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[Dec. 15th, 2009|08:02 pm] |
Laura Kurot
Professor Hawes
ENG 1020
12 December 2009
Reality Hits You With a Scary Surprise
As I entered the room, still crying because of what my mother had told me in the car, he, my father, laid there as if nothing was wrong as always. He held me in his arms as I just cried and he told me everything is okay. My father is the type of person to never show his pain and pretend that everything was okay even if it wasn’t. It became like a sixth sense for me, my sisters and my mom. When he was in pain, but pretended like he wasn’t, everyone knew it was an act. Earlier in the week, my father forgot to take his heart medicine, which he must take every morning. He already arrived at work and it was too late for him to go back home to take it. He started having a hard time breathing so he made his way to the ER just in time. Thankfully he worked in a hospital and was taken care of right away. My mother was called soon after, but she didn’t share this with any of my sisters and me. But what bothers me most is that I didn’t even know the difference of him not being home. From this day on, I knew I had to change that.
A few months earlier, my father came home from work extremely stressed. I was the only one home, but I knew to stay away from my dad when he’s stressed. He likes to have his space. He was more stressed than I thought he was and he took out his stress on me. This turned into an argument where I didn’t speak to him for a few weeks. I remember that the next day he sent flowers to my school for me with a note saying I’m sorry, Love dad. I started hysterical crying. All the women in the office didn’t know what to do. One of them got up from her desk and gave me a hug but she had no clue as to why I was crying. No one did. Later that day he called me asking if I received the flowers. I responded with one-word answers telling him yes and asking why he sent them. I knew why I just wanted to hear it from him. My dad is never the type to apologize with words, its always gifts, but that’s how he was raised.
Growing up, my parents were very hard workers. Most of the week a babysitter looked after my sisters and me. My parents both work in hospitals so they were needed at work most of the time. My dad worked hard to get where he is today. He started off as a nurse and became the administrator of a very well known hospital known as LIJ or also known as Long Island Jewish Medical Center. My mom was one of the head nurses at a local hospital and she would always work long days. There were days I remember that were tradition. Every Thursday night my dad took my sisters and I to Mickey Dees every week for dinner because he can’t cook for the life of him. Every Friday my mom would make chicken cutlets and we would all have dinner together. It was something we were use to.
When I was younger I had a great relationship with my dad. I loved being around him all the time. We were close, but as I grew up, we drifted apart. Till this day I don’t understand why. I’m not ashamed of my father because I know he says things he doesn’t mean just like everyone else. I just wish I understood why we never got along all this time until he ended up in the hospital. I question why it took something this horrific to bring us back together.
When we moved to a different town my mom had to get two jobs and my dad was moving up in his job. We were all old enough to take care of ourselves, but it was rare that we all saw each other. It was understandable that we barely saw each other because it was something that wasn’t an option if my parents had to be at work. My sisters and me kept ourselves busy with school and sports and hanging out with friends. At the time I had one sister at college in Buffalo and another living in Pennsylvania.
The whole week my father was in the hospital I didn’t even know he wasn’t around. That’s how busy we all were. He always left for work at six in the morning till twelve at night. I was either still sleeping in the morning or had already fallen asleep for the next day. I would always wake up to him getting ready or leaving for work, but never saw him.
I remember the night perfectly that my mom had told me. She started off by saying there was something she had to tell me and that everything was okay. She told me my dad was in the hospital and has been for the past few days because of his heart. But she kept saying he was okay because she saw how upset I was getting just by knowing the fact, not even knowing what was wrong with him. She told me he forgot to take his medicine for his heart and it caused him not to be able to breath on his own for a little and he had to have surgery, I remember being so any angry for her not telling me sooner but she said it was because she didn’t want to worry me. I guess it’s a mother thing to do to protect your kids from being upset. A few minutes later, my sister from Buffalo called crying because she knew what was going on. I had to act like everything was okay in just a few minutes because my mom asked me to. I don’t know how she found out and neither did my mom, but she knew. She was always more emotional than all of us.
We then went and picked up pizza to have for dinner at the hospital. My dad wanted real food to begin with. I don’t blame him; hospital food isn’t always the best. When we arrived at the hospital my dad saw how upset I was just by the redness of my cheeks. I cried in his arms and he kept telling me everything was okay, that he was going to be okay and would be coming home in a few days after he got tests done. At this time, I just wanted my dad to be okay and I knew that I had to work on my relationship with him. You learn how important people can be to you when you know you could lose them any moment.
