Blog Entry #2: Car Accident

What was meant to be a birthday surprise roadtrip to Santa Barbara, turned a tragic incident in a split second. Three friends and I decided to go visit our friend and Santa Barbara City College student, Lillian, for her 19th birthday. We spent long  hours in heavy traffic, and the car ride gradually became tedious and exhausting. About an hour into the ride,  I heard my loud shout, "Amy!" And the tail lights of another truck collide into my vision. In a split second, heavy impact and traumatic change. My feet slammed on the brakes screeching against the asphalt, but there was no stopping, it was too late. My body jerked forward slamming into the steering wheel, after that, blank. As I finally gathered me senses, I looked around me to make sure my friends were okay. Thankfully they all were. We all shared a moment of reassurance and gratefulness that we survived such an incident with minimal damage. It reminded me that life happens in flashes, and that things happen in instants, and to be grateful for the small miracles in life. I am lucky to be breathing and alive, sometimes such a simple concept gets lost in the daily chaos of life.

Weekly Calendar

TO DO List
1. Blog entry #2
2. Buy Wilber a birthday present
3. Read English assignments

Vocab #2

Province (noun): Territory; region.
Source Sentence: "Stupidly, with a kind of sug removal that I can't begin to fathom, I assumed that the problems of killing and dying did not fall within my special province" (39).
Context Clue: This word is a noun, so I looked at the text around it where it was described as 'special' and where people are killed and dying within. These words supporting the word makes it easier to grab the meaning of it.
Sentence: The province of the land was destroyed due to the Vietnam War.

Jingo (noun): A person that professes his patriotism loudly and excessively.
Source Sentence: "Ifthey needed fresh bodies, hy not draft some back-to-the-stone-age hawk? Or some dumb jingo in his hard hat and Bomb Hanoi button, or one of LBJ's prettydaughters, or Westmoreland's whole handsome family..." (40).
Context Clue: I had no idea what this word meant, but in the passage, jingo is supported as being 'dumb' and hard-headed, therefore, gives off a meaning of obnoxious and not so mature.
Sentence: Because of his constant jingo attitude, it gave an encouraging and uplifting vibe to the soldiers.

Smoldering (adjective): Angry, displaying repressed feelings.
Source Sentence: "I remember the rage in my stomach. Later it burned down to a smoldering self-pity, then to numbness" (40).
Context Clue: Observing the sentences around the word, it gives off a very angry sense. Terms such as 'rage' and 'burned down' ad 'self-pity' determined the meaning of this vocabulary.
Sentence: The band's smoldering energy gave out an intense vibe as the crowd became aggressive.

Vocab #1

Shrouded (verb) : To be  hidden from view; disguised.
Source Sentence: "The very facts are shrouded in uncertainty: Was it a civil war? A war of national libertion or simple aggression? Who started it, and when, and why?" (38).
Context Clue: This word was revealed by the sentence structure used; looking at the words around it as reference.
Sentence: Lieutenant Cross shrouded from the truth about Martha's true feelings towards him, because he was in denial.

Monotony (noun): Lack of variety; repetition of something; over and over again.
Source Sentence: "I remember the monotony. Digging foxholes. Slapping mosquitos. The sun and the heat and the endless paddies" (32).
Context Clue: I learned the meaning of this word through a group discussion, and Nick was able to explain it to us. The activities they list in the passage are things that they do daily and repetitively, therefore, concluding to the fact that monotony means something happening over and over again.
Sentence: I do not like to live my life in monotony, because I often like change and variety.

Zeal (noun): Eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence.
Source Sentence: "Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, other with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal."
Cotext clue: The word is being compared to good humor and pride, and they some what relate to each other.
Sentence: The professor approached the topic with a rather zeal attitude, whereas the students thought otherwise as they groaned and complained.

Blog Entry #1: The Things I Carry

         Behind this undeniable smile, beneath the positivity, and  deep inside this warm heart, carries a heavy weight of guilt and disappointment. I'm not the ideal daughter, sister, or student that I wish I could be. There's been unforgettable mistakes that could never be taken back. Throughout the years, there has been countless road blocks that has kept me from maintaining a steady life. Although I do my best to get through each day with positive energy, there's definitely those bad days that makes me want to breakdown. I associated myself with negative influences. I was young and naive, so I'm bound to make bad choices. I've grown since, yet I make my way around to stupid decisions and subconsciously continue to disappoint the ones I love around me. I carry guilt within my heart, as I begin to regret letting down my peers. I recently realized that I carry a huge load of disappointment as well. It hit me like a brick wall... When I've come to notice that I've never heard the phrase, "I'm proud of you" from my parents. Majority of the time, I am being lectured due to the mistakes I make. Therefore, I carry around a sort of escape from negativity.
          I carry around my earphones and iPod wherever I go. This is my escape method from trouble and keeps me sane. Passionate about music, it calms my nerves and relaxes tension. Music releases me from stress, pains, heartaches, and emotions. My earphones block out all the sounds and ruckus of my surroundings, and lets me clear my mind of insanity. It lets me forget about the feeling of being negative with guilt and disappointment. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, or maybe I'm just being realistic.