December 12, 2012

Dear Papi,

I love you. You have always been there for me and have always supported me in everything I did. I love the fact that you are my dad because I would not want anyone else to be. You work hard to take care of this family and you never give up. That is just one reason why you are my inspiration. You have gone through so many things throughout your life but you are still a great guy and you always look on the bright side. If you have ever felt like you were not good enough or like you could have done something better, do not think that because you are everything and more than I could ask for in a father. I know that the times when I would start to talk about Jose you got upset because you knew that he thought he could buy my love. But I just want to let you know that he could not and will never be able to because I already have a dad and he does not try to buy my love but instead supports me and is and was always there for me. When I had repetitive asthma attacks, you were there to take care of me at 3 a.m. When I lost friends and got my heart broken, you were there to comfort me. The times when I stress out about school you were there to tell me that it will all be worthwhile. You have never told me that you wanted to see me fail and you never let me give up, so I will not. I want you to remember me as the little girl who listened to “Butterfly Kisses” with you and fell asleep on your lap. I love you.

With love,

Eva

     My hero and inspiration is my step dad. There are actually many reasons I believe this. There are many things about him that I look up to.
     Esteban R. Baez is his name. We have the same hobbies and e has always been there for me. When my mom, brother, and I were going through a rough time is when he fell in love with my mom.
     My dad and I love to sing together. He will make up raps and I would make up a song. When I was little I used to dance with him all the time. Our father daughter song is "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlise. In my opinion, I would rather want him as my dad than anyone else. He supports in everything I do and believes in me like no one else ever will.
     He has been through so much and has become such a great person. All he wants is to take care of his family and that is all that we could ask for. The way he pulled through his issues makes me strive to be better than I was the day before.

Wonderland ;*

     If I could live anywhere I would like it to be a place full of excitement and mysteries. Rather then living in a different state or country, I would rather live in Wonderland. People might not understand why this is but there are many reasons why I would enjoy this.
     I would love to celebrate my not birthday day everyday with Mad Hatter. Running around wonderland chasing the white rabbit would definitely give me a harsh workout and I would lose so much weight. #Excited. I would also like to sing with the flowers and talk to the weird caterpillar that smokes almost every second. I would most likely be afraid of getting lung disease from the second hand smoke. I like white roses more than I do red so I might just leave them alone so the queen will not try to kill me. Then, I would eat a cookie that makes me super tall so more people would look up to me. 
     Wonderland gives me the perfect amount of excitement and mysteries. These events would most likely satisfy me for the rest of my life. #Happiness(:
 

What If?

Reflection

I believe that all the dreams that these people mentioned are more than just something they want to do, I think that these dreams feel like a necessity to these people. Esteban Baez and Jasmine Close would like to influence people with their music to make a difference in the hearts and minds of many people. Teresa Baez would like to take care of the orphans all around the world so that she could be the mother they never had. Domingo Baez wants to buy a hotel so homeless people could live in it and be happy and experience the comfort of living somewhere that is not the sidewalk. Emilio Baez wants to give animals to all the people who cannot afford to buy one so that they would not have to be lonely and so they could have a friend. These may seem like small changes for the world but they would bring happiness to so many who are unfortunate, lost, or just looking for a friend. It is the little changes that turn into something bigger and better than anyone could ever imagine.

No Lights :o

     If there was no electricity most people would say that they miss their computers, cell phones, or televisions. These things may be important to most people but I see something else more important than any of these put together.
     If I had no electricity I would miss the lights the most. This is because when it is dark I cannot see and I knock into things. I think the lights are more important than any electrical source because without the lights you cannot work in the dark, find things at night, and it is really weird to try to take a shower or use the bathroom without lights. I probably would trip over everything and break many bones. Without lights my life would just be a painful experience.
     I feel as if we have all lived without these things at least for a period of time throughout our lives. For example my mom would turn off the cable while my brothers and I had school, to lower the bill. I have lived without a cell phone for many years of my life and I am perfectly fine without it. I have also have lived without a computer before and believe writing letters are way more exciting anyways.
    Lights would probably be the last thing on peoples minds when they think of what they would miss the most but this idea had just came naturally to me. Lights were the first electrical things invented and they will be the first missed if I did not have them.

