[Jennifer Sears]

See the To-Do List for instructions. Make sure to write 2-3 paragraphs and then respond with another paragraph to the person who goes before you.
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/searseng1141ol05-fall-2021/2021/08/31/to-do-list-session-2-thursday-feb-4/

[Shayanna Nicholls]

The Monday morning started with me waking early as I had planned the previous day, I was more pleased than a non- morning person should be because it was a dull and cool morning. I sat in my kitchen the and gloom of the sky with the bright of an early sun and the cool that came with it created a feeling of complacency. I had a thought “This is the perfect morning.” As I started boiling water I watched the tree that when first planted was dubbed ‘Maple’ by my younger sibling and I that had now grown to reach our second floor kitchen window .It seeming to share the sentiments of the current weather that I had as softly bowed and bent with the cool breeze that was coming from the end of our block., it’s leaves like a swarm of rare green migratory bird each fighting, riding and all communicating within the wind. At the same time a neighbor from across the street closing the metal door of her complex that made a loud wail before a short slam that told the both of us it was shut. After she then entered her car and went on her way and I was sure that my eyes nor head could no longer bend to see where she was going, my focus returned to the leaves which I now tried to predict the movements of.

When small bubbles began to form in the boiling water I gathered my most recently used mug, it was shaped like a teacup and had both the ears and the cartoon face of an orange fox, honey from behind the sugar in our spice cupboard and a chamomile tea bag from the ‘warm tea’ jar. I returned to the water which I turned off and poured onto the honey and tea bag and stirred with the closest cylindrical object: a reusable straw. I then sat at the dining table with my tea and started my morning ritual where I check my apps and communication and after I was done my tea had cooled to in my opinion a good temperature. As I was drinking tea, looking at Maple dance and enjoying the occasional cool breeze I was enjoying my self proclaimed perfect morning. Then my phone buzzed, “it must be a friend, but who’s up this early ?” I think, it is however a notification, for a zoom meeting I was supposed to join in five minutes. In that instant the perfect morning I was telling you about this whole time became a chaotic and short-lived morning, the speed in which I had to put on a professional looking top, comb my hair and find a zoom appropriate background within our kitchen was record breaking. At the end of it the meeting went great, I didn’t even have to turn on my camera but I decided mornings really aren’t for me I promptly ended the ‘perfect morning activities’ and went straight into early noon.

Since there’s no post before mine I’ll break down what I tried to do with that narration, I tried to create the perfect morning with the power of ‘I’ this actually happened but I tried to preserve the initial feelings I had by controlling what ‘I’ narrated if I started it out with “I almost missed a zoom meeting..” then this way of narration would not portray the shock I felt when I saw that 5 mins to even notification on my phone. This was my interpretation of the power of ‘I’.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Shayanna Nicholls. Reason: Edit: To properly separate the 2 paragraphs

[Nathaly Morocho]

Yesterday, I went to my internship and worked on some paper work. The trip from Queens to Brooklyn and Brooklyn back to Queens was a little rough but I did enjoy looking at my surroundings. In the agency I work in gave a family type of environment. The type of work I did was scanning the papers of the clients. I would ask questions on what I need to do and also I ask for help. The staff are very kind. They receive the clients with open arms.
When I finished with my paper work, I came out and went home. I would look outside of the bus and train if I find something interesting or just to zone out. When I came home, I relaxed and hang out with my mom or one of my siblings. If not, I would be on my phone. I would watch videos (like music videos or dance practice videos) on my phone or shows on Netflix or on a Korean app called Viki to watch (on the app the shows I recommend are The Penthouse, Boys Over flowers, Hwarang and Tales of The Nine-Tailed if anyone is interested). But in the end of the day, I enjoyed spending sometime outside.

