https://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?63809-Foxtrot-s-Theories The largest classic literature discussion forum on the Internet. Read Write Teach Share. en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:57:39 GMT vBulletin 10 https://www.online-literature.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg https://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?63809-Foxtrot-s-Theories https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10303-Violence-in-the-media-effect-on-teens Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:53:50 GMT VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA, EFFECT ON TEENS To the editor, The media, and the violence within it, is of great influence to children and teenagers. A... VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA, EFFECT ON TEENS

To the editor,
The media, and the violence within it, is of great influence to children and teenagers. A key reason for today’s youths behaving violently is what they see on television and video games and what they hear in modern music. Parents and the media are battling to make an impression because the world of technology is winning. Teenagers are using it to learn and communicate, so they are also being filled with the violence inside it. Nobody wants teens to rebel, just as the characters that match them do if they lose their fight. They can also see the victim, perhaps someone of different nationality, and want to hurt them too. So, what happened to a child’s innocence?

Today the media has more control over teenagers than their parents do. Until the age of 18, it is still a parent’s responsibility to raise their child. Surprisingly, an online poll indicates that nineteen percent of parents are more worried about their 17 year old playing the video game ‘Grand Theft Auto’ at a sleepover than drinking alcohol (14%) and watching pornography (16%). Youths have so many rights these days and the media gives them new ideas and perspectives. It teaches them and influences them in ways their guardians fear.

At such an influential age, and the media being such a dominant field, teenagers are being educated with violence. The media influences the way young people are entertained and how they communicate. Their minds are like sponges and they easily absorb what they see. This motivation is great at school, but it makes the future hardly as hopeful while they are witnessing vile and criminal acts that are on television, radio and in equally lethal video games. Violence in the media teaches teens about weapons, fighting, sex and racism. What they see, the painstaking hurt that is overlooked, only makes them react.

If the story relates to an individual and their own character is defeated, they are losing too and are likely to force that pain onto others. This happens often when different races, and everyone can relate to a nationality, fight and one team isn’t so successful. Would they hate the country that hurt them? Would they try to get even? Still, there is no bad guy, as equality has become favourable. However, think about the words of Dr. Victor Strasburger, a paediatrician at the University of New Mexico Medical School: “I think the next time we see a schoolyard shooting if we ask those kids ‘Why did you do it?’ they would say, ‘Hey we’re the good guys, and we just wanted to blow away the bad guys.”

Violence in the media make teens behave exactly the same way. Parents don’t need the worry, young adults don’t need to learn how to be violent, and despite the success, or failure, of nations in battle, youths needn’t be effected. The violence on television, in music and in video games has to disappear, so teenagers can grow up in harmony and secure in their safety.


REFERNCES:

ADVISORY/Mediascope Provides Research on FTC Study Regarding Entertainment Violence. – Free Online Library.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ADVISO......-a065149723
Date accessed: 25/5/09

Does TV Violence KILL? – Free Online Library.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Does+T...%3f-a059410402
Date accessed: 25/5/09

What They Play(TM) Finds Parents More Concerned About Video Games Than Alcohol and Pornography; Violence More Acceptable Than Sexual Content. – Free Online Library.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/What+T.....-a0182598131
Date accessed: 25/5/09 ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10303-Violence-in-the-media-effect-on-teens https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10142-our-bad-week Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:17:54 GMT ditchin all spellin and gramma, in a hurry. we had a bad week. - lost two computers - no acces to net - andgy was sick - seems the entire... ditchin all spellin and gramma, in a hurry.

we had a bad week.
- lost two computers
- no acces to net
- andgy was sick
- seems the entire world has lost the ability to be 'good' drivers. too annoying
- lost angy's library card
- lost my mobile phone and found it again
- mum lost her's but found it again
- a series of other unfortunate events

eh, s'pose it wasnt too bad, we're still smilin

still, to top t all off we went into the petrol station and we we laughing and talkin loudly about our horibl week

we were laughin, the guy in front of s was to

then we get to the counter and the lady serves us.

at the end she says ' have a nice day'

i bursrt out laughin, even moreso than b4

mum was embarressed and she laughed to

done
horrible grammar and spellin complete. but im havin a bad week. :lol:

have a nice day. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10142-our-bad-week https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10117-Watching-Our-Welfare-Student-Body Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:46:56 GMT In our school, the student body can fight amongst themselves, however when it comes to protecting each other and the welfare of our schoolmates, we... In our school, the student body can fight amongst themselves, however when it comes to protecting each other and the welfare of our schoolmates, we are united.

Our boys won't bash anyone unless our girls complain. And our girls don't complain unless the girls school steals our boys. The other boy's school has shut down, so they are stealing ours. So either our girls bash them, in which case they quit while they're ahead as they're out numbered, or us girls complain to our boys who outline specifically to the boy in question who is with the girl from the other school what our demands are and the actions that will be taken on the situation.

The teachers don't have much over this.

Most recent situation, a yr 10 girl was going out with a yr. 11 boy from another school. See, the yr. 11 boys from our school had had some problems with him and our yr. 11 girls. He wasn't very goodd to them. So our yr. 11 boys approached this girl in the school yard. Surprisingly, it wasn't a nationality thing. Its like all of the nationalities from our school combined for a common cause, which was the welfare of this girl. So anyway, a group of about 7 boys approached this one girl in the middle of the schoolyard. They explained it to her and decided for her that she wouldn't stay with him any longer and they would sort it all out if she would listen and just stay away from him. Turns out she didn't know this guy very much anyway and listened to them after the shock of her life.

The teacher approached the group, as all of the other people in the surrounding area had scattered and were just watching, awaiting a result. The boys told her that they were discussing her boyfriend with her and the teacher asked who it was. They said that it was an older boy from another school and they just wanted to talk to her about him. The teacher just walked off and said she'd be hanging just around the corner.

She left him and he hasn't had anything to do with our girls since. He didn't get bashed either.

Our boys are a bit weird, however we're watching each other's backs. It is that united force in the student body that really does show our community and how we will fight for the people we love...

Nothing bad happens unless everyone knows their place. At the moment, we now our boundaries and they know theirs. It works. It is our own little West Side Story and and indestructable force that unites us all, so nobody messes with us. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10117-Watching-Our-Welfare-Student-Body https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10089-Paul-Denyer-The-Frankston-Serial-Killer Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:07:26 GMT Background: Paul Charles Denyer was born on the 14 of April in 1972. He was born in Campbelltown, Sydney in New South Wales to Maureen and... Background:

Paul Charles Denyer was born on the 14 of April in 1972. He was born in Campbelltown, Sydney in New South Wales to Maureen and Anthony Denyer. He was the middle child in a family of five boys and one girl.

The reason for any odd behaviour he showed as a child was explained in saying that he fell on his head as a baby.

His family moved to Victoria when he was nine years old. He did not fit in at his new school, Northvale Primary and began to create his own toys, which included knives, clubs and sling-shot guns.

He would disembowel his sister’s stuffed toys from a young age and murdered their cat when he was ten, hanging it in the backyard from a tree. Denyer also cut up and killed two goats in a nearby paddock.

