Inspiring Images

I saw Adam standing near the water. I was staring at his back while he was looking away from me and facing the ocean. I was on the swing attached to the tree in front of the house we were staying at.

I wasn't sure what he was thinking, I never was. He never told me how he felt. In a way he did but he never explained. He would tell me he felt upset but when I would ask him why he felt that way, he would shut down and turn the conversation another way. No matter how many times I would tell him he could talk to me. That I wanted to know what he had to say, he never told me. In a way it made me feel like he didn't want to be with me, that he didn't trust me enough. But if he would want to tell me, he probably would. I know I shouldn't push him so much, I might push him away.

A close friend once told me to worry about the quiet ones. That you never know who you are with. Now Adam had told me before that we were not together. Why was I spending so much time with this guy when he did not want to be with me? It made me question my own judgment.

I cry a lot, always have. About anything and everything. I would cry about him and whenever I told him that, he would tell me that he was sorry. Time and time again. I don't know why I would want to be with him when he doesn't want to be with me, but I do. I know it might not be easy and I know I will get hurt even though he wouldn't mean to hurt me. I still want to be with him because I love him and I feel like he is worth it.






I saw Adam
standing near
the water.

I was staring
at his back
while
he was looking away
from me
and facing the ocean.

I was on the swing
attached to the tree
in front of the house
we were staying at.




I wasn't sure
what he was thinking,
I never was.

He never told me
how he felt.

In a way
he did
but he never explained.

He would tell me
he felt upset
but when
I would ask him
why he felt
that way,
he would shut down
and turn the conversation
another way.

No matter
how many times
I would tell him
he could talk to me.

That I wanted to know
what he had to say,
he never told me.

In a way it made me feel
like he didn't want to be with me,
that he didn't trust me enough.

But if he would
want to tell me,
he probably would.

I know I shouldn't
push him so much,
I might push him away.




A close friend
once told me
to worry about
the quiet ones.

That you never know
who you are with.

Now Adam had told me
before
that we were not together.

Why was I spending
so much time
with this guy
when he did not
want to be with me?

It made me question
my own judgment.




I cry a lot,
always have.

About anything
and everything.

I would cry
about him
and whenever
I told him that,
he would tell me
that he was sorry.

Time and time again.

I don't know why
I would want to be with him
when he doesn't
want to be with me,
but I do.

I know
it might not be easy
and I know I will get hurt
even though
he wouldn't mean
to hurt me.

I still want to be with him
because
I love him
and I feel like
he is worth it.

Jip & Janneke

Jip and Janneke are best friends.
They live next to each other and play together a lot.

Today they were at Janneke's house. In Janneke's room.
Janneke has a blackboard in her room. As well as two chairs.
In the corner is a pile of paper with some crayons next to it.

'I am the teacher and you are the student.' Janneke said.
'No. You always are the teacher.' Jip said, putting his foot down. 'I want to be the teacher now.'
Janneke did not want Jip to be the teacher: 'But I am better.'
'But I am smarter.' Jip said really loud.
Janneke was shocked. She could not believe Jip said that.
'No, you are not'
'Yes, I am'
'No'
'Yes'
'No'
'Yes'

Then Janneke's mom came into the room.
'Well kids, o kids. What is wrong?' She asked concerned.
'Janneke thinks she is the boss.' Jip said immediately.
'No, I do not. Jip doesn't listen to me.' Janneke argued.
'See?' Jip said.
'But he..' Janneke whined.
'But she..' Jip interrupted.

Janneke's mom shook her head at the two kids standing in front of her: 'I have an idea.'
They both listened when the mom started talking: 'Jip can be the teacher now.'
Jip smiled as he heard that and Janneke looked mad.
But Janneke's mom continued: 'And then it will be Janneke's turn in five minutes. I will set the timer.'

The two friends had to think about that for a while.
They folded their arms in front of them as they thought long and deep.
After a while Jip had lines in his forehead and Janneke was staring at the tip of her nose.
'Okay.' They both said at the same time.

They played together for the rest of the afternoon.

Books for Kids

Title of Book: The Hunchback of the Notre Dame
Author of Book: Victor Hugo (for Walt Disney)

Is there an author's bio in the front or back of the book? There is not.

What does it say about the author? -

Describe the cover in a detailed sentence: The cover has Esmeralda and Phoebus look up at Quasimodo who is staring at the bird in his hand and they are on top of the Notre Dame.