From that day on, my dad came home from work much earlier and took on less work to do. He learned his life wasn’t worth all the stress from work, which was another reason for his heart problems becoming worse. We began to see him more often and it helped our relationship. There have been times where we had our differences. My manager at work got me to see that if you don’t have a good relationship with your own parents, you wont have a good one with your own children. He opened my eyes to see that it was important to be close with my dad no matter what. Now me being the one away from home, he calls every other day and gets upset when I don’t call him. To him this whole experience showed how much we care about each other even if we argue all the time. I guess you could say you fight with those you care about most. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 9th, 2009|03:02 pm] |
Entering college and meeting new people, the main question being asked is what do you want to do with your life. Most people do not know or have an idea but, are not sure. I think it is rare for someone at the age of eighteen who actually know what they want to do with their life. When you begin your experience at college or start to apply, you discover that there is many more job opportunities out there.
Senior year of high school I was fortunate enough to test out if culinary was for me. I was given the opportunity to leave high school for half of the day and experience real cooking. To be in the kitchen constantly doing something with food and being able to test new things out was exciting for me. I do love to cook but, when it came time for baking cakes, pies, cookies or breads, it was more fun for me. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 25th, 2009|04:23 pm] |
Work Cited
Heminway, Ernest. “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot”. In our Time. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1930. 85-88.
Shepherd, Allen. Taking Apart “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot”. Markham-Review, Staten Islant, NY. 1969; 2(1) 15-16
Johnston, Kenneth. “Hills Like White Elephants”: Lean, Vintage Hemingway Literature Resource Center, 1982 233-238.
Weeks, Lewis. “Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in “Hills like White Elephants. Literature Resource Center, 1980 75-77 |
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[Sep. 23rd, 2008|12:05 pm] |
this year so far has been up and down
finding out who some people really are
best friends arent always your best friend
im sick of the in between and the on and off. |
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[Jul. 6th, 2008|11:27 am] |
summers finally here
not what i thought it would be
4th of july just passed...went to oceanside for my cousins party
apprently i look 22 haha thats a joke!
we all have lives where we barely have time to hang out with our girls
started my new job at bbp...intense!
hanging out with yiorgo a lot more than usual lately...things r pretty good between us and im happy bout it. im happy i gave me n him a second chance. i dont regret it at all
kinda miss school...not the work just the fact of seeing everyone
passed my spanish regents...thought i never would lol the fact that ari was like ohh i got a 99 pushed me to wanna do better n study so that worked out
im excited for seinor year but yet again once college comes i just hope if pple change its for the better and not worse. |
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[May. 28th, 2008|08:39 pm] |
Huck and Jim are in need of an escape from the society they live in. Jim wants to escape from being sold for $800 because he does not want to be property any more. He just wants freedom. Huck wants an escape from being civilized and the abuse from his father. Cruelty and injustice are inherent in a society based on one individual dominating another. For Huck and Jim, the Mississippi River is the ultimate symbol of freedom. When they are alone on their raft they do not have to answer to anyone or do what others tell them to do. The river carries them toward freedom; for Huck, an escape from his abusive father and for Jim, an escape towards the free states.
Huck's experiences as he travels down the river force him to question the things society has taught him. As time goes on throughout their journey, Huck and Jim go back and fourth on how they feel about each other. They are willing to change their attitudes about each other with little prompting. Huck's distance from mainstream society makes him skeptical of the world around him and the ideas it passes on to him. On the river, Jim becomes like a father to Huck by taking care of him without smoothering him. Despite their freedom on the river, the society on land still effects their feelings towards one another. As their journey continues, which once seemed to be paradise to them with a source of freedom, it becomes merely a short term means of escape due to the dangers they continue to face.
At the end of the novel they do return to the society they tried to escape, but Huck creates his own rules of how to judge others. Huck represents what anyone is capable of becoming. a thinking, feelings human being rather than a robot in society. Huck learns to ignore pre - existing prejudice and does what he feels to be correct. Jim is told he is a free man as well which shows some change in the society where more people like Huck are doing what they feel is morally right |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 26th, 2008|01:51 pm] |
Dolphins are part of the family of toothed whales that includes orcas and pilot whales. They are mammals and breathe through a blowhole on the top of their head. Dolphin coloration varies, but they are generally gray in color with darker backs than the rest of their bodies.
Size The Amazonian River dolphin is the smallest of the dolphin species at five feet in length. It weighs about 100 lbs. The largest dolphin species is the orca. Male orcas grow to about 18 feet in length and weigh about 19,000 pounds!
Lifespan Most dolphin species have a long lifespan. It is estimated that some individuals may have lived for more than 100 years.
Diet
Variety including fish, squid and crustaceans.
Population
It is difficult to estimate population numbers since there are many different species spanning a large geographic area.
Range
Most species live in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. Five species live in rivers.