[Odvens]

Yesterday I woke up and I was depending on if I should go to work or not because I was tired due to the lack of sleep I am glad that I did because I got to see the sunrise as I was driving on the belt parkway I can honestly say that was my first time watching the sunrise because I’m always up before the sun. When I got to work I saw some of my friends and we planned out what we needed to do for the day.
The day went by fast. As I got ready to go home a customer lost their phone and I decided to stay behind to help her find it I had to rewind all the cameras and track down every step she took but then she realized that her phone was in her car I was happy to help because I am getting pay but I was mad because how can you possible misplace something so important and it’s not like peace of paper it’s an 8-inch phone.
When I left my workplace there was a lot of traffic but I had fun listening to soca on my way back home. I got home then got ready for a picnic with my friends. It was fun but I ended up leaving early because I had to pick up my mom from work and went home to relax and that was pretty much my day. At the end of the day I was at peace because of my picnic.

[Odvens]

Nathaly what are you studying like your major and beside music what do you like to do.

[kevinvargas24]

Yesterday was somewhat of a hot day and at first, I found myself being super stressed until my uncle and my cousin came over and it kind of lifted my mood in a way. I felt much better because my bond with them is really important and that’s my family. We talked about current events and I just can relate to them in a way that I can’t with other members of my family. When I think of them the color yellow comes up because to me yellow represents happiness and that’s what they make me feel. And I can see that when we are together they are happy as well to see me. There was a point where I genuinely forgot about an assignment that I needed to do for a class because it’s really hard to focus on school when you’re having a good time with your family. I learned a lot through the pandemic and one lesson I will never forget is, value those who you have around you because life can change in an instant in many ways.

Afterward, I went to work, I’m a graphic designer and I really love my job. I put in a lot of time and what I enjoy most about what I do is I can be creative and express my thoughts and ideas in different ways. Graphic design isn’t something I get tired of often and so when I have the time to take in clients I will because it’s an escape for me. I get lost in it and think of different ways I can manipulate certain things etc. Once I was done I basically got ready to go to bed and thought about what I was going to do tomorrow.

[Showmik K. Chowdhury]

Yesterdays I wake up at 5 am when my mom weak me up. I drop her at her work early morning. While I was returning home, I saw the sun rising. Came home and sleep again.
So, when my mom weak me up she heads me a cup of coffee and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her face. I feel mom loved. Then I washed my face and got ready to drop her for work. So, when I leave the house, I saw the streetlights are on in dark. Then I start my car and start driving for my mom’s work destination and after 35 minutes of constant driving, I reach my destination. While I start driving back to my house sun starts about to rise. I really loved this moment. Because I start seeing clear sky feeling up with little orange as the sun start rising. The road starts getting brighter with the Sunlight and at this moment, I open my car windows and start feeling the morning cold fresh air which made me feel I am flying on the highway. I was feeling so happy for this little moment and forgot about everything.
I believe my writing is related to “Implacable I” by Joan Didion because in her writing she included everything about herself like how she feels and what happens to her. Overall, in her writing, everything was about her life. Similarly, in my writing, I bring up some of the events from August 30S 2021 early morning, where I talk about all about myself and how I was feeling. As a writer, I might risk my mentality because as someone reading my writing, they might start judging me. Because my reader is not viewing the world the way I am expressing my thoughts throw my writing. My relationship with writing is medium-level because every day I don’t write. But sometimes I like to keep a journal about the different special events that happen to me.

[Showmik K. Chowdhury]

You are right it really nice view when the sun rises. and I both have in common that we both love sun rising view and in my writing, I talked about the sun rising too. and I am glad that you had fun on your picnic. and NYC traffic is terrible. I feel you. Furthermore, love your writting. writting.

[Faisal]

I went to a park with friends and family. They were people sitting in a park enjoying, making barbeque, listening to songs on the speaker. There was a lake near the park. People were relaxing and enjoying the moment. they were so energetic and so happy at the moment as if they had no problems in their life. the scenery was so greener and the sky was so blue.
I on the other hand was sitting alone and enjoying the breeze that was coming from the lake. as the breeze that was hitting my face. I was thinking about the final days of my vacation, thinking that next year I will be graduating. I won’t be that college student anymore. I will be an adult with so many responsibilities to take care of.
The similarity between “The Implacable I” Joan Didion and I is that we both are trying to show the visualization of our world through writing. As an author of my writing what I’m risking is that how people would judge me the way I express my feelings through writing.