Carmen Rodrigues

     My favorite author is Carmen Rodrigues. She has wrote just a few books because she is one of the very new authors. Carmen Rodrigues lives in North Carolina. She is also my second cousin.
     One of the two books she has is titled Not Anything, which I read in two days. This book is absolutely amazing and I did not and could not put it down. This book came out in February of 2008. I most definitely would recommend this book to any teenage girl who loves romance and tragedy.
     The second book she published is titled 34 Pieces of You. This book was published just two months ago, in September. I have not read this book yet, but I am very impatient to. By judging her last book I believe this one will be just as intriguing.
     Being related to an author makes me want to read her books ten times more than anyone else would because I have a bond to her. If it runs in the family, she will write things that I know I will love.

Accomplishing Goals

If money were no object people would not settle for the jobs they have, the houses they rent, or the lives they live. If money were no object people would pursue their dreams and try hard to do what they have to do to get there. This compares to the poem "After Apple Picking" by Robert Frost in many ways. It mainly is similar to the way the character feels unhappy about the job that he has been doing for so long. Two metaphors that Frost used to convey his feelings are "And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill / Beside it, may be two or three” (l.3-4) and “The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his / Long sleep, as I describe its coming on / Or just some human sleep”(l.40-42). Through the use of metaphors Robert Frost shows his readers how much fatigue, unhappiness, and corruption is caused by doing something for so long that does not fulfill their needs.

Frost used metaphors to show how un-accomplished he felt. Frost did not want to waste his time with apple picking and not be able to do anything else. Frost stated “And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill / Beside it, may be two or three” (l.3-4). This tells us that he thought that he has missed out on countless events that in life that he could have been doing rather than apple picking. He was so concentrated on his job that he had nothing else to think of or waste away his time with and he became so consumed with apple picking all day every day. He felt as if he had done nothing else but pick apples instead of exploring the outside world or fulfilling a dream.

Frost used metaphors to ask questions about his future. He was very upset and always wondered if he had wasted his life. Frost says “The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his / Long sleep, as I describe its coming on / Or just some human sleep” (l.40-42). This can be interpreted in many ways. One way could be that he is asking himself if he will be apple picking for just a short time in his life or if he will be doing it forever. Another way this can be interpreted is by asking himself if he has a short time left to live or a long time left to live. He worries about this because he does not want to look back, when he is on his deathbed, and see that all he has accomplished was filling barrels of apples. He does not want to be unhappy when his is old and withering away.

The literary focus that Frost uses in his poem “After Apple Picking” can unleash all types of painful feeling. This shows how important it is that people do what they want in life. They need to follow their dreams till they do not have any time left because they can be alive but they are not really living. Never should they settle for anything less but their dreams and goals. Without following dreams, life is dull and bitter instead of exciting, wonderful, and astounding.

Loss of Friends

     There are many things in my life that I have done that I would like to change. Even though I would not like to change a thing. But there is one thing that still haunts me in my everyday life. I do not really talk much about it but here it goes.
     Friends mean so much to me and I think they are important to have in life, always. In eighth grade I lost most of my friends. I was damaged by the thought of them not liking me after we had known eachother for so long. The memories are hard to forget but knowing that it was so easy to give up on a friend, I must have never had that friend in the first place.
     I guess I changed and they did not like it but at that time I was just acting out. I did this because I always felt alone and when I felt important, I made mistakes to keep feeling important. Mistakes that I had no idea that I would make and that I never knew I made in the first place. Some people stay in my life and some people go, and the people that were with me through that time was Jaden and Alex. I love them to death and thank them for never giving up on me and being a true friend.
     If I changed this then I would have to live with the people that were fake to me a whole six years of my life. I do not need that and if I were still friends with those people I would be damaged and broken because I would have no one to comfort me in the end. I would have allowed myself to be hurt over and over again, not even knowing it.
     Thought the times I went through were rough, I am glad it all happened because I would not have the friends that I have now and I would have never been so strong and so independent.

