We're definitely giraffing everyone crazy with our Beat Poetry Unit so far.  We could spend so much time on Jack Kerouac alone! 

I'm sure you are enjoying what we've been studying so far, and it's going to be hard to believe this, but the best is still YET TO COME!

But if you haven't had enough of Jack Kerouac, I strongly suggest you take a peek at our Extra Credit assignment for this week, as well as pick up a copy of "On the Road"

"The
only
  people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad
  to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn
  or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman
  candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

We went from the happiest of moments and memories by telling people we were grateful for them...

...to the lowest lows of reading about heartbreaking tragedies like the loss of two poets during world war 1. 

I can tell this is going to be an awesome year already...

We certainly hit the ground running, didn't we? 

What did we learn?

We learned a lot about baggage that people carry, what true friends are, the ethics of lying, being patient when things are moving slow and how we're all geniuses!

Next week we'll begin our creative writing process and I can tell you, it's going to be sweet! 

The first few weeks are always fun, because just like everyone has their own level of genius and their own kinds of smart, we all have our own style of poetry. 

I hope you've had a fun time reading about Robert Frost!  He's a great poet to read when you need some of that alone time.  Here's a cool cartoon I found that I feel illustrates "the road not taken" very beautifully!  What do you think?

Alright!  On to the homework and extra credit!  Remember my homework assignment for this week?  I asked you to find some "alone time" away from friends, family and work. 
Find time to be quiet. 
If you haven't done so yet, it's not too late, but this next part won't be very easy to do:

Assignment:  What was Robert Frost's poetry about?  What does his poetry and your experience of being alone and quiet have in common?  Type your answers below in the blog comments!  You get MORE extra credit for complimenting someone else's comment in a SECOND comment! 

Well Happy Irish Day to you all!  I hope you have a wonderful Saint Patrick's day this weekend.  Enjoy some Corned Beef and Cabbage with some potatoes and wear green! 

Saint Patrick's Day aside, I'm looking forward to a wonderful week of Open Mic and Finalizations!  Remember grades are due this upcoming week!  Make sure you get all of your finalizations turned in.  You can do it now by going to the "Finalizations" tab up at the top of this page!

Aaaand I'm back. Wow. Have you ever wondered what you looked like on the inside? If your skull looks just like all the other skulls you've seen on TV or Movies? 

Well... I know for a fact that I look like this:

Neat, huh?  Short and simple.  To the point.  Awesome!

 Here's our playlist for the past week.  I know a lot of you have been asking me about it!

 Playlist for the week!

 Avicii - Levels (Radio Edit)
 The Pixies - Where is my Mind?
 Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
 Radiohead - Creep (Radio Edit)
 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock
 Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
 Weezer - You Might Think
 Everclear - Father of Mine
 Garbage - Stupid Girl
 Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
 Blur - Coffee and TV
 The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
 Foster the People - I would do anything for you
 
Have a great week!  See you soon!  

- Mike

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

What a wonderful semester we've had!  Thank you to everyone who've worked so hard!  This has been an incredible year overall and that makes what's coming around the corner in 2013 so exciting!  That is... if we survive...  :)

Classes will begin again on January 14th.  That's a Monday.  The first week or so we will spend just getting back into the swing of things.  Getting to know you activities, welcome back activies and so on.  After that, we have a lot to look forward to!  
 
We'll begin with studying what became of the Surrealist poets when 1950's America decided to get involved.  We'll study the 4 college students who didn't understand that they're "fun" style of poetry would be the future of poetry as we know it.  

From there, we'll peer into the most frightening and powerful type of poetry there is with two ladies who were BFF's in the 1960's. 

Then we'll be travelling through the 1970's, 80's, 90's into modern day poetry
and at that point, it will be time to publish our 21st annual Bowman Poetry Anthology and celebrate with our 21st annual Day of the Artist and Poet!!  

I can't wait!  In the meantime, have a wonderful vacation!  Enjoy your time off and I'll see you when we get back! 
 
I hope you don't get a visit from Krampus!

Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus, Happy
non-specific-holiday tidings, Happy Boxing Day, Happy New Year,

-Mike