Ich bin eine Animaterin. Ich arbeite bei Strad im Marketing. Ich wohne in Denver. Mien Wohnung ist groß und hell. Fur Frühstuck, I habe Abendessen. Für Mittagessen, ihabe auch Abendessen. Ich muß gehen zu Supermarkt! Mien lieblingsessen ist Schokolade. Ich habe hunger! Huete ist Sammestag und ich sitze im Wohnung. Ich möchte ein Menge Geld. Ich möchte zu ein Strand gehen!
40, 41, 42
10
Feb
40. Learning situations. Being challenged and uncomfortable makes me know what to do differently next time.
41. Fitness Center in my building. I have no excuse to avoid exercise.
42. Chocolate. Really dark chocolate.
37,38,39
08
Feb
37. Self awareness; the ability to reflect; to identify qualities (positive or negative) in other people and, in turn, recognize them in myself. Beyond that, the ability (and interest) to change my behavior if I don’t like it. If I couldn’t or didn’t do that, I would be a douche. I’m grateful for not being a douche.
38. Forgiveness. I can count a handful of things that I’ve done in my life that make me cringe- things that make wish- like, really wish- for a time machine. However, even with my self-imposed emotionally-driven stress about these things, I can look at my life logically and tell you I’ve never done anything horrible or unforgivable. Those stupid, selfish, or embarrassing moments have all been forgiven by all the people that matter. I’m appreciative of living in a culture where they don’t throw you off a bridge or shun you from the village for making mistakes. Life goes on in most cases.
39. The blogging platform; the age where every voice has an outlet.
Cinderella by J.D. Salinger
08
Feb
Not really.
The following is a Cinderella story told by me at age 16, in the style of J.D. Salinger. We had just read “Catcher in the Rye” in class and we had an assignment to tell a fairy tale in the voice of Holden Caulfield.
Flash forward to today, when I found myself digging through some old essays and writing assignments and I thought I would share. It’s kind of entertaining…
Cinderella
That Kills Me…
By Elana (age 16)
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where she was born, and what her lousy childhood was like, and what her mother was like, and what happened to her, but I don’t really feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. I’ll just tell you about this glass slipper stuff that happened to her. That’s the only part that’s really important, if any of it is important at all.
Where I want to start telling is the day that Cinderella, that’s her name, and her stepmother and damn stepsisters get the invitation to the Prince’s Ball. The Prince’s Ball. That kills me. This guy gets to have his very own goddamn extravagant party just so he can get himself a girl. Big phonies are always doing that- throwing big events to make themselves look like they’re worth it when they are really not worth the pumpkin that gets you there. They are always so proud of some stupid title like Sir or Prince or King or something.
Anyway, this Cinderella girl is cleaning and doing all these goddamn chores, like usual, when they get the invitation. Her stepmother says that she can’t go unless she does this long list of chores and makes herself look decent. Her stepmother is in charge because Cinderella’s mother had died and her father had married this evil witch, and then he died too. Things are always not working out like that. So Cinderella works her goddamn ass off, while her ugly stepsisters aren’t doing a damn thing. She has help them get ready and all, because they are the type of girls that go all crazy when they see celebrities like the prince, and don’t get them started on having a chance to marry him. Girls like that are so phony. It makes me nauseous.
So the day of the big event comes, and Cinderella has everything done and she is ready to go. She is the kind of girl that wants to go just because it might be fun. That kills me. So Cinderella helps the girls get all dressed up and she gets herself dressed up, and the stepmother changes her mind and says she can’t go. The stepmother and her two ugly daughters leave without Cinderella in the carriage. That woman had gotten Cinderella’s hopes up on purpose. You could tell.
This poor girl ends up standing in the kitchen by herself. She isn’t the type to get feeling all sad about herself or anything, but she started to get really sad because that stepmother of her’s was so goddamn mean. All of sudden this old woman appears and she tells Cinderella she is her goddamn fairy godmother. She tells Cinderella to go get seven mice, and a pumpkin. The old woman does a little dance and turns the mice into horses, and the pumpkin into a carriage, and the cat into a driver. Then she gives Cinderella this gorgeous dress and these glass slippers and she waves her wand that does her hair up all nice. Girls drive me crazy when they are all dressed up. Over-dressed and gaudy like her damn stepsisters is nasty, but when a girl looks pretty it drives me crazy.
When Cinderella arrives at the ball in her pumpkin carriage, everyone is staring at her and all but it isn’t because she is in a pumpkin carriage or anything. It’s because she is so goddamn beautiful. Her and this prince hit it off, but she can’t stay because of this thing I forgot to tell you about: everything turns back into what it is at midnight. The carriage turns back into a pumpkin, the horses turn back into mice, her dress turns back into rags and so on and so on. So Cinderella goes running at, like, eleven fifty nine, and in her hurry she loses a slipper. The next day the Prince can’t stop thinking about her and all, so he rides around town looking for the girl whose foot fits the goddamn glass slipper. He finally finds Cinderella, and they end up getting married and all and the stepsisters get turned in.to stone. That’s all I’m going to tell you about.
Yes, the ending is a bit abrupt, but I believe we had a two page limit.
35 & 36
05
Feb
35. People who shovel the sidewalks in front of their houses and businesses.
36. Sunshine.
Still Being Grateful (27-34)
03
Feb
27. Animals (their existence); biodiversity; being alive to witness a lot of animals before they are extinct. (It’s kind of a dismal thought, but just because I’m focusing on gratitude doesn’t mean I’m lying to myself and all the diverse species are going to live forever and ever.)
28. People who are kind to animals… I always think of Richard Ogust, who, basically, sacrificed his own life to save thousands of endangered turtles by keeping in his own NY apartment. I am grateful for the existence of people who give a damn enough to actually give something up for those who can’t fend for themselves. (It’s actually a very sad story… you can watch about it in this film.)
29. Having a sense of humor; humor
30. Toastmasters - such an affordable, fun and effective way to gain confidence in public speaking
31. Animation – the power of making our own reality. (All storytelling, really.)
32. Music.
33. Progress in understanding Alzheimer’s. This NYT article explains that the disease actually spreads from “brain cell to brain cell like an infection” through a particular protein.
[This discovery] indicate[s] it may be possible to bring Alzheimer’s disease to an abrupt halt early on by preventing cell-to-cell transmission, perhaps with an antibody that blocks tau [the protein].
34. Women’s Lib – Thanks, ladies of the past (and men who fought with them) for fighting for the rights I have today.
Dresses with Pockets
28
Jan
Evening gowns with pockets… because we need a place to put our cell phones and our wallets and our keys, and let’s face it, we are I am always losing my purse.