GRAF #18 - Isearch Progress

GRAF #18 - Isearch Progress

My Isearch topic is Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and my greatest difficulty is time.  I am determined to be the best student I can be, but days are still limited to 7 24-hour periods per week, and things like sleeping and eating and other necessities and obligations require time, not to mention the fact that my other teachers also expect me to devote most of my time to their subjects as well.  (Let’s see, is that possible?  Can anyone do the math?)  My next difficulty is my dial-up computer connection, which is almost unbearably slow and ties up my phone line.  It’s easy to suggest I go somewhere else to use their high speed connection, but usually my available time is when nothing is open.  I tried following my teacher’s directions for copying the information into my computer in order to look at it when off-line, but either my program is different (Windows7) or I’m doing it wrong, since it didn’t work.  Frustrating, since that took hours to do, and I thought it was working and I was making progress.  Now I have to go back and try to redo it all.  I’m thankful we’ll be having another week’s break before the first draft is due (April 20^th, not Nov. 18^th as it is written in week 8’s assignments.)  Though I had wanted to use that week to catch up on other things I’ve been putting off while concentrating on schoolwork, I’ll probably have to use it to get my first draft ready.  Other than those 2 obvious and unavoidable difficulties, things are going as expected: there is much information available; there are suggestions presented to hopefully avoid or delay the onset of AD, but there are no guarantees.  I still have much to learn, and much to assemble into an orderly Isearch report. 

Graf 2 of Contrast Essay

Graf 2 of Contrast Essay

NYC is a world of glitter, excitement, and glamour.  At least that’s the way it’s portrayed in the movies.  Manhattan is what the world thinks of when it envisions the Big Apple.  That’s the area with Broadway plays, museums, Central Park, 5^th Avenue, and innumerable shopping opportunities.  Actually, it’s only one of 5 boroughs, each of which contains mostly residential districts with nondescript stores catering to the individual neighborhoods.  And even half of Manhattan Island is residential, leaving a very small part of NYC portraying the entire city.  But entertainment opportunities in The City can be amazing.  There are interesting educational opportunities ranging from museums to zoos, from concerts to magnificent churches, from botanical gardens to historical sites.  Yet most of these opportunities come at a price, and for the most part it is not cheap.  But if you know the system, there are ways around some of those exorbitant entrance fees.  Several museums have pricey “suggested donations” listed.  Those are truly only suggested, and they will let you in for whatever you can afford.  Others have specific days and times, usually only for a few hours, sometimes for a particular off-day, when you can come for free.  In the summer, many parks host free public performances, ranging from the Philharmonic Orchestra to Beatlemania, to Jazz and more. However, in each of the aforementioned places, you will have to fight the crowds, from buying your subway pass to standing in line to pay entrance fees, to finding a place on the park grass big enough to sit on and close enough to see whatever is being performed.  If you dare to attempt the 4^th of July fireworks in Manhattan, be prepared to stand for many hours literally packed into a solid mass of humanity, unable to take a bathroom break until it’s all over.  On the other hand, entertainment in Maine is much more subtle, with nature being the most obvious draw.  Clean air, star-filled nights, brilliant white snow, crystal clear lakes, silence so deep it almost hurts to listen – these are the things that make Maine special.  And it comes almost without price.  Hiking can be done nearly anywhere, though designated trails make it easier to reach some of the more well-liked places.  Indeed, even the most popular destinations are relatively deserted with a certain camaraderie obvious among strangers.  Community is very important in Maine, creating unusual entertainment opportunities, such as the Blueberry Festival, Lobster Festival, Pumpkin Harvest Festival, even a Chocolate Festival, each town seeking to find its own niche in unique celebrations.  Some towns, like my own, host 2 celebrations, for us it is the Whoopie Pie Festival and the Annual Homecoming for the local high school.   These festivities bring together most of the townsfolk, providing an opportunity for neighbors to catch up on family news, and new friends to meet.  Other well-attended community events are church suppers and pancake breakfasts, usually hosted as fundraisers by local volunteer organizations or to raise money for an unfortunate family who lost their home in a fire or to help with medical bills.  Pot lucks are another opportunity to get to know the other locals and newcomers usually within one’s own church family, and I will personally vouch for the talent of our local women who cook for these delicious feasts.

