June 11

If I could have any fictional character as a best friend, it would be Gemma Doyle, the main character of Libba Bray's trilogy. In Bray's novels, Gemma lives in the Victorian era, but disagrees with society's ideals, particularly those of women. I admire her strong will, intelligence, and determination and think that our two personalities complement each other. With her as a friend, I would feel confident that she would be caring, fun, thoughtful, and in general a good person. Life would never be dull as Gemma often manages to find herself in situations that require some thinking and planning. There would always be someone to rely on and trust to do their best, and I would be constantly entertained by her antics. If it's even possible to find that perfect friend that complements your personality, mannerisms, habits, behaviour, and way of thinking, it would be her. I could imagine life with few conflicts, disagreements, and many fun-filled moments with her around.

June 7

What has the world come to? You don't see kids helping out with the work around their house, or doing school work, or even playing a good old game of fetch. They're becoming as fat as a cat that's been fed too much cream and rich food before our very eyes, sitting in front of their computers, ipods, phones, and whatever all those other things they've got their hands and eyes on all the time are called. At least we know who and what to blame for all the car accidents these days.You can't even get them to look at you when you speak. No wonder all the parents are going loony and acting grumpy all the time. They're dealing with a bunch of wild monkeys. It's absurd. I remember when I was a child, we knew the value of money and worked hard for it. We were brought us up into respectable men and women. These days, kids are throwing away money like it's trash. What's gotten into them. I don't know what the future will look like with the likes of them taking over.

June 5

Explanatory:
Although it's still a mystery, in all likelihood I will be spending my summer  at home tending to the garden and household affairs and helping out at my parents' restaurant every other day or so. During my first few weeks of summer vacation I will have to take swimming lessons for a duration of five consecutive days. It's my third attempt at passing level four, so yeah, it's kind of a bummer. I'll be the oldest participant in my group. How embarrassing! At least I have the consolation of knowing that I did not volunteer for it. Once the dreaded first few weeks are over, there's not much activity. The vast majority of my time will be spent at home where the only things I can do are gardening, yard work, cleaning, reading, and surfing the web. Gardening will involve plenty of weeding, watering, and checking of plants while yard work at the worst will be mowing the lawn. If I'm bored or need to get some exercise in, I'll ride my bike to the local library and take out some books of interest. When I'm surfing the internet, I'm usually checking out flowers, animals, images, watching videos on Youtube, and researching any topic of interest. Probably every other day, my mom and I will be making the 15-20 minute trip to Riverton where I'll waitress, help cook, clean, and serve customers while trying to get the hang of using the cash register without making some mistake that is inevitable, seeing how prone I am to making such errors. If I'm lucky, we'll go on a trip somewhere, maybe Winnipeg, Gimli, or Hecla. If it's Winnipeg, we'll go shopping and return home in time for supper.

Narrative:
Sometime in the summer of 2011, our family paid a visit to the Assiniboine zoo. As habit dictates, we visit the zoo about once a year. One of the first sights we witnessed was a bird show where birds of prey were introduced to the crowd gathered on the bleachers and asked to perform tricks. The show was soon over and I was left with an entertaining memory of a baby owl flying away into a tree, far from any agitated cries of the trainers on the ground below. It was a perfect example of a trick gone wrong. Soon after landing in the tree, the owl was circled by what appeared to be crows or some other bird of prey. Luckily, no harm came to the bird and as trainers attempted to get the baby down, the show carried on. All through the performance, I'm sure everyone else and myself could see rescuers working on saving the owl in the background. It reminded me of the typical play where the show carries on despite some visible error being fixed in the background. That memory still brings a smile to my face.

Persuasive:
Dear town council,

It has come to my attention that while adults busy themselves with work and matters that concern only themselves, students are suffering from endless boredum. No wonder they're so poorly behaved when it comes to parental affairs and formal events. While parents are away, students are lounging at home with nothing to do except play video games, go on Facebook, surf the web, and engage in all manner of unproductive activities. Just because school is over for the summer, it doesn't meen students have an excuse to go brain dead and lazy.

At least bringing students together in a social setting will encourage friendship, communication, and allow students to get to know each other and make acquaintances; a great way to promote a sense of community, spirit, and enjoyment.That is why I believe the community should provide these students with the entertainment they need. A fabulous solution to the problem would be an activity centre equipped with games, computers, a T.V., books, and anything that would entertain students. At least if they must become absorbed in their web activities and internet communications, they can do it alongside others. I'm sure they would love it.

