Writing As A Gift

Dear Mom,

Mom you’ve always been there for me. I know I say that a lot but this time it’s very special as it’s my senior year of high school and I’m about to go off and live on my own. We will be separated for the first time ever in what seems like the time we’ve been together has lasted forever. That’s just how life is it goes by and we all grow up at sometime. I hope that I’ve made you proud because I’ve been blessed to have a mother like you. I’ve listened to you, I’ve learned from you, and I hope to be successful like you. I know that we will miss each other like crazy when it’s all said and done but I will definitely keep you in my heart and will keep contact with you. We still have this winter break and Christmas together my last one of public schools so hopefully we will make the most of it! I love you so much and thank you for being such an inspiration to me guiding me through the highs and lows of life. I can’t thank you enough.

Love,

   Charles

Final Reflection

1. I can’t really think off the top of my head some of the specific pieces I’ve done although some of my favorites were probably my One Activity, One Shoe, One Story post and my Children's Book. My One Activity post I really enjoyed because the activity that we did with it was super fun and I felt like it was one of my best pieces I wrote this year because it was something I enjoyed and was able to write about. I was also really proud with the title as I feel like it’s my best title out of any of my posts. Looking back on it now I do miss going outside and looking for those items as that was one of the best activities we did. The children's book was fun even though I had a lot of trouble with my images and my printer. It was also kind of difficult for me to come up with a children’s book as I’m not the most creative. I was proud though when I did finish because I was actually able to do it and I created a children’s book. The review the kid gave me who read it was super nice and gave me lots of great compliments! Except for my handwriting could be neater but I’ve known that for my whole life. Those are the 2 posts most memorable to me.

2. Some pieces that I have read this quarter that I really liked were everyones honestly I can’t really pick any favorites from my fellow classmates. Everyone here in this class are great writers and they had great pieces on their blogs! There’s just too many for me to pick to talk about as they all were just so awesome. When I went to leave comments on some of the blogs going through and actually reading them was such a joy just to see what everyone had to say about the same things that you said yourself in a different way. It’s amazing to see all the different thoughts and ideas people have and to be able to compare it to yourself. People really are all different but we each are unique in our own way.

3. Setting uo my blog was pretty nerve wracking for me as I didn’t really want to do it. Thinking of myself with a blog seemed like a no go ever but I did for this class and I’m honestly happy with it. I’ve been able to express thoughts on it while getting support and positivity from my classmates. I came up with the name for my blog just because it’s one of my favorite quotes but it’s also just a simple one. I felt like it’s a good way to describe me simple but thoughtful. I know my classmates read it but some random people might of read it which is just fine with me. I’m fine if people don’t know about my blog as I’m pretty shy but if they find it, I’m going to let them read my posts. I don’t think I will continue to use it but I will definitely keep it as a memory to have of this class when I get older and I look back at high school.

4. Journaling I think is worst then my blog just because you actually have to hand write the stuff you don’t type it which makes your hands hurt more. It’s about the same as blogging except for people didn’t really read what was in my journal which was a-ok with me. The things that are in my journal are a lot of the in class work that we did and just some random stuff every now and then. If I wanted anyone to read it probably just my friends and family yet like the blog, anyone who wants to read it I would let them. I will probably not use my journal anymore just like my blog but once again it is a valuable memory of this class.

5. Big Life Dream: For a while, I didn’t have many dreams growing up. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, or become. I’ve always had a love for sports especially basketball but I knew a playing career would be very tough. Then freshman year, I was watching a college basketball game and then it hit me. I could be one of those guys talking on the TV, a broadcaster! It felt like a great job to me because I would be around basketball and I have a knack for talking during the game about what’s going on in the game. Now as a senior, I’ve realized that being a successful broadcaster is pretty tough but I’m still going to try for it. I’ve already gained experience as Matt and I broadcasted the TOC this past year for Kickapoo basketball. This year we are going to try and broadcast more games and maybe get more viewers. Anyways my dream is to be a successful broadcaster, basketball would be the best, for a great company or school. ESPN is the top goal but a college or professional team would be a success to me as well. This is really the first thing I’m super excited for and I’d love to broadcast for my life. The TOC with Matt was so fun, and I really did enjoy it. I know I can improve on my in game talking but that feedback I got about my knowledge and the things I said during the games was so supporting! This is my big life dream and I will try and make it come true.

