I once asked if I could bring a giraffe to the space station with me. I mean, everybody brings pets with them when they are on vacation there: dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, even snakes. So I asked very seriously if I could bring a giraffe with me. My Dad laughed so, so, so hard, he almost fell off his floating chair. That was so mean, laughing at me like that; I’m being very serious about this. Then I decided to ask Mom, because I really, really want to bring a giraffe with me to the space station next week when we go there on vacation.

Mom was making lunch in the kitchen alongside our robotic cook. I came up to her very seriously too, and asked again if I could bring a giraffe to the space station next week. She gave me a huge smile and giggled a little, while saying: “Of, course my dear, of course”. Very well then, now I need to get a pet giraffe.

WHAT?!?! Giraffes are the tall? Up to 5 feet and 2 inches? Surely this can’t be right, if he is going to be that tall he won’t fit in the back seat of our personal space shuttle. I always thought they were smaller, like a pony, or a big dog. Maybe I could get one, like reeeally small, that way he can sit with me on the back seat all the way to the space station’s resort. I could feed him tasty munchies, like the ones Mom buy, and candy, and milkshakes!! I like those a lot, surely he will too. I mean, who wouldn’t.

Of course, I would have to get him a leash and a space suit, so both of us can go to take a walk on outer space. It would be very boring for him to stay all day inside the resort’s room. Besides if we go out, I can show him off with all the other kids who bring their dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, and snakes. They would be so surprised! They would all want to play with him, and to feed him treats too. He would be very happy, and I sure would too. He would get so full with all the treats that he’d want to take a nap with me back in the room before having lunch. We would enjoy ourselves greatly every day, having lots of fun together.

And back on Earth after vacation, we would do fun stuff all the time. Mom would even him some of her very good chocolate chip cookies, the one she makes when I have been a very good boy. I bet he would get some if he’s good too. He would wave me good bye in the mornings and greet me at home after school. We would have all of our meals together, and he would help me with my homework also. And I would get him to sleep in my room, only if he promises to not to put his hooves on the bedspread, because all of my bedspreads are my favorite bedspreads and I don’t want them to get dirty. Maybe he could lay his head next to mine, that way we would be together and my bedspread would stay clean.

But before any of this can happen, I still need to get a small giraffe, to bring him to the space station for vacations.

>>>>

Over and Out.

Madison, Madison, Madison... ♥

MADISON WAS SOOO COOL!!

That was one great weekend we had at the beautiful city of Madison, capital city to the very green and "cowish" state of Wisconsin. This city is super antique and has lakes everywhere around it, it looks gorgeous, as you can see in the picture to the right. Here I'm at the shore of one of the three lakes (God knows which one).

Actually, Avent got hit on the back of her head when she was having her picture taken just like this, only she wasn't holding the pole of the sail like me. You must have seen us in slow motion: me holding the camera and seeing the pole coming right behind her head because of a sudden draft of wind, opening my mouth to warn them and the the "thud" of the pole hitting her head... thank God it was nothing serious.

The place is up to the brim with cool things to do, to see and to buy, let me tell you. I got on the first day a couple of cute things; also the restaurants all look so good!! We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant on a street corner on the second floor. The place was called "Wasabi" and I was unfortunate enough to figure out that I really, really don't like wasabi...urgh... but my sushi rolls were great and Su's udon was also good (she had pity on me and allowed me to try it) Yum, yum.

After hours of wandering around, we slept at this hotel/conference center/thing. Our room was great: two enourmous beds with tons of pillows and cuchions and sheets and coverlets!! I slept so well that night after watching a bit of TV with my roommate Su...

The next day, was kind of hurried at the begining; we had breakfast from 7:30am to 8:00am, if I'm not mistaken. Then we left of to go to the Capitol. Two words: super amazing. The place was incredible, almost like a palace, and I had tons of fun listening to all of the explanations and sitting on all those very confotable chairs, hehe.

