Poison Ivy

There are no trails in Florida that will adequately prepare you for the Appalachian Trail. Not just the difficulties, but the beauty as well. When I made the decision to do a section hike with my friend Brian, I had a vague idea that it would be difficult and rewarding, but I had no idea just how much of an understatement that was. The first day began with a shuttle ride to our start point, thirty-five miles from Hot Springs, North Carolina, where we'd left our car. As soon as I stepped out of…

When my mom asked my sister and I if we wanted to accompany her and two friends on a short trip to their cabin on the lake, we hadn't declined the invitation. I wanted a change in scenery and it wasn't like I had something better to do so we packed our things and met up at my mom's friend's house. They had a lovely spacious one story house with a pool. We loaded everything into the truck and began our two-hour journey. The journey itself wasn't that bad, although I found myself nodding off as I…

the Naturalist Intelligence. These are the farmers and botanists as they are very nature orientated. I am not very nature orientated, I like flowers and love looking at the birds and wildlife but cannot identify one plant from another except for poison ivy. The test that I took did not rate this intelligence but I feel that it would agree that for me it would either be the seventh or the eighth out of the eight intelligences. The final intelligence is the Musical Intelligence. Musical…

Mama drove her blue Valiant, rattle-trap car up the U-shaped driveway. There were roses in the arc, red, coral and pink. Roses, not tight-budded roses, but rather old fashioned, having loose and simple petals, resembling Dogwood flowers more than the orderly roses in my mother’s garden. At the top of the drive, stood my Grandparent’s cinderblock, two-story home, our vacation destination. Momma kept her car running, as I along with my two older brothers, Randy and Roger disembarked; suit…

One particular mise-en-scène that was one of the most important in this Disney film version of “Cinderella” is the costume. Anyone who has not seen the film, or has never heard of any version of the story of Cinderella would be able to tell who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist. A costume could speak a lot of words, whether the author describes what they are wearing or not, film adaptation could portray a character’s personality more with their costume. A costume is not just their…

For a story to be interesting and exciting, there has to be conflicts. It doesn't matter if it is a movie or a book, there has to be conflicts, and what these conflicts must have are the amazing and iconic villains. Without them, everything will be pointless, the story wouldn't be as exciting as it should be. They simply make everything better by making the audience hate them. If people hates a specific villain’s guts in the story, then that is such a good sign. Villains are even more…

APPALACHIAN FORESTS Gas corporations say that natural gas is the future of clean energy, but they fail to tell people about the things they will be destroying to make this future a reality. Along with other things, the Appalachian Forest is being destroyed. The Appalachian Forest is critical for preserving endangered species and providing an invaluable connection to nature for the general public. Gas pipelines are endangering this precious resource and should be prohibited. There are many long…

The Making of a Spy Growing up in a small, remote town may seem boring to many people, but to me it was a treat. By the age of four I was living in Frazeysburg, Ohio, a small place out in the country. I lived on six acres of land, surrounded by tall pine and oak trees. Unlike where I live now, my old home was secluded from places such as the mall, movie theatres and parks. I had the luxury of creating my own fun through indulging in horror movies and crime shows, adventuring outside, and…

“Appearances make impressions but it is the personality that makes an impact” (unknown). Frank Pemberton (a.k.a. Bob Stanley), from Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, is a horrible murderer with an appearance of a “film star” (125). The protagonist, however, is a lively eleven-year-old girl who loves her family. While there exist differences between Flavia and Mr. Pemberton, their similarities are striking. The contrast between the characters brings out Flavia’s special…

My First Prognosis Thoughts of the support of my wife and smile from my son filled my head as I continued my train ride to a local hospital. If someone had asked me how my day at school was or what I did, I am sure I could not remember anything. I only knew I had to know what was wrong with me. I was heading to Tokyo University, the largest and most famous hospital in Japan. I changed trains twice to get to the hospital as my mind began to feel like a meandering river. So many thoughts…