Friday, January 24, 2020

Got Sanity? :: Creative Writing Essays

Got Sanity? It was a quiet night. No cars driving by, honking their horns. No sounds of little kids yelling. No dogs barking. Just peaceful and quiet. A gentle breeze blew with an occasional smell of spring in it. The air was just right, cool and fresh. Keith sat on his favorite porch rocking chair. He was just relaxing and gathering his thoughts. He liked to think. He liked to think. He thought about his dreams, he thought about his life and how it was going. He thought about his dog and how it used to be a playful puppy full of energy. It sure grew up fast. Keith thought about a girl he once fell in love with. He should probably get married before he turned thirty. Who knows maybe he'll never get married. As Keith sat there, now thinking about his new, red truck, he noticed his shoe was untied. He stretched down to retie it and saw a small card beside his foot. Funny, he hadn't noticed it there before. Maybe it blew up in the breeze. Yes that's what happened, the wind had blown it there when he was off in dreamland. Oh well, he thought and then he picked it up. The card had printing on it. It simply read, "go look in your mail box". Keith gave out a small chuckle and thought about his mailbox. Was someone joking around with him? It was probably that pesky neighbor boy, James. He was always coming up with something new and unusual to try out on his neighbors. "What the hell", Keith said aloud. He then stood up and walked over to his mailbox and opened it up. "Yep, another card", he said. The same small, black print on it too. Except this card said something just a little different. As Keith ran to his back yard where his dog house was, all he could think of was what the card had said in his mailbox. "YOUR dog is DEAD". Keith suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He could see blood. The dog house, which he had just painted a nice fresh coat of white, was now covered with red, blotchy stains. Blood everywhere. Who could have done such a deed? The golden retriever that Keith had loved so much and raised for four years now lay dead. There was hardly anything left of it. Its legs had been ripped completely off and were thrown around the yard. Its head was nailed to the front of the dog house. The body of his favorite and only pet was cut wide open and staked to the

Thursday, January 16, 2020

“Neat People vs Sloppy People” analysis Essay

â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People†, by Suzanne Britt compares the day-to-day life and habits of â€Å"sloppy† people to notorious â€Å"neat† people. Britt’s point of view leans towards the sloppy person, causing the reader to conclude that the author is most likely sloppy in her own life. The meanings of the adjectives â€Å"neat† and â€Å"sloppy† seem to be flipped around when defined and exemplified. Someone reading this article is either going to be bothered by the context or is going to agree with the view of the messy side. The author’s hope is probably for others to appreciate the morals and intentions of the two different types of people. Read more: Good people short story  essay The author of this essay, Suzanne Britt is a poet, essayist, and teacher. Her essay â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People† is from one of her books â€Å"Show and Tell†. The purpose of her essay is to highlight the differences of neat people and sloppy people by changing the meaning and purposes around this topic. The tone of her essay is humorous, yet straightforward. She is able to make jokes about both sides, while being assertive in her meaning of these two styles of life. Through contrasting the two types of people in this essay, Britt is able to convey her purpose of recognizing neat people as â€Å"lazier and meaner than sloppy people†(para. 1). She also states that â€Å"sloppy people live in Never-Never Land† because they never get anything done, since they depend on â€Å"someday† to get their task accomplished (para. 3). By looking at these two contrasting lifestyles, it is seems that she favors the sloppy side of life. Even though she talk s about the sloppy life as putting things off and collecting clutter, she recognizes it as a good thing. It is as though she switches the meanings of the two characteristics to make sloppy positive and neat negative, showing the author has a preference. This odd exchange of the two types of traits makes this article interesting since most would associate being sloppy as a negative. When analyzing these two traits it is seems that the characteristics that would normally describe a neat person describes a sloppy person. When stating, â€Å"neat people are bums and clods at heart†, the author uses derogative words to describe the person (para. 6). The term â€Å"neat† usually means organized and put together, which is what she means by the term â€Å"sloppy†. Sloppy people are stated to â€Å"give loving attention to every detail. When sloppy  people say they’re going to tackle the surface of the desk, they really mean it.† Britt makes the neat peop le seem bothersome and uncaring, while the sloppy people seem determined and nurturing. As stated previously, the term â€Å"someday† is used repetitively in the second paragraph to describe when the goals of a sloppy person will be made. It is evident that sloppy people never get anything accomplished in their lives, because they are held back by the word â€Å"someday†. However, the author seems to think someday is not always a bad thing. Britt states â€Å"sloppy people can’t bear to part with anything†, which creates the sense of possible hoarding problems by sloppy people. They never know when they just might need something and it would be a waste to have to rebuy something that they had previously. So, I guess she thinks that they are thrifty and not wasteful people. Neat people get rid of things too quick and can be uneconomical in the long run. This essay â€Å"Neat People vs. Sloppy People† analyzes two opposite lifestyles. By switching their meanings around, Britt is able to show just how different these two lifestyles are. She seems to imply that sloppy people are caring and will get to things done when needed. They are laid back and want to enjoy life by not worrying about keeping everything perfect. Sloppy people do not get caught up in the day to day rush of life and enjoy what they do. Neat people are not relaxed and worry about what others think too much. The author seems to feel that there is more to life than being spick-and-span. One can insinuate based on how she describes both neat and sloppy that Britt favors the messy side. The purpose of her essay is to convey how different each lifestyle is and how they can’t be one without the other. She uses humor almost in a satirical way in order to get her point across while being completely forward with the reader in her feelings towards both sides. By i ncorporating different techniques throughout her essay, Britt is able to portray her thoughts and feelings on the subject of neat verses sloppy people. After reading her article, a neat person might consider relaxing a bit and recognize that there just might be more to life than being spotless.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Alan Shepard First American in Space