After that, we went to the Wisconsin History Museum (?), and had a great time looking at all the exibits. But by the time we finished, my dogs were barking so bad I just wanted to sit to never, ever stand up again. But fear not my friends, for this girly girl kept on walking looking for great sales on Park St. (?) and got lots of things, several Wisconsin themed ones and other more normal ones. But just let me tell you, those were a lot of bags, and after tons of walking in the sun and carrying my bags all I wanted was to sit down. And when I had just decided that I was going have a Starbucks and stay in the cool inside this coffee shop, I bumped into Fa, who told me that a bookstore was giving books for free on the next block!!!! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG I ran like possessed, and managed to grab 25 books, inclusing a thin one with poems. That made me so very, very happy. I was all giddy by the time we got to the hotel, and I'm still giddy looking at all of them, neatly stacked in the book shelf in my room...

Over and out!

♥

So this is my example of a concrete poem or a shape poem. I decided to use two styles for this particular kind of poem, to make it similar to the ones found in "LOVE THAT DOG" and also to make me feel more like it is an actual poem.

Hope you like it.
ps. Everybody must admit that at some point in our lives we wanted to be cowboys... ♥

The first outing for the English Summer students!

On our first weekend here in UWEC, we got to go two very nice places, that even though they were required activites, they were really fun!!

The first one was on Friday July 9, The Chipeewa Valley Museum. this place was so neat!! So many, many interesting things about this place. The tour guide was very kind and very knowledgeable since many of the things he was telling us about were things he experienced himself!! He was over 82, but still a very good tour guide. Here we learned about ancient Wisconsin, the native americans that lived here, the arrival of the europeans, their lifestyle and the various industries that Eau Claire has supported. The picture above is me in front of the museum: this bus was probably from another touristing group, but since I'd never seen a school bus this big up close, I decided a picture was in order, so Fa was kind enough to help me with that. I know its kind of random, but I think is really cool.

The second trip this weekend was to the Twins Cities St.Paul and Minneapolis, though it was more Minneapolis than St. Paul, since in this last city we only visited the St. Paul Cathedral, though the short visit was worth every minute. This structure was awing and breathtaking: I just adore architectonical beauties like this one, and with a late renassaince style i just can't resist. Its just amazing the amount of time and work dedicated to make this kind of places absolutely gorgeous. Here in this picture are depicted form left to right Abdulelah, Susan and me in front of the said temple.

The second part of the trip was in Minneapolis. Here we drove around Uptown and then went to the business center. It is really different: so many very tall buildings and sculptures and quirky things that spiced things up. Here we had lunch in a Thai restaurant, were I tried a medium spicy rice with chicken and pineapple. It was tasty, but next time I'll ask for a non-spicy version: my nose was running because of the intensity of the taste! After that we visited the Sculpture Garden of Minneapolis, where are housed tons of very cool, gigantic sculptures. I'll be cliché but the ones I liked the most were the "Cherry and the Spoon birdge" and the big red one with a long pole on a side, which i can't seem to remember the name.

Then we went to the Minnehaha Falls, were we watched the waterfall and almost got wet to the bone thanks to a sudden shower that I invoked (just kidding). After the shower stopped we went a head to the "Mall of America", a super humongous place, where for some reason I could buy anything: what was nice and cheap I didn't really like, and want I loved were either not my size or was way too expensive. All in all, it was kinda fun trying everything on, but a bit depressive to leave empty handed from such a huge shopping center.

But fear not my friends, I'm trully having a blast here in Wisconsin. I wish I could stay for the Fall term...

Over and Out.

Ode to Enchanted Light by Pablo Neruda

Under the trees light
has dropped from the top of the sky,
light
like a green
latticework of branches,
shining
on every leaf,
drifting down like clean
white sand.

A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air.

The world is
a glass overflowing
with water.

****************************************************

This is the poem that got my attention among the other poems from which I was able to choose. The other poems were good too, but it wasn't difficult to pick this poem as the one that I like the most.