Ballet ;*

     My favorite hobby is not something people really do anymore these days but that is what makes it so unique. Ballet is my favorite hobby. Ballet is very amazing in so many different ways.
     I love ballet because it is a beautiful art form that expresses character. When I am not doing ballet, I am thinking about it. I am thinking about all the steps of my routines and how I am supposed to be positioned. Ballet must love me back because I have only been dancing, in general, for two months and I am already in intermediate ballet and am in four different performances.
     Something that makes me mad is when people say that ballet is easy but trust me, if you take a few classes you will learn better. Being a ballerina is anything but easy because I have to worry about my arm positions, if my feet are in the right direction, if I am pointing my toes, if my head is up, if my shoulders are down, if I am jumping high enough, if my splits are long enough, and if I look good enough to fit the part. I would have to say that the hardest thing to do in ballet is to make the performance look easy. See the only reason why people think that it is easy is because ballerinas trick you into thinking that (we also have great acting skills). I never will understand why other ballerinas do not want to go to class because I will always love being there every moment of my life.
     My dream consists of ballet and I hope to soon be on pointe. Pointe is the ballet shoe with the wood at the end of it where ballerinas have to stand on the very tips of their toes. Blisters are part of the job. In some ballet companies, the more blisters you have the greater the company is.
     Ballet is my favorite hobby because it is beautiful, passionate, but hard working. I love the challenge it gives me. Dance is passion, sacrifice, and obsession. Nothing will ever change that.

We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create dreams.  -Albert Einstein

My Favorite Band ;*

Florence & The Machine

Though I love all types of music, there is one band in particular that I just can not get enough of. My favorite band is Florence and the Machine which is an English Indie rock band. Even though most people have never heard of this band, I have grown very fond of it. I love this band because their music is so much different from another music I have heard.

My favorite song is Cosmic Love (Seven Lions Remix). I like this song so much because of the different ways you can dance to it. You can dance lyrical, contemporary, ballet, or hip hop. My brother and I will also be doing a mixture of ballet and hip hop to this dance. Within the music it has a gentle sound but it also has some dubstep in it as well. I can not sit still when I listen to this song.
Florence and The Machine has 3 albums. Their first album was Lungs which came out in 2009, Lungs - The B-Sides which came out in 2011, and Ceremonials which also came out in 2011. The vocalist is Florence Welch, keyboard is Isabella Summers, harpist is Tom Monger, drummer is Chris Hayden, guitarist is Robert Ackroyd, and the bass guitarist is Mark Saunders.
In the song Cosmic Love the part that says “I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map and knew that somehow I could find my way back then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too So I stayed in the darkness with you”. In this part I believe that she means that she was going to attempt to get away from the love that he had given to her and tried to go back to how things were but realized that without him she would never be the same and neither would he if she left him.
I love the songs by Florence and The Machine because they are not just some random songs with no meaning they are like poems of reality. Their songs show what they are going through and how they came out of the rough times or just allowed themselves to stay with what has been given to them because of the fear of being alone. Which is exactly how I feel.

Day Care ;*

     I do not think that parents who are working should have to pay for their child to go to day care. I believe this for several reasons.
     One reason is that parents are working hard to make a living for them and their children. Therefore they should have someone support them while they try to do so.
     Being a working parent is really hard to do because they worry about their kids while trying to work. I feel that they should be comfortbale to leave their children with people and to not worry about work. Parents should not have to use the money that they earn to pay someone to take care of the kids that they live life for.
     There would be requirements though because if someone is taking care of someone elses child for more than two to four hours then I think that they should pay them if they are not at work. If someone is not at work and is taking advantage of the care taker, I believe that this should be payed for.
     The day care service should have thorough backgrounds on the parents because if their jobs involve selling themselves or drugs, I believe these people should not be allowed to be provided with the day care service.
     I also believe that this should be a voluntary job because workers might not get paid if all parents are working. This would mean that there is not a certainty that the workers would get paid. Although this would be a downfall, I stll believe that it should be this way because parents should get whatever they need to support and take care of their family.

Performing Arts

     To perform is to carry out. Art is the quality of what is beautiful or of more than significance. Performing arts is EVERYTHING to me. It is love, peace, expression, and life.