6. Haunted Houses Aren’t My Thing:

It was a Saturday night just a couple of days before Halloween and I immediately knew this was a huge mistake. As the car pulled into the parking lot, my stomach was turned inside out. I got out of the car and walked over with my friend RJ and his family. He had invited me to do this earlier in the day and I didn’t want to seem like a wimp so I said yes. I had always been scared of these places which is why I hadn’t gone in like 7 years but today that streak ended. This Halloween, I was going to go to a haunted house. We got up to the line which seemed like a mile long but that was just more time I didn’t have to go into this place yet. It was super dark out or at least it felt like it to me but that line just started getting shorter super quick, to quick for me. My legs felt like jelly as that house got closer and closer but yet I tried to look calm and fine on the outside. Anyways it was time we finally made it to the house it what felt like 10 seconds and as we entered in I could hear screams and just scary sounds all around. I am not a scary person. I get so scared because I feel like it’s going to happen to me in real life. Anyways we started walking as I tried to stay right in the middle of the group to be the safest. It wasn’t to bad at first as it was just kinda scary props with a little bit of light but once we hit the next area that’s when I really got scared. It was pitch black so I couldn’t see anything and that’s the stuff I hate. The sounds got louder and I pumped into a couple of people I think just trying to get through. I thought for sure I was lot and that really put a panic in me but I was actually in the front and saw a light up ahead. There was a guy dressed a clown standing on the side but he didn’t scare me but scared the people behind me in our group. Anyways the rest wasn’t bad as the guys weren’t very scary and once I saw the slide to the end I went for it and slide out so quickly and got out of there. I made it and realized it’s not that bad besides the dark part. I felt so relieved and just ready to go home. To this day I still haven’t gone to a haunted house since that moment about 5 years ago.

7. Some creative writing that I may do when I get older could be related to sports as I do want to become a sports broadcaster. What I got out of writing creatively is it really can show who you are and it’s a good way to show who you are. There are things that you may not even know about yourself when writing some of these pieces. It’s also super fun and it helped spark my creative thoughts that I didn’t know I had. This differs very much from normal writing as first off it’s not super strict and you can be a lot more free and loose. Also you can write about anything but in other writing especially in school, it’s about a certain topic, or you have to write about this. Creative writing is honestly so fun and my favorite type of writing.

8. My words of encouragement if I had any were just to keep going with life. We’ve all been through alot in high school and it’s been hard but we’ve made it here so if we keep going how we are we can make it through college and then life. The attitude that I’ve been going with lately is I can. Remember think that you can because you can do anything.

9. Honestly that is all I have to say. I have my reflection of this class in my journal so I won’t talk about that but I just want to say thank you to everyone in this class and you Mrs. Fraser for making this such a fun class. I went into this class with such mixed emotions and I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy but I realized that I actually really did enjoy it. I’m going to miss it and I wish you all the best of luck!

Food for Thought

Food has always been good but I feel like it’s much better around the holidays when we are with our families. Food is always good but when eaten and shared with family, it just seems to taste better. Everyone is in a good mood, fun stories are being told, and we are with the people we love and trust. The holidays overall are just an amazing time to be with people and food just seems to tie it all together and polish off the great times that we have. Some of my favorite foods I like to eat during the holidays are mashed potatoes. Honestly holidays foods aren’t my favorite as some of the food I don’t really like. Although that doesn’t bring me down as it is the holidays which is about spending time with family having a joyful cheer, and helping others. My favorite food would probably have to be shrimp. There are so many different ways to make shrimp and I would probably like any way they are made. I also really like pizza because it is pizza who doesn’t like pizza. Cheese pizza is probably my favorite if I had to pick just because it’s nothing fancy yet it’s still really good. A food I don’t like would probably be onions. Not only do they smell terrible they just taste plain awful. No matter how they are made onions are a no go for me I can’t stand them. I really hope when I eat something someone cooked that it doesn’t have onions in it because I probably won’t like it but I don’t want to be mean. I sure have struggled to talk about food which is probably surprising because it’s a topic that most of us people love including myself. I’m not sure myself why I had trouble coming up with things for this blog post oh well. Food is good that’s a pretty good summary of how I feel.