REWRITE: Essay #2 - Classification Essay

REWRITE: Essay #2 - Classification Essay

Cats.  Some people love them.  Some people hate them.  It’s hard to find someone indifferent to them.  An interesting thing I’ve noticed about cats is that they seem to know who likes them and who doesn’t.  However, for some reason I don’t quite understand, if a cat chooses to stay around a group of people, it always seems to pick the cat-hater’s lap to try to sit on.  While the cat-lovers in the room are acting like fools, trying to get the independent feline’s attention, tempting it with anything from cooing noises to choice delicacies from their own plates, the free-spirited cat will nonchalantly strut right past them to the only person who is appalled that a cat is even sharing the same room with him and lightly float right onto the cat-hater’s lap.  It’s strange, but I’ve seen it happen too often to call it coincidence.  I have to admit, I don’t understand those cat-haters either, not because I haven’t met ornery cats, but because, though cats have certain similarities, they are each so different.  It’s like saying I don’t like flowers because they all stink, remembering the day I happened to get stuck in a patch of skunk cabbage.  Just as flowers come in different varieties, so do cats – some good natured, some aloof, and some regal – but underneath, they all possess a certain something that tugs on every cat-lover’s heart and makes each one individually special.

Shadow is our oldest cat.  He’s a solid, silvery gray with long fur.  He was born on a dairy farm, one among several litters produced that fall, and my then 10-year-old daughter picked him out soon after he was born.  We went to visit him every week until he was old enough to come home with us.  Shadow’s 18 years old now, (in other words, REALLY OLD) and unsteady on his feet.  He’s lost some teeth, so he has the special privilege of eating canned cat food, and he sleeps most of the time, preferably on someone’s lap, where, given the choice, he would spend most of the day contentedly purring away.  When he was younger, he loved being outdoors.  He never was one to stray far, preferring to sleep curled up underneath a nearby tree; but rain, snow, sleet, or hail, he was bound to spend as much time as possible outside.  We’d joke that he had a poor memory, since even if it was pouring, he’d go outside, get soaked, then come back in, look for a lap to dry out on, and then head back out, perhaps hoping the weather had cleared.  This cycle would repeat itself over and over again until the rain stopped and he could stay outside again.  We sometimes call him Uncle Shadow, because, unlike our other cats, he’s always welcomed new kittens into our home, licking them, curling up with them, making them feel welcome, being an adopted uncle to them.  He’s been a good cat, and we’re really going to miss him when he’s gone.

Orion is our next oldest cat.  He’s 12, though he doesn’t look or act his age.  He’s black with white belly, chin, and paws.  He was named Orion because he has Orion’s belt around his waist, and he obviously was one of the Men in Black.  He’s also long- fur, like Shadow, but with a very different personality.  Orion’s always been more of an aloof individual, keeping to himself, periodically gracing his owners with a display of affection or allowing them the rare privilege of a fleeting pet.  That was until he almost lost his own life.  He came home one day with a piece of fur and skin missing from his back just at the base of his tail, the result of some tangle with one of the wild beasts of the woods.  It was about the size of a half dollar, but he kept licking his wound until the damage  expanded all the way around the base of his tail and down the back of both of his legs.  During the course of 3 years, I tried every imaginable remedy.  Elizabethan collars didn’t work at all.  He managed to use them to gouge deeper into his damaged flesh.  Nasty-tasting sprays only made him lick his wound more fiercely to get it off.  We eventually rigged up a contraption which was a sort of giant e-collar made of soft leather attached to a normal plastic e-collar to keep it from folding in around his face.  The oversized extension kept him from reaching his wound, yet collapsed enough so he could still eat and drink.  I bandaged his wounds, which were eventually confined to both legs, with thick layers of gauze and tape, so it looked like his legs were in casts.  During all this time, this aloof, unaffectionate cat had to put up with daily nursing treatments, and surprisingly he became a real Lover Boy.  I guess underneath it all, he realized I was torturing him for his own good. The change was permanent, and he now loves to sleep on my belly at night.  When I awaken, he demands loudly that I stop being so lazy and uncooperative and start giving him some good scrubs, such as he deserves.

