It's raining.  Cold.  You're inside, trying to stay warm.  Why not have a little fun and get some extra credit while you're at it!

 Jack Kerouac was all over the news today.  His mugshot was published in an article in the Gothamist about his wilder years and leaving the Marines (remember I told you he was kicked out for "Schizoid Tendencies.")  You can read about it here:

 http://gothamist.com/2013/01/25/jack_kerouac_mug_shot.php

Since Jack Kerouac and the rest of the Beat Poets were very much into "Going out and finding truth" it would seem almost criminal to not put this extra credit assignment out there for you:  

For the Poets who need to get out:

Go to a coffee shop (or somewhere where you can hang out in a corner and pretend you're doing some homework.  Like Corner Bakery or Panera Bread.)  Sit down and do our "Snapshot" poem that we were doing in class.  Fill up a page following this pattern:

1.  Something that is happening in the room right now
2.  Freewrite line
3.  Something that someone says in that room
4.  Freewrite line

 Keep the pattern going until you fill the page.  Then bring that page into me so I can check it out and give you extra credit for it!

 -------------------------------------------------------

For the Poets who would rather stay in:

 Check out this interview with Jack Kerouac!  Listen to him read his poem.  We'll be hearing it in class too.  Afterwards, try writing a freewrite about the idea of "hanging out with friends."

Bring in your freewrite for extra credit when we come back next week!

 Okay, so there's your extra credit.  Here's your quote of the day!

And here's our playlist for next week!

 Grouplove - Tongue Tied

 Moby - Honey

 Mumford and Sons - I will wait

M83 - Midnight City

The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

 Young the Giant - Young the Giant (well that was easy...)

 Florence and the Machine - Shake it out

 Bush - The sound of winter

 Thelonious Monk - Caravan

 Miles Davis - On Green Dolphin Street

Bela Fleck - Big Country

Medeski, Martin and Wood - Pappy Check

That's all!   I hope you have a great weekend!  See you Monday!

 -Mike

First of all a big shout-out to our newest Creative Writers for our Class!  

Welcome
Carlie, Hunter, James, Katrice, Jon, Jessica, Kayla, Caitlyn and
Brittany!
                 
___________________

 How about some online extra credit over the weekend?  I have two different
assignments for two different types of people!  Choose your destiney! 
 
Extra Credit for the "I've gotta go somewhere and
do something" person:  Go to the Mall!

This weekend, Bowman has a gallery showing over at the Mall.  It's all original Bowman art and some of our poets are also some of the artists displayed over at the Mall right now.  

The exhibit is inside the mall, but right over by where "Shave It" and that really expensive candy store is.  

It's cool that we're getting awesome recognition for our talent (Bowman's got a LOT of talent.) So why not celebrate it with a poem about one of the paintings or drawings.  It worked for Edwin Markham when he wrote about a Man with a Gardening Tool.  It could work for you!  

Pick ONE painting and write about how it makes you feel and any questions you may have for the artist.  Be sure to include the title of the artwork as the title of the poem so we know which one you're talking about!

Extra Credit for the "I'd rather stay home and kinda relax" person: 
Respond to this Blog in the Comments below!

I'm attaching a quote here that's also a HINT about what we'll be learning about next week.  
 
Take a look at the quote and respond to it in the comments below.  Just reply to this email and it'll post below.  Posting is participation and will count for extra credit.  

How simple is that?  You could even do that from you're phone!  NICE!

Here's the quote.  Tell me what you think he's talking about!

While you're cruising along here, if you want to read previous "Messages from Mike" for extra credit, go ahead and search with that tag in the search bar and
respond to any extra credit there too.  That should totally work!

Enjoy your nice, relaxing three days. 

The Black Keys - Tighten Up

 Incubus - Anna Mollie

 The Used - Blue and Yellow

 Coldplay - A Hopeful Transmission & Don't Let it Break Your Heart

 Band of Skulls - I Know What I Am

 Thievery Corporation - The Forgotten People

Example - Kickstarts

 Lights - Siberia

 Flobots - There's a War Going On for your Mind

 Tapes 'n Tapes - One in the World

 Cage the Elephant - In One Ear

And Most Importantly!

 Dizzy Gillespie - Ool-Ya-Koo

 Miles Davis - Some Day my Prince Will Come

 Medeski, Martin and Wood - Coconut Boogaloo

Those last three will be very important to next week!

Have a nice relaxing weekend!  See you on Tuesday!

 -Mike

Welcome back everyone! I hope your vacation was relaxing and nice. 

We've got a lot of awesomeness in store for us this week and next. I have some mail to send out and we have to get some mail ready to send for 2014! 

For now, I'm going to put a picture up here that I think is awesome. It's also the
picture you'll need to reference in the Syllabus this week when you turn in my
paper back to me!

It's the Scottish Red Squirrel!