I Am..Ms. James

Me on the left and my older sister Margie and Freckles, our dog.

I am from Hoola Hoops and Hop Scotch,

     from chlorine and zinc oxide.

I am from bare feet that danced in puddles

     of summer rain, sizzling steam off

     scorched sidewalks.

I am from Barbie dolls and tea parties,

     from ten cent ice cream cones and long

     walks with Freckles.

I am from "Put your napkin in your lap"

     and "Get your elbows off the table."

I am from "Straighten up and fly right" and

    "Don’t come down until your homework’s            done."

I’m from rides to the Village on my bicycle,

      flute lessons and swimming meets.

I am from the hum of Mother’s sewing machine

       and matching Easter dresses.

I am from Jack and Harriett and Margie,

      from memories of voices I can still hear

      inside my head.

I am from Good Night, Sleep Tight

      and Don’t get out of bed!

  

But that was then.

I hardly remember those years when I was from
      the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the smell of beer and hot dogs,
      traveling gypsies,
      coping with luck, good and bad
      of finding friends and leaving them behind,
      of years zipping by too fast.
     

 And later I came from the chaos of breakfast for three

My son-in-law Levi, my son Kevin, daughter Sara, Hailey, Porter

      on the way out the door,
      homework in boxes,
      ball games, music lessons, school parties,
      heartbreaks of skinned knees and broken         friendships,
      the joy of reading together and finding           adventure.
     

I am from leaving a past for a future            unknown.
       I am from no regrets, tough lessons 

       and gratitude for second chances,
       I am from the quiet of morning,
       eyes opening before an alarm,
       coffee bubbling, dripping, wafting from          the kitchen,
       the tap of computer keys,
       a time to write in peaceful silence.

I am from the warmth and comfort of family,

       deep friendships, a family tree with new branches, and
       trust and faith that all is well and
       I am enough                  
       and I have all I need.

May the Blogs Begin!

Blogs are an interactive, visual way to share our writing, and I'm excited for you to create your own. I am providing some written instructions on the handout, but I think you'll really just learn as you go. What I've set up here is a central class blog where I will post assignments and sometimes my own writing. You can usually check here for directions or what you need to get started, so please take the time to read the information I post. When you create your blogs, I will add each of them to a "blog roll" on the right hand side--from here you can hop on and see what everyone else is up to, and I'll be looking for you to make supportive and appropriate comments on your classmates' blogs beginning in the near future. This whole process of creating a blog might be a new one for most of you, and I appreciate your willingness to jump in and try something unfamiliar. You'll just have to spend a little time playing around with your layout, and I hope you feel free to add your own personal touches and make your page your own. You can start with the basic setup and let it evolve from there.

Some things to know/keep in mind:

• A post is a new entry you create from scratch with your own thoughts and ideas. A comment is an idea or thought you attach to someone else's post.
• While your blog is meant to be a place for you to express yourself and for others to communicate with you, we aren't using our blogs for socializing like facebook or texting. I hope you're kind and friendly to one another, but resist posting casual messages or silly small talk or really anything not related to our work together as a class. Later on, when you've moved on from Creative Writing, you may want to continue your blog and of course then you can do whatever you want with it!
• Since your blog is an "assignment" for a writing class, please attempt to use proper grammar and punctuation. You should not use text-speak or abbreviations or slang that you might use in texting or email. i do not want you to type in all lowercase like this. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO TYPE IN ALL UPPERCASE LIKE THIS. Use complete sentences and your best grasp on writing conventions. This is not to say we won't all make a few mistakes here and there, but we want it to appear that we were trying not to, not like we just haphazardly slapped some stuff down.

When you've created your own blog today, leave the url of it as a comment on this post. I'll link all of them to this page and this will be our home base. You can name your blog whatever you want, but I'll be listing them by your first and last name in the blog roll because it's much easier for me to keep track of that way.  

I do hope you enjoy this process...I'm here every step of the way so don't hesitate to ask me if you have questions or want some guidance.

Your first post will be the "I am..." Poem or your "101 Things about Me" you drafted last Tuesday. You should be able to copy and paste the text from the draft you saved. Try to add an image or two using the button that looks like a photo (next to the blue word Link) on the tool bar. 

Also, please leave a comment on my "I am..." post telling me something you found interesting or something we have in common.