Besides Shadow and Orion, a pretty gray and gold money cat named Sunny lives with us.  Though she’s actually 5 years old, being typically female, she tries to pretend she’s only 3, and we let her get away with it.  She has a white belly, dainty white feet, and a pretty white stripe on her face.  She also has long fur.  She is the feline queen of the family, and she knows it.  She struts around with grace and poise, just like the royalty she is.  She loves her human family, as a proper queen should love her royal subjects, but she puts all other animals into their places, especially the other cats.  Should one dare to trespass into her personal royal space, she is quick to pounce on the unsuspecting culprit.  Such an intrusion is not to be tolerated.  But to her people, she is loving and kind, though she still maintains a certain regal manner, perhaps to ensure they never fail to treat her as Her Royal Majesty deserves.  Though we allow her the illusion of grandeur, we aren’t fooled.  We see through her pompous charade to the essence of her being.  Though regal on the outside, she is soft and cuddly on the inside, wanting her share of pets, just like the others.  And so we humor her, permitting her to maintain her dignity, while giving her the love she so desperately desires.

Three cats – Shadow, Orion, and Sunny –such different personalities, it’s hard to believe they all belong to the same species.  Yet each has become a special part of our family.  I know there will always be people who don’t like cats.  I have to admit, I was that way once.  I was excusably ignorant since I had never been introduced to a human’s feline friend before.  Where I grew up, the only cats I came into contact with were dirty alley cats that haunted the city streets, lurking around in the dark, darting across the roads, coming out of nowhere,   and disappearing into mysterious corners.  It was only after moving to the country, when I was forced to get a kitten of my own in order to defend house and home from invasion by an army of militant country mice that I learned the true joys of feline fellowship and have never turned back since.  Right now, I can hardly imagine life without them.  And, for those who are determined to keep their stubborn opinion about cats, they have no idea what they are missing.

Contrast Essay Intros

 Two Contrast Intros

Contrast Essay Intro 1

Having grown up in New York City, then eventually moving to Maine, I have the definite advantage of being comfortable in two very different worlds.  Since my family still resides in or around the Big Apple, I am able to go there with my kids to enjoy getting together with aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as taking time to tour the sights.  Through the years, we’ve gone to so many places, my sister jokes that after she retires, I’ll have to come down to show her around!  Truth be said, if you live there, it’s just a normal place, and the sights are for tourists.  In fact, I never even went to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building until my best friend was moving to Delaware when we were both 14.  We realized then that all out-of-staters would expect her to have seen those 2 icons so we rushed to tour both of them in one day just before she left.  Even after moving to Maine, whenever we went down, we would spend our time visiting with family.  It was only upon meeting someone here in Maine who enjoyed going to NYC on vacations that I even contemplated the possibility of sight-seeing while we were there.  To me, New York City is first and foremost, my original home, just as now Maine is my beloved home, both very different, but both places in which I am quite comfortable.  Going back and forth between Maine and New York, it’s easy to slip in and out between the 2 worlds.  Even my New Yawk accent reappears when I’m around my relatives again.  When I’m here, NYC is a distant, ephemeral dream.  When I’m there, Maine is a far-off fairy tale.  Each region has its advantages and disadvantages.  Though I’m at ease in both places, living in NYC is very different from living in Maine in many ways.  Just three of the obvious differences are in the areas of entertainment, stores, and travel.