Behavior
Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making them a favorite of wildlife watchers. Many species will leap out of the water, spy-hop (rise vertically out of the water to view their surroundings) and follow ships, often synchronizing their movements with one another. Scientists believe that dolphins conserve energy by swimming alongside ships, a practice known as bow-riding.
Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish. Dolphins will also follow seabirds, other whales and fishing boats to feed opportunistically on the fish they scare up or discard.
Reproduction
Mating Season Throughout the year, though in some areas there is a peak in spring and fall.
Gestation 9-17 months depending on the species. When it is time to give birth, the female will distance herself from the pod, often going near the surface of the water.
Number of offspring Usually one calf; twins are rare.
As soon as the calf is born, the mother must quickly take it to the surface so it can take its first breath. The calf will nurse from 11 months to 2 years, and after it is done nursing it will still stay with its mother until it is between 3 and 8 years old.
Threats
Marine pollution, habitat degradation, harvesting, low frequency sonar, entanglement in fishing gear, boat traffic.
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/dolphin.php
Dolphins are mammals, not fish. They are warm blooded like man, and give birth to one baby called a calf at a time. At birth a bottlenose dolphin calf is about 90-130 cms long and will grow to approx. 4 metres, living up to 40 years.They are highly sociable animals, living in pods which are fairly fluid, with dolphins from other pods interacting with eachother from time to time.
Dolphins use their powerful tail flukes in an up and down motion to move through the water. They also use their tails when hunting, hitting a fleeing fish up into the air with their tail, stunning it, then scooping the fish up when it falls back into the water. A dolphin slapping its tail on the water in the wild may be a sign of annoyance, or a warning to other dolphins of danger.
Their teeth are interlocking rows of conical pegs, suitable for holding slippery fish. They eat their fish whole, head first. In the wild an open mouth is a sign of aggression, as is head nodding. A sign of greater aggression is violent jaw clapping.
A dolphin may empty and refill its lungs in less than a fifth of a second. As the dolphin breathes the air leaves the blowhole at speeds of over 100mph. Complex nerve endings around the blowhole sense pressure changes so the dolphin knows exactly when the blowhole is in or nearing the air and can be opened. Water in a dolphin's blowhole will actually drown it so powerful muscles close the blowhole as it dives under the water again.
The dolphin's eyes produce a special slippery secretion which protects the eyes from foreign objects and water friction. To sleep, a dolphin must shut down only half of its brain, as its breathing is under voluntary control. Dolphins take short cat-naps, floating just below the surface, then slowly rising to breathe. Often dolphins are very active during night time, for some this is their main feeding time.
The dolphin's skin is completely smooth allowing the dolphin to move easily through the water, and also reduce heat loss. Their skin may bear rake marks from other dolphins teeth during play or mating, and can easily become badly sunburnt if they strand. Their bodies are very streamlined so they may swim at high speeds through the water, and an example of this is their ears. Dolphin's ears are barely noticeable marked only by a small hole just behind the eye. In a bottlenose dolphin the ear is about 5-6 cms behind the eye and only 2-3 mm in diameter.
Dolphins are able to dive to great depths, and also leap to great heights. They may leap to avoid predators or to show how powerful they are to females at mating time. Noisy splashing jumps may also be used to herd fish. Bottlenose dolphins can dive to depths of over 1,640 ft (500m).
http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphinsa.html |
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[May. 18th, 2008|05:54 pm] |
this year went by way tooo fast.
a lot has happened this year and i feel like ive learned from a lot of things ive been through....kinda feel like a stronger person.
on thursday is jr prom....so weird!
im bringing yiorgo to prom but idk...its weird
i thought i was gonna bring ari but im happy yiorgo is going because i know id be sitting there wishing he was right next to me. hes actually making things better than i thought they would be. idk where things are gonna end up with me n him. right now idk probably just friends again because he doesnt have time for me so w/e
jared comes home on monday soo excited to see him.
weve become close again lately and ive missed our friendship. so im really happy bout that.
i really miss my bus friends a lot
i just talked to a few of them today n i miss them sooo much it sucks being away from each other when we were like a family that never faught. so much happened with all of them ughhh i just wish i was with them right now. and pretty much everyday. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 5th, 2008|05:50 pm] |
i love having you in my life but i also miss my old life.
misss hanging out with all of my friends except for just a few of them.
i hate that you tell me who i can n cant be friends with and think its wrong for someone else to do that but its okay for you to.
you dont notice what you do wrong n that happens but its rediculous right now.
i dont know who uve become
i dont know if i want any part of our friendship any more....
people tell me i should do what i wanna do and for once im gonna listen to them. im gonna do what i want and what is fun for me. not wut u tell me to do because you think i think very lil of you.