I hope you take this proposal into account and give it consideration. You won't regret it and students might even return to school with a more cheerful attitude. Thank you for your time. Once again I'd like to reiterate how much I hope you consider this.

Sincerely,

Susan song

May 31

Riding a horse on rocky trails
That nice rocking motion you can only get from riding on the strong backs of gentle equines, believe it or not, actually gives you quite a workout. Between good posture and a sore bum at the end, it's a great massage.

Reading the novel 'Hush, Hush' by Becca Fitzpatrick
All paranormal romance lovers will absolutely, well, love it. What an amazing novel with such great mystery, it'll keep you second guessing right to the end.

Eating a perfectly ripe persimmon
With a tart, astringent taste when not ripe for the picking, anyone's first encounter with this orange tomato-like fruit can leave a bitter first impression. Fear not! The fruit is yummy in your tummy when ripe and eaten properly. Its taste can be described as very sweet with a hint of tang and spice.

Making a dessert for someone else
There's no greater reward than knowing you've pleased someone with something that came straight from your own labour and work and not the nearest grocery store.

Watching fish swim
It sounds lame, sure, but it does actually have a great calming effect. All octogenarians with high blood pressure, this is for you. Watching fish swim in endless circles around the same area over and over again is sure to mellow anyone who's stressed out.

May 29

Shauna tapped her pencil rhythmically in tune to the song stuck in her head, hoping to come off nonchalant and bored. Mr. Baterd's monotonous voice droned on in the background. God, he could put any restless kid high on caffeine to sleep. It was high time she got a watch. Squirming in her seat, Shauna wanted nothing more than to jump out of her chair and pounce on the bobble headed teacher who had been talking gibberish for a full hour and a half about all the useless stuff she was never going to need. As she counted down the seconds, Mr. Baterd's voice became increasingly distant and oddly detached. Just as Shauna began to drift deeper in her reverie, A sharp bark penetrated the fog surrounding her muddled brain. She jolted upright as if struck by lightning. On high alert, complete with a look of utter surprise, Shauna glanced around the room. Everyone had their eyes trained on her. Although she wasn't certain, she sensed mockery emanating off of her class mates. "What are you looking at?" The question came out sounding vindictive, a far stretch from her intended curious tone of voice. Mr. Baterd cleared his throat. "Well?" "Well what?" Shauna replied. At that, several of her classmates snickered and made faces. "The answer." Shauna couldn't fathom what the teacher was trying to get at, but she was saved by the bell. Amidst the clamour of her classmates all trying to escape the torture of class, the answer presented itself. Perfect timing too. "The answer is blue foam" she murmured to herself.

May 23

The sounds produced by animals make me glad to be alive, especially the melodious sounds of the cheerful chatter of birds and the almost mournful sound of a horse's neighing. It rings with freedom and unbridled joy. That's what life is meant to be. As the ceaseless tinkling of bird song floats around me in the morning, I become aware of the happiness and cheerfulness of life and feel rejuvenated, ready to take on any task that comes my way. They strengthen me and encourage resilience. No sound makes me more grateful for what I have in life than a horse's neigh, snort, or rumblings. They hold such an undercurrent of power and strength that I admire so much. When a horse snorts, I'm reminded of a soft caress or gentle but firm word aimed to console. It's like reassurance and support. That feeling makes me feel like I'm not alone and life is surmountable. That knowledge makes me all the more glad to be alive. The final sound that encourages joy for life is the sound of thunder and lightning offset by the pitter patter of millions of cascading raindrops. It's like a lullaby singing me to sleep and safety. Knowing that I'm nice and cozy inside while a wild storm rages on outside, I feel secure and once again am glad to be alive.

May 18

If I were chosen to write an email to a million people about whatever I wanted, I would share a recipe for apple cake and cake decorating techniques because in my opinion it's the absolute best. Nothing beats it. I would like other people to try it and see  how good it is for themselves. As a bonus, I might get some feedback on the quality, taste, if it was enjoyable, nasty, or any suggestions to modify it. I would take the positive and negative feedback and use it to my advantage. The cake in particular is special because it was the first dessert I made on my own and whenever I saw a cake in the store adorned with icing roses, I would wonder how they did that. After some surfing on YouTube a while back I found out how. Perhaps other people are curious too.