Contrast Essay Intro 2

Living in two worlds – what does that mean?  Is it possible?  Science fiction could give a definition which would be out of the ordinary, something never to be experienced by most people.  But is it possible for us commoners?  Being blessed by living in a country of great diversity, with the chance to experience many cultural differences if only among the different regions of the US, we can experience something at least similar to living in two worlds.  For myself, having grown up in New York City and then moving to Maine, I have had the unique opportunity of living for many years in two very different worlds.  And, since most of my family still lives there, I still have the advantage of being able to slip between these two worlds, almost unnoticed, enjoying the advantages that each has to offer.  New York City and rural Maine – very different places, but both places I have called home.  Each region has its advantages and disadvantages.  Though I’m at ease in both places, living in NYC is very different from living in Maine in many ways.  Just three of the obvious differences are in the areas of entertainment, stores, and travel.

Essay #2 - Classification Essay

Classification Essay

Cats.  Some people love them.  Some people hate them.  It’s hard to find someone indifferent to them.  An interesting thing I’ve noticed about cats is that they seem to know who likes them and who doesn’t.  However for some reason, if a cat chooses to stay around a group of people, it always seems to pick the cat-hater’s lap to try to sit on.  While the cat-lovers in the room are acting like fools, trying to get the independent feline’s attention, tempting it with anything from cooing noises to choice delicacies from their own plates, the free-spirited cat will nonchalantly strut right past them to the only person who is appalled that a cat is even sharing the same room with him and lightly float right onto the cat-hater’s lap.  It’s strange, but I’ve seen it happen too often to call it coincidence.  I have to admit, I don’t understand those cat-haters, not because I haven’t met ornery cats, but because, though cats have certain similarities, they are each so different.  It’s like saying I don’t like flowers because they all stink, remembering the day I happened to get stuck in a patch of skunk cabbage.  I also have to admit, that I didn’t always like cats either. I was excusably ignorant since I had never been introduced to a human’s feline friend.  Where I grew up, the only cats I came into contact with were dirty alley cats that haunted the city streets, lurking around in the dark, darting across the roads, coming out of nowhere,   and disappearing into mysterious corners.  It was only after moving to the country, when I was forced to get a kitten of my own in order to defend home and possessions from an invasion by an army of militant country mice that I learned the true joys of feline fellowship and have never turned back since.  Many cats have entered our home and passed on to the afterlife in the long years since then, each unique and special in its own way, just like the three that live with us now.

Shadow is our oldest cat. He’s a solid, silvery gray with long fur.  He was born on a dairy farm, one among several litters produced that fall, and my then 10-year-old daughter picked him out soon after he was born.  We went to visit him every week until he was old enough to come home with us.  Shadow’s 18 years old now, (in other words, REALLY OLD) and unsteady on his feet.  He’s lost some teeth, so he has the special privilege of eating canned cat food, and he sleeps most of the time, preferably on someone’s lap, where, given the choice, he would spend most of the day contentedly purring away.  When he was younger, he loved being outdoors.  He never was one to stray far, preferring to sleep curled up underneath a nearby tree; but rain, snow, sleet, or hail, he was bound to spend as much time as possible outside.  We’d joke that he had a poor memory, since even if it was pouring, he’d go outside, get soaked, then come back in, look for a lap to dry out on, and then head back out, perhaps hoping the weather had cleared.  This cycle would repeat itself over and over again until the rain stopped and he could stay outside again.  We sometimes call him Uncle Shadow, because, unlike our other cats, he’s always welcomed new kittens into our home, licking them, curling up with them, making them feel welcome, being an adopted uncle to them.  He’s been a good cat, and we’re really going to miss him when he’s gone.