It is known that he was sexually abused as a child by his elder brother. There were no charges. He was also overweight compared to the other children his age which left him on his own.

He was rejected and out casted, this made him violent and angry towards those around him.

At the age of twelve he stole a car, and at thirteen he was charged with the offence of wilful damage and calling a fire-brigade even though nothing was wrong. By the age of fourteen he knew that he would become a killer and admitted it after his capture. Denyer was charged with assault for forcing a boy to masturbate in front of some younger children at the age of fifteen.

He took up the nickname “John Candy”, after the comedian who played in The Blues Brothers, as looked like him, being very overweight. Denyer was however six feet tall and weight 120kg.

When he was twenty he moved in with his girlfriend, Sharon Johnson, who he’d met whilst working at Safeway. He is the only person who he said he would never harm. They lived at a block of flats at 186 Frankston-Dandenong Road. He was unemployed and remained without a job, after being discharged from Safeway for intentionally running into a mother and a child with a band of trolleys.

Crime History:

In February 1993, Denyer broke into the flat of a neighbour named Donna. She was a mother and was returning home with her child. He brutally murdered her cat and its kittens with a homemade knife and wrote on the walls threats to kill Donna using the cat’s blood. Denyer was never caught, although after capture later that year he confessed that he’d really been there to kill Donna, however she was not home.

All of his other victims were not objectively chosen, only the fact that they were female, as he “hated women in general”. He only wanted someone to kill and it wasn’t specific besides gender.

Denyer said: “[I] just wanted to take a life because I felt like mine had been taken many times.”

On the 11th of June, 1993, he murdered Elizabeth Stevens, an eighteen year old student. Denyer took her from Cranbourne Road in Langwarrin where she’d just exited a bus at 7pm. It was raining and she couldn’t hear him. He approached from behind her and held an aluminium pipe with a wooden handle in her back, telling her it was a gun and that he’d shoot her. He took her into Lloyd Park. He respected her privacy whilst she went to the toilet and then walked with her at gunpoint and strangled her unconscious with his hands. Denyer then stabbed her in the throat a number of times and picked her up; walking another few steps until he threw her down to the ground and stood on her neck to finish her off.

Denyer took Steven’s body to the drain and left it where it was later found. It did not seem that she had been sexually assaulted. She was found topless, despite the fact that Denyer never admitted to taking her shirt off, as he never denied it, however it was never looked into.

On the 8th of July that same year, Denyer attempted to abduct Roszsa Toth as she was walking close to Seaford Station. He came from behind once again, covering her mouth with his hand and he held the fake gun up to Toth’s head. She bit his finger, hitting his bone on the inside with her teeth. They wrestled and she ran to flag down a car. After a few more minutes of struggle she successfully had the attention of a driver and Denyer ran.
Directly afterwards, he caught a train so he could leave the area and arrived at the next stop, Kankook Station, where he exhibited Debbie Fream enters a milk bar. He climbed into the backseat of her car, ignoring the empty baby seat, and crouched down, waiting for her to return. She got into the car and he emerged, thrusting the fake gun into her waist and demanding she drives to a paddock in Carrum Downs.

He strangled her amidst some trees using a cord and she was unconscious within five minutes. Denyer then stabbed her in the neck and chest and she fell down, he continued to stab her neck. He wanted to see the size of her breasts, and when he saw her bare flesh and stabbed her once in the stomach.

Denyer covered her in bush and drove away in her car, which he dumped close to him home. Her body was found four days later and it did not seem that she had been sexually assaulted.

By this stage, the public knew it was the same person and he was known as “The Frankston Serial Killer”.

Denyer’s final murder victim was a seventeen year old girl, Natalie Russel, who was riding her bike home from school through a short-cut near Syke Road on the 30th of July. Denyer had come beforehand to cut three holes in the wire fence, large enough to climb through. He followed her at about 3pm, from a distance on the other side of the gate. He pulled her through the second hole he’d cut.

He put his hand on her mouth and, because he did not have the gun, he held the knife to her throat. He accidentally cut some of the skin on his thumb off, however he continued to attack her. Russel knew she was up against the man who had killed two other women and attempted to, another. She offered him sex in exchange for her life. Denyer was disgusted by this and refused, and made her kneel in front of him and then lie down while he leant over her, holding the knife up in front of her eye.

Denyer put a leather strap around her to strangle her however it snapped. Many times she attempted to scream and struggle, he repeatedly told her to stop and eventually when she got up to run he slashed her throat. He put half his hand into her neck and twisted her trachea so she could not breathe. He threw her onto the ground and cut at her head, almost ripping her whole head off, and she died. He left her there, kicking her as he left to ensure she was really dead.

It was considered the cruelest of all of the murders. She also was documented as not to have been sexually assaulted.

It did not appear that the killer’s modus operandi (MO) was to rape women, only to murder them. He would specifically chose women and from the areas near Frankston that he would have been familiar with. Denyer would sneak up on them from behind and would attack them when they were on their own as they would be more vulnerable. He would always leave their bodies in bushes and shrubbery and it would be the same place as where he killed them.

His weapons of choice were devices to strangle his victims, homemade knives and a fake gun. Denyer would begin the process by ensuring they could not speak, by threatening to kill them and covering their mouths, and then choking them unconscious. He was then able to stab them, usually around the neck and upper torso. Denver never went for the heart and he saw them die slowly.

Denyer’s only motivation was that he just hated women. He would steal a wallet, however it wasn’t what he was looking for. He did not know these women and didn’t choose anyone specifically, he wanted anyone female.

Capture:

The fatal piece of evidence that revealed Denyer as The Frankston Serial Killer was the piece of skin that he left behind when killing Russel. When investigators took him in for questioning when his yellow Toyota Corona was spotted near all three killings, they asked for some DNA samples to test to it. Before the test results even returned, he admitted that he killed all of them.

However, to get him into the investigation room, they left a note under his door when he wasn’t home, telling him they were doing routine checks on the neighbourhood. Johnson, his girlfriend, called the Station and said they would come. Denyer was cool and collected the entire crime. He gave his alibi, mostly just saying he was waiting for his girlfriend. She could back that up, seeing as she was unaware of his murderous activity. However, Denyer knew that he would be caught out by the DNA test so he turned himself in.

That was the only evidence left behind, and the presence of his car being noted. The eye-witness account from Tosh did not give very much information as she’d never clearly seen his face and didn’t really focus on his physical description whilst running for her life. If she had documented it, then it is highly likely he’d have been caught earlier, him being six feet tall and that overweight.

Denyer was arrested and interrogated immediately by Detective Darren O’Loughlin. The questioning began at 4am and continued for over twelve hours. He was kept in custody until his trial.

Trial and Sentence:

On the 15th of December in 1993, Denyer pleaded guilty to all charges in the Supreme Court of Victoria to Justice Frank Vincent.

Clinical phsycologist, Ian Joblin, explained to the court after analysing Denyer in custody that he was a “sadist” and that he “found pleasure” in murdering women. It was noted that he didn’t show any remorse for his actions whilst he was being interrogated.