i need to get the college experience but im so scared to leave you. and i know we have another year and so on but just to think that ur gonna stay here n i dont want to hurts a lil. knowing that i will barely see you even as my best friend. |
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[Apr. 1st, 2008|03:46 pm] |
theres one song that puts me in the best mood n its the most stupid song ever but i love it because it gets me in the mood of not caring about anything and just wanting to enjoy life.
i feel like i cant be myself around you because you dont want to talk about certain things but those certain things are going on in my life. im happy to listen to wut u have to say and wut u want me to know but its not fair for u not to hear wut i have to say and tell me u dont care to know. kinda hurts.
i dont like april fools at all considering my best friend made me cry. not intentionally but he did it. but it made me realize that i actually care for him to be in my life and maybe more than a friend....idk! i just dont wanna loose him. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 11th, 2008|07:33 pm] |
i dont want to make all the effort to get ur attention
its the fact that ive done that before and i refuse to do it again and feel like a fool |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 10th, 2008|06:50 pm] |
love love love my best friends
everything seems sooo good
seems like the girls r back together like old times
becoming closer with a lot of pple lately and i love itttt
feel like my boobs r never ending growing like wtf hahaha lmao
today took the best nap of my lifeeeeeeeeeee
talked to gg like all day......love him!!!!
lifes just like good
i dont need ari like im completely over him and im not letting him get the best of me like pete did. like if he cant b mature to b friends that i dont need him. im not gonna beg him to b my friend so yeah! |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 9th, 2008|09:45 pm] |
this past weekend has been interesting.
friday went home showered n all that jazzz n went to a dance with anj for goya
saw ari....haha so close to not being friends with him but then he made some wut of an effort to talk to me...but talked to yiorgos the most love him lol =]
saturday workeddd all day than at night was suppose to go to a party but then stayed in with anj n her cousin meredith went to blockbuster n had a girls night
sunday worked alll day then talked to yiorgo n it was reli good! =]
n now im sitting here talking to ari...odd but im actually over him cuz hes so imature |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 2nd, 2008|09:07 am] |
pretty content with my life where i dont need another you to fill in the empty space. cept the fact is its not really empty. i kinda like being single and not having to deal witht he bullshit. i think i realized im not a big fan of talking to the same person every single day of my life where they dont give a shit. where they make zero effort so i wont.
school grades seem to be getting better but some worse.
took the SATs yesturday...glad that shits over with.
soooooo hard.
jr prom is coming up....dont really care to bring a date lol. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 21st, 2008|07:09 pm] |
my moms crazy she makes me want to move out so bad
my dad is never around any more...not really much of a change
beth pretty much takes care of me.
i dont care about anything any more...just so done with all the bulshit pretty much
i miss wheels like crazyyyyy and i want to go back in time
or i wish to go way before wheels cuz when i was with pete i was kinda happy...and i miss ari but at times i wish i never met him because i dont know the person he really is. i just i dont know any more.
i just cant wait to get the hell out of here and do what i want to do and go where i want with no parent saying no u cant do that. fuck that.
my moms a bitch i cant stand her any more..fkgjfkdjgkhdf |
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[Feb. 11th, 2008|10:45 pm] |
so lately i dont give a shit bout anyone whos bringing me down
im glad that lately im bringing my old friends back into my life again i miss some of them a lot.
i finally got to see moss which made me so happy.
ive been talkin to pete and ari n both relationships r good
i kinda messed things up with yiorgo. =/
i just want it to b feb break already |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 9th, 2008|08:27 pm] |
i honestly am confused with you
you act as if you want me in your life but than you dont.
make up your mind and stick with your decision |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 4th, 2008|06:44 pm] |
i just dont give a shit any more
people think you need a boyfriend to be happy...i dont any more
im happy with what ive got and im glad i actually have what i have
i realized i dont want a relationship cuz i cant talk to someone every single day and get bored so easy. i get bored easy.
i love how things r back to normal with pete as if our past never exsited
we can actually hang out and be idiots around each other and its fun and laughs
its weird that all of a sudden we r hanging again but im happy bout it. he takes my mind off shit and hes a good friend.
i really could give two shits if me and ari talked because he doesnt care
why should i be upset if hes not even close to it
i dont beleive he still has feelings for me no matter what any guy says
i dont think guys get jealous
if u break up with someone obv its for a reason.
family sucks
beth is like the only person i truly think who gives a shit about me
she takes care of me
feeds me
cheers me up when im down
gives me good advice
and we pretty much live the same life.
i want high school to be over. i want to go to greece and get away from here cuz its prob the farthiest thinggggg |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 29th, 2008|02:52 pm] |
you cant come back into my life like nothing changed
you just cant. |
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