Orion is our next oldest cat.  He’s 12, though he doesn’t look or act his age.  He’s black with white belly, chin, and paws.  He was named Orion because he has Orion’s belt around his waist, and he obviously was one of the Men in Black.  He’s also long- fur, like Shadow, but with a very different personality.  Orion’s always been more of an aloof individual, keeping to himself, periodically gracing his owners with a display of affection or allowing them the rare privilege of a fleeting pet.  That was until he almost lost his own life.  He came home one day with a piece of fur and skin missing from his back just at the base of his tail, the result of some tangle with one of the wild beasts of the woods.  It was about the size of a half dollar, but he kept licking his wound until the damage  expanded all the way around the base of his tail and down the back of both of his legs.  During the course of 3 years, I tried every imaginable remedy.  Elizabethan collars didn’t work at all.  He managed to use them to gouge deeper into his damaged flesh.  Nasty-tasting sprays only made him lick his wound more fiercely to get it off.  We eventually rigged up a contraption which was a sort of giant e-collar made of soft leather attached to a normal plastic e-collar to keep it from folding in around his face.  The oversized extension kept him from reaching his wound, yet collapsed enough so he could still eat and drink.  I bandaged his wounds, which were eventually confined to both legs, with thick layers of gauze and tape, so it looked like his legs were in casts.  During all this time, this aloof, unaffectionate cat had to put up with daily nursing treatments, and surprisingly he became a real Lover Boy.  I guess underneath it all, he realized I was torturing him for his own good. The change was permanent, and he now loves to sleep on my belly at night.  When I awaken, he demands loudly that I stop being so lazy and uncooperative and start giving him some good scrubs, such as he deserves.

Besides Shadow and Orion, a pretty gray and gold money cat named Sunny lives with us.  Though she’s actually 5 years old, being typically female, she tries to pretend she’s only 3, and we let her get away with it.  She has a white belly, dainty white feet, and a pretty white stripe on her face.  She also has long fur.  She is the feline queen of the family, and she knows it.  She struts around with grace and poise, just like the royalty she is.  She loves her human family, as a proper queen should love her royal subjects, but she puts all other animals into their places, especially the other cats.  Should one dare to trespass into her personal royal space, she is quick to pounce on the unsuspecting culprit.  Such an intrusion is not to be tolerated.  But to her people, she is loving and kind, though she still maintains a certain regal manner, perhaps to ensure they never fail to treat her as Her Royal Majesty deserves.  Though we allow her the illusion of grandeur, we aren’t fooled.  We see through her pompous charade to the essence of her being.  Though regal on the outside, she is soft and cuddly on the inside, wanting her share of pets, just like the others.  And so we humor her, permitting her to maintain her dignity, while giving her the love she so desperately desires.

Three cats – Shadow, Orion, and Sunny –such different personalities, but each such a special part of our family.  I know there will always be people who don’t like cats.  I was that way once.  But that was before I got to know them, and right now, I can hardly imagine life without them.  And, for those who are determined to keep their stubborn opinion about cats, they have no idea what they are missing.

Classification Essay Outro

Classification Essay Outro

Shadow, Orion, and Sunny – such different personalities, but each such a special part of our family.  I know there are people who don’t like cats.  I was that way once.  But that was before I got to know them, and right now, I can hardly imagine life without them.

Two Intros to Classification Essay

Two Intros to Classification Essay

Intro 1

Cats have become an ever-present part of life at our house.  There was a time before cats, but that was long ago.  Cats became a necessity in our family because of an overpopulation of mice in the cattle country where we were then living, and this once-upon-a-time-ago city girl, who had never been around any cats other than the local, dirty alley cats, came to discover the endless joys of cat ownership and the great variety within the single species called feline.  Let me tell you about three special cats that now inhabit our home.

Intro 2

Cats.  Some people love them.  Some people hate them.  It’s hard to find someone indifferent to them.  An interesting thing I’ve noticed about cats is that they seem to know who likes them and who doesn’t.  But for some reason, if a cat chooses to stay around a group of people, it always seems to pick the cat-hater’s lap to try to sit on.  It’s strange, but I’ve seen it happen too often to call it coincidence.  I don’t understand cat-haters; not because I haven’t met ornery cats, but because, though cats have certain similarities, they are each so different.  It’s like saying I don’t like flowers because they all stink, remembering the day I happened to get stuck in a patch of skunk cabbage.  That said, I’d like to tell you about three special cats that now inhabit our home.