Children's Book: Dragin On

Front Cover:

Title- Dragin On  Art- A blue dragon in the back right looking sad and a bright happy little kid using his hand to try and keep him going.

Page 1:

Randolph the blue dragon was past his glory time. He was once a magical flying dragon who was the savior of the land Przetaland. Although his latest defeat has left him as a no one as he has been forgotten in the land.

Page 2:

Darrell is a young boy who is always exploring new places in Pretzaland. His desire for adventure is off the charts as that’s just all he knows. Today he decided to be dareful and go out of the land limits even though he’s not supposed to.

Page 3:

Darrell, in territory he hadn’t seen, stumbled across this big cave and of course being himself he went into it to explore. What he saw was just dark up ahead except for a blueish glow deeper in the cave. He thought he had stuck diamonds and he would be rich!

Page 4:

Looking at his new “treasure”, Darrell ran up into although he heard a loud snoring. This blue glow was actually a blue thing and it was sleeping. Curious as to what it is he gave it a little push swooping it up off the ground.

Page 5:

What he saw next was a blue flying dragon whom he had scared. He told the dragon he won't hurt him as long as the dragon didn’t hurt him. After realizing this dragon was friendly he asked for his name. Randolph the dragon said I’m Randolph.

Page 6:

Randolph! Darrell thought that was that famous dragon I’ve heard all about from the past I thought he had disappeared for good. So he asked Randolph if he was that famous dragon and he told him yes I used to be the protector or Przetaland.

Page 7:

Randolph just wasn’t into talking to this little kid who had randomly come in his cave. He felt good though that kid knew him and thought of him as a legend when he was the protector. Although he just wanted to kid to leave he felt sad again remembering his good times.  

Page 8:

Darrell saw the sadness in Randolph and didn’t want to leave. He encouraged him to come back because he had been such a great guardian for Przetaland. Randolph didn’t want that as he think’s he’s just something lost and wouldn’t want to be wanted.

Page 9:

Randolph said fine I’ll go to the land with you although he was pretty scared to. Darrell was dragging him on as they left the cave saying it’s fine man you’re fine. Randolph said everyone was going to hate him and he shouldn't do this yet he kept going.

Page 10:

As they were flying into Przetaland, Randolph had memories of all the great times he had fought off evil here and so it made him happy but then he became sad again. As they were flying they saw land on fire!

Page 11:

It turns out the Red Dragons had started in invasion on poor Przetaland. They had no chance as this was so unexpected and those 3 dragons were going to burn the city down and take all of their money. Darrell told Randolph but he already knew exactly what to do.

Page 12:

Darrell riding on Randolph swooped into to stop the red dragons. They at first laughed because Randolph was a thing of a fast but once he already took out one of the dragons he knew they meant business. It was such a good fight but the land had enough time to help Randolph. They were able to take the 3 out and they scared them away.

Page 13:

The whole land was so happy as they were saved but a dragon they should've appreciated before. The whole town celebrated and Randolph was once again viewed as a hero for his actions and bravery.

Page 14:

There was a celebration for Randolph in the town and many people went up to him saying they wish they hadn’t of forgotten. Randolph enjoyed all this but had to give credit to his new friend he made Darrell, who is off on another adventure, for dragging him on.

Illustrations:

I am going to look up images to use for my children's book on Google. I can't draw so that's what

I'm going to do but I will try to find good images about my type of book to use.