Denyer was prosecuted murdering Elizabeth Stevens, Debbie Fream and Natalie Russel and for abducting (rather than claims for assaulting) Roszsa Toth. He was sentenced to three life imprisonments and eight years for abduction. He would be unable to go on parole and would face life in jail with no chance emancipation.

On July 29th, 1994, Denyer appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria and was allowed a 30-year non-parole period in prison. It meant that he may one day be able to leave jail and be released back into the community.

At the moment, he is fighting again with the courts. He appealed in June last year for gender re-assignment surgery, which he was denied, and he is now arguing to be provided with makeup to wear in jail. This has not been approved, specifically as it would have to be tax-payer funded. He also is appealing to have his name changed to “Paula”.

References:

Paul Denyer facts – Freebase. http://www.freebase.com/view/en/paul_denyer Date accessed: 19-03-10

PAUL DENYER in the Serial Killer Calender. http://www.serialkillercalendar.com/...UL_DENYER.html Date accessed: 19-03-10

Paul Charles Denyer is the Frankston, Victoria, serial killer who murdered 3 young women Crime Library – Crime Library on truTV.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/1.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/2.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/3.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/4.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/5.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/6.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/7.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/8.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s..._denyer/9.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...denyer/10.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...denyer/11.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...denyer/12.html
Date accessed: 19-03-10

Serial Killer Central. http://www.skcentral.com/print.php?type=N&item_id=594 Date accessed: 21-03-10

serial killer true crime library*serial killer news*list of serial killers*serial murder*female serial killers*crime scene investigation*tueur en serie*omicidi seriali*. http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkiller...ENYER_paul.php Date accessed: 21-03-10 ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10089-Paul-Denyer-The-Frankston-Serial-Killer https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10083-Book-review-Looking-for-Alibrandi-by-Melina-Marchetta Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:59:58 GMT *Looking for Alibrandi By Melina Marchetta.* * Puffin Books. Copyright 1992. 261 pages. * ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ is a story about a young... Looking for Alibrandi
By Melina Marchetta.

Puffin Books.
Copyright 1992.
261 pages.

‘Looking for Alibrandi’ is a story about a young girl, growing up in Sydney in the nineties. The only side of life to create any hassle is that she is Italian, with an Italian mother, grandmother and father, somewhere, growing up in an Australian world. Throughout the book, she spends her entire year twelve either at her home or at her grandmother’s, school or suburban areas, learning about herself and making friends.

The main character, Josephine Alibrandi, or Josie, is a feisty and head-strong seventeen year old. She received an English scholarship at the beginning of highschool to go to a strict, Catholic college, St. Martha’s. She is very intelligent academically and can achieve excellent grades when she applies herself. She is also the vice-captain at St. Martha’s to Ivy, an Australian favourite of all, whom she calls Poison Ivy. Most of her friends from primary school didn’t end up there, so she has made new friends, although most of the school is from the rich, Australian side of Sydney. She has only just introduced boys as a major part of her life, mostly involving Jacob Coote from the state school and forming a friendship with John Barton, from the Catholic boy’s school.

Josephine was born illegitimately to a seventeen year old Christina Alibrandi. The father, a boy of the same age named Michael Andretti, had to move away to Adelaide with his family before she was born. There was a part of him that knew Christina had gone through with the pregnancy, however he was scared and not prepared for a child. Michael had to come back to Sydney when Josephine was seventeen for his work as a barrister and bumped into Christina at a wedding.

Michael Andretti is stern and serious. Even Josephine notes him as “a worrier”. They have separate lives, he has a good job and a girlfriend. By the end of the story, they have grown close and he had gotten her out of trouble many times, like when she smashed Carly Bishop in the nose with a textbook and when she was wondering the streets alone after she stormed out of her date with Jacob Coote. He begins his life with her by saying that he doesn’t need any ‘complications’ and that it is all going perfectly without an ‘obnoxious creation’. Eventually they get to know each other and Josey works at his law chamber and begins to consider changing her last name to Andretti.

Christina Alibrandi, Josie’s mum, is supportive of her daughter and has raised her on her own for her whole life, with the occasional help of her mother. Jacob Coote said:
“You [Josephine] come across all tough and fearless while on the inside you’re a softy. She [Christina] comes a across a softy, whereas deep down she’s tough and fearless.”
Christina can be strong and honest when she needs to be and will do what she thinks is right, like suggesting to her daughter, the first time she met Jacob Coote and he was acting like a pig, that she didn’t think it would be good to let her go out with him again. She also is known to compromise, in letting Josie go out with him after she saw he’d smartened up a bit. She is like Josie, a dreamer. She says herself, “I wasn’t a rebel Italian [when I had you], I was a naive Italian.” She’d give her very life for her daughter and she loves her mother very much, despite not admitting to it.

Katia Alibrandi, known as Nonna to Josie, is the mother of Christina. She felt things too, just as her daughter and grand-daughter; she describes herself as a youth to have been a “gypsie”. When she was younger and came to Australia with her husband, she was alone in the outback with little knowledge of the language. She had the help of an Australian man, Marcus Sandford, who loved her dearly and would do things for her, seeing as her husband would be away on work. She did not pursue a relationship with him; people were talking as it was. “People will talk” is the quote that she practically lives by. The Italian community are known to ‘talk’. He came into her house one day and Christina was born nine months later. Marcus was going to take her away where nobody knew them, however, seeing as she’d defied her marriage so much, she at least had to stay with her husband. Her husband had lied to her all of these years, he could not have kids, however they stayed together. Nobody knew about Christina’s illegitimacy, Katia distanced herself from her because of it, until Josephine figured it out after finally taking interest in her grandmother, and she never told anybody. Katia and Josie develop a good relationship, even though Christina must never know. Katia was strong and has memories, even though she is old-fashioned, just like how she would never accustom herself to Josie’s Australian boyfriend, who she has no knowledge of.

Jacob Coote is the captain of Cook State Highschool. He is “deep and meaningful when he wants to be” in the words of Josie. He is with the ‘in’ crowd at Cook High. He has his pick of the girls and is popular and athletic. Jacob bullied Josephine when she was younger, not her specifically, however that was how life worked. He then falls for her and defends her, he beats Greg Sims when he tries to rape her and his friends, her friend, in the McDonald’s car park where she worked before the law chamber. They go through their fights, however they have high prospects in their relationship by the end of the book. Jacob’s mum died when he was young. It did hurt him, however he tries to move on from it. He does think about it, sometimes, however he is contented in his life otherwise. He now lives with his dad, who drinks a bit, and has an older sister of about 24 years of age with her own family now. Of course he naturally has prejudices against John Barton.

John Barton grows up in a prissy world and has all of the doors open to him. He does enjoy it sometimes, however it isn’t really what he wants to do with his life. He is expected to do well; while Jacob and Josie aren’t expected to get far, and he’s prefer that. Ivy Lloyd, or Poison Ivy, decides that she owns him. John does quite like Josephine though. He tries to be diplomatic with things, although he does not want to enter politics as everyone expects him to. By the end of the book, he commits suicide with a drug overdose right before his year twelve exams. That ruined the story for me, made me cry. Ivy and Josie begin to accept each other, however they are hurt as he was a true friend to them both.

