Mary's Blog

Flannery O’Connor is dubbed the “Queen of Mean,” however, I cannot comprehend why she would be called this. I tried to do a little research on why she is coined this name, but with no success, I could not find information about it.  Perhaps it is the way her story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (since this is the only story I have read by O’Connor), depicts her characters.  The grandmother is not a good person, trying to portray herself as what she believes is good.  Then there is The Misfit, an escaped murderer, who is pure evil.  

Oftentimes, we will read a book or watch a movie, with a happy ending or one that we find satisfying that the main characters get their due justice, and everything is good in the end.  However, this ending is rather alarming with the deaths of her family as well as her own death.  It leaves her readers filling bewildered and shocked with the ending of the events.

What?… He was a ghost all this time?…

The first movie that comes to mind pertaining situational irony for me would be “The Sixth Sense.” It was a total shocker, at the end of the movie, when the young boy tells Bruce Willis’ character that he can see dead people.  

Throughout the whole movie, I wholeheartedly believed that Willis’ character was very much alive and well.  It was not until the end of the movie that movie watchers discovered that he was a ghost that whole time.  

After watching it over again, I realized throughout the movie they never touched and Willis and the young boy would appear together; however, without actually meeting up to go to places.  He would just appear next to the young boy; for example, on the subway, etc.  The twist was at the very end when the young boy spoke with his wife because he was at Willis’ wake.  This was the “dun dun dun” moment movie watchers discovered his death and that he had been a ghost all along!

If I could ask a 100 random people how they felt about writing papers, I would be almost certain that the majority would agree in my favor with my feelings on writing papers. I certainly do not enjoy it.  

Oftentimes when I start to write, my ideas tend to be jumbled all over the place in my mind, with a million things to say, but no real starting point.  Kind of looks like my girls’ rooms, with clothes sprawled all over the bed due to uncertainties on what to wear that day and the previous days before.  

Fortunately, I have discovered an easier method, thanks to college courses, and my mind has not been as chaotic as when I first started. Brain storming and outlines are really amazing at helping if you too suffer from scrambled word brain.  Hallelujah!

“Where the Wild Things Are” is a book that both kids and adults can connect to, and I could correlate to Max and his mother’s perspective.

From Max’s position, I can recall being the mischievous child and getting upset at my mother.  I can go back into my memory files and recall many times I have had fantasies of being in control of my own life, without obeying my mother’s rules.  Escaping to a world where I could come and do anything that I pleased.  However, no matter how mad I was at her, I always loved her and knew deep down that she loved me too!

From his mother’s standpoint, I can relate to her with my very own kids and actually being in the same scenario she experienced.  I can remember many countless times that my son was being rambunctious and naughty. Those were the times where he would be in timeout and I would wish that he would just..Take..A..Nap! As devilish as he could be many times, even now as he nears 20 y/o, I would do almost anything for him, or any of my kids. I just love them so much that I could eat them up alive!

As a child, reading was something that I did not enjoy doing. AT ALL! I do not have a favorite book from my childhood; however, I did enjoy reading “No, David!” by David Shannon to my children when they were little. 

This book is about a little boy named David. David just a typical kid who is constantly being told “no” by his mother. Ultimately, in the end he breaks a vase after his mother told him specifically not to play in the house. He feels bad and wonders if his mother still loves him after what had just happened. She finally says “yes” that she still loves him. 

I enjoyed this book because it did relate to how I was feeling as a parent. I constantly told my children “no” to many situations but that did not mean that I did not love them any less. After looking over the story again, I did realize that perhaps repeatedly telling a child “no” may question the way they perceive your love for him/her. As parents, we do need to discipline our children and we also need to show our love as well.

Three…two…one..smile! This picture looks amazing and it is getting posted for everyone to see the fun time we had (insert a smile emoji with blush on cheeks and hashtag #funtimes).

Luckily, we are fortunate that we live in a technological savvy world compared to previous generations. Smart phones have changed the way we interact and communicate with one another. With the touch of a button, we have access to a vast amount of social media platforms on the Internet. However, social media has, both, aided and hindered the way we live in society today.

For myself, the biggest advantage of social media is the YouTube videos. I cannot express how much I have learned from other people willing to post their techniques about various situations/issues online.

The disadvantage of social media is that anything you do or say that is posted on any social media platform is always going to be available to dig up, even if it was deleted. Moreover, many people will look up or post to social media when it is not safe to do, such as while driving behind the wheel. No post reading about or posting is worth the lives of others.

In all honesty, I believe that social media is an advantage to society.
When viewed or engaged in safely, we can do or find anything possible with the touch of our fingertips!

How do I feel about blogging? I have never blogged in my entire life and I am going to have a go at it in Eng102 class. In all honesty, I do not even know where to start. What do I talk about? Who will be reading this? Will this benefit me in the long run? I know the answer to the last question, but I still have to wonder. Writing is something I do not enjoy doing. Period! I say this grinding my teeth and sighing at the work that has to be done; However, in order to excel at my writing skills I need to continue to practice with every opportunity that is given to me.