Alan Shepard was part of the first group of seven astronauts selected by NASA in 1959, then a nascent agency created to secure Americas place in the Space Race against the former Soviet Union. Shepard, a military test pilot, became the first American to fly in space in 1961, and then went to the Moon in 1971 as commander of the Apollo 14 space mission. Fast Facts: Alan Shepard Full Name: Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr.Known For: Astronaut, first American to fly in spaceBorn: November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New HampshireDied: July 21, 1998, in Monterey, CaliforniaParents: Alan B. Shepard, Sr. and Pauline Renza ShepardSpouse: Louise BrewerChildren: Laura and Juliana, and also raised niece, Alice  Education: United States Naval Academy, Naval War CollegeInteresting Fact: Alan Shepard was one of the original seven astronauts selected by NASA. His claim to fame, the first voyage to space, was a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard the  Freedom 7 spacecraft in 1961. He later became the first astronaut to play golf on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Early Life Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was born on November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New Hampshire, to Alan B. Shepard, Sr. and Pauline R. Shepard. He attended Adams school in Derry, New Hampshire, and then Pinkerton Academy. Upon graduation from high school, he applied to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis but had to wait a year because he was too young to enter. He finally began attending the Academy in 1941 and graduated in 1944 with a Bachelor of Science degree. During his time at Annapolis, Shepard excelled at sailing and ended up racing in regattas.   Navy Service Shepard served during the final years of World War II aboard a destroyer before moving on to the Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi, Texas. While on duty aboard the destroyer, he married his longtime sweetheart, Louise Brewer. After arriving in Texas, he started basic flight training, supplemented with private flying lessons. He received his naval aviator wings and then was assigned to a fighter squadron.   In 1950, Shepard transferred to the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River in Maryland. There, he made a number of flights and exploited his maverick status on more than one occasion. At one point, he flew under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and made low passes over Ocean City, earning a threat of a court-martial. He avoided that, but the incident cemented his reputation as a troublemaker.   Shepard was next assigned to a night fighter squadron out of Moffat Field, California. After several years of flying various aircraft, Shepard attracted the attention of astronaut recruiters. The U.S. governments urgency to reach space grew in response to the Soviet Unions successful Sputnik flight in 1957, while the United States was scrambling to build up a space presence. Before leaving the Navy, Shepard had logged more than 3,600 hours of flying time. He had attended Naval War College and worked as an Aircraft Readiness Officer for the Atlantic Fleet.   Astronaut Alan Shepard undergoes suiting up operations during Apollo 14. NASA Johnson Space Center (NASA-JSC) NASA Career Alan Shepard was selected to be an astronaut for the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration on April 1, 1959. He immediately became part of the Mercury 7 group of trainees for Project Mercury. His first flight was aboard Freedom 7, which lifted off from Florida on May 5, 1961. By that time, the Russians had flown cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to space, making Shepard the second human to go to space. While Gagarins flight had been an orbital mission, Shepards launch took him only on a 15-minute sub-orbital path, which nonetheless lifted American spirits and made him an instant hero. 5th May 1961: American astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jnr shortly after his splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepards 15-minute sub-orbital flight to an altitude of 115 