I can almost relate to John Barton, not the suicide, however in means of having pressure on him and having to meet expectations. I can understand that, because it is so real. All of these characters are real and this story is only too possible.

The Italian Empire, where “people will talk” is real. It is very humorous actually, because it relates so much to my own life. Illegitimacy being the end of the world, and how gossip can start in one place and everybody know. I understand the gender stereotypes and the important role of religion, in when Katia cannot leave her husband. It is fairly old-fashioned and stubborn, the things that Josie is restricted from doing, however that seriously is life, no doubt about that. You’d have to be there to know it, and I’m there.

I’m a lot like Josephine. I can see how things aren’t fair, however I am able to accept them because decisions are made for me for my own good. Josephine says, “No way, Mama. If you say no I’ll accept it.” I also do think, like Josephine does, that the entire world is crumbling around me and I can be a little inconsiderate at times, accidently of course. I’m learning about myself and growing up, just as she is. Only I’m not in year twelve yet, and I’m not in a leadership role, as much as I like to be a leader.

The story is basically about growing up, which can be a challenge in itself, however the main complication is that she is Italian in an Australian world as previously outlined. It creates expectations and a way of life that may have been ethical in Italy, however not so in Australia. Also, the Italians here haven’t modernised with the Italians back there. Things that seem ordinary here just won’t flow with the Italian community, things like widows and women with children marrying, and two unmarried people living together, problems that both Katia and Christina face, and that Josephine will too unless she can run from it as she says she will, “I’ll run one day. Run for my life. I’ll run to be free and think for myself.”

There isn’t really a resolution, except that Josie learns to accept who she is. She may still want to run, however, for the time being, she is happy with it. She even says that it will be a part of her forever, her nationality, and even if she dislikes it sometimes it will always make her who she is:
“You can’t hate what you’re a part of. What you are. I resent it most of the time, curse it always, but it will be a part of me till the day I die.”
Josie grows up, that is how it all works out. She learns more about the world around her, like the hardships that both her mother and her grandmother went through, and she becomes more aware of the world around her. A major turning point is after the death of John, she suddenly realises that her life will always be what it is, and her deciding to get along with Ivy is another way of saying that she has gotten more mature, and that she understands.

In the story, the way things progress, how relationships develop, and the steps that Josephine takes to grow up, all happen through the things that she encounters. She begins her journey at a public event where every school has to make a speech. Josephine represents her school, as Ivy is too busy talking to the Premier of the entire state. There she meets Jacob Coote and doesn’t really know what to think about him, however he is impressed by his speech on the vote. However, she hardly considers herself interested, despite everyone, including herself, finding him attractive.

We then meet her grandmother and get a glimpse of her family life. She sees her father for the first time when he shows up at her grandmother’s house, however they do not converse, as ‘Nonna’ does not know who he is, and he’s only an old neighbour so far.

There is inter-school debating and Josie talks to John Barton. He is friendly and Josie gets along with him well. They decide they will see a movie together for school. He would have been her ideal boyfriend. Ivy comes and steals him away, despite the fact that he is reluctant to go with her. He doesn’t get a chance to be with her at the school dance a while afterwards, being caught up with Ivy, seeing as he is in that crowd with her. Josie dances with Jacob Coote, who gives her a lift home on his motorbike, as much as she’d rather not ride on it. She finds out that his mother died when he was younger. He tries to kiss her, however she refuses, they agree that they are from two different worlds and he leaves on good terms with her.

Next is Josie’s second encounter with Michael Andretti at her grandmother’s house. She speaks to him after her mother. Everyone is very clear that they want nothing to do with him. It is then that her grandmother realises who is and his relation to the family, at that, she decides she would not want to see him again, however she doesn’t cause a fuss. Josie stays with her mother overnight and learns more about her. She begins to take an interest after realising that her grandmother was a seventeen year old once too.

She arrives at school and attends class where she overhears Carly Bishop bagging people of European descent, calling them ‘wogs’ as an insult. Josephine had taken it for years and finally had gotten sick of it. They argued and then Josie hit her with her ‘Concepts of Science’ textbook. She calls Michael Andretti, as he is a barrister to help her, seeing as she’d probably have been expelled and sued. He comes to her rescue, even though they’d agreed to never speak to each other again.

On Friday, Josie speaks to Sister Louise, the headmaster of her school, as scheduled. She realises that she does care and notices that she’s human, despite being a nun. Her mum goes out on a date for the first time. Josie and her grandmother are furious, however her mum has a good time and Josie accepts that.

Whilst working at McDonald’s with her friend, Anna, Greg Sims, a boy who teased her as a child, enters with her friends. He would have been rude to her, however police came in to buy something so he leaves her be. They wait for her and Anna in the car park; they are ready to rape them both. Jacob Coote is just passing by with his friend, Anton, and he sees what is happening. He beats the living daylights out of Greg Sims. Anton takes Anna home, and they are quite fond of each other. Jacob takes Josie home. He asks her out, she considers it and decides to ask her mother. He agrees to meet her, only he’d never do that any other time and dislikes the idea. She talks to her mother who agrees to let her go out with him.
Curiosity gets the better of Josephine as she asks her grandmother to see photos and to tell her about her life. She finds out about how she met Marcus Sandford in a post office and he would help her, seeing as she was alone in the country. When her husband found out, he was furious and didn’t want to let her see him anymore.

On Saturday, she goes on her date with Jacob. He is a pig to her mother in spite of the fact that he has to meet her. The date lasts ten minutes and she storms out of the cinema complex before even entering the movie. On the long walk home, her father is driving past and picks her up to go and get pizza. He tells her that ignoring her existence won’t make her go away and they begin to develop an understanding relationship. Her mother is not angry, only she isn’t too keen on Jacob Coote.

Josie is enjoying her job at Mac Michael and Sons law chamber. Her joy is shattered when she has coffee with John Barton ant they talk about life. He worries, her, saying things like, “I don’t think I want to live this life anymore, Josie.” She is extremely worried and they decide to write on a piece of paper the way they feel and keep each other’s so that they can read them after graduation. It gives him a little hope, however she is still extremely concerned.

Josephine talks with her friends and tells them that she’d like to be a barrister when she grows up. Jacob Coote asks her out on another date. They decide they will wag school for it, not that she’d have ever dreamed of doing so in a million years. There won’t be any mother-meeting this time. They have a wonderful time and share in their first passionate kiss. On the mid-term holidays, Jacob gets a car. Her mum is supportive of them being together.

There is the St. Martha’s Walk-a-thon. Josie leaves with her friends and is in major trouble with Sister Louise because it meant that the little kids were unsupervised. She goes to see that movie with John and Jacob sees them there. They argue but they get over it. A couple of weeks later she is at his house for the first time. He would have liked to have sex with her, and she refuses it. After some conversation he accepts it.

