because it can be seen everyday. The news is filled with stories of people overcoming adversity. I read an article yesterday about a boy who wrestles with no legs. That is a tremendous display of overcoming adversity. I'm not so sure I have that power though, because I have not yet faced very much adversity. I have grown up in a loving home, with great parents, went to a good school, and lived a pretty adversity-free life so far. Maybe some day I will hit a major roadblock, and then I will find out what I'm truly made of. Until then, I won't know if I sincerely have the ability to overcome serious adversity.

3. I am a strong believer that something can only have power once it has been given power. For example, curse words. A nasty four letter word could have easily been substituted with a word like "sandwich". Maybe in the creation of a curse word someone yelled "Sandwich!" instead of the replacement word. Then everyone from that point on until now would bear a negative connotation when someone said sandwich. The order of syllables forming the words doesn't bear any power at all. It is the fact that people give them power that makes them different from any other word. Also, the feeding into gossip and drama makes those things have more power. If one of my friends make a joke about me, and I laugh and don't care, then that will be the end of it. However, if I become offended, they will laugh and continue to make the joke. I gave the joke power because of my reaction to it. Without my negative reaction, the joke bears no power. It's a simple case of cause and effect.

5. Speech is a powerful thing. Most of the information a person collects about another comes through the things they hear another person say. I seem to have moments where I am silent, and others where I probably should be silent, but am not. I feel like I generally do talk a little bit too much. There is a verse in the Bible that talks about being "Slow to speak and quick to listen". I think that that can hold a lot of relevance in nearly anyone's life. One of my good friends rarely speaks, and when she does, it is very faint, and usually very short. She just recently told me that she wishes she would've taken more risks and spoken up more before she went to college. In some cases, it is better to speak less and listen more, but in others, the opposite is true. Someone has to speak for others at some point.

7. My memory is something that I pride myself on. I have an unusually good recollection of events and information in my head. I like to think of my brain as a storage folder where everything that goes in is carefully placed somewhere where I can pull it out and analyze it whenever I need too. Except for math formulas. I never remember those. When asked if it is better to remember a lot or nearly nothing, I think it is much better to have a strong memory. Even is your brain is filled with bad memories, it is important that you remember them because every memory you have is exactly what makes you, you. Another simple case of cause and effect. Every decision you make (or think you make) is really just the culmination of every memory and piece of stimuli your body has. Without a memory to inform you of which decision you would like to make in any situation, you would be like a baby, acting purely on survival instinct. For example, you touched a stove as a small child because you didn't know stoves were hot. Now two years later, that child won't touch the stove because it remembers that it was hot. That decision is based off of the child's knowledge and memory that stoves are hot. I believe that having a good memory allows you to assess all your options and  make the best choice in a given situation.

8. "There's a world of difference between truth and fact". That is a great quote, and it happens to be correct as well. Everything that anyone knows is based upon what they have been told, and what they have been exposed too. Not everything that people think they know is true, it cannot be this way because if it was, then everyone would always agree. I can say that 2+2=4, and someone might argue that 2+2=5. It may be truth in that person's mind that the problem equals five, but it isn't fact. Truth can be relative, whereas fact cannot. If I asked someone in 2005 whether Pluto was a planet or not, they would say yes. To them, it would be a truth. However, with my knowledge that it is not, it would not be a fact. What is a truth for someone may not be for another. Facts remain constant.

Cage Bird Sings Inspired Poem

Colin Harper

Caged Bird Sings Inspired Poem

I know why I try so hard.

I know it is so that I can win.

I don't know why it is important that I win.

I don't know why the American Dream is based upon success.

I sing of a place where success isn't measured in wins or losses.

I sing of a place where success is measured by improvement, and by learning.

I sing for a reinvention of the American Dream.

I sing for a re-evaluation of success.

I know why other people sing.

I know, also, why I sing.