miles in the Freedom 7 capsule earned him the title of first American in space. MPI / Getty Images At the end of the Mercury missions, Shepard shifted over to work as Chief Astronaut on Project Gemini. He was supposed to be on the first flight, but a diagnosis of Menieres disease in his inner ear grounded him. His job instead was to develop astronaut training programs and work on the selection of the next astronaut candidates. Back to Flight Status In 1968, Shepard underwent surgery for his ear problems. After recuperation, he was put back on flight status, and Shepard began training for an upcoming Apollo mission. In January 1971, Shepard and his crew of Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa lifted off aboard Apollo 14 for a trip to the Moon. At the time he was 47, and that made him the oldest person to make the trip. While there, Shepard brought out a makeshift golf club and swung at two balls across the lunar surface. The crew of Apollo 14: (L-R) Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard, and Edgar Mitchell. They traveled to the Moon and back in early 1971. NASA After Apollo 14, Shepard returned to his duties in the Astronaut Office. He also served as a delegate to the UN under Richard Nixon and was promoted to rear admiral in 1971. Shepard stayed with NASA until 1974, when he retired.   Post-NASA Career and Later Life After his years at NASA, Alan Shepard was asked to sit on the boards of various corporations and groups. He invested in real estate and banking, amassing a considerable amount of money. He also founded the Mercury 7 scholarship foundation, which is now the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. It provides tuition and expenses for students pursuing science and engineering.   Shepard began writing in retirement, publishing a book called Moon Shot in 1994. He was also made a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, and of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. In addition, as a descendant of some of the first colonists in America, he was a member of the Mayflower Society. Shepard was also a director of the National Space Institute. Alan Shepard was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996. Despite aggressive treatment, he died from complications in 1998. His wife died a month after he did, and their ashes were scattered at sea together. Honors Astronaut Alan Shepard, his wife Louise, meeting President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy and vice-president Lyndon Johnson after the Freedom 7 flight. Public Domain For his many accomplishments, Alan B. Shepard was honored with numerous awards, including honorary doctorates, medals, and shrines at the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame. After his flight in Freedom 7, he and his wife were invited to the White House to meet President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, along with Vice President Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy presented him with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He later was given the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his work on the Apollo 14 mission. More recently, the Blue Origins company named one of its rockets (designed to carry tourists to space), the New Shepard, in his memory.   The Navy has named a ship in his honor, and there are schools and post offices bearing his name, and more recently, the United States Post office issued a first-class stamp with his name and likeness on it. Shepard remains a popular figure among space enthusiasts, and he has been portrayed in a number of TV movies and miniseries. Sources â€Å"Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN.† Academy of Achievement, www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-alan-shepard-jr/.Godlewski, Nina. â€Å"Its Been 58 Years since Alan Shepard Blasted off to Space and Made American History.† Newsweek, 5 May 2018, www.newsweek.com/first-american-space-alan-shepard-911531.Chicago Tribune. â€Å"LOUISE SHEPARD DIES A MONTH AFTER HER ASTRONAUT HUSBAND.† Chicagotribune.com, 29 Aug. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-08-27-9808280089-story.html.