She finds out about Marcus Sandford being her real grandfather and promises not to tell if her grandmother accepts Michael Andretti. She talks to John Barton and he is cheery and happy and the day later at her year twelve exams she finds Ivy crying that he had killed himself. It is sad. She reads the note he wrote earlier that year and realises that it was what he wanted to do. She attends the funeral. Jacob was also torn up; he was taking it harder than Josephine. He felt had something in common with John, somewhere, and he’d experienced death before and this probably reminded him of his mum.

Only now I realise that he was happy because he knew he would do it. He even said only the day beforehand, “I’ve got my whole future planned out the way I want it to be and there is nothing anyone can do to take that away from me.” It is sad, but also a good thing in a sense. It is what he wanted. I think Josephine learns to accept it a little at the end.

At the beginning of this book review, I though the ending was ridiculous and too sad. Now I understand more that it was really what John Barton wanted to do, kill himself. He was really looking forward to being able to run free, just like Josephine always said she’d wanted to do, even if that meant death for him. I like the ending, now I do. I now like that there was a challenge in figuring that out.

Besides that, I liked that Jacob and Josephine ended up having a caring relationship and that they became incredibly happy. I like happily ever afters. Throughout the book, I enjoyed that they were always able to become friends again after a fight. It made the book a lot more exciting.

I also enjoyed how the book exhibits how relationships developed throughout the novel. It was interesting to read about the way emotions develop between characters, specifically Josephine and her father. It was thrilling to read how they learn things about each other and accept each other in their lives, and the way that the Alibrandi’s become comfortable with him. It is also good to see how Josie takes interest in her grandmother and she can confide in her.

I’d change the time she spends with her friends. I’d like them to have played a more prominent role, or not be included in the story, as they add little to the plot. It would’ve made me happy if she did not skip school. It just ruined a little of the part of her that I though resembled myself.

I thought I’d have liked to change that John died. I now would not change that, it adds an important lesson for Josephine to learn on her journey of growing up. Death is something she had to learn to accept. However it could be in the blurb, it would ruin the story a little, although a warning would be nice for the light-hearted. I’d have liked if Melina Marchetta would elaborate more and explain how he saw his death was ‘running free’. I wouldn’t have understood if I hadn’t written this essay.

I learnt more about death from reading this. That pretty much sums it up. I never saw suicide as a relief or an escape, although it apparently can be. I picked up on a few facts that I’d have found in a history book, they were another factor that kept me engrossed in reading.

This would be a good book for somebody of European descent. It made it highly enjoyable for me as so much is only too true. It could possibly be aimed at someone a little older than myself, somebody who certainly has the insight to deal with suicide and not let it get to them. It has to be taken maturely, so possibly it would be a good story for the sixteen-and-up age group, however it does matter on the individual.

‘Looking for Alibrandi’ by Melina Marchetta is an extremely wonderful book, definitely worth reading and re-reading. It gave me a lot, and I can understand why people made such propaganda about reading it. I rate it ‘I couldn’t put it down, it was so good!’

3,523 words. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10083-Book-review-Looking-for-Alibrandi-by-Melina-Marchetta https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10070-I-did-the-survey-again-just-to-see-if-I-had-anything-to-change Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:53:28 GMT *~*100 questions about me*~* by gdluvnchick (http://www.pimp-my-profile.com/users/gdluvnchick/) *~Basic Info~* Name:: Frances. Age:: ... ~*100 questions about me*~
by gdluvnchick



~Basic Info~

Name:: Frances.
Age:: 13, just under a month until I'm 14.
Sex:: Female - wait - yea, female.
Height:: 166-ish.
Hair Color:: Brown.
Eye Color:: Brown, but hazel-ish when I'm angry or excited about something.
Body Type:: Still human, Slimmer but broad.
Religion:: Seems to be Catholic.
Ethnicity:: Um, Aussie, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Cypriat, Indian and Egyptian. Mostly just Aussie.
Orientation::
Status::


~Favorites~

Color?: Green.
Hair Style?: Anything that isn't frizzy, I'm trying to learn how to plait a side fringe in the way I saw on TV a while ago. Otherwise I like it tied up.
Food?: Pasta. Also chicken, lamb, beef. I'm so not vegetarian.
Soda?: Solo. Don't drink Coke, makes my heart hurt.
Alchoholic Beverage?:
Store?: Annoyed at Coles after testing them to see if they'd sell me painkillers over the counter even though I'm underage. I like Susan Grae and Valley Girl for clothes.
Mall?: Big and air-conditioned.
State?: VIC. Would like to see ACT.
City?:
Animal?: Penguin, axolotyl, llama.
Movie?: Sweeney Todd.
TV Show?: SCU.
Book?: Wuthering Heights.
Music?: Tecnho, duf-duf, random churchy stuff.
Song?: Killer Queen, Don't Stop Me now, I'm Going Slightly Mad.
Band/Artist?: Queen.
Website?: Gaia Online, Habbo in US and Australia.


~This or That~

Soda or Juice?: Juice.
Music or Internet?: Both at the same time. Internet.
Rock or Rap?: Rap. Modern day rap has a few instruments stung up in the background.
Dogs or Cats?: Cats.
White or Black?: White.
Myspace or Bebo?: Neither. I like myspace better though.
Cell Phone or I-pod?: Phone. Although I'd like an iPod. Prefer an iPhone.
Curly Hair or Straight Hair?: Straight. Curly gets frizzy.
Lap-Top or Computer?: Laptop.
Corded Phone or Cordless?: Cordless.
Mountain Dew or Pepsi?: Mountain Dew - like lemonade.
Pen or Pencil?: Pen.
MP3 Player or I-pod?: CD-player. Although I have an MP3 player. I'd like an iPod, although not for the music, for the games and the internet access.
Phone or Internet?: Internet.
Single or Taken?:
School or Work?: School.