[Faisal]

Showmik K. Chowdhury
i liked the way how you wrote, it showed me how you were expressing what you were feeling in the morning and i am happy with how your mom gave you the coffee to start your day. You are not alone.

[Makayla Derenoncourt]

Yesterday, I awoke feeling a bit under the weather. At night I like to sleep with room temperature water at my bedside, but even though the prior night’s bottle was empty, My throat still felt dry and irritated. As did my nostrils which had remnants of dried boogers. It was the telltale signs of a common cold. And cold I was, despite my body being adorned by the fluffy fabric of the comforter, my bedroom felt chilled. The fan in my room temperature read 72 degrees, low in comparison to other days, but not low enough to warrant teeth chattering. I couldn’t help but think. “This is fall.” Chilly Thursday mornings and colds that will disappear as quickly as they manifest themselves. To jumpstart my day, I made my bed, tidied up the linen, and lit a lemon verbena scented candle. I took a shower as hot as the lemon ginger tea I later brewed. Sickness has a funny way of making you feel fatigued despite getting a full night’s rest. So I didn’t make myself breakfast, instead, I headed to my neighborhood’s bodega and ordered something light. I love the outdoors but, the pollen I do not, the endless sneezing fits, I do not. The old man that usually stands outside the store even looked at me funny. For the rest of the day, I avoided my responsibilities and watched old cartoons, a well-deserved lazy day. I’d say the similarity between “The Implacable I” by Joan Didion and my piece is the simplicity of it all. We’re writing about the world and our environment through visualization and perception of our reality. And sure our perceptions are influenced by outside factors in the world around us, but the writing comes about in a way that isn’t contrived.

[Makayla Derenoncourt]

Congratulations on your final year! This is a massive achievement. I definitely understand the fear of adulthood and all the responsibilities of growing older, but you gotta combat that with the joys and freedoms that come as well. You’re still young, still growing, and definitely have room to make mistakes. Never let go of the inner child, nurture it! And don’t be afraid to embark on new journies you got this! Thanks for sharing.

[Kevin Ho]

Late at night, the rain was pouring hard. There came one amber alert, then two, and then three regarding to the floods in New York. While I was on the first floor of my house, I heard my mom calling me and my sister. I walked down stair and heard my mom say to me, “We Have A Flood!” As she was worrying, I saw that she had already took about two wool towels and placed them on the wet floor, the water barely reached half of the basement. I took hold of one of the towels which is small enough for cleaning the table, and start draining it in the bathroom by twisting the water out of it, the water spilled straight into the toilet. As I continue, the water in the toilet that was once clear had become gray and gross. Then we continue to dry the floor, my sister took more towels that is big enough for a bath towel, and place them on the floor. The placement of the towels remind me of a long red carpet that is used to welcome royalties since it is from the door to the hallway, but in my case, the towels were different colors, such as white, orange, and green. My mom decided to open the door of the basement to search for the problem, the problem was that the manhole in front of our doorway was covered up by piles of leaves. My mom got rid of the leaves and the water started draining into the man hole. Now all that is left, is to dry the floor.
The “I” that Joan Didion mentioned, to me is the narrator of the story, in this case it is I who speaking my story. As I keeping on using I, I would realize that I was mainly focusing on explaining myself, such as action and thoughts. The focus of myself is sort of like the I that James Baldwin had talked about. I only say what I see, which may or may not be what my mom or my sister was seeing. I think using “I” is great especially when you are explaining about yourself.

[Kevin Ho]

Yes, I totally agree with you that cold makes you feel fatigue and lazy. It especially can cause you to lose your appetite. Having pollen allergy and a cold at the same time, I can imagine how annoying irritating to the nose that may have been. May you feel better from your cold.

[Nathaly Morocho]

Shayanna you have had a peaceful morning. Be positive. Don’t let negative commits get in your head.