Number of Pages: 96 pages

List the Characters:

• Clopin: the storyteller
• Frollo: the mean judge and 'master'
• Arch Deacon: priest
• Quasimodo: main character, 'monster baby', hunchback, bell ringer
• Hugo, Victor and Laverne: stone gargoyles and friends of Quasimodo
• Esmeralda: gypsy
• Phoebus: captain of guard

Describe the setting in a detailed sentence: It takes place in Paris, France where the Notre Dame is.

Summarize the book in 3 sentences: It is about a man that lives in the Notre Dame and he is locked up there. Then his three stone friends convince him to go to the festival down at the square and he meets Esmeralda. They get in trouble and Frollo wants Esmeralda arrested with the help of Phoebus.

Does this book...(yes or no)

• have animals as characters? yes
• use rhyme? no
• teach a lesson of some kind? yes
• have monsters or creatures? yes
• have kids as characters? no
• have adults as characters? yes
• use humor? no
• have illustrations? yes
• use color? yes
• use actual photos? no
• have a more sentimental/lovey tone? no
• lots of words per page? no
• one word or phrase repeated throughout? no

Your favorite/most interesting sentence in the book: "Great mask!"

What age(s) do you think this book would be appropriate for? Why? For kids from 4 to seven yeas old.

Is this a book you would have liked as a kid? Why? Yes, I read it as a kid and it was very visual.

 

Coming After You

Blood dripping down his face, falling down to the ground as he stood there. Staring at me. Red drops came streaming from the corners of his mouth. Fresh blood showing he had set his teeth in a living something. Something that might soon be dead.

He turned his head to the side, giving me an examination before taking one step forward. With his hands behind his back he looked at me intensely. I saw his empty eyes going from my neck to my side down to the floor. The grin appearing on the bottom half of his face changed his look. He did not only look dangerous, he looked like a disgusting creature. Except for the few drops of blood that landed on his ripped shirt, his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks and the stench that came from his presence was like death. He was enjoying this. The anticipation felt good to him.

‘Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!’ Screaming from the corner of the room I had scrammed myself into, I was trying to get him to stop. Begging him to stop as I had been since the first minute I saw him. He took another step forward, coming closer and closer to me. Not giving me any space to move. I was stuck and he was pleased with himself. It was obvious in his eyes, now so bright it was almost like they were glowing.

An excruciating pain shot through my body and I went flying across the room. His hands had grabbed the back of my head and with ease he had thrown me against the wall on the opposite side of the huge room. My head hit the concrete wall and it created a bloodstain the shape of a cloud. More blood came rushing from my veins. If I had the time, I would be wondering about how much blood was lost by now. Liters, probably a third if not half of all my blood I had already lost to him. I was scared for my life and was not sure how much longer I could go without any help.

‘Stop running. You are not going anywhere.’ His voice was scary with an accent so thick I could barely understand what he was saying. ‘Just give up. We both know you cannot out run me.’

I don’t know how I had gotten myself in this situation but it would not be long before my body would shut down. After running for such a long time from something so strong it was bound to give up. 

My head felt as if it was bleeding like a waterfall. My thigh, where he had ripped me open before, did not stop pounding underneath my weakening grip. Not willing to give up, my mind pushed a bit more. I did not have any strength to stand up or move in any kind of way. Because of that, talking was my only option. ‘You don’t want to kill me. This is not what you want to be known for.’

He stopped in his path and clicked with his tongue before turning his head again. ‘See and this is where you are wrong. I do, very much so.’ It was like he smiled for a second but then the evil grin was back on his face. ‘I take it you haven’t seen the posters across town?’ I didn’t know what to say so I kept quiet, hoping he would go on and explain it to me himself. ‘O? You didn’t, did you? That is amazing. Teenagers are so oblivious to their surrounds…’

I tried to swallow my fear but my throat was too dry. Breathing was becoming harder. I wanted him to let me go. I didn’t know what I did, it seemed to be a mistake and now I had him coming after me. ‘What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything wrong to you.’ My eyes were filled with tears as I felt his hand go up my arm and rest on my shoulder. I started shaking heavily and within seconds I was trying to calm myself back down. I felt him rubbing the skin of my neck with his thumb. Knowing what was going to happen I forced myself not to think about it.  

‘On those posters are missing people. People that I have killed. Soon enough your face will be on one of those posters. Soon enough you will just be another one of them...'