~Random~

What do you do on your spare time?: Sleep, internet, uphold my own awesomeness, think about what I could've said and will say. Think about future endeavours.
What do you wish you had more time for?: Internet, English essays.
Whats your usual clothing style?: Anything comfy. Shorts, T-shirt. Althoug I'd much rather be in a miniskirt, stockings and boots.
Whats your usual hair style?: Plait.
What are you wearing?: Summer school dress. Socks for some reason...
Are you single or taken?:
If taken, by who?:
Who would you die for?: Brother, father, a few friends. Not Mum, she wouldn't want that.
Are you a virgin?:
What do you think of one night stands?:
Whos your best friend?: My mum.
How long have you been friends?: A few years.
How did you and your best friend meet?: Well, I can't remember, being a newborn baby at the time. In hospital.
Do you have any pets?: Yes.
If yes, how many?: Five - dog, cat, bird, spider, rock.
Do you plan on getting married?: Perhaps. Hopefully.
Do you plan on having kids?: If possible.
If so, how many?: 2/3
How old did you wish you were?: 13, I'm happy.
If you were to be anywhere right now, where would you be?: In one of the rooms in M-block at school with that big box of clothes.
Why?: It's pretty cool up there. I'd like to go through the box. I'd like to spend the night there to see the 'ghost that people say is there.
Ever gone Camping?: Nope. I put up a tent though.
Have you ever caught a fish and ate it?: I didn't eat it. I through it back.
Have you ever gone water skiing?: Nope.
Have you ever gone water tubing?: Nope.
Have you ever gone skiing on a mountain?: Nope.
Have you ever gone tubing on a mountain?: NO!!
Have you ever gone Snowboarding?: Aw, come on. No.
Ever gone to church?: Yes.
Ever gone to a famous water park?: What is famous? Probably not one you'd have ever heard of.
Ever gone out of State?: Never.
Ever gone out of the country?: Never. I will though.
When was the last time you left town?: I went to camp a few weeks ago. Some place in the middle of nowhere.
Anything you got planned for this weekend?: Nothing very exciting.
If so, what?: A little homework.
Is this survey curing your bordom?: Prolonging it. Nah, kidding. Yea, it is sort of curing it.
Do you resemble anyone famous?: Nah.
Are you related to anyone famous?: I wish. Acutally, no I don't.
If so, who?:
Do you think your hott?: Enough so.
Do other people think your hott?: S'pose some might. I'd rather be considered pretty though.
Do you think your skinny?: Neh.
Or do you think your fat?: Neh.
Or just in between fat and skinny?: Nope.
What year were you born in?: 1996
Ever been on a blind date?:
What do you enjoy doing when your bored?: Sleeping or creating a story inside my head. I also like to listen to music and blow bubbles in the dark, letting them fall on my and lightly tingle my skin. The fun [art is that I don't know where they are going to land.
What do you do in the summer time?: Sit inside with the air con. I went to the beach a few times.
Are you naturally tanned?: Light olive. Nah, I'm pale considering.
Or are you kinda pale?: Nope. I don't really know, it changes on a day-to-day basis.
Do you live in a house?: Yes.
Or do you live in a apartment?: No.
What do you have on your mind?: What is my brother doing? What did I ever do to a b and c?
What time is it?: 7.52pm

Take this survey
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I changed a few things. S'pose. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10070-I-did-the-survey-again-just-to-see-if-I-had-anything-to-change https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10053-Child-s-Play Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:43:23 GMT Children's story,
prince, princess.
Falling in love,
child's play.

Kinder dreams,
beautiful fairytale.
Need not truth,
Not disappointment.

Unanswered questions,
lies, mystery.
Too much for me,
to figure out.

Why decide,
struggle to unfold?
A mental image,
my own dream.

Somebody else,
ideal creation.
Like a child,
my own.

Lullaby prince,
imaginary friend.
Never hurt me,
Child's play. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10053-Child-s-Play https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10031-I-don-t-know-what-it-is Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:25:19 GMT I’m confusing myself, I don’t know what it is. Don’t ask for any answers, You won’t find any here. In my mind, a whirlpool, Tied in the middle... I’m confusing myself,
I don’t know what it is.
Don’t ask for any answers,
You won’t find any here.

In my mind, a whirlpool,
Tied in the middle of a knot.
I know I can’t explain it,
Don’t make me want to try.

You’re not the only one,
I’m sure you know that.
It’s in the dark for all of us,
A puddle, in the sand.

The truth, it escapes me,
Like a slippery question.
And it’ll always be there,
But I don’t know what it is. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10031-I-don-t-know-what-it-is https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10010-Camp Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:36:18 GMT At camp... Uh... I'll just tell the story.
We got to school at eight. We boarded the bus. I was sitting next to this kid who dumped me without me knowing I was going out with him. He refused to even look at me. Oh well. He wouldn't give me any of his chips either. Now, the chips I actually wanted.

It was a four and a half hour drive. We stopped half way for a toilet break and then boarded again. Towards the end of the journey, up and down massive hills, seeing as the camp was in a valley, our ears kept on getting blocked and then popping. That was pretty much it.
I didn't get sick on the way there. Yay!

On arrival we began an argument about lasagna and our mothers. I said that they always give us the most pathetic lasagna at camps. I said my mum's was better. Another girl agreed that her mum's was better. Then I said my mum make the best lasagna ever.

It ended up a fully blown argument that lasted all three days, and still ongoing now, involving myself, a few friends and my homeroom teacher. It included factors of all sorts, like the ingredients used to the fact that I was the only Italian one so I claim the rights to what qualifies as good lasagna.

We arrived and had salad rolls. Everyone else complained about what we were eating. That is awesome lunch to me. I mean, I don't see what their problem was. They should just appreciate it, despite the fact that it isn't junk food.

We were allocated rooms. None of my friends put me in with them, so I was with another girl in my class whom I now know well. And whose mum makes lasagna inferior to my mum's, I've decided that much. There were four other girls who disliked us and who didn't speak English whenever we were around. Ah well, such is life.

We had our first activity, leap of faith. We climbed about six metres up a pole and stood on a box only big enough for our feet, and then we jumped off, trying to hit a ball tied to a string. Well, I'm scared of heights as of New Years Eve. So I was up on this box shaking. I jumped though. Nobody thought I would. I've got a habit of being unpredictable. I did it again and ended up with the best time. It was a big surprise for everyone.

I forcibly (I just realised it isn’t ‘ively’ it is ‘ibly’) made my teacher go up there. All beforehand my friends and I discussed what we wanted at our funerals and how we were going to die and all of these things that bothered our teacher before he had to climb up. I also told him that oxygen gets a little thin up there. When he got up I asked how the weather was. He jumped. When he got down we told him that if the siren for the next rotation rang we'd have left him up there, and then come back later to prod him with a giant rod.

We had the high ropes course. We went up, across, down. And I talked to my teacher more. I spent most of camp doing that. He has a cat and likes cute and cuddly things. We had fruit.

Then I was on the trampoline, and I went on the playground. Then I watched my teacher and this other kid I know play chess and the winner got a heart-shaped leaf that I found. It was special until I realised that there was a whole tree of them. I didn’t play chess at all on camp. I’m not bad, but I’d rather watch. The kid who apparently dumped me played, like, every other game against everybody. He won every time. I still think I’d have beaten him, I’m that intimidating. He is pretty good though, and seeing as there was hardly another thing to do, I just sat and watched.

Next was dinner. Risotto, salad, noodles. Everyone complained. I liked it, it was something different. Going back for my third serving, something that anyone, let alone a girl, would do, I was talking to the football boys (they eat) about wanting a big, juicy piece of steak. It was good, but I missed have a big chunk of meat all the way through camp. I mean, there was a little, but hardly as much as I’m used to. We had ice cream and chocolate mousse for dessert. We don’t have dessert at home, so that was nice.

We had free time. All of the girls hung around the cabins or showered. I watched some more chess and picked up feathers. I mean, I don’t like to be with people but I wasn’t totally alone, I mean, there were always people. I got thicker into the lasagna discussion. I argued about chess. Good times. I suppose that is what I mean.
Everyone went on a night walk. Basically up a hill and down a hill, came to about a kilometre. We saw an orb weaver spider. Of course, when I pointed that out, only my teacher cared, because that is how it works. It was dark and I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I’d have liked if maybe the instructors could have told us what exactly we were looking for. I’m sure they were only trying to get us to work our energy off. Ah well, such is life. We got back to camp and played some physical games in the gym. Then we had scones and went to our cabins.