About the Blogger(Author)

Charles H’Doubler is 27 years old who lives in Springfield Missouri. He is from Springfield and went to college at Missouri State. He lives with his wife near the campus of Drury. He loves to play sports and normally he is a quiet person. He developed a passion for writing children's books because when he tutored at an elementary school he realized how fun children's books were so he decided to write them as a hobby. He then took it further as it was his favorite thing to do and here he is now.

A Great Children's Book

The Book is called The Day the Crayons came Home written by Drew Daywalt. There is no information about the author in this book which caught me by surprise. The cover of this book is a green crayon with a nap stack running over some cover of a book. This book was 35 pages so a good amount for a kids book. The characters in this book are Duncan who is the main characters and his different colored crayons. The settings change throughout the book because each crayon has a different story that they tell to Duncan in a letter of where they are. There’s a crayon on the beach one skiing down a mountain one just in the city they are everywhere. Basically Duncan is a kid growing older so he’s disregarding his crayons more and in response they leave and send him letters of what they are doing. Duncan realizes he misses them a lot and wants them to come back saying he shouldn’t of left them. They do come back and so he makes them a house with a place for each crayon. This book doesn’t rhyme, have animals as characters, have monsters or creatures, have adults as characters, have a lovely tone, have lots of words a page, or have one phrase repeated. What it does have is it teaches a lesson, have kids as characters, humor, illustrations, color, and actual photos. My favorite line from the book is “He built a place where each crayon would always feel at home”. I feel like this book is good for 4-8 year olds as it’s a book for starting out and kids really like crayons at that age. I would of liked this book as a kid because I really did like crayons so I would of enjoyed this.

The Childhood

These are some of the questions that I picked to talk about my childhood.

4. What friend did you have in childhood that grew away from you when you got older?

Well that friend was my old best friend from about 4th-7th grade and his name was Knighten. We were best of friends and hung out almost every single day as I would go over to his house after school. We did all sorts of things together like play video games and jump on the trampoline and it was honestly so much fun. I feel like we enjoyed just being funny and silly with each other you know being kids. I feel like the reason we aren’t best friends anymore is because when you get older different things and people distract you and we just weren’t having much fun anymore. We are still friends by all means we don’t hate each other but we are nowhere near close to those 3 years of being best friends.

11. Pick an age and start over from that age.

I feel like I’d start at 12 honestly. That was when I was unconfident and I didn’t have that many friends it seemed like. I decided to quit basketball as well because I didn’t think I was good enough and that was just the time in my life where I felt the worst. I was at my lowest point and sometimes I just didn’t even want to go to school. Things did later get better in high school as I meet some awesome people and I stand much better today than back then. Although I would definitely go back to 12 because that’s when I was at a low and this time I’d stay high and be confident and maybe now I would be different.

24. Describe something surprising about your childhood.

Well something that people probably won’t know is that I went through 2 head injuries that cracked my skull. It was a long time ago and it was on the head so it’s hard to tell but yes I did crack my head twice. The first time was me in about 1st grade and I jumped into the lake off the shore but the mistake I made was I dove and I dove right into a big rock causing a pretty big pain. I was taken to a local clinic and I remember the glued my head back together which thinking about it now may not of been the best idea because there are better options. I still have a mark today but it’s at the top of my head and my hair normally covers it up. The second time I cracked it was when I was playing with my sister in our play room and I tripped over her and my head split right onto the outer rim of the big drum in our drum set. That hurt so bad and it was bleeding pretty bad as well. I also got that glued together so again I avoided stitches. So yeah that’s what happened in my childhood.

38. What did you collect as a child?

I was a big collector of basketball cards growing up and I bought a lot of packs. I just really liked the idea of getting really cool and rare cards and that was my main goal of these cards. Also trying to get one of each card was a goal of mine but that’s just what I really liked about basketball cards. Also the fact basketball was my favorite sport and that’s what I played. I never did manage to get a super cool rare card but I still have a lot of different cards.

That’s my childhood pretty much wrapped up hoped it was a joy to read.