Halloween

It was my first time celebrating Halloween. Apparently, here it is a big deal. Everyone dresses up, decorates their house, throws a party or goes trick or treating with little kids. That all, when Halloween is just not a thing back home. I mean yes it is but no. Some people have small decorations, some people go trick or treating, some people give them candy and some kids even go as far as throwing a white sheet over their heads as a costume. In the end, nobody really celebrates the death because that’s all it is right?

So here I was putting my Halloween costume on when I heard something moving in my closet. I turned around to see my friend going through my clothes. ‘What are you doing?’ Ruth looked up for a second but then went back to what she was doing. ‘Trying to find something to wear for tonight.’ I saw her pulling out different items, looking at it for a second and then dropping it. ‘Ho. Hold it right there. I don’t want a mess in here. And you are not going to find anything in there. If you recall, I told you thousands of times, we don’t ‘do’ Halloween and I had to go out and buy my costume.’ She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. ‘No, you don’t get it. I want to look attractive, there is going to be cute guys there.’ Her ignorance made me sick. It has been like this for weeks and if we were not forced to be friends I would have lashed out on here so many times already. ‘Ruth, no I don’t want you wearing my clothes.'
 

I know it is not nice to say but it is pure honesty. Something she could learn from. She calls me rude and maybe it is but I don’t care. I don’t want anyone to ever think that we are alike. We’re not. I am honest (and rude) while she pretends to be some sort of nice person, calls everybody beautiful or gorgeous and everything looks good on everybody. She is lying. Sure everyone is beautiful to someone but not everybody is beautiful to you being the one person that you are. If someone is wearing something that makes them look hideous you don’t go ahead and tell them they look good. You tell them it does not look good and then advice them to do something else. If you don’t, you are lying. It doesn’t matter who it is or how old they are. Always tell them how it is. When they look back later and realize how stupid they actually looked, they will remember you telling them they looked beautiful when they obviously didn’t. They will remember how you told them time and time again they looked good; they will start to doubt you. Were you ever honest at all? When did they actually look good, if they did at any point?

I get that people might think I am rude by saying this. Everyone has their own taste and all but if your face looks like a canvas painting because your makeup makes you look like a deformed Barbie doll then nobody will argue with that. So don’t tell someone with a canvas painting-like face they look good. You are lying and you know it. That is not a case of difference in taste. That is case of ‘one of the two is just as stupid as the deformed Barbie doll’.

Remind yourself, there is a difference between looking beautiful and being beautiful. Chose your words wisely. I am saying you should not tell everyone they look beautiful, like Ruth does.

Like I said, everyone is beautiful to someone. That is true. Actually, in your life you will be truly beautiful to tens of people. Maybe even more than hundred, thinking you won’t end up being a polished public figure.

So don't forget: you are beautiful, you just might not look like it.

Music Lyrics

I never hit so hard in love.

In the torn up town, no postcode envy.

All I wanted was to break your walls.

In a tidal wave of mystery.

And now, you're not coming down.

I came in like a wrecking ball.

I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies.

We clawed, we chained, our hearts in vain.

Even if we're six feet underground.

I will always want you.

Music In My Ears: Ask A Teacher About Music

What music or songs reminds you of your childhood?

Miss Orman: anything from the 80's.
Me: K3, a Belgium group with three girls.


Who is your favorite singer or group or song and why?

Mr Griffin: Learning How To Fly - Tom Petty
Me: Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Little Mix, Demi Lovato.

What music reminds you of someone you love? Your child? Spouse? Parents?

Miss Orman: Lennard Cohen, jazz music and Miles Davis
Me: Annie Lennox reminds me of my mom because she loves her.




Do you go to concerts? Which concerts are memorable to you? Why?

Miss Orman: whenever she can go, she wants to go to see Bruce Springteen.
Me: Yes I love going. I loved seeing Annie Lennox in London when I was not even ten years old with my mom. One Direction was my favorite, in both London and Amsterdam!

Which music or atist was 'controversial' or 'offensive' to some when you were growing up? Is any offensive to you now?

Mr Griffin: Eminem was seen as offensive but nowadays nothing is offensive to him.
Me: Lil Wayne. Just no.

Which music or artist do you really dislike or refuse to listen to?

Mr. Griffin: Justin Bieber. Why? 'Because I am not a little teenage girl.'
Me: Lil Wayne. Your IQ goes down by listening to that guy.