The cabins were like complete houses. We had out own separate rooms in groups of six, but there was a kitchen and lounge room. In one of the rooms one of the girls saw a mouse. Well, serenity gone. So a herd of screaming girls jumping and running came streaming out the door and on top of furniture at eleven at night. Such is life. And it was pretty hilarious, seeing as they were all in pjs and it was freezing.

My roommate and I located it. We got a guy with a torch to help, only the genius couldn’t move the refrigerator, so what’s the point of some tough guy then? I moved the fridge myself and the mouse was in there. We didn’t get it out, just left it, rather than pull the motor apart at that time of night. If the genius girls hadn’t left food lying around it never would have happened. The teachers came too do something about it, but everyone had gotten over it by then. So we went to bed.

As soon as the lights were out, at about midnight all of the partying started. Ergh… I was going to get some sleep, but that became a more long-term goal. Seeing as all the cabins were pretty close and all good friends, the more popular girls right next to us hosted the party in their room, then the next night it would be the boys’ turn. So everyone came with food and drinks and a little music. Teachers would come around every now and then, and then everyone not in that cabin would bolt out the back door, and then come back shortly afterwards. Well, I was invited, although I kindly declined. I was going to try and get some sleep, but rather I stayed awake in my room all the while seeing as there were so many people and I wanted to stay on guard, because I didn’t quite trust them as of yet. I mean, they could’ve brought alcohol and got drunk and stupid. They didn’t, only energy drinks, but just to be safe.

My friend in my room, the one with the mouse and the lasagna, hung out with me. It was that loud in the room with the party next to us, we tried to get some sleep on the couches in the other room. It was the first room teachers would see if they walked in and the fastest one to get out of if the building was on fire. The teacher would come in with a torch, he’d look over us and ignore it. We clearly weren’t there to party.

All of this partying was very polite though. Before entering our rooms, people would knock, ask if we were decent, and then come in. They weren’t trying to hurt anyone. Only there would be punishment if they were caught seeing as it was late and I did want to sleep. Such is life.

By about three the party was over. Everyone went to their own rooms and I went to bed. Only person in any trouble that night was one boy, he tapped on a window and it broke, cut his arm and a little of his wrist, so they took him by ambulance to hospital. I know it is an unlikely story, but all true. Everyone was pretty close at camp and at our school, so we were very worried. He’s alright though.

We woke the next morning, shared one bathroom with one sink and one mirror between sixteen girls, and went to breakfast. Gossip was still around from the night before, but I was happy to be eating again. We had toast with baked beans (weird but it was alright) and this thing I called egg mush, which really was just mushed egg. I liked it, everybody complained.

Our next activity was… Um… It was only a few days ago and I’m forgetting already… Initiative games! Yea, we played games in our activity group. There was a big spider’s web made out of wire and we had to get all twenty of us through it without touching it, only using each hole for one person. The bigger people, myself included apparently, picked up the little people so they could get through the top, small holes. It got there in the end.

Then we had more fruit and I filled up a water bottle. We weren’t following a timetable anyway, seeing as we’d arrived late on the first day. We were told when to go to our next activity or meal by a siren. It sounded like a dying bird. There were a lot of birds there as well. I spent much of that day complaining about the lack of sleep, even thought I wasn’t tired. It still wasn’t appropriate to be up so late. My teacher was going to do the duty that night, so he would be around, I thought I was going to sleep soundly.

Anyway, rather than jump to that, I must go in order. We then had rock climbing. About eight metres and we just had to climb up. We held the pulleys for our classmates. I held it for my teacher just to freak him out. I’m like, ‘Sir, would you buy life insurance from this face?’ That is what I say anyway… I didn’t drop him, but I liked to see him worry. See, best way to get a teacher to be nice to you, do not kill them. Hehe.

We had lunch; hamburgers and chips. I liked it. People complained because there were things like carrot, lettuce, tomato and beetroot in them; they didn’t like that they were healthy. I loved it!! The chips were still deep-fried…

Next was an activity called the Maze. We were blindfolded and had to hold onto one another’s shoulders to guide our way around the campsite. It was one of those activities that were designed to help us trust each other. Most of the activities were something like that.
Next we had more fruit and I watched some more chess. There wasn’t all too much else to do, but it was good because that kid’s winning streak attracted a small crowd, all the oddballs like me. Only they left after a while, I continued watching until the next activity.

We had our final activity for the day; we went canoeing. Haha. I was working with this kid who just didn’t get how to use it. Funny how it is always somebody else’s fault rather than my own, but I’m sure it wasn’t me. I saw an iguana and I pointed it out to the group. It looked pretty cool. We played a game where we had to balance, standing up on the front of the canoes, and jumping over the top of them from one to the other. Most people didn’t want to try it. I did. I tend to put my hand up for everything. I got over them all, but I let my guard down on the last one and fell in. I didn’t jump in, but I let myself fall. I was curious and I’d wanted to try it, I mean, it would be a new experience; I’d never fallen into a river before. It was fun. My clothes were wet.

I still didn’t have a shower. The showers there were scary. Besides, nobody had any complaints… Hehehehe. I watched some more chess. Ahh, that was it. It was a life-size chess board, outdoors. It was awesome. A little drizzle on the first day, but nobody went inside. The weather provided even though it was cold.

We had dinner. It was Australian lasagna. I didn’t like it, but I ate it and didn’t complain, except I did discuss it with my friend and my teacher. They liked it. It wasn’t traditional tomato and a little bit of alcohol in the sauce type of sweet, it was full of sugary preservatives that gave it a sweetness I didn’t really like. It was just so… Aussie… Yea, I’m still a little European, despite riding a kangaroo to school. (If anyone believes I seriously do ride a kangaroo I will throw some Aussie lasagna at you. Hehe, but I am serious.) Desert was apple cake.

We watched a movie and had apple cake, and then went to bed. To cut a long story short. The movie was called ‘You Got Served’. It was about dancing and young people, gangs and I’m pretty sure drugs a little. It was alright, but I’d have much preferred another walk. Oh, and by the way, my pjs are red and have Tweety Bird on them. I wore them with a jumper on top to the movie. I must always be weird, but it was so comfy, and it saved me getting dressed afterwards, rather then when they party may be starting.

The party… Ergh… It was at the boys’ cabin this time so I could stay back and get some sleep. Some kids didn’t go to the party, so they stayed back. They did an all nighter; Red Bull, Mother, V, Rockstar. Energy drinks made them stay awake, and the number of empty bottles lying around the day later meant they had stayed up all night. It would be impossible to sleep after that many, and I’m surprised they didn’t have a heart attack. I suppose my teacher didn’t get them, but they got in too early. I couldn’t really say anything. I mean, for my own safety, and it wouldn’t be worth it unless anything dangerous was happening. So I went to sleep and woke up hourly, somehow. I’m pretty sure at least one of the girls in our cabin was awake at all times. We were on guard.