Response to the formal aspects of the poem
First of all, this poem uses several poetic devices that help a lot to make this poem more beautiful and appealing to the imagination. The first one is the vivid imagery device, that can be seen clearly on the first two stanzas: "latticework of branches" and "shining on every leaf". Mean while "a cicada sends its sawing song" appeals to the hearing, and there can be considered as the use of sensory imagery. On the other hand "a glass overflowing with water" is a metaphor because it's making a statement while comparing two unrelated things. And lastly, this poem also uses similes in two different ideas “like a green latticework of branches” and “drifting down like clean white sand”, which can be easily identified for its use of the word like when making a comparison.

Response to the meaning or theme of the poem
This poem is an interesting play of metaphors and similes that are simple and easy to unravel. The light which has been dropped from the sky under the leaves is the sun light or sun rays, telling us this is happening in a sunny day, probably spring or summer since the leaves described are still green. The latticework refers to the intricate work of craftsmanship of branches and leaves that nature is able conjure, painting for us a big and healthy tree. Next, the simile “drifting down like clean white sand”, plays with the imagery of a windy day, that makes the sun rays slide down to earth the way sand would if released on the mysterious currents of the wind.

The cicada mentioned on the next stanza corroborates the speculation of summer time, since this insects can be heard clearly on still, hot mid-days, afternoons, and nights in various places around the world, revisiting the idea of stillness with the imagery of empty air. On the other hand "a glass overflowing with water" is a metaphor that refers to the abundance and lavishness of nature full of life: water overflowing suggests the opulence of nature in all of its splendor in summer days.

Response to the memories or thoughts you have while reading the poem
This poem evokes in me, memories of my childhood while running and playing with my sisters. We would run under the sun or stay under the trees to protect ourselves from its glare during noon. We would also lie down sometimes under said trees, to listen to the soft rustling sound of the leaves and to find shapes of different things in the white clouds that passed over us.

It also reminds me of a book, “El Sol de los Venados” (The Sun of the Deer), a beautiful book that makes me cry every time I read it. I’m reminded about this book in particular because it starts with the main character as a present time narrator describing the rays of sun coming through the windows in her house, all golden and playful, shinning brightly with the motes of dust that her mother lifts up while she sweeps the room they are in. This image is very evocative for me because I used to watch the exact same thing in my mother’s room during the summers when the light was able to come over the high wall behind her chambers. I would imagine that it was fairy dust sprinkling down on me as a gift from this magical creatures.

All in all, it just strikes me with happy and calm feelings, feelings that I associate with the days of my younger carefree days.

What animal am I? Riddle Poem

I’m just an innocent insect
With tiny legs and tiny wings
I fly about in a very special mission
To locate this very tasty thing.

I sneak into your houses
Like a ninja, quick and dark
See me zooming in and out
Forever beating my own mark.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, I buzz around your eyes
Around your mouth and your ears
Irritating you so much
You want to break into tears.

Oh My God!
I so love this wonderful taste
That enriches me, and fattens me
None of it should go to waste.

The feeling stays in your skin
Even after I’m long gone
The prickling on your epidermis
Is a task easy to get done.

Oh, and the little present
That I always leave behind
Think of it as a “love-bite”
A reminder in your body and your mind.

That is my job, what can I say
To annoy you humans to no end
And that I hate my daily activities
Is something I’ll never pretend.

An so I continue
Being on and about
Wait! What are you doing?
You must be kidding, no doubt.

Now just wait a second!
Get that away from my face!
No! Please! I beg for mercy!
That would be a total disgrace!

That’s what you get
You think, for being a pain
But I have to disagree as I dive
Like a out-of-control plane

And while falling from the heights
I just think to myself
Was it worth it? Would I change anything?
Hell no! Always keep true to yourself!

Animal Poem... Total Writer's Bloc

Writing a poem about an animal everyone has to guess, is difficult...

Even if it is a free style poem...

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Edit : 6:49pm = Still no poem.... MA-YOR writer's bloc... depressed...

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Edit : 9:12 : TOTAL INSPIRATION!!