From Mutilation to Rejuvenation

Nov 17, 2009

Saturday of this weekend consisted of a deathful experience followed by a rejuvenating one.

 I had to take the Michigan State Education Certification test in both English and ESL at 1 PM. It’s a test that is a bit difficult to study for, as all standardized tests tend to be, because there is so much content and no clear way to specifically study. Sitting in a hard metal desk in the back corner of a sterile walled in classroom, I felt as though my body were in prison while my mind was out racing around in the sunshine. I was ancy by the time I reached question 5 on my first test. I had the hardest time focusing on anything but how uncomfortable I was.

Needless to say, it was the longest 4 and ½ hours of my life. I think it is a cruel and inhumane activity to force any living creature to sit for that long and expect passing results.

I left the testing center feeling like hacked apart vegetable with no resemblance to its natural state. In order to raise my level of insanity to one of moderate normalcy I participated in the popular mindless activity of shopping, ate pizza, and went to Cheers Restaurant for karaoke night. Every Saturday there is karaoke which my group of friends has frequented numerous weekends. In going, I expected a smaller group setting of 7 or so. As the night progressed, probably 15-20 of my friends showed up. We kept expanding the table and grabbing chairs from the restaurant to the annoyance of our waitress.

Kelly Clarkson, Journey, Taylor Swift. All were musical performances of the night. It was the perfect way to piece my brain back together from its mutilated state.

Part of the karaoke crew.

A Restful Reverie

Nov 15, 2009

This weekend entailed a Friday night road trip Hope College in Holland to see Sleeping at Last in concert.

We amassed enough people to cozily pack out two soccer-mom vans. We got there with plenty of time to spare before doors opened so we perused the quaint Holland streets. I love the atmosphere that Holland holds. Side street coffee shops, Froggy’s sandwich shop, pubs leaking out live music through their doors,  trees bejeweled with white lights. Its places like this that I want to capture in picture to look back upon and savor over a cup of coffee.

In our side walk perusings, we managed to find a bathroom using a backdoor entrance to a pizza restaurant which came as a bit of a life saver. Without having to wait much longer once we got back to the theater, we snagged $10 tickets and slid into our red seats.

Jeremy Larson, Denison Witmer, and Sleeping at Last were the three musical dishes of the night. The first platter featuring Jeremy Larson provided a quirky bearded man with a dry sense of humor and ingenious musical combinations and lyrics. I wanted to be his best friend after hearing him talk and sing.

Denison Witmer, our second dish of the night,  could be a standup comedian if he wanted. His music guided me into peaceful slumber, yet after each song I was awakened to funny anecdotes about money-hungry airplane seat partners and lost luggage. I wasn’t even grumpy to have been awakened from my reverie.

Sleeping at Last impressed me more than I expected. Their lyrics are poetically rich and painted such beautiful pictures in my mind. I loved their unique sound. Below is a short clip of one of their songs to give you a taste.

B to the Noble...The Perfect Writing Environment

Nov 9, 2009

Environment is key for creativity to effectively immerge.

I am taking Writers and Styles this semester as an independent study with Professor Stevens. This class entails studying the examples of past writers and paying apt attention to the rules and forms that these styles adhere to. We have studied sonnets, free verse poetry, and short stories so far. With each new example studied, I then am called to try my own hand at it. This class has been a challenge, but a beneficial one to say the least.

As Stevens explained, none of us are self-invented. Without apprenticeship, the next generation of artists wont’ occur. We must submit to the tradition, enter into the company of the great artists, and gain a place at the table. 

With these guidelines in mind, I set out in search of the prime location that would assist me in my sonnet labors. Grand Rapids offers a wide range of coffee shops and book lover environments. It all depends on the purpose of the trip, time of day, and company you are with. In my case, my purpose was poetry writing, it was early evening, and I was with my friend Katie who also needed to plow through her homework. So we decided upon the newly opened Barnes & Noble.

Surrounded by books and clutching my Starbucks caffeine supplement, I entered the company of the great sonneteers past with much more confidence than I would have had sitting in my chaotic bedroom.

Cornhole Anyone?

Nov 7, 2009

Some call it bean bag toss. Others prefer tailgate toss. The general consensus seems to be Cornhole though. This is the name Cornerstone students chose to title the 2009 Cornhole Tournament. 

Lund and I were working in the Hansen when the sign up poster was hung up. It seemed like a fairly good idea to me after Lund explained that we could win a free t-shirt, eat pizza, and play the greatest lawn game of all time, all for the price of $1! So we signed ourselves up as a team. 

The Cornhole Arena.

Though technically Cornhole is a lawn game, we here at Cornerstone like to think outside the box, so we set up shop in the Hansen Center. There were roughly about 25 teams that participated. After hearing the basic rules for the tournament, Lund and I went to discover who our first opponents were to be.  It was none other than Ian and Kurt, two of the most villainous and ruthless people walking the paths of Cornerstone. Despite coming back from a 10 point deficit, we couldn’t pull off the win and lost 21-15. 

Danika in the process of making a winning shot. Ian looking on.

Each team was guaranteed 3 games. Our second game was probably the most epic game of Cornhole that has ever been played. We were up by 10, but then the other team game back to tie it up, and then managed to one up us, making it 21-20. Lund had one shot left to win the game, and she hole-in-oned it! It was a victory like no other. Some may have the opinion that exuberantly celebrating over a game of Cornhole is embarrassing and fairly lame, but I would have to disagree with those said persons. It was a defining moment of my life, and thus needed to be justly celebrated.

Welcome to the Hansen Center

Nov 4, 2009

 I supervise the Hansen Athletic Center every Tuesday and Thursday night. This video clip is from Tuesday’s shift. Ashleigh and I work together both nights so we decided to give each of you a little taste of our surroundings.