The next morning we packed up our things. For breakfast we had tin-can spaghetti on toast. Weird, but it was alright. Hence I say nobody liked it? Not likely, sorry angels.

We squeezed in two activities, one we missed out on the first day. We had the giant swing, about ten metres. We were harnessed in and hoisted up. My harness wasn’t on properly; it seriously hurt on the way up when they hoisted me to the top. They though I was holding onto the rope because I was scared, I wasn’t, I was in pain. Ah well, I pulled the string and the swing began. It was cool, but I don’t remember it, I was too distracted by the pain. They thought I would scream, I didn’t. I whimpered. It hurt. So that wasn’t fun. A little bruising around my hips and all the other places where the harness was, also the harness on my arms dug in. Such is life.

Then we went swimming. To cut a long story short, not that it was very exciting. I mean, it was a useless activity to drive into the middle of nowhere for. We could swim anywhere. On returning to the cabin to change into my trackies, I found the door was locked. Rather than going and finding a teacher it was easier to break into it. I bent the hooks that held the fly-screen, slid it out, used the groove of a sunscreen bottle to open the lock from the outside and shimmied the window open. I am too good. Odd thing to be proud of, but it was pretty cool I could figure it out.

I watched some chess and we had lunch. Salad sandwiches again, yum. They had ham in them this time. No beetroot though, seeing as hardly anyone liked it. I love beetroot. It was nice though. Only I don’t like that there was margarine. I can’t stand it. It was nice anyway.

We boarded the bus. We saw the other half of the year nines arriving. I suppose they were pretty sick of the bus. Oh well, their problem. It was a four and a half hours back. I talked to this other kid about firecrackers, of all things, and that was pretty much it. I got stuck in traffic a street away from school. Then we went home.

That basically just sums it all up in about 3,000 words. It was a very good experience, for me anyway. I liked camp. And I’ve just rambled on forever. I wouldn’t say I’d like to do it again, once was more than enough, but it was a very interesting experience and we had a lot of fun. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?10010-Camp https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9970-I-am-a-Javelin-Extended-Metaphor Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:35:15 GMT Maxi told me that, through some intelligent jargon, Frances something-like-probably means javelin. In this case I'm a wooden javeling used by some sort of primitive tribe.

I am a javelin.
I can be thrown in attack and defence.
I am deadly, but I'll save your life.
People run with me and from me.
I'm feared but loved.

Used time and time again.
The ultimate battle weapon.
I hurt, but it depends where I am.
I can ensnare every sense in one blow,
or I can wipe them all out.

I am invincible,
but I snap like a twig.
I can be burnt,
though I created the fire.
I need the water.

I'm in a bunch of others,
not very different.
Markings, lines and damage,
so that makes me my own.
I'll shed their blood if I need to.

To you I'm a part of a game,
the longer distance wins.
Does it make you the champion,
I do the hard work.
I am a javelin. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9970-I-am-a-Javelin-Extended-Metaphor https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9965-One-day Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:59:19 GMT A silent question, a smiling face. Clasping hands, amazing grace. Sun on our faces, pink lemonade. We tiptoe down, the seronade. A silent question,
a smiling face.
Clasping hands,
amazing grace.

Sun on our faces,
pink lemonade.
We tiptoe down,
the seronade.

Curiousity to ask,
we slowly learn.
Each life story,
unravelled in turn.

Think it happened,
here to stay.
Though we realise,
it was only one day. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9965-One-day https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9932-The-cat-and-the-listless-tree Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:12:48 GMT A listless tree in the moonshine,
Without a rustle in the leaves.
A silent hope to cherish,
Through the mid-summer night's breeze.

The cat yawns a stretch,
Grooms its lusterous hair.
It flinches at the leaves,
Although there's nothing there.

In such a spell-bound dream,
A trilogy left awake.
The mystique and the nuture,
A blessing to forsake.

Until finally a sun-ray,
The leaves sit and lie still.
The cat and the listless tree,
Left to contain her will. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9932-The-cat-and-the-listless-tree https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9923-Weird-thing-for-flowers Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:45:23 GMT "Crunchy, rubbery and bitter, why did my dad just eat a leaf?"
Okay, I supose that won't go down in history, but it does point out that my dad just ate a leaf off the little bonsai tree he has. Totally random. Just downright weird.
Only now I'm tempted to try it, just as I'm curious...
I ate a flower for that reason. I felt bad afterwards because it was really pretty.

I don't like receiving flowers. They are useless and they die after a day. Of course, I like living plants, but they don't exactly go into a boquet. So I don't like flowers. They go on gravestones. People can bring me flowers then, at the moment they are too much a nuisance. Pretty much the same outlook my mum has. They are pretty, sometimes, but an egg with a smiley-face drawn on it is equally adorable. I don't like they way they smell.

I remember, I would've been three-ish, I was in the back yard and we had a lot of little yellow flowers. I was always told that bees get honey from flowers. So, naturally, being a little kid, I wanted honey. I picked a flower, observing the stem and the petals. I was sure it was neither of those, seeing as they weren't runny. I pulled the top of the flower off and found a liquid. That must've been the honey, even though it was white and thin, so I put some on my finger and ate it. Then I went into the house and told Mum that she lied to me. Nobody ever told me what that sappy stuff was.

When I was a lot younger in primary school, one of the big kids was handing out flowers and he gave me one. As much as I hate flowers for their dust-collecting, supposed-to-be gravestone dwelling properties, I liked it. So I hid it so nobody could take it from me. At the end of grade six I pulled a lump of mush out of my schoolbag and cried because I hurt the pretty flower.

And that is my life with flowers thus far. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9923-Weird-thing-for-flowers https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9904-If-only-they-new-a-good-reason-to-be-upset Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:53:51 GMT You walk up to someone, you smile as you come towards them. You can see the sun falling over their eyes, like an angel. As they notice you are... You walk up to someone, you smile as you come towards them.

You can see the sun falling over their eyes, like an angel.

As they notice you are approaching, they turn their head and walk away.

As they leave you stare after them, tears welling up as your grip weakens on the box of heart-shaped cookies in your dough-stained hands.

If only they new. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9904-If-only-they-new-a-good-reason-to-be-upset https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9898-Rather-Primitive-limericks Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:31:11 GMT BAKED BEANS He came into the room last, So he wolfed baked-beans down fast. He gave a yelp, Called for help, Then ran to the loo in a blast. ... BAKED BEANS

He came into the room last,
So he wolfed baked-beans down fast.
He gave a yelp,
Called for help,
Then ran to the loo in a blast.

STICKY SAM

Meet my friend Sticky Sam,
He gets mucked-up in jam
He lived on a farm,
To avoid any harm,
And got himself stuck on a lamb.

CLEAN JEAN

There once was a woman named Jean,
Who thought she was really clean.
She hadn’t a clue,
Though everyone knew,
That her smell made them turn green. ]]> Heathcliff https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?9898-Rather-Primitive-limericks