     Performing arts consists of dance. Dance is beautiful and should only be performed when it is passionate. Dance should come from the heart not from the mind. Lyrical expresses feelings that are desperate to come out. Ballet is graceful and beautiful. When people think of ballet they think of tip toes and their arms up in a circle but it is so much more. It takes great strength and determination to do ballet. Ballerinas just make it look easy. There is also contemporary, jazz, tap, and hip hop.

     Performing arts consists of acting. I think that acting is amazing because being serious is hard for me to do and it takes talent to pull off a show. When people dance, acting is a big part of it because your facial features need to show the main or happiness in a lyrical or contemporary dance. Judges in dance think the face should tell a story. If not the dance will look pathetic.

     Last but definitely not least is singing. Singing is like nothing else in my life. It cheers me up when I am down, finds me when I am lost, and loves me when I am alone. I love all types of music. Singing is my escape from all the crazy times I have been through. I cam express happiness, freedom, loneliness, sadness, any emotion really.

     Performing arts is my life. All I want from this life is to dance, act, and sing for the rest of time. My passion for this dream is what drives me to better myself in all I do. I realize I will never be perfect in any of these three things, but I know I will strive for the perfection and put in 200% of my effort every second of the day, 24/7, 365. One day I will make everyone that I have met be proud to tell people "I know that girl!"

- Evelisse Weeks 

Summer Time(:

     Something I did a lot during summer was lay down and watch Netflix. I would grab my Disney Princess blanket that I've had since I was ten, turn on my Wii, grab the Wii remote, and sit down on the brown couch in the living room. Finally, I would go to Netflix and click on "A" and wait for it to tell me that it couldn't find a connection.
     I also did ballet over the summer. I started on July 3rd. Before I went I would put on my tights, leotard, and wrap skirt. I also had to have a super tight bun with no fly aways, so yes I did look bald. Finally, I put on my ballet slippers and tip-toed to my brothers Nisson 300zx turbo and went on my way to the Midwest School of Ballet in Amherst. There I did kicks, spins, jumps, and stretches.
     The funnest thing I did over summer was actually only three days before school started. Jasmine, Ambra, Sarah, Justin, Rudolfo, Rudolfo's friend, and I had a bonfire. I was forced to do my hair as if someone important was coming. We roasted marshmallows while Rudolfo ate all the good stuff like Doritos and the Jumbo sized Hershey Bar. Then wile Jasmine, Ambra, Sarah, and I were in the tent laughing super loudly and watching videos on Jasmines laptop someone called the cops on us. It was two in the morning.

The End

Eva is forever

     My name is Evelisse Monique Weeks. 

     E is for enchanting. I feel that when I meet someone that I can captivate them with my personality. 

     V is for vivacious. I always have a smile on and 99.5% of my life I am always happy. 

     E is for entity. I have faith and love in Jesus who lives eternally. 

     L is for love. Everyone deserves it no matter what they look like, what they do, or the mistakes they have made. 

     I is for ideas. There is always something going through my mind whether I'm at home, at school, or just walking around. 

    S is for sensitive. When people undermine me I put up a wall so no one can see. This can tear me up inside more than anyone can even imagine. 

    S is for self respect. I think my soul is too important to sell out short. When people try to change me it's like trying to talk a brick wall out of being a brick wall. That is what it is, I wasn't made to be anyone but who I am. 

   E is for extrovert. Yes, I am a little on the silly side of the fence and can be rambunctious at times but that is why I enjoy being me. Boring is just too ordinary.

     My name is not ordinary either. Evelisse has only been recorded fifty times in America since 1880. The year with the largest record of Evelisses' is 1986 with only nine Evelisses'. My name first originated in 1973 to five new born baby girls.

     Sadly my name has no meaning but I am proud to be a one out of a million girl named Evelisse.

My Number One Rule by Evelisse Weeks

     My number one rule in the class is to not make fun of anyone at all. I believe that this is important because everyone should feel comfortable in class. I also think this is important because our circumstances may be different but we all still have feelings that are the same. 
      Some examples are that if anyone or even myself were being talked about in a rude manner, we would be upset just as much as they would be. The feelings that we have are all the same because we all feel sadness, happiness or even pain. You could also be adding more weight onto them if they are already going through a crucial time.
     This is why I believe there should be no one making fun of anyone. It might be funny at the time but it is not funny when that person is forever damaged by your words.