Grammar @ MindSay

2nd year = very high stress/maintenance.  My 8 kids carry across FIVE different grade levels (we skip 4th grade, but then make up for it by being Kindergarten through 5th), and some of them need a lot more attention than me and oh yeah, my untrained staff, can always handle.

Just sat in a meeting with the guidance counselor and got the sad news that one of my tougher cookies, D(M) will be hospitalized as soon as a spot in the program opens up.  I still have a meeting tomorrow with all the team and his mom, but ... he just needs so much, and this wide, crazy, spread-thin program isn't going to help him.  I am going to miss him greatly, and now have to savor what could be my last few days with him.  In secret.  Because we both agreed I shouldn't tell my staff, because I want them to work with him like he was ours forever.  And also because he doesn't yet know he's being re-admitted, and the less people that know, the less likely he'll find out in a wrong way.

I figured it was okay to type here, though.

I made me a lolcat! Because Nietzsche is win. Sort of.

Larry Niven says:

Niven's Laws For Writers

1) Writers who write for other writers should write letters.

2) Never be embarrased or ashamed about anything you choose to write. (Think of this before you send it to a market)

3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't.

4) It is a sin to waste the reader's time.

5) If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exoticor genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, te recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.

6) Everybody talks first draft.

Today is...



Ah, no longer a school kid, you say? You used to hate English class? Well, guess what?

I don't care.

:D

On today's agenda is... poetic devices! One of my favourite subjects. What I'll be doing is posting some common or uncommon poetic devices and explaining them, with example.

First off, what is a poetic device?

In all forms of poetic or melodic writing, writers use certain tools or phrasings to enhance aspects of their poetry. Basically, they're like frosting. They make it sound pretty!

The exact definition, from Deal a Poem, reads:

Poetic devices, techniques, gimmicks - whatever you want to call them, there are "tricks" that make poems "work."

Simple enough, eh? So, here we go.

1. An onomatopoeia: Basically, it's the written form of a sound. You find a lot of these in descriptive writings or poems depicting nature.

For example: The whoosh of the wind, the clank of the chains.


2. A personification: This means that you've given a human behaviour to an inanimate object.

For example: The waves greeted us gently.


3. An alliteration: The deliberate repetition of a consonant sound (any letter except a, e, i, o and u) for a strong effect.

For example: The caw of the crow collapsed all constraints.


That's just a small sample of the numerous poetic devices. Have fun flourishing your writing!

Alan

So, it definitely has been a while since I've actually typed up a blog for this site. I do believe most of my friends started out here, only to move onto Myspace or Facebook or what have you. I believe Mindsay allowed everyone to wise up grammatically, to ignore the correctness of the English language. I prefer to appreciate the language which has been given to us. That is, by using it as it should be used.

That's besides the point however, the real idea behind this overdue blog is to talk about what has happened during my life, during my hiatus. I suppose I've been wasting my time on other sites, sitting around waiting for others to comment my page, send me a random message or write on my wall. Truly meaningless if you really think about it, the purpose of those as I believe it is to increase your popularity amongst others, yes? To syndicate your page or wall as the best and most populated, so to speak. I went back to look at my previous blog entries on this site and I was appauled to see how horrible my grammar used to be.

Well, enough of that.

I finally graduated high school, which occurred earlier this year. I barely did graduate, just know that.

I'm slated to start college next year, at EOCC. Graphic Design will be my major.

I'm now 19, incase you couldn't figure out the roman numerals sat promptly up against my age indicator.

I'm still an asshole, though that will probably never change.

I still live at home for the time being, though I don't see myself moving out until sometime next year, at least until the people I can move in with decide the same as me.

My cell phone will probably be cut off soon, which is sort of funny because it's almost as if I'm waiting for them to shut it off so I can finally be assed to get the money out of my account and send it.

I now have an X-box 360 =D

I'm very hungry

and that's about it, not much else has happened other than the obvious assumption that my looks have changed, though I'll be uploading a picture later.

If you're a first time viewer, please ignore my older entries as they will only make your eyes burn.

Well, this is all I've to type this time around